After Hyukjae calmed down a bit, Donghae pointed at him and drawn a question mark in the air.

   "You want to know my past, too?" asked Hyukjae, raising his eyebrows.
Donghae nodded vigorously.
"But seriously, there's nothing to talk about, really."
The younger snorted.
"WHAT?" shouted Hyukjae.
The other wrote down his answer quickly.

Nothing to talk about? You surely have some past, don't you?

"But it is so... Ordinary. I grew up in a pretty normal family, I have an older sister, my parents live happily, I graduated from high school, but my grades were average." He felt silent for a second. "Oh, wait, there's something you don't know. I am an architect." he grinned, seeing Donghae's surprised expression.
"Yeah. But I work only as a rapper. This is what I am meant to do, I think. But no one really likes ajusshi-rappers, so someday when I think I am too old for this, I'll switch to designing again..." Hyukjae hesitated a little. He wondered if he could ask this question for quite a long time and decided to go for it.

"By the way, would you like to go to my concert tonight? 9pm, at 'Eclipse' club. It isn't far from here, just a 20 minutes walk. I think you would like it. It's nice there. I know you probably don't go out often, but I wish you could hear me. You could tell me afterwards- I mean... You know," he stuttered. "I wish you could tell me what do you think." He held his breath as he waited for Donghae's responce.

   As Donghae reached for his notebook, Hyukjae suddenly grasped his wrist, preventing the younger from taking it. Donghae looked up, frightened.
"Sign to me, Donghae. Maybe I'll learn faster. Don't write anymore. I want to understand you without any additional... stuff, like pens and paper. Can you?"

Donghae's eyes glimmered with tears, but they were happy tears. Tears of gratitude and relief. And Hyukjae could tell it by the wide smile that accompanied them.

   Donghae gently released his wrist from Hyukjae's grip. His gestures were simple, so that Hyukjae would be able to catch the meaning. It was more like a pantomime than speaking sign language, but Donghae didn't seem to mind it. Hyukjae felt his chest expand with fascination as he read words from movements of Donghae's hands.

'I would love to hear you rap, I will go.'
'It's been a long time sine I went out in the evening'
'I think there's nothing to be afraid of, right?'

   Hyukjae kept nodding or shaking his head, making sure if he understood, occasionally asking Donghae to repeat something. They started to talk about different things, Hyukjae told him a story of Heechul putting his cat into the washing machine and Hyukjae turning it on accidentaly. And Donghae giggled soundlessly when he heard that poor animal never went into the bathroom again after the incident.

   Donghae showed Hyukjae how he met Siwon, how they tried to make a cake one day, but failed miserably. And Hyukjae nearly laughed his lungs out, pointing out that Donghae really had a gift for entertaining people. What a waste of such precious talent, he thought. His expression must have changed abruptly, because Donghae stopped his acting and looked at him, worried.

   "Oh, I'll go now, I must prepare for my concert," he said, trying to sound cheerful again. "You'll manage to get to the club, right?"
Donghae noded. "You can go in through the back door, I'll be in the room on the right. Come in and I'll take you to the main room, so you'll have the best seat." he added, grinning.

   Donghae accompanied him to the front door. Hyukjae put his shoes on and turned to face the younger. "Thank you Donghae. For the food, and the talk. It was really nice afternoon." He opened the door. "So, see you in... Three hours?" he asked, looking at his watch.

~*~*~

   After reaching his apartment and getting into his room he turned his computer on and clicked the Web browser icon. He felt a little guilty, because he lied to Donghae for the first time. He didn't need to prepare for the concert, it was nothing new to him, but he needed some excuse to leave. He had to do something else.

   He opened Google's page and typed hastily:

Cheap, quick, efficient sign language course

   Just wait for some time, Donghae. We'll be talking like crazy soon! All the time! Non stop! His enthusiasm was increasing every minute. In the end, he printed a few phone numbers and addresses. Here we go, Mr Lee, thought Hyukjae. How do you feel about being a student again? He took the sheets of paper and went to the club, excited like a 5-year-old who was promissed to meet Santa Claus. Or at least one of his helpers.

~*~*~

    As he promised, Hyukjae met Donghae backstage. The boy watch him put on his make up. The boy seemed to like the effect of the eyeliner, Hyukjae noticed, proud of himself. Then, a few minutes before nine o' clock, he guided the younger to the table in the middle of the club. "Do you want something to drink?" he asked. Donghae shook his head, showing Hyukjae that he'll just sit and listen.

    Hyukjae jumped onto the stage when all lights in the room dimmed, leaving the stage as the only brightly lit spot.

    Then the music immerged from speakers. The rapper put all possible emotions into his songs, gaining loud applause after each piece. He felt intoxicated with the music and the words, he felt... Safe, happy, excited. And the feel of Donghae's presence in the club gave him even more strength.

    Hyukjae raised his head and let himself find Donghae in the crowd of people. He watched Hyukjae perform with his eyes widened with awe.

"You know what, I’m a little bit shy sometimes, you don’t know, but you’re burning like the sun, please understand my feelings..." said the lyrics of the song.

   It was then that their eyes met, gazes connected and Hyukjae noticed something in a dimly lit room, not quite sure if it hadn't been only his imagination.

Was Donghae... blushing?

A/n: Another chapter! Is Donghae slowly falling for Hyukjae? You know, music has its magical powers ^^ Now Hyukjae will crave to know more... :)
Welcome, my new subscribers! Thank you for your lovely comments and... I think Jessica as Donghae's first big love was a right choice, many of you were glad I had made her die :P