A week passed, and Yesung felt irritated. He was still on a strict diet because of their comeback, so going on days without food in his stomach was lowering his enthusiasm bit by bit. As much as he desperately wanted to munch on the snacks laid on the table before him, he knew that the calories would make his weight fluctuate once more and all his efforts would be for naught.

However, as Yesung chanced a glimpse at Eunhyuk's imploring gaze, he could feel his walls crumbling into dust.

"Hyung," Eunhyuk pleaded, "just one! Please eat at least one thing! You look so sickly and pale these days…"

Yesung was torn. Lately, and strangely, Eunhyuk had been hanging out with him a lot. Usually, they'd both be with their respective groups, Eunhyuk with Donghae and Shindong while Yesung with Kyuhyun and Ryeowook. However, Eunhyuk seemed to be spending all his time with him lately, even going so far as to bring him food every time they had a break from their schedules. Granted, the waiting rooms always had snacks in them, but Eunhyuk made an effort to buy other kinds of snacks, like baked cupcakes or things like that. The ones with calories and high sugar content, much to Yesung's dismay.

Of course, somewhere deep in Yesung's heart, he knew he was touched, but he was far too confused and slightly irritated to pay the emotion full focus.

"Hyuk-ah," Yesung said as patiently as he could. "I appreciate it. Really, I do, but… you know that I can't."

"Just one won't kill you, hyung," Eunhyuk insisted.

"Hyukjae, I told you, I can't!" Yesung finally snapped, his irritation reaching its breaking point.

However, instead of backing away in fear like he always did, Eunhyuk stared at him, his face expressionless.

There was a tense silence between the two of them before Eunhyuk broke it.

"Hyung, I know it's hard for you," he began, "and I know how much effort you put into this."

Yesung just stared back silently.

"But you're precious to me," Eunhyuk continued on, "and I don't want you to suffer."

Yesung took a deep breath, ready to retort with his annoyance spiking.

But Eunhyuk continued on, "Your face was never swollen. You always looked handsome to me. Your weight was fine, I loved it because you were healthy. You always thought that you were an outcast, I never did, because hyung has always been the only one I see. I know you're angry with me now, but even if you curse at me a thousand times, I won't just stand by and let you starve yourself again."

All of this was said in a quiet voice, with Eunhyuk's emotionless face speaking volumes about his struggling restraint.

"I'm sorry hyung, but this is how much I love you."

-;-

Yesung was confused. So very confused.

s seemed to be cold to him recently, especially after his argument with Eunhyuk a few days ago. Yesung didn't know what the big deal was; he and Eunhyuk would make up with each other soon, of course, since it was childish to keep being angry over such a small thing. All of them had fought with each other tons of times and made up soon after. Heck, the cold shoulders wouldn't even last a week.

It had hardly even been three days and it seemed like the whole world was against him suddenly.

Yesung was determined to ignore everything and just focus on performances instead, but then Ryeowook approached him.

"Hyung," he said flatly, "I heard you and Eunhyuk-hyung fought."

Yesung stood still, staring at him. The members had always been pushy and intrusive whenever it came to fights, so this wasn't anything new, but they were usually just wanting to stop the tension, to persuade those involved to cease the issue between them.

However, Ryeowook seemed cold, disappointed even. It even seemed like he was judging Yesung for what he did.

"Yeah. What about it?" Yesung finally spoke.

Ryeowook frowned. "Hyung, if it were any other person, I wouldn't even be angry like this. But you and Eunhyuk-hyung need to make up."

Yesung raised an eyebrow. "What difference does it make if it's Eunhyuk who I had a fight with? Both of us had fought a few times in the past. You never acted this hostile to me back then."

Ryeowook groaned. "Hyung, that's because it's different now, isn't it? This isn't like the past anymore. Right now, you two have to set aside your differences with each other and set a compromise. It's what others like you two should do."

The confusion went back to Yesung. "Others like us? Wait, forget that." A migraine had set in. "Hyukjae and I will make up soon. Just let us take our time, all right, Ryeonggu?" he told the younger man, trying to retain his calmness.

Ryeowook still seemed disapproving, but he nodded nevertheless. "Fine… but let me tell you this, hyung: Eunhyuk-hyung has always been ready to make up with you. You're the only one who's ignoring him." Then he walked away.

Yesung gritted his teeth. When he got older, his temper had mellowed out a lot. In his younger days, he was fairly hot-tempered, almost rivalling Heechul's constant mood swings, but he always cared about his dongsaengs, being the third oldest in the group. He often just laughed off jokes now instead of meaninglessly reacting to them and he didn't mind being 'bullied' by the other members since he knew very well that they loved him just as much as he did.

However, it was beginning to strain him. Days without eating a proper meal, stress due to promotions, and insomnia were starting to take a toll on him. He would usually endure all these without a problem because s were often supportive, but having all of them treating him like this was stressing him out.

It hadn't only been Ryeowook who approached him lately. There was Donghae, who talked to him briefly before performing onstage, telling him that Eunhyuk seemed sad, especially because Yesung was ignoring him. Then there was Heechul, who visited the members while they were rehearsing.

He had taken Yesung aside when break time rolled by.

"Jongwoon-ah, I know it's hard, especially for you," Heechul told Yesung calmly. "But it would only strain things between you two if you let this go on any longer. And hyung doesn't want this to become a bad memory for your relationship."

"Our relationship is fine and it's still going to be forever," Yesung said almost exasperatedly, not noticing the awed and surprised expression on Heechul's face. "I really don't know why you are all making a big deal of this. The two of us are adults and we can take care of our own issues. All I'm asking is for more time. I'm not exactly in the right state for talking since I'm stressed and I just want to clear my mind for a while. Isn't that reasonable enough?"

Heechul opened his mouth to say something, but a hand on his shoulder stopped him from doing so.

"We understand, Yesung-ah." Leeteuk's familiar voice drifted into their ears. "Take as much time as you need. Heechul-ah, I think your manager is looking for you."

Heechul looked at Yesung, then at Leeteuk. Then he nodded, gave them both a farewell wave, and went on his way down the hallway.

Leeteuk smiled at Yesung. "Don't mind him. Rather, don't mind the members, all right? They're just being protective, especially since Eunhyuk seemed down lately."

There it was again. The guilt. It began eating at Yesung's heart and he averted his gaze slightly from the older man. "Sorry, hyung," he said quietly, sincerely. "I'm just… irritated lately."

Leeteuk placed an assuring hand on his dongsaeng's shoulder. "I told you, it's fine. I understand how you feel. It's similar to what I felt back when Heechul and I fought at Incheon backstage." He let out a hearty laugh at that.

Yesung couldn't contain a smile. "Then I'm glad that it isn't Heechul-hyung who I fought with. That must've been difficult for you."

Leeteuk chuckled again. "No, I think he was the one who was scared of me at the time," he said teasingly.

Yesung laughed at that, nodding to show that he agreed. "You're scary when you're angry, hyung."

Leeteuk ruffled his hair affectionately. "No, I'm not. My fans call me an angel," he said, laughing along.

Yesung swatted away his hand playfully, his mood already alleviating. "By the way, hyung," he began. "What were you and Heechul-hyung doing in Rosamond Café a week ago?"

Leeteuk blinked, apparently not expecting that question. "Rosamond Café? What… a—ah."

Yesung didn't know whether to look surprised or amused. His hyung seemed nervous.

"Eyyy, something's going on?" Yesung teased. "What is it?"

"Well, we were… uh…" Leeteuk couldn't seem to look Yesung in the eyes.

Now Yesung was really intrigued. "C'mon, hyung, I know you can't lie~"

Leeteuk's face turned red at that statement. "No, no, it's not what you think! We were… uhh…" His eyes darted around as if trying to find a means of escape.

But Yesung grabbed him by the wrist and blocked the only path leading to the hallway. "Hyung, why are you so nervous? Look, your pulse is racing!" he remarked, laughing as he pressed against the pulse point on Leeteuk's wrist.

"Yah! If Eunhyuk finds out, he'll kill us," Leeteuk groaned.

"What? Why?" Yesung blinked. "Weren't you and Heechul-hyung on a date?"

Leeteuk looked so surprised that Yesung started to have second thoughts about his initial assumption. "Date? Me and Heech— no, we were just spying— I—I mean, break time's over! Gotta go, Yesung-ah!" With that, Leeteuk pulled away from Yesung's grasp, which had slackened in doubt, and walked faster than the latter had ever seen him do before.

Yesung stared at the corner where Leeteuk disappeared to, eyes still blinking slowly as if trying to process what had just happened.

"Spying on what?" he wondered aloud.

-;-

When tomorrow came, Yesung still couldn't stop thinking about it. His irrational mood, the behavior of s, the way Eunhyuk kept on sending him sad, longing glances… it was driving him crazy. He felt like he was being observed, like he was being pressured, but he didn't know what. All he knew was that he needed some cool air for the moment, just to relax.

So he went out and jogged during the night, about an hour before their scheduled practice, passing through the bridge where few people frequented. It was still early out, so it wasn't a dangerous time to be outside.

The sound of Super Junior's ballad song blasted through his ears, letting his heartbeat calm down to a regular pace. There were a lot of things to think about, and his relationship with Eunhyuk was one of them.

It was strange. Nothing seemed to really change between them, but there was just something about it now. It was as if Yesung was the only one who was out of the loop. It was confusing him, but he knew better than to ask Eunhyuk about it. Yesung had always been an overthinker, after all, and he would probably hurt Eunhyuk's feelings again if he questioned about it.

I guess the only way to possibly clarify things is by apologizing, Yesung finally decided to himself. It wasn't like Eunhyuk did anything wrong in the first place, but Yesung hadn't been in the best of moods at that time, and his strict diet was affecting him much more than he thought. It was probably because he was getting older, but that wasn't the point. He still loved Eunhyuk, still saw him as family and couldn't imagine life without him, without Super Junior. Family fought with each other all the time, but the important thing was that each one knew when to lower their pride at the right time.

After jogging, he found himself going inside the SM building, sweating slightly but cooling quickly due to the cold night air.

Yesung took a deep breath before opening the doors to the practice room. He made sure to arrive a little earlier than usual, hoping to catch Eunhyuk alone if ever the latter also happened to come early.

And his prayers were answered. In the middle of the large, quiet room, there was Eunhyuk, sitting in front of the mirror with a faraway look on his face. There was a half-eaten burger and a coke in front of him, indicating that he was currently eating what he called his dinner.

Yesung took a step towards him. Then another.

However, the sound of his shoes moving across the floor jolted Eunhyuk out of his trance, causing the latter to raise his head in surprise.

Eunhyuk's jaw dropped open. "H—Hyung?" he said, as if he couldn't believe his eyes.

Yesung stared down at him, suddenly unsure of what to say. Eunhyuk looked tired, almost ragged. The dark circles under his eyes were starting to look prominent, and it was obvious that he hadn't even bothered to comb his hair since it was messy and sticking out in different directions. There was hope, longing, and sadness in Eunhyuk's eyes, something that tugged at Yesung's heartstrings. He hadn't meant to make the younger feel bad, but it was still his fault that things became this way, so Yesung took another step towards him and slowly sat down in front of him.

"Hyuk-ah," Yesung began, "I'm sorry."

Eunhyuk stared at him, looking as if he was frantically looking for the right words to say. However, Yesung beat him to it, having thought a lot about how he should apologize properly.

"I know I was angry at you that time, and you scolded me for not taking better care of myself," Yesung said quietly. "I know you weren't lying when you said those words to me, believe me, I do. However… it's hard, Hyukjae-ya. I'm touched by your real and sincere thoughts about me, but because I have low confidence and self-esteem, your beautiful words couldn't pierce into my mind. It even almost felt like you were mocking me, that you were saying those things to me just to make me feel better. That you were treating me like a stupid child who needed to be said those things in order to wake up to reality."

"But hyung," Eunhyuk said weakly, almost stuttering in sadness and disbelief, "you know that's not what I…"

"I know," Yesung said simply, calmly. "I've known you for more than 18 years already, Hyukjae-ya. We've been together since we were trainees. We've seen each other's ups and downs. We've fought a lot of times, said hurtful things to each other, but in the end… we'd always say 'I love you'."

Yesung saw tears glimmering in Eunhyuk's eyes and he chuckled, beckoning the younger to come to his outstretched arms.

Eunhyuk didn't even hesitate and scooted over to his hyung, wrapping his arms around Yesung's waist and letting himself be trapped in his hyung's warm embrace.

"Aish, I made you cry again," Yesung said fondly, his soft voice drifting into Eunhyuk's ears. "I've been such a bad hyung to you these days."

"No," Eunhyuk disagreed, his voice muffled as he pressed his face against Yesung's clothed chest. "For me, hyung has always been the best."

Yesung chuckled again and patted Eunhyuk's hair, letting his fingers run through the soft black tresses. "I've been really sensitive lately, especially with the new, strict diet routine I'm carrying out. I haven't been able to sleep well, too, and I think I'm getting more stressed nowadays," Yesung explained. "You just caught me at a bad time… I was trying to cool off my head and talk with you when I'm in a reasonable state of mind, but I guess I hurt you too much. Again… I'm sorry, Hyuk-ah." Yesung pressed his face against Eunhyuk's hair, smelling the younger's fresh shampoo. "I love you."

There was a sob, then a chuckle as Eunhyuk gripped Yesung's clothes, pulling his hyung as close to him as possible. "I love you too, hyung… Thank you."

-;-

From then on, everything seemed to change bit by bit.

Because Yesung was adamant about his diet as well as the food he was going to eat for each meal, Eunhyuk took it upon himself to research healthy snacks that Yesung could eat in-between schedules. With some help from Ryeowook, he learned how to slice fruits and store them, boil nuts, create chicken salad, and also how to shop for ingredients. Being someone who only knew how to cook ramen and nothing else, it had been a surprise that Eunhyuk made so much effort to learn and do these things in a span of a week.

Which was why when Eunhyuk plopped a glass container filled with apple slices on the table in front of Yesung, the latter just stared at him in surprise.

"Hyung, I sliced these for you. Eat them all," Eunhyuk told him excitedly, looking proud of his accomplishment.

Yesung blinked. "Wait… you made these… for me?" he stated, bewildered, as he opened the glass lock and picked up a slice.

Eunhyuk nodded. "It's a tasty apple. I tried some earlier."

Yesung was still in disbelief, but he popped the apple slice into his mouth, chewing thoughtfully.

Eunhyuk stared at him expectantly.

Yesung smiled, then ruffled the younger's hair affectionately. "It's delicious. Thank you, Hyuk-ah. Did you learn how to peel and slice these for me?"

Eunhyuk nodded, looking pleased with himself. "Next time, I'll make more tasty snacks! Healthy ones with low calories. That's fine for your diet intake, right, hyung?"

Yesung laughed. "Yes, it is. Thank you."

The following day, Eunhyuk brought him some mixed nuts. After that, avocado slices. And then a lot more. Eunhyuk also often took him to cafés without Yesung even inviting him first. Eunhyuk normally didn't like coffee, but he didn't seem to mind all that much.

"Hyung, I think this café au lait could really use a lot more sugar," Eunhyuk commented, scowling slightly as he kept on sipping his cup.

Yesung placed a hand on his mouth to muffle his laughter in the quiet café. "Would you like to taste my cappuccino instead? They put in two sugar cubes and more cream. Maybe you'll like it." Yesung gently pushed his half-empty cup towards Eunhyuk's direction.

Eunhyuk was staring at the cup in silence, notably the part where there was evidence of Yesung's chapstick on the rim.

Yesung followed his gaze and burst into an embarrassed chuckle, nervously rubbing the back of his head. "Sorry… I guess I put on too much," he said sheepishly, rotating the cup so that a clean rim faced Eunhyuk. "Just don't drink with the side I used."

Eunhyuk looked like he was about to laugh. "Yesung-hyung really is like a girl sometimes," he teased. "Lipstick stains? Really?"

Yesung couldn't fight the blush that burned his cheeks. "Yah, be quiet and drink already," he said, flustered, as he grabbed a piece of cookie from a small plate on the table.

At that moment, Yesung thought that Eunhyuk really did exist just to . With a mischievous grin on his face, Eunhyuk swiped the cup from the table, rotated it sideways, and drank from the part where Yesung's chapstick stain was. Yesung spluttered in embarrassment, but couldn't contain his bewildered laughter as well.

"Yah, yah!! Stop that, that's gross!"

"Why not?? It's still tasty."

"Aish, stop teasing already—"

"You know, hyung is right. This does taste good!"

"Stop changing the subject!"

The two of them hastily left the café after playing around a bit more, giggling as they remembered the dirty look the waiter had given them for being too loud and disruptive.

As they walked through the cold weather, Yesung smiled as Eunhyuk rambled on about what happened at his D&E concert in LA, listening attentively to every word the younger was saying. The biting cold was making his hands grow stiff, so he placed them inside the pockets of his jacket, hoping that the heat would warm them enough.

"Hyung's cheeks are too red from the cold," Eunhyuk remarked, stopping in his tracks and turning to face Yesung. As the latter stood still, Eunhyuk arranged the scarf around Yesung's neck, properly tying it and covering every area of his neck. Eunhyuk's glove-covered hands brushed lightly against Yesung's face, tingling the latter's skin.

Then Eunhyuk suddenly swooped his left hand towards Yesung's right jacket pocket, gently cradling the older's hand in his own. Yesung stared at him in surprise, in disbelief that Eunhyuk would do this of his own free will, but the latter just gave him a warm grin.

"Hyung's hand is so small," he said. "It's a perfect fit, right?"

With that, Eunhyuk walked him to his apartment, waving goodbye and reminding him that he was going to fix Yesung a healthy lunch tomorrow before their rehearsals.

Yesung was bewildered, but he couldn't deny that he appreciated the kind gestures. He didn't know why Eunhyuk was suddenly very clingy with him and paid a lot more attention to him these days, but Yesung had to admit that the attention was nice. In the past and till now, he had always been the one constantly looking out and taking care of his dongsaengs. Since Leeteuk and Heechul were his only hyungs in the group, and both of them always had busy schedules, Yesung was sometimes left in charge of controlling the others. Of course, Leeteuk checked up on him at times and Heechul would hang out with him occasionally, but most of the time, they were busy with their own work.

And Yesung realized that, ever since Eunhyuk started doting on him, he had felt happier recently. His occasional mood swings lessened, his tendency to curse was reduced, and his gestures of affection towards s increased. He hugged Ryeowook more than usual, poked at Kyuhyun often, clung to Siwon more than the latter, and spent lots of time with Donghae. Of course, he also hung out almost every day with Eunhyuk, finding his company a lot more comfortable than usual. It was as if they had slipped into a natural sort of dynamic, adjusting quickly to the odd transition in their relationship, and just going along with the flow.

However, things started to change again when Yesung gave the custom-made rings for all of s.

Thank you and love, always.

That was what he engraved on the insides. s seemed happy and appreciative of his gesture, and as they all shouted their trademark cheer, Yesung gripped Eunhyuk's hand as they all raised their hands, laughing. Eunhyuk looked surprised at this, but he smiled and squeezed back, albeit hesitantly.

But then, after that, Yesung noticed that Eunhyuk began distancing himself from him a bit. It was subtle at first, but as the days went on, Eunhyuk lessened their café visits, didn't bring him healthy snacks that often, and even sometimes didn't answer Yesung's calls. It bothered Yesung a lot more than it should despite the fact that that was how Eunhyuk normally behaved towards him in the past.

Yesung hated to admit it, even to himself, but he missed Eunhyuk already. The damn brat had wormed his way into Yesung's heart and attached himself there. Yesung had grown so used to Eunhyuk clinging onto him like a koala that he hadn't realized how much it meant to him until it was starting to fade.

So Yesung made a decision. Since Eunhyuk's birthday was coming up in a few weeks, he knew he had to prepare for it.

-;-

"Looks like you messed up again, huh, hyung?"

Kyuhyun's amused yet somewhat mocking voice drifted into Yesung's ears as he painstakingly worked on Eunhyuk's birthday gift. Yesung raised his head and glared at Kyuhyun in response, but the latter was busy attacking enemies on his laptop, not even fazed with the fact that Yesung was burning holes onto his back.

"Shut up," Yesung muttered as he began to place the finishing touches.

Kyuhyun chuckled. "That's what you get for being so oblivious. Seriously, hyung, it's like you've never had a girlfriend before."

Yesung frowned at that, but was still immersed in his work. "What does me having a girlfriend have to do with my relationship with Eunhyuk?"

Kyuhyun shrugged. "You have a point, but you still gotta pay more attention to Eunhyuk-hyung. You keep treating him like he's just as equal as the rest of your dongsaengs."

Yesung scowled, but pondered about it. What's he talking about? he thought to himself as he hastily brushed off stray particles from the papers. Hyukjae is special to me, but Kyuhyun wants me to give him special treatment? Is it because Hyukjae has been sticking to me a lot lately? Do the other members consider the two of us best friends already like Hyukjae and Donghae are? Yesung shook his head, continuing to focus on his carefully-prepared gift. They're becoming weirder and weirder each day… Must be because we're all getting older and more sentimental already.

When the day of Eunhyuk's birthday finally came, Yesung found himself standing in front of the door to Eunhyuk's apartment, carrying a paper bag in his right hand and his phone in the other. He had messaged Eunhyuk earlier but had only gotten a reply just now.

You

Hyuk-ah

Do you have time?

Can you meet me outside your apartment building for a bit?

Seen 9:21 AM

SJ Hyukjae

Sure, hyung

I'm finished dressing

I'll be out in a minute

-;-

Yesung barely had time to compose his nerves before the door in front of him suddenly swung open, revealing a shocked Eunhyuk staring right at his face.

"Hy—Hyung?" he stammered, completely surprised. "What are you doing here — I mean, I thought we agreed to meet outside the building—"

Yesung didn't let him finish his sentence. After placing his phone in his pocket, he stepped forward and embraced the younger, wrapping his arms around Eunhyuk. Then, gently, he pushed the back of Eunhyuk's head against his shoulder, an intimate gesture that allowed the younger to nestle the area of his collarbone.

Yesung could hear a muffle of surprise coming from Eunhyuk, but he paid it no heed, continuing to cradle the younger to him protectively.

"Happy birthday, Hyuk-ah," Yesung said softly, a smile curving his lips.

tbc

Notes: Looks like this won't end with Part II after all. XD There's more to come~