Hyukjae stirred in his sleep as he slowly started to regain consciousness. He tightened his hold on the pillow he was currently snuggling close into and was just about to bury his head further in when his brain alerted him that something was not right. His eyes snapped open and it took him a moment but eventually the interior of the room he was in registered as his bedroom. He looked around the bed, then the room, looking for any signs of Donghae but when he saw no sign of the other, he jumped out of bed and ran outside hoping to catch him. He pulled the door wide open and semi-ran to the living room first then checked the kitchen before stopping by the hallway and finally, staring at the door. 

The house was quiet. Almost like...nobody was there. 

Hyukjae sighed and leaned his shoulder against the wall. A sense of disappointment building up inside him. He wanted to know where Donghae was but a voice inside his head told him to give him some space. One thing's for sure. He missed him like crazy...which scared him. 

"If you're looking for Donghae," he jumped and turned to see Kyuhyun coming out of his roomv . "He left a few hours ago."

"Oh." Hyukjae muttered looking down on the floor trying to hide his disappointment. Kyuhyun took a quiet sip of his coffee and observed Hyukjae from where he was standing.

It was clear that yesterday's events still bothered the other and,  if he were to guess, Hyukjae was probably already overthinking Donghae's departure in his head. Not that he can blame him. Donghae very much acted like he was caught sneaking out rather than just leaving earlier.

Three hours ago...

Kyuhyun was in the kitchen starting his morning meal prep routine when he heard one of the bedroom door's shut. Without thinking too much of it, he walked out of the kitchen to check on who it was that left the room and was surprised to see Donghae lightly banging his head against the wall. 

"What are you doing?" He didn't think he was being sneaky but when he saw Donghae jump and look at him like a deer caught in headlights, Kyuhyun realized that he may have startled the other unintentionally. "Are you okay?"

"Oh. Uhm- h-hey, Kyuhyun." Donghae awkwardly greeted with a light laugh as he held his palm against his forehead and slowly navigated his way down the hall towards the front door. "Y-Yeah. I just have a uh, minor headache." 

Headache? Kyuhyun thought to himself and wanted to laugh out loud if only Donghae didn't look so miserable. "Are you hungover? You barely had that much to drink last night." 

"Drink?" Donghae repeated curiously at first before making a face that showed he regretted his own actions. "R-Right. Uh...," Donghae chuckled awkwardly as he reached down on the floor to get his shoes."I-...I apologize for last night. That- That wasn't me at all." 

Kyuhyun had to laugh because it most absolutely was. "Don't apologize to me. I wasn't the one who had to take care of you." 

He wasn't sure it was possible considering the disheveled state Donghae was in, but when he saw him look towards the room he just left, Kyuhyun was able to see the color drain from Donghae's face and look even more mortified than he'd ever seen him before. 

"Y-You mean...Hyukjae?...He-....He was-"

Kyuhyun saved Donghae some time and nodded his head. He would have about it but held his tongue when he saw Donghae lean his back against the wall and groan out loud. Heechul's words from last night echoed in his head and couldn't help but look at the direction of Hyukjae's room as well and wonder whether he should say something to Donghae about it or not. 

"Um. I- I have to go." Donghae said to no one in particular. "Tell Hyukjae I'm sorry." 

Kyuhyun's brows furrowed and felt that maybe he should stop Donghae from leaving. "Sorry for what? Hey, Donghae-ah, at least wait for Hyukjae to wake u-"

"No." Donghae cut him off but the half-a-second look that Kyuhyun got of Donghae was all he needed to see to sense that the other was still going through his own mental crisis. "I'm-...I'll talk to him later. Let's just let him rest for now." 

Kyuhyun didn't even have time to give Donghae a reply before the other briskly walked out of the door and left. 

Now, faced with a somber looking Hyukjae, Kyuhyun couldn't help but wonder that maybe he should have insisted for Donghae to stay.

"I guess I'll go wash up then." 

Kyuhyun didn't bother to hide rolling his eyes at Hyukjae's lame attempt at being okay. Before the other could go back to his room, Kyuhyun stopped him by saying the words he longed to tell the other ever since he started gushing about Donghae. "Yah, are you really an idiot?" 

"Huh?"

"Are you really going to let him get away that easy?" 

Hyukjae's brows furrowed and Kyuhyun wanted nothing more than to hit the back of his head for being dense like always. 

"What are you talking about, Kyu? I'm not-"

Kyuhyun cut him off and kept going.

"I'm talking about you letting your head control what your heart should be leading." He said straight to the point hoping that this time Hyukjae would understand him more clearly. "I know you're being careful, Hyukjae. You always are; but don't let being you get in the way of getting what you really want."

Hyukjae just stared at Kyuhyun, not knowing what to say. 

"Hyuk, you're my best friend and I love you but...whatever you and Donghae fought about, I think you're gonna have to make the first move with him this time around."

First move? Hyukjae has no idea where to even start. 

"W-Well...what am I supposed to do?" 

Kyuhyun did a tight lipped smiled and approached Hyukjae to give him an encouraging tap on the shoulder before heading towards the kitchen. 

"Beats me. He's your boyfriend." 

Hyukjae's face scrunched up in disbelief but Kyuhyun already had his back on him. 'So much for being helpful.'

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

Meanwhile, Donghae was back in his own kitchen, holding a frozen bag of peas over his head while he laid his head on the dining table. His left cheek absorbing the coolness of the glass against his warm skin. Now that he has had some time to calm down and process what happened yesterday, he realized that maybe he overreacted a little bit.

...Okay, it was more than just a little bit. He overreacted a lot. 

He hated himself for letting Jessica's words get to him. He shouldn't have jumped into conclusions like that with Hyukjae and he most certainly shouldn't have impulsively drank that way last night. A frustrated groan came out of him as he pressed the bag harder on his head. 

"Stupid. Stupid. Stupid." 

"I agree." Donghae groaned even louder hearing his brother's voice in the room. "Although, I'm interested to know why you think so. Was it because you drank two bottles of alcohol even though you have next to no tolerance to it or was it the running in the hallway screaming Hyukjae's name at the top of your lungs in the middle of the night that did it?" 

Donghae's head snapped upwards so fast that Heechul couldn't help the snort that came out of him.

"I had to tell the building security that you were just drunk off your and that there was no actual person missing." 

"Hyung!" 

Heechul cackled but Donghae was too deep in his own misery to care. He dropped the bag of peas he was holding just so he could use both hands to bury his face in before running it over his hair then grabbing it. There was so much going on and he has no idea how to handle any of it. 

"Tell me you and Hyukjae at least patched things up last night." Donghae didn't have the courage to look up to his brother so instead, he made soft whimper sound before dropping his forehead on the table as his way of saying, no, things weren't fixed at all. Heechul, already knowing how his brother's mind worked sighed heavily  and plopped himself on the opposite chair of Donghae. His chin resting on his right palm as he pouted his lips in disappointment at the other. "Really? All night gone and you two didn't even kiss to make up?"

Donghae didn't mean to but his mind automatically flashbacked to the image of Hyukjae fresh out of the shower, followed by it quickly getting out of hand as he remembered his desire to push Hyukjae against the wall and kiss him senseless. His face heated up from the image that he couldn't help but scream at Heechul again for reminding him. 

"Hyung! It's- It's not like that!" Donghae huffed then picked up the semi-frozen bag of peas again to put against his cheeks to cool himself down. 

Heechul laughed and shook his head at his dongsaeng's reaction. "Have you and Hyukjae seriously not done anything? With the way I see you looking at him, I would imagine you two have ed like rabbits by now."

"Hyung, stop!" Donghae had to close his eyes and shake his head in order to stop thinking about Hyukjae's soft skin touching his or how much he thought of marking that pale skin when it was presented to him. No. He and Hyukjae were not ready for that stage yet. "I'm not a child, Hyung. I know things between Hyukjae and I moved a little fast but-...but the little time I've had with him has been my happiest. I thought I knew what love was before but seeing Hyukjae and being with him, it's a feeling I've never had with anyone." 

Heechul listened fondly to Donghae's words. This wasn't the first romantic monologue he's heard from him but this was the first time he'd seen that look on his face. The look of joy and excitement clearly shown in his eyes rather than just a love sick expression mixed with words of hope and blind trust.

This was the first time, Heechul thought, that he'd seen Donghae to be genuinely in love. 

"I know you didn't approve of Jessica before either but Hyukjae is not her. Hyukjae is different. He's-"

"Stop." Heechul cut Donghae off as he stood up from his seat. "My teeth will fall off if I have to hear another word about how in love you are with Hyukjae."

Instead of embarrassed, Donghae just smiled because he hasn't even began to really describe how important Hyukjae was to him. He doesn't even think there are enough words in the world to describe how he really feels. 

"My only advice to you, dongsaeng of mine," Heechul said while walking around the table and closing the distance between the two of them, "is to not let your head get in the way of what your heart is saying." He pointed at Donghae's chest where his heart laid and directly looked him in the eye before continuing. "There's a difference between being logical and being sensible." He placed a firm hand on Donghae's shoulder,  squeezed it then said, "Always be sensible when it comes to the matter of your heart."

~+~+~+~+~+~

Kyuhyun and Hyukjae walked together the streets of Seoul. The former wanting to check out their newly renovated apartment while Hyukjae begged his friend to help assist him purchase an apology gift for Donghae. He'd never had a relationship last long enough to mend petty quarrels and he's not sure how exactly to go about it. 

"I heard flowers are a timeless gift." Kyuhyun quipped as they passed by a floral vendor. "Do you know what kind of flower he likes?"

Hyukjae made a face before shaking his head. "I don't think flowers are the answer to the situation. Besides, I don't want to bring him something that's just going to wither and die."