In the morning while waiting for Kyuhyun to arrive, Hyukjae was reviewing updates on their album preparation sent by the team last night. Looking at the dates, he realizes that it’s now a little over a month since he first saw Donghae. It’s been just that length of time and yet so many things have happened, especially during the past two weeks. He chuckles, realizing also that he fell in love in just that span of time. 

Ahh Lee Donghae, what have you done to me?

He then heard beeping and the front door opened. As he walked out of his room to check, he saw Kyuhyun coming in with Shindong behind him carrying his stuff. 

“Kyu! How are you feeling?”

“Like .”

Uh-oh. He’s not in a good mood.

Hyukjae raised his eyebrow at Shindong and the manager just snickered. 

“Do you still feel sick or…?” Hyukjae asked.

“No, but I was so bored and I’m itching to get back to work. Can we go to the agency now?”

“Uhhh… No, wait.”

It’s Kyuhyun’s turn to raise his eyebrows at him.

Oh . Donghae, help!

“Uhm, Donghae reserved the practice room for the afternoon and there’s no practice room available now.”

“And how did you know that?”

“L-let’s just eat first okay? You settle down first and then let’s eat. Donghae will come in a while with good food for you.”

“O..kay? You’re kinda being weird, you know that?”

“I’m not!”

Kyuhyun smirked. “I was gone for less than 3 days and suddenly you’re like this? My my, what has Donghae done to you?”

Brushing away the jibe because he was actually asking the same thing himself earlier, he just ushered Kyuhyun to his room.

“What’s up, Hyuk? Is anything wrong?” Shindong asked him as he laid Kyuhyun’s stuff in the living room. 

Hyukjae looked back at Kyuhyun’s door to make sure it’s closed and then turned to Shindong again to whisper, “You remember Giraffe, right?” 

Shindong nodded, prompting Hyukjae to continue.

“Well it turns out that he’s Donghae’s roommate and they’re both coming here in a while.”

Shindong looked at him with surprise and then uncertainty. “Are you sure this is a good idea?”

In a hushed whisper, Hyukjae told Shindong that he trusts Donghae and his friend, and that the plan is to just introduce them to each other, albeit a surprise for both, but nothing else. 

“Should I stay?”

Hyukjae agreed that it was a good idea to have a mediator. He’s not that confident that he and Donghae could handle their friends who both have such strong personalities if ever they get mad or something. 

Hyukjae:

Mission is a go!

Where are you?

Donghae:

On the way !!

Ryeowook is excited at the thought he will see SKYE’s dorm

He didn’t even reject the idea because he thought it’s just you there

He seems very comfortable with you ?

Hyukjae smiled at that. He liked Ryeowook too. The petite man was quirky and sweet but had sass and a straightforward attitude. It’s nice to know that Ryeowook, one of Donghae’s best friends, feels comfortable around him.

A few minutes later, the doorbell rang. Kyuhyun left his room hurriedly to open their front door with a smile on his face. Gone was the grumpy man just a while ago. “Donghae~” he greeted as he opened the door, only to suddenly freeze in shock. 

Hyukjae was biting his lips behind Kyuhyun in an attempt to subdue his laughter.

Donghae on the other hand, looked at Kyuhyun with apparent glee in his eyes. “Hi Kyu! I'm glad you're fine now. By the way, this is my roommate, Ryeowook.”

Ryeowook was obviously clutching hard at the paper bags he’s holding. Then he bowed at Kyuhyun with a pinched smile. “Nice to meet you, Kyuhyun-ssi. It’s an honor.”

Hyukjae disguised his laugh as a cough because that was seriously 180-degrees from how Ryeowook reacted when they were introduced.

Kyuhyun remained frozen so Hyukjae took it upon himself to walk towards his friend and nudge him. 

“A-ah hello, Ryeowook-ssi. C-come in,” Kyuhyun said in a weird voice. 

As Kyuhyun turned his back on the visitors who were removing their shoes, Hyukjae saw Ryeowook give Donghae a murderous glare. He shivered seeing that, and was about to go nearer to Donghae in case the latter was upset. Just then, he caught Kyuhyun's eyes who was looking at him so sharply and he shivered again as he got reminded of that phrase, “if looks could kill”.

Unsure if he should laugh at the similarity of the two or be afraid for his and Donghae’s lives, he casted a look at his shoulder to Shindong for a rescue. “And Ryeowook, this is Shindong, our main manager.”

“Hi, Ryeowook-ssi. Nice to meet you.”

Ryeowook bowed to Shindong and smiled at him sweetly. “Nice to meet you too.”

And then Ryeowook looked again at Donghae with those scary eyes. He seems to be the type to hold a grudge. Donghae looked at Hyukjae and smiled nervously.

“I think we’re both in trouble,” Hyukjae whispered to Donghae as he helped with the stuff the younger one was holding. 

They all went to the kitchen and Shindong led the conversation about the foods that were brought. Kyuhyun looked unusually shy and restrained, especially when it was revealed that Ryeo