Hyukjae's blood ran cold and he felt his heart stop beating for a second upon hearing Yesung's last words. His head was swimming with too much information and he couldn't really understand or process anything except for one very important detail...

Donghae was marked by Death. 

But...why?

Hyukjae paled at the thought that he may have been the one to endanger Donghae's life. Death wanted him and now he was using Donghae to get to him. His breathing started to go uneven, followed by a slight pain in his chest the more he thought about it. Yesung gasped seeing Hyukjae start to hyperventilate and immediately went by his side to slowly guide him to sit down. 

"Hey, breath. Eunhyuk-ah, breathe." 

Hyukjae closed his eyes trying to ignore the irritation he felt at hearing that name. He wasn't Eunhyuk. He was Lee Hyukjae and he does not want to pretend anymore.  He wants to tell Donghae the truth. To keep him safe and tell him he loves him and be there for him...but now the looming threat of death made him want to hide and cower in fear. Yesung could see the conflict going on in Hyukjae's head on his face and got worried that he might do something stupid. 

"How-How do you know?" Hyukjae managed to ask in between his heavy breathing. "Ab-About Donghae and...and Death?"

Yesung pursed his lips together but knew it was too late to change his mind about what information to tell Hyukjae. They were in uncharted territory and he wouldn't want Hyukjae to be blindsided if Death was really targeting him to get him back over to the other side so, albeit still reluctant, he told him the truth. 

"I saw it. When he fell on the floor, I saw the same mark on his arm that you have on your wrist."

Hyukjae looked at his wrist and even though he still couldn't see anything on him, he could feel it burning his skin. He consciously rubbed over it as his anxiousness slowly grew by the second. His head was swirling with worry for Donghae. How can he save Donghae? 

"Whatever you're thinking, don't." Yesung said firmly when he saw Hyukjae's eyes waver with despair. "We still don't know what's going on so don't jump into conclusions."

Hyukjae laughed, a bitter defeated laugh because  of course they knew what was going on. How could they not!? Donghae could have lived a long happy life without Death looming over his head if he had  just given up when he said he would instead of hanging on to him like he was doing now. There was no one else to blame for this but him. He put Donghae in danger so it was up to him to keep him safe again. 

~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~

10 hours earlier...

Donghae had sent Sooyeon home after seeing how disoriented she was that morning. Her eyes have returned to normal but he could tell that there was still something wrong with her. The fuzzy memory, time loss, and her overall lack of coordination made him worry so he told her to take the day off to rest and recover. Unfortunately for him, today turned out to be one of the busiest days in the office as he had clients calling him left and right asking about projects that he still needed to work on.

It was a pretty hectic day all in all and Donghae made sure that he would show how much he appreciates her when she gets back to the office tomorrow. 

In the midst of all the chaos he had to go through in his work, he was able to momentarily put the bizarre interaction he had with her out of his mind as he continued to get buried one document after another. Once the clock hit 5:00, his body was ready to retire and he started to organize his things together when he was approached by one of his colleague. 

"Hyung! Are you all done?"

Donghae looked up from his desk and saw Dongjun come in. "Oh, hey, Dongjun-ah. Yeah, I was just packing my things. Did you need something?"

Dongjun grinned at that question and casually sat halfway on Donghae's desk, knowing that that was a pet peeved of Donghae. 

"Do I need a reason to visit you?"

"Yes," Donghae replied back without hesitation then harshly pulled on the folder that Dongjun was sitting on, purposely pushing him off his desk. "Always."

Dongjun simply laughed at what Donghae said before actually telling him the reason for his visit. "Okay, well, I was thinking-"

"How did that feel?" Donghae interrupted with a teasing smirk which Dongjun chose to ignore. 

"-It's been a while since we last hung out together, so why don't we go out for a drink tonight?"

"No, thanks." Donghae didn't even think twice before rejecting the offer. "I just want to go home and get some sleep tonight."

"Oh come on, Donghae hyung!" He whined. "We both know you're going to drink yourself to sleep tonight anyways so why don't we drink together instead?" Donghae gave him a funny look and wanted to ask how he would know that but just then, Dongjun wrapped his arm around his neck and got really close around his personal space. "Haven't you heard? Misery loves company."

Sensing that the other wouldn't really take no for an answer, Donghae ended up heaving a heavy sigh and reluctantly agreeing. He adjusted the strap of his bag before shaking Dongjun off of him. 

"One drink," Donghae offered while walking away. "That's it then I'm going home."

Dongjun cheered happily and ran after Donghae, jumping on his back with joy as they both walked out of his office. Donghae's withering plants from earlier have completely dried out and drained of its color. No one would even think that just that morning, those plants were flourishing alive and well. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Donghae was on his fourth bottle of soju and was now presently completely uninhibited. Dongjun sat across him, with two bottles of his own, smiling amusely at Donghae's antics. He was definitely more fun to be around with now that his guard was down. 

"Y-You'rrreee a g-great-great dongsaeng, Dongjun-ah!" Donghae slurred then slammed the shot glass he just downed. He tried to reach across the table to give him a pat on the shoulder but his arms was too short and the table felt too long that he just ended up patting the table instead. 

"Donghae hyung, are you alright?" He asked but his tone was void of any concern as he peered under Donghae's face with an interesting smile. "You're not gonna pass out on me, are you?"

Donghae snickered and raised his heavy head up to show him his smirk. "N-Nothing can get me. Trust me, I've tried." The last of his words were laced with bitterness as he grabbed the bottle in front of him and sighed disappointedly when nothing came out. Instead, he just grabbed for Dongjun's bottle across the table and took a direct swig out of the bottle. 

Dongjun watched him closely, his eyes sharp and once he was sure that Donghae was absolutely past wasted, his eyes changed from dark brown eyes into a dark golden ones as he put his hands together and placed his chin on top of them. A slow chesire grin gracing over his face. 

"Well, I gotta hand it to you. Most humans would have moved on by now but I could still clearly feel your love for Hyukjae has remained strong and sincere - even comparable to the first day you met."

Donghae's ears perked up at the mention of Hyukjae's name but due to the alcohol fogging up his mind, he wasn't able to fully process the words that 'Dongjun' just said to him. "W-What?" 

Death looked at Donghae through Dongjun's eyes and was greatly amused now that he could clearly see through Donghae and peer into his soul. His once broken soul has been healed and he could see the longing it had looking for Hyukjae. The red thread that Fate wrapped around him has been tied back together due to Eunhyuk's presence but it remains tangled. Donghae has not opened his heart up to him yet and his soul is crying to be let out of its cage. Death's interest lies since he was very aware that the key to opening that cage lied on Hyukjae's ability to make Donghae see the real him.