AN: This chapter is going to make references to this movie. It's like an hour and a half and has English Subs, so if you can spare the time, you could watch it ^^ If you can't, you may be SLIGHTLY confused...the option to just google the movie and read a plot summary also exists.

     Practice the following Saturday was killer for Hyukjae. After not dancing for over a month, he was out of practice though his actual ability didn’t seem phased at all. However, his body was exhausted quickly, causing him to lose steam only half way through.

     “Oh god, whyyy?” Hyuk whined from the floor of the studio during their water break. He was lying on his back in a spread eagle position staring up at the judgmental faces of the men above him.

     Sungmin clicked his tongue, standing between Kyuhyun and Donghae with his arms crossed. “Hyukie,” Sungmin said sternly. “Surely it’s not that bad.”

     “Yeah,” Kyuhyun chimed in, sticking his foot out to nudge Hyukjae’s side. “Quit being a baby. You’re making Sungmin’s dancing look good today, for god’s sake.”

     Predictably, Sungmin totally forgot about Hyukjae and spun around on Kyuhyun, launching himself at the laughing man as he both physically and verbally attacked him with defenses and insults, Kyu grinning all the while.

     Donghae smirked and lowered himself next to his friend, sitting with his knees up and his so close to Hyuk that they were touching. But in the past week, the two had become so used to it that neither noticed.

     “Hyuk-ah, is it really so bad?” Donghae asked, one arm tugging at the hem of Hyukjae’s shirt. It was a habit he’d gotten into and neither minded.

     Hyukjae just smiled and nudged his knee into Donghae’s back. “It’s not really so bad. I do feel tired, though.”

     “Do you want to leave early?”

      “Aniyo,” Hyukjae said, pushing himself up into a sitting position so they were side-by-side and facing each other. “I’ll be fine after this break.” Hyuk’s grin grew and he leaned closer to Hae’s face so he could speak lower. “You’ve gotten really good since I’ve been gone.”

     Donghae scoffed and pushed at Hyukjae’s shoulder playfully, “Ani, you’re still better even when you’re out of practice.”

     The two men continued their friendly banter up until the teacher called them back to the dance floor. Hyuk and Hae stood in front of Kyuhyun and Sungmin and while the instructor went over some new material, a certain couple in back couldn’t help but get together to whisper in each other’s ears.

     “Yah, what do you think is going on?”

     Sungmin half paid attention to the instructions while he subtly replied, “Isn’t it obvious?”

     Kyuhyun spun around once, putting in a little effort to learn the moves until he danced back over to his boyfriend, “Do you think they’re together?”

     Sungmin giggled softly, doing the side-stepping moves close to Kyuhyun so that they could still talk. “They sure look like it…”

     Behind them, the mischievous duo managed to pick up on a couple girls muttering harshly to each other. “Aish, why do all the cute ones turn out to be gay?” When Kyuhyun glanced back, he noticed that the girls were not looking at Sungmin and himself.

     After realizing exactly whom they were talking about, Kyu and Min locked eyes then busted out in laughter, causing everyone in the class to look. They quickly apologized and spent the rest of the class silently communicating and pointing at Hyuk and Hae with knowing eyes and grins.

     The foursome exited the building together chatting excitedly about what they would be doing for the rest of the day.

     “We’re going to a movie,” Sungmin said happily. “But we have to swing by home first to shower and change.”

     “I don’t know, Minnie, I feel like I could go as I am right now,” Kyuhyun said innocently but with a coy smirk tugging on his lips.

     While a minor freak-out occurred on the part of Sungmin—“Are you serious?!?! You are completely sweaty!”—Donghae chuckled quietly and stood closer to Hyukjae, pulling one of the man’s arms around his shoulders and helping to support him around the waist.

     Hyukjae felt glad for the relief. The entire second half of dance practice was spent with him scolding himself for not doing some form of exercise while he was away.

     But he couldn’t. He only danced when he was happy and that whole time he was anything but. He had to watch his mother slowly waste away into nothing and every day was another meeting with another lawyer about what to do with this and that, followed by more meetings with doctors and finance officers about how he was going to be paying the hospital bill for the next twenty years…

     “Do you two want to come with us?”

     Donghae was quick to respond, not even looking at Hyukjae for his input. “No thanks. We’re just going to head back.”

     “Are you sure? I heard this movie is really good.”

     Shaking his head, Donghae tightened his grip on Hyuk’s arm. “We’ll see it some other time, maybe. But you two have fun!”

     With tongues clicking in disappointment, Kyuhyun and Sungmin turned and left, grumbling about “spoiled sports” and “mood killers”. But secretly when their backs were turned, they exchanged knowing looks and put their heads together to laugh softly and hurry away.

     Donghae and Hyukjae headed off to their neighborhood, Hyuk’s arm still slung over Hae’s shoulders. After walking quietly for about five minutes, Hyuk piped up, “We could have gone if you wanted…”

     Donghae smirked and dug his fingers into Hyukjae’s side, making the other man gasp and squirm away from the hold. “You don’t want to see a movie…”

     “How do you know?”

     Donghae stuffed his now free hands into his pockets to guard against the chilly air, still grinning. “Because you’re tired. Why? Did you actually want to go?”

     Hyukjae mimicked Donghae’s actions and pushed his fists into his pockets. He was surprised at how quickly it had gotten cold there. “Maybe I did.”

     “You could still go catch them.”

     “Maybe I will!” Hyuk’s tone rose.

     His confrontational attitude made Donghae smile and he watched a few moments before giving his alternative. “We could watch a movie at my place…”

     Hyukjae pretended not to hear and walked ahead of Donghae, blatantly ignoring him with his nose in the air. Donghae merely laughed and caught up, patting him roughly on the back and sliding his hand down to stuff into Hyukjae’s hoodie pocket.

     “This weather has been crazy,” Donghae commented, feeling the back of Hyuk’s hand rubbing against his fingers inside the tight pocket.

     “Mm, I heard at the café that they’re expecting a huge storm soon.”

     “Storm? What kind of storm?”

     Hyukjae glanced over curiously at his friend before cautiously answering. “Just you’re basic kind of a storm… You know, thunder and lightening and rain… All that good stuff.”

     Donghae visibly shuddered, his eyes dropping to the pavement as they walked along. “I hate storms.”

     Hyukjae grinned and moved in front of Donghae, walking backwards now and lifting his hands to pretend to pinch Hae’s cheeks and baby talk him. “Aww, is Hae-ya afraid of a little thunderstorm?”

     Donghae flushed bright pink and looked around, grabbing onto Hyuk’s arms and pushing them down, “Hyuk!! There are people around!”

     Hyukjae laughed and rejoined Donghae at his side, “So you are! A grown man afraid of storms…Wow.” Hyuk snickered, the moment of teasing making him forget how exhausted his body was.

     Donghae didn’t say anything, just glared hard at the ground as he picked up the pace to his apartment. They were almost there anyways.

     “Yah, Donghae!” Hyuk called after, loping up to Hae’s side. Hae didn’t respond. Instead, he started digging around in his pants pocket for the key to the gate and his room so he wouldn’t have to spend a long time waiting with his mocker. All the while, Hyuk continued to tug at Hae’s clothes and plead for forgiveness, grinning all the while.

     When they had entered Hae’s apartment, Donghae went straight to the fridge and pulled out a bottle of water. He stood at the counter with his back to the room and Hyuk as he downed half of it in one go.

     “Aigoo, this stubborn guy…” Hyukjae muttered before walking up behind Donghae.

     “Lee Donghae,” Hyukjae said sternly. “You’ll be punished if you don’t answer me.”

      Donghae pretended not to hear. He simply lifted the bottle to his lips and drank again. Internally, he wasn’t angry about the teasing at all. He was just having a little fun with Hyukjae. But it didn’t stop him from being mildly curious about what this so-called “punishment” would be.

      “Three…”

      Donghae sipped.

     “Two…”

     He set the bottle down. Why did he suddenly feel nervous about what was going to happen?

     “One…”

     “Hyuk, look—”

     But the countdown had ended and Donghae was too late. Arms wrapped themselves around his waist, tucked under Hae’s elbows. The foreign hands clasped and rested on his navel and a firm chest sealed itself against his back. A chin set itself on Donghae’s shoulder, so close to his face that Hae could feel Hyuk’s breath grazing his cheek.

     Donghae stood paralyzed for a heartbeat before slightly turning his head to the side so he could look at the invasive face.

     Hyukjae’s dark brown eyes were staring straight into his, his proximity so close that if just one of them moved just a fraction closer, their noses would brush.

     Donghae held his breath. The temptation to say something to break the silence sat uselessly on the edge of his tongue because the only thing he could think about in that moment was his wildly beating heart and suddenly shaky legs.

     “Hae,” Hyukjae whispered, his voice a low rumble in Donghae’s ear. “Are you really afraid of storms?”

     With wide dark eyes, Donghae swallowed and answered in a whisper. “Yeah…”

     Hyukjae’s hold around Donghae’s body grew tighter, drawing them closer together as impossible as it seemed. Those dark brown eyes were still staring piercingly into Donghae’s own, as if trying hard to look into his very soul.

     “What will you do when it begins to thunder, then?” Hyukjae rumbled, eyes unblinking.

     Donghae turned his face so he was staring directly ahead at the cabinets, not even registering what the question was.

     “No answer?”

     Donghae shook his head.

     Much to Hae’s surprise, Hyukjae began to laugh and released his hold. He stepped back and Donghae turned to face him, leaning back against the counter. He wondered if Hyuk could see the terrible blush crawling up his neck and into his face and decided that he would rather prevent such a revelation. “So are we going to watch a movie or not?”

     Hyukjae just laughed and nodded his head, walking over to the small fridge and helping himself to a bottle of chilled water.

     While Donghae dug around a small shelving unit near the bathroom for a movie, his mind thought back to what just happened. Since the previous weekend, their skinship seemed to have jumped a dozen levels all at once. One minute they were touching each other occasionally and the next… The next, they were practically sitting on each other whenever they met.

     Hae shook his head in frustration. He couldn’t say he wanted the skinship to stop because quite frankly, he liked it. He enjoyed the feel of another person’s warmth and soft skin. He wondered if everyone was that soft and warm, or if it was just Hyukjae…

     “What are our options?” Hyukjae asked as he came to kneel next to Hae, an arm coming out to grip his shoulder for balance.

     “What are you in the mood for? Comedy? Romance? Finding Nemo?”

     Laughter played in Hae’s ear and he wondered if other people could have this affect on him too, if he were close enough. Because the truth was that he’d never been this close to anyone before…

     “What’s that one?”

     Donghae snapped himself out of his thoughts and followed Hyuk’s finger to the movie on the very end of the row. Dragging it out, he held it up so they could both see it better.

     Across the top was scrawled My Girl and I and the cover had the image of a young man and woman holding hands. It looked a bit older, definitely more than few years, and for the life of him, Donghae couldn’t remember at all of what this movie was about.

     “Is this good?” Hyukjae asked, clearly interested. He covered Donghae’s hand with his own and turned both their wrists over so he could read the back.

     “I don’t remember… How did I even get this?”

     Hyukjae didn’t respond. Instead, he scanned the movie summary on the back then made a content face. “Donghae, this looks like a good one. Let’s watch it.”

     “What’s it about?” Donghae asked as he finally turned his eyes to the back cover to be enlightened.

     Hyukjae pulled the DVD away and stood up, grinning. “It’s a romance, I think. Let’s just watch it.”

     Shrugging, Donghae stood also and walked over the kitchen table to dig out his laptop from under piles of papers. He didn’t really use it often, preferring to do his studying with a paper and pencil. It was easier for him to remember things if he had to take the time to write it all out.

     As Hae rigged up the power cord to reach over to his bed, Hyukjae was smoothing out the blankets and setting up the pillows against the wall as back support. Donghae watched out of the corner of his eye as Hyuk walked over to the closet by the front door and reached to the overhead shelves to pull down one of the light blankets that Donghae stashed up there.

     Donghae hid his smile. There was something about the way Hyuk knew his way around Hae’s apartment that made it seem almost like he didn’t live there alone. It was a nice feeling, he concluded.

     “Ready?” Donghae asked, settling himself on the bed with his back against the pillowed wall.

     “Mm,” Hyukjae confirmed and hopped onto the bed next to his friend, the blanket still folded. For now, he wrapped his arms around it, hugging it tightly to his chest as he scooted close to Donghae. They were so close, in fact, that to compromise the viewing angle, Donghae set the laptop between them on their touching thighs.

     Slipping the DVD into the computer, Donghae clicked around to pull up the movie menu. He hovered the curser over the “play” button and looked over at Hyukjae. “Ready?”

     “Ready!” Hyukjae said excited.

     Donghae hit play and he settled back, their shoulders rubbing uncomfortably close. During the opening scene when the camera panned across the water, Donghae lifted up his arm and Hyukjae naturally leaned forward to allow the arm to come down behind him. Hyuk instinctively leaned more into Hae’s side, resting his head on the open shoulder.

     Donghae also adjusted, slouching more against the wall and leaning more of his weight to the side where Hyuk was. He lowered his hand down, curling his fingers with the contours of Hyukjae’s side, securing the other young man to him.

     As more dialogue came, Hae could feel Hyukjae quietly laughing next to him, his whole body shaking with giggles. “I like the grandpa,” Hyukjae whispered, as if he would be disrupting anyone else trying to watch the movie. Donghae merely rested his cheek against Hyuk’s head so the other boy could feel him nod his acknowledgement.

     Hyukjae was nice to watch movies with, Donghae mused. He knew how to laugh at all the right places and often even picked up on subtle humor that Hae missed.

     “You lie sleeping through the long summer days, the long winter nights,” Hyukjae repeated with the fictional class at one point. His voice was just a whisper, but it was this breath that Donghae could feel across his neck. “In a hundred years, I will lie next to you.”

     Donghae could only smile and continue watching the movie, his cheek still warmly buried in Hyuk’s hair.

     Sometime during the happy parts of the movie when the main characters were young and in love and had no worries, Donghae could feel Hyukjae’s weight against him grow. Looking down at the soft face, Hae felt his heart go out to the other boy who had obviously fallen asleep. At some point, the blanket he was clutch had been spread out to cover his lap and legs.

     Donghae debated on waking him up. Ultimately, he decided to just hug him closer and let him sleep; the practice had worn him out and his week had been busy as he readjusted to the café. Plus, now that he was working again, hordes and hordes of girls started flooding in after school to try and chat with the attractive waiter.

     During one particular line, Donghae found his fingers pressing deeper into Hyuk’s side, pulling him as close as he could go.

     “I made up my mind. I will cry for you, laugh for you, live for you. You are the center of my universe.”

     But things were getting sad. She had leukemia, and Hae began to frown, not liking this sort of romantic movie where things are happy then sad then hopeful. Why couldn’t it just be happy the whole time?

     A part of Hae was glad Hyuk had fallen asleep. The last thing he would remember would be the happy things… he wouldn’t have to sit through the sad music, the sad moments, the regrets, the death that seemed to surround everything towards the end.

     Tears glistened in Donghae’s eyes as the male lead stood in the field of blooming flowers, the impact that girl had on his life clearly one of something great. Would he ever be able to leave an impression on someone like that?

     His over active imagination was taking hold of him, whisking him to places he didn’t want to go.

     Squeezing his eyes shut, he found that he was gripping his sleeping companion tightly. Too tightly? He didn’t know. But he didn’t want to relinquish the hold.

     What would I do if you died?

     The thought was unwelcomed, but it was there whether he liked it or not…

     One thing he did know: a field full of flowers didn’t qualify as an adequate replacement.

     Hyukjae moved his head, rubbing his cheek into Donghae’s shoulder. He shifted himself closer to the warmth of Hae’s body and ever so slowly began to stir.

     The squeeze had certainly been too tight.

     “What?” Hyukjae murmured, his voice low and tinted with sleep. “Is it over? Did I fall asleep?”

     Donghae couldn’t speak. He was busy being aware of how close their bodies were and what life would be like if he couldn’t be this way with Hyukjae.

     “Sorry, Hae,” Hyuk breathed, lifting his head off of the other man’s shoulder and moving to pull away into an independent sitting position.

     But a restraining hand around his waist prevented him from getting very far. Hyukjae covered Hae’s fingers with his hand and turned quizzically sleepy eyes onto his friend.

     His eyebrows furrowed, trying to recognize the look on Donghae’s face but having a difficult time. Hae’s eyes looked glossy like tears were sitting there without the decency to fall and his jaw looked tense, as if he were clenching it tightly.

     “Hae?” Hyukjae’s voice was soft and questioning, not sure what he should do. He was suddenly aware at how excruciatingly close they were. And it was so warm.

     Donghae still didn’t say anything, his mouth not able to pick up on a single thought since his brain was moving too fast. He was thinking about the movie, thinking about what it would mean if he were in that situation with Hyukjae, thinking about what he would be if he’d never met him, hating the damn movie, hating how he might not ever love so purely and unrestrained like those high school kids in the damn movie…

     Then there was the other side of the coin. He thought about how his arm was borderline asleep since Hyukjae had been laying on it for the last hour and a half. He thought about Hyuk’s long, thin fingers clutching at his hand; how those fingers could make the most beautiful artwork in coffee foam that he’d ever seen; how they were so close, not a ray of light sliding between them…

     He thought about how his opposite arm that was used for controlling the computer was now rising to touch Hyuk’s soft locks, adjusting the stray pieces that had fallen out of his otherwise coiffed hair.

     He thought about his fingers sliding along the hairline on Hyuk’s forehead. He was aware of a foreign hand lightly touching his thigh and something tugging at his shirt.

     “Donghae…” Hyukjae whispered the name again, this time with his voice catching in his throat. His face looked apprehensive, not knowing what was going to happen or what would have spurred this sudden burst of affection from his friend.

     Hae still didn’t say anything. His fingers moved to Hyuk’s temple and began to slide down the man’s face. He remembered when he’d caressed this face a week ago with the back of his hand, but this time there wasn’t any stubble; now, there was simply soft, smooth skin that was becoming increasingly warmer as a flush rose in Hyukjae’s cheeks.

     Donghae traced the jaw line, completely absorbed in his train of thought.

     If Hyukjae disappeared, would he be able to remember this expression on his face? Would he remember what it felt like to touch this supple skin with his fingertips? Could he recreate it all in his head and go through life with only that with him?

     Hyukjae’s lips parted slightly as if he was going to say something again, but nothing came out. He was utterly paralyzed under the intense gaze of his friend. His hand, which had absently made its way to the college student’s thigh, sat limp and useless. His eyes were completely fixated on the man in front of him and—oh god—was Hae getting closer?

     Donghae’s hand came to rest against Hyukjae’s neck, his thumb tracing his jawline gently. The hold became slightly more intense and in a split-second decision, Donghae decided to make his impact.

     His head dipped closer to Hyukjae’s, his hands holding the café worker in place though it was unnecessary. Hyukjae wasn’t moving at all.

     A line from the movie floated around Donghae’s foggy mind…

     “One small twist can bring an entirely different fate.”

     He sealed the gap and sealed his fate, his lips pressing against Hyukjae’s with the softest of touches, never pressing all the way in and his fingers absently the other man’s neck.

     Hyukjae couldn’t remember when he closed his eyes, but he remembered being aware that his eyes were, in fact, closed. He reveled in the feeling of Donghae kissing him—kissing him!—and didn’t question nor stop himself when he responded.

AN: O_O this wasn't what I was expecting at all!!!

I ALMOST HAVE 300 SUBSCRIBERS!!! Whaaaaaaaaaat?????? <3 My lovelies are amazing.

So the next chapter is actually something that I wrote MONTHS ago. I was really inspired to write this scene to the point where I was taking out blank pages in class to scribble paragraphs onto and even taking small scrap papers at work to write on when people weren't around. It's been ON MY MIND for several months. So I'm excited to finally put those scraps of paper together and make a chapter :) See you soon!

(yes, my tumblr is still active. But I guess you get the point now ^^;; )

Please answer this!!!!!!!!!