Donghae: Hyukkie, are you at the dorm ?

Hyukjae: No, I’m not. I’m at the makeup shop getting ready for my shoot. Why? 

Donghae: It’s nothing, just curious. Fighting for your shoot !! ^^ 

Donghae sighed and put his phone away. It wasn’t exactly nothing when he decided to text his boyfriend. He was just feeling lonely as usual, having nothing to do on his day off and wanting to barge into the dorm to bother Hyukjae. He had already done his morning workout and had his lunch of chicken s, oats, and avocadoes. He had also cleaned up his house a little, watered the plants, and was now lying on his sofa with absolutely nothing to do. He let out a huge sigh. Whilst Donghae enjoyed the privacy and serenity of living alone in his apartment, he does miss the liveliness and chaos of living in the dorm with the rest of the members all those years ago. He was hardly lonely then, there was always someone in the dorm he could bother and the members were usually very accommodating towards him, putting down whatever they were doing to entertain Donghae’s bored self. 

Donghae hated being alone, that’s why he was always hanging out with Hyukjae, or with his friends doing sports or having coffee whenever he had time away from work. When Hyukjae was staying in the same apartment complex as him, he could go over anytime and just barge into his house to demand attention, much like a puppy who hasn’t seen it’s owner for a while. It didn’t really matter to Hyukjae since they were constantly staying over at each other’s houses all the time but now that Hyukjae has moved back to the dorms and his house in Yongin with his family, Donghae can’t exactly just hop over to his boyfriend’s place anytime he likes. Donghae had woken up in a sour mood, he chalked it up to the stress from work recently, what with their comeback preparations ongoing at full-speed and he just really wanted - no, he needed - to be with someone to feel better. That was how Donghae recharged, his extroverted self liked being around people, that’s when he’s the most comfortable. It didn’t matter what time of the day it was, he just didn’t enjoy being alone. 

Especially today, Donghae really wanted to be with Hyukjae, he knew Hyukjae would be able to make him feel better but knowing that his boyfriend had to work, he decided not to worry him unnecessarily. It was just a bad mood, not anything that warranted Hyukjae’s immediate attention or worry. He pulled out his phone again and decided to text someone else instead.

Donghae: Hyung, are you home ?

Heechul: Hae? Yes, I am. It’s my rare day off today. What’s up?

Donghae: I’m coming over ^^

Heechul sat on his sofa and stared at his phone, rolling his eyes. Well, at least he was getting a head’s up this time that Donghae was coming to his place. Most of the times, he would be watching a drama on TV or playing games on his computer when he would hear the lock to his front door beeping with someone keying in the passcode and the door being unlocked. It freaked him out big time at first, but after these occasions started being more frequent, he got used to it and he knows it’s just his favourite dongsaeng turning up unannounced. He had sometimes, also returned home from his schedules to a Donghae sprawled out on his sofa entertaining himself on the TV together with snacks on hand that the younger had gotten by raiding his kitchen. He knew he was supposed to be annoyed but looking at how happy Donghae was laughing at the TV and how excited he became when he knew that his hyung was home, whatever annoyance Heechul had immediately turned to endearment instead. 

Just as the variety show that Heechul was watching on the TV ended, he heard the familiar beeping of the keypad on his door lock and two seconds, the door unlocked and in walked Donghae, dressed in a huge oversized sweater that makes it look like he was drowning in it, only the tips of his fingers can be seen from the long sleeves, and a pair of comfortable sweatpants that were slightly too long for his short-ish frame, the ends of the pants looking at his ankles. 

“Hyung~~~~” he whined as a greeting to Heehchul as Donghae made his way into the bathroom to wash his hands and feet.

“Dorrobong~~~” Heechul greeted back. 

Donghae came out of the bathroom and headed to the fridge, opening it and helping himself to a bottle of water before padding over to the sofa, sitting down next to the older and immediately latching onto his arm and curling up beside him, the bottle of water laying forgotten beside him. “Hyung~~” he greeted again, savouring the physical contact. 

“Aish, you clingy brat.” Heechul said as if he was annoyed, but one had to be blind to miss the affection clearly glittering from his eyes as he raised his hand to ruffle the younger’s pink hair. “What brings you here today? Why are you not bothering the anchovy instead?” 

“He has to work,” sighed Donghae. “I have a day off today and…. just didn’t want to be alone, I guess. I was feeling really lonely being all by myself at home.” Donghae looked up at Heechul, a sheepish expression on his face. 

Heechul smiled, both because of the answer he had gotten and also at the realization how this 35 year-old Donghae never changed, he was just as clingy and affectionate to people as he was when they first got to know each other nearly 20 years ago when Donghae and Yunho had first picked him up and brought him to the SM office. “Aren’t you really busy preparing for the comeback? Shouldn’t you just want to rest and spend some time alone on such a rare day off?”

“I didn’t realise Hyukkie had to work today, I wanted to spend the day with him just relaxing at the dorms but he told me he has a shoot… I really thought I was just gonna rest at home after but the silence was too much to bear so… I’m here.”

“Yah! I’m just a backup plan for Hyukjae, aren’t I! You thought of me only after realising your boyfriend isn’t available to be with you today!” Heechul exclaimed, trying his best to keep his face straight. He knew Hyukjae was always going to be the number-one person Donghae would love to spend his free time with, they were a couple after all, but he just couldn’t resist teasing the younger. 

“Hyunggggggg~ you know that’s not true. I love you and I love being with you. I just didn’t want to be alone today and you said you were home so I came over.” A pout now evident on the pink-haired man’s face as he turned and nuzzled his hyung’s arm. 

Heechul frowned, Donghae was clingy, yes, but the way he talked about how he didn’t want to be by himself felt a little different from his usual behaviour. 

“Are you alright,