“I had things to do, you know.”

“Like what?” The car gains speed. Yesung gulps. “Wallow in self-pity until your next schedule? We’ve been over that already.”

“Sleep,” Yesung says after a pause. Hyukjae shakes his head, and Yesung would like to say he didn’t notice, but the is pouting. “Ever heard of that?”

“Sleep is for the weak,” Hyukjae concludes, leaving no room for further complaints, so Yesung just sighs. “Besides, you were just gonna watch movies and read a book at the same time until four in the morning.”

“You’re being too loud.” Yesung sighs again. This doesn’t even make any sense. Why would you want to get yourself into a car at nine in the evening and set off for the beach? And why the hell is it always Hyukjae that manages to talk him into these things? “Stop it.”

“Truth hurts.”

Hyukjae’s hand reaches for the radio as he says it, and Yesung grabs it so quickly that he doesn’t really have the time to stop and think about his actions. The skin contact immediately reminds him of what he’s doing, and it all ends as quickly as it started when it has the intended effect—stop Hyukjae from controlling the music.

Yesung clears his throat and shoves Hyukjae’s hand back on the steering wheel. Hyukjae blinks at him.

“Hyung?”

“Watch the road,” Yesung warns him with a glare. The venom in his voice works instantly, and Hyukjae’s eyes are back where they should be before the night ends in tragedy. “You’re so distracted. You shouldn’t be allowed to drive. Donghae is right when he forces you to ride in the passenger’s seat.”

“You literally just grabbed my hand,” Hyukjae mutters, noticeably relaxing against his seat. “It’s your fault.”

“I was trying to keep you away from the radio,” Yesung shoots back without hesitating. Because it’s the truth. And because it makes it easier to forget his heartbeat is acting as if his body just ran a marathon. “It’s not like it’s the first time we held hands, you know.”

“I know.”

“Then shut up.” Yesung eyes the radio suspiciously. “The way it’s 2020 and you still drive around with CDs as if your car doesn’t have Bluetooth…”

“I’m a slave to nostalgia,” Hyukjae quietly says.

Yesung frowns. He might be the one with a truckload of DVDs and vinyl records at his house, and yes, he’s yet to give up his old iPod, but still—he’s not that deranged.

“Clearly.”

There’s silence for a long while after that, and neither one of them does anything to change the situation. Hyukjae just looks uncharacteristically focused on the road—quite a feat, given his track record—and Yesung is too worn out to dwell on it. Preparing for a comeback always drains the hell out of him, as much as he might enjoy it, and dealing with Kyuhyun, Hyukjae himself, and Ryeowook—not to mention the rest of the group—all at once is no easy task. Still, it will always beat doing it alone.

Having a tangible presence close helps with the loneliness. The same loneliness that manages to creep up on him the second he’s left to his own devices, like a child that doesn’t want to be separated from his mom on the first day of kindergarten. That doesn’t erase the sheer exhaustion that comes with it, though, and really—all he wants right now is his bed. Definitely not going along with whatever Hyukjae’s new stupid idea is.

And yet, there he is. Doing exactly that.

“Stop overthinking already.”

Yesung blinks at the road. “Huh?”

“I didn’t drag you out here for you to overthink yourself to sleep,” Hyukjae continues, as if he didn’t say anything out of the ordinary. “We’re almost there.”

“I wasn’t overthinking.”

“You were.” Hyukjae’s grip on the steering