C h a p t e r  3 1

Eunhyuk was discharged from the hospital on Christmas Eve.

He had been moved to the general ward after his condition had gotten better after a few days, the members and his family always around. One of the first things he had wanted to know were the circumstances involving Sunghoon, how he had managed to know where he had been and everything else. His mind had been clear enough to understand it this time and so he had thanked Yesung at least a thousand times for his ability to understand in what kind of situation Donghae had been in. They had had enough time to talk about what had happened during the past days and he was glad to know that the members had been able to sort all of their misunderstandings out to trust each other again. And most of all they trusted Donghae now – and that meant that there was no need to lock him in or watch him all of the time anymore.

Because the media didn’t know about him being in the hospital and most of all not knowing the reason for it, his discharge had been really smooth. There had been some fans, but they had only been there because they knew that Donghae would come to the hospital every day. They had seen Eunhyuk limping of course, had seen how he hadn't been able to really walk on his own because it still hurt too much, but SM was really successful in protecting their private life by now. There had been only a short statement about Eunhyuk having a minor accident and it had been enough to stop the rumors from spreading. No one would know what had happened except for those involved – and they were all glad about it.

All members visited their families during Christmas and because Eunhyuk and Donghae were inseparable since the former had woken up, their families met at Eunhyuk's house to celebrate together. But it hadn't just been a normal Christmas to them, it had rather been a celebration that finally everything would turn out well. They both had been pampered like crazy by their families of course, yet that was nothing compared to how caring Donghae was – and Eunhyuk was really dependent on him because he couldn’t even sit down on his own. But Eunhyuk didn’t mind. He cherished every second he spent with the other and he knew that Donghae did too – because if there was one thing the past had made them understand then it was to treasure each other.

They didn’t have any presents for each other that year. Simply having each other was the biggest present they could've ever asked for.

***

Eunhyuk wrapped a towel around his waist and stepped out of the shower. Rubbing the fog from the mirror with slow movements, he stared as his reflection and frowned slightly. He tilted his head to the side a bit and looked at the long and dark red mark on his neck; it was thin and still healing, but there surely would be a scar. He hoped that it wouldn’t be that noticeable after healing, but the reason for that wasn’t because it bothered him that much. In fact, he had already found good ways to hide it and he was sure that it wouldn’t be visible with some makeup if he would be standing on a stage in future. No, the real reason was another. 
He couldn’t stand seeing the look in the eyes of those people that knew about it being there, especially his mother and Donghae. Mrs. Lee always looked like she was about to start crying when she saw the tape that was usually hiding the wound and he had even seen Sora's smile falter when she looked at it. Donghae always acted like he was fine with seeing it, but Eunhyuk had already noticed the small side glances he darted at it and it was needless to say that it always affected his mood. That was the reason why Eunhyuk tried to hide it the best he could; he would always wear scarfs or turtle necks even if he stayed inside the whole day. But because he would go to bed soon, he only put on a new tape after dabbing his skin.

He had to bite his lip as he toweled himself and put on his underwear; his movements were slow and careful, but bending down too much still hurt like crazy so he was more than glad as the lower part of his body was finally clothed. Looking down at his stomach he made a face at the wound that marked his pale skin in angry red and purple; it healed very slowly and sometimes started bleeding again if he moved too much. He had been especially careful the whole day and the day before so it seemed fine again, but he had learned that just a short moment of carelessness could confine him to bed for hours or even days.              
After making sure that the wound was clean and dry, Eunhyuk applied a new plaster on the wound. Even though he put as less pressure on it as possible, the contact with his skin stung incredibly and he had to bite the inside of his cheeks as his fingers softly pressed the plaster on his stomach. He held his breath and couldn’t suppress a hiss as he moved his arms up above his head as he tried to put on his shirt and needed a moment to hold still afterwards, his face contorted with pain. The painkillers lying next to the sink were gulped down with water as soon as he was able to breathe again; he knew it would take some time until they would start to kick in and he decided to head for his bedroom right after brushing his teeth so he could just lie down and try to relax.

After gargling with some water and spitting the content of his mouth into the sink, he shortly wiped his mouth with a towel and slid his hands through his wet black hair before leaving the bathroom. Switching off the light and yawing, he made his way across the flat; he couldn’t express how happy he was that there was no need to climb stairs to reach his bedroom. Indeed, his condition was slowly getting better, but stairs were still a big obstacle he couldn’t break through without the help of others. So staying at his parents' house during the holidays wasn’t only calming his mother down because she always knew how he was, it was also good for his healing process.

He heard the voices of his family from the living room; they were laughing about something, most likely they were watching TV. Eunhyuk smiled to himself. He was glad to know that they were able to laugh again after his mother had felt so guilty for letting Sunghoon taking her son and to almost kidnapping him. That was the reason why he refrained going to them again after he had already wished them goodnight; they would start worrying about him as soon as they would see him and he didn’t want that. He already had someone who read all of his wishes from his eyes.

The door fell shut behind him with a soft thud and as soon as he turned his head he saw Donghae approaching him, a small smile on his lips. Eunhyuk didn’t have to think about it to know that the younger had been waiting for him and with him being so caring it was close to a miracle that Eunhyuk had been able to go to the bathroom alone. Not that he was against showering with the brunet, but he didn’t want him to see his stab wound.

Donghae wrapped his arms around the raven head's neck as soon as he reached him, yet he didn’t come too close to him. Their chests didn’t touch as Eunhyuk gently put his hands on the younger's waist, caressing his sides.

"What's wrong?" he asked with a short laugh after returning the quick pecks the other placed on his lips.

"Nothing", Donghae smiled and the skin of the elder's neck with his thumbs. "I'm just glad to see you."

"But we've only been apart for a few minutes", the raven head mumbled, his face coming closer as his body was somehow pulled more and more towards the younger.

"Way too long."

It was just a whisper and Eunhyuk inwardly agreed as he slowly moved even closer, his arms now encircling the other. He felt the other's breath hitting his face, saw the way he looked at him; Donghae's gaze was filled with nothing but love and yet there was this glint in the younger's beautiful eyes he hadn't seen for a long time. Too long, indeed. And suddenly there was only Donghae in Eunhyuk's mind as their eyes fluttered shut and they leaned in, closing up the last bit of distance that separated their faces.

The raven head slowly fitted his lips against Donghae's and gently let them slid over his as they met for a slow kiss; Eunhyuk started nibbling gently on the soft flesh of the other's bottom lip after some time and knew by the delighted sigh Donghae let out that the younger had missed this just like he had.     
The world around them stopped turning as it was only them in their own little one and none of them wanted to leave it. Eunhyuk tenderly let his lips brush over the younger's parted ones, felt the way Donghae's hands slid down from his nape and now softly fisted the back of his shirt. Their kiss was sweet and at the same time the longest they had shared for months so Eunhyuk didn’t want to let him go as Donghae eventually pulled away. He opened his eyes only a bit and looked at him, face coming closer again, but the younger stopped him with a soft grin.

The brunet's hands left his back to grab the other's and Donghae gently pulled on them as he slowly walked backwards to the bed. With soft pressure on his shoulders he intended to make Eunhyuk sit, held on to his arm to help him as the elder sank down and grimaced in pain. He helped him to lie down and Eunhyuk panted like he was in labor as his head eventually hit his pillow, his eyes clenched shut despite the careful movements of the other.

"Are you okay?" Donghae whispered close to him and Eunhyuk quickly nodded his head while trying to catch his breath.

He heard the other's silent steps, felt the mattress dip slightly to his left and opened his eyes again as the blanket was pulled over him. Donghae carefully snuggled up to him, draping the blanket over both of their bodies as Eunhyuk wrapped one arm around him to pull him close. The brunet's head only rested shortly on the elder's shoulder before a soft peck was pressed against Eunhyuk's temple, his cheek and finally his lips. He turned his head more towards Donghae, smiling in affection.

"I love you", Eunhyuk whispered and earned a smile so bright that was able to outshine the sun in its brilliance. He was sure that he could stare at it forever if the younger would let him, but it seemed like Donghae had other plans.

He reached his hand out to carefully place it on the side of Eunhyuk's nape, let his thumb over the soft skin before he closed his eyes and leaned in again. Donghae gently attached his mouth to the other's, pressed his thin lips against plump ones and turned his body more towards him. He tenderly let them brush over the other's without putting much pressure into the kiss while his hand slowly made its way from the other's nape to his waist.

Eunhyuk sighed, simply enjoying the moment and his heart singing with joy. He couldn’t even remember the last time they had kissed like that, it felt like years. And he didn’t want this to ever stop, he wanted to continue until the end of time, just him and Donghae – he didn’t need anything else.

The brunet tilted his head more to the side and slightly parted his lips to again capture Eunhyuk's bottom lip. He gently on it, let his tongue run over it, gave the soft flesh a small and elicited a soft moan from the other. Donghae smiled into the kiss and deepened it right away; he let his lips slide sensuously over the other's, kissed him passionately while his hand started sliding more southward with deadly slow moves. It slipped under the elder's shirt and warm fingers ghosted over Eunhyuk's abs, always careful to not come to close to his wound.

A shiver ran down Eunhyuk's spine as he returned the kiss; he let their tongues meet to sensuously slide them against each other. He felt Donghae's body tensing a bit, heard a soft moan as they continued , and softly biting. But their kiss always stayed slow and passionately, simply because none of them felt the need to speed things up.

It was Eunhyuk who pulled back after minutes they had spent with nothing but kissing as he noticed in which direction they were going. Panting slightly, he placed a soft peck on the smile on Donghae's lips and returned it, his hand playing with the hair at the back of the other's neck.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" he whispered and it was so low that the pounding of his heart was louder. Donghae nodded his head while his fingers continued travelling over the other's chest and stomach.

"Yeah", he breathed and his smile grew wider. "I've never been surer."

The corners of Eunhyuk's mouth twitched, but not enough to make him smile. "But I… won't be able to move much and-"

Donghae hushed him with another short kiss and shook his head right afterwards. "Just let me take care of everything, okay?"

Eunhyuk's lips curled and he hummed, closing his eyes as Donghae's face came closer once again. Their tongues found each other right after they mouths met and the brunet's hand slowly moved more southwards to the hem of Eunhyuk's boxers. They continued kissing as the younger's fingers slid under his waistband; it were only the tips of them, but those little touches were enough to make a soft moan leave Eunhyuk's lips. Donghae didn’t go any further at first, let his fingers stay where they were to gently caress the elder's skin. Then he tangled up their limbs and made him part his legs more while Eunhyuk's hand found the back of Donghae's head to hold him close.

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