twenty;

It’s one of the simplest kiss Hyukjae has ever experienced, but definitely one of the most perfect.

It’s only a gentle touching of plump lips against thin ones, but it still prompts him to flutter his eyes close and sigh in contentment. They’re still locked in a dusty broom closet, and the janitor is still outside trying to get them, but he can’t find it in himself to care about anything else but the overwhelming sensations that abruptly assault him only because of a single kiss.

Everything smells, feels and tastes Donghae at this precise moment, and it makes his head spin around like it never had before. It probably lasts only for a tiny second, but it’s enough for him to memorize all the small details that makes him fall even more for the brunette; the feelings of his lips against his, so soft and perfect as if they were made only for him to claim – the soft hair that tickle his skin when he slightly tilts his head to the side, keeping the lip-lock shy and cautious – the hot breath that brushes against his face and mingles with his own, until it seems like they’re breathing as one – the surprised squeal that quickly turns into a sharp intake of breath when Donghae finally realizes what is happening – the way his fingers tighten their grip around the tissue of his jacket, unsure whether to pull him closer or push him away – the delicious curves his fingers run along when they carefully take a hold of his waist – the way the body pressed against his stiffens in surprise and confusion, but still doesn’t blatantly reject him either – the musky and slightly sugary fragrance that teases his nostrils every time he shifts a little against his warm mouth – and everything that makes Donghae so Donghae, and Hyukjae wonders if it’s possible to stay like this forever.

Then, the brunette suddenly, finally replies to the bashful kiss, when he’s about to pull away, and nothing can be any more perfect. A soft, throaty whine leaves his lips and is swallowed by Hyukjae’s own ones, before he lets out a small gasp and unconsciously tries to pull him closer. Groaning against his mouth, the redhead student gently cups his face with one hand and curls the other around his nape, then tilts his head to the side before experimentally a hot line along his lower lip. Almost immediately, he is pleased to feel Donghae shakily granting him entrance, parting his mouth ever so slightly and shyly welcoming him inside. Soft moans are released in the air when their tongue meet for the very first time, curiously curling and sliding together in a sweet dance. As small shivers languidly roll down his back and pulls out a husky groan out of his throat, Hyukjae is suddenly pushing forward with his whole body, until their legs clumsily entangle together and Donghae’s back is pressed against the pan of the cupboard behind him. Need consuming him from the inside and spreading through him like a burning fire, he presses his mouth harder against his and lets his tongue bravely slides inside once again. He slides it along the back of his teeth and earnestly the roof of his mouth, sweeping it over every surface he can reach. His toes curling in pleasure, Hyukjae finally understands what tasting like sunshine means, because there’s no other explanation for the way he feels so warm inside, so happy and craving to have more and more of everything Donghae has to offer.

They only take a small second to gasp and breathe in, before they’re kissing again – and he has to wonder why the hell he has never thought of doing this before.

All he can hear is their ragged breathing and the muffled sound of their clothes sliding together when Donghae grips harder on his jacket. The tip of his fingers brush along his clothed chest, and it’s almost if he can hold back the soft moan that threatens to escape his lips at the burning touch.

But he doesn’t want to waste a single second of the wonderful kiss he is currently sharing with the brunette – as much as pathetically lovestruck he might sound. He usually is all for aggressiveness and battle of dominance, but the fact that this lip-lock is the complete opposite, made of gentleness and sweet caring, makes it even more special – even more perfect.

But then, a sudden noise coming from outside startles him out of the sweet euphoria this kiss has soothed him in. The abrupt thud makes him jolt in surprise and he quickly breaks apart from Donghae’s mouth, who whimpers in protest and tries to pull him back.

As if Hyukjae has finally snapped out of his trance, he looks down at him with terrified eyes and hastily steps back. He suddenly remembers that this man – this very handsome man is actually an old rival that officially became his friend only two weeks ago, and that they’re actually locked in a broom closet of the high school staircase because the janitor had been close to catching them red-handed just a minute earlier. Panic fiercely chokes him when Donghae fixes dazed eyes on him – ones that earnestly show pleasure and growing confusion.

The last one prompts Hyukjae to gasp in horror as he realizes that the other might hate him for this.

And he can’t. He can’t afford losing Donghae’s friendship, when it is so good to stay close and own a part of his heart – even if very small.

“I’m – I’m sorry,” he squeaks hurriedly, and his right shoulder bumps against the closet door. “I need to – I’m just – oh my God.”

Before he can say or do anything else stupid, he’s already out of the cupboard and rushing to the exit.

=

Donghae watches him running away without being able to utter a single word. All he can do is bring trembling fingers to touch his wet lips, where Hyukjae’s warm taste still lingers, before a furious blush taints his face.

=

“You kissed him?” his mother repeats in a mix of bewilderment and excitation. “As in, lips on lips and tongues kind of kissing?”

Hiding his face in his hands, Hyukjae groans in embarrassment and lets his forehead hit the wooden surface of the kitchen table. “Mom,” he whines pitifully. “Don’t say it like that, seriously!”

“But it’s true, isn’t it?”

His face scrunching up into a sulky pout, he peeks from between his fingers and halfheartedly glares at his parents. Now that he has calmed down a little, he really can’t believe that he has told them everything that happened in the broom closet as soon as he had barged in the house an hour earlier. However, he still feels too overwhelmed and agitated, as if he has just ran a marathon and hasn’t been able to catch his breath ever since. His head is still spinning and makes him dizzy, while his limbs feel oddly numb whenever he dares moving a little.

Every time he thinks back at the small but intense kiss he shared with Donghae, embarrassment and excitation clumsily stumble one upon another in his mind, until he can’t remember anything but the sensation of his mouth against his own. The memory of their sweet lip-lock makes his lips tingle softly and accentuates the warm afterglow that has taken over him, which makes everything more wonderful and frightening.

He feels good, scared, confused, excited, shy, happy, and so many other things all at the same time – and it’s almost if he can remember his own name within all this mess.

“And was it… ok?” his father hesitantly asks him, making him feel even more embarrassed than he already is.

Whining under his breath, he reluctantly nods. “More than just ok,” he mumbles, and mentally slaps himself for sounding so pathetically smitten.

“Well, it’s – uh – very… great…?” Mr. Lee clears his throat awkwardly. Sighing, he grimaces a little and apologetically stares at him. “Sorry son, but if a man ever got that close to me, all I’d be able to think of is how to aim my punch straight to his nose.”

His mother glances at him and rolls her eyes in exasperation. “Thank you so much for this intervention, husband,” she scoffs sarcastically. “That so very helpful, really.”

The elder man throws her an offended look and crosses his arms over his chest. “Excuse you,” he grumbles. “You guys should be thankful that I’m already willing to listen to him telling how he shoved his tongue down another man’s throat, thank you very much.”

Hyukjae shrieks at that. “Oh my ing God.”

Snapping his head up, he stares at his parents with horrified eyes. “I’m sorry, but will you guys just ing shut up?! You’re not helping at all! I’m in a middle of a freaking crisis because I’ve been stupid enough to kiss the guy I’ve been crushing on for the past few weeks, and that I’m scared he might hate and reject me – and all you two are doing is making things worse.”

He squeaks again and lets his head fall back onto the table, before he starts to kick the air in embarrassment.

Oh my ing God, oh my ing strawberries mothering God – OH CHISUS HOLY GOODNESS .

“Hey,” he hears someone speaks up shortly after, and it takes him a few seconds to realize it’s his sister and not his brain turning completely mad. “What the hell is going on in here?”

A short pause falls, before his mother excitedly chirps at her “Your brother is in love!”

Hyukjae screams.

=

“So what are you going to do about it?” Donghae hears Sungmin asking him over the phone, when he’s too busy wailing to say anything coherent.

His fist violently punching his pillow out of frustration, he lets himself fall on his bed and groans lengthily. “I don’t know!” he utters pitifully. “I just – can’t you decide for me?”

A soft rustling is heard from the other end of the line, before his best friend scoffs in disbelief. “Don’t be any stupider than you already are,” he says firmly, and Donghae has to worry if Kyuhyun’s personality isn’t rubbing a bit too much on him. “It’s your problem, and you should take care of it by yourself.”

“But you’re my friend!” he protests. “You should help me!”

“I’m already helping you by listening to your complaining,” the other states flatly. “Whatever you’re going to do about him is something you need to think through by yourself.”

And of course he is right. Sungmin always is, after all.

But as much as his words sound awfully reasonable to his ears, all Donghae can truly think of at the moment is oh my ing God Lee Hyukjae ing kissed me and I liked it so much what the heck do I do now?!

His mind is a mess and he is still as confused as he was when the redhead student first kissed him. The sensation of his mouth pressed against his still lingers on his lips, and it’s almost if he’s not them to find that sweet flavor he got a taste of an hour earlier. The mere thought makes him blush to the tip of his ears, and it doesn’t take long until he’s whining like a baby again.

Because he has actually liked it – that gentle kiss Hyukjae gave him out of the blue, when they were squeezed in that dusty broom closet and that all he could focus on was the retreating sounds of the janitor’s steps. To feel warm lips kissing him the second after clearly hadn’t been one of his plans for the night.

But it had felt good – too good. The way Hyukjae had gently cupped his face with one hand and brought him closer with the other, their chest pressed together and the shy sounds of their – it only made thousands of fireworks explode at the pit of his stomach.

“Do you think – do you think he actually likes me?” he finally asks Sungmin, when he feels like he can talk again without squeaking every five seconds.

A short pause answers him, before his best friend hisses at him “What do you think, you dumbhead?! Do you really think that he would have kissed you if it wasn’t the case?!”

Scowling a little at his rude tone, Donghae forces himself on a sitting position and fiddles with the hem of his blankets. “But if he likes me…” he thinks really hard. “…what am I supposed to do…?”

“It’s simple,” the older says with a hint of annoyance tainting his voice (Donghae can understand, it’s almost midnight and they have class early the next day). “You either kiss him back if you like him, or you tell him you don’t want to be any more than just friends if you don’t. What’s so difficult about this? Oh my God, now I understand how Kyuhyun feels every time he has to smack some common sense in Hyukjae’s thick head.”

“Not nice,” the brunette student pouts. “But Ming, it’s scary,” he whines, then. “I mean, he kissed me, you know?”

“Thank you, but I kinda already figured that,” Sungmin sighs heavily. “Seriously, you sound like a teenage girl who just got her first kiss. Man up a little, Lee Donghae!”

Way easier said than done, Donghae thinks desperately and flops back down on the bed.

=

Because how the hell is Donghae supposed to man up a little, if he doesn’t know what he wants himself?

=

Despite the fact that it’s already the middle of autumn, today is an incredibly beautiful day, and Hyukjae fiercely believes that it has all to do with his y karma mocking his current state of mind. It’s scorching hot outside and the sky is practically cloudless, even though it’s supposed to be rainy and windy – just like he really feels right now. All he can do is grumble under his breath and glare at nothing in particular, as he grudgingly makes his way to high school.

If there is at least one think he’s relatively thankful of, Hyukjae thinks, it’s the fact that an implicit agreement seems to have been made between Donghae and him, because neither of the two has asked the other if they want to walk together today. Therefore, he is alone in the streets of his neighborhood, under a burning hot sunshine, and getting closer and closer to his crime scene (his brain has turned into a puddle overnight, and he doesn’t really know what he is thinking anymore, to be honest). It gives him too much time to think and worry about everything, but it’s probably better like this, he thinks pitifully.

Because he’s really not sure if he can control his heart if he sees Donghae – and his lips – so early in the morning.

Since when did I become such a wimp, seriously.

=

“Hyukjae hyung?”

The interested student warily whips around at the call of his name, a hiss threatening to leave his lips, until he recognizes Henry and Kris standing in front of him, perplexed expression plastered on their face. Torn between disappointment and relief that it isn’t Donghae, he chews on his lower lip and frowns at them. “What?” he finally asks.

The situation oddly feels like a déjà-vu of what happened when the both of them first realized that they were each other’s penpals, except this time it feels even worse. It’s thrilling and frightening all at the same time, and he really doesn’t know where to put his agitated feelings anymore.

All he can be sure of is the fact that he most probably looks like a complete moron. The things Donghae makes me do, really.

“Well – uh…” the younger frowns a little, before he glances at his friend next to him. “We are supposed to have soccer practice in, like, less than fifteen minutes, remember? And it’s the other way, hyung.”

“Coach said you wanted to add a new member to the team,” Kris adds flatly with his thick accent. “He also wanted us to tell you that you’d better no be late if you don’t want to run ten laps around the field after practice.”

“New member…?” he repeats blankly, until he remembers with a gasp.

, he inwardly whimpers, because today is also the day Donghae is supposed to try and return to the soccer team with the rest of them. But before he can think of ditching the practice, he finally recalls the fact that apart from being a hormonal teenager who happens to be crushing on his old rival (he really needs to take care of this), he is also the soccer team’s captain, which means he has a bunch of responsibilities to hold. Frowning in embarrassment and looking conflicted, he awkwardly straightens up and glances behind him, before turning to face his teammates. “Okay,” he clears his throat and sighs heavily. “Let’s go, then.”

He only has the time to turn around and reluctantly stomp to the sport field, when he hears Henry muttering to Kris “Don’t you think hyung has become really weird lately, though?”

He wholeheartedly agrees with him.

=

When Donghae walks to the sport field this afternoon, after the coach has asked him to drop by so he can judge if he’s still good enough to return to the team, all his eyes can find is a shirtless Hyukjae actively running around the grass. A small group of girl students are giggling and squealing over the players, and although the brunette can feel a knot of jealousy forming at the bottom of his throat, he can understand the reason why.

Handsome – handsome – handsome, is the only thing his mind can think of when his gaze travel from the familiar sharp features to the defined, chiseled chest. Beads of sweat drip over strong abs, milky white skin and a pair of dark s he can’t help but want to nibble on.

Actually, Donghae realizes as he feels a burning heat spreading at the pit of stomach, he just wants everything. He wants to feel, to smell, to touch, to kiss – to show these annoying girls that it’s all his – and so, so many other things. An urge to drop his bag onto the floor and pull the redhead into a searing kiss has his heart frantically pulsing in his chest, panic and jealousy choking him once again.

It freaks him out, to realize how much he actually wants Hyukjae, while he always thought that all he felt for him was simple dislike.

But before he can get his acts together and calm his breathing, he sees the redhead glancing up at him in surprise. Hyukjae seems to hesitate for a moment, before he frowns and finally jogs in his direction.

Don’t come closer, please, please – please!

But really, Donghae can’t believe how pathetic he sounds. He usually isn’t like this, so shy and unsure of what he is supposed to do, but the way Hyukjae makes him feel is so overwhelming that he doesn’t seem able to snap out of this embarrassing phase.

“Uh – hi,” Hyukjae utters when he reaches him shortly after, and awkwardness is practically radiating from him. “It’s – uh… Coach said he’s waiting for you.”

Knowing that he won’t be able to look anywhere else but at his plump lips, Donghae settles with avoiding his eyes and nods without a word, cursing himself for being so stupid.

Even though he thought that acting like a lovestruck dummy was far behind him, here he is, fighting a ing blush that is creeping its way on his face.

“I – I’m sorry,” Hyukjae suddenly speaks again, when the silence becomes too heavy and uncomfortable. “For… you know. I mean, if you didn’t like it – which would be weird, because I was told that I’m a great kisser. But then everybody has their own taste, right? Uh – so yeah, sorry if you didn’t like it, I guess…? Though I really wish that you liked it, because, you know, I’d really like to do it again and –”

Donghae really wants to reply that it’s ok, it’s more than just ok and it’s perfect – that he liked it and definitely wants to do it again and again. But too many things rush and twirl in his head without a stop, and he doesn’t know what he wants to say anymore. He sees the other teammates curiously staring at them from the field just at the same moment he remembers what it felt like to have Hyukjae’s lips pressed on his, and the fact that Sungmin told him that he actually likes him. Except he still isn’t sure if he does, and even the coach is looking in their direction, and Hyukjae looks so cute, babbling and acting so awkward around him. The pressure he suddenly feels on his shoulders is so oppressing he wonders how he still manages to breathe, and he wants to talk – to run away – to stay – to forget – to kiss – and from the corner of the eyes, he sees the group of girls giggling under their breath while staring at Hyukjae’s bare chest.

And he just snaps. “Kiss me,” he demands.

Well, that wasn’t really what I was expecting, he thinks bemusedly.

Hyukaje blinks at him, then frowns in confusion. “What.”

“I said,” Donghae hisses under his breath, before he curls his fingers around the waistband of his shorts and curtly pulls him closer. “Kiss me. Now.”

And the next thing he registers is the way Hyukjae immediately pounces on him, and finally slams their mouth together into the breathtaking kiss he’s been dreaming of for the past hours.

God, he thinks as he releases a long moan and sneaks his arms around his neck. Best ing decision of my life.

lol the horribleness orz sorry if any typos

anyways, you guys are lucky (i guess?) because i originally wanted to put some drama at the end of this chapter. But i'm kinda tired and their dumbness has already brought enough problems, so let's just say it's enough, ok? ok.

thank you so much for reading! i really hope that you enjoyed this chapter :D i probably won't update TLFTB anymore until i'm done with And He Remembers..., but it should be fine with the deadline since there's not a lot of chapters left (CRIES).

Anyways, thank you again, and remember to comment/upvote/subscribe ^^

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