(07) Meant to be Seen - 1,520

Though it garnered him some attention, Hyukjae admitted that maybe being known as the erted one wasn’t the way to go.

In his defense, he doesn’t ask to stumble upon the situations. He merely happened to have the most horrible timing in the world. Which, in retrospect, he should have learned from since the third time it happened.

He shivered just thinking about it.

The first time was Heechul and Hankyung. It wasn’t a pleasant sight. While he knew he expected it from Heechul, seeing Hankyung like that shattered Hyukjae’s image of him. It wasn’t bad or horrible. He just couldn’t look at Hankyung directly for months. Heechul guessed and smirked every time he caught Hyukjae’s eyes.

The second should have been cute. Unfortunately it scarred Hyukjae a lot more than when he saw Hankyung and Heechul.

He admitted that while Ryeowook and Sungmin were cute as men and quite pretty as women, never in his time with them did he consider seeing them doing the do. More than once he walked in on them as both males and females. He thought that seeing them completely toughened him for future accidents he might have walked in to. Apparently, seeing them in drag and having proved to be a more painful experience.

He cried to Donghae without telling him what was happening. (But good ol’ Donghae comforted him anyway and promptly forgot that he cried. Hyukjae took note that he might use it against him someday but he was too mentally scared to care.)

Third was just as horrible, if not more. Because while he considered Shindong practically his blood brother, he wasn’t ready to see him doing it with Nari.

He shook his head and wondered how he got to that trail of thought anyway.

Hyukjae walked out of his room, everyone else eating at a restaurant because of their late schedules. He saw Kyuhyun sitting on the couch, eating newly cooked ramyeon and watching a variety show.

When he sat down beside Kyuhyun, the audience in the TV laughed. He watched with a straight face, mouth filled with noodles.

“Do we have any left?” He asked because it was nine in the evening and he hasn’t eaten a thing since lunch.

Kyuhyun looked at him, eyelids half closed in an extremely bored look. He blinked twice, slurping the rest of the noodles more loudly than what was appropriate before turning back to the show.

“Hey!” Hyukjae yelled, annoyed that he was ignored in favor of a re-run. Kyuhyun showed no signs of apology and continued to eat and watch.

Hyukjae scratched the back of his head in irritation and groaned and yelled. He stomped his way to the kitchen, purposefully walking in front of Kyuhyun out of spite. "Yes, hyung, we have some left. Why don't you just sit back and relax and let me cook some for you?" He mocked, voice high and pitchy. From the couch, though showing no signs of remorse or that he was even listening in, Kyuhyun snorted. Hyukjae growled.

When will that brat learn that he was a hyung and that he should be respected like one? And when he said respected, he meant that he should be left alone from the teasing and the pranks. (He got enough of it from Youngwoon and Heechul, he doesn’t know how he’s survived with Kyuhyun.)

He rummaged the cupboards and the refrigerator. For more than five grown men living in one place, they sure lacked food stocked. There wasn’t even a single pack of chips. How they lived that long was a mystery. Hyukjae sighed.

The front door lock opened and Hyukjae smiled.

Jongwoon appeared, shaking off the cold of the night and entered. He held two big, white plastic bags that looked like food in containers.

“Hyung!” Hyukjae called. Jongwoon glanced at him and smiled, raising the bags.

“Here,” Jongwoon said and Kyuhyun turned. “We had a celebration at home and ended up with more food that couldn’t be consumed by four people. I thought I’d bring it here.”

Hyukjae wanted to cry. He flung himself onto Jongwoon, hugging him tightly and missing the way Kyuhyun stiffened. Jongwoon laughed and tried not to move because the bags could break and their position was awkward for his back.

“Thank you, thank you!”

“You act like you’ve never eaten your entire life.” Jongwoon teased, laughing wholeheartedly, the way he pronounced the “Ha-ha” deep and smooth.

Hyukjae released his hold and took the bags. He unpacked four large containers that were filled to the brim and barely even holding together. His stomach growled loudly but he was too happy seeing the food to care. He grabbed two bowls and a pair of chopsticks, happily humming a tune. His hips were swaying and his smile lopsided. In his bliss, he didn’t notice the awkward silence between Kyuhyun and Jongwoon.

Kyuhyun still sat on the couch, facing Jongwoon but gaze nowhere near him. Jongwon shifted from foot to foot, his weight on one side to the other and his hands in his pockets and shoulders raised. He bit his lower lip, quickly taking small peeks at Kyuhyun.

“Hi,” Jongwoon said, managing a smile albeit awkwardly.

Kyuhyun gave a relieved smile. “Hi.” He replied. The atmosphere seemed to have relaxed though Hyukjae continued to blissfully fix his dinner.

Jongwoon flitted quick glances at Kyuhyun and Kyuhyun did the same. Their cheeks grew darker each moment and they turned away when they caught each other’s eyes. It was a repetitive process and an embarrassing one.

Hyukjae sat on a chair, still having a view of the television and (unfortunately) of Kyuhyun and Jongwoon. He took a bite of the noodles, slurping being the only sound in the room. The atmosphere was thick and awkward.

Jongwoon was the first to recover. Without moving from his spot, he smiled widely at Kyuhyun. It was the anime-style smile, his eyes closed and mouth open. Kyuhyun stared, eyes growing rounder.

“How are you,” Jongwoon said and Hyukjae felt his eye twitch at the inappropriate question. Kyujyun, however was too dumbstruck to care. Hyukjae watched carefully while he continued to eat.

He watched the way Kyuhyun sat, his back twisted at an impossible angle and cheeks flushed red, though whether he was sweating because of the ramyeon or not was another matter. He watched as Kyuhyun replied that he was alright and that it was good to see hyung healthy as well.

Jongwoon stood rigid, swaying back and forth as if wanting to step closer but not knowing if he should do so. As if he was waiting for a go signal from Kyuhyun.

They stood at three or four strides apart from each other, talking at first awkwardly, but then Jongwoon removed his hands from his pocket and he began talking animatedly. It might have been about Jongjin or Ddangkoma or Kkoming or some other, but the smile on Kyuhyun’s face was unmistakeable.

They stayed like that for a while, Kyuhyun not showing any signs of offering Jongwoon a seat nor Jongwoon showing any signs of moving from where he stood. After the conversation that died down, they were both looking down and repeating what happened earlier with the fleeting glances and the blushing cheeks.

It was a minute into the silence when Kyujyun was able to look at Jongwoon longer than half a second. Jongwoon was fiddling with his hands, rolling on the balls of his heels, and biting his bottom lip, avoiding Kyuhyun altogether. Kyuhyun’s gaze softened and his body relaxed. He smiled so softly that it was barely there.

That was when Hyukjae noticed it. He looked back and forth from Kyuhyun to Jongwoon. He raised a brow and blinked. After a few moments, he scrunched his nose, figuring out where this was going.

“God, get a room!” He said, garnering the attention of them both. “Watching you two look at each other is like watching live .”

They blushed, avoiding eye contact and pretending they weren’t looking when the other looked back.

“I’m getting goosebumps,” Hyukjae shivered, rolling his shoulders and shaking the feeling off. He stood up and brought his bowls, face still scrunched, disturbed by how things transpired. “I’m too hungry for this.”

He left the two of them, still avoiding eye contact with one another. But he noticed that they moved closer a bit, if not even reaching for each other. He called out to them without looking back.

“If you’re planning on doing something, sliding a note under my door and amping up the television volume would be great. Thanks!”

He slammed the door with his hip and gently placed his bowls onto his desk. He wore his noise canceling earphones and raised the volume as high as he could take without destroying his eardrums.

Throughout his career and reputation as the erted one, and throughout the amount of mental scarring and breakdowns he’s endured, never did Hyukjae think that he would encourage anyone to have .

He probably shouldn’t tell anyone, but he figured everyone needed mental scars at least once in their lifetime.