Hyukjae watched Donghae eat his breakfast worriedly as the latter looked like a zombie and stared into nothing while barely scooping up a bite of his very dry cereal. Heechul and Leeteuk sat across him talking animatedly to each other about their work acting as though they were completely unaware of Donghae's current state. Hyukjae frowned and glared at the two of them.

"Yah, can't you at least pretend to include him in your conversation?" Hyukjae half-yelled but Heechul and Leeteuk made no move of acknowledgment that they had heard him. Hyukjae sighed but then  was startled when the two of them suddenly burst out laughing. Donghae slammed his spoon on the table, making a loud clattering noise and effectively gathering the attention of the three men in the room.

"Can you two shut up!" Donghae yelled but Heechul and Leeteuk simply stared at him, completely unaffected by his glare. "You two have your own house. Why don't you go over there and leave me alone!"

Hyukjae panicked and looked back and forth between Donghae and the two people across from him. "Aish, Hae! What's wrong with you?"

"What did you say to me?" Heechul asked.

Hyukjae panicked when he saw Heechul toss his chopsticks on the table and cross his arms at Donghae. "No, no, Heechul hyung. Donghae didn't mean that!" Hyukjae pleaded towards him but Heechul and Leeteuk's eyes remained on Donghae.

"I said," Donghae started, his voice even more firm and stern this time around. "Leave me the alone! I don't need you," Donghae pointed at Heechul then at Leeteuk, "or you, or anyone else to come bother me!"

Hyukjae cursed under his breath and made a fist in the air as though he was about to hit Donghae. "Aish - you idiot! What are you saying?"

"Donghae," Leeteuk said calmly. "I know it's hard, but-"

"Know? You know?" Donghae scoffed then abruptly stood up from his seat; hands slamming hard against the table. "What do you know!?" Hyukjae's eyes followed after him and felt his heart constrict at the sight of Donghae's angered state. He walked closer towards him and stood next to his hunched over body, and tried to place a hand on his back, something he used to do to comfort him, but this time his act of comfort simply went through him. Hyukjae's lower lip quivered slightly as he continued to watch Donghae helplessly agonize over him.

"You don't know anything, hyung." Donghae's voice softened and cracked a little while his eyes concentrated across the room on a photo of him and Hyukjae. "You-...You get to go home to Kangin hyung at the end of the day while I-..." Donghae paused as his eyes welled up with tears once more the longer he stared at Hyukjae's smiling face. "I-...I have to deal with this."

Hyukjae felt the pain in Donghae's voice ten times over and felt completely helpless knowing there was nothing he could do to ease his pain. 

"He's dead, Donghae."

Hyukjae looked towards Heechul and even though his tone may sound indifferent Hyukjae knows it took a lot of energy for Heechul to say that. Donghae made a fist at Heechul's word and tried to contain the anger inside his body and stop himself from lashing out towards Heechul.

"You need to say it out loud, Donghae. He's dead."

Donghae didn't bother to turn towards them when he uttered the words, "Get out."

Leeteuk placed a warning hand on Heechul's arm but the latter simply shrugged him off. "Hyukjae's dead, Donghae," Heechul repeated not caring about any of the consequences at the moment as he tried to get through to Donghae. "You need to admit to that at least, Donghae! He's dead!"

"Get out." Donghae warned a second time.

Even though he may be a ghost, Hyukjae could still tell and feel the tension in the room. He placed himself in between Heechul and Donghae when he saw Heechul walking closer towards Donghae. He opened his arms wide as though he could block Heechul's path from going any further.

"No, hyung, please." Hyukjae looked back at Donghae and saw him grip towards the drinking glass he left there the night before when he drank his way to sleep. "Donghae's not thinking straight right now, Heechul hyung. Please don't say anything anymore."

Heechul stopped his steps right in front of Hyukjae. They were standing right in front of each other and Hyukjae could see the small hint of tears in Heechul's eyes as he stared at Donghae's back in anger. "Hyukjae's dead, Donghae! Say it! Say that he's dead!"

"GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!" Donghae yelled then threw the glass he was holding towards Heechul. It went through the back of Hyukjae's head and barely missed hitting the side of Heechul's face. Donghae's eyes were furious and his breathing was uneven but he didn't care. Somehow, the mere presence of Heechul and Leeteuk around him was beyond suffocating.

Leeteuk gasped in shock at the shattered glass on the floor before looking back to where Heechul and Donghae were standing in the room. The two of them stood there, simply staring at each other without saying a word. Heechul didn't flinch from where he was standing as he stared Donghae down. Even Hyukjae who remained an unforeseen force was looking at Donghae in both shock and disbelief.

"That's enough, Heechul." Leeteuk finally stepped in as he neatly fixed his and Heechul's plate on the table; neatly stacking it on top of the other. He walked to where Heechul was standing and with the kindest and most sincere smile he could muster he said, "We'll see you again for dinner."

"Don't bother," Donghae spat. Hyukjae frowned with disappointment and apologized to Leeteuk even though he knew the latter wouldn't hear him.

"This is a waste of time." Heechul muttered under his breath but loud enough for everyone in the room to hear.

"Yes. You're right," Donghae agreed mockingly. "It is all a waste of time so do me a favor and stop it!"

"You weren't the only one who lost somebody that night, Donghae." Heechul reminded voice still filled with anger but now it's more apparent how much pain he's still actually in. "I lost my brother and Leeteuk lost a friend. You're not the only one in pain here."

Donghae felt hot tears sting in his eyes and he angrily looked away from them two. Hyukjae started crying as well when he saw Heechul wipe his tears away as he tried to maintain his composure. "I'm here because of Hyukjae, Donghae. I wouldn't put in this much effort if I didn't know he wanted me to be here and watch out for you and keep you from doing anything stupid." With that, Heechul walked out of the room not bothering to spare