Can You Feel It?

            Donghae sat in the car and looked over at Choco while Hyukjae bought drinks in the gas station.  She looked up at him, cocking her head to the side. 

            “I know,” he said, sighing.  “I kissed him back.”

            Choco whined at him.

            “I don’t know why…I just did.  It was a natural reaction a person has when being kissed,” he said in his own defense.

            She continued to stare at him blankly.

            “Well, fine!” he said, throwing up his arms.  “Maybe I wouldn’t kiss just anyone back!  But it’s Hyuk!  I mean…we’re friends.”

            Still no response from the little pup except her unconvinced stare.

            “Oh, please!  As if you would have done any different in my shoes!  You kiss him all the time!”

            Choco laid down on the passenger seat and gave a loud huff. 

            “It doesn’t mean anything.  Why does it have to mean something just because I kiss my best friend back?  We kiss all the time.  This isn’t any different,” he concluded, watching as the door opened to the gas station and his best friend walked out, arms loaded with drinks and treats.  His heart began to race once again as Hyukjae made his way over to the car.  Choco jumped up and her tail began to wag, whining as she spotted her daddy heading their direction.  “So why do I feel so strange suddenly?”

            Hyukjae swung the car door open and slid into the seat.  Choco jumped unto his lap and immediately began to Hyukjae’s cheek.  “Okay, okay!  Calm down!  I was only gone for five minutes.  You couldn’t have missed me that much!”

            “To her, you were gone forever,” Donghae informed him, starting the car up again.  “She misses you no matter how long you’re gone.”

            “But I always come back, don’t I?” he told her, bucking his seatbelt and setting her in his lap.  “Daddy always comes back for his princess.”

            “You have to envy the endless love of a dog though,” Donghae pointed out, pulling out of the parking spot.  “It never wavers.  Human lovers come and go, but dogs are completely faithful, no matter how they’re treated.  You’ll never lose her affection.”

            “True, but she’s getting older,” Hyukjae pointed out, kissing her forehead.  “She won’t be around as long as I am.  I’ll still end up alone eventually.”

            Donghae glanced over at him.  No.  Hyukjae was loved by too many people.  He would never find himself alone.  And Donghae, for one, knew he would never willingly break ties with him.  Some drastic thing would have to happen to separate them forever or Hyukjae would have to walk away from him and tell him he never wanted to see him again.  That could never happen.  Could it?  But look at how close he’d once been to Sungmin and now that was all in question because they’d dared to take their relationship further and it failed.  Perhaps this is what Hyukjae was referring to when he mentioned being alone, but he dared not ask.  After their kiss in the dance studio, he didn’t want to talk about Hyukjae’s relationship with Sungmin.

            When Hyukjae finally heard Donghae turn the shower on at his apartment, he immediately called up Kyuhyun.  Normally, he’d call Donghae about something like this.  Or, a few years back, maybe even Sungmin.  Now neither of those two were going to work for this issue.  Although Kyuhyun didn’t sound like the best option, he’d have to do in a pinch. 

            Thankfully, the maknae wasn’t filming a show and managed to pick up the phone.

            “Hello?”

            “Kyu!”

            “Hyuk!  How are you doing?”

            “Um…well, funny you should ask,” he said, sitting down on Donghae’s bed and trying to speak quietly as he pet Choco.  “I have something I wanted to chat with you about.”

            “Oh, you heard already?”

            Hyukjae frowned.  “Heard what?”

            “Ah, nothing.”

            “No!  What?”

            There was a long pause.  “Nothing.”

            “, just tell me already!”

            “Fine, damn it.  Sungmin has told the hyungs he wants to publicly announce he’s dating Saeun,” Kyuhyun informed him.

            “What?  Why?” Hyukjae asked.

            “Just to stop any weird rumors.”

            “He’s going to be starting more rumors than he’s stopping.  Everyone will think he knocked her up,” Hyukjae said, shaking his head.  “And if he did knock her up then he was sleeping with her while he was sleeping with me and I’ll really kick his .  For her sake as well as mine.”

            “I don’t think she’s pregnant or he would have probably mentioned it to Ryeong.  What did you call about?” Kyuhyun asked.

            “Me…hah, well…the thing is…”

            Kyuhyun stood in the middle of the living room, looking dumbfounded.  “Say that again?”

            “What’d he say?” Ryeowook asked from the couch, looking up at his husband. 

            Kyuhyun’s mouth dropped open.  He looked over at Ryeowook with wide eyes before covering up the phone’s mouthpiece.  “He kissed Donghae!”

            Ryeowook waved his hand.  “He does that all the time.”

            “For real this time.  And Donghae kissed back,” Kyuhyun informed him.

            “He what?” Ryeowook asked, jumping to his feet and tossing aside the remote.

            “Well, it’s about damn time!” Kyuhyun told Hyukjae.  “I thought it was going to take a hell of a lot longer than that.”

            “What is he saying?” Ryeowook asked, standing on his tiptoes and trying to listen in on the conversation. 

            “What do you mean?  You don’t know what it means?  Isn’t it obvious?” Kyuhyun said, pulling the phone away from his head at giving it an exasperated look. 

            “Invite them over for dinner!” Ryeowook whispered.

            “You feel weird around him now?  Well, I have a solution, actually.  Ryeong told me to invite you both over for dinner.  He’s cooking up one of his feasts.  That way, you won’t have to be alone with him.  You’ll have both of us here,” Kyuhyun suggested.

            Ryeowook grinned wickedly and began to head for the kitchen, already excited.  “Wait…they don’t have the dog with, do they?”

            “Yeah, come anytime you want.  We can play games or something,” Kyuhyun said, winking at Ryeowook.

            “Tell them not to bring Choco though.  I don’t want hair all over the place,” Ryeowook said.

            “Okay, see you soon.”

            “Cho Kyuhyun!” Ryeowook hollered.

            “Yes, love?” Kyuhyun asked, hanging up the phone.

            “You call him right back and make sure that he doesn’t bring his dog with.  I don’t want her having an accident on my carpet,” Ryeowook warned.

            “Of course,” Kyuhyun said, hitting a button on his phone.  “Hello?  Oh, hi mom…I actually meant to call Hyukjae back and I hit your number instead, but since I have you on the phone for a second, I may as well ask you this one question I had about the tuxedo I’m supposed to have for Ahra’s wedding.”

            “You are cleaning the apartment tomorrow,” Ryeowook claimed, frowning.  “Everything she destroys, all the hair she sheds, any spots on the floor…that’s all you!”

            Kyuhyun waved his husband off and walked out onto the patio.

            Ryeowook rushed into the kitchen to start making plans for dinner, eager to have the two possible lovebirds over to their apartment so he could see what the hell was going on firsthand.  Kyuhyun wasn’t nearly equipped to handle a situation like this on his own.  He wouldn’t know the right words or actions to take that would promote a possible pairing between the group’s biggest pretend lovers.  Ryeowook had always wondered if there was something simmering just below the surface with the two of them and he wasn’t about to let it fizzle out now that it was finally starting to ignite.  If he was right and the two of them had always had some attraction to each other, whether conscious or unconscious, now was a perfect time for them to get together.  They were both single again and there was nothing and no one standing in their way. 

            Ryeowook began to rummage through the cupboards, but he didn’t have half the time he needed to get the house ready for the kind of dinner party he wanted this to be. 

            “Kyuhyun!  Get off the phone and come help me,” he called out, trying to climb up the counter to get a glass dish off the top shelf.

            “Right here,” Kyuhyun said, reaching up behind Ryeowook and grabbing the dish for him.

            Ryeowook turned around and took the dish from Kyuhyun.  “No more calling your mother or anyone else to get out of doing what I want you to do.  If you want to see these two idiots finally get together and be half as happy as we are, then we need to get to work.”

            Kyuhyun gripped Ryeowook’s shoulders and suddenly kissed him, pulling him close until the dish was nearly crushed between them.  Kyuhyun backed him against the counter and swiped his tongue along the seam of his mouth and Ryeowook willingly opened with a sigh, giving in far too easily.  After a minute of thorough exploration, Kyuhyun finally pulled away, leaving Ryeowook breathless. 

            “Shouldn’t you be hoping they end up just as happy as we are?  Not half?  Would you honestly begrudge them that?” Kyuhyun .

            “I guess not,” Ryeowook agreed, grinning at his husband’s playfulness. 

            Kyuhyun pecked his lips once more.  “So what am I doing first?  Or should we continue where we left off?”

            “Don’t I wish?  That will have to wait!  You need to go pick up dessert and a few ingredients for dinner.  I won’t have time to bake something if we’re going to have a large meal.”  Ryeowook headed over to the sink and began to wash off the glass dish.

            “What kind of dessert would you like?  I suppose you want cheesecake.”

            “No.  They like their chocolate.  So get something they’d like for a change,” Ryeowook said.  “Everything has to be perfect.  It’s just too bad that they have to come here and we couldn’t cook for them there, but Donghae doesn’t have the right equipment to make decent food.”

            “Why would i