“Why in the world did I ever agree to film this?!” Donghae whined to nobody in particular. “I’m a romantic actor, I should be kissing beautiful costars, not shooting zombies!”  Donghae looked to the man standing next to him, but he knew he wouldn’t get any pity from the blond.

Hyukjae arched an eyebrow as Donghae continued to stare at him. He thought about reminding the brunet of their kiss and the resulting bite, but he was still unsure about the incident, so he decided not to bring it up.  “Why are you looking at me?  Blame the zombies.” 

Donghae lifted up his tattered shirt and pointed at his side. “Look at this bruise!  I have to shoot a shower scene in Seoul tonight, but look at this thing, it’s huge!”

“It doesn’t look that bad…”  He brushed his fingers over the purple mark and Donghae winced.  Hyukjae knew he hadn’t hurt the brunet, Donghae was just being sensitive to the skinship, and it encouraged Hyukjae to more.  “Do you have any other bruises?”  He lifted the brunet’s shirt higher and, just as he’d expected, Donghae began to slap at his hands.

Pulling his shirt down until the fabric was stretched out, Donghae glared even harder at the blond. “Do you think this is funny?”

“Yes.” Hyukjae smiled at his friend and offered him a bottle of water as a peace offering. “If you don’t relax, you’re going to end up with more bruises in this next scene.  You need to learn to roll with the punches… literally.”

Donghae took a quick sip of water, then handed the bottle back to the blond. He was jealous and also a bit mesmerized as he watched Hyukjae casually drink the rest of the bottle. He would have gladly consumed the entire thing himself, but he needed to strictly manage what went into his body until after his shower scene.

When the director finally called them over to begin filming, Hyukjae ruffled the brunet’s hair.  “Are you ready to earn a few more bruises?”  Donghae pouted hopelessly in response and Hyukjae laughed while giving his friend a sympathetic hug.

The fight scene was even worse than Donghae had anticipated.  They were forced to film take after take, and the worst part was that Donghae knew it was because he was the one messing up the choreography.  Hyukjae tried to save the brunet from a particularly bad mistake and his heroism cost him a kick in the gut that doubled him over and sent him to his knees; the director immediately yelled cut, and everyone ran to the blond’s side.  It took him a few minutes to stand up again, but Hyukjae insisted that he was fine.  Donghae felt terrible, and he felt even worse after one of the cameramen showed him the playback of the accident and he realized that he would have taken the kick directly in the face if Hyukjae hadn’t sacrificed himself instead.

Donghae was unusually quiet for the rest of the shoot and Hyukjae didn’t like it; he missed the feisty brunet that was always glaring at him for teasing, laughing at his jokes, or staring at him fondly when he thought Hyukjae wasn’t looking.  When they were finally done, they were excused for a few hours while the director focused on filming scenes with the main actors.  Hyukjae followed Donghae back to his trailer and when they were inside the brunet pushed him towards the shower.

“You can go first.”

“Donghae, this is your trailer.  You should take the first shower.”

“You stink more,” Donghae lied, while pushing the blond towards the shower again.

Hyukjae burst out laughing and shook his head.  “Stop it.”  He pulled Donghae’s tattered shirt over his head and patted him on the to encourage him like he would a child.  “Go take a shower,” he said in a tender voice.  Donghae’s pout intensified and he was clearly unhappy, but he did as he was told, and once he was done Hyukjae gratefully stripped out of his clothes and took his turn under the hot water with a sigh of contentment.

After the shower, Hyukjae had no desire to get dressed; Aiden was meek and didn’t fight much, the zombies only had to fight once and then die, whereas he had to fight everyone, making his roll the most physically demanding by far.  Between having to do so many retakes and being kicked in the stomach, he was completely exhausted.  He stole one of Donghae’s towels and wrapped it loosely around his hips, then left the bathroom.  He found Donghae sitting at his favorite spot on the couch with his eyes closed, so he did as he always did; he laid down next to the brunet and used his thigh as a pillow, then he closed his eyes, with every intention of taking a long nap.

Donghae made a face as soon as he felt Hyukjae’s wet hair on his lap.  He opened his eyes to complain, but the complaints died on his lips when he saw the blond wearing nothing but a towel.  His gaze traveled up and down the blond’s body drinking in the sight of his pale skin and chiseled features.  The towel had fallen open along his thigh, and while it still covered Hyukjae’s dignity, it also allowed Donghae to trace Hyukjae’s unhindered from the tip of his toes to the top of his head along one side.  He spotted a small cut near Hyukjae’s abdomen and tsked in disapproval to distract himself.  “You missed a spot.”

Hyukjae didn’t even bother to open his eyes.  “Hmm?”

“You still have some make-up on your-“  He rubbed at the spot, but it didn’t come away and Hyukjae flinched at his touch.

“That one’s real,” he mumbled sleepily.

“I’m sorry!”  Donghae snatched his hand away and frowned, then he realized Hyukjae must have gotten the scratch when he was kicked in the stomach and he frowned harder.  “I’m really sorry,” he said softly.

Hearing the misery in Donghae’s voice, Hyukjae finally opened his eyes to look at the brunet.  “It’s okay.  It happens.  You’re bruised too, remember?  At least I don’t have to shoot a shower scene later,” he said with a gentle smile.

“You look like you’re shooting a shower scene right now,” Donghae said, while openly eyeing Hyukjae’s for emphasis.

Hyukjae looked down at himself and laughed, he rolled onto his stomach and rested his cheek against Donghae’s thigh.  “I’m air-drying.  Do you want to practice our lines before the next scene?”

“No, we’ve practiced it enough.  Just get some sleep.”  With a sly smile and a quick hand, he snatched the towel from around Hyukjae’s waist and used it to dry the blond’s