Me in the previous chapter: i'm like dropping hints that Hyukjae might like Donghae back too

Also me throughout these 2 parts: Hyukjae puts on his shoes for him, Hyukjae shares his earbuds with him, Hyukaje restarts his treadmill to accompany him as he finishes his run, Hyukjae holds his bag for him, Hyukjae agrees to whatever idea he comes up with...

But I mean... there is a slight angst tag and not without reason... and feelings are complicated!!

Here's the second part :)

One day Donghae’s sitting at his table, trying to complete his History essay without breaking his laptop out of frustration when he overhears his classmates talking about drinking. Somebody’s parents are out of town this weekend and their older sibling promised to help them buy alcohol, so that somebody is going to throw a party with alcoholic drinks, but only the cool kids can come. 

Well. Donghae doesn’t really want to go, and Hyukjae probably wouldn’t either, but still. Drinking. Now that’s something he and Hyukjae has yet to try.

It gives him an idea, and he hastily puts together a conclusion paragraph, desperate to end his misery. He ruminates over the idea in his head, hoping the minutes will pass by quickly so he can tell Hyukjae all about it when class is over.

When the bell does ring, Donghae pulls Hyukjae out of the classroom so fast they’d almost tripped over every single table in their way. 

“What’s the matter with you?” Hyukjae asks when they’re finally out of earshot. 

Donghae glances around them, making sure no one can hear what he’s about to say. Judging by Hyukjae’s puzzled expression, he’s guessing he must look a little deranged. 

He takes in a deep breath, and rambles on and on about his plan all in one breath. 

“So I was struggling with my History essay right, and I wasn’t trying to eavesdrop or anything but I happened to hear Jay talking about throwing a party since his parents are going away for the weekend. He said his older brother promised to get alcohol or something, but then only the cool kids are invited.”

“You wanna go to the party?” Hyukjae asks, confused at where this is going.

Donghae rolls his eyes and shakes his head. “No, why would I want to hang with them?” 

Hyukjae lets out a “I don’t know, it sounds like-” but Donghae interrupts him and goes on. “Alcohol! That’s what I was going for! I was thinking we should try drinking too.”

Hyukjae processes the statement for a while, then he pats Donghae’s shoulder with mock pity and responds, with a straight face, “We’re underaged.”

Donghae had known he would say that. Of course he would. So he continues to explain, as patient as he can be, “Yeah, but we won’t even have to buy them. I’m pretty sure there are a few cans in my fridge.” 

Hyukjae considers the plan. “And your parents won’t notice that they’re gone?”

Donghae nods. “We can just buy more canned drinks! Then we’ll stash them in the fridge. There’s no way they’ll notice two cans gone if we make sure the fridge is full.”

“You’ve clearly thought this through,” Hyukjae comments.

Donghae nods again, more thrilled this time. He doesn’t know what’s up with him, frankly, but he guesses this is what people are referring to when they talk about teenagers and their insatiable desire for doing things they shouldn’t be doing. And it’s not like this is a very grave matter. It’s just canned beer; it’s not like he’s thinking of drinking soju or vodka.

“Should I be worried about you putting in so much effort into this?” Hyukjae asks, his tone light and teasing. Donghae ignores him.

“Please, Hyukjae. I don’t want to try this with anyone else,” he whines when Hyukjae shows no signs of giving in. (Yet.) 

Hyukjae narrows his eyes, probably trying to think about the moral consequences of underage drinking and weigh the pros and cons or whatever, the kind of stuff he thinks about when he’s the more responsible one out of the duo.

But Donghae is nothing if not stubborn, so he continues. “C’mon, it’ll be fun. And even if it’s not, at least we’d still be doing it together. C’mon…”

Hyukjae still doesn’t say anything, and even though Donghae knows he’d probably agree to it (simply because he never says no to anything Donghae suggests), Donghae still pouts and tugs on Hyukjae’s shirt childishly. “Let’s do it, let’s do it.”

“Stop it, you’re creasing my uniform,” Hyukjae says, grabbing his wrist gently. 

Donghae lets go of his grip on the shirt, but he doesn’t stop chanting. “Please please please please please.” He bats his eyelashes excessively for good measure too, and looks at Hyukjae expectantly. 

A beat of silence passes, before Hyukjae sighs and gives in. “Okay! Fine. But we’re only drinking one can each.”

Donghae breaks into a bright smile and nods excitedly. Before he can hesitate or overthink it, he leans forward to kiss Hyukjae on the cheek, the way he’d always done when they were kids. “You’re the best, Hyukjae” he says, still smiling.

Hyukjae’s eyes widen, completely surprised by the kiss, and his ears are suddenly a little red. Donghae’s about to make fun of him for it when Hyukjae raises a hand to slap him across his cheek. “Thanks. And you’re insane,” he retorts, walking away. 

Donghae laughs and trails after him anyway, happy like a kid who’d just gotten his favourite candy. And even if Hyukjae pretends not to look forward to it, Donghae doesn’t miss the way his eyes twinkle when he looks at him.

“I thought you didn’t like breaking the rules,” Donghae teases, bumping his shoulders against Hyukjae’s.

“Yeah, I don’t,” Hyukjae responds, his eyes still smiling.

“Then how come you’re so excited about this?” Donghae retorts.

Hyukjae shrugs and doesn’t say anything, but there’s a skip in his steps that Donghae doesn’t miss, and he’s still grinning from ear to ear either way. 

— 

It’s a week later that they’re sitting on Donghae’s balcony, the two cans of beer sitting in front of them. They’d gone to the supermarket to buy and lug home 24 cans of Coca-Cola to fill the fridge earlier, and it was an incredibly stressful dinner they’d had with Donghae’s parents. When they were asked about the cans of coke in the fridge, Hyukjae had said they were on sale, while Donghae smiled sheepishly into his bowl. 

Then they’d forced their way through their homework, desperate to get it out of the way for the rest of the weekend. Donghae thinks doing solving sequences and series questions shaved years off his life. 

It’s slightly after 10 in the evening when they’re cross-legged on the balcony ground, the sky before them pitch black and quiet. 

Hyukjae pulls the tabs for both of them, and they look at each other before they raise the cans to their lips and take experimental sips.

“Ew!” Donghae cries out the same time Hyukjae curses.

They take a few more sips, because they’re young and determined and stupid — maybe it’ll taste better soon?

“I don’t like it! It’s so gross,” Donghae decides after a while, blanching.

Hyukjae’s still trying to gulp down some more, and Donghae doesn’t know whether he should applaud him for his bravery or complain about his idiocy. 

Hyukjae pulls the can away from his mouth and burps loudly. They’re both burping a lot. Hopefully this is normal.

“Please finish it. I think I’ll get alcohol poisoning if I drink your can too,” Hyukjae says, although he is visibly disgusted by the taste too. 

“Can’t we just throw it away?”

Hyukjae shakes his head adamantly. “We didn’t go through all that trouble to pour them away!”

“I will die drinking this,” Donghae complains, even as he takes another sip.

Hyukjae glares at him. “I will kill you myself if you don’t finish it.” 

So they both stay silent for a while as they force more of the liquid down their throats. In hindsight, maybe things would have turned out better if they didn’t try to drink the entire can all in a go. But again, everything is easier in hindsight. And it’s their first time drinking.

“I cannot believe I let you talk me into this,” Hyukjae whines after another gulp. “Okay, half down, half left to go,” he says after tilting the can.

“You let me talk you into many things,” Donghae provides helpfully, trying his best to swallow the beer without it touching his tongue. He’s not really succeeding. A rush of heat creeps up his face, and he’s starting to feel warm all over.

Hyukjae agrees. “10 years ago you walked into my life and I have never been the same person since.”

And Hyukjae was teasing him, obviously, but the sentiment of the statement hits Donghae nevertheless as he realises just how long it has been since they came into each other’s lives. 10 years. That’s a very long time. That’s more than half their lives.

“Do you think we’ll still be friends 10 years later?” he asks. He feels like he already knows the answer, but it’ll be nice to hear Hyukjae say it, regardless.

“Yeah,” Hyukjae says without thinking. “Okay, I’m left with a quarter.” Judging by the way he’s tugging at his collar, it’s clear he’s overheating too.

Donghae tries to match his drinking pace and forces himself to gulp down more. Ugh. “20?” he continues asking, between sips.

“Mhm,” Hyukjae says, his face and neck flushed red. Donghae puts his hand against his own neck to feel his temperature and thinks he probably looks the same.

“Okay, how about 50?” he presses, just for the sake of it. To be frank, it is a little hard imagining them in their 60s, edging closer towards their 70s. 

Hyukjae sighs, though there’s an unmistakeable fondness in his eyes as he turns to look at Donghae. “Yeah. Even when we’re old and wrinkly.”

“That’s nice,” he says, smiling dopily at Hyukjae. 

“You can’t get rid of me that easily,” Hyukjae continues. “We’re going to be together for a long time yet.”

His eyes are genuine even in what’s clearly a drunken stupor, and Donghae thinks he wants it too, for them to be together. He’s okay even if they’re no more than friends. Anything’s fine, as long as they’re by each other’s side still.

They burp, Donghae pats his chest pathetically, and the moment is broken. 

Then Hyukjae angles his head backwards, downing more of the liquid, determined to finish the can. Donghae watches the bob of his Adam’s apple and is grateful they’re both flushed red by the alcohol, especially when a drop trickles down the corner of his lips and down his neck. He tears his gaze away and follows suit. Friends, he reminds himself. Best friends.

Hyukjae makes a face as he puts the empty can back down. “Wow. That was bad,” he concludes, his eyes scrunched.

Donghae nods in agreement but doesn’t say anything, too busy trying to force the air down his throat. He feels like he’s about to turn into a freaking human bubble machine with all that gas rising in his chest.

The gas bubbles in their chests, and they exchange a glance before belching loudly and grossly into the silent night. Then they laugh, even if it’s gross, or precisely because it’s gross, and Donghae’s starting to get why people drink. He’s feeling a little like he’s walking on clouds, like he and Hyukjae are on their very own bouncy castle high up in the midnight sky.

He puts his empty can down by Hyukjae’s, and the two cans make a sound as it knocks against Hyukjae’s. 

“Are y