Fic: Second Childhood; Six
Second Childhood; Six
PG-13; EunHae; Fluff/Romance
They met just as little boys do, over action figurines and imaginary explosions. What they don't expect is for it to last.
'So,' Sungmin appeared out of nowhere behind Donghae; Donghae practically leapt into the air screaming, his books and pens flying everywhere and Sungmin giggled. 'What are you doing for your anniversary?'
'Fuck you Lee Sungmin, I hate you.'
'Language young child, I did not raise you this way.'
Donghae stared. 'You didn't raise me. Stop saying that.'
Sungmin flicked his fringe out of his face primly. 'With all the tutoring I gave you and all the bullies I pulled off you, I might as well have. You owe me.'
'Fine,' Donghae mock scowled before swatting at Sungmin playfully. It was true he did owe Sungmin a lot, if it weren't for him, he'd be beaten to a pulp on the playground by now. He placed his books back onto his desk and looked back at Sungmin. 'You were saying - ?'
Sungmin fell into the chair next to him with a grace born out of years of martial arts and leaned forward eagerly. 'What are you planning with Hyukjae for your anniversary?'
'What anniversary?'
Sungmin looked at him like he had grown three heads and clucked his tongue disapprovingly. 'Your six month anniversary.'
Donghae choked and his hand shook, knocking a pen off his desk again. Had it already been six months since Hyukjae had first taken him to watch X-Men? He mentally counted back the months in his head and realised in slowly dawning horror that Sungmin was right. It had been six months since they had started officially going out, or well, just four days shy actually. Donghae stared at Sungmin in horror. 'How do you remember these things!'
If Donghae didn't know better, he'd say Sungmin was looking at him with pity. Sungmin sighed, reaching out to pat Donghae's shoulder reassuringly. 'Oh Donghae, I still have so much to teach you. And of course I marked the date in my planner, it's an important day for us!' Sungmin threw out his arms to embrace Donghae and he backed away in alarm.
'No. No no no. Big day for me. Not you, you're not included,' Donghae shook his head furiously as Sungmin pouted.
'Can't I celebrate with you guys? It's a big - '
'No.' Donghae cut in firmly. He sighed at the pout on Sungmin's face. 'Stop that, I know when you're fake pouting to get your way.'
Sungmin merely scrunched his face up further, his lip wobbling dangerously and Donghae prayed for a guardian angel somewhere to save him.
Unfortunately, he came in the form of Cho Kyuhyun.
'Hey,' he poked his head around the classroom door. 'You guys aren't going to lunch?'
'Kyu!' Sungmin practically wailed and threw himself at Kyuhyun sobbing theatrically. 'Donghae is being mean to me!'
For a second, Kyuhyun wished, not for the first time actually, his father had chosen to take up farming instead. Then he had an armful of tearing and pouting Sungmin and his world was knocked off kilter for a moment.
Kyuhyun gathered his thoughts before looking over Sungmin's head to Donghae, who shrugged helplessly. Sighing, Kyuhyun bopped Sungmin lightly on the head before pushing him back. 'Stop fake crying. We both know you too well for that.'
Sungmin's tears dried up magically and he scowled. 'Yeah well, Donghae was being mean.'
'You're trying to crash our date.'
'As a concerned parent, I have the right to - '
'You're not my parent!'
Kyuhyun pinched his nose bridge and sighed again. His stomach was way too empty to be dealing with this and he grabbed at Sungmin's hand before dragging him out of the classroom, kicking and protesting. It wasn't until he had shut Sungmin up with a bowl of ramyun that he was finally able to take out his phone and text Donghae.
Figured you're already going to be stressed enough about this date thing without Sungmin yapping away in your ear. You owe me.
He grouchily dug into his own bowl of noodles when his phone buzzed on the table and both him and Sungmin bumped heads to see Donghae's reply.
I hate you too.
Sungmin sighed sadly before reaching over to steal some of Kyuhyun's side dishes. 'My life is so hard.'
Kyuhyun briefly wondered if he should be the one moving to the countryside and taking up farming instead.
-
'Um, Hyukjae?'
Hyukjae made a noise of acknowledgement, eyes glued to the television as his fingers moved rapidly over the game remote, watching his racer weave through the course before wincing as he crashed into another car.
Donghae sighed. 'Can you pause the game? I want to talk to you.'
Hyukjae wrinkled his nose in distaste but paused it anyway and leaned back against the couch to look up at Donghae. 'What's up baby?'
'Do you know what's happening in four days?'
A frown. 'The weekend?'
Sighing, Donghae reached over to pinch at Hyukjae. 'It's our six month anniversary.'
Hyukjae stared.
'Okay so you didn't know that either.'
He flopped on the ground at Donghae's feet, throwing an arm over his eyes. 'I didn't know,' it came out in a horrified tone. 'How did you know?'
'Sungmin hyung told me.'
'How does he know!'
'He seems more enthusiastic about it than we are actually,' Donghae hid a laugh and toed at Hyukjae's calf playfully.
Hyukjae peeked out at Donghae. 'Are you mad that I didn't remember?'
'God no,' Donghae pressed his toes into the material of Hyukjae's shirt. 'I wouldn't even have remembered it myself if Sungmin hyung didn't mention it in school today.'
'Wow we're horrible at this.'
Donghae found himself nodding. They really were, but it somehow worked. It came as a surprise to them how easily they had fallen into some sort of routine. Every Friday night, they took turns to have dinner at each other's house, their mothers eagerly cooking up a storm each week and spoiling them rotten. Saturday was for homework, hanging out, movies, soccer, or just whatever they wanted to do really. Spending time with each other was the main point and they did that really well. Time seemed to fly by whenever they were together, Donghae found, and he wished time would just slow down sometimes. Because what would happen if one day that time ran out?
He shook himself out of those thoughts and resumed digging his toes into Hyukjae's belly. 'Do you wanna go out?'
Hyukjae sat up slowly, tracing random designs into Donghae's jeans. 'Do you want to go out?'
'I asked you first,' Donghae chewed on his lip worriedly. Was Hyukjae going to think that he was some sort of demanding girlfriend?
Hyukjae continued to trace designs on the faded denim for a minute or two, concentrating intently on the material as Donghae watched. Looking up, he poked at Donghae's nose playfully. 'Yeah, let's go out.'
The relief relaxed Donghae's shoulders and he grinned at Hyukjae's face, which had a similar grin on it. 'Okay,' he watched as Hyukjae shifted into position, leaning back against his legs as he resumed his game. Donghae carded his hands through Hyukjae's hair, smiling absent-mindedly as Hyukjae made a noise of contentment.
They eventually decided to just have a nice dinner out at a new place that had opened up in town and Hyukjae promised to make reservations since the reviews of the pasta had basically guaranteed a long line out the door for dinner.
Donghae smiled and pulled at Hyukjae's hair, ignoring his yelp as his character died on screen.
-
'Happy anniversary baby,' Hyukjae kissed him before his brain had registered anything and Donghae blinked blearily up at him.
'Hyukjae?'
'Were you expecting someone else? Should I check under the bed for a guy?' Hyukjae teased.
Donghae scrambled up in bed, pulling the covers up to hide his body. He was dressed only in boxers and a wifebeater and he flushed a deep red. 'What are you doing in my room! Did you climb in through the window?'
'Your mother let me in dumbass, she thought I was sweet to come over early so I could make you breakfast.'
The clock that always stood on Donghae's desk was small but luminous and he squinted at it. 'Hyukjae it's seven in the morning.'
'I've been up since six. I turned off your alarm by the way,' Hyukjae grinned. 'Figured I could wake you up today.' He leaned down into Donghae's space again, kissing him without warning and Donghae fell back onto his pillows with a muffled curse.
His eyes slid shut on instinct, sliding his lips slowly across Hyukjae's in response. Hyukjae made a small noise at the back of his throat and pressed in closer, coaxing Donghae's mouth open slowly. The covers suddenly felt too warm for Donghae and he nearly kicked them off before he remembered that they were in his bed and he was barely dressed. He flushed almost instantly when he remembered that he hadn't even brushed his teeth yet. His fingers left the blankets to push at Hyukjae's shoulder frantically, worrying about his disgusting morning breath but Hyukjae simply reached up to grasp at his fingers before forcing his hand over his head and pushing it down into the pillow. The new position left Donghae helpless as Hyukjae licked into his mouth hungrily, pulling his tongue into his mouth and sucking on it and Donghae moaned, low in his throat.
Hyukjae pulled back, ignoring Donghae's whines and he tightened his grip on Donghae's hands. 'Good morning.'
'Mmm good morning,' Donghae replied in a daze. How could it be anything but a good morning with a wake up call like that.
Hyukjae got up from where he had been kneeling by the bed and Donghae pouted. He wanted more kisses but it didn't seem like Hyukjae was going to come back. 'Get dressed Hae,' he called as he exited the room. 'I'm making pancakes.'
Pancakes, Donghae grumbled as he got out of bed. He'd rather starve and make out until they had to leave. But he showered grumpily and dressed with a little more care then he would, pulling his uniform straight and styling his hair more carefully than he would on any other day. An anniversary was a special day after all and he wanted to look his best the whole day. He could worry about tonight's outfit later when he returned from school, he had a few hours for that. Hesitating before he grabbed his backpack, Donghae's fingers brushed against the eyeliner pencil that Sungmin had taught him to use last summer, declaring it an important item that everyone needed.
His brain went oh what the hell and he lined his eyes quickly and thinly, with just the bare minimum of liner around his eyes to make them defined. He stepped back from the mirror, pleased and gave his hair a last pat before heading down the stairs.
The smell of pancakes hit him before he actually saw any and he dashed down the remaining stairs, dropping his backpack on the floor before sitting down expectantly at the dinner table.
'Here are your - ' Hyukjae turned from the stove, holding a large spatula piled high with pancakes. He took one look at Donghae and gulped, the pancake stack wobbling dangerously as he tripped on air and he slid them hurriedly onto the plate before Donghae. 'Pancakes,' he muttered and he turned on the faucet hurriedly, washing his hands.
Donghae barely noticed, he was too enticed by the pancakes and he drizzled maple sauce all over the stack before digging in happily. He was already halfway through the second one when Hyukjae sat down with his face red and a fork held in his hand. Hyukjae cut into Donghae's pancakes, ignoring his protests and he munched on the forkful of pancakes.
'So what do you think?'
'You made them,' Donghae mumbled through the mouthful of food. 'Of course I'd think they were perfect.'
Hyukjae's face got redder if it was possible and he took a gulpful of the maple syrup instead of the orange juice he was aiming for.
Donghae laughed so hard he nearly upset the plate and he hid his laughter as he watched Hyukjae wash his mouth out with water.
Hyukjae hung his head in mortification as he bid Donghae's mother goodbye and followed Donghae out the door. He hadn't even done the hard part yet, he fretted. He wanted this day to be perfect but it seemed like everything was against him today.
But then Donghae took his hand and smiled at him, and his heart stopped for a bit. This was what he was working so hard for. Just a smile, and everything seemed right.
He squeezed Donghae's hand.
-
The tug on his hand before they entered school confused Donghae and he turned to look back at Hyukjae, puzzled. Hyukjae tugged again and Donghae stumbled into his chest, an arm going around his waist to hold him steady.
'Are we not going to school?'
'No we are, I just wanted to talk to you first,' he pulled Donghae over to the side where they leaned against the wall. Donghae looked up quizzically at him.
'Hae I - I can't make it tonight,' Hyukjae winced as he said this, watched as the happiness in Donghae's eyes faded slowly to a dull disappointment.
Donghae gave a small but quiet 'Oh,' before he was drawn into a warm hug.
'It's not that I don't want to, you have to believe me, but I have a family emergency. And I can't get out of it. I swear, if it was any other thing, I'd still be out with you celebrating our anniversary, you know that right?'
Donghae was quiet, biting his lip as he blinked hard into Hyukjae's shirt. He would not cry, he would not be a crybaby again; he hated crying in public. 'I understand.'
He felt Hyukjae's groan before he heard it, the low sound reverberating through his chest and he clutched at Hyukjae's uniform. 'I'm sorry baby, but it's family, and I - I can't - I don't - '
'It's fine,' Donghae pushed away from him, still blinking hard. 'We - we can always go out tomorrow right? We could still celebrate.'
'Yes,' Hyukjae grabbed at his hand, relieved. 'I'll make it up to you okay? We'll go to somewhere nicer and I'll buy you lunch and dinner.'
'It's fine,' Donghae waved him off, managing even to laugh a little. It helped, to see Hyukjae so apologetic about it, it eased the ache a little bit. But it didn't mean that he wasn't going to be lonely tonight. 'Is it okay then if I have dinner with another friend? I don't want to be alone.'
The last part trailed off into silence and Hyukjae was silent for awhile before Donghae felt him rubbing at him sides comfortingly. 'Of course, are you going to grab dinner with Sungmin or Kyuhyun?'
'Maybe.' Like hell he was going to tell Sungmin or Kyuhyun, he didn't want their pity on a night like this or Sungmin fussing over him. He was just going to go out for a dinner and head home.
'If it helps, you look really really good today,' Hyukjae looked down at Donghae almost in reverence, thumb going up to rub at the faint black line around his eyes and Donghae blushed prettily, biting his lip and looking down. He kept silent though, still more disappointed than anything and just nodded in response.
The bell rang faintly from inside the school and Hyukjae sighed. That meant they had five minutes to get to class before they were marked late on the attendance list.
He slung an arm around Donghae's shoulders as they walked in, pressing a soft kiss to Donghae's temple. Donghae sighed softly, leaning into the kiss with a slight slump to his shoulders. The day that had started out so nicely seemed spoiled now. But he supposed that was why Hyukjae had come over in the morning, to make up for the ruined dinner plans and he appreciated the effort. It was what made him squeeze Hyukjae's hand one more time before they separated to enter the classroom and take their seats.
It's okay
-
'So tell me again why we're grabbing dinner on your anniversary with your boyfriend.'
Donghae groaned. 'God Yunho hyung, you're such a nag I should have asked Sungmin hyung instead.'
Yunho grinned, grabbing in a headlock and ruffling up his hair. If it were any other time, Donghae would have been whining about his hair that he had spent ages doing this morning. But since he wasn't on a date, or going to see Hyukjae any time today, he didn't bother. He just patted it down after Yunho was done with him. It had become an old routine really; Yunho had always treated him like a baby brother to be looked after ever since they'd joined the same dance team in school. Not that he complained much really, it was nice to be babied sometimes and Yunho did that very well.
But he was no replacement for Hyukjae.
Donghae sighed. 'He had some family stuff to go to.'
'Man, that sucks. I'm sorry.' Yunho shut up about the subject after that and instead began chattering on about the new ahjumma at their favourite eating place, about how he was so sure that she liked him because she gave him an extra bowl of chicken soup at lunch. He liked that about Yunho, the inane chattering helped him to keep the thoughts at bay.
Yunho looked at his watch and called the time. Donghae hauled himself off the ground and got into position in front of the wall length mirrors, waiting for the music and the heavy beats to start. He was glad that Yunho had suggested some extra dance practice since he had time. When he danced, he thought of nothing else except the rhythm and the steps. Perfect for not letting his thoughts stray to Hyukjae.
The shirt he had put on was sticking to his back with perspiration by the time Yunho decided that their steps were perfectly synced. Donghae all but collapsed onto the floor, not caring where his limbs fell and he gasped for air. Dancing wasn't dancing unless you gave it your all.
Yunho kicked him in the calves and he yelped. 'Go take a shower you disgusting boy, then let's go get dinner. I'm starving.'
'You're the one who made me run through it fifty thousand times,' he grumbled.
'Hey!' Yunho yelped, wounded. 'No one's going to be complaining when we blow them away with our routine at the next showcase okay? You'll see!'
Donghae wrinkled his nose at Yunho's nagging again before grabbing his things and heading to the showers. It wasn't until they were fresh and clean and heading over to the mall when Donghae reluctantly nudged Yunho in the side with his arm that was currently tucked into his jeans pocket. 'Thanks for coming out with me man.'
'Anytime.'
Donghae shivered as they stepped into the mall. He hadn't thought it would be this cold and he had only put on a simple tank top. He had figured it was only dinner and he walked a little faster, hoping to get some hot food a little faster.
Conversation was animated over dinner and Yunho nearly sent his bowl of rice flying as he reenacted a scene in class where his female teacher had bent over to pick up a pen and some boy in the front row had fallen out of his seat because he could not take his eyes off her ass. Donghae laughed until tears were in his eyes and he nearly choked on his noodles but it was worth it.
Yunho had point blank refused to let him pay for his dinner and Donghae had protested all the way out of the shop. Grabbing at his wallet, Yunho stuffed it back into Donghae's duffle bag and clapped his hand over Donghae's mouth. 'You talk too much. Besides, I figured somebody should pay for your dinner today.'
Donghae fell silent immediately, thoughts straying to where and what he had been trying not to think of all day. Yunho peered at him curiously. The silence made him look up and he smiled gratefully. 'Thanks hyung, for hanging out with me all day.'
'No problem,' Yunho replied cheerfully as he hooked arms with Donghae. 'Now let's go play basketball at the arcade.'
Donghae groaned. He always lost to Yunho.
And he did. A miserable 102 to Yunho's whopping 263 points.
'You suck.'
'No you suck. The score showed that,' Yunho laughed, slinging an arm around Donghae's shoulder and ruffling his hair again.
'Hyung,' Donghae whined.
They finally decided to leave since they were exhausted from the practice and Donghae cast a longing glance at the restaurant that Hyukjae had booked a table for them in for dinner, wishing he could be in there right now celebrating his anniversary.
Beside him, Yunho had stopped in his tracks. 'Hey, isn't that - '
Donghae looked at where Yunho was staring and his heart leapt into his throat, choking him and leaving him gasping for air.
It turned out, Hyukjae hadn't cancelled their reservations after all, since he was dressed nicely in shirtsleeves and pulling out a chair for a girl about their age in mile high stilettos and a dress. Donghae watched in stunned silence as Hyukjae pushed the chair in for her gently before taking his own seat opposite her, grinning at her familiarly and taking her hand. They were seated by the large window facing into the mall, conversing excitedly and he watched as Hyukjae laughed, leaning forward in his seat and the girl flicked her hair behind her shoulders prettily.
He blinked and pinched himself, almost certain that it was a dream or he was hallucinating because the Hyukjae he knew would never cheat on him. But maybe it seemed, he didn't know Hyukjae that well after all.
'Hey, Donghae,' Yunho uttered in alarm. 'Donghae breathe.'
Donghae hadn't realised that he had stopped and he struggled to suck air into his lungs, his chest expanding uncomfortably and he realised it hurt to breathe. It hurt to speak as well, he found as he opened his mouth. 'Hyung, I want to go home.'
Yunho was uncharacteristically silent as his arm tensed around Donghae's shoulders and he nodded, his eyes trained squarely on Hyukjae. 'Do you want to call him or anything? There might be an - '
'No,' Donghae cut in. 'I want to go home. Please,' he begged. 'Before he sees us.' Donghae was sure Hyukjae was going to look up soon and glance at the surrounding shops and sure enough, he saw Hyukjae's head lifting and he turned hurriedly. Yunho turned with him, his bulk mostly hiding Donghae from sight but he turned back to look at Hyukjae, who was frowning and trying to get a better look at them.
'Yeah, let's go home. I'll walk you.'
Donghae's chest was still hurting as he forced himself to breathe, the air rushing in cold and hurting him. The weight of Yunho's arm on his shoulders was a comforting weight, reminding him that someone was there and he silently gave thanks that he hadn't decided to have dinner alone. And also cursed whatever it was that had made him and Yunho decide to eat at the mall that night. He wondered if he could have lived without seeing it. He wondered if he might ever have found out, or if Hyukjae would have told him. Most of all, he wondered why Hyukjae would cheat on him. He must have done something wrong, something to have made Hyukjae want something else.
Family emergency, his mind kept replaying what Hyukjae had told him that morning. That it was a family event that he couldn't get out of. He saw no other family members of Hyukjae there. There was no other family member there. Donghae blinked hard against the chill of the night air. Hyukjae had sounded so sorry and contrite this morning, but he guessed Hyukjae was simply a better actor than he seemed.
Donghae found himself strangely, partly accepting of this, like he had been waiting for this to happen. It was like, he couldn't believe Hyukjae had chosen him to be his boyfriend, and now that this had happened, he had been proven right; he wasn't good enough to be Hyukjae's boyfriend.
He hadn't realised that he had been crying, until Yunho had brushed away a tear or two with the sleeve of his hoodie wordlessly. Yunho didn't say anything about it, just stared stoically ahead at the dark streets as they walked. He knew how Donghae hated crying in public.
That was when Donghae realised his chest didn't hurt because it hurt to breathe. Breathing didn't hurt.
His chest hurt because his heart was breaking to pieces.
A/N: Yeah please don't kill me I promise I'll update soon :)
PG-13; EunHae; Fluff/Romance
They met just as little boys do, over action figurines and imaginary explosions. What they don't expect is for it to last.
'So,' Sungmin appeared out of nowhere behind Donghae; Donghae practically leapt into the air screaming, his books and pens flying everywhere and Sungmin giggled. 'What are you doing for your anniversary?'
'Fuck you Lee Sungmin, I hate you.'
'Language young child, I did not raise you this way.'
Donghae stared. 'You didn't raise me. Stop saying that.'
Sungmin flicked his fringe out of his face primly. 'With all the tutoring I gave you and all the bullies I pulled off you, I might as well have. You owe me.'
'Fine,' Donghae mock scowled before swatting at Sungmin playfully. It was true he did owe Sungmin a lot, if it weren't for him, he'd be beaten to a pulp on the playground by now. He placed his books back onto his desk and looked back at Sungmin. 'You were saying - ?'
Sungmin fell into the chair next to him with a grace born out of years of martial arts and leaned forward eagerly. 'What are you planning with Hyukjae for your anniversary?'
'What anniversary?'
Sungmin looked at him like he had grown three heads and clucked his tongue disapprovingly. 'Your six month anniversary.'
Donghae choked and his hand shook, knocking a pen off his desk again. Had it already been six months since Hyukjae had first taken him to watch X-Men? He mentally counted back the months in his head and realised in slowly dawning horror that Sungmin was right. It had been six months since they had started officially going out, or well, just four days shy actually. Donghae stared at Sungmin in horror. 'How do you remember these things!'
If Donghae didn't know better, he'd say Sungmin was looking at him with pity. Sungmin sighed, reaching out to pat Donghae's shoulder reassuringly. 'Oh Donghae, I still have so much to teach you. And of course I marked the date in my planner, it's an important day for us!' Sungmin threw out his arms to embrace Donghae and he backed away in alarm.
'No. No no no. Big day for me. Not you, you're not included,' Donghae shook his head furiously as Sungmin pouted.
'Can't I celebrate with you guys? It's a big - '
'No.' Donghae cut in firmly. He sighed at the pout on Sungmin's face. 'Stop that, I know when you're fake pouting to get your way.'
Sungmin merely scrunched his face up further, his lip wobbling dangerously and Donghae prayed for a guardian angel somewhere to save him.
Unfortunately, he came in the form of Cho Kyuhyun.
'Hey,' he poked his head around the classroom door. 'You guys aren't going to lunch?'
'Kyu!' Sungmin practically wailed and threw himself at Kyuhyun sobbing theatrically. 'Donghae is being mean to me!'
For a second, Kyuhyun wished, not for the first time actually, his father had chosen to take up farming instead. Then he had an armful of tearing and pouting Sungmin and his world was knocked off kilter for a moment.
Kyuhyun gathered his thoughts before looking over Sungmin's head to Donghae, who shrugged helplessly. Sighing, Kyuhyun bopped Sungmin lightly on the head before pushing him back. 'Stop fake crying. We both know you too well for that.'
Sungmin's tears dried up magically and he scowled. 'Yeah well, Donghae was being mean.'
'You're trying to crash our date.'
'As a concerned parent, I have the right to - '
'You're not my parent!'
Kyuhyun pinched his nose bridge and sighed again. His stomach was way too empty to be dealing with this and he grabbed at Sungmin's hand before dragging him out of the classroom, kicking and protesting. It wasn't until he had shut Sungmin up with a bowl of ramyun that he was finally able to take out his phone and text Donghae.
Figured you're already going to be stressed enough about this date thing without Sungmin yapping away in your ear. You owe me.
He grouchily dug into his own bowl of noodles when his phone buzzed on the table and both him and Sungmin bumped heads to see Donghae's reply.
I hate you too.
Sungmin sighed sadly before reaching over to steal some of Kyuhyun's side dishes. 'My life is so hard.'
Kyuhyun briefly wondered if he should be the one moving to the countryside and taking up farming instead.
-
'Um, Hyukjae?'
Hyukjae made a noise of acknowledgement, eyes glued to the television as his fingers moved rapidly over the game remote, watching his racer weave through the course before wincing as he crashed into another car.
Donghae sighed. 'Can you pause the game? I want to talk to you.'
Hyukjae wrinkled his nose in distaste but paused it anyway and leaned back against the couch to look up at Donghae. 'What's up baby?'
'Do you know what's happening in four days?'
A frown. 'The weekend?'
Sighing, Donghae reached over to pinch at Hyukjae. 'It's our six month anniversary.'
Hyukjae stared.
'Okay so you didn't know that either.'
He flopped on the ground at Donghae's feet, throwing an arm over his eyes. 'I didn't know,' it came out in a horrified tone. 'How did you know?'
'Sungmin hyung told me.'
'How does he know!'
'He seems more enthusiastic about it than we are actually,' Donghae hid a laugh and toed at Hyukjae's calf playfully.
Hyukjae peeked out at Donghae. 'Are you mad that I didn't remember?'
'God no,' Donghae pressed his toes into the material of Hyukjae's shirt. 'I wouldn't even have remembered it myself if Sungmin hyung didn't mention it in school today.'
'Wow we're horrible at this.'
Donghae found himself nodding. They really were, but it somehow worked. It came as a surprise to them how easily they had fallen into some sort of routine. Every Friday night, they took turns to have dinner at each other's house, their mothers eagerly cooking up a storm each week and spoiling them rotten. Saturday was for homework, hanging out, movies, soccer, or just whatever they wanted to do really. Spending time with each other was the main point and they did that really well. Time seemed to fly by whenever they were together, Donghae found, and he wished time would just slow down sometimes. Because what would happen if one day that time ran out?
He shook himself out of those thoughts and resumed digging his toes into Hyukjae's belly. 'Do you wanna go out?'
Hyukjae sat up slowly, tracing random designs into Donghae's jeans. 'Do you want to go out?'
'I asked you first,' Donghae chewed on his lip worriedly. Was Hyukjae going to think that he was some sort of demanding girlfriend?
Hyukjae continued to trace designs on the faded denim for a minute or two, concentrating intently on the material as Donghae watched. Looking up, he poked at Donghae's nose playfully. 'Yeah, let's go out.'
The relief relaxed Donghae's shoulders and he grinned at Hyukjae's face, which had a similar grin on it. 'Okay,' he watched as Hyukjae shifted into position, leaning back against his legs as he resumed his game. Donghae carded his hands through Hyukjae's hair, smiling absent-mindedly as Hyukjae made a noise of contentment.
They eventually decided to just have a nice dinner out at a new place that had opened up in town and Hyukjae promised to make reservations since the reviews of the pasta had basically guaranteed a long line out the door for dinner.
Donghae smiled and pulled at Hyukjae's hair, ignoring his yelp as his character died on screen.
-
'Happy anniversary baby,' Hyukjae kissed him before his brain had registered anything and Donghae blinked blearily up at him.
'Hyukjae?'
'Were you expecting someone else? Should I check under the bed for a guy?' Hyukjae teased.
Donghae scrambled up in bed, pulling the covers up to hide his body. He was dressed only in boxers and a wifebeater and he flushed a deep red. 'What are you doing in my room! Did you climb in through the window?'
'Your mother let me in dumbass, she thought I was sweet to come over early so I could make you breakfast.'
The clock that always stood on Donghae's desk was small but luminous and he squinted at it. 'Hyukjae it's seven in the morning.'
'I've been up since six. I turned off your alarm by the way,' Hyukjae grinned. 'Figured I could wake you up today.' He leaned down into Donghae's space again, kissing him without warning and Donghae fell back onto his pillows with a muffled curse.
His eyes slid shut on instinct, sliding his lips slowly across Hyukjae's in response. Hyukjae made a small noise at the back of his throat and pressed in closer, coaxing Donghae's mouth open slowly. The covers suddenly felt too warm for Donghae and he nearly kicked them off before he remembered that they were in his bed and he was barely dressed. He flushed almost instantly when he remembered that he hadn't even brushed his teeth yet. His fingers left the blankets to push at Hyukjae's shoulder frantically, worrying about his disgusting morning breath but Hyukjae simply reached up to grasp at his fingers before forcing his hand over his head and pushing it down into the pillow. The new position left Donghae helpless as Hyukjae licked into his mouth hungrily, pulling his tongue into his mouth and sucking on it and Donghae moaned, low in his throat.
Hyukjae pulled back, ignoring Donghae's whines and he tightened his grip on Donghae's hands. 'Good morning.'
'Mmm good morning,' Donghae replied in a daze. How could it be anything but a good morning with a wake up call like that.
Hyukjae got up from where he had been kneeling by the bed and Donghae pouted. He wanted more kisses but it didn't seem like Hyukjae was going to come back. 'Get dressed Hae,' he called as he exited the room. 'I'm making pancakes.'
Pancakes, Donghae grumbled as he got out of bed. He'd rather starve and make out until they had to leave. But he showered grumpily and dressed with a little more care then he would, pulling his uniform straight and styling his hair more carefully than he would on any other day. An anniversary was a special day after all and he wanted to look his best the whole day. He could worry about tonight's outfit later when he returned from school, he had a few hours for that. Hesitating before he grabbed his backpack, Donghae's fingers brushed against the eyeliner pencil that Sungmin had taught him to use last summer, declaring it an important item that everyone needed.
His brain went oh what the hell and he lined his eyes quickly and thinly, with just the bare minimum of liner around his eyes to make them defined. He stepped back from the mirror, pleased and gave his hair a last pat before heading down the stairs.
The smell of pancakes hit him before he actually saw any and he dashed down the remaining stairs, dropping his backpack on the floor before sitting down expectantly at the dinner table.
'Here are your - ' Hyukjae turned from the stove, holding a large spatula piled high with pancakes. He took one look at Donghae and gulped, the pancake stack wobbling dangerously as he tripped on air and he slid them hurriedly onto the plate before Donghae. 'Pancakes,' he muttered and he turned on the faucet hurriedly, washing his hands.
Donghae barely noticed, he was too enticed by the pancakes and he drizzled maple sauce all over the stack before digging in happily. He was already halfway through the second one when Hyukjae sat down with his face red and a fork held in his hand. Hyukjae cut into Donghae's pancakes, ignoring his protests and he munched on the forkful of pancakes.
'So what do you think?'
'You made them,' Donghae mumbled through the mouthful of food. 'Of course I'd think they were perfect.'
Hyukjae's face got redder if it was possible and he took a gulpful of the maple syrup instead of the orange juice he was aiming for.
Donghae laughed so hard he nearly upset the plate and he hid his laughter as he watched Hyukjae wash his mouth out with water.
Hyukjae hung his head in mortification as he bid Donghae's mother goodbye and followed Donghae out the door. He hadn't even done the hard part yet, he fretted. He wanted this day to be perfect but it seemed like everything was against him today.
But then Donghae took his hand and smiled at him, and his heart stopped for a bit. This was what he was working so hard for. Just a smile, and everything seemed right.
He squeezed Donghae's hand.
-
The tug on his hand before they entered school confused Donghae and he turned to look back at Hyukjae, puzzled. Hyukjae tugged again and Donghae stumbled into his chest, an arm going around his waist to hold him steady.
'Are we not going to school?'
'No we are, I just wanted to talk to you first,' he pulled Donghae over to the side where they leaned against the wall. Donghae looked up quizzically at him.
'Hae I - I can't make it tonight,' Hyukjae winced as he said this, watched as the happiness in Donghae's eyes faded slowly to a dull disappointment.
Donghae gave a small but quiet 'Oh,' before he was drawn into a warm hug.
'It's not that I don't want to, you have to believe me, but I have a family emergency. And I can't get out of it. I swear, if it was any other thing, I'd still be out with you celebrating our anniversary, you know that right?'
Donghae was quiet, biting his lip as he blinked hard into Hyukjae's shirt. He would not cry, he would not be a crybaby again; he hated crying in public. 'I understand.'
He felt Hyukjae's groan before he heard it, the low sound reverberating through his chest and he clutched at Hyukjae's uniform. 'I'm sorry baby, but it's family, and I - I can't - I don't - '
'It's fine,' Donghae pushed away from him, still blinking hard. 'We - we can always go out tomorrow right? We could still celebrate.'
'Yes,' Hyukjae grabbed at his hand, relieved. 'I'll make it up to you okay? We'll go to somewhere nicer and I'll buy you lunch and dinner.'
'It's fine,' Donghae waved him off, managing even to laugh a little. It helped, to see Hyukjae so apologetic about it, it eased the ache a little bit. But it didn't mean that he wasn't going to be lonely tonight. 'Is it okay then if I have dinner with another friend? I don't want to be alone.'
The last part trailed off into silence and Hyukjae was silent for awhile before Donghae felt him rubbing at him sides comfortingly. 'Of course, are you going to grab dinner with Sungmin or Kyuhyun?'
'Maybe.' Like hell he was going to tell Sungmin or Kyuhyun, he didn't want their pity on a night like this or Sungmin fussing over him. He was just going to go out for a dinner and head home.
'If it helps, you look really really good today,' Hyukjae looked down at Donghae almost in reverence, thumb going up to rub at the faint black line around his eyes and Donghae blushed prettily, biting his lip and looking down. He kept silent though, still more disappointed than anything and just nodded in response.
The bell rang faintly from inside the school and Hyukjae sighed. That meant they had five minutes to get to class before they were marked late on the attendance list.
He slung an arm around Donghae's shoulders as they walked in, pressing a soft kiss to Donghae's temple. Donghae sighed softly, leaning into the kiss with a slight slump to his shoulders. The day that had started out so nicely seemed spoiled now. But he supposed that was why Hyukjae had come over in the morning, to make up for the ruined dinner plans and he appreciated the effort. It was what made him squeeze Hyukjae's hand one more time before they separated to enter the classroom and take their seats.
It's okay
-
'So tell me again why we're grabbing dinner on your anniversary with your boyfriend.'
Donghae groaned. 'God Yunho hyung, you're such a nag I should have asked Sungmin hyung instead.'
Yunho grinned, grabbing in a headlock and ruffling up his hair. If it were any other time, Donghae would have been whining about his hair that he had spent ages doing this morning. But since he wasn't on a date, or going to see Hyukjae any time today, he didn't bother. He just patted it down after Yunho was done with him. It had become an old routine really; Yunho had always treated him like a baby brother to be looked after ever since they'd joined the same dance team in school. Not that he complained much really, it was nice to be babied sometimes and Yunho did that very well.
But he was no replacement for Hyukjae.
Donghae sighed. 'He had some family stuff to go to.'
'Man, that sucks. I'm sorry.' Yunho shut up about the subject after that and instead began chattering on about the new ahjumma at their favourite eating place, about how he was so sure that she liked him because she gave him an extra bowl of chicken soup at lunch. He liked that about Yunho, the inane chattering helped him to keep the thoughts at bay.
Yunho looked at his watch and called the time. Donghae hauled himself off the ground and got into position in front of the wall length mirrors, waiting for the music and the heavy beats to start. He was glad that Yunho had suggested some extra dance practice since he had time. When he danced, he thought of nothing else except the rhythm and the steps. Perfect for not letting his thoughts stray to Hyukjae.
The shirt he had put on was sticking to his back with perspiration by the time Yunho decided that their steps were perfectly synced. Donghae all but collapsed onto the floor, not caring where his limbs fell and he gasped for air. Dancing wasn't dancing unless you gave it your all.
Yunho kicked him in the calves and he yelped. 'Go take a shower you disgusting boy, then let's go get dinner. I'm starving.'
'You're the one who made me run through it fifty thousand times,' he grumbled.
'Hey!' Yunho yelped, wounded. 'No one's going to be complaining when we blow them away with our routine at the next showcase okay? You'll see!'
Donghae wrinkled his nose at Yunho's nagging again before grabbing his things and heading to the showers. It wasn't until they were fresh and clean and heading over to the mall when Donghae reluctantly nudged Yunho in the side with his arm that was currently tucked into his jeans pocket. 'Thanks for coming out with me man.'
'Anytime.'
Donghae shivered as they stepped into the mall. He hadn't thought it would be this cold and he had only put on a simple tank top. He had figured it was only dinner and he walked a little faster, hoping to get some hot food a little faster.
Conversation was animated over dinner and Yunho nearly sent his bowl of rice flying as he reenacted a scene in class where his female teacher had bent over to pick up a pen and some boy in the front row had fallen out of his seat because he could not take his eyes off her ass. Donghae laughed until tears were in his eyes and he nearly choked on his noodles but it was worth it.
Yunho had point blank refused to let him pay for his dinner and Donghae had protested all the way out of the shop. Grabbing at his wallet, Yunho stuffed it back into Donghae's duffle bag and clapped his hand over Donghae's mouth. 'You talk too much. Besides, I figured somebody should pay for your dinner today.'
Donghae fell silent immediately, thoughts straying to where and what he had been trying not to think of all day. Yunho peered at him curiously. The silence made him look up and he smiled gratefully. 'Thanks hyung, for hanging out with me all day.'
'No problem,' Yunho replied cheerfully as he hooked arms with Donghae. 'Now let's go play basketball at the arcade.'
Donghae groaned. He always lost to Yunho.
And he did. A miserable 102 to Yunho's whopping 263 points.
'You suck.'
'No you suck. The score showed that,' Yunho laughed, slinging an arm around Donghae's shoulder and ruffling his hair again.
'Hyung,' Donghae whined.
They finally decided to leave since they were exhausted from the practice and Donghae cast a longing glance at the restaurant that Hyukjae had booked a table for them in for dinner, wishing he could be in there right now celebrating his anniversary.
Beside him, Yunho had stopped in his tracks. 'Hey, isn't that - '
Donghae looked at where Yunho was staring and his heart leapt into his throat, choking him and leaving him gasping for air.
It turned out, Hyukjae hadn't cancelled their reservations after all, since he was dressed nicely in shirtsleeves and pulling out a chair for a girl about their age in mile high stilettos and a dress. Donghae watched in stunned silence as Hyukjae pushed the chair in for her gently before taking his own seat opposite her, grinning at her familiarly and taking her hand. They were seated by the large window facing into the mall, conversing excitedly and he watched as Hyukjae laughed, leaning forward in his seat and the girl flicked her hair behind her shoulders prettily.
He blinked and pinched himself, almost certain that it was a dream or he was hallucinating because the Hyukjae he knew would never cheat on him. But maybe it seemed, he didn't know Hyukjae that well after all.
'Hey, Donghae,' Yunho uttered in alarm. 'Donghae breathe.'
Donghae hadn't realised that he had stopped and he struggled to suck air into his lungs, his chest expanding uncomfortably and he realised it hurt to breathe. It hurt to speak as well, he found as he opened his mouth. 'Hyung, I want to go home.'
Yunho was uncharacteristically silent as his arm tensed around Donghae's shoulders and he nodded, his eyes trained squarely on Hyukjae. 'Do you want to call him or anything? There might be an - '
'No,' Donghae cut in. 'I want to go home. Please,' he begged. 'Before he sees us.' Donghae was sure Hyukjae was going to look up soon and glance at the surrounding shops and sure enough, he saw Hyukjae's head lifting and he turned hurriedly. Yunho turned with him, his bulk mostly hiding Donghae from sight but he turned back to look at Hyukjae, who was frowning and trying to get a better look at them.
'Yeah, let's go home. I'll walk you.'
Donghae's chest was still hurting as he forced himself to breathe, the air rushing in cold and hurting him. The weight of Yunho's arm on his shoulders was a comforting weight, reminding him that someone was there and he silently gave thanks that he hadn't decided to have dinner alone. And also cursed whatever it was that had made him and Yunho decide to eat at the mall that night. He wondered if he could have lived without seeing it. He wondered if he might ever have found out, or if Hyukjae would have told him. Most of all, he wondered why Hyukjae would cheat on him. He must have done something wrong, something to have made Hyukjae want something else.
Family emergency, his mind kept replaying what Hyukjae had told him that morning. That it was a family event that he couldn't get out of. He saw no other family members of Hyukjae there. There was no other family member there. Donghae blinked hard against the chill of the night air. Hyukjae had sounded so sorry and contrite this morning, but he guessed Hyukjae was simply a better actor than he seemed.
Donghae found himself strangely, partly accepting of this, like he had been waiting for this to happen. It was like, he couldn't believe Hyukjae had chosen him to be his boyfriend, and now that this had happened, he had been proven right; he wasn't good enough to be Hyukjae's boyfriend.
He hadn't realised that he had been crying, until Yunho had brushed away a tear or two with the sleeve of his hoodie wordlessly. Yunho didn't say anything about it, just stared stoically ahead at the dark streets as they walked. He knew how Donghae hated crying in public.
That was when Donghae realised his chest didn't hurt because it hurt to breathe. Breathing didn't hurt.
His chest hurt because his heart was breaking to pieces.
A/N: Yeah please don't kill me I promise I'll update soon :)