Donghae hoped Wookie knew just how much trouble he was about to be in when he opened his mouth to answer Sungmin’s question. He was going to kill his tiny munchkin of a friend, and he didn’t care how much he begged for forgiveness. How could he start being…Wookie-ish when he knew Hyukjae was here?!

Ryeowook had stopped wriggling, obviously sensing that his death was near if he did anything, anything he shouldn’t. He looked down, his fringe obscuring the slightly worried look in his eyes, because he could feel how tense Donghae was, and he hadn’t quite realised that maybe he should have restrained himself. “Sorry.” He muttered quietly.

Donghae poked him quickly, before looking up at Sungmin. “Ah, um…” He had two paths open to him; he could lie, and not look like the loner he was, or he could tell the truth and look like a with Wookie on his lap. Why was this such a difficult decision? It was Sungmin’s look, he thought, as he stood there, the sweet smile still there as he waited expectantly for an answer. Oh God, this had to be the most awkward situation of his life, even more so than the time he and Hyukjae had almost been caught at Sora’s wedding… Speaking of Hyukjae, he was still watching them, and that, coupled with the fact he’d left poor Sungmin hanging for an answer for about three minutes gave him the answer. He gave a small chuckle. “Oh…not really.” He winked. “We’re just…good friends.”

Inside he was slapping himself. Way to make yourself sound like a , Hae. Oh well, he’d done it now, and Wookie could take the consequences. He could see the blush on Wookie’s face, hidden from Sungmin by the fringe. “Right, Wookie?” He said snidely, nudging the smaller man on his lap.

“Uh…of course, hyung.” Wookie mumbled, the blush intensifying.

Sungmin laughed. “I see.” He pressed his lips together to keep from laughing again. “I get you.” He winked back, all the while, Donghae cursing the inappropriateness of the situation. That was it, he was never going anywhere with Wookie ever again. He’d just have to abandon his best friend. It was fine. He had Siwon. Siwon didn’t do like this, he… Oh wait. He was avoiding him because of the bathroom incident.

Well, he’d just be alone then. That was fine.  He didn’t need friends. Except he did, and this was so awkward and he was definitely killing Wookie when Sungmin disappeared.

“Well, that’s mine over there.” Sungmin told him, smirking at Eunhyuk as he turned behind and winked at him. Hyukjae tried to smile back, but he found it hard. It was…uncomfortable, at the very least, to see the same guy from the bar on Donghae’s lap. He had come here, expecting to be able to talk with Sungmin, because he was going to be gone in a week, and he wanted to spend a little time with his boyfriend. Sungmin was sweet, he was kind, he was a good boyfriend. And that was what he had focused on, prior to seeing Donghae. But now all he could seem to think about was the fact that he didn’t like that Donghae obviously had moved on.

Sungmin was worth all the effort, and he made a conscious decision to get past this. It had been three years, enough for them to move on, and he had to accept this. Perhaps it was so hard because they’d had their lives entangled for so long, and then…it had just stopped. After seventeen years of being as close as you could be, knowing everything about the other and always being together, it had just stopped, as Donghae had broken them apart. To be honest, he’d never understood why Donghae had said goodbye, had broken up the…well, bond they had.

It must have been so painful because he’d spent most of his life with Hae, and the feeling that he didn’t want him anymore…was wrong. It was the truth, however, and you could never spend your life on the “what-ifs”, because that wasn’t moving forward. He had moved forward. He had done it all by himself, had found a guy he really liked. Sungmin wasn’t Donghae; but that was fine, and he wanted Sungmin to be more, because, well, he had no chance with Hae again.

It was these thoughts that forced him up, out of his seat in the cosy corner of the café, over to where Sungmin stood, making polite conversation. He bit his lip, but he ignored the sinking feeling as he stared at Donghae and Sungmin. “Hey.”

Donghae immediately pushed Wookie off his lap. Hyukjae was here, but why? Wookie stumbled for a moment, before going to sit in his original seat, where he kept his head down, allowing Donghae to control the situation.

Sungmin turned to Hyukjae. “Hey, come over to say hello?” He asked, smirking playfully at him.

“Yeah, I have.” He managed a smirk of his own as Sungmin wound his fingers through his, almost absentmindedly. “But…” He cleared his throat. “Did you realise, um, that these two will be working with me?”

Sungmin looked at him curiously, dark eyebrows raised. “Oh?” He made a little huff of surprise before he smiled again. “No, you didn’t.” He looked back at Donghae. “Small world, eh?”

Donghae nodded. “Yeah.” He was pretty sure Sungmin wanted more than monosyllabic answers, but really, it was all he was capable of. The world was really screwing him around, and he couldn’t, he just couldn’t act normally. It was so ironic, because he was pretty sure he would have really liked Sungmin in any other situation.

Eunhyuk smiled tightly. “Well, as team leaders, we’ll be working together, so I hope we work well.” He held out a hand.

Donghae looked up at Hyukjae’s face, and for a moment, he thought he saw a flash of something in his eyes, but it was gone in a moment as he took the proffered hand. Because they did have to work together, and maybe pretending that they didn’t know each other would help, Donghae shook it firmly, with a twinge of regret.

There was no chance of a reconciliation, he could see that much. Which upset him on a number of levels, not least the fact that he loved him. They’d had such a strong bond before he’d…run away, and now all that was left was the good times they’d had before. Okay, if that was how he wanted it, Donghae could give him that.

“A week, and we’re over there.” Donghae forced a laugh. “I guess you guys will miss each other.” That hurt.

Sungmin chuckled. “Yeah, I will, at least! But, well, if you knew Eunhyuk, you’d know that nothing keeps him away from his work for long! Not even me…” His smile was bright, teasing, no malice intended.

It was on the tip of Donghae’s tongue to tell him that yes, he knew all about Hyukjae’s obsessive work ethic, and that that was one of the reasons he’d separated himself from him, but he nodded along instead.

Hyukjae chuckled too. “Minnie, you know it’s not all about work. There’s plenty of time for you too.” He squeezed Sungmin’s hand lightly. This was the difference between Hae and Minnie, he guessed. The work thing had meant more to Donghae than it had to Sungmin.

“Good.” Sungmin’s smile was even brighter this time. “And now, I think we have to go. I have to go to work.” He scrunched up his nose in apology. “Sorry…I think we’ll see more of each other, though?”

“Yeah, I suppose we will…” Donghae said thoughtfully, Wookie nodding from his corner of shame.

“Bye then!” Sungmin said excitedly, as he tugged Eunhyuk out the door. “See you soon!”

Donghae smiled and waved until they had disappeared, before rounding on Ryeowook, who, seeing the murderous expression on his face, sunk into his chair and hid his face in his hands.

“I’m sorry hyung! Forgive me!” He cried, still refusing to look at him.

Donghae narrowed his eyes. “You are small and evil and I am now telling Henry about what you did with Yesung on New Years Eve.”

Ryeowook took his hands away from his face, eyes wide. “You wouldn’t…”

“I would anyway.” He sighed. “ my life. Really…just this . I mean, why…”

Wookie got up out of the chair and patted his shoulder awkwardly. “I’m really sorry hyung.”

“I guess we’ll just work together then. . In a week, we’re gonna be constantly together. Crap.” He was mumbling, and may have said something like “I can’t do this”, when Ryeowook nudged him.

“But hyung…you’ve got too. You were always saying about how you wanted to go to America,  and now, here’s your chance. It’s only three weeks. Three weeks where, yeah, you’ll be on edge and it’ll be hard, but seriously, are you just going to wallow instead of getting what you want?” There was a slight edge to Ryeowook’s voice he’d never heard before, and he looked at him, head tilted to one side.

“Who said I was wallowing?” He smirked. “I’m going, and you can make damn sure I’ll do this job perfectly.”