XV

Getting ready in a small time was one of his specialty, and running quickly was another one.

Hyukjae didn’t expect it to be drizzling, so he wasn’t in any hoodies or jackets to keep himself warmer. He was just in a casual shirt and jeans pants, so running quickly towards Nanny’s Pavillion was his only weapon. Thank God the drizzle wasn’t that big, and the restaurant was so near from his house.

He was only a little wet when he finally stepped into the restaurant, searching for two figures that surely had been waiting there. Thankfully Siwon was tall, and his hand that waved for Hyukjae to come attracted him.

“Hey,” Hyukjae mumbled as he took a place in front of Siwon and Donghae’s seat.

The restaurant was rather cozy with the decoration which made it homey and the petrichor from outside (it was an independent restaurant in the street so) made it comfortable. There weren’t many people there, maybe just two or three tables filled because it was still early.

The three of them sat on a table which was nearly the one on the corner, not really popping in the restaurant but rather close with the window. Siwon and Donghae hadn’t had foods in front of them, so Hyukjae assumed that they hadn’t ordered yet or their foods just hadn’t been given.

Siwon chuckled and glanced at Hyukjae as he sipped his warm macchiato, the only thing in their table that was edible. “You’re fast.”

“Do you expect me to walk when it’s raining like that?” Hyukjae answered, and the two of them laughed.

“You’re all wet,” Donghae spoke with a small voice; a small smile was portrayed in his face as he looked at Hyukjae which soon changed into a light giggle.

In reflect Hyukjae and Siwon looked at Donghae with slight amusement. Donghae rarely talk, even when Hyukjae and Siwon was in a quite amusing topic which made the two of them laughed, Donghae would just smile as a sign that he participated. But this time he spoke, even giggled.

“I rarely hear you speak!” Hyukjae immediately spoke and widened his eyes a little, a huge fascinated smile was drawn in his face.

“He even laughed,” Siwon continued with another flashy, huge grin, his index finger pointed at Donghae.

Donghae couldn’t help but feeling a bit shy when the guys spoke. He grinned a little, showing his white teeth which usually were hidden. “I can speak too,” he spoke again, another small whisper-like line he said.

“Is it just me or he’s quite cute?” Hyukjae said, he bit his lower lip and he extended his hand to reach Donghae’s head. Donghae jerked back in reflect or in surprise, but no doubt his face was all red.

Siwon laughed the big one and nodded as an agreement to Hyukjae’s statement. “See, he’s a tomato now!”

“I don’t like tomatoes,” Donghae spoke, slowly managed his behavior after a moment letting the two laughing. But still the blood tension in his cheeks was huge. “I- I like apples more.”

“You’re an apple then?” Hyukjae teased again, his hand was now aiming towards Donghae’s cheek to poke it or pinch it. There was some kind of weird and amusing vibe when Hyukjae poked Donghae’s cheek though, and it felt like he was having a light electric shock or whatever.

Donghae’s blush grew a little and he immediately (or accidentally) hid himself behind Siwon. Siwon looked at his back with an amused look, and then he started hugging Donghae’s head and gently choking the younger boy.

“Can I own you?” Siwon spoke with squealing voice or whatever it is with his lower lip bit, it was such a funny scene that the huge, muscular Siwon was hugging Donghae, the rather small (but not too tiny though, he’s more into short from Siwon’s perspective because actually he was just as tall as Hyukjae) kid. Donghae’s face was reddening again, and he tried hard to pull himself out of Siwon’s locking embrace.

Hyukjae was just laughing and rubbing his nose with his thumb. It’s sort of hard to believe that this cute little boy was a dangerous and cursed one. Well, they weren’t literally dangerous, but public claimed them as one. Hyukjae didn’t know in which aspect they were stated dangerous though.

Donghae had been sitting properly again, but his face surface was still a bit dark though. His hand grabbed the stainless fork placed beside his plate and looked away. He had never felt such an intimate physical contact, especially from a foreign boy.

Siwon was about to say something or what when suddenly a waitress approached them with a choco jelly on a tray. Hyukjae frowned in confuse because of that fluffy beverage and he said to Donghae, “That’s yours?”

Donghae nodded with a wide smile as the waitress politely put the glass in front of him. Hyukjae stared at him in amusement and he was interrupted by Siwon, “You wanna order something?”

“Ah, yes,” Hyukjae muttered. “One mushroom spaghetti, please? And I’d like to have some latte.”

The waitress noted his order, spoke politely and then left the table.

Hyukjae shifted back to the table, his face was facing Donghae again. “You drink choco jellies?” he said in slight confuse. The last person he saw drinking that was just his nephew abroad whom was a kindergarten student.

Donghae took a sip from the glass and nodded. “Uh-hum,” he murmured. “You want to try it?” he said with another sheepish and small grin, slightly pushing his glass towards Hyukjae that accidentally left some water tracks on the table.

Hyukjae pushed his tongue onto his mouth to hold his smile. He shook his head lightly and said, “No need to,” with his eyes twitched in humor.

They continued talking and talking until their orders came. The two older boys had never heard Donghae talked this much, the only things he said were just ‘yes’, ‘no’, and simple answers Siwon and Hyukjae expected from him. Today he told a story about a little puppy who lived in front of his real house, how that puppy once ate his bread that he’s punished not to get out again because it meant he threw his bread, and lots of other adorable things and some funny ones.

“How’s your family?” Siwon asked as he pushed his finished salmon rice bowl. He took a sip of his macchiato with his eyes locked on Donghae.

Donghae murmured a hum and scratched his head. He didn’t really get offended by that question getting thrown on him, but he’s just a bit confused on how to explain it. He had never talked about this to anyone else (well, he had no one to talk with so). “I… have no father?”

“Is he… I’m sorry,” Hyukjae mumbled.

“That’s okay,” Donghae grinned as wide.

“What about your mom? She must be really pretty that you’re this handsome,” Siwon jokingly said. Donghae flashed a small smile, but he’s a bit… yeah, you know, uncomfortable, when Siwon mentioned his mom.

“My mom is pretty,” he said, “Someone said she was a nun!”

Hyukjae chanted an ‘oooh’. “Nuns are pretty.” The image of girls with white hoods (are those called hoods as well?) walking towards a church in line and with their hands clasped together in front of their chests was just adorable, he thought.

The two caught Donghae was playing with his fingers. “I… she is pretty, but she’s not… healthy.”

Hyukjae scouted closer. “Physically?”

Donghae shook his head gently. “Mentally. She… sometimes I found her with some cuts on her body. Not just the hand, but also in her inner thigh and hips.”

“Sort of scary,” Siwon mumbled.

“I’ve found many –well, not so many, people like that, and why do they do that? I mean the cuts,” Hyukjae shifted in his chair. This story had driven him curious, like Donghae’s life was a huge medic book he read and explored years ago that he couldn’t stop until he knew the cause of tuberculosis, how the HIV virus spreads, he desperately was craving for an answer.

But Donghae just simply shrugged and answered, “My aunt said it was because of her mental.”

“You lived with an aunt too?” Siwon asked, which was replied by Donghae with a shake of his head. “She used to visit my place when I was smaller, but now I don’t know where she is.”

Hyukjae and Siwon nodded whether in empathy or just in agreement. The two of them turned quiet and they did their own activities, whether it means downing Siwon’s glass of macchiato or taking some more spoons of the sauce from Hyukjae’s plate.

The silence was between some awkwardness or it’s just silent. It was cracked by the voice of Hyukjae pushing his empty plate of spaghetti and leaning on the back of his chair.

“You guys finished?” Siwon murmured after a while. Donghae nodded while looking at Siwon, and Hyukjae just halfheartedly hummed while looking at his phone. There was another text from Heechul saying d-3.

The timing was close, he better move fast.

Siwon exhaled and glanced at the window. It was obvious that the rain slowly grew bigger and bigger, assuring the three of them that it was impossible to walk out there. People even started entering the restaurant only to find a dry place to protect them.

“Should we still leave to buy some clothes or…?” Hyukjae asked with small voice and looked up at Siwon.

Siwon looked at Donghae, looked back at Hyukjae, and then nodded boldly. “Of course, Hyukjae. He’s staying and I’ll have no more clothes left if he keeps on borrowing.”

Hyukjae nodded. More trips means more times to be together with Donghae, and of course, more probability and chance for him to just instantly kill the younger boy. He went back to glance at his phone, scrolling at some unimportant messages.

“I’ll get a taxi,” Siwon said. “Just wait here.”

Hyukjae and Donghae nodded together, and Siwon nodded in reply, stood up, and walked out of the restaurant.

But hell, Hyukjae didn’t realized that having Siwon to search for a vehicle means leaving him and Donghae alone, in one table, without anyone else and their topic was in the top of the tenseness mountain. He didn’t think he could drop it.

Hyukjae shifted from his chair and coughed a little, and Donghae didn’t even move. Actually since the three stopped talking, Donghae hadn’t moved an inch to even attract the others to speak again. He just sat down and stared at somewhere blank.

“Hey,” Hyukjae spoke smoothly and smiled at Donghae.

Donghae smiled back sweetly and said with small voice, “Hi.”

His lips weren’t extremely stretched from cheek to cheek when he smiled, but it was quite small instead. Donghae’s eyes were relatively big whenever he spoke or talked or even when he just stayed quiet for a while like what he had done, and oh, those green orbs were too beautiful. Hyukjae put both of his elbows on the table when he examined all of this.

Donghae felt a little bit awkward for being stared at, or examined, or whatever it was. He lifted his face as well and he stared back at Hyukjae. Let’s count it as a staring game.

Hyukjae’s relatively small face was begun by his black hair, slowly tracing itself down towards the small squinty eyes, narrow nose, and plump reddish lips which usually stayed being gapped all the time. His jaw line was a vector-like drawing, resembling how sharp and perfect it angled.

Hyukjae’s thick lips gapped.

“What do you think about me?” Hyukjae asked. Do I look like a kind saint, do I look like a mean person, do I really look like someone who would kill you, or do I look like a piece of innocence.

What do you think about me?

Donghae’s heart skipped a little bit without even under the owner’s knowledge, he had been overwhelmed for controlling himself. His green irises stared intensely inside Hyukjae’s dark eyes, searching for some glints of truth and feelings in it.

What do I think about you?

Hyukjae stayed the same, craving badly for an answer of what was Donghae’s mind on him. Those green orbs were too hollow and empty, too full of cavity inside that it wounded Hyukjae as he stared hugely at them. He didn’t want Donghae to think of him as a nice, innocent guy who helped him, nor did he want Donghae to think him as a killer, a person who tricked him and soon would kill him.

What do I want you to think of me?

...

a/n: hello!
so i'm the type of person who types without knowing how would a story end, and i'm really glad that i've found the best ending for this fanfic ; u ;
sorry for not updating! i'm going to have tons of exams until june and i need to learn huhu
thanks for those who have read, commented, subscribed and upvoted, those mean a lot!
please also kindly check my new horror fanfic: Lost Absconders starring Baekhyun and Sehun from EXO!