An awkward atmosphere dawned between Donghae and Hyukjae. Neither one dared to break the silence as Donghae kept his eyes glued on the wall and Hyukjae kept staring at his best friend. He was searching for something, anything, to clear up or make sense of what Donghae had just said to him. Donghae could feel his cheeks heat up as he tried to calm down his rapidly beating heart. Now that the adrenaline from their fight has gone, he was not so sure he should've said what he said.

A sudden banging on their door snapped the two of them out of their trance in surprise. 

"Yah! Lee Hyukjae! Lee Donghae! Come out!" Sungmin's muffled voice came through the door. "We want to go get food; let's go!"

Hyukjae was not sure whether he and Donghae should go out with their friends right now. He thought it would probably be best to address the elephant in the room first before they go anywhere. He was about to tell Sungmin no but Donghae beat him to the punch.

"Coming!" Donghae shuffled around and ran past Hyukjae as though he was a y trap he needed to avoid. 

"Hae!" Hyukjae called but Donghae ignored him and just opened the door wide open. 

Sungmin's surprised face appeared as Donghae gave him a quick smile and muttered a quick, "let's go!" before running down the hallway and into the elevator. Sungmin just blinked and turned his attention to Hyukjae who seemed to be looking down and confused. 

"Hyukkie? Are you feeling ok?"

Hyukjae didn't even know it  but he sniffled as he stopped his tears from falling. He could feel the heat and the sting in his eyes but he made sure that Sungmin wouldn't suspect a thing.

"Neh, hyung." That was his first mistake. Sungmin now definitely knows something's bugging him. He walked out the door and was immediately met by Junsu's bubbly self.

"Hey, hey, my slave!~" Hyukjae just rolled his eyes before then proceeding to hit Junsu's a light punishing kick.

"Who are you calling 'slave,' slave?"

Junsu's loud dolphin like laugh resonated through the hallway. Sungmin pursed his lips together as he followed his friends out the room. He took a mental note to check in with Donghae and Hyukjae later and probably remind them that their bedroom is not soundproof. 

~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~

Ramen in Japan was supposed to be one of the highlights of their trips. To eat food from where it was created and enjoy it to your heart's content, but to Hyukjae, it was just the longest and most awkward dinner of his life. Junsu, being the dense dolphin that he was, forced Hyukjae and Donghae to sit next to each other arguing that he would not want to get up later to switch with him. 

"I'm not going to!" Hyukjae argued as he tried to sit inside their booth but Junsu pulled his arm back and slightly pushed him towards Donghae. 

"Yes, you will!" Junsu pulled Sungmin with him as he took his spot on the table. "You always say that but you two end up sitting next to each other anyway."

"But Su-"

"Excuse me!" Junsu ignored Hyukjae's pleas and called for the waiter. A nearby waitress greeted them and handed the menu over. She looked at Hyukjae curiously and asked if he would be staying by hesitantly handing over a menu to him. Hyukjae grumbled and just took it from her as he took the seat in front of Sungmin. Donghae made no move from where he was standing. 

"Yah, Lee Donghae, hurry up and sit. I'm starving." Sungmin coaxed as he happened to glance at Hyukjae who's face was flush for a reason. He did his best to not roll his eyes at his two very densed friends and allowed Junsu to be his usual annoying self, if not for his sanity, at least to get him through this very rough looking dinner. 

Thankfully, the service at the restaurant they chose was fast. As soon as their food arrived they dug in and started slurping at the noodles and broth of what they ordered. Junsu started going on about how he was such a good person in his previous life to be able to enjoy food this good while Sungmin just hummed and said that he'd tasted better ramen in Korea. Hyukjae and Donghae included their own commentary; nodding their head here and there, but stayed quiet for the most part. Lucky for them Junsu had enough stories to tell till the end of time. 

Once they were all done eating, they played rock, paper, scissors to decide which two losers would split the bill and pay. Sungmin and Donghae cheered while Junsu whined about the game being rigged. 

"Sorry, Junsu-ah," Sungmin patted his shoulders without sounding sympathetic at all. "Thank you for the meal!"

Junsu stuck his tongue out at him and made a face but then he looked at Hyukjae and frowned. The stingiest person he knew, and usually the first one to groan out loud and make a scene or some ridiculous excuse about why he can't pay, was unusually quiet. 

"Hyukjae, what's wrong with you? Are you feeling alright?"

Hyukjae was taken aback by the sudden question but then cleared his throat and casually replied. "Of course, why?"

"Well, you're not making a fuss about paying," Junsu explained as though it was the end of the world. "What's going on with you?"

Hyukjae rolled his eyes at him and tried to brush him off. "Nothing, you silly, dolphin."

"Yah!" Junsu squeaked. "Don't call me 'Dolphin!'"

Junsu and Hyukjae stood up from the table and bickered their way to the cashier. Donghae was just laughing as he followed them with his eyes. Well, followed one of them with his eyes. Sungmin quickly noticed.

"Donghae," Sungmin called but Donghae didn't hear him. He smiled amusely to himself before physically hitting his arm that was leaning on the table. "Yah!"

"Ow! Hyung, what'd you do that for?" Donghae rubbed his elbow even though the pain didn't really bother him. 

"So," Sungmin started with an obvious teasing tone, "You finally grew some balls, huh."

Donghae was too focused on being annoyed to comprehend what Sungmin was trying to say. "Huh, what?"

"With Hyukjae."

"What about him?"

Sungmin rolled his eyes at him this time and leaned back against his seat. "I heard you confess to him a while ago. Finally."

Donghae froze. He did not expect anyone else to hear