The concert ended around midnight. Hyukjae bid goodbye to the club manager and hurried to the main room, hoping to meet Donghae there and find out what he thought about his performance. He felt nervous and extremely curious about the thing he saw earlier. The image of Donghae's cheeks tainted with a cute blush occupied his head.

   "Could it be thet he likes me a little?" he muttered under his breath, but then slapped himself mentally. Don't think too much, Hyuk. You don't even know if he was blushing for real. Suddenly, an idea popped out in his mind. There was a way to make sure... It wouldn't be completely fair, to act like this, but isn't it important, to know the position he was in? He would risk losing Donghae's trust, but he could gain some more confidence in his approach towards his crush. 'I can call him like that in my thoughts, can't I?'
He decided to go for it. Donghae, my crush...

Hyukjae snapped out of his trance when Donghae waved his hand in front of his face, his shoulders shaking with silent laughter.

"Oh, right", said Hyukjae, regaining his composture. "So, did you like it? Was I good?" Donghae nodded vividly, showing both thumbs up. Hyukjae beamed at him. "That's great! I'm really glad you liked it." He decided he could put his evil plan into life with slow steps, in order not to scare Donghae. So after a second, he added "You know, it was even better than usual, because there was someone really important to me in the audience." Smooth, Hyukjae.

   Donghae averted his eyes, looking a little confused. Good sign, Hyuk. He decided to let it go for now. So he clapped his hands as though he remembered about something important.
"Come with me! I have something to show you!" He shouted cheerfully. "I'm sure you'll like it!"

   He took Donghae to his dressing room, as he liked to call it, although it wasn't. It was just a room with a table and a mirror and a wardrobe with only few sets of his stage clothes.
"Make yourself at home", he chukled. Donghae sat on the chair. Hyukjae opened the drawer of the table and handed his friend a piece of paper with addresses and phone numbers he had found earlier.
Donghae looked at him questioningly.
"These are contact data of afternoon schools that teach sign language." he stated. "I decided I would like to be able to communicate with you without any barriers. "I've already contacted two of them. The prices are ok, I think I will be able to start learning next wee-"

He paused and sighed. "Hey... Donghae." he sighed, seeing as the younger's eyes became moist. "Hey, don't cry again. Because if you do, I'm going to cry as well and it will be pathetic, two guys crying over some sheet of paper..."
Donghae grinned through his tears and blinked repeatedly so as his tears wouldn't well up and go down his cheeks. Hyukjae gave him a tissue and Donghae blew his nose loudly. Cute, thought Hyukjae, laughing.

"Let me take you home."

~*~*~

    They made their way to Donghae's place in silence. Hyukjae didn't utter a single word, because it wouldn't be convenient for Donghae to make his gestures at Hyukjae in half-dark streets of their city. As they reached their destination, Donghae pulled the keys out of his bag and opened the door. Then he turned around.

    Meanwhile Hyukjae decided it was high time he got to the main point of his evil plan. Time to play a little dirtier, he chuckled mentally and took a step towards Donghae. So when the younger turned around, he found himself face to face with Hyukjae. Literally. Their faces were close. Really close. Too close. And then in the light of the lamp above the door Hyukjae could clearly see how Donghae's face became red. The boy looked away shyly.

    Hyukjae leaned even closer and whispered directly into Donghae's ear.
"Thank you for today, Hae."
 

    As he walked away he turned his head once, only to find Donghae standing frozen in a doorway, with his cheeks still blushed. The plan worked and Hyukjae was finally starting to hope that maybe, maybe, maybe Donghae was falling for him.

A/n: A shorter chappie today. I think I made Hyukjae look like some kind of a player, but... couldn't help it. His character is really complex and... You know that his feelings for Donghae are sincere, right? :)