It was Saturday, and right now it was 11 am. No classes, no homework. Even so, Donghae couldn’t believe he was doing grocery shopping at a supermarket. He didn’t have a choice anyway, or else he would be starving for the rest of the month. But it was extremely unbelievable that he let Eunhyuk to come with him – more like forced to – since the latter wouldn’t stop babbling about him being a mean friend.

Getting fed up with the unstoppable whining he had to bring the boy too, and he wasn’t even sure if it would be alright. He glanced at the blonde beside him who was skipping excitedly, like a kid going to buy his toy.

“Donghae, this shopping mall is kind of small,” Eunhyuk said, looking around.

“This is a supermarket, not a shopping mall.”

Eunhyuk didn’t seem to hear what Donghae said as he was too busy scanning the place. Donghae sighed, already regretting his decision to take Eunhyuk with him. After taking the trolley, he continued walking until he arrived at the grocery section. As usual, he would be buying the canned foods, or ramyun, cereals, and snacks – the usual meals of a man living alone – and threw it into the trolley.

“Donghae, the doctor on the TV said it’s not healthy to eat these things every day,” Eunhyuk told him, his face serious.

Donghae just ignored him and continued searching for other food. That must be the result of watching TV too much…

“Let’s buy pasta,” Eunhyuk suggested, smiling widely.

“Yeah, right. Who's going to cook? You?”

“Of course. Donghae doesn’t know how to cook after all.”

Donghae frowned. “So you’re saying you know how to make pasta?”

Eunhyuk nodded. “I’m not sure, but somehow I feel like I know how to do it. I think I’m starting to remember something, Donghae.”

Donghae fell quiet, not knowing how to react. And without him realizing too, he was following Eunhyuk, forgetting what he was supposed to buy.

“Donghae, I want to buy that,” Eunhyuk pointed out of the blue at a carton of strawberry milk on a shelf with sparkling eyes.

For some reason, Donghae couldn’t go against the boy and just nodded his head in defeat. Eunhyuk didn’t waste any more time and reached out his hand to grab his ‘inviting’ strawberry milk, but of course, height would be a great disadvantage at times like this. He pouted when he couldn’t seem to reach it.

But before he could mutter anything, Donghae’s hand was already reaching out for the milk, taking it easily. He was just behind Eunhyuk, too close to be exact. Eunhyuk turned around to thank him, but it was a wrong move. They were extremely close now, staring into each other’s eyes and Eunhyuk could feel his heartbeat getting faster. Eunhyuk swallowed. He didn’t know what he was feeling at that moment but he couldn’t avert his eyes from Donghae’s.

“You want this, right?” Donghae spoke, slowly turning away. He couldn’t comprehend what had happened just now, when he was mesmerized by those pair of eyes, the most beautiful pair of eyes he had ever seen.

Eunhyuk nodded, unable to speak. They started walking again, but no more talking and blabbering from Eunhyuk. They both could feel the strange atmosphere, but no one took the chance to talk. Feeling awkward with the sudden silence, Eunhyuk cleared his throat.

“Dong-“

Before he could finish a group of people walked across them and bumped into him accidentally, causing him to stumble back and nearly fell but Donghae caught his waist right on time. Eunhyuk gulped when he felt the strange sensation again.

“Be careful,” Donghae said. He let Eunhyuk walked in front of him, trapped between him and the trolley. They just walked like that, heading to the counter and Eunhyuk felt like his heart was malfunctioning, beating faster and faster. Realizing the blonde’s anxiousness, Donghae didn’t know what came over him but he felt like teasing the boy. He smirked as he leaned closer and whispered in Eunhyuk’s ear, “Why are you so nervous?”

Eunhyuk almost jumped, but he tried to act normal even though he could feel Donghae’s hot breath on his nape. “I-I’m not n-nervous.”

“Yeah? Then why are you blushing?”

Eunhyuk spontaneously touched his cheeks – which were getting redder – and Donghae mentally slapped himself for finding the action cute, too cute. Afraid that he’d be the one who’d go nuts, he pushed Eunhyuk aside, ignoring the questioning look the blonde gave him.

“We’re going to pay,” he said.

“Why?” Eunhyuk asked, completely clueless.

Sighing again, Donghae answered, “Because there’s nothing we can get for free in this world.”

Eunhyuk thought for a while before saying, “So do I have to pay Donghae? Since Donghae gave me a place to stay.”

Donghae looked at him for a second, before slowly shaking his head. “You don’t have to.”

“Why?”

There was no answer from Donghae. Even when they were already in the car driving back home, Donghae didn’t even say a single word, making Eunhyuk feel a bit down. He never liked the silence. It gave him a cold feeling – a feeling of loneliness – a very nostalgic feeling.

_________________________________________________

He looked out the window, watching as people streaming past his cottage, talking and laughing. He smiled. How he envied the normal life other people were leading, living peacefully while walking on the right path. He chose the wrong one, and there was nothing he could do to turn back.

“Teukie-ah.”

He turned around as he heard his name, frowning when he saw Kangin in front of him. “What’re you doing here? I thought you’re going to Ilsan.”

“I was on the way,” Kangin’s face turned serious, “But I had to get back.”

“Why?” Leeteuk was starting to get a bad feeling, but he tried to stay calm.

Kangin sighed. “Choi Siwon is back in Korea.”

Leeteuk widened his eyes, clearly look terrified. This was the last thing he wanted to hear right now, when everything was still unstable. Not to mention that he couldn’t reach Sungmin who went to inspect their project, and hadn’t return until now.

“And he’s on his way to our main headquarters,” Kangin continued.

“Damn it,” Leeteuk paced back and forth, panicking. “He’s gonna find out Hyukjae is gone, for sure. His men will tell him everything. And when that time comes, Sungmin might get killed. He was the one helping Hyukjae to run that day.”

Kangin placed his hands on Leeteuk’s shoulder, trying to calm him down. “It'll be alright, Teuk-ah. We’ll find a way, and we’ll save Min and Hyukjae. Okay?”

Leeteuk nodded weakly as he followed Kangin out of the room, getting ready to face their biggest fear - Choi Siwon, also known as the heir for one of the biggest drug and weapon trading groups – their leader.

_______________________________________________

“DONGHAE!!”

The glass Donghae was holding almost fell from his hand upon hearing Eunhyuk’s scream. This kid… He cursed in his mind as he put back the glass on the dining table and walked to the kicthen. “I’m not deaf, so stop screaming.”

“There’s a big spider in the cabinet!” Eunhyuk yelled again, tugging Donghae’s shirt.

Dong