You’re such a soft-hearted person
Every time you are silently in pain
Even if I have to give my all
I want to make you smile again

“Keep guessing, hyung,” Kyuhyun said.

Him and Donghae were at Kyu’s apartment. Donghae was bothered at the fact that Kyuhyun was still asking about Hyukjae and if Donghae felt attracted to him. It’s not to say that Donghae didn’t agree, he really did think Hyukjae was attractive, but he wasn’t sure if he had an attraction to him.
 

“Does Hyukjae have feelings for me?” Donghae asked after a long time.
 

He tried to read Kyuhyun but his facial expression didn’t give any hints of whether he was right or not.
 

He just raised one eyebrow, “Did you ask him?”
 

“How am I supposed to bring that up in conversation?”
 

“Well do you like him? But not the ‘I’m going to use you as a crutch’ sort of like?”
 

Donghae flinched.
 

“I’m actually hurt you think I would use Hyukjae as a crutch,” Donghae said quietly. Just the thought made Donghae’s chest hurt. He would never use Hyukjae, no matter what kind of situation he was put in.

He would never do that…
 

“It was a question not an accusation, hyung,” Kyuhyun said softly as he studied his older friend. He could tell Donghae was really thinking about something. He kept chewing on his lower lip.

“Has trash come back?”
 

Donghae’s thoughts were broken.
 

“No, but he texted me. We’re going to meet up to talk.”
 

“Should I send Siwon there?”
 

Kyuhyun would offer himself but he wouldn’t give trash boy a chance. At least with Siwon, he was more refined and level-headed. He wouldn’t jump just yet.

“I’ll let you know. We haven’t decided where to meet.”
 

“Does Hyukjae hyung know?”
 

“I haven’t told him yet.”
 

“Did you tell him about that bad bruise on your shoulder?” Kyuhyun asked as he got up from the couch and made his way to the kitchen to get something to eat.
 

Donghae felt his hand automatically grip his shoulder as he mumbled, “You know I can’t tell him, Kyu.”
 

“He’s going to find out eventually.”
 

“I didn’t come to hang out to discuss this with you. I came to invite you to watch a movie with me,”

Donghae finally said with impatience. He needed time to relax and Kyuhyun was the only friend free today. They’ve been sitting on the couch for a good twenty minutes talking about Hyukjae.
 

“Hyung you’ll thank me later for pestering you so much,” Kyuhyun said as he came back from the kitchen with a apple in hand.
 

“Are we going to watch a movie or not? If not, I’m just going to leave and go home,” Donghae said childishly. He really wanted to watch a movie.
 

“Which home? Yours or Hyukjae hyung’s home?” Kyuhyun laughed.
 

Donghae gave a loud exasperated sigh. He put his cap back on his head, gathered his keys, told Kyu to off, and left. He could hear Kyu’s laughter as he slammed the front door.

He really wanted to watch a movie, but he guessed he’d wait for Hyukjae to get done with work and they could watch later in the evening.

Donghae honestly would rather be in Hyuk’s company than Kyu. He felt like Kyu was pressuring him to have feelings for Hyukjae. When Donghae knew that having any romantic feelings for anyone, especially Hyuk, was the least of his worry right now. He needed to figure out how to end it with Joongmyeon without completely hurting his feelings and getting hurt himself. Joongmyeon had a nasty temper and he couldn’t control it at times.
Donghae couldn’t remember the countless times he’d have to hide bruises or pretend that something on his body didn’t hurt from his family and friends. Thinking about it now, he wasn’t sure why he stayed this long in such an abusive one-sided relationship. He could fool his family, but his friends were different. They could all pick up on when something was wrong.

Flashback
They all decided to meet for an early dinner. Kyuhyun, Heechul, Hyukjae, and Donghae. It was supposed to be a fun time, but the mood was brought down when they saw Joongmyeon follow behind Donghae.
 

“Who asked the complainer to come?” whispered Heechul.
 

Kyuhyun sighed. And Hyukjae signaled one of the ajumma’s to bring a bottle of soju.
 

“Oh, Hyukjae’s mad,” Heechul laughed. He got the last say before the couple approached their table.
 

Everyone cheerfully said hi to Donghae and mumbled hi to Joongmyeon. Except for Hyukjae.
Donghae seated himself across from Hyukjae. They all hadn’t gathered together in a while, so he was happy.
 

“Aren’t you going to say hi to me?” Joongmyeon asked Hyukjae.
 

And so it started.
Hyukjae raised an eyebrow before shrugging, “You can’t say hi to me? You also have a mouth.”
 

He could see Donghae shift uncomfortably but he didn’t care. He really didn’t want Joongmyeon there.
Heechul didn’t help the situation either. He just laughed.
 

“Hyung, what shall we order?” Kyuhyun asked, changing the subject and giving a menu to Donghae.
 

“Ummm, let me see,” he said.
 

“Want to share the seafood stew and beer with me?” Joongmyeon asked as he turned to Donghae.
 

“Donghae can’t drink beer,” Hyukjae said without looking up from his menu.
 

“Hyung, we just got here. Can I eat first?” scowled Kyuhyun.
 

Hyukjae tried not to look at Donghae, but he knew his friend’s eyes were trying to read him.
 

“I know he doesn’t like beer, Hyukjae.”
 

Hyukjae looked up from his menu and raised an eyebrow at Joongmyeon before retorting, “So you didn’t forget, you’re just being a ?”
 

“He doesn’t mind. DO you, Hae?”
 

Hyukjae could tell there was taunting in Joongmyeon’s voice. He looked at Donghae, waiting for him to say “I do mind”, but he watched his friend shift uncomfortably in his seat.
Heechul gave a awkward cough before asking Kyuhyun if he wanted to share a bottle of soju.
Silence.
 

Hyukjae sighed before volunteering, “I know I ruined the mood. I can leave.”
 

Joongmyeon said “Sure”, while Donghae and Heechul protested.
 

Donghae’s hands reached to grab his friend’s, “C’mon Hyuk, we all haven’t gathered in a while. Let’s have fun.”
 

“Sure, I just want to eat,” Kyuhyun said, totally ignoring what Donghae said. It wasn’t like Hyukjae to mouth off. He usually kept silent. But he had to do it now, of all days.
 

Hyukjae tried to send Kyuhyun a death glare but the maknae refused to look at him.
Joongmyeon hand reached and put a firm grip on his boyfriend’s wrist, “Hyukjae, let go of his hand.”
 

Donghae automatically flinched and tried to let go of Hyukjae’s hand.
Hyukjae was already mad that Joongmyeon was here, but he saw his death grip on Donghae’s wrist. He took another shot of soju, “I need to be ing drunk for this.”
 

“Let go of Donghae’s wrist then Joongmyeon, so he can let go of Hyukjae’s hand,” Kyuhyun finally said.

He didn’t even look at Joongmyeon, he was staring at Donghae.
 

“Before we decide if we’re going to order here or not, who invited you?” Heechul finally asked as he put his menu down. He was going to ignore Hyukjae’s outbursts, but he wasn’t going to ignore the fact that Joongmyeon had no shame in trying to slyly hurt his precious dongsaeng in front of all his friends.
 

“Donghae invited me.”
 

“I just told him I was going out,” mumbled Donghae. He wasn’t looking at anyone in particular. He decided that Hyuk’s empty soju shot glass was pretty interesting.
 

“Are you guys seriously ganging up on me? I wanted to let bygones be byg