"I'm bored," Hyukjae says. His day had been going far too smoothly and Hyukjae had actually been productive today finishing all his paperwork. One would think being an agent in a contract agency for the government would be exciting, but most of the time, it's a lot of stakeouts, intelligence gathering, and the dreaded paperwork.

Of course, that's not to say excitement doesn't come sometimes (and sometimes it's too exciting), but today is clearly not one of those days.

"If you're going to keep whining like that, please go somewhere else," Yesung says. "Bother Donghae or something."

Which is not a bad idea. Even if his boyfriend is busy, watching him work is infinitely more interesting than wasting away up here.

"Fine, I will," Hyukjae says. He shuts down his desktop and goes downstairs, slipping quietly into Donghae's lab. Donghae doesn't notice him, but Kyuhyun does. The man frowns at him but otherwise doesn't comment.

Hyukjae knows that when Donghae is in his element, he's quite oblivious to just about everything going on around him. So it's easy to sneak up on Donghae and wrap his arms around his boyfriend's waist.

Donghae lets out a startled squeak.

"Hyuk!" he says. "What are you doing down here?"

"I was bored," Hyukjae says. 

"Why don't you go down to the range?" Donghae suggests. Hyukjae hums, burying his hair in Donghae's hair.

"Hm, come with me?" he says. Donghae checks the clock.

"Well I have an hour before I need to meet with Kyuhyun, so I guess I can. I don't have too much to do," Donghae says. Hyukjae smiles.

"Instead of me shooting, why don't I teach you?" he says. Donghae pales.

"Uh."

"Come on, it'll be fun," Hyukjae says. "I'll make sure of it." Donghae's grimace doesn't disappear at Hyukjae's reassurances.

"But your gun is a little scary," Donghae says and Hyukjae snorts at the low hanging fruit of an innuendo. Donghae punches him in the shoulder. "Shut up."

"I just want to see you try and shoot," Hyukjae pleads. "Please?"

Donghae grimaces. "This is the only time," he concedes and Hyukjae cheers.

"One is enough, love, come on," he says, grabbing Donghae's hand and pulls him down to the basement shooting range. The place is massive, constructed to accommodate long-distance sniping.

Hyukjae spends quite a lot of time down here, polishing his skills.

He grabs his rifle out of his locker before leading Donghae to the shooting area and sets up.

"Go on, lie down," Hyukjae says when he finishes. Donghae narrows his eyes dubiously at the ground. He turns back to Hyukjae and takes a long step forward so their chests are pressed together and their noses nearly touching. Hyukjae's arms almost automatically raise so his hands are resting on Donghae's lower back.

"What do I win if I hit it?" Donghae asks. 

"Hm," Hyukjae hums, considering. "Well, we can have seafood tonight." The moment he finishes speaking, Donghae's entire face lights up.

"Really Hyuk?"

"Yes," Hyukjae says. Donghae pecks him on the cheek.

"If I miss, I'll wear whatever you want me to tomorrow," Donghae says.

"Tempting offer, love. Does that mean you'll wear something other than oversized sweaters and loose jeans," Hyukjae asks dryly and Donghae pouts.

"Only for the day," he says and Hyukjae sighs, grabbing a fistful of Donghae's large black sweater.

"You're so beautiful and so fit and you hide it under oversized clothing and caps," Hyukjae says and Donghae laughs, his eyes crinkling in a way that melts Hyukjae's heart.

"They're cozy," he says. "And you get to see everything anyway, so that's all that matters."

"Mm that's true," Hyukjae says. "You can wear whatever you like. Sometimes though, I do like to see you in my clothes. Some skinny jeans and a tighter shirt." Donghae blushes.

"Are we going to shoot or not?" he says, unsubtly changing the topic. Hyukjae chuckles and nods.

"Lay down then," he says. Donghae obeys, laying down on his stomach and shuffling closer to Hyukjae's rifle. Hyukjae bends down and nudges Donghae to get closer to the gun. 

"You need to be pressed right up against it, okay?" he says quietly. He taps the scope. "Look through here and the back of the gun should be against your chest. And your cheek against here." He then takes Donghae's hands and puts them where they should be.

"Don't put your finger on the trigger until you're actually ready to pull it," he says. "Let's take the safety off. Always put it back on when you're done." He guides Donghae to safety and watches as Donghae gets comfortable. When his boyfriend's settled, Hyukjae makes a few minor adjustments, pushing Donghae's shoulders down so he's closer to the ground.

"When you're aiming, keep gravity in mind. And there is a slight draft in this room going to the right," he says. 

"There is?"

"Yeah," Hyukjae says. "Other than that, try not to breathe as you pull the trigger. Let the breath out and then do it. Any movement from your body affects where the bullet goes. Ideally, you would shoot between heartbeats to minimize movement as much as possible."

Donghae turns, frowning up at Hyukjae.

“...You’re kidding me right now, right Hyuk?”

“Love, why would I joke about something like that?”

"You can't be serious though, right? Between heartbeats?" Donghae asks incredulity saturating every word. 

"Well I'm not telling you to do it," Hyukjae says. "But yes, whenever possible, to be as accurate as possible, you pull the trigger between heartbeats."

"That's… you astound me," Donghae mutters, turning back to look through the scope. Hyukjae chuckles. "There's so much more to this than I thought."

"You flatter me too much, love," he says. He bends down and gently corrects Donghae's positioning again. "Are you going to try and shoot now?"

"This gun is very intimidating, Hyuk," Donghae says. "Don't rush me."

Hyukjae smiles but takes a step back, letting his boyfriend prepare to take the shot. Donghae doesn't shoot for another minute or so, but Hyukjae is content to let him take his time. The view is certainly nothing to complain about.

He knows the moment Donghae's about to shoot because his boyfriend's body tenses just as he does so. He winces as the recoil hits Donghae's shoulder, which hurts far more when one is tense.

"I told you to stay relaxed," Hyukjae says gently as Donghae visibly winces at the impact.

"That hurt so much more than I thought it would," Donghae bemoans.

"Safety," Hyukjae reminds before Donghae can sit up. Donghae nods, clicking the safety back on the rifle before he sits up. Hyukjae bends down, massaging the point of impact on Donghae's shoulder and collarbone.

"Do you think you hit it?" he asks. Donghae pouts up at him.

"I have no idea," he says. The sight of Donghae pouting is too tempting so he leans in, planting a quick kiss on his boyfriend's lips. The pout quickly melts into a smile.

"Let's check, shall we?" 

He picks up his binoculars and turns to check the target. 

"Hm," Hyukjae hums.

"Well, did I hit it?" Donghae says. Hyukjae can feel Donghae's arms snake around his waist, Donghae's chin resting on Hyukjae's shoulder. Hyukjae grabs his boyfriend's wrist, pulling his hand off and links their fingers together. He lowers the binoculars, pulls Donghae's hand up to his mouth, and presses a kiss to his knuckles.

"You nicked the bottom edge of the target," he says. 

"Really? That still counts, right?" Donghae says.

"Do you want it to?" 

"Yes," Donghae says immediately and Hyukjae chuckles.

"Then fine," he murmurs. "We'll have seafood tonight."

"Yay," Donghae says quietly, kissing Hyukjae's neck. "I won't cook lobster. And it won't be overly fishy. You'll like it, I promise." Hyukjae pulls himself free and turns around, wrapping his arms around Donghae's waist as well.

"I'll try," Hyukjae says, pressing a kiss to Donghae's forehead. "Do you have to go?" 

Donghae checks his watch.

"Oh right, I have a meeting with Kyuhyun in five minutes," he says. He kisses Hyukjae's cheek. "I'll talk to you later, okay?"

"Okay, love," he says and Donghae grins.

"Seafood tonight," he says, his eyes bright with excitement. 

"Of course, love," Hyukjae says smiling back. Donghae beams at him before heading off. Hyukjae watches his boyfriend leave before he kneels down and starts taking his gun apart.

"Hey," Yesung's voice comes from behind him and Hyukjae turns, raising an eyebrow as Yesung approaches.

"How long have you been there?" he asks.

"A couple of minutes or so," Yesung says. "I just don't understand how you two have been dating for five years and are still somehow in your honeymoon phase."

“What can I say, we’re stupidly in love,” Hyukjae says.

“Stupid is right,” Yesung says. Hyukjae snorts and goes to the control panel, pushing the button to bring the target back to him. He unclips the paper.

“He didn’t hit it,” Yesung comments from behind him.

“No,” Hyukjae says.

“But you said—”

“I know what I said,” Hyukjae says. “He wanted to have seafood for dinner. So I gave it to him.”

“But you hate seafood,” Yesung comments. 

“Yes,” Hyukjae says. But he knows that Donghae's been craving seafood for a long time now but never brings it up because Hyukjae doesn't like it. So he'll make the sacrifice. Donghae would never agree to eat something Hyukjae actively dislikes outside of winning a bet.

“You’re so whipped,” Yesung says after a moment.

"Hm," Hyukjae says, chuckling. He puts the unscathed target back onto the stack of targets for later use. "Can you blame me?" Yesung lets out a startled laugh.

"No, can't say I do. Still hilarious to watch, though," Yesung says. "Oh, and by the way, Leeteuk's calling for you."

"Did he say for what?"

"No, just that you should hurry," Yesung says.

Hyukjae sighs. "Okay, I need to lock this up and then I'll go to see him."

Yesung heads off and Hyukjae takes an extra couple of minutes to lock up his stuff before he heads upstairs. He passes by Donghae’s lab on the way there and he stops at the door for a few seconds, watching with a fond smile watching Donghae bustle around his multitude of projects.

Donghae sees him after a while and smiles widely at him, waving.

Hyukjae waves back before going up to Leeteuk’s office. He knocks on the door and enters when he hears Leeteuk tells him to do so. 

He steps inside and nods politely at Siwon and Shindong, who are already inside.

“You asked for me?” Hyukjae asks and Leeteuk nods.

“Yes,” he says. “As you know, we’ve been tracking a prolific group of violent thieves led by Kim Junsu. Siwon’s been in close contact with them while undercover and recently, they’ve expressed a need for a new sniper.”

“I’ve never been able to get any strong evidence of their actions, at least nothing that would hold up in a court of law,” Siwon says. “Of course, up until now, they’ve been a tight-knit group that has been silent about their actions and never open to outsiders. But that has changed. They lost their sniper a month back and are finally looking to replace him.”

“And that’s where I come in,” Hyukjae says. Siwon nods.

“Yes,” he says. “They asked me for recommendations for the best and I thought you would be well suited to take them down once and for all.”

“Well I am the best,” Hyukjae allows. “Okay. You’re going to recommend me. What are the chances they’ll take you up on it?”

Siwon shrugs.

“Hard to tell,” he says.

“I have Kyuhyun working on constructing a profile for you already,” Leeteuk says. “It will be bulletproof, with stellar credentials, they will be a fool not to take Siwon’s recommendation.”

“Okay,” Hyukjae says. “Okay. Anything else I need to prepare?”

“No,” Siwon says. “But they will be contacting you directly, should they be interested, so keep an eye out for that.” He reaches into his pocket and hands Hyukjae a burner phone, which Hyukjae takes and tucks away.

“Well I guess we’ll see,” he says.

⸺

Hyukjae gets an email from Kyuhyun just before he's about to leave for the day with a file on his newly constructed persona. Kyuhyun has changed his name to "Lee Eunhyuk," but kept his history close to Hyukjae's own. It's always a good strategy, to change only minor details to make it easy to keep the story straight.

Hyukjae saves the file on his laptop and packs up. He slings his bag over his shoulder before he heads downstairs to Donghae's lab.

The door is ajar when he gets there, so Hyukjae slips inside. Donghae is sitting with his back to the door so Hyukjae takes a moment to watch him. His boyfriend is completely immersed in his work, lines of code covering the screen and the guts of something that looks like a communicator spread across the table.

Donghae is muttering to himself, running his hand through his hair, causing it to stand on end. His fingers fly over the keyboard, the muttering speeding up and getting more and more intense. Hyukjae smiles, admiring just how adorable his boyfriend is.

He steps forward, gently fixing Donghae's hair. Donghae startles a little, turning around to look up at him and beams, his eyes sparkling as he catches sight of Hyukjae. Hyukjae's heart rate increases at the sight—he'll never understand what he's done to deserve being met with such adoration from Donghae.

"Hey," he says.

"Hey," Donghae says.

"Are you ready to go home?" Hyukjae asks. Donghae nods. 

"Uh, yeah, let me save and put everything away," Donghae says. He clicks a few keys before shutting off the computer. 

"Do you need help cleaning?" Hyukjae asks and Donghae shakes his head. He opens a drawer and sweeps all the parts into it.

"Done," he says. Hyukjae lets out a startled laugh.

"Efficient," he says.

"I thought so," Donghae says, slipping his hand into Hyukjae's, interlocking their fingers. "Let's go."

⸺

They stop by at the grocery store on their way home. Hyukjae trails behind Donghae, letting his boyfriend do most of the shopping, given that he'll be the one cooking.

"I was thinking of baking a cod and making a salad," Donghae says as he loads the cart. Hyukjae nods.

"Okay," he says.

"If you hate it, I can make something else," Donghae says.

"It'll be fine," Hyukjae says, taking Donghae's hand. Hyukjae grabs a few snacks as they shop and when they’re finished, they head straight home. 

Hyukjae settles at the kitchen island as Donghae starts cooking, taking the opportunity to observe his lovely boyfriend as he bustles around the kitchen. Eventually, he gets up and starts helping Donghae where he’s directed and before long, everything’s cooked and prepared.

They settle down at the dinner table and Donghae cuts the fish and holds out a fork with some of the fish on it out for Hyukjae. Hyukjae hesitates for a second before eating. He chews thoughtfully—it’s pleasantly seasoned, and though he’s not the biggest fan of the taste, the texture of fish is quite nice. 

“It’s okay,” he says and then chuckles when Donghae pouts.

“Only okay?” Donghae says.

“Well I’m not the biggest fan of the actual taste of fish, but everything else is good. It’s fine, Donghae, let’s eat,” he says, poking at Donghae’s pouty cheek. Donghae sighs, clearly having hoped that this would have given Hyukjae some kind of revelation when it came to seafood as a whole, but he settles and starts eating.

They chat idly about their day, Donghae telling him about how he and Kyuhyun are trying to create a more powerful communicator that works longer distances and can withstand more abuse.

"Do you have a plan right now?" Hyukjae says.

"I—" Donghae starts when an unfamiliar ringtone interrupts him. Hyukjae blinks, taking a second before he remembers the burner phone Siwon had given him.

"Stay quiet," Hyukjae says and Donghae nods. Hyukjae leaves the table and answers the phone.