“ing finally, it’s about damn time you both admitted to the world that you were ing each other!”

“Watch your language, Cho Kyuhyun,” Donghae warned in a hushed voice, Hyukjae’s perfectly fluffy and messy hair as his new boyfriend slept peacefully in his arms. “It’s more than just the .”

Despite the warning tone in Donghae’s voice, Kyuhyun could tell that the professor was sporting a huge grin on his face. He was glad that they both finally did something about their relationship. Also, he was indeed very happy for Donghae because the professor had been simping and pining for the boy for way, way too long. 

In a way, that also meant he could continue teasing his favourite hyung and still get away with murder. He was going to have So. Much. Fun.

“What? I’m pretty sure that still plays a huge role in your relationship. I’m so glad that you finally got that non-boyfriend nonsense out of your head. So, when’s the wedding ceremony? Can I be your best man instead of Siwon hyung? I mean, I know he’s your best friend and all but you can’t take that into account because then he’d have an unfair advantage over me—”

Donghae rolled his eyes and said, “No, because there’s no such wedding happening in the near future, and even if there was, there wouldn’t be one. We’d just elope.”

“Ohh, thinking about eloping already, are we?” Kyuhyun cackled. “Let me know if you ever need someone to officiate, I know someone who would be able to help—”

Donghae facepalmed. “It was just a figure of speech. Don’t keep going on about it.”

“Why, afraid it’ll scare him away? All you gotta do is just grab him by his —”

“ you, I’m hanging up.”

“You gotta practise for the honeymoon—”

Beep.

Donghae ended the call abruptly, glad when Kyuhyun’s annoying voice finally cleared from his head. He then threw his phone back onto the sofa and focused on the angelic form lying quietly on his chest instead. His boyfriend, his lover, his Hyukjae. 

Hyukjae’s chest rose and fell steadily as his warm breath gently fanned against Donghae’s neck. His puffy lips barely jutted out in the slightest of pouts, yet they were so deliciously enticing to Donghae that all he wanted to do was to keep kissing and tasting him for the rest of the day. 

~

“O-Officially?”

Hyukjae’s cheeks heated up and turned a deep fuschia colour. 

He had long dreamed about this day, but he never thought that Donghae would be the one to pop the question while he was sitting in the professor’s lap, half-, with only a throw blanket wrapped around his body like this.

“Yes, officially,” Donghae replied, gently the student’s flushed cheeks with a fond smile on his face. He stared into Hyukjae’s surprised eyes. “I promise I’ll take good care of you.”

Hyukjae could feel his skin burning. He retreated farther back inside his blanket cocoon and said, “You’re not just saying this because you want me to take off my pants as well, right?” He peered at the professor suspiciously. “Are you not gonna let me put my shirt back on if I don’t say ‘yes’ to you?”

“That’s how you usually think of me?” Donghae blinked in mild shock. “Also, is that… a rejection?”

“I—” Hyukjae drew his lips in a tight line when he saw Donghae’s flustered look. “I need some time to think.”

Donghae fought to keep his anxious thoughts away and instead reached out to pat Hyukjae’s head. Hyukjae didn’t miss the sudden flash of insecurity in the professor’s eyes nonetheless. 

“Hyukjae… Don’t you like spending time with me?”

“I do, I already feel like I want to spend the rest of my life with you, but…” Hyukjae blurted, hesitating suddenly at the end.

“But what?” coaxed Donghae.

“But w-we’ve only been together for such a short while and I’d already managed to hurt you so many times,” Hyukjae admitted softly. “What if just keeps on happening afterwards as well? What if something worse happens later on? What if I keep breaking your heart? What if—”

“What if we give it a try first?” Donghae said gently, interrupting Hyukjae’s increasingly anxious worrying and cupping his face with his hands so he could look into the boy’s eyes. “What if miracles happen afterwards? What if things take a turn for the better? What if we work through every heartbreak hand in hand and actually do end up spending the rest of our lives together?”

“P-Professor…”

Donghae glared playfully at Hyukjae. “It’s ‘Donghae’. Try again.”

Hyukjae laughed softly and loosened his hold on the blankets around him, reaching up to grab Donghae’s hands that were cupping his cheeks. 

“Donghae.”

“Hmm?”

Hyukjae blushed and quickly averted his eyes, dropping his gaze down to the professor’s lips. “Are you sure you won’t regret it? Being with me, I mean, I’m pretty sure there are better… men out there for you.”

Donghae deadpanned and started to squish Hyukjae’s cheeks. “Are you seriously asking me to think about other men when the one I want is right in front of me?”

“Ow, P-Prof! Cheeks!”

The professor sighed and stopped squishing him. His hands dropped down to his sides as he looked away rather sadly. “I’ve said all I wanted to say. Y-You can have all the time you want to think about it. But I really wish you knew just how much I’m infatuated with you.”

“Who said I wasn’t infatuated with you either?” Hyukjae said at once. “I’ve been obsessed with you since the day I first laid my eyes on you. I had first dibs on you. I saw you first. I liked you first. You didn’t even know I existed until… until… the Instagram incident?”

“Mmh, I know, but I like you back now, equally as much if not more than you,” Donghae said softly. He lightly squeezed Hyukjae’s hands and said, “Hyukjae, I’d really love it if you’d be mine. But I’ll give you time and wait for your answer. It’s not like I’m going to kick you out of my house if you say no.”

“Donghae…”

“Just promise me you won’t let me wait too long, okay?” Donghae leaned forward and kissed Hyukjae lightly on the lips. “Now put your shirt back on. Don’t catch a cold.”

The professor then carefully tugged the blanket away from Hyukjae and helped him into his shirt. He hadn’t said anything about taking his hands off of the dancer’s body, however, so he sneaked in a few kisses and caresses when he thought the younger wasn’t looking.

When Hyukjae saw the unwavering tenderness in Donghae’s eyes, he just couldn’t hold it in any longer and reached out to cup Donghae’s face, pulling him in for a long, deep kiss. Donghae didn’t resist and simply went along with it, letting Hyukjae take the lead and allowing the boy to push him backwards until he was leaning fully against the back of the sofa. Then, to his surprise, Hyukjae started to his shirt instead. 

As Hyukjae trailed kisses down his chest and breathed against his neck, Donghae couldn’t stop fidgeting. He’d promised Hyukjae ‘no funny business’ (other than the kissing and heavy petting), but now, with Hyukjae touching and caressing him like this, his was starting to have a mind of its own. 

Hyukjae was biting and nibbling on his collar bones now, and every sting and itch was going down straight to his arousal. Donghae threw his head back in a groan and dug his nails into the sofa, trying to resist the urge to grind back against the boy.

“Professor, I think you need a bit of help down here,” Hyukjae said, coming back up to kiss Donghae on the lips. Donghae gasped when Hyukjae reached down and nudged him right in the middle of his crotch, rubbing him firmly where it was the most sensitive. “May I?”

“D-Depends,” Donghae managed to say with gritted teeth, reaching up to tuck some of Hyukjae’s hair behind his ears. “If you’re just doing it out of guilt and obligation, then don’t. I can… take care of it—”

There was a slight pause. “What if I want to, not because of guilt or obligation... but because I want to be y-your, uhh, your b-boyfriend?”

The professor was stunned when he heard that. “Boyfriend?” he echoed weakly. He couldn’t quite trust his ears all of a sudden. Did Hyukjae just say he wanted to be Donghae’s boyfriend?

Hyukjae’s eyes dropped down to Donghae’s crotch as he blushed and nodded. “Y-Yes, I’d love to be your boyfriend, I’d love to be yours, I’d love to be able to call you ‘mine’... I-I’d love to tell everyone that my boyfriend gives the best kisses and s and I’m learning a lot of my skills from him…”

Donghae turned a bright shade of pink as Hyukjae gradually trailed off from embarrassment. After the initial shock, Donghae suddenly felt as if a weight had just fallen from his shoulders. He laughed in relief and cupped the dancer’s face before pressing another kiss onto the embarrassed student’s lips. Then, without skipping a beat, he leaned closer to Hyukjae’s ear and said, “Don’t worry, my little boyfriend, I’ll teach you everything you need to know about your body and how to use it really, really well. Including everything you want to learn about oral. I am an anatomy expert, after all.”

“P-ert,” Hyukjae stammered, pushing Donghae back against the sofa. Donghae grinned and pulled Hyukjae with him, drawing him closer for another kiss. He knew he wasn’t ever going to get tired of kissing Hyukjae, and this was just the start.

Hyukjae, his boyfriend. Finally, after what felt like forever, they had a title to their relationship.

Of course he had to seal it with a kiss.

“Babe, since you said you’re learning all of your skills from me… Would you like to revise with me now, or should I demonstrate them to you one more time?”

Hyukjae blushed harder and buried his face in the professor’s chest. “Yah, P-Professor!”

“Okay, your professor will do another demo for you.” Donghae cooed and laughed when Hyukjae suddenly shivered from his touches. “Relax, babe. I’m not going to eat you up.”

“But—”

“Hyukjae, my little boyfriend,” Donghae interrupted with a saccharinely sweet smile, “Let me show you what the textbooks don't cover.”

~

Then Hyukjae fell asleep afterwards, Kyuhyun called asking if they’d made up because Sungmin was worried Hyukjae hadn’t been replying to his messages, Donghae accidentally let slip that they were ‘together’ together now, and Kyuhyun freaked out but in a good way and told him the best places that sold his favourite condoms at a huge discount so he could stack stockpiling them.

Donghae chuckled softly as he nuzzled the boy’s hair. He was going to bask in this giddiness for however long this feeling lasted. Because he didn’t want to start being a pessimist, knowing that this was just the start of a long, long journey for the both of them.

Things still seemed pretty alright for now. He didn’t want to start overthinking again just yet.

~

But ‘overthinking’ was his middle name.

Such irony. He was the one who told Hyukjae to be more optimistic and not overthink their relationship, yet here he was, two hours later, lips pressed against Hyukjae’s forehead again whilst he thought and overthought about their future. 

He, for starters, had only been working at SM University for less than a year. He was still relatively new there, and it wouldn’t be good if he got caught in a ‘relationship scandal’ with a university student. Sure, he could argue that Hyukjae technically wasn’t his student, but the dancer was still a student at the very university he taught at, and he doubted that the university would let him off the hook that easily. After all, SM University had a reputation to maintain. 

Also, because of that, he’d said it before, and he had to say it again: Just because Jungsoo hyung turned a blind eye to his relationship with Siwon in the past, it didn’t mean he would still do