(Youngjae's Perspective)

Things slipped back into routine once Youngjae went to work that next Monday. For him, at least. Daehyun still had a few days before he got back into it and was using that time to unwind.

Youngjae got his days a bit mixed up at first, thinking that Daehyun had to return to work on a Wednesday, but that was just him miscounting how many days were in May. It would've been a major bummer if Daehyun's first day back at work was his manager day!

A part of the routine that could do with a change was his umma's ever persistent calls... Not even during the two week period of Daehyun's absence did this stop, even when Youngjae told her Daena was off doing things with her family, and he just about had enough. He didn't think anything could be worse than years of calls about blind dates, but this had to top it!

After ignoring her third call in a row, Youngjae stood up from his piano to ready himself to pace while on the phone with her since she'd inevitably call again. The inevitable fourth call came, and he answered with a tired, “Hello, Umma.”

“Oh, there you are, Jae dear!” she greeted enthusiastically. “It's always so hard to get a hold of you these days. It makes me worry about you!”

Youngjae rolled his eyes before mentally chastising himself for the action, even though she couldn't see him. Disrespect for his maternal figure who did her best to give him a good home and upbringing, even if unknown, was still disrespect...

“It makes you worry about me, huh...”

“Well of course! It's natural for a parent to worry about their children, you know,” she said. “I know you're thirty-two flavours of resilient and can handle pretty much anything thrown your way, but that doesn't stop me from worrying about you.” He was really only so resilient because of how she'd treated him, but it would be nice to believe for once that she actually worried...

It would be nice, but that wasn't going to make him believe it. If she worried about her son and what he wanted, then she wouldn't have walked over his wants so much. Youngjae sighed. “What do you need, Umma?”

“Come on now, don't be like that,” she chided playfully. “It's your umma calling! You could try and sound a bit happier.”

“I would be happier if you weren't calling to ask about my girlfriend,” he responded curtly, 'girlfriend' sitting weirdly on his tongue. “And don't even tell me you weren't because you've been doing it nonstop for nearly a month now.”

She let out a little huff. “Is it really so wrong for me to be curious about how things are going with you two?” she pouted. Youngjae had the thought that he acted older than his own mother, then he shook it away right as she continued, “This is a big deal for you and I want to make sure you don't mess things up!”

“Do you really have so little confidence in me?” he wondered, the brow he raised doing nothing to show his incredulity to her. “This isn't my first time dating, Umma.”

“I know, but women are different than men when it comes to dating!” she insisted.

Youngjae snickered, thinking about the reality of the situation. “It's not as different as you're making it out to be.” Before she could argue her point more, he questioned, “Have you ever dated a woman, Umma?”

“Well, no, but-”

'Technically I haven't either.... I'm not ready to tell her that, though. I don't know if I ever will be.'

“Then how can you tell me that dating a woman is different than dating a man if you don't have the experience?”

His umma grumbled something under her breath. “If you put it that way, then you're not wrong. I can't tell you it's different without experience,” she admitted. “But... I can tell you that if you've got something special going on, then hold onto it tightly, Jae dear! Even if it seems like it's too soon, if it's something truly special, time won't matter.”

Youngjae didn't quite disagree with her words, but that approach hadn't worked for him in the past. Letting his attachment be known too early had a one hundred percent track record of leading to break up, only his first two boyfriends breaking that mold since they were during his school days. The break up with Jaebeom was because of their misaligned ways of loving, and Eunkwang was because he was moving away and a long distance relationship wasn't possible given the circumstances.

Daehyun kind of broke that mold, too, since he was still with him even in being aware that Youngjae cared about him and loved him. 'Kind of' because Youngjae didn't think he could say just how much he did yet. 'The curse of getting attached quickly, I guess...'

“I appreciate the sentiment, but if I want to take my relationship slowly, then that's what I'm going to do,” he declared. “Just because you met and married Appa within a year of knowing him doesn't mean that's something I'm going to do.”

“That's because your Appa knew what a good thing he had right off the bat,” she said proudly. “It'd benefit you to do the same, Jae dear. Good people come and go, and if you wait too long, then they'll leave you in the dust for someone more worth their time!”

Youngjae paused in his pacing, for once in his life hurt by her words. “Are you saying I'm not worth the time, Umma?”

“I didn't say that, Youngjae. I said-”

“I know what you said,” he interrupted, his free hand finding its way into his hair and clenching at the strands. “You said my slower approach means I won't be considered worth the time. I may as well call things off with Daena now if you think things are going to be like that to spare myself the-”

“Don't you do it! Daena's lovely, and she doesn't deserve to be hurt because you're too scared to man up and take charge!”

Youngjae tugged tighter at his hair. “It sounds to me like you care more about her feelings than you do mine,” he said slowly, trying to calm down the anger that was building from her words.

“That's not true at all-”

“Then why are you so concerned about me potentially calling things off with Daena? You met her once, disregarded her allergies, and left a poor impression on her,” Youngjae pointed out, a bit harsher than intended. “Yet you sound like it'd be the end of the world if I were to break up with her.”

She sighed. “I just want you to be happy, Youngjae.”

“And like I've told you, it's up to me to find my own happiness.”

Things went silent between them for a bit, and while waiting for her to respond, Youngjae flopped down on the couch. 'Maybe I'll take a nap when I finally got off the phone with her...'

She did eventually break the silence. “You're not actually going to break up with her because of this, are you?” she wondered quietly.

Of course he had no plans to call things off with Daehyun, he loved him too much! And Youngjae was confident that Daehyun was just as in it for the long haul as he was, but these were things that didn't pertain to his umma.

“No, I'm not,” he answered. “The both of us just lead busy lives and don't get to go out as often as you think we should.” It was a lie from his teeth since Youngjae actually spent a fair amount of time with Daehyun, but not so much that they didn't have lives outside of each other. Daehyun was actually out with Zelo right now if his messages from earlier were anything to go by, and he was having a good time!

Youngjae was thrilled his boyfriend was getting to a point where he could do the things that made him happy just because he could! Daehyun certainly deserved all sorts of happiness and good things in Youngjae's eyes...

“It's important to make time for each other, Jae dear,” his umma said.

“I know,” he sighed. “And I do. But Daena's also the type to take things slowly. So...” Youngjae couldn't believe he was about to give an ultimatum to his umma, but he didn't think he could handle another call like this. “If you can't respect the way we're handling our relationship, then you may as well stop calling. You nagging me about how she and I date isn't going to make it easier for us.”

As upsetting as it was for her to walk all over him, Youngjae was at least used to it. But Daehyun? Youngjae wasn't about to give his umma the chance to walk over him, even if it was in the bolder but still soft Daena side of him. Youngjae would say Daehyun previously had people who walked all over him that he was thankfully cut off from now, but in that case it was more that they trampled and made sure to really dig their heel in with each step.

'I'll be damned if I put him in that type of situation!'

“But if I don't call you, then I wouldn't hear from you,” she pouted. “You never call to check in, so how am I supposed to know how you're doing if I don't call and do it myself? Youngwon just goes automatically to a not set up voicemail, and Hyunmi always responds that they're busy. Even at holiday times!”

Youngjae pinched the bridge of his nose and slid down the couch some, feeling like he was made of liquid. He bit back the retort that he sometimes felt like doing the same because of how incessant she was and instead responded, “If I promise to contact you at least once a month, will you calm down with calling me all the time?”

“...Can it be twice a month?”

He gave it a little bit of thought before deciding twice a month was a better alternative than four times a week. “Yeah, it can be twice a month, Umma.”

“And you promise? You'll actually call?”

“Of course,” he confirmed. “I'm a man of my word, Umma. If I promise something, then I'll do it.”

--

The night before Daehyun's therapist appointment, he stayed with Youngjae, and it was surprisingly spurred on by Daehyun asking if he could rather than Youngjae asking if he wanted to. Not that Youngjae minded at all. Whether it was because he deemed it more efficient, because he put Daehyun at ease, or some mixture of both, Youngjae definitely wasn't going to complain about his boyfriend wanting to spend the night!

Since it was probably going to be a very mentally draining day for him, Youngjae made sure to get Daehyun to eat breakfast. Even if he insisted he was fine without it, Youngjae saying that the energy would help him face the day better was enough to get Daehyun to sit down for some cereal. As much as Youngjae preferred more involved breakfasts over cereal, he didn't often wake up with enough time to get that done on a regular day, and today was no exception even if it wasn't a regular day.

All Youngjae had to go on was that Dr. Cho was a few cities away and Daehyun's appointment was mid morning, so they had to wake up just as early as a regular work day to make it on time to get his patient paperwork done before the scheduled appointment time.

Once they were in the car, Daehyun quietly tapped the address into his phone so they could be on their way. The ride was mostly silent, save for the phone speaker giving directions and Youngjae asking for clarification on certain bits. If Youngjae had to guess, Daehyun was in the process of mentally preparing himself.

Daehyun made no immediate move to get out of the car once they'd pulled into the parking lot. Instead, he froze while unbuckling his seatbelt, eyes trained forward at the doctor's building. He swallowed heavily. “Should I uh... Should I really be so nervous about this?” he asked.

“I think it's understandable,” Youngjae said gently. “You're not nervous without reason.”

Daehyun nodded a bit before finally slipping his seatbelt off. “What if... What if Dr. Cho can't help?” he wondered quietly.

“If he can't, then you can always find another doctor,” Youngjae suggested. “He's not the only doctor in existence, you know.”

Daehyun scrunched his brows at that. “If he was, then it would've taken way longer than two months for him to be able to see me...” he mumbled. Before Youngjae could do anything more than chuckle, Daehyun firmly nodded. “Let's... get this over with. The longer we sit here, the more uh... the more rattled I'll feel about it all...”

“Lead the way.”

Thankfully, the waiting room was empty. Youngjae took a seat in the corner by the table with the magazines while Daehyun spoke with the receptionist about getting his paperwork done. With a bundle of papers, a clipboard, and a pen, he took his seat next to Youngjae and got to work filling out his information.

Youngjae kept himself available in case there were complications and Daehyun needed help understanding the phrasing. Or as he put it, 'with his brain turning off and not registering the words he was reading'. Whenever that happened, Youngjae was able to get Daehyun back on track.

Daehyun brought the papers back up to the receptionist, exchanged a few more words with her, then returned back to the seat he'd been in. With a heavy exhale, his fingers tensed against the denim of his pants. Youngjae took the hand closest to him in his and looked him over. “You good?”

Daehyun's eyes flicked over for a brief moment before settling back on the floor. “Nervous.” he answered quietly. He offered no more words, but he did give Youngae's hand a squeeze before bringing his focus more into how he was breathing.

“Mr. Jung?” Daehyun jumped a bit at being called out of his focus zone, and it was very weird for Youngjae to hear his boyfriend referred to as Mr. Jung. Daehyun reluctantly let go of his hand and went up to the receptionist's window to speak with her.

While he was up there, other people came in and no longer made it just Youngjae and Daehyun in the waiting area. So Youngjae grabbed one of the miscellaneous magazines to thumb through as a backup distraction technique for when Daehyun sat back down. The added presence of people would probably make physical reassurance less soothing for him...

He came back to his seat a few minutes later. He kept his voice muted as he began, “So uh... we're going to be here a little longer than um... intended.”

“Did something happen?”

Daehyun nodded. “Dr. Cho um... had to call in today. So... the lady was asking if I'd like to be rescheduled, or uh... if I was willing to see a different doctor today since there was space on her schedule...”

“I take it you chose the latter option?”

“Yeah, um... I'd rather get this done today then have to wait another two months,” he explained. “The free space wasn't too much later than my appointment originally was, so it's not like we're going to be here all day...”

“It would've been fine even if we had to be here all day,” Youngjae pointed out, giving him a little smile.

His eyes lingered on Youngjae for a bit before Daehyun looked away and mumbled out, “Thank you.”

While they waited, the two of them flipped through the magazine Youngjae offhandedly grabbed and found out it was a Christmas shopper's catalogue full of winter themed things. Definitely out of season since it was the middle of June, but it served its purpose as a distraction well enough.

When the time came where the door to the offices was opened and a middle aged woman was calling for Daehyun, Youngjae gave him a reassuring grin. “You got this.”

He stood up and nodded, more at himself than Youngjae. “I'll... I'll be back.”

“And I'll be waiting patiently here for you.”

With another tiny nod, Daehyun went up to the doctor and disappeared into the back area.

Youngjae continued flipping through the magazine until a vibration from his phone alerted him to a message. Normally, he kept the sound on, but since he hadn't wanted to be a disturbance in the waiting room, he'd switched it to vibrate. Pulling it out, he saw it was a message from Hyunsik.

Hyunsik – 10:42

Dinner with Jongup this evening?

Youngjae raised a brow. Despite Hyunsik having been less avoidant of him the past few weeks, he'd been too busy with his parents to do anything more than partake in message conversations. So getting an invite with such little forewarning was unexpected. Either things were finally settling down on Hyunsik's end, or this was something spurred on by Jongup thinking Hyunsik needed to physically get out more and this was the solution.

Whatever the reason, Youngjae's day was already booked for Daehyun!

Me – 10:43

Already have plans. How about tomorrow?

Hyunsik – 10:43

Works for me, see you then.

'Well, guess I'm hanging out with Hyunsik and Jongup tomorrow.'

--

Daehyun had been a scattered mess when he finally made it out of his appointment yesterday. His hands trembled liked Youngjae had never seen them tremble before while Daehyun spoke with the receptionist and placed the card he was given into his wallet. Youngjae was internally thankful he'd told Hyunsik he was unavailable because the rest of the day, Youngjae dedicated entirely to making sure Daehyun was in a better emotional state.

This was mainly done by just being his usual self. Gently offering suggestions and getting Daehyun's opinions, which is how they ended up grabbing delivery on the way back since Daehyun mentioned that he should probably eat, but he didn't like the idea of having to go inside a place to do it. They ate down in Youngjae's apartment after Daehyun admitted that he didn't like the idea of being alone right then.

He gradually perked up as the afternoon turned to evening. Youngjae told him about his plans with Hyunsik and Jongup, and Daehyun stayed down with him for another night. By morning time, Daehyun was back to how he usually carried himself. They parted after cereal with a kiss and the shared hope that the other would have good days.

Youngjae would be lying if he said that he wouldn't like to have that sort of thing more often...

At current, he was seated in a booth at Shortstub's with Hyunsik and Jongup. “Youngjae, how often have you been here that they know you by name?” Hyunsik raised a brow from his spot across from him.

It was almost embarrassing that Youngjae had been there often enough over the past few months that the one who sat them, a nice fellow by the name of Minjae, specifically called Youngjae by name. But it wasn't his fault that whenever Zelo needed a distraction and dragged Youngjae out for food, he always chose Shortstub's! “Less often than you think,” he answered.

Jongup simply snickered in his place next to Hyunsik as their waiter, the one Youngjae recognized as Wonjun, took their drink orders. Well, took Hyunsik's and Jongup's drink orders. Instead of taking Youngjae's, he just turned to him and said, “And you want tea. Right, Youngjae?”

Youngjae was stunned into a momentary silence, while Jongup snickered just a bit harder with Hyunsik joining him. “Yeah, I do want tea.”

“Got it, I'll get your drinks for you guys while you figure out what you want to eat!” And then he was off, and Youngjae was back to being baffled.

“Less often than you think, you said?” Hyunsik teased. “I call bull.”

Youngjae squinted at the two chuckling men in front of him, unimpressed as he flipped open his menu. “I'm tempted to get some steak to tear into now,” he threatened.

“And you get steak every time you come here? Damn, Youngjae!” Hyunsik didn't bother to look his way and instead opened up his own menu.

“I don't get it every time...” He'd originally just wanted like, chicken parmesan or something. Maybe a burger...

“But often enough since you're here so much,” Hyunsik goaded.

“It's really not as often as you think...” But that steak idea sounded more and more appetizing by the second...

He snorted. “Often enough that they know you by name is pretty damn often.”

“Maybe they just have good memory,” Youngjae countered.

“I've been here lots, and they don't know me by name.” Hyunsik set his menu down and leaned back in his seat.

“That's not true, Hyosung noona knows you by name,” Jongup piped up.

Hyunsik waved his hand dismissively. “Hyosung's different. She knows everybody by name.”

The conversation paused when Wonjun came back with their drinks and took food orders. As tempting as the idea of ripping into steak was, Youngjae just went for his original chicken parmesan choice.

It wasn't until after they'd gotten their food that Youngjae asked the question that was in the back of his mind since yesterday. “So... what is this all about?”

Hyunsik was a heathen and didn't cover his mouth before speaking despite the fact he was chewing. “What do you mean?”

“I mean like... why invite me out to dinner with you two? Is something up, or did you just want to hang out and figured dinner was a good way to do that?”

“What, I can't invite some friends out to dinner?” Hyunsik questioned.

Youngjae frowned. “No need to get snippy. I was just curious.” Mid chew, he added on while covering his mouth because he wasn't a heathen, “Could Zelo not make it or something, or was he just not invited?”

“Nah, I invited him,” Hyunsik answered. “He said he was busy, though. Something about a birthday?” Hyunsik paused for a moment, squinting his eyes slightly, then shrugged and continued eating.

“Zelo did give me a few more details and told me where he was going before he left yesterday,” Jongup admitted. “He drove out to his umma's place to talk with her about doing something for Daehyun hyung's birthday.”

Ah, yes. Daehyun's birthday! He'd never actually brought it up, but Youngjae had been a bit sneaky yesterday and caught what date it was from the corner of his eye when Daehyun was filling out his paperwork. He was thankful he hadn't missed it, but now he had to figure out what to do for him...

“Have you figured something out to do for him, Youngjae hyung?” Jongup wondered.

Youngjae shook his head. “I'm not quite sure what to do. I need to figure something out, though...” Given that he hadn't mentioned it, it might not be something that was important to him. But Youngjae didn't want his boyfriend to think he didn't care...

“Eh, I'm sure it'll be fine if you don't do anything, Youngjae. Friendships don't ride on birthdays,” Hyunsik pointed out with a wave of his hand.

Youngjae paused. He wasn't entirely wrong, but... “Hyunsik... we're- me and Daehyun are dating.”

One blink. Two blinks. Three blinks. “What?”

“Did you- Did that completely go over your head the other week at the lake house?” Youngjae questioned, eyes widened in incredulity. He'd thought they were pretty obvious. They slept in the same bed, and he was certain they'd at least been mildly affectionate in Hyunsik's presence...

“And I'm pretty sure I told you when we found that box of Daehyun hyung's things that he was dating Youngjae hyung,” Jongup added.

“Give me a break! It was an emotionally stressful time for me...” Hyunsik whined. He pouted childishly and poked at his salad before shoveling a bite into his mouth.

“I'm not faulting you for it, I'm just a bit surprised that you didn't know before now,” Youngjae clarified, a bit of a chuckle passing through his lips.

Hyunsik shrugged after washing down his bite with his drink. “Well, I know now, I guess.”

--

A/N:

First off, Merry Christmas Eve to y'all who celebrate Christmas!

Secondly, I apologize for the absence! I doubt I'll be able to finish Harmony before the New Year like I originally planned, but I am still here! And I am still writing! I don't intend to leave this unfinished! It means too much to me to do that...

Anyways, I hope y'all have good days! Thanks for reading and sticking with me~