“Did you know that the McDonald's here in Japan has a Gudetama McFlurry?” Ryeowook asks as they head out for the day the next morning. “How awesome is that?”

“Wait really?” Siwon says, looking elated by the prospect. “Should we go?”

“We’re in Japan, and you guys want to go to McDonald’s for breakfast?” Hyukjae grumbles.

“What’s wrong with that?” Ryeowook asks and Hyukjae turns to Donghae to see if he’s the only one finding fault in this situation. Donghae doesn’t even look at him, a faraway look in his eyes.

“Donghae?” Hyukjae asks. Donghae doesn’t seem to hear him. He quickly taps Donghae on the shoulder, causing Donghae to startle, whirling over to him. “I was asking if you were okay with going to McDonald’s for breakfast.”

Donghae blinks at him for a few seconds before he shrugs. Hyukjae frowns at Donghae’s strangely subdued attitude. 

“Kyuhyun, Yesung, you okay with that?” he says.

“I mean yeah, I don’t really care, it's just breakfast,” Kyuhyun says and Yesung nods.

“Whatever, I don’t care either,” he says. “I see one over there.”

Hyukjae, being outvoted, recognizes that the battle has been lost. He follows everyone as they make their way to the McDonald’s, deliberately slowing down so he’s next to Donghae, who’s lingering in the back of the group.

“Are you okay?” he whispers to Donghae, who glances at him.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” he says quietly back. Hyukjae assesses Donghae, who’s been looking pale since they had woken up. But if Donghae says he’s fine, he’s not going to pry.

They enter the McDonald’s and order at the kiosk. When they get their food, they all head to a table to eat. Siwon enthuses about his McFlurry (which is the only thing he ordered) while Ryeowook takes picture after picture of the themed ice cream. Beside him, Donghae picks idly at his food, completely seemingly uninterested in what’s happening around him.

It doesn't escape Hyukjae’s notice that Donghae barely eats anything, only a few bites, before tossing everything out when they leave.

Hyukjae keeps an eye on Donghae as they make their way to the Tokyo Skytree.

"Oh man, that's so much higher than I thought it was," Kyuhyun says, shielding his eyes as he looks up at the tower. Hyukjae nods in agreement.

"It's the second tallest structure in the world," Hyukjae says. He glances over at Donghae, who is looking even paler than he had at breakfast as he cranes his neck to look up.

"Are you okay?" Kyuhyun asks Donghae before Hyukjae can ask again and Donghae blinks a few times.

"Uh," is all he says.

"Donghae is a little scared of heights," Siwon says, clapping Donghae on the back. Donghae scowls up at Siwon as Kyuhyun laughs.

"I am a little, yeah," Donghae admits. And suddenly everything makes sense.

“Wait, is that why you’ve been so quiet all morning?” he asks. “Because you’d been dreading this?” Donghae scratches the back of his neck.

“A little, yeah,” he says.

"Is anyone else afraid of heights here?" Kyuhyun asks. Yesung, Ryeowook, and Siwon shake their heads in unison. Donghae looks a little desperate.

"I'm not," Hyukjae says. "I'll protect you." Donghae gives him a wry smile.

"Okay," he says, sounding dubious. Siwon throws an arm over Donghae's shoulders and presses a kiss to his temple.

"You'll be fine," he says. Donghae smiles weakly as they head towards the Tokyo Skytree. They get their tickets and get on the elevator and as it begins to ascend, Hyukjae starts to feel a strange sense of trepidation growing in his gut.

He can see the city below, getting further and further from the ground. It rapidly gets to the point where Hyukjae can no longer see the people, only people-shaped dots. He has to look away.

They step off the elevator and walk into the observatory, and the trepidation rapidly gives way to dread.

He takes a few shaky steps and stops at the wide glass floor, looking down at it.

He can see the scenery of the city below and suddenly he feels as if he can't move. He's frozen, staring unblinkingly at the glass floor, his legs strangely stiff and unmoving.

He feels a little light-headed. 

"Hyukjae?"

Hyukjae looks up to see Donghae already standing in the middle of the glass floor, tilting his head curiously at Hyukjae. When did that happen?

"It's not as bad as I thought it would be," Donghae says. Hyukjae swallows thickly and nods.

"That's good," he says weakly and he can practically see the cogs turning in Yesung's head from where he's standing behind Donghae.

"Oh my god," Yesung wheezes. He doubles over, body shaking with laughter as everyone else turns to him, confused. Hyukjae inhales slowly to keep from losing his temper, but Yesung’s laughing is testing him.

“Yesung,” he warns through grit teeth, but that only makes Yesung laugh harder.

“After all the you talked down there?” he manages to say through his laughter. “After all that, you’re so scared you can’t move?”

“I—” Hyukjae immediately goes to protest, but then he catches sight of the city below and his knees go a little weak again. At this point, he can hear Ryeowook and Kyuhyun snickering. He looks over Donghae, who’s biting his lip to keep from smiling. Hyukjae scowls.

“Come on,” Donghae says walking over and holding out his hand. “We can go together.”

“I don’t think you understand,” Hyukjae says, as much as it hurts him to admit it. “I can’t move. Like I physically can't.”

Yesung cackles, his face red.

"Oh come on, now," Kyuhyun says from behind him, shoving him forward. He takes an involuntary step forward to keep from falling over.

"Kyuhyun!" Hyukjae roars, even as he freezes up. His heart is racing and being on the glass doesn't make it any easier to move, if anything, it makes it worse.

And then suddenly, he's being picked up and carried across the glass floor as if he weighs nothing at all. 

"Don't worry, I'll protect you," Donghae says, his voice coloured in amusement as he echoes Hyukjae's perhaps overzealous promise from just minutes before. Hyukjae groans and goes limp in Donghae’s arms as Donghae chuckles.

He sets Hyukjae down on the other side of the glass floor.

"There," he says. "Easy."

"You're stronger than I gave you credit for," Hyukjae says, a little breathless. Donghae beams.

"I can bench press two hundred pounds now," he says in such a blasé manner as if that isn't the hottest thing Hyukjae has heard, maybe ever.

"Oh," Hyukjae says, a little dizzy, probably from the combination of adrenaline and Donghae's statement just now.

Their friends, who have finished admiring the view and jumping around on the glass floor (because they're all crazy with no sense of self-preservation) come over to join them.

"You okay, there?" Siwon says and Hyukjae nods.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm good," Hyukjae says. Yesung and Kyuhyun snicker in unison and Hyukjae flips them off over Donghae's shoulder.

They laugh louder, causing Donghae to turn around, looking a little lost.

"Ignore them," Hyukjae pleads.

"We can go out on the balcony," Siwon says as Donghae turns back to him and Hyukjae can feel the blood drain from his face, making him feel light-headed once again.

"Oh, absolutely not," he says. 

"You sure?" Yesung says.

"Yes, I'm sure," he snaps and Yesung snorts.

"Okay then, just wait here," he says. Donghae gives him a gentle smile and pats him on the arm. 

"I'll take pictures for you, okay?" he says.

"Okay," he says, waving Donghae off. "Go have fun."

Donghae beams at him in response, giving him a quick hug before heading out to the balcony. Hyukjae watches Donghae go with a fond smile.

His friends disappear after a while, making their rounds around the surrounding balcony. When they return to the viewing platform, Hyukjae can see their hair whipping around in the wind, likely violent because of how high up they are.

He shudders, glad he didn't force himself to go outside.

He continues watching his friends as they take pictures of each other. He nearly has a heart attack when Donghae, in a burst of what clearly can only be classified as insanity, leans so far over the rail it seems as though his entire upper body is over the edge of the glass fence. Siwon’s face turns a little panicked, grabbing at the man's collar. It probably wouldn't do anything if Donghae actually did tip over the rail, but it does reassure Hyukjae that there's at least someone out there on the balcony who's sane.

Donghae barely acknowledges the hand on his shirt, continuing to lean over the edge.

Hyukjae is starting to think Donghae's claim about being scared of heights is absolute bull.

A few minutes later, Donghae comes back inside, a grin splitting his face. His cheeks are ruddy from the wind and his hair is askew. Hyukjae can feel himself melting a bit at the sight: he’s adorable.

“I took pictures for you,” he announces, spending the elevator ride down showing Hyukjae pictures of the breathtaking view.

⸺

"I'd never got the chance to play Pokémon,” Donghae says when they’re back on solid ground (thank god) and making their way to the Pokémon Center in Nihonbashi. Donghae brushes up against him and his hand slips into Hyukjae’s before he continues. “I watched some of the anime when I was younger so I know a little bit, but my knowledge of it is lacking.”

Hyukjae chuckles.

“When we get back, you can play the Pokémon game on my Switch,” he says.

“Is it cute?” Donghae asks.

“Very,” Hyukjae confirms and Donghae beams.

“Pokémon Shield all the way,” Yesung cuts in from behind them and Hyukjae whirls around.

“Excuse me? Sword is far better,” he says. “And that’s what Donghae’s going to play.”

“Oh come on, Shield is clearly the superior game, I don’t know why you keep insisting the inferior one is the hill you want to die on,” Yesung says. Hyukjae scoffs.

"In what world is fighting and steel type superior to fairy and steel? Oh right, none," Hyukjae says. 

"Are you kidding? You cannot seriously be saying that Zacian is better than Zamazenta."

"Oh I definitely am saying exactly that," Hyukjae says. "Behemoth blade? Zacian's attack is far better than anything Zamazenta could have."

"That's because Zamazenta is a tank," Yesung says as if Hyukjae is a particularly slow child.

"And yet Zacian—" Hyukjae cuts himself off when Donghae squeezes his hand and he looks over at the other man. Donghae gives him an indulgent smile. "What?"

"Nothing," Donghae says, his eyes sparkling with amusement. "Go on."

"Please don't," Ryeowook whines. "No one wants to hear you two argue about the nerdiest aspects of Pokémon."

Donghae chuckles beside him. Hyukjae can see Kyuhyun rolling his eyes and the Pokémon Center up ahead anyway so he decides not to continue. 

"We'll talk about this later," he tells Yesung, who nods.

"Gladly."

"On your own time," Kyuhyun says. "How long are we spending here?"

Hyukjae had allotted two hours for the Pokémon center and to have lunch in the Pokémon café next door. 

"We can go off and shop to our heart's content and meet at the café," Hyukjae suggests and everyone nods in agreement. Hyukjae tugs Donghae along as they head inside.

Hyukjae steps into the shop and stops so suddenly, Donghae crashes into him. 

"Sorry," Hyukjae mutters, but his attention is glued on the shelves and shelves of stuffed Pokémon. He scans them and his eye lands on the Pikachu riding a Rayquaza in the middle of the area for a second before his attention is drawn to the giant hologram wall of a virtual Pokédex.

Hyukjae thinks he might have died and gone to heaven. 

He's snapped out of his gawking when Donghae tugs lightly at his arm.

"We can actually walk in," he says, lightly teasing Hyukjae, who flushes. 

"Where do you want to go first?" he asks and Donghae shakes his head. 

"This is your place, you choose," he says, so Hyukjae opts to start at the Pokédex hologram wall. He's scrolling through the little Pokémon animatics.

"Tell me about Pokémon," Donghae says. Hyukjae hums, blinking over at Donghae.

"What do you want to know?" 

"Anything," he says. "How does it work?"

"You have Pokémon," Hyukjae says. "And they battle." Donghae snorts.

"Well, I figured that part out on my own," he says.

"Shut up, it's complicated," Hyukjae says. "Each Pokémon has different types, they can have one type or two. Of course, ea