A month went by quickly for them and soon enough, (Y/N) and Donghae had settled in to their new lives, and even managed to act civil enough with each other to realise they would miss out a lot if they weren't together. So, much to the pleasure and displeasure of Hyukjae, they rekindled their relationship but it wasn't always easy for them.

Especially with someone like Reina constantly at their throats. Often, Donghae and (Y/N) found themselves separate from each other, the former with Reina and the latter with Youngwoon and Hyukjae.

Even today, the day Youngwoon had decided to treat them all to dinner as gratitude for the high grade they'd received together, (Y/N), Hyukjae and Youngwoon were shoved to a side while the other two conversed loudly. The trio just watched them with slight annoyance and (Y/N) even kicked Donghae under the table, but the latter just sent her a quick look and then returned to conversing with Reina.

"I do not like that woman. She is making my blood boil. Look, he's not even going to notice if I flick a booger into his drink," (Y/N) rolled her eyes and both Korean men observed the third with an unreadable expression before they silently agreed.

He really did seem like he was in his own world.

The rest of the evening, unfortunately, passed like that. Even when Hyukjae offered to buy drinks for them, Donghae hadn't seemed different and even asked Reina to join them, completely ignoring the other three Koreans present.

"I'm sorry, I gotta get this. Is there any place quiet?" (Y/N) randomly said before they got situated and Hyukjae noticed the bold 'appa' on the screen and quickly nodded, getting up to guide her through the huge crowds of people making their way to the dance floor.

"Do you two want to get crushed to death? You're literally skin and bones," they heard a voice say when they managed to squeeze past at least three people and they turned around in relief, smiling when they saw Youngwoon looking back at them with a cocky grin on his face as he folded his arms over his chest. 

"Mhm, thank you, Youngwoon!"

"Sure, come on," he rolled his eyes fondly and got in front of them, leading the three of them through the crowds with a death glare on his face, frightening away anyone who even thought of approaching them. They finally managed to get to the balcony and (Y/N) called her father again while her two friends waited close by, conversing with each other.

"So, I wonder why Donghae is being so clingy to that girl. I thought he and (Y/N) had made up?" Youngwoon asked and Hyukjae sighed, turning away from looking at the crowd, "I thought the same, man. I wonder what is going through that fish brain of his. He really just pushed aside her feelings."

"Hm, I hope they work it out soon. They should be more understanding of each other, and stop trying to let others get in their way," Youngwoon huffed out and Hyukjae silently agreed before he noticed something from the corner of his eye.

His eyes widened in disbelief as he turned to openly stare at Donghae and Youngwoon must've followed his line of sight because he let out a loud gasp, both watching in shock as Donghae was dragged out of the establishment by his arm.

"Did he just-?"

"Guys, what's going on? What are you looking at?" they both jumped, eyes going wild as they turned to look at the confused (Y/N) in total surprise. She turned to look where they had been, but Youngwoon was quick to react and using his strength, flipped Hyukjae over his shoulder, making the latter release a yell of pain.

"Youngwoon, what the heck?!" both shouted as they looked at Youngwoon incredulously and he gave Hyukjae a pleading look, making understanding click into the other man's eyes. He exaggeratedly whined, holding his shoulder in pain while (Y/N) stared between them both in disbelief before she kneeled down to help Hyukjae up.

"Hyukjae, are you okay? Oh my, what were you thinking, Youngwoon?!" she glared at the burly man who helplessly fell to the ground and apologised meekly to the pair, "I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me. Sorry, Hyukjae."

"Ah- I... oh, I think I'm going to need to get this checked," Hyukjae grunted as he made a show of sitting up and clutching at his shoulder while (Y/N) worriedly massaged around his arm, her expression full of concern.

"Should I take you to the hospital, Hyukjae? Oh my, I hope you're okay..." she mumbled, throwing Youngwoon a dark glare as she stood up and gently helped Hyukjae up, but his weight was too much for her and he ended up falling back down again, making him release another scream of pain.

"Hyukjae!"

"Oh, gosh! Here, I'll help you up. I'll come with you to the hospital, I'm so sorry," Youngwoon murmured, pulling Hyukjae up easily and crouching slightly so the dancer could lean his full weight on him. He then turned to (Y/N) with a hopeful expression, "do you mind going and unlocking my car?"

At first, (Y/N) gave him a suspicious look, unsure whether to trust him alone with Hyukjae, but when she looked around and saw many people had their attention on them, she felt a little at ease knowing Youngwoon wasn't crazy enough to hurt him again. Youngwoon passed her the key and both men watched her leave through the exit they'd entered from, the opposite of where Donghae had left from, before Youngwoon looked at Hyukjae in shock.

"Did I actually hit you that hard? Are you okay?"

"Dude, it's called acting. I needed to be as dramatic as possible, otherwise she'd have been asking about Donghae as soon as I suggested I needed to get a check-up," Hyukjae huffed, rolling his eyes and Youngwoon gave him a shocked look, as if not believing the other was capable of being so cunning.

"Oh, relax. We'll get discharged ten minutes after I get checked. You know the waiting room situation too, we'll probably be there the whole night. Enough for Donghae to get a brain and fess up," Hyukjae explained and then winced when Youngwoon threw him a glare, but when the latter looked up, he saw (Y/N) coming closer to them with a worried face.

"Let's go," he instead suggested and (Y/N) readily agreed, making sure to follow after the pair who awkwardly limped out of the establishment and towards Youngwoon's car. By the time they'd buckled in and got ready to leave, (Y/N) had long forgotten that Donghae was nowhere near them.

Unbeknownst to them all, a confused Donghae returned to his seat alone, waiting for his friends to appear. He waited a long time for them to return from wherever they were, but in the end, he had to leave because they were closed. He stood, frozen to the bone, as he waited for the bus and returned to his empty home, eyes teary and heart hurting.

-

"I'm glad it