Donghae sifted through the various flavors of tea in the cupboard, trying to decide which one would be the best to make. For some reason, he found himself struggling over the problem… for some reason he really wanted Hyukjae to like the tea he was making.

His cooking skills may be a bit questionable, but when it came to coffee and tea, Donghae was all right. That’s why he felt confident enough to take the responsibility of making it.

While he waited for the teakettle to whistle, Hae thought back to what happened in the storeroom. He had carelessly run into his friend, knocking them both to the ground and undoubtedly giving Hyuk a splitting headache.

But for just a split second, he had honed in on the feeling of being on top of Hyukjae like that. He felt his friend’s breath on his face, felt their legs intertwined and abdomens touching.

His heart raced.

It had been an exhilarating moment before Hae realized he’d hurt the other man. That’s when the guilt set in. Guilt so strong it was almost like self-loathing. He hated himself for hurting someone who went out of his way to take care of him so often.

The kettle began to whistle. Donghae removed it from the burner, setting it on a different top while he prepared the rest. Hanging from the bottom of the cupboards overhead were some witty mugs with cute sayings or pictures drawn on them. Smiling to himself, Donghae picked two matching mugs and set the “sleepy time” teabags inside. He’d settled on this tea because it was getting kind of late and he figured Hyukjae would want to relax now.

Hae carefully poured the hot water into the cups, leaving room for potential sweeteners like sugar or honey. He wondered how Hyukjae liked to fix his tea… and he was happy that he would soon be able to find out.

Right when Donghae was walking into the living room with the two steaming cups of tea, Hyukjae appeared from the hall. He looked much more relaxed now that he was out of his work clothes and his face even shone as if he had just washed it. Donghae smiled brightly and set the tea on the little coffee table in front of the couch.

“Do you want anything in your tea?” he asked.

Hyukjae just stared at the tea for a moment before answering softly, “I like honey. What about you?”

Donghae was still smiling. “Yeah, me too.”

Since Hae didn’t know where the honey was, Hyukjae went into the kitchen to get it. He reappeared holding the honey in one hand and two spoons in the other. Donghae was beginning to be envious of Hyuk’s sweatpants and baggy tshirt, imagining how comfortable he could be if he was not wearing his school clothes…

Pushing the looming thoughts about all his homework out of his mind, Donghae took a seat on the couch in front of his cup. Hyukjae sat next to him, only inches between their thighs. They prepared their respective cups, taking careful test sips between their chatting.

“Did you find everything ok?”

Donghae nodded, “Yeah, it was easy.” He took a sip and then added just a bit more honey, stirring it with his spoon. “Er… How’s your head?”

Hyukjae smiled softly to himself and slid his eyes to look directly at Donghae. “It’s a little sore when I touch it. But I’m sure it will be fine.”

Donghae instantly felt more pangs of guilt in his chest and he slouched back in the couch, cuddling his cup of tea under his chin and feeling the warm steam kiss his face. “I’m still really sorry about that, Hyuk-ah.”

Hyuk just waved a hand and laughed. “I’m just teasing you, Hae. Don’t feel bad.”

Donghae nodded, though he couldn’t really do anything about the guilt he felt. He quietly sipped the tea and sunk further back into the sofa, feeling comfortable even though it was his first time being in that home.

Chuckles coming from Hyukjae made Donghae look up at him with a quizzical expression. “What?”

“I like these mugs you picked out,” Hyukjae responded simply, a goofy smile still splayed across his face.

Donghae didn’t really know how to respond. He hitched up an eyebrow and glanced down at the mug, not seeing what was so funny about it. It just had some English words scribbled on it and he was never very good at understanding English humor.

When Donghae took another sip, Hyukjae laughed again. “Ok, hold on. I’ll be right back,” he head before setting his mug down and running off down the hall.

He returned seconds later with a camera in his hand and Donghae became thoroughly confused.

“What is so funny??”

“Ok, look,” Hyuk leaned over and took Donghae’s mug from his hand and turned it around so that Hae could see the side that was previously facing away from him. Directly under the lip of the much was an artistically drawn mustache. “When you take a drink, it looks like you have a little mustache.” Hyuk handed Donghae his mug back and picked up his own, turning it so Hae could see the mustache side and demonstrated. “See?”

The sight of Hyukjae with a silly gag mustache made Donghae smile and nearly giggle with the humor of it. Hyuk set down his mug and lifted up the camera, pointing it in Donghae’s direction. “Ok, put it up and do something cute!”

Donghae wasn’t used to take pictures with friends like this, so he just awkwardly put the mustache up to his face and pretended to take a drink while staring at the camera. After a second, Hyukjae put the camera down, laughing to himself. “Hae-ah! Do better than that!”

“Like what?” Donghae asked, exasperated.

“Do a V-pose or something!”

“What, like this?” Donghae held up two fingers in the classic V-pose and gave Hyukjae a questioning look.

Before he had time to wait for an answer, the flash of a picture being taken blinded his eyes followed by laughter from Hyukjae.

“Nice!”

“Hey!” Donghae cried feeling shocked. “I wasn’t ready!”

Hyuk just laughed, “Ok ok, try again.”

This time Donghae lifted the mug up to his face so that the mustache effect would come across and he held the V-sign next to this head. The flash went off again, followed immediately by Hyukjae saying, “Aniyo, smile this time!”

“But you can’t even see my mouth,” argued Donghae.

Hyuk made a clicking sound with his tongue and shook this head, “Just do it, Hae-ah!”

Sighing, Donghae gave in and resumed his former position, this time smiling behind the shield of the mustache cup. Though he was acting really reluctant, he was honestly having fun with this playful part of Hyukjae. The atmosphere was very friendly and something Hae had been missing since moving to Seoul.

“Ah, see? That’s much better.”

“How could it be better? It probably looks exactly the same,” Hae said, skeptical.

Hyuk moved so he was sitting right beside Hae, their thighs touching closely. He held the camera between them so he could show Donghae the pictures they just took. Switching between the two, he showed Hae how they compared. “See? Before you smiled, it looked dull. But after you smiled, your eyes really light up. See?”

Donghae did see. But he was having a hard time concentrating on the pictures while Hyuk’s face looked so happy. Why is he so cheerful? Donghae asked himself. Was it the fact that the pictures were good? Or did it have something to do with him personally?

Was he the reason Hyukjae seemed so happy? Did he really have the power to have that affect on someone?

“Here, take one of me,” Hyuk said, handing the camera to Donghae and picking up his own mug. Hyukjae held it up with a quirky elbow sticking out unnecessarily to the side, hiking up one eyebrow to give Donghae a flirtatious look.

Hae fumbled with the camera before finding the proper button to push. He couldn’t help but smile at the result, the image being very humorous. With heads close together, they examined the picture and Hyukjae said, “Ok, do another one!”

Donghae held the camera up again and waited for Hyukjae to pose the way he wanted to. This time, he had his eyes shut tight, turning them into little crescent moons and he flashed the V-sign while still holding the mustache up to his face.

Hae laughed, “You look ridiculous!”

Hyukjae smiled brightly and came close to Donghae to check out the photo. “That’s the fun of it! Ok, you go again.”

With newfound inspiration, Donghae tried a couple more poses, though he never felt like they came out as well as Hyuk’s. Hyukjae seemed to have an ability to simultaneously look incredibly goofy and attractive and Hae was envious.

Hyukjae, on the other hand, was finding Hae irresistibly adorable. He was having a difficult time keeping his heart from completely leaping out of his chest and his eyes were constantly looking at Hae’s smiling face. He couldn’t remember ever having so much fun doing something so silly before.

“Hey,” Hyukjae said suddenly, trying to keep the sappy emotion from his voice to maintain the light air. “Let’s do some together.”

Donghae grinned and nodded, “Ok, good idea!”

Hyuk slide over to be next to his friend and held the camera up so the lens was facing them. He held up his mug with his left arm, which was bumping into Hae’s right arm (his chosen hand for holding the mug). They held up their mugs and the flash went off. Turning it back around, they noticed that it was difficult for them to both be in the shot.

“Here, let’s get closer,” said Donghae. He slid over a bit more, their thighs now tightly pressed together. “And, let’s do this-” he said while hooking his right arm through Hyuk’s left, their new pose resembling something like the first drink between a husband and wife at a wedding.

They held up their mugs and smiled behind it as Hyuk snapped another picture. Upon review, they both decided that this was a very good photo and it should definitely be kept.

“What about a normal one?” Hyuk asked, looking curiously at Donghae.

“Oh, like without holding up the mugs?”

“Well, yeah…” Eunhyuk said, feeling strange. Was he nervous? Why would he be nervous?

“Ok,” Donghae said, ready for the next photo anyways. He was really having fun. To accommodate their new pose, Hae switched hands so he was holding his mug on the left. His right arm then s around Eunhyuk’s back, resting on the couch and making it so they could be closer together for their “normal” picture.

“Ready?” Hyuk asked, his heart beating wildly. They were so close.

“Mm,” Donghae confirmed, his mug comfortably resting in his lap. He smiled up at the lens and glanced out of the corner of his eye to see if Hyuk was doing the same.

The flash brightened their eyes and it was over.

“Want to do another one?” Hyukjae asked hesitantly, wondering if this was getting boring.

“Sure,” Donghae said, not quite ready to leave his cozy position in Hyuk’s side. It was warm there and there was something distinctly inviting about it.

Once again, Hyuk held up the camera and smiled. Right when the red light went on to indicate the flash, he felt sudden movement to his side and a weight on his shoulder.

As soon as the picture was taken, Hyuk pulled away from his friend and looked at him with wide eyes. “What did you do??” He asked.

Donghae was grinning from ear to ear and motioned to the camera. “Look!”

Hyuk swallowed and turned the camera around, setting the mug on the coffee table. When the photo finally popped up, he couldn’t help but smile.

Donghae had laid his head on Hyuk’s shoulder, eyes closed and a huge smile on his face. Hyukjae laughed and made sure Donghae could see it before saying, “This might be my favorite one.”

Hae didn’t say anything. He just smiled and relaxed back on the couch, spreading his arms out along the back and allowing his head to fall backwards, eyes closing.

They were silent for a little while. Hyukjae eventually got up to take the mugs back into the kitchen, setting them delicately in the sink. When he returned, he stood in the doorway leading to the living room and took a moment to take in the sight of Hae before him.

Hae was special to him, that much was clear. In the chaos of his life, always moving, never really having a stable home life to nurture him emotionally, never having the ability to become good friends with people… this felt like something solid. Sure, he was here with his relatively normal aunt and uncle, but they had never had kids so they didn’t know exactly how to act around him.

Sometimes he felt bad. Like he was intruding on their lives and they would prefer him to be somewhere else. But he was a detrimental part of this business and didn’t want to watch his only other family fail.

Sighing softly, Hyuk walked towards the couch, leaning over Donghae and staring at his closed eyes. After a second, he whispered, “Hae.”

Donghae started, jerking his arms off the couch and sitting up, looking surprised. “What? What??”

Hyukjae grinned and shook his head, rubbing the other man’s soft hair affectionately, “Do you need to go? It’s getting kind of late…”

“Huh?” Donghae said then glanced over at a clock on the wall across the room.

9:45.

“Aish, this isn’t good,” he grumbled, pushing himself to his feet and straightening out his clothes.

“Do you have work to do?”

Donghae just nodded and inhaled deeply, trying to wake up his tired body. “I have some math assignments to work through and reading to do…”

Hyukjae moved out of the way so Donghae could get around him and get his shoes. “Sorry for keeping you so late. I should have remembered that you have school work to do.”

“Aniyo, ani,” Donghae rushed to say, waving a hand as if to brush off the apology. “It’s not a big deal. I can probably still get a few hours of sleep tonight. Besides, I’ll have the weekend to sleep.” Donghae picked up his shoes from the entrance by the kitchen and asked. “So, how do I get out of here?”

Hyuk motioned for Hae to follow him then lead him out of the kitchen, through the living room, and down the hallway where the bedrooms were. As they passed through, Donghae was able to glance into the open door of a tidy bedroom with a big mirror taking up most of one wall. There was a slightly splotched apron draped across the made bed and Hae guessed that it was Hyuk’s room.

At the end of the hall was a little alcove that led out to a set of stairs that lead to the street below. “Here you go,” Hyuk said, waiting for Donghae to put on his shoes before opening the door.

Donghae straightened himself, ready to leave. But he couldn’t help but feel a little sad… he had had a lot of fun with Hyukjae and he didn’t want it to end.

He cursed school silently then stepped around Hyukjae, the small space making it difficult to get passed without their fronts touching just a little.

“Hey!” Hyukjae yelled out the door as Hae began the descent to the street.

Donghae turned and looked up, waiting.

“I’ll bring you coffee in the morning.”

Donghae lifted his eyebrows and began to decline politely but he was cut off.

“I want to. I’ll meet you in front of your university.”

Hae just nodded, not sure how he was supposed to refuse that. He then his heel and made his way down the rest of the stairs to make the short trip back to his cold, lonely apartment.

Hyuk watched him go, watched until he couldn’t see anymore. His heart felt like it was overflowing with warmth and he couldn’t stop grinning.

He usually felt good when he was helping people. That’s what made him such a good worker for the café.

But doing this for Donghae felt different…

Donghae was different.

As he walked back into the living room, he saw the camera sitting on the coffee table and he picked up it, turning to the viewer and looking back at all the pictures they’d taken together.

He was smiling like an idiot.

But it was ok, he rationalized. No one could see him.

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