Hi guys!
Here's an update :)
I'm sorry about the mistakes and typos you may find in this chapter, it is only half proof-read. I spent the whole day working on this, I have no strenght left to re-read it again haha sorry...
Hope you'll enjoy it though! :)

 

          When Donghae woke up the next morning, his whole body was relaxed and his mind at peace. He hadn't had any nightmares, only a long and deep dreamless rest. His heart kept beating in a slow and steady pace as he progressively stirred out of sleep.

His limbs were nicely entangled inside the warm quilt. Hyukjae was still there, asleep, lying next to him with one of his arms wrapped around his waist and a leg trapped between Donghae's slim ones. The proximity between them made Donghae's lips curl up into a small smile and the boy snuggled closer. Definitively, not waking up alone made him genuinely happy, and his heart fluttered with bliss in his chest.

Hyukjae's body's heat was comfortable, his strong arm holding him gave him a feeling of safety and protection. His quiet and steady breath was hitting Donghae's face softly, lulling the cursed boy back into a sleepy state.

Donghae remained motionless for a while, not fully awake but not sleeping either, simply enjoying the warmth wrapping him as he listened to Hyukjae's calm and appeasing breathing.

After some time, he found himself completely awake and aware. His whole attention was focused on Hyukjae, on his arm holding him and on his silent snores. The man was barely moving, only his chest heaved up and down slowly, and Donghae didn't dare to move, not wanting to wake the elder up. Without being able to stop himself, his mind began to wander, trying to imagine what the elder male looked like. Having the elder all pressed against him, he could feel that Hyukjae was rather slim, yet his body was strong and muscular. He wondered what his face looked liked.

After long minutes of hesitation, his curiosity won over his reason. Carefully, he brought his hands up to the sleeping male's face. He had never done this with anyone except Donghwa, he had never had the chance to, and it made his heartbeats quicken their pace.

His fingertips first met with Hyukjae's chin. They softly collided against the smooth skin and Donghae held his breath. He listened to Hyukjae's soft breathing, trying to hear if the man had woken up but the latter showed no reaction. Donghae caught his lower lip between his teeth and nibbled the soft flesh as he proceeded with his exploration.

His fingers ran along the elder's strong jawline, retracing it, feeling how sharp and protruding it was. Just with those simple touches, he could tell Hyukjae had quite a slim and angular face. His digits traveled a bit upward, ghosting over the other's slightly sunken cheeks and up to his cheek-bones. He let his digits explore the soft and warm skin for a while, his touches lighter than a feather, until his hand moved back down to Hyukjae's chin.

He palpated his way up to Hyukjae's lips. The second he reached them, the other's breath slightly hitched before it turned normal again. Donghae waited a few seconds, just to make sure the other wasn't awakening. Then, carefully, with the tip of his fingers, he traced the shape of the male's mouth. He felt how Hyukjae's lips were full and fleshy, unlike his own ones, and it fascinated him how much people could have different features. Hyukjae's lips were soft, despite being slightly dry, and the way they were slightly parted made his soft breath hit Donghae's fingers nicely.

The cursed boy spent another minute touching the area, unable to explain what was so much captivating about it. Once he got enough, his fingers trailed up to Hyukjae nose, making a short stop at his filtrum. A soft giggle escaped his lips when Hyukjae responded by slightly scrunching his face as a reflex.

Thrilled by his exciting exploration, he began to eagerly run his fingers along the ridge of Hyukjae's nose, liking its curved line, occasionally deviating to come and feel its round tips and slightly large nostrils. He had no idea if Hyukjae's nose was considered beautiful or nor, he could only imagine it from his blind touches, but he couldn't help and think the elder's nose seemed quite nice.

A small grin was tugging up his lips as he finally left Hyukjae's nose and cautiously moved to his closed lids. At least, that was what he thought, because as soon as he reached Hyukjae's supposedly shut eyes, he felt the elder's eyelashes brush over his digits, indicating him that Hyukjae had just closed his eyes.

He completely froze and stopped breathing as he realized the other was already awake. He had probably been awake for some time, because his breathing had not changed at all. It made the boy completely flustered and his face weirdly heated up, blood rushing to his cheeks.

He slowly withdrew his hands and brought them back to his chest. His teeth attacked his lower lip, nibbling it nervously, as he wondered if he had made the elder uncomfortable again. Hyukjae remained silent.

"G-Good morning", Donghae softly uttered and waited for the other's reply, which came a few seconds later.

"Good morning, Donghae", Hyukjae said back, his voice sounding a bit off, but still as soft and gentle as usual.

They both remained silent after that. Donghae was unable to tell if the elder was mad or not. He could feel the other had tensed up though. Maybe it was another thing that he wasn't supposed to do? Was it about this thing Hyukjae called 'intimate'? He couldn't tell. He just didn't want Hyukjae to be mad or uncomfortable because of him.

He was about to ask the elder if he was indeed mad, but Hyukjae suddenly shifted and his arm left Donghae's waist, while his leg escaped from the younger's grip. He mumbled a curse, said something about being late for work, and the next second he was jumping out of the sheets and rushing out of the bedroom.

Donghae didn't move at all. He lied silently in bed, not sure about what he was supposed to do after that. He could hear Hyukjae running all over the place, from a room to another. He sat up on the bed and brought his legs to his chest, wrapping his thin arms around them and placing his chin on his knees.

And he listened. He listened to Hyukjae getting ready for work, to the shower running for a couple minutes before being turned off, to Choco barking happily when Hyukjae spared a short moment to go get his dog and feed it. The front door was opened at some point and Heechul's voice echoed in the apartment, strong and cheerful. Donghae's stomach grumbled and the boy hugged his legs tightly, waiting for Hyukjae to come back and allow him to leave the room.

The elder male did come back, after what seemed an eternity to Donghae. Panting and huffing, he approached the bed and placed a gentle hand on the boy's hair. "I'm leaving now", he said. "I'm late for work, Heechul's already here. Have a nice day, okay? Don't forget to eat", he breathed out and Donghae quickly nodded. The warm hand left his head.

"Have a nice day", he hurriedly said, before Hyukjae could leave the room.

"See you later!" Hyukjae shortly replied before rushing out of the room again.

Donghae found himself pouting. He didn't move for his position and quietly listened as Hyukjae ran one last time all over the place. Less than a minute later, the front door was opened and closed again, and Hyukjae was gone.

Donghae felt a tug in his heart, just knowing the elder wouldn't be there for the rest of the day.

He knew he wouldn't be alone. Clothes rustling and quiet footsteps on the floor told him Heechul was approaching. But it was not exactly the same.

"Hi there, Donghae!" the elder happily greeted him as soon as he entered the room.

"Hi Hyung", the cursed boy grinned, the unpleasant feeling in his chest barely diminishing.

"What are you still doing here?" Heechul chuckled. "Don't you want to have breakfast?"

"I want to", Donghae replied and pulled his legs down, until his bare feet met the floor.

"Then why aren't you getting up to have it?" Heechul walked closer and caught the hand Donghae was reaching out for him.

"I'm waiting for permission", Donghae muttered as he wrapped his fingers around the elder's hand and stood up.

"Permission for what?" Heechul's voice sounded a bit surprise.

Donghae tilted his head. "Permission to come out of the room", he naturally answered.

Heechul's hands promptly moved up and cupped his face, palms pressed against his cheeks and thumbs his skin gently.

"Donghae, you don't have to ask permission anymore. You are free, you can walk around the apartment as much as you want. Didn't Hyukjae tell you that?" he inquired, and the boy shook his head. "Aish", the elder sighed, releasing his face. "Now you know, alright? You need no permission. If you want to use the bathroom, just do it. If you are hungry, you can use the kitchen."

"But I don't know where the kitchen is", Donghae retorted. He was a bit nervous about what Heechul was telling him. He had never been allowed to move around by himself before, and now getting such a freedom seemed somehow scary.

"Oh, right!", the elder exclaimed. "Well, today I'm going to teach you everything about the apartment, okay?" he added, sheer excitement filling his voice.

Donghae didn't say anything, not sure if he was happy or not about it. He just kept chewing on his bottom lip nervously and let Heechul drag him out of the bedroom. He followed the elder male, noticing how Heechul was careful not to let him bump into something as they trailed their way to the kitchen.

Heechul made him sit down before he proceeded to prepare breakfast for the two of them. He talked energetically as he made some omelet for the two of them, and Donghae quietly listened. His mind wasn't so much focused on what Heechul was saying, to be honest. He was unable to stop thinking about Hyukjae, worried that he had made the elder upset.

They ate their breakfast, Donghae eating messily and Heechul cleaning up the boy's face every time he did. The elder made sure that Donghae ate enough, filling up his bowl again and again, until the younger softly told him he couldn't eat anymore.

After cleaning the table and putting all the dirty dishes in the sink for Hyukjae to wash later, Heechul asked Donghae if he wanted to start his lesson about the apartment's rooms. The boy hesitantly nodded, but that was enough for Heechul to get excited.

The whole morning flew rather fast and Donghae's worries about Heechul's idea soon completely disappeared. The man first taught him about the general composition of the apartment. He taught Donghae where the kitchen was, how to get to the bathroom, where the doors were located, patiently explaining to the boy how to find his way inside the flat.

Hyukjae's flat wasn't really big, but it had five rooms. A kitchen, a living room, a bathroom and two bedrooms. They didn't enter the second bedroom though. Hyukjae had decided to lock his dog inside the room, so that the pet wouldn't be scared of Donghae, nor try to attack the boy. Heechul showed him where the door was, but Donghae quickly stepped away when Choco began to bark and whimper from the other side.

After showing him several times the location of every room, the boy began to understand and visualize every room and how they were connected to each other. It took him the whole morning, but after a few hours, he could already go from a room to another without asking for help.

They stopped around noon and decided to have lunch. Heechul cooked again, while Donghae waited for everything to be ready, quietly sitting on his chair with his legs swaying in the air. His growling stomach made them laugh for a while, until food got served.

Once they were done eating, they went to the living room and sat on the couch. Donghae first didn't think he needed to rest but surprisingly enough, it took him less than ten minutes to doze off. He woke up an hour later, feeling a bit groggy, and didn't refuse the cup of warm tea Heechul offered him.

"Thanks", he grinned as he accepted the hot, fuming mug and wrapped his fingers around it.

"You're welcome", the elder cooed, patting the boy's head fondly. "Do you want to continue the lesson after this? We still need to teach you everything about the rooms themselves, so that you'll be able to walk