Title/Prompt: Hat

Author: Rosetta Stone

Pairing: EunHae

Rating: G

Summary: Everywhere he went he wore the same hat. And some members were curious as to why.

***

The hat made its appearance on a random occasion. If fact, none of the members could actually tell you when they first saw the hat. It was just, one day Donghae wasn’t wearing it and another it was on top of his head. It was a simple capped hat that was a dark gray color. It suited the young man well, in the sense it was fashionable and also capable of hiding him from fans and media itching to get a photo of him. The only member who had any idea why Donghae had such a hat was Eunhyuk and the lead dancer was keeping his own tight lip on it. But the members really were a curious bunch and every day they saw the hat the more intrigued they got.

It also didn’t help that Donghae wore the hat everywhere. To a recording, to an interview, to a photo shoot, even to hang out with his friends at a local diner. The hat was a part of his wardrobe as pants and a shirt was. The fans even began to notice that he was always with the hat and they jumped on the rumors of what it meant like bees to honey. Some of the more outrageous ideas played off of any female idol he was seen standing near and that the hat was a gift. To even a play off his belief of aliens and he wore the hat to protect his brain. None of the members could figure out how that particular rumor started but the older ones suspected Kyuhyun was the one going online and egging some of the fans that direction.

But despite all of it, Donghae still wore the hat each and every day he was allowed. All day and night he wore the hat. It was such a common fixture. The members began to joke of the hat hair that was probably hidden underneath the cap and worked on ways to remove the item off the young man's head.

"Come on Hyukjae!" Sungmin whined as he tugged on his friend's arm. "You have to help us. You are the only one who can get close to Donghae without him being suspicious."

"Which is why I don’t want anything to do with this plan. I don’t need Donghae losing his trust in me for your personal entertainment." Hyukjae replied annoyed.

"Look we just want to know what is up with the hat. And since you won't tell us, then we will just force Donghae to tell us. That's why we need the hat. So we can bargain with it to him." Sungmin explained.

"If Donghae doesn’t want to tell you then you should just respect him for it." Hyukjae spat in frustration. "You will not use me for your stupid in plan."

Hyukjae pulled his arm free and stalked away from the other. He made it to his room and slammed the door before throwing himself onto the bed in anger. He had his arm over his eyes as he forced himself to relax. He of course knew the significance of the hat Donghae always wore and respected his friend's desire to keep that information to himself. Closing his eyes he allows himself to relax for a bit as he waited for the other to come back.

He didn’t realize he had fallen asleep until he felt someone leaning over him and shaking his shoulders.

"Hyukkie, wakey wakey!" The voice above him said.

"Ugh, Hae, I'm awake already. Stop shaking me." Hyukjae muttered as he slowly opened his eyes.

Donghae was standing above him wearing his clothes from today and the ever present gray hat on his head. He had a bright smile on his face when he saw Hyukjae was finally awake. The energetic man grabbed the dancers arm and impatiently tugged at him to get out of the bed.

"Hurry, hurry. Dinner is ready and Ryeowook won't serve it until all of us are at the table." Donghae explained.

"Figures." The dancer replied as he yawned. Stretching his tired body awake he got to his feet and offered his best friend a smile. "Come on, I'm hungry."

The two friends exited Hyukjae's room and made their way to the kitchen where the other members were waiting. As soon as they entered and took their seats Ryeowook began serving the food. Everyone right away began digging into the food but Donghae noticed not all of them were eating. Lifting his head from his plate he saw Sungmin and Kyuhyun were staring at him. Feeling slightly uncomfortable he subtly nudged Hyukjae.

"Why are Kyu and Min staring at me?" He asked his friend. He then stole a piece of chicken off the others plate and plopped it into his mouth.

Hyukjae shot the other a dirty look but did nothing else to scold his friend for stealing his food. He merely tugged his plate closer to him and hunched his body closer to the food. But he remembered that Donghae had actually asked him a question and thought back to it and the answer.

"Oh yeah, they are wanting to know the significance of your hat." Hyukjae explained as he dug deeper into his food.

"My hat?" Donghae echoed as he touched the topic in question.

Hyukjae just nodded in agreement. He was too busy eating to give his friend a second reply. Donghae looked to the two in question.

"What about my hat?" He asked them curiously.

"We just want to know why you wear it all the time." Sungmin explained. "You are not one for fashion but you seemed particularly attached to that hat."

"I thought I told you all the story about the hat." Donghae had muttered under his breath. But he shrugged it off and smiled to them.

"The truth is this hat was a gift from my dad." He began. Everyone at the table stopped eating at this and turned their attention to the young man. Whenever he spoke of his dad it always led to an emotional story. But Donghae seemed rather calm about it.

"He bought it for me as a gift for handling the public light as a famous person. I got it right before he passed away but I hadn't actually started wearing it until recently. It is like he is always with me whenever I go into public. So I like wearing it."

The others slowly nodded their head in agreement to that. If there was one member who had a strong connection with their dad it was Donghae. They suddenly could understand why he was always with the cap. Sungmin and Kyuhyun felt a little guilty in wanting to know the answer now. But Donghae had a bright smile on his face. He reached over again and stole another piece of food off Hyukjae's plate.

"Damn it Donghae!" Hyukjae growled in annoyance. "Quit it!"

"No, I like your food more than mine."

"It’s the same damn food."

"But it taste better off your plate." Donghae whined.

And like that the conversation about the hat was soon forgotten. The rest of the members rolled their eyes at the obvious flirting the EunHae pair was doing but did nothing to stop them. They went back to their own food. And the question about the hat was never brought up again.