How did Donghae get himself into this situation? By being an idiot, he reminded himself. He was crouched behind some discarded props with his head cocked to the side as he secretly watched Hyukjae from across the set. The blond was having a hushed conversation with a zombie who kept touching his arm and laughing a little too much at his stupid jokes. Donghae couldn’t actually hear what they were saying, but he knew Hyukjae well enough to know when he was telling a stupid joke.

A group of actors walked by and Donghae ducked down, further hiding himself. He felt pitiful enough already, without being caught spying.

“Why is he still here?” One of the actors asked while gesturing at Hyukjae. “Isn’t his 15 minutes of fame over now that Aiden moved on to someone better?”

“Who? Hyukjae? Don’t worry, I’m sure the writers will kill him off soon. Look at him… he knows that his place is with the zombies.”

“What do you think Donghae will do? Aren’t they close?”

“Why would he want that leech to stick around? He’s going to get twice as much screen time now that that loser’s out of the picture. He’s probably the happiest to see Hyukjae go!”

The group of actors laughed as they continued to walk past, and Donghae glared at their backs. He wasn’t sure if he was more annoyed that they thought he wouldn’t miss Hyukjae or that they thought he actually wanted more lines! He was tempted to march over to the group and tell them that Hyukjae was five times the actor that they were, but his thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the sound of someone behind him clearing their throat. He knew his expression was painted with guilt as he looked up, but when he saw it was his manager his guilt morphed into embarrassment.

The manager glanced over at Hyukjae, then looked back at Donghae. “Should I come back later?”

“I lost something.” My dignity, he thought. It was so obvious that he was lying, his manager didn’t even bother to ask what it was or offer to help find it.

“Your stylist is waiting for you.”

“Oh… okay.” Donghae looked at Hyukjae one more time from the corner of his eye, then he dragged his feet as he trailed behind his manager to the make-up table.

*** Two Weeks Before ***

Donghae groaned in irritation, but the knocking that had disturbed his sleep didn’t stop. He woke up enough to feel the soft sheets against his skin and recognized the mattress he was sleeping on as his own. It made him smile; he loved waking up in his own bed.  He tried to block out the unwelcome sound by burying his face in his pillow, but as soon as he moved, he felt a weight against his back move as well.

“Get the door,” Hyukjae murmured softly.

Donghae’s eyes flew open and he was suddenly very much awake as memories from the night before flooded his brain. He remembered that Hyukjae had spent the night and recognized the weight against his back for what it was.  Not only was Hyukjae’s full body currently pressed up against him, but the man had an arm wrapped around him as well. He carefully slipped out of Hyukjae’s embrace, trying his best not to disturb the blond’s sleep further, and then shuffled over to the bedroom door.  He opened the door and peeked out to see his manager standing in the hall.  “What’s going on?” He was confused, not only because his manager was there, but because he was pretty sure the man had never knocked on his bedroom door before.

“Your driver came to pick you up, but couldn’t reach you, so he called me. You guys have scenes to film today and we’re already late, so hurry up and get dressed.”

“What time is it?” Donghae looked back at the clock next to his bed and cursed under his breath. He had been so distracted that he had forgotten to set an alarm last night and now they were in trouble.

“I’ll wait for you guys in the car.” The manager’s eyes flickered to Hyukjae’s sleeping form for the briefest of moments, then he turned around and left the apartment.

Donghae quickly padded over to the bed to wake up Hyukjae, but when he reached the blond he hesitated. Hyukjae looked so peaceful snuggled in his blankets and extra adorable with his mussed hair and pouty lips. He smiled to himself as he gently shook Hyukjae’s shoulder.  “Wake up, we overslept.”  Hyukjae whined in his sleep and stretched like a cat, so Donghae smacked him on the affectionately. “Hyukjae, wake up.  The driver is already waiting for us downstairs.”

“Damn. I was hoping it was your mom again,” Hyukjae said with a sleepy sigh. He finally opened his eyes and when he did, he smiled at the brunet.  “Where’s my good morning kiss?”

“We don’t have time to joke around. We’re late.”  He found some clothes they both could wear and threw a set to Hyukjae. “We have to hurry.”  He waited long enough to see Hyukjae sit up, then he rushed to the bathroom. They both had just enough time to get dressed, wash their face, and brush their teeth before his manager called and urged him to hurry.

They rushed downstairs to the car giggling like school children, but quickly sobered up once they were inside the vehicle. A million thoughts went through his mind as he sat in the car next to the blond, but he was unable to express any of them because of the audience in the front seat. Hyukjae also seemed lost in his thoughts, so Donghae pulled out his phone to distract himself.  Normally his manager would give him the latest news and go over his schedule for the day, but today his manager seemed content to pretend like he didn’t exist. It occurred to Donghae that any news about him was probably about the best couple award he had unintentionally won, so he understood why the man didn’t want to discuss it, or its implications, in front of Hyukjae.

He scrolled through his phone looking for the latest news and gossip on his own. Thankfully it was all positive, even the news about his relationship with Hyukjae. Everyone seemed to agree that they deserved the best couple award, although most sites downplayed it as a bromance award. It saddened him that their relationship was being watered down, but he had to admit it was probably for the best since it wasn’t only his reputation on the line, but Hyukjae’s as well. He shared some of the better articles with Hyukjae and the blond smirked at them.

“Oh, I almost forgot!” Hyukjae’s manager said while snapping his fingers. “The director gave me the newest script.”

Donghae opened the script and started reading, thankful for the new distraction. Since all of their scenes were together Hyukjae rested his head against Donghae’s shoulder and silently read along with him.  To his surprise, the new script had a scene leading up to Aiden’s crush, and as he read line after line, he could feel anticipation growing within the pit of his stomach. When he finally read who Aiden’s crush was, the anticipation in his stomach twisted and he felt sick.  It wasn’t Eunhyuk.  It didn’t surprise him that it wasn’t Eunhyuk,