Hyukjae was in a good mood right after he saw the notification. There was no reply, but he saw that the other read his message. It was good enough for him. He decided to cook some eggs and and have some toast and strawberry milk for breakfast. He decided to go out and go to the coffee shop hoping to bump into Donghae again. He wanted to ask the other out to talk properly and explain what has happened then.

He went inside the coffee shop, there were a few customers as usual. He went straight to the counter and saw Tina was there. “Hey Tina!” he greeted the other with a smile and she smiled back.

“Looks like someone is in a good mood today. I guess things turned out well?” Hyukjae’s gummy smile turned into a sad one.

“Well. Not… that good. But… hoping for a development, I guess? Has he come by here already?” Looking around as Donghae might just be anywhere.

“Yea, he has come by already. He comes by a bit early, around… 7:30 I guess? That’s the time he usually comes by.”

“Okay. I’ll take note of that. Thank you so much. So uh… I’ll just have a Hot Chocolate”

“Okay, your name please?” Hyuk sound surprised that he hasn’t introduced himself to the other.

“Oh. Hyukjae. Sorry I haven’t introduced myself yet.”

“That’s fine. Haha” Hyukjae paid for the drinks and he waved goodbye to Tina when he left.

Hyukjae was strolling around the city looking for something to eat. He wanted to buy some lunch for Donghae, but he wasn’t sure what the other wants. So he checked the other’s Instagram account to see if there is anything that could give him an idea of what Donghae wants. As he scrolls through the IG feed. He sees this taco place and he searched for it and found that it was near where he is. He went to that place and ordered Enchilada and Guacamole for Donghae. He knew that Donghae loves avocado as he has seen it A LOT in his Instagram feed. He also ordered some beef taco for himself. When he got his order, he went back to Donghae’s office building and went to the lobby.

“Uhm. Excuse me”

“Yes, anything I can help you with, Sir?” he brought out the food he has ordered for Donghae.

“Can I, uhm, leave this for Donghae Lee of SJ Advertising Company?”

“Sure Sir, do you want to wait for him while I call him?” his eyes widen in surprise, he’s not sure if he wants to see Donghae already after what happened last night.

“Oh, no. No. I’ll just leave this here. I already left a note anyway. Just please make sure he gets this for lunch”

The woman in the information desk smiled at her. “Yes. I’ll make sure he gets this. Can I please get your name, Sir?”

Hyukjae smiled back.  “It’s Hyukjae Lee. Thank you. I’ll leave this to you now.” He turned around and left. Hoping that this could somehow help.

Donghae was busy that he forgot it was lunch time already. His phone suddenly rang.

“Hello?”

“Hi Donghae Lee, this is Anya from the information desk, Hyukjae Lee has left something for you.” He was not sure if he heard it right.

“W-who? What? Is he still there?”

“No Sir, he has left already as soon as he dropped this off.”

“Okay, I’ll go down there now.” Hae immediately left his area and went down the lobby. He’s curious at what the other has left for him. When he arrived at the lobby, he was welcomed by a paper bag from his favorite Taco place. It made him smile a bit. He opened it and saw a note inside. It says, “They say the best way to man’s heart is through his stomach. So, I brought you lunch. I’ll try to make up to you for all those years you were there for me. And hoping I could get my chance soon. Would you like to have coffee with me so we can talk?”

He admits it. He is touched by what the other has did. But a lunch can’t solve and and take away all the pain he has felt all those years. But.. it’s a start. He took out his phone and opened the message Hyukjae sent. He hasn’t replied anything yet.

Hyukjae has arrived back to his place and started eating his taco that he ordered for himself. He was browsing through his phone when he received a notification.

Instagram: You have received 1 new message from leedonghae1015

He immediately opened the message thinking that maybe Hae got his lunch.

“Thank you for the lunch. I really appreciate it. I can’t today. I’m sorry.”

His heart dropped when he saw the message. Shilpae. He felt sad. But he won’t give up. He replied, “It’s okay. Haha. I understand. Enjoy your lunch! Maybe tomorrow I’ll try again”

He let out a deep sigh. He doesn’t want to give up. But what if there’s really no hope for both of them anymore? He doesn’t want to think that way. He wants to believe that there’s a tiny little itsy bit of hope for them. And he’ll hold on to that as much as he can.

He decided to go to Hae’s office building to see him when he gets off work. To just see the other, walk him home or ride the bus with him. He just wants to spend time with the other. When it was almost 5pm he went to the office building again and waited on one of the benches there. 1, 2, 3 hours has passed but there was no sign of Donghae. Has the other gone home already? Has he missed him? But he was sure that he was looking at every person passing through. He checked the time and it was almost 8pm. A few minutes later, he saw a figure walking out of the building, it was Donghae! He was about to go to the other, but he was taken back when he saw that someone was behind him catching up on him. He hasn’t seen that man before, well Hae doesn’t really post pictures of people in his Instagram so he doesn’t know any friends Donghae has made at work.

He saw that the man was taller than the other, brown hair, round eyes, medium built and looks a bit younger than Donghae. They didn’t see him as it was dark already and a bit far from where they are heading to. The man caught up with Hae and Hae just glared at the other while the man smiled at him. The man took Donghae’s bag and the other was refusing but the brown-haired man was persistent and Donghae just gave up and gave his bag to the other. They are walking side by side and the man’s hand was on Donghae’s back. He’s curious what their relationship are. Are they just colleagues? But the way the man holds Donghae’s back says otherwise. Is this how he felt when he saw me and Siwon back then? Did it hurt this much? He thought to himself as he felt that pain in his heart. It felt heavy. He was frozen on his spot.