One

People say Donghae has the mentality of a five year old. He doesn’t bother to argue otherwise, since he knows it’s true. He likes to be spoiled silly by people (mostly Hyukjae), likes to cling to people (mostly Hyukjae), likes to play around with people (mostly Hyukjae). It doesn’t take a genius to understand that while he loves the Super Junior members and staff like his own family, Hyukjae is on a different level than the rest.  Hyukjae is pretty much his everything.

Recently, though, a certain someone is intent on taking away his everything. Kyuhyun is a smart and outstanding member, a little brother to be proud of, even if his personality big time and the older members, including him, are slave to his whims a lot of the time. Donghae really likes Kyuhyun, so it’s unfortunate that the maknae has set his eyes on Hyukjae. His eyebrows furrow together.

There he is again, appearing in front of Hyukjae with that sly smirk of his when Donghae’s not next to his best friend. The hectic schedule does not allow for much free time, so it’s a given that Donghae would want to spend it with Hyukjae.  They would eat together, take pictures and post them on Twitter, and just be together. Nothing out of the ordinary, but it’s a very big deal for Donghae, since it’s the only time he gets to be with the real Hyukjae, not the glittering Eunhyuk that the world sees, but the clumsy, goofy Hyukjae who blushes easily and gets tongue-tied. That was the plan, but a few moments ago he was turned down, as the maknae had invited Hyukjae first and ‘promises are meant to be kept, aren’t they?’, and really, what could he say to that?

Hyukjae probably thinks of him as a five year old most of the time, too. He always points out that he has to clean up Donghae’s messes, has to pay for his meals (because Lee Donghaek, you fool, you forgot your wallet again?), and has to do the majority of the decision-making. Donghae has never had a problem with that, because it’s Hyukjae after all, but sometimes he wonders if Hyukjae would be surprised that he has grown-up parts to him too, not just kiddy parts. He wants to know what kind of face Hyukjae would make if Donghae told him he wanted to rip off Hyukjae’s shirt and whip off those pants with nothing underneath but skin and grind their bodies together to the music of Hyukjae’s pleasurable screams. How would Hyukjae react if he said that their stage fanservice was just and now Donghae would like to help himself to the main course? A little shiver runs through him at the thought.

He’s never acted on those impulses because he’s always believed that it would be inevitable, and all he had to do was simply wait until Hyukjae couldn’t hold back anymore and threw himself in Donghae’s (very much welcome) arms. Not to mention with scandals erupting left and right and both of them feeling irritable and slighted because of the media’s tendency to blow things out of proportion, starting a new type of scandal was out of the question. Donghae has not taken into consideration that he would have a rival for Hyukjae, but witnessing the intensity of Kyuhyun’s gaze (which is usually reserved for his games and his favourite foods) and the increasing frequency of his hangouts with Hyukjae, he has clearly overlooked one person he should have kept a closer eye on all this time.

Kyuhyun is undeniably a bully, but it dawns now on Donghae that Hyukjae has been one of the maknae’s favourite targets for years now. He’s always chalked up Kyuhyun’s grabby hands on Hyukjae’s waist to mere skinship and let it go without putting up much resistance (aside from that one time he remembers pulling the maknae’s hair half-seriously in retaliation), but in hindsight it seems unnatural to latch on to one’s hyung with one arm wrapped securely around the waist. Donghae should know, because while he likes to hug Hyukjae around the waist and fling both arms around him in a tight backhug, he can’t imagine doing it to Siwon or the other members on a regular basis.

Suddenly curious, he looks up images under the keyword ‘KyuHyuk’. He doesn’t expect much, as most fans prefer EunHae, of course, and KyuMin, and he’s right. Compared to the sheer volume of EunHae images, there isn’t much. He frowns at his laptop screen. There isn’t much, but there is still enough to feed his feelings of annoyance towards Kyuhyun. The keywords ‘SPAO photoshoot’ make his eyes light up, but the delight of recalling his pair dance for the advertisement with Hyukjae is overshadowed by the numerous photos and GIFs of Kyuhyun and Hyukjae doing the Gentlemen’s Play commercial. He notes with a bitter taste in his mouth the way Kyuhyun hides his quietly pleased smile from the dancing Hyukjae in front of him. He scrolls through more images. It seems that the two of them became particularly close while doing events as SJ-M while he was off filming for a drama. There are several shots of Hyukjae with Kyuhyun during the Idol Sports Championship, too, and he struggles to recall why it wasn’t him next to Hyukjae that year, holding an umbrella to shield him from the heat.

The image of the two of them together upsets him, so he tries looking up ‘EunHae’ this time to make himself feel better. There’s loads, as he knows, but the more recent ones are all from Super Shows, and while it’s all incredibly sweet, enough to make teeth ache, he feels like he lost to Kyuhyun somehow. Maybe because unlike him, Kyuhyun has never played the crowd and flirted so openly with Sungmin the way he and Hyukjae have. What he feels for Hyukjae is no less real, but because his actions are marked down as ‘fanservice’, especially after the two of them have formed a separate sub-unit, they seem cheapened in a way he can’t explain.

Flopping down on his bed, he closes his eyes and sighs heavily. He wants to talk to Hyukjae, misses him even more now. One glimpse of those plump lips widening into a smile would easily dispel his doubts. He wants to talk to Kyuhyun and ask him up front what he thinks of Hyukjae. Even if Kyuhyun is part of his Super Junior family, he won’t let go of Hyukjae without a fight. Donghae smiles grimly to himself.

He and Kyuhyun need to have a little talk.