It turns out that Hyukjae had nothing to worry about. 

When he arrived at their dorm building that night, Donghae called him to thank him for the bagels and apologized for missing him at the agency. He sounded so normal that Hyukjae didn’t know how to bring up about him leaving. As he opened the door to the dorm, he was even more surprised to find Donghae at the dining table preparing heaps of food, with his phone on loudspeaker.

Hyukjae ended their call and confusedly asked, “Wh-what are you doing here?”

“I wanted to have dinner with you, of course!” Donghae said with a bright smile.

Hyukjae felt dizzy again, terribly confused. 

Am I being played?

“Ryeowook said you were gonna buy a lot of stuff tonight,” he said quietly.

“Well when I saw that you brought me lunch, I hurried to finish my work even more, then clocked out early and then bought the things I had to, so I can be on time to have dinner with you.”

Is he saying goodbye or what?

“Actually I was really planning to hang out with you tonight even if I arrive late,” Donghae continued.

“Why is that?”

This is it. He’s going to say goodbye. 

I need to tell him the things I have to say.

But…where do I start?

“Because…” Donghae cleared his throat. “I’m gonna miss you,” he mumbled.

Hyukjae was taken aback. It was the first time Donghae talked directly about missing him. 

Donghae took a breath and started his explanation. “I was an idiot. Remember I told you that I promised my mom that we would spend all important occasions together? I totally forgot about that and just remembered that my birthday is coming up when you mentioned the Philippines yesterday. So I immediately booked a flight and hurried to do everything, that’s why I was busy. My flight is already tomorrow and I'll be there for a week.”

Hyukjae’s knees almost gave out so he held onto the chair and seated himself. “So…y-you’re going there just for your birthday a-and you’ll come back?”

Donghae nodded. “Yeah, I figured I might as well check on everything so I made it a week.”

Joke’s on me.

Hyukjae sighed in relief and then started laughing, shaking his head at himself. 

Hyukjae, you really lose your mind when it comes to Donghae.

It was frustrating that apart from being an overthinker, he’s found out that he’s also overly dramatic. But at the same time, he’s really glad that there was actually nothing to worry about, and that Donghae is just leaving for a week and will come back.

“Why are you laughing?” Donghae asked with a confused frown.

Hyukjae shook his head. “Nothing.”

Donghae’s frown went deeper but Hyukjae did not budge.

“So, you’re going to spend your birthday there. I thought we’d have a party or something.”

“Yeah, I totally forgot about it,” Donghae said with a pout.

“Why are you pouting? Aren’t you glad to be going back there to celebrate your birthday?”

“Well, I am. I just…”

“What?”

Donghae looked at him with those powerful puppy eyes. “Are you gonna be busy on Saturday? Can we at least video call?”

“My schedule is actually free on Saturday until Tuesday. I can even go to the Philippines.”

Donghae’s eyes lit up like Christmas lights. “Really???”

Hyukjae grinned. “Yes, really.”

Donghae suddenly got up and launched himself to hug Hyukjae. “Hyukjae, I…that…that would really really make me very happy on my birthday.”

Hyukjae put his arms around Donghae as well. “Then I’ll go.”

Donghae pulled away a bit to look at him. “You’re not joking, right? You’re really serious about this?”

“I really am. You don’t trust me?”

“I do! But I can’t believe it. Wait, I want to scream and throw things!”

Hyukjae laughed and playfully slapped Donghae. “Don’t do that!”

“Then can I squeeze you instead?”

“Aish, you clingy kid. Okay, squeeze me then.”

Donghae hugged him again, this time squeezing him tightly. Hyukjae choked a