Happy Birthday to my dearest Hyukjae <3

-

Donghae gazes at the man who is currently drawing in the notebook he had given him. He looks at the other biting his lips, frowning as he erases the pencil markings over and over again.

He chuckles, walking over, ruffling the other’s hair.

“Hyukjae, what are you drawing?” Donghae asks, curious at the drawings that don’t seem to look like anything.

“That’s you, Donghae! And that’s me beside you!” Hyukjae grins, and Donghae laughs, taking the notebook up to view it against the light. The two stick figures look nothing like them but Donghae feels his heart melting.

“Wow, I’m so good looking in your drawing, Hyukjae.” Donghae says, placing the notebook back into Hyukjae’s hands.

“Yep, Donghae is the most handsome man in this world!” Donghae blushes at that, trying to will away the blush that is creeping up his face. “No, Hyukjae. You are the most handsome in this world.” Hyukjae looks up into his eyes at that, and they gaze at each other for what seems like hours. Donghae slowly leans in, and their noses are almost touching when Hyukjae breathes, “Donghae, you look tired.”

What was I doing?

“Oh,” Donghae jolts. “Really?”

“Yeah,” Hyukjae whispers, brushing away the strands of hair that are covering Donghae’s eyes. “You need to sleep, Donghae.”

Donghae smiles, thinking that Hyukjae sounds so bossy.

“I’m fine, Hyukjae. I still have a lot of work to do-”

“It’s fine to rest when you need to, Donghae.” Hyukjae interjects firmly. Donghae finds himself blushing at the stern gaze on him. He nods, and Hyukjae laces their fingers together, dragging him towards the programming room.

Donghae feels his heart pounding furiously as the grip on his hand tightens.

What am I feeling?

Hyukjae guides Donghae towards the programming machine, and Donghae lets him do so.

As Hyukjae sits down, waiting for the cold metal against his wrist as always, Donghae finds himself staring again.

Over the past few weeks, Hyukjae had changed both mentally and physically as well. Must be the extra testosterone I programmed into him, Donghae thinks and feels himself blushing again.

But he can’t help himself when Hyukjae looks so handsome and muscular. Those arms only seemed to be even stronger now, Donghae thinks as he remembers the strong grip on his hands just now. And he loves it. He loves it when Hyukjae holds him so firmly, it makes him feel so warm and protected.

Am I supposed to be feeling this way?

And as the metal pierces through the pale wrist, Donghae finds himself unable to tear his gaze away from the brown eyes that are staring back at him tenderly.

“Goodnight, Donghae.” Hyukjae whispers and Donghae finds himself falling even further, even deeper.

“Goodnight, Hyukjae.” Donghae turns to leave, but he feels a firm grip on his wrist.

“Sleep next to me tonight, Donghae.” Donghae’s eyes widen and he wants to say no, but he turns around and sees Hyukjae’s pleading eyes staring at him.

He sighs, climbing into the tiny bed and he feels Hyukjae immediately wrapping his arms around him. He lets his head fall onto the other’s chest, comfortably snuggling into his embrace. He thinks he hears Hyukjae chuckling quietly.

Hyukjae was right, he was tired.

Within seconds, he falls asleep, with Hyukjae gently threading his fingers through his hair.

-

The next day, Hyukjae wakes up to Donghae screaming. He thinks he has never heard Donghae scream this loudly before. He blinks, looking around blearily as Donghae paces around the room.

“Why did I make this careless mistake?” Donghae flails his arms. This is, he thinks, a normal reaction. A normal reaction to him accidentally copying the whole “Guide to be the perfect boyfriend” into the system to be transferred into Hyukjae.

“What happened?” Hyukjae asks, walking over to Donghae who is now sitting in front of the computer. Donghae only sighs miserably, pointing to the computer screen.

Hyukjae takes a look, and says, “Why do you even have this guide?” Donghae just wants to dig a hole and hide in it right now.

“And why?” Hyukjae smirks, wrapping his arms around Donghae’s waist. “What’s wrong with that?”

Donghae only face palms. “Oh god.”

-

By afternoon, Donghae has managed to get most of the guide transferred out of Hyukjae, but he leaves some parts of it behind. He couldn’t bear to totally remove it, after all, who knows how useful it could be right?

He heaves a sigh of relief, now that Hyukjae’s behaviour is almost back to normal. He had nearly went crazy when Hyukjae kept smirking and winking at him. What kind of boyfriend even does that? He pauses in his thoughts. Did I just say boyfriend?

He shakes his head, going back to doing his research.

Occasionally, his thoughts go back to what the head scientist had told him but he decides to forget about it for now.

Let me just enjoy my time with him… And do what I was meant to do from the start. At the end, will I be willing to accept what is going to happen though?

Donghae doesn’t know. He doesn't know what is going to happen in the future, and he supposes that he can’t control it either.

-

“Donghae-ah, I’m bored.” Hyukjae swings his legs as he sits on Donghae’s work desk.

As Hyukjae plays with the contraptions on his work desk, Donghae realises that Hyukjae has never seen past the walls of the association.

That afternoon, the two of them walk down the streets in the city centre and Donghae finds it amusing how Hyukjae looks like a curious puppy, exclaiming at everything he sees.

“Donghae, let's go there!” Donghae smiles and lets Hyukjae drag him towards the ice cream store. He likes it, he decides. The feeling of their hands laced tightly together.

Donghae lets Hyukjae choose as many flavours as he wants, after all, he isn’t allowed to be outside in the first place and Donghae doesn’t think he can sneak him out very often.

“Donghae, what do you want?” Hyukjae asks, and Donghae shakes his head. “It’s all right, Hyukjae. I don’t want any.”

Donghae finds his mouth stuffed with at least five different ice cream flavours at once, with Hyukjae muttering angrily, “How can you not eat it with me?”

While feeding Donghae, Hyukjae occasionally places a few scoops into his own mouth as well.

“Mm, this is so good, Donghae! It melts in my mouth, just like snow!”

Donghae chuckles, his lips that are currently stained with strawberry ice cream, the flavour Hyukjae seems to like the most.

“This is ice cream, Hyukjae. Do you like it?” Hyukjae nods, shoving another spoonful into Donghae’s mouth.

“I like the pink coloured one the most!”

“That’s strawberry, Hyukjae.” Hyukjae nods, his mind seeming to drift off to somewhere else as he stares at Donghae’s lips.

Donghae feels his world slowing down as Hyukjae reaches over and uses his thumb to wipe the strawberry stains off.

He freezes and stares as Hyukjae the remainders off his fingers. And suddenly, his heart almost stops.

Hyukjae is pressing a gentle kiss against the corner of his lips.

“W-What are you doing?”

“There was ice cream on your lips, Donghae. I helped you to remove it!” Hyukjae says, with an innocent expression on his face but Donghae finds his tone suspicious. It was as if he knew what he was doing.

Donghae clears his throat, picks up the spoon and shoves it into Hyukjae’s mouth to stop him from saying anything else.

He feels the blush creeping up his cheeks again and he knows that Hyukjae is staring at him.

What he doesn’t know is that Hyukjae’s cheeks are as red as his.

Donghae watches as Hyukjae tries on his fifth shirt of the day. The man seems obsessed with clothes, looking fascinated when they first enter the shop.

“Donghae, can I buy this?” Donghae wants to say no but he sees the other looking so happy and excited that he can’t deny him of that.

They leave the shop an hour later with three bags full of clothes. Hyukjae had persuaded Donghae to buy some for himself as well.

“Yah, why did you buy so many things?” Donghae nags, watching as Hyukjae chases after the birds outside the store. “I’m going to be penniless for the next month.” Hyukjae turns, shoulders sagging in disappointment as all the birds fly away.

He frowns when he sees Donghae shivering from the cold, and he walks over briskly.

“Why did you wear so little today?” This time, it is Hyukjae’s turn to nag and Donghae finds himself smiling. He watches as the taller rummages through one of the shopping bags, taking out the scarf he had claimed to be the most beautiful in the whole store.

Hyukjae wraps that scarf around Donghae’s neck, beaming as he completes the the finishing touch. As Hyukjae pulls away, Donghae finds himself shivering again at the loss of warmth.

“The scarf looks beautiful on you.” Hyukjae mumbles, before taking half of the shopping bags in Donghae’s hands. And as he walks away, Donghae stands still, the words Hyukjae had uttered hastily echoing in his mind.

You are beautiful...

-

“Donghae, what’s that?” Donghae looks up at the fearful voice, and he sees a robot puppy near them.

“That’s a pet robot, Hyukjae.”

Donghae smiles as Hyukjae steps closer to him as the dog gets closer. “Don’t worry, Hyukjae. They’re very friendly.”

Hyukjae bends down slowly, petting the dog’s head. His lips curve into a smile as the dog barks, wagging its tail happily. The owner soon walks away, the robot immediately following in his footsteps. Donghae is surprised to see an uneasy look on Hyukjae’s face and as he hesitantly walks over to Donghae’s side.

“Am I also a robot, Donghae? Like that puppy?”

Donghae bites his lips. He wants to answer, no, you are not. You aren’t just a mere robot.

But he realises that Hyukjae is a robot. It’s just that he behaves and looks so much like a human that Donghae himself is beginning to treat him like one.

“No, Hyukjae. You’re different…” Donghae whispers and Hyukjae only smiles softly at that.

-

A few days pass since their little trip out and Hyukjae is as bored as ever again as Donghae does his work.

Donghae had promised to take him out again, but not so soon. It was too risky to sneak him out again within such a short time. And so, Hyukjae is sitting on Donghae’s work desk again, drawing another picture of him and Donghae. This time, his drawing includes them holding multiple ice cream cones, with a little robot puppy at their side. He grins as he holds the completed piece in his hands. As he waits for Donghae to come back from his monthly assessment, he lets his gaze fall to the frame on Donghae’s desk, which holds the first picture he had drawn for Donghae. He smiles, bringing the the photo frame into his arms, and he lightly traces Donghae’s face on the picture.

Just as he is about to take another piece of paper to draw, Donghae bursts into the room, hair ruffled and messy.

“Why were you smiling at her like that?” Donghae snaps, glaring at Hyukjae who is meekly looking at him. “And don’t give me that innocent stare!” Donghae says, before Hyukjae makes his heart soften.

“I wasn’t, Donghae. She was the one who smiled at me first!” Hyukjae argues, crossing his arms as well.

The two of them had been in the programming room earlier that day, Donghae checking up on Hyukjae’s progress, when another female trainee scientist had come into the room.

“Well, you shouldn’t have smiled back!” And Hyukjae smiles at that, a look of realisation dawning upon him. Donghae feels himself shrinking back into his seat.

“Why, Donghae? Are you jealous?”

Am I… jealous?

Donghae finds himself defiantly standing up from his seat, sputtering “No!”

But he realises that his words and actions have long given him away.

“It’s all right, Donghae-ah. I’m all yours.” Hyukjae says with a bright smile, and Donghae feels the uncomfortable tightening in his chest fading away.

“Look, Donghae!” Hyukjae hands him the new drawing he had been working on. Donghae takes the flimsy paper into his hands, smiling softly as he sees the two figures along with the ice cream and the cute puppy they had seen that day. Hyukjae had drawn him with the scarf he had wrapped around him as well.

“Hyukjae, your drawing has improved!” Donghae says sincerely, and Hyukjae’s face immediately lights up. “And I still look as good as ever.” Donghae adds jokingly, focusing his attention back onto the two figures in the drawing. They’re both smiling in the picture and Donghae notices the small words Hyukjae had scribbled at the bottom.

Let’s be happy together forever.

“Of course, Donghae! You are the most handsome man in the world!” Hyukjae says firmly, and Donghae is reminded of a few days ago when Hyukjae had handed him the first drawing.

Hyukjae leans in and gazes at Donghae so tenderly, Donghae always finds his legs going weak. He then places a soft, yet firm, kiss on Donghae’s cheek and Donghae finds himself shudder.

Why do you always make me feel this way, Hyukjae? Why do you always make me smile?