Haay~

an update! this one didn't take too long right? :D
and it's +5000words! :O
sorry, ty proof-read...

Hope you enjoy!

          Donghae chewed on his bottom lip as he stood in middle of the room. His eyes wandered around, flickering right and left as they took in the now familiar sight of the bathroom, its greyish walls, the white tilled floor, the towels hanging near the shower cubicle and the large piece of sheet covering what he knew was the mirror. The light bulb from the ceiling was weak and didn’t bring much light to the room, but it was enough for the boy to distinguish the different shades of dull colours displayed around him.
His gaze eventually went back to the sink and he blinked as he watched the few objects displayed in front of him.

Some days had passed since he had tried to use his eyes for the first time. He had kept trying every day since then, and he was starting to see pretty well. His vision wasn’t blurry anymore, but he still had some difficulties when he tried to focus on an object. He didn’t have full control over his eyes just yet, but the more he tried, the better he was getting at it. And the pain was fading the more he tried, which helped too. Yet the strange tingling sensation was lingering behind his lids, reminding him of the curse working on his eyes.

He was still in the process of discovering his surroundings. His favourite game was to grab an item and palpate it until he managed to recognize and understand what it was. He had no comprehension of the objects when he just looked at them and he needed to touch them, to feel them with his digits, to be able to make the connections between what he could see and what he could feel.

It was amazing for him to learn like this. Before, he could only feel things with his other senses, by touching, smelling, tasting and listening to it. Now, he could actually put an image on those objects, when he once could only try and imagine. And everything looked fascinating to him, even the smallest things.
Much to Hyukjae’s and Kyuhyun’s amusement, his favourite item so far was his toothbrush. It was one of the first items Hyukjae had shown to him. The little stick was so familiar, and yet so foreign. He had used it nearly every day since he was a child, knew how to hold it and use it, and yet he had never been able to know what it looked like until now. It was a strange feeling for him, to hold the object and feel its familiar shape and weight, and finally be able to put a visual image on it.

Somehow, he felt like finally stepping into reality. Or, perhaps, stepping into a reality he couldn’t reach before, one that he was forbidden to live in.

And there he was, standing alone in the bathroom once again, trying to spot an item he hadn’t touched yet, even if he knew there was nothing new for him to discover. He had already tried all of them, had put a name and an image on all those new objects he had seen for the first time.
He needed to go out of the bathroom if he wanted to see new things, but he was still too scared and insecure about it. The bathroom felt safe, like a new sort of confinement able to somehow replace his blindfold.  

His fingers ghosted over the sink and reached out for Hyukjae’s razor. He grabbed it hesitantly, not sure if he was allowed to touch it. Hyukjae had seemed reluctant to let him take it and had said something about the blades being sharp, therefore Donghae held it very carefully as he observed it with much curiosity.

Hyukjae wouldn’t know he had touched it anyway, he was gone for work and Donghae was left alone with Kyuhyun for the day. Heechul was at work too and would only show up the next day. As for Sungmin, the elder was still resting and healing at his own place – and obviously avoiding Kyuhyun too, though this point never seemed to be clearly mentioned.  

Donghae missed Sungmin a lot. He hadn’t seen the man ever since Kyuhyun had shown up at Hyukjae’s place and he knew he would most likely not see him as long as the two lovers were avoiding each other.
Yet he had been pleasantly surprised when, a couple days before, Kyuhyun had handed him his cell phone and he had been able to chat with Sungmin for a while. The elder’s voice was still strained and he sounded a little tired, but he had soothed Donghae with gentle words and the promise that he would show up soon. Sungmin had also asked the boy to take care of Kyuhyun for him, to make sure he ate enough and took his painkillers, and Donghae had heartily promised he would do his best.

Not that he could do much, though.

He could feel Kyuhyun getting more and more distant as days passed. The younger seemed to grow always more tired, more upset, more aggressive and sickly restless. He sounded in pain too, groaning and growling every now and then, sometimes gasping and panting when he thought no one could hear him. Donghae didn’t know what to do to make him feel better.
He could only let Kyuhyun rest as much as he needed, even if that meant spending hours alone while Hyukjae was at work.

Donghae sighed and glanced at the door. He had spent quite a while in the bathroom, touching, feeling and looking at his surroundings. After cooking lunch for the two of them, Kyuhyun had gone to bed and been sleeping for since then.
Donghae was starting to feel lonely, locked up in there.

The boy pouted and went to lie down on the cold tiled floor, fidgeting as he didn’t know what to do. He somehow wished he could go and cuddle with Kyuhyun in his room, but there was Hyukjae’s dog there and the pet scared him.

He heaved a deep sigh, his cheek pressed flat against the floor. He wanted to go and wake up Kyuhyun, but he knew the younger needed to rest. Kyuhyun had sounded so exhausted earlier, his voice croaking with contained pain, which had made Donghae’s heart ache just by listening to him. As much as he felt lonely, he refrained from going to Kyuhyun.

He wished he could use the phone and call Hyukjae, but the other was probably busy and he didn’t want to bother him during work. And he didn’t know how to use the phone anyway. After all, Hyukjae had always been the one calling and Kyuhyun or Heechul always took the call before handing the phone over to Donghae.

The cursed boy closed his eyes for a few seconds, breathed deeply, before opening them again.

Despite not being his first time taking off the blindfold, his heart was beating hard in his chest, pounding with all the overwhelming feelings of having his eyes unconcealed. He wasn’t fully used to it yet, but he was growing more comfortable about the whole thing. The apprehensiveness and the wariness were still there, deeply nestled inside his guts, but they weren’t as powerful as they used to be. He wasn’t paralysed with fear anymore, instead he was somewhat excited by the fact that he no longer wore his blindfold all the time. All those years he had spent into pure darkness, wondering what the world looked like, and now he could get a glimpse of it.
Hyukjae had given him this chance. He had brought light into Donghae’s dark world, and not just metaphorically. It had only been a few days, and yet the cursed boy had been able to see so much, to learn so much. And, even if he wouldn’t admit it to himself, he was craving for more...

But he couldn’t go out and see more. It wasn’t safe. He still refused to walk out of the small room without his blindfold. Hyukjae had brought up the idea once but Donghae had feverishly refused. The elder hadn’t seemed to mind though. Patiently, he had just kept coaxing the boy with reassuring words of encouragement, and brought new items to the bathroom for him to see and touch.

He had shown Donghae all kind of foods, like fruits and vegetables, eggs and milk and water. Donghae had been oddly fascinated with water, wondering how possible it was that the tasteless liquid appeared to be translucent.

A knock on the door snapped him out of his thoughts and he shut his eyes automatically.

“Donghae?” Kyuhyun huskily called from the other side of the door. “Are you in there?”

“Yes, I’ll come out”, the boy sat up and stretched an arm, reaching out for his blindfold.

“No, I’m coming in”, Kyuhyun retorted and, the next second, the door creaked open.

Donghae held his breath, feeling a rush of adrenaline and the usual feeling of anxiety coursing through his veins, making his blood freeze.

“Be careful”, he whimpered.

“Yeah, I am very careful”, Kyuhyun mumbled back. “Your eyes are closed, right?”

Donghae suddenly felt like crying. So far, Hyukjae had been the only one allowed to stay with him in the bathroom when he didn’t wear his blindfold, and he hadn’t expected Kyuhyun to barge in like that, so suddenly. He wasn’t prepared for this.

“It’s okay Donghae”, the other cursed boy smoothly uttered. “Don’t be scared, I know what I’m doing.”

Donghae nodded, squeezing his eyes tightly shut.

“How do you do this? With Hyukjae I mean”, Kyuhyun mumbled and stumbled inside the room. “He keeps his eyes shut and that’s it?”

“H-He sits behind me”, Donghae stammered nervously.    

“Okay, don’t move, keep your eyes closed, okay?”

Donghae nodded again and waited. He heard Kyuhyun cross the room and walk around him, and then the younger sat down behind him, his long legs spread on each side of Donghae’s body. It was quite the same posture Hyukjae usually took, but it didn’t feel the same. With Hyukjae, Donghae felt safe, while right then he was only scared about hurting Kyuhyun.

He raised his hands and pressed his palms hard against his lids.

“Hey, don’t hurt yourself”, Kyuhyun softly said and pulled Donghae’s hands away from his face. “I’ll keep my eyes open so we need to be careful, alright?”

“O-Okay.”

“Good, relax Hae”, the younger just sighed quietly. “Now, while I was resting, I thought about something”, Kyuhyun said and rested his chin on top of Donghae’s head. “Did Hyuk show you any pictures?”

“N-No”, Donghae shook his head, and felt Kyuhyun’s jaw rub his scalp. It tickled nicely. “But Donghwa told me about those once. He tried to explain but I didn’t understand.”

“Okay, I’m gonna show you. Don’t open your eyes yet.”

Donghae waited for about a minute before Kyuhyun told him to open his eyes. Feeling the other’s chin pressed against the top of his head reassured him in a way, because they couldn’t make any eye contact. Hesitantly, the boy lifted his lids, peeking between his lashes. He saw Kyuhyun’s hands in front of him, holding an object he had never seen before.

“What’s this?” he asked, curious, and reached out to touch the item carefully. His digits pressed on the weird object and he noted it was hard, like a book or a box but not quite the same.

“My iPad”, Kyuhyun mumbled as a reply. “I’m going to show you some pictures. Or maybe videos? Whatever, I’ve prepared some stuff that I can show you. Like animals and plants and stuff, as a starter.”

Donghae nodded eagerly, eyes now fixed on the strange object, waiting for the other to show him whatever he wanted to show him.

“Let’s start with pictures, alright?” the younger hummed. “I’ll show you some safe ones first...”

Kyuhyun’s hand moved and his middle finger tapped on the dark object twice. Donghae tilted his head, blinking repeatedly, not knowing what to expect next.
He got distracted as he registered how Kyuhyun’s fingers looked bigger than Hyukjae’s slim ones, and how pale his skin was compared to the elder’s. He also noticed the weird lines and dark spots all over the long fingers and the bony knuckles.

“What’s this? Hyukjae doesn’t have those on his hands”, he said and his finger brushed over one of the marks.

“Bruises, cuts”, Kyuhyun sighed. “Just a few scratches. They’ll fade, eventually. Ah, come on, why isn’t it working? I’ve charged the damn thing”, he grumbled and his fingers flew over the iPad again, pressing repeatedly on it. “Ah, there you go”, he chirped when a faint sound came out of the device.

Light suddenly sprung out of the item and attacked Donghae’s fragile orbs, forcing the boy to narrow his eyes.

“What’s this?” he gasped in surprise, trying to refrain himself from covering his face with his hands. “It hurts...”

“It’s the scre