“I need to see my own beauty and to continue to be reminded that I am enough, that I am worthy of love without effort, that I am beautiful, that the texture of my hair and that the shape of my curves, the size of my lips, the color of my skin, and the feelings that I have are all worthy and okay.”

Tracee Ellis Ross

After that long and agonizing talk with Donghae’s therapist, Hyukjae found himself bidding a wave to the younger as the latter dropped him off to his apartment. To be honest, he did not realize how much he had grown to like Lee Donghae not until the doctor himself pointed out so.

Hyukjae never knew the true meaning of love more than in the context of family and friendship. Initially, he just thought maybe he liked Donghae because of pity especially upon finding out about his unfortunate past so he decided to help him in any ways possible. And of course, he did it discretely and out of Donghae’s knowing and observant eyes. The thing was, something about today seemed different and even Hyukjae admitted it. That thing inside his heart that kept on bothering him was not pity nor a simple infatuation towards Donghae but it was so much more than that. Love, perhaps?

But really, what is the true definition of love? For Hyukjae, it was a hard question with an even harder answer. It was true that he had developed crushes before but love is something farfetched. To him, it would be an irony to say that love is eternal. His mother left him and his father with her relentless love, but it was never eternal. His father once told him before that it takes a whole dash of perseverance and guts to fall in love and finally, Hyukjae realized why. For starters, the person he loves seemed unreachable due to the walls he had built around him. Donghae was changed by the passage of time and his walls are things Hyukjae was willing to climb over. He is that dedicated to do anything for Donghae. Call him hopeless romantic but life shaped him that way.

Fumbling with his apartment keys, Hyukjae was not that surprised when the door opened even before he had the chance to insert the key. He was greeted by the welcoming face of his father who was now cladded in a more comfortable clothes. Instead of checking in on a luxurious suite, his father decided to just stay with him in his apartment for the mean time and he sure missed his old man so much to say no.

“Did you eat dinner already, son?” Hyunwook asked him and Hyukjae nodded his head, trying not to step on his father’s things that were scattered on the floor.

Actually, he had invited Donghae to eat dinner with him on their way back because they both lost track of the time due to their talk with Doctor Choi.

After making himself comfortable on the couch, he looked at his father who was busying himself with tidying his clothes. “Donghae and I ate before he dropped me off.”

And at the mention of his boss, his father glanced at him with a very playful but genuine smile. “So that’s Donghae, huh? I always knew I would like that boss of yours when you told me stories about him.”

Hyukjae just chuckled at the playfulness of his father. Still, he could not believe that the person who had helped his father at the mall turned out to be his boss. He always knew Donghae’s a great person but he also knew that he was not a people’s person. His boss is the type to avoid any human interaction as much as possible, so upon hearing that he stood up for his father was something that made him fall for the younger more.

“Donghae is a great kid, Hyuk. He is surely a keeper. He reminded me so much of your mother when we were on our twenties.” Hyukjae stared at his father who was looking at him with a serious expression. “That kid must’ve had gone through so much. It was obvious in his eyes,” Hyunwook added, and Hyukjae could not help but painfully nod.

“He sure did, Appa.”

“Are you guys sure we did not forget anything?” Kyuhyun’s voice echoed throughout their whole floor.

“I think we already packed everything, Kyu,” Sungmin answered and both Hyukjae and Henry nodded in agreement. Kyuhyun gave them a thumbs up as he motioned for Hyukjae to help him carry all their luggage, most probably to Mr. Park who was waiting for them downstairs.

When everyone heard that Director Park Jungsu would treat them to a four-day-long mini vacation to his colleague’s resort beach outside the city, they were more than excited. They were pretty sure they deserved it as well so they immediately went to packing and preparing everything they would need. The vacation was exclusive to both Donghae’s and Yunho’s team as the other teams would be sent to a vacation some other time at the end of the month.

On their way to the entrance of the company building, they instantly saw Zhoumi and Donghae carrying two duffel bags each. Zhoumi waved hello at them before handing both their bags to Mr. Park who was patiently waiting beside a luxurious-looking van, probably owned by Donghae himself, Hyukjae believed.

“What took you guys so long?” Zhoumi, who was also invited to go with them, asked. Donghae ushered everyone to finally get inside the van in which they straightaway complied. For Hyukjae, Donghae once again looked like a runway model especially now that he was sporting a more business casual look comprising of a gray button-up shirt, charcoal black-colored blazer, and denim jeans with a black ray ban.

Can he look any hotter than this? Hyukjae wanted to slap himself when he found himself staring at