WARNING: it's a double update! the chapter turned out to be quite long, so i decided to split it in two^^ read the part f i v e first, then the part s i x, thank you!

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6 months later

“I literally hate when he does it,” Donghae complained to Yumi who was listening to his nagging over phone for more than an hour already. “First he promises he won’t overwork himself, then he overworks himself, then he gets sick and I take care of him, then he promises he won’t overwork himself and boom! What do you think!”

“Not to be that person, Donghae, but you kind of had to see that coming when you started dating a workaholic.”

“I did. But still! Even he has to understand he needs proper rest to be able to work more efficiently!”

“Well, he’s got a lot on his plate. Quitting a company he dedicated his life to wasn’t an easy decision, neither trying to establish his own while working in another one, all while the media outlets won’t shut up with adding ‘gay’ to literally any news about him as if that’s the only trait he has. Man has it rough and our society truly .”

Donghae groaned. Because she was right and he knew it.

Establishing a new company is not something you do within few weeks. You need money. Partners. Trust. Money. And even though Hyukjae had money, it’s not like he could just build a new skyscraper, name it Lee Entertainment Building, tell people to come and call it a day. It included so much paperwork, meetings and everything that the two could as well die from hunger and be in debt even after their death if Hyukjae didn’t take a temporary position in one of the other companies, which also became his biggest investor as they planned to launch a new branch for their products that will technically be separate, yet they’ll be the beneficiary.

Donghae hoped he remembered all those business terms correctly because God is a witness, he didn’t know every day talks about business are included in ‘Lee Hyukjae’ package once you purchase it. His field of work wasn’t even related to business in the slightest, all he had to do is prepare this and that, call these and those people, work on documents and other stuff, which wasn’t remotely close to what he had to try to figure out once Hyukjae started sharing how his days are going openly. His head was kind of exploding and he already hated everything related to business and, he wasn’t going to lie, kind of kept getting irritated that they have to talk about it every day.

But damn, he was so in love that he loved even those traits of that man which irritated him. Donghae was nothing but a whipped cream when it came to Hyukjae.

That’s why, although he was complaining to Yumi, he was doing it not exactly because he was angry, but because he was worried. He wanted Hyukjae to rest, he wanted them to talk about different stuff not only because Donghae found business kind of boring, but because he wanted his boyfriend to be healthy and rest well. That’s it.

The guy sighed and fell on the bed as he felt kind of exhausted himself, although it was Saturday, his day off. Hyukjae had no real days off now, unlike him. Donghae was working full-time now as well, and that company was a bit stricter when it came to the workload, so he knew it wasn’t his final option, he also couldn’t quit now because the bigger the gap in his CV was, the harder it made the job search. Which is why he went for that option as of now, but dreamed about the day he’ll be able to work somewhere else.

Deep inside Donghae had a dream to work on Hyukjae again, but he never voiced that out to not burden his boyfriend who already felt guilty for making Donghae go through so much, even though he himself didn’t suffer any less.

“I know,” the guy uttered. “I really do, I’m just worried, you know. By the way, are you his friend of mine? We can organize a meeting if you want to.”

The fact that Yumi refused seeing Hyukjae because she found him too scary to meet outside of work never stopped amusing Donghae. She was totally okay with talks about him, stopped getting surprised whenever the guy shared cute stories about their relationship, but meeting the man? It was an unreachable goal for now.

“Oh, sorry,” she said. “Next time inform me what kind of support you need from me right now. Do we need to curse him or what?”

“I guess cursing at him is a bit too much. He doesn’t deserve that.”

“You’re so disgustingly in love with him.”

“I so am.”

Now it was Yumi’s turn to chuckle, “Hate to be saying that but this relationship does you good. You finally became more like… you. Although I never met you before you became who you were when we got to know each other, but it felt like you’re kind of afraid of letting people see all of you, you know? Now you’re not like that. At least with me and Hyukjae-ssi.”

Donghae rolled over on the bed, smiling at the fact that Yumi couldn’t drop the ‘ssi’ when calling about Hyukjae still, “Only with you two though.”

He still was the same Donghae he used to be – timid, kind of lonely – at his new workplace. It was silly to expect he’ll always be surrounded by good people, but, although they weren’t exactly bad and didn’t bully him or whatever, his new co-workers weren’t as warm and cozy as his ex-colleagues. Maybe because there was no Yumi among them.

These two called each other every weekend and texted almost every day, but only managed to meet four times within these six months, three of which happened when Donghae was still jobless, and it’s gotten too hard to organize the meetings after him getting a job. He missed her. A lot. She still was one of two most important people in his life.

“That’s good enough already. You can never build a house within a day, so it’ll take time to feel easier around others, but you’re on the right track, baby.”

“Your obsession with Lady Gaga didn’t pass?”

“Never will!”

They laughed and continued talking about casual stuff, ending their conversation with another promise to meet up soon, this time for sure. Donghae promised to himself he’ll do everything for it to be true this time.

Then he looked at the clock and sighed, mumbling, “Would’ve been nice if someone else could keep his promises as well.”

Hyukjae promised to come home no later than 3pm because it was freaking Saturday, but there Donghae was: alone in their house at 4:07pm.

That house became theirs for sure as it was the only place they felt safe at. It was taking extra time for each of them to get to work, but it was worth it – at least journalists weren’t camping here as they used to do near Hyukjae’s ‘official’ apartment in Seoul when the news broke. Escaping here was a nice solution. It gave a sense of normalcy in the abnormal world they lived at.

Hyukjae’s father wasn’t too much of a bother. Publicly, he was playing a role of a supportive parent, apologizing for all the inconveniences his son caused – as if that man wasn’t the reason Hyukjae had to do that – and saying the bond between parents and children is too thick to be broken like that.

Theirs, however, seemed to be too thin as Mr. Lee simply abandoned Hyukjae after that. Hyukjae said they fought on the very first day, but then – nothing. No threats or screams. No apologies or pleas either. Mr. Lee simply forgot such person as Lee Hyukjae existed in his life and was somewhat related to him. It was probably the best solution – that man couldn’t do much for it to not be interpreted as him being homophobic to his own son, and apparently, he considered that a bigger damage to his reputation compared to playing a supportive father on public and ignoring his son’s existence in real life. Or maybe he understood Hyukjae won’t do as he pleases and it’s easier to let him go. He never told them.

About Hyukjae’s mom, Donghae wasn’t sure how close they were before, but his boyfriend once told him she said he should’ve chosen money. When the guy said he doesn’t understand and asked to explain Hyukjae only smiled, kissed his forehead and said it’s nothing.

Donghae knew it wasn’t nothing but decided to not pry because opening up wasn’t Hyukjae’s forte either. The man promised to tell him everything eventually, once he feels more comfortable to talk about it, and the guy believed him. Because, despite everything, not only they had mutual respect, but mutual trust as well.

Which was about to be broken when the said man appeared home around 6pm.

“Finally!” Donghae sighed, sounding grumpy. “You promised you will rest today! You only have Sunday to recover, it won’t be enough.”

The guy walked out of the room and froze on spot, blinking at least a hundred times just to make sure he wasn’t hallucinating or whatever.

There was Hyukjae standing in front of him, smiling. Looking exhausted, but happy. Hyukjae, who was holding a…

“Sorry,” he said. “The owner was a bit late, and then we kind of got too preoccupied with buying stuff. Did you know just how many dog toys they have? Oh, my! I had to be born as a dog instead of human!”

Yeah, Hyukjae was holding a pup. Puppy. Tiny doggy. Yeah, Donghae lost his mind because he couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw that tiny brown ball of fluff in Hyukjae’s hands looking around curiously and cautiously as that tiny little being was in unknown surroundings.

“Will you say something?” Hyukjae chuckled as Donghae was silent for way too long.