On the second day of Christmas, my true love gave to me: Two Turtle Doves
And a Partridge in a Pear Tree

Flight 429: Landing in 15 minutes.

The red, plastic bucket seats were nowhere close to comfortable, and Hyukjae squirmed in his seat, looking out the large windows at the enormous aircraft as they sat waiting for people to get on or off. He dropped the ankle that was resting on his knee and stretched his thin legs in front of him, his thoughts landing everywhere but the here and now. Last night was quite possibly the most embarrassing night of his life thus far. 

Lee Hyukjae was 27 years old, but when Jungsoo gave him that look of disbelief over seeing his favorite dongsaeng with pants around the ankles while being d by some guy he had just met, Hyukjae felt Jungsoo must have been disappointed. Even though Jungsoo was highly promiscuous, he was also highly protective of Hyukjae. He always told Hyukjae that being innocent at 27 was admirable.

It wasn't that Hyukjae was completely innocent. He watched plenty of and had already had a couple partners in his past. Jungsoo knew all of this. The difference between Hyukjae's past and the night before was that Hyukjae had never gone so far with someone outside of a long-term relationship. Last night all it took was half an hour and he was ready to bear it all.

He shook his head and glanced down at his watch again, sighing when he realized only four minutes had elapsed.

"Hyukkie!"

Hyukjae's eyes opened and he was looking straight up at Lee Sungmin, his cousin who had come from Japan to spend Christmas in Seoul and was sporting a surprising new hair color. Hyukjae must have fallen asleep without realizing. Once he gathered his bearings, he shot up and pulled Sungmin into a hug, bursting with a grand smile, "Sungmin-hyung! When did you dye your hair blond?”

“You like it?” Sungmin crushed Hyukjae in the embrace.

Immediately after releasing the slightly shorter but much more muscular Sungmin and managing to wiggle out of that arm-hold, Hyukjae courteously took his cousin's bag and started leading the way to the baggage claim so they get pick up the rest of the luggage. “Sorry about dozing off there. I had a long night."

"Oh! Ho ho!" Sungmin jeered as he launched his brows upward and nudged Hyukjae with his elbow. "You'll have to tell me all about it." 

“Yah! It’s not liked that, really. Not so much to tell.” Hyukjae lied and turned to the side in order to hide his embarrassment as he revisited the previous night's events in his mind. In an attempt to keep Sungmin from asking anything more, Hyukjae darted ahead to claim the three large pink suitcases. 

It’s possible that Sungmin was only trying to be gracious or maybe he really had forgotten by the time they pulled the bags from the metal belt. Either way, the topic was dropped. 

"So, Hyung, tell me about Japan? How's teaching going?" Hyukjae wanted to ensure that the topic stay dropped. It helped that he was genuinely curious about Sungmin's present life overseas.

Sungmin had been working in Osaka on a visa for the past three years. He taught martial arts at a small school for decent pay. That was his day job. In every free moment the man could find, he would write. Sungmin had been writing manga for the past five years and hoped that one day he would have a finished collection to publish. This probably would have already been accomplished if it weren't for the distraction of his obsession over male celebrities. Sungmin was the epitome of a fanboy and often pried as much information as possible out of Hyukjae about the idols at CSW. The traveler had made sure that Hyukjae got him tickets for the upcoming CSW Christmas Showcase, and not just for the sake of seeing his own cousin on the stage.

"It's going great actually. I might have someone interested in Meow Mew Maw, you know? Before long, I'll be an esteemed author and not just that crazy otaku cousin of yours."

Hyukjae snorted and shook his head in protest, "No one thinks you are crazy."

The drive back to Hyukjae's apartment was full of chatter and catching up on everything and anything that happened in the last year since the two had seen each other. Despite monthly phone calls, there was still so much to talk about. Sungmin was really the only blood-family that Hyukjae had left after he was kicked out by his father at 17. As important as Jungsoo was in Hyukjae's life, Sungmin was equally important in another way.

When Hyukjae parked the clunk of junk he called in the lot down on the side of the brown brick building, he quickly answered his phone while popping the trunk.

"Hyung?" Hyukjae motioned for Sungmin to hand over a suitcase from the trunk, refusing to let his cousin carry all the luggage up by himself. Jungsoo's voice on the other line started going on and on about some party tonight. "Hyung, you know that my cousin came in town tonight, right? Sungmin-hyung is probably exhausted. I don't want to drag him all over Seoul on his first night here when he needs his rest." 

Before Jungsoo could reply, Sungmin had snatched the phone from Hyukjae's ear, letting his designer luggage litter the sidewalk in front of the stoop. "Don't listen to that party pooper, Leeteuk-hyung. A party sounds great!” 

Sungmin gave a cheeky smile when he handed the phone back to Hyukjae just a few moments later. "You act as if the trip from Osaka is a long one. I'm not tired at all. In fact, I would like nothing more than to go to this party. Besides, according to you, Leeteuk-hyung always goes to parties with all sorts of celebrities there," Sungmin's eyes sparkled in delight before he raced up the stairs ahead of the somewhat disappointed Hyukjae. Last night had kind of spoiled his desire to go out for a while. 

"Oh, now you want to go out, Jungsoo-hyung? After all that begging I had to do yesterday?" Hyukjae grumbled to himself the entire way up to his floor.

Hyukjae helped Sungmin unpack his belongings in the only bedroom of the small apartment. He would let his hyung sleep on the bed and crash on the couch instead. Seeing as they still had a quite a while before they would be going out, Hyukjae volunteered to make some ramen and gave Sungmin control of the remote when the eldest rambled on about needing to catch up on some drama also known as Korea’s Best of Celebs, a notorious tabloid-like news program.

Out of nowhere there was a shrill scream from the living room. Hyukjae left the toothed ladle inside the simmering pot and ran toward the cries of his cousin. All sorts of horrific scenarios ran through his head.

His shoulders dropped and he sighed as he realized that Sungmin was perfectly fine. The man was only being his usual self. 

"Oh my God, Hyukjae. Come here! You have to see this." Sungmin flapped his arms from the couch and made room for Hyukjae to have a seat. 

The younger man complied and walked across the room to sit next to his cousin and find out what had happened on the television that had this guy in complete hysterics. 

"Remember that guy I was telling you about on the way here? That really adorable actor, Aiden. Well that's him and he just got the lead role in a new drama. I was totally rooting for him. This will definitely be a new height in his career. Oh my God! That means I will get to see him everyone on the screen.”

Hyukjae had zoned out halfway through whatever Sungmin was babbling about because there on the screen was the same man who had his hands and lips all over Hyukjae less than 24 hours ago. Across the bottom of the screen ran a headline in bright white letters on an orange background: AIDEN LANDS LEAD ROLE IN 'TWO TURTLE DOVES'. 

"Aiden?" Hyukjae hadn't meant for it to be said aloud, but Sungmin took that as permission once again continue the long rave he had started in the car just an hour or two ago. 

"Isn't he completely gorgeous? He is so y. I told you he was a heartthrob. This drama is supposed to be the hottest show of the year, and he will be the lead. There are rumors of a shower scene. Can you believe it? Imagine that man in a shower scene." 

It took Hyukjae bit to come to grips with the fact that this guy on the screen was the same one from the night before. "WHAT? NO WAY!" Hyukjae suddenly scrambled across the couch away from Sungmin and the fanboy blinked at him in confusion. There was no way that Hyukjae was going to imagine that man in the shower. Absolutely not. 

"Hyukjae? Wha--" BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP The smoke alarm screeched so loudly that whatever Sungmin was asking had absolutely no chance of being heard. 

It was fortunate that no one was badly hurt. Hyukjae had managed to get a slight burn on his forearm from getting too close to the heat as he attempted in vain to put it out, but it probably wouldn't even leave a scar. Most of the damage was contained in the kitchen. However, the sprinklers had soaked almost everything and the landlord suggested Hyukjae stay somewhere else for a few nights until the mess could get cleaned up and the carpet be replaced. Hyukjae would never be able to express how grateful he was to Jungsoo for letting him and Sungmin stay over. There was no way he could have afforded a hotel at this time. 

Jungsoo's house was was no house at all. It was more of a castle in Hyukjae's eyes. He had stayed here a while back, when the two first met. Hyukjae had been living in one of the studios at CSW after his landlord suddenly kicked him out when Hyukjae's uality became known. It was actually the CEO of the company, Choi Siwon, who had introduced Hyukjae to Jungsoo and arranged for Hyukjae to stay in the composer's home for a few weeks until another place could be found. Jungsoo had been so different back then, but still treated Hyukjae the same as always even after so much heartbreak the past couple years.

Sungmin was thrilled to be staying at Jungsoo's, never having been there before, he was enthralled everywhere he looked. The traveler was also quite pleased that despite all the commotion, the three would still be attending that Christmas party Jungsoo had been invited to. 

The party for the night was being held not too far from the hotel they had been at the previous night. It was, as far as Hyukjae could tell, a theater. The stage was obvious, taking up almost half the room and imposing itself at every opportunity. It provided an entire separate area for people to socialize with lounge chairs and a somewhat quieter aura. The main floor held the bar and a much livelier atmosphere with a jazz band and all. Sungmin didn't waste any time but beelined straight for that snack bar, taking a glass of wine offered by one of the staff along the way.

Hyukjae was about to follow and see if they had any desserts as good as the party from Friday night when a familiar voice floated across the room. He turned to his right to see that Jungsoo had also noticed this voice but wore an odd smile in reaction. 

"Leeteuk, Eunyhyuk," Heechul floated toward them with an exaggerated smile and nod at each name, "I am so glad to see that the both of you could make it, tonight. I know you must get plenty of invitations on any given Saturday. It’s great to see that you have picked the best one.”

"Of course." Jungsoo was sparing with words per usual, but Hyukjae couldn't help but notice that the elder never took his eyes off of Heechul.

"Nice to see you, too, sir." Hyukjae bowed and smiled if only for the comfort of seeing another familiar face. From the looks of it, this party might be even more intimidating than the one from the night before. The attendance of Friday's party had been full of important people, but Hyukjae would never have known if Jungsoo didn't point them out. Tonight's gathering was strictly A-list celebrities that anyone with a television or a radio should recognize. They were the face of all those brilliant composers and vocalists from the previous night boasting more CF deals than any idol he trained could ever hope for in a lifetime.

Heechul's grin widened, and he stepped incredibly close to Jungsoo, lowering his voice, "I'll be back around after I greet the other few stragglers who have just wandered in." The MC then gave an amused nod at Hyukjae before prancing off to another cluster of newcomers.

The smirk that danced in Jungsoo's upper lip was Hyukjae's cue to get lost as soon as Heechul came back. "Why didn't you just say that it was Kim Heechul's party, Hyung?" Hyukjae laughed out his question. 

"Technically it is not his party but just one thrown by some big shot producer who knows Heechul quite well. Heechul is just being social.” Jungsoo's voice lowered to a mutter and he looked away, Hyukjae could easily tell what was said. "And a ing tease."

With a gulp and another laugh, much more nervous than before, Hyukjae gave Jungsoo a pat on the shoulder. "I'm going to go find Sungmin-hyung. You have fun with that." 

Jungsoo simply nodded and Hyukjae quickly slipped away, making sure to be long gone before he had to overhear anymore of Jungsoo’s hormonal murmerings. There was no judgment toward Jungsoo on Hyukjae's part. The man was old enough to do as he pleased, and Hyukjae would always rather see Jungsoo chasing tail than chasing the bottom of a bottle or worse. He just didn’t want to actually see it.

The snack bar was the first place Hyukjae headed to, and to start with, he didn't see Sungmin anywhere around. Grabbing a rounded pink pastry with a dot of cream in center, he his heels in order to figure out where the other guy could be. A blaring chuckle, Sungmin's signature yet adorable laugh, had Hyukjae turning slightly to the right and staring straight into what appeared to be Sungmin's attempt at flirting just at the end of the snack bar. 

“Great Googly Moogly, is that all this party is for?" Hyukjae mumbled and stepped forward with the intention of letting Sungmin know that he was going to step out for a minute and get some fresh air. Halfway down the table though, Sungmin lifted his eyes and looked past the tall rusty-brown haired man with a glare that signified he could and would break every single one of Hyukjae’s bones if he dared to take one more step. Hyukjae nodded and turned right back around. 

Fresh air must have really been what Hyukjae needed, because the uneasy and anxious nervousness that had rapidly increased as he tried to find an exit out onto the street quickly subsided as soon as Hyukjae's shoes tapped against pavement. The air might have been a bit too fresh though. Hyukjae was shocked at how cold it had gotten within the 20 minuted he had been inside the theater. He pulled his thin jacket closer against his body and searched around for a nearby comfortable place to sit quietly and warm up. A small cafe half a block away caught his eye and he was on his way. 

"Aahhh," Hyukjae couldn't help the sound of contentment that escaped when the warm air finally hit him along with the smell of coffee and pie. It was a roasted, sweet smell and Hyukjae's dislike for the taste of coffee had no bearing on how welcome that aroma was. The line at the counter was short, and Hyukjae stuffed a hand in the pocket of his coat to fish around for some money. A few bills were pulled out and he stepped in line to indulge. Having your kitchen catch fire, finding out that you were d by some famous actor your cousin was in love with, and being dragged to a party simply for the sake of being your hyung's failsafe if the tail being chased turned out to be dupe was enough of an excuse for Hyukjae to spend some cash on a treat. 

"Good evening, sir. What would you like to order tonight?" The barista behind the counter was delightfully cheery in a way that made it nearly impossible for Hyukjae not to return the smile. The man’s round cheeks and dimply smile added to the warm atmosphere of the whole shop. Hyukjae looked up at the menu in order to try and read all that mumbo jumbo written in English but decided to just try his luck. 

"Hot chocolate?" Here's to hoping that no one laughs at the 27-year-old man ordering a child's drink. "With extra milk and sugar." And here's to hoping that no one heard that. 

"Anything else?" The shorter man with honey-brown hair on the other side of the counter encouraged Hyukjae with another smile. 

"What's your best pie?" Hyukjae couldn't help himself. He had this sweet tooth and it needed satiating. 

“Triple Chocolate Geisha." It wasn't the barista but someone from behind Hyukjae, incredibly close, that might have had an urge to give dessert suggestions to unsuspecting strangers. 

Hyukjae zipped around only to stumble backward against the glass counter when he was confronted with a man about his height who wore a playful grin. It was none other than the very man whose hand had been in Hyukjae’s pants not too long ago. “You?”

"He'll have the Triple Chocolate Geisha, Henry."  Donghae simply spoke over Hyukjae's shoulder to the man behind the counter.

Dumbfounded, it took Hyukjae a bit to realize that Donghae had just spoken for him. Although Hyukjae was used to Jungsoo always doing this sort of thing, he wasn't about to let this guy do the same. "With extra strawberries, please," Hyukjae pleaded with the barista, whose name was apparently Henry. It was a brave attempt at exerting his independence.

"Triple Chocolate Geisha doesn't come with strawberries, sir." Henry laughed and Hyukjae had no idea if it was because of the order or because of how obvious it was that Donghae had nearly scared the living daylights out of this new customer. 

"Add it," Donghae answered for Hyukjae once again with a proud smile, "And put it all on my tab."

"Don't do that." Hyukjae argued against letting Donghae pay for his order and started fumbling through the cash in his hand, "How much is it?"

"The total will be eight d--" 

"If you don't let me pay for your order, then I will slam you up against this counter right now and continue where we left off last night. In front of all these people.” 

Donghae's interruption was a quiet, breathy exclamation against the shell of Hyukjae's ear, but it was easy to tell that Henry had heard every word from the way his circular face flushed. It couldn't have been any more red than Hyukjae's though as Donghae pressed his body against the poor boy’s back and reached his arms around each side of the flustered dancer, an intimidation tactic to keep Hyukjae from pulling out the correct amount of money. 

"Put it on my tab." Donghae at last stepped back to give Hyukjae breathing room and flashed a smile at Henry as if he hadn't totally obliterated anyone's personal space just a few seconds ago.

Henry took that as the final word on the matter and started making the hot chocolate with extra milk and sugar as he tried to get a view of what would happen next between the two. 

Hyukjae simply swallowed and tried to scoot over to his right a step or two more in order to put some distance between him and Donghae. He had absolutely no idea of what to do next in this situation. 

"You can sit down while it's made, you know?" Donghae didn't wait for Hyukjae to answer whether he knew or not because he was already heading to a petite square table off in the corner of the café near a window. He didn't sit immediately but instead pulled a chair out for Hyukjae to sit down in. 

Not really caring for the controlling gesture, as it reminded him of how Jungsoo treated all of his hookups, Hyukjae performed a small act of rebellion and decided to sit in the chair opposite from the one Donghae had pulled out. "Thanks,” Hyukjae caved. Being rude can only go so far. After all, the guy just forked out $8 for him.

"So what are you doing here and not at my party?" Donghae had shrugged off Hyukjae's weird refusal to take the offered seat and sat down in it himself, following the dancer's gaze out the window to try and see what the other one was looking at. 

There wasn't a thing outside that window to look at but the street with cars and lights and windows under the falling snow, but Hyukjae was still trying to purge his mind of the images that Donghae's threat at the counter had brought about. 

"Hm?" Hyukjae's eyes flitted from the scene in the window to the pouting man across from him. 

"Why'd  you ditch my party?" Donghae asked again, pushing his bottom lip out even more into a pout that had Hyukjae wondering if this was the same guy from the night before.

"Your party? I thought it was some producer guy's thing." Hyukjae crossed and uncrossed his feet as his eyes struggled to find a place to settle. 

"The 'producer guy' is Zhou Mi. “Donghae scoffed at Hyukjae's childish wording, his eyes studying those long fidgeting fingers on the table across from him before looking up suddenly and catching Hyukjae off guard by staring straight back at him. "He's the producer who casted me into that new drama that's all over the news. I'm sure you've heard about it."

"It was too stuffy." Hyukjae said matter-of-factly. He had no idea how to do this talking thing right now.

"Actually, the drama is supposed to be one of the most--"

"I was talking about your party. I left because it was too stuffy." Hyukjae looked up at that moment as Henry set the hot chocolate and pie on the table with a bow at the waist. "Oh! Thank you." He gave a bright smile that lifted his upper lip so high the whole room was given a peepshow of Hyukjae's pink gums. 

"Did you need anything else?" Henry asked, looking first at Hyukjae and then Donghae. 

"No, thank you." Donghae didn't bother to take his eyes off of Hyukjae to look over at the barista. 

Then it faded and Hyukjae bunched his thick eyebrows together under the red fringe as he looked over at Donghae. "Why aren't you getting anything?" Then without letting Donghae answer, Hyukjae looked up at Henry with another, much smaller smile, "He'll have the same thing as me. Add it to my tab please." He couldn't help but giggle at his own joke, and Henry seemed amused as well. 

Donghae just sat there blinking in confusion when the worker left to fill the order and Hyukjae covered his mouth with those fingers to try and stop his giggling. "Oh, you are clever, aren't you?"

This just had Hyukjae giggling all over again, and now his eyes were nothing but slits in a bundle of wrinkles as his cheek bones tried to meet his hair line. It was contagious like this, and Donghae let a small huff of laughter out through his nose.

"I'm sorry it was stuffy." Donghae kept his eyes on Hyukjae as the guy with kid-tastebuds salivated over the two treats before him, unsure of which to taste first. "I hate things like that." 

"Omo!" Hyukjae had ended up settling on the cake, probably because the steam pouring out of the drink was a bit intimidating, and according to this guy across from him, he would really like Triple Chocolate Geisha.

Once again, a small laugh slipped out from Donghae. "You don't think it's too sweet?"

Hyukjae quickly shook his head, his lips parting to reveal a toothy smile. "Not at all. I love sweet things. Jungsoo-hyung says I have kid tastebuds but I like to think that even adults should be able to eat sugary treats."

Donghae his lips before smiling and giving a soft nod. "Well then you should eat mine when it comes because I'm not really much of a sweets person anyways. I've only ever had the Triple Chocolate Geisha once and figured it would be something you would like after hearing you order extra milk and sugar in something already as sweet as hot chocolate."

"No way. You should eat it, though. I ordered it for you." He had no idea why the heat had returned to his cheeks, but Hyukjae couldn't help it. The whole idea of ordering something for this other man just sounded embarrassing to him. Of course, Donghae was straight, right? Except when drunk. So this little comment really shouldn't have meant anything to the other man. It’s not like Donghae would see it the same way.

Before Hyukjae had a chance to try and make his words sound less awkward, less like a gay guy completely crushing on a famous heteroual actor, Donghae reached across the table and placed a hand on Hyukjae's cheek. Some sort of self-equilibrium control center thingamajig must have sent an 'all heat sources to the north' order because Hyukjae's cheeks were burning. 

"You have some..." Donghae's thumb was against the area just beneath Hyukjae's full bottom lip, presumably wiping off the chocolate stain of a messy eater. 

"Your order." Henry chimed in as he set the second cup of hot chocolate and the plate with the Triple Chocolate Geisha on the table. Hyukjae figured that in less than two minutes, he could grab the pen out of Henry's apron pocket and stab one of the three men in the immediate vicinity in the jugular vein: Henry for interrupting that moment of heart-pounding skin contact, Donghae for causing Hyukjae to practically melt into a sun-tanned snowman, or himself because this was definitely a crush.

"Thanks." Donghae chirped in response and pushed the two served items halfway across the little round table in Hyukjae's direction. 

The other could only clear his throat and take a swig of his hot chocolate wishing for the first time in his life that he had a flask of whisky in his back pocket.