Buried: Chapter 3
Title: Buried
Pairing: Eunhae
Genre: AU
Summary: Hyukjae has spent a long time adjusting to his way of life. Now, he has to face a change that he never could have expected.
-
Donghae genuinely sleeps in on Thursday morning. He doesn't even hear Hyukjae leave. When he finally does get up, he sluggishly drags himself to the bathroom, takes a long shower, and dresses in comfortable clothing. While his hair is drying, he tugs on it, realizing that it's getting rather long. He glances in the mirror and frowns, not liking how his hair frames his face.
He thinks back to the picture of himself and Hyukjae he'd seen yesterday. His hair had been short then; it looked good. After several minutes of debating, Donghae grabs his keys and heads out the door.
-
“Sweetheart, I've been hoping you'd ask me that from the moment you came back.” Tiffany is practically glowing with excitement when Donghae comes in and asks for a haircut.
“Does it really look that bad?” Donghae asks.
“It doesn't look bad,” Tiffany answers, “it's just that... being dead seems to have taken a toll on it.”
“So... you're saying it looks bad.”
“Just sit down.”
Donghae smiles and sits down in a salon chair. Tiffany immediately puts a cover over Donghae and starts experimenting with his hair.
“Is Sungmin around?” Donghae wonders aloud.
“He's out for lunch.”
“On a date?”
Tiffany lightly tugs Donghae's hair and sighs. “I wouldn't know,” she says. “Sungmin and I don't talk about our love lives.”
“What?” Donghae shifts to look at Tiffany but she forces his head to stay in place. “You guys used to talk about everything.”
“Well...” Tiffany starts as she sprays down Donghae's hair, “a while back, he went on a date. When I asked him how it went, he refused to talk about. After that, it just sort of became taboo for either of us to talk about our dates. He never asks me about mine and I'm too scared he'll be upset with me if I ask about his.”
“That's... super weird,” Donghae comments. “But I doubt he'd get upset with you. You're still friends, right? You still talk?”
“Of course!” Tiffany begins snipping the dead ends of Donghae's hair. “We work in a salon; we would die if we couldn't talk to each other. The only things we don't talk about are our romantic relationships.”
“Then maybe you should just ask him about that date,” Donghae suggests. “You've been best friends for ages and if something weird happened on that date, who better to talk to about it than you?”
“Anyone but me,” Tiffany answers. She's still perfectly concentrated on cutting Donghae's hair even while being absorbed in the conversation.
“Tiffany...” Donghae frowns. “Just get him alone some time and ask him about it. He's not gonna get mad at you for being curious.”
“You don't know that,” Tiffany says in a singsong voice.
“Come on,” Donghae whines, “what's the worst thing that could happen?”
Tiffany stops cutting Donghae's hair and pauses to think.
“The destruction of a friendship and the loss of a perfect business partner,” she answers.
“Whatever,” Donghae grumbles. “I'm telling you, best friends don't give up on each other that easily. You just have to work up the guts to ask him.” He grins. “Besides, I bet you're dying to talk to him about that stuff again.”
“I guess that's... kinda true.” Tiffany takes a deep breath and returns to cutting. “Maybe I'll ask him. Just maybe.”
“You will,” Donghae says, relaxing in his seat. “Even if I have to force you to do it.”
“Are you really gonna talk about forcing me into something while I'm holding a pair of scissors?” Tiffany asks, closing the scissors loudly next to Donghae's ear.
“I didn't say anything,” Donghae quickly defends.
“That's what I thought.”
The rest of Donghae's haircut is silent - minus Tiffany's humming. Donghae finds himself staring at her vibrant red hair and wondering how she keeps it so well-maintained. Of course, he knows he'll never know all of her secrets. And he tells himself he'll never need them.
“Almost finished,” Tiffany announces. Donghae stops looking at her hair and looks at her hands. She's massaging something into his hair and he notices a delicious watermelon scent filling the air.
“That smells magical,” he comments. “What is it?”
“It's my own hair serum.” Tiffany halts styling Donghae's hair to place a small bottle in front of him. “I'll let you have a sample for free but if you want more, you have to pay.”
“Let me guess, it's expensive.”
“Of course it is.” Tiffany finishes styling Donghae's hair and grins. “What do you think?”
Donghae leans forward and looks at himself in the mirror. Not only does it smell good, it looks good as well. Tiffany has spiked it slightly but Donghae imagines that flattening it will give him a nice fringe over his forehead.
“It's perfect,” he says. “I'm guessing my haircut is expensive as well?”
“Hmmm...” Tiffany taps a finger on her chin. “I'll let you pay half-price since I've missed you so much.”
Donghae grins. When Tiffany removes the cover around him, he stands and pulls her into a hug that's gladly returned.
“Did I miss something?”
Donghae and Tiffany pull apart to find Sungmin smiling at them.
“I'm paying for my haircut in hugs,” Donghae answers.
“Knowing her, she probably charged you at least a million.”
“Of course I did.” Tiffany smiles. “How was lunch?”
“It was good,” Sungmin replies, “how was cutting Donghae's hair?”
“Just as fun as I remembered.” Tiffany can't help reaching out to touch Donghae's hair again. She's always enjoyed cutting and styling his hair in the past. Donghae thinks it's because he makes a great gossip partner.
“Well,” Donghae starts, “if you'll both excuse me, I have a depressing house to return to.”
Sungmin and Tiffany immediately frown.
“Are things still bad between you two?” Sungmin asks.
“That depends. Can things be bad if we haven't spoken to each other?”
“I think that's a pretty clear indicator that things are bad,” Sungmin says.
“It hasn't been long,” Tiffany comments, “he's probably still really freaked out.”
“I know he is,” Donghae says quietly. “I keep thinking about leaving to let him think but...” Donghae pauses. He looks between his two concerned friends and takes a small breath. “I'm not going to leave him again. Even though it feels like he can't stand me, I'm going to stay because he needs me. I'm not sure exactly what he needs... I don't even think he knows what he needs... but I'll stay until he figures it out.”
Tiffany places a comforting hand on Donghae's shoulder. “You're a good man,” she says. “You know that, right?”
Donghae looks at her and he sees the sincerity in her eyes. He smiles a smile that's laced with sadness. “Not good enough.”
-
When Donghae returns to Hyukjae's house, he's surprised to find that Hyukjae isn't holed up in a room but is instead washing dishes in the sink. Donghae debates between leaving him alone and bugging him and ultimately decides to be bold.
“Sungmin invited me to have dinner with you guys tomorrow night,” he says. “Is that okay with you?”
“It's fine,” Hyukjae responds, not halting his chore, “Sungmin can invite whoever he wants.”
Donghae tries not to cringe at that. He slowly looks through the kitchen, deliberately taking his time in finding something to eat.
“You cut your hair.”
Donghae turns to find Hyukjae staring at him. He stares back.
“I can't believe you looked at me long enough to notice.”
Hyukjae's head snaps back to the dishes. He finishes washing the last one and dries his hands. Then he walks straight to his room where he will undoubtedly stay holed up until tomorrow morning.
“Good job, Donghae,” Donghae compliments himself, “way to open your big mouth and ruin the only moment he's actually looked at you since you made him faint.”
Not feeling very happy with himself, Donghae sits on the couch and broods, suddenly feeling like tomorrow night isn't going to go well at all.
-
On Friday morning, Donghae manages to sleep through Hyukjae's exit early in the morning. When he wakes up, he nuzzles his face into his pillow and inhales. Then he decides that he's definitely going to have to buy more of Tiffany's hair serum when he runs out.
Donghae's morning is relatively calm. It's when afternoon rolls around that he begins to feel anxious. As he showers, dresses, and styles his hair, he wonders if Hyukjae is really okay with his appearance at dinner tonight. He tells himself that if tonight goes poorly, he'll reconsider leaving Hyukjae alone for a while.
When the evening comes, Sungmin arrives to pick Donghae up.
“Nice hair,” he says with a grin. “Are you ready to go?”
“Yeah...” Donghae says, a question on the tip of his tongue.
“Hyukjae always goes straight to the restaurant after work,” Sungmin answers. “He didn't avoid coming home on purpose.”
“Thanks for the info,” Donghae says as if he hadn't been about to ask where Hyukjae is.
Donghae had wanted to drive to the restaurant on his own but Sungmin insisted they go together to keep Donghae from feeling alone. As he rides in Sungmin's car, Donghae can only think about how lucky is to have friends, even after two years of being away from them.
The restaurant gives off a warm glow from the outside. Even though Donghae sort of dreads how awkward it might become, he remains excited to spend some time with his friends.
He enters with Sungmin and is greeted with the sweet smell of Luna's and Sunny's cooking and an upbeat music track playing throughout the restaurant.
“Hey, Donghae! Sungmin!” Donghae turns to see Tiffany waving at them. Hyukjae is sitting beside her and Ryeowook is on the other side of Hyukjae. Donghae and Sungmin approach the table. Sungmin sits next to Ryeowook and Donghae slides in next to him.
Luna and Sunny emerge from the kitchen and receive appreciative noises and claps from their friends. As soon as the table is set and everyone is settled into their seats, they begin to eat.
“I think this will be the first time in weeks that we'll actually have something interesting to talk about,” Luna says, looking straight at Donghae whose mouth is full of chicken.
Donghae looks around to find the whole table looking at him, minus Hyukjae who is focusing on carefully stabbing each bite of food he takes.
“Uh,” Donghae says dumbly, “what do you want me to talk about?”
“Anything,” Luna says. “Really, no matter what you say, I'm sure it'll be more interesting than what we've been talking about for the past few weeks.”
“Tell us about what you've been doing to stay alive for the past two years,” Sunny suggests.
“Thinking about making it back to Hyukjae. And all of you guys.” Donghae's heart sinks at the first answer that comes to mind. He clears his throat and decides to alter the answer slightly before actually speaking. “Well, I ate and slept... and I thought about coming back home to you guys.”
“Awww,” Tiffany coos along with Sunny.
Sungmin takes a pinch of shredded cheese from a bowl in the middle of the table and tosses it on Donghae's plate.
“I didn't think you had enough cheese,” he explains.
Donghae laughs and forks the cheese onto Sungmin's plate. Then he catches Hyukjae's eyes for just a second before Hyukjae looks back to his food.
“Did you work while you were in hiding?” Luna asks.
“Yeah,” Donghae answers. “I can't really talk about everything but... I kept working on the case that was keeping me there so I could get the hell out as soon as possible.”
“Do you still work for the police?” Ryeowook speaks for the first time since dinner has started.
“I do,” Donghae responds. “But they told me to take as much time off as I need so I'm staying away for as long as I can.”
Everyone at the table laughs a little, except for Hyukjae. They continue asking Donghae questions and Donghae asks them questions in return. They fill in the gaps that have been keeping them apart and slowly catch up until it feels perfectly natural to be talking to each other once again. It almost feels as if Donghae had never left, excluding the fact that Hyukjae hasn't said a word all evening. Donghae glances at him occasionally but doesn't say anything to keep from upsetting him.
Ryeowook looks at Hyukjae, then at Donghae, and then he speaks. “You should come by the shop sometime, Donghae. We've gotten a lot of cool pieces recently.”
The table is so quiet that Donghae can hear Hyukjae shift uncomfortably in his seat.
“I think I might do that.” Donghae smiles. “How has business been?”
“Great,” Ryeowook responds with a smile of his own. “Most of our profit these days comes from the online shop but locals and tourists still come in. They mostly like to ogle Hyukjae's artwork but-”
Hyukjae stands abruptly from his chair, startling everyone.
“I have to use the restroom,” he says quietly, heading to the men's bathroom.
Ryeowook makes a move to follow but Donghae stops him.
“This is because of me,” Donghae says. “Let me talk to him.”
Ryeowook nods and relaxes in his seat. Donghae looks to the worried friends around the table. He gives him a small, not very confident smile, and then he walks to the restroom.
“Go away,” Hyukjae says as soon as the door opens. He looks up from the sink to see Donghae standing in the doorway and then looks back down. “I thought it would be obvious that you're the last person I want to see right now.”
“Then it's perfect that I'm here.” Donghae takes a few steps forward. “You can get out whatever you want to say to me and then you'll be able to act normally around your friends again instead of running away from them.”
“I'm not running away.”
“Then what are you doing in here?”
“It's a bathroom, what do you think I'm doing in here?”
“Avoiding your feelings.”
Hyukjae's head snaps up from the sink.
“Is that what you think I'm doing?”
“I know that's what you're doing.”
Hyukjae turns away from the sink to fully face Donghae.
“If you know so much, why don't you tell me what feelings I'm hiding? Honestly, I would love to know.”
Donghae stays silent. He sees so much pain in Hyukjae's eyes that it makes him nearly shiver. He looks away.
“That's what I thought.” Hyukjae takes a step forward, attempting to walk around Donghae and leave, but Donghae extends an arm around Hyukjae's chest to stop him. “Don't touch me.”
Donghae removes his arm but Hyukjae doesn't leave; he waits for Donghae to speak.
“You don't want me to touch you, you don't want me to speak to you, you don't even want me to look at you. Don't I at least deserve an explanation for that?”
Hyukjae turns and looks at Donghae, the pain in his eyes shifting to anger. “Deserve?” he asks. “You think this is about what you deserve?” He takes a shaky breath. “Yes, Donghae you do deserve an explanation. The problem is that I can't give you one. Whenever I'm near you, it feels like someone is squeezing the life out of me, breath by breath, and if I don't leave, I'll have to fight you for my life.”
“Then fight me,” Donghae says softly, sadly. “Hyukjae, do something, do anything. Yell at me, hit me, do whatever you feel like doing. Just don't... don't act like this anymore.”
“I want to yell at you but I don't know what to say.” Hyukjae's tone is just as sad as Donghae's. Both of them remain quiet, looking away from each other.
“Yell at me for... making you worry. For making you cry. For making you faint. Hyukjae, yell at me for all the times I came home past midnight and all the anniversaries and birthdays I had to leave during because of work. Yell at me for being a bad husband to you and for disappearing or-”
“Stop.” Hyukjae only says one word but it's full of tears and it hurts. “If you... if you were a bad husband... if I would have been mad at you for all of those things, it would be a good thing. Because maybe then... maybe I wouldn't have cried so much if I would have hated you. I wouldn't be so upset at you right now because I wouldn't have missed you so fucking much.”
Donghae isn't looking at Hyukjae but he can hear every painstaking sob in between his words. And he can feel the tears suddenly sliding down his own cheek. Hyukjae takes a breath and starts to walk away. He makes it to the door but Donghae runs and blocks it.
“Please,” Donghae pleads, “please just... just talk to me.”
“Let me go,” Hyukjae says quietly.
Donghae looks at Hyukjae's defeated figure. He looks so worn out, tired, sad. Donghae slowly steps aside and he lets Hyukjae leave.
-
Hyukjae briskly walks to the restaurant door. He mutters an apology to his baffled friends before he walks outside. He manages to take ten steps before his arm is caught and he's spun around.
“What's going on?” A concerned Ryeowook asks him.
“Nothing,” he responds. “Leave me alone.”
Hyukjae turns away and starts walking again.
“You know, I keep thinking...” Ryeowook shouts after him. He stops but doesn't turn around. “I keep thinking that... if my dad came back, I wouldn't even know how to be angry at him. I'd just be so happy that he was still alive, I probably wouldn't even question how it was possible.”
“Your dad isn't coming back, Ryeowook,” Hyukjae snaps. He immediately regrets it. He turns to face Ryeowook who is staring back at him, hurt.
“The way you're acting isn't fair,” Ryeowook says. “All of us love you and we just want to help you. We've done nothing but help you since he left. Maybe you should stop being such an asshole.”
Ryeowook walks back to the restaurant after that. Full of self-loathing and feeling like his heart is giving up on him, Hyukjae walks with heavy steps toward his house. When he reaches it, he fumbles with the keys in his shaky hands, failing to unlock the door and eventually dropping the keys to the ground. He follows them, kneeling and covering his face with his hands. He takes deep breaths to keep from crying more but a few tears still manage to escape.
Hyukjae isn't sure how long he stays like that. He only knows that after some time, the keys are picked up and the door is unlocked. He looks up to see Donghae opening the door and looking back at him. When Donghae reaches a hand to him, Hyukjae backs away from it.
“I told you not to touch me,” he says. Donghae is visibly irritated but he obeys Hyukjae's wish and leaves him alone.
Hyukjae manages to stand and makes his way inside. He immediately walks up the stairs and locks himself in his bedroom. Without taking any of his clothes off, he buries himself in the blankets on his bed and forces his mind to shut down.
-
Saturday morning comes and Hyukjae begrudgingly makes his way downstairs. His head hurts and he's pretty sure he has medicine for headache relief is in the downstairs bathroom. He manages to find it and takes a pill, washing it down with a gulp of water. Instantly feeling more awake, he begins his trek back to his room for more sleep. He stops at the bottom of the stairs when he realizes muddy footprints around the doorway. His eyes follow them and land on Donghae's shoes. Gritting his teeth, Hyukjae returns to the bathroom for cleaning supplies.
While he's scrubbing the floor, Donghae wakes up and stumbles sleepily to his side.
“What's going on?” he asks groggily.
“I'm cleaning up your mess,” Hyukjae spits.
“Oh... sorry. Do you need help?”
Hyukjae responds by scrubbing more furiously.
“Right.” Donghae sighs and starts walking back to the couch. “Back to the silent treatment.”
Hyukjae ignores him and continues cleaning.
Donghae sits on the couch with crossed arms. He'd initially felt bad for the mess he'd left but now he's kind of glad that he did something to anger Hyukjae. He turns on the television and increases the volume, hoping it will make Hyukjae even angrier. He's pretty sure it works because Hyukjae stomps all the way up the stairs to his room. Donghae grins and decides that today will be a good day.
-
Hyukjae tries his hardest to go back to sleep but he can't. Donghae is rummaging around downstairs and making so much noise that sleep is impossible. More than the noise, the curiosity of wanting to know what Donghae is doing makes it even harder to sleep. It isn't until Hyukjae smells something very unpleasant that he shoots out of bed and runs downstairs.
Donghae is humming cheerfully as he handles a frying pan on the stove. He stops his humming when he hears a gag coming from behind him. He turns to find Hyukjae charging into the kitchen with a hand covering his mouth and nose.
“Something wrong?” he asks.
“Are you cooking fish?” Hyukjae asks incredulously.
“Yeah,” Donghae says, “do you want some?”
“You know I hate seafood.” Hyukjae is practically growling behind his hand.
“Do you?” Donghae tilts his head. “That must have slipped my mind.” He turns back to the frying pan. “Besides, you said I could do whatever I wanted.”
Hyukjae sees red. He runs forward and snatches the frying pan off of the stove. Followed by the shrieks of Donghae, he walks to the front door and tosses the fish outside. When he walks back into the kitchen and puts the frying pan in the sink, Donghae is simply staring at him.
“That was pretty expensive fish,” Donghae mumbles.
“Then go eat it off the ground.”
Hyukjae turns away and begins to open windows to get rid of the smell. Donghae grins coldly behind his back. When Hyukjae makes a move to go upstairs, Donghae jumps on the first step and stops him.
“What are you doing?” Hyukjae asks slowly but fiercely.
“I'll let you upstairs if you answer a couple of questions for me,” Donghae says calmly, hoping to add to Hyukjae's irritation.
Hyukjae rolls his eyes and turns to make his way to the front door.
“What's up with you and Ryeowook?” Donghae asks. Hyukjae stops and turns around to face him again. “I saw him run after you last night. I guess you two must be really close after working together so much.”
Hyukjae approaches Donghae and stands face to face with him. “What are you asking me?”
“I dunno.” Donghae shrugs. “I guess I just wanted to know if you've slept with him.”
Donghae has no basis for this assumption but he knows that it will anger Hyukjae further. Still, as he thinks about the implications of what he's said, a wave of fear passes through him.
Hyukjae stares, disbelieving. Then his eyebrows furrow and he clenches his teeth. “What would you say if I told you I did? What if I did it in our room, on the bed you used to sleep on?”
Donghae manages to keep his cool despite his quickening heartbeat. “I wouldn't say anything,” he says. “I wouldn't have the right to, would I?”
“No,” Hyukjae agrees, “you wouldn't. Now move.”
Donghae doesn't move, so Hyukjae pushes past him. Angering Hyukjae hadn't quite worked out the way Donghae had expected. Rather than getting Hyukjae to express himself, Donghae has only made himself feel miserable. Just as Hyukjae reaches the top step, Donghae speaks up.
“I still have one more question,” he says. Hyukjae stops. “Why did you hug me back at the restaurant on the day that I came back?”
Hyukjae remembers the moment Donghae is talking about clenches his fist around the stair railing. He turns his body just enough to look at Donghae and with one glance, he sees through Donghae's ruse. He suddenly knows that Donghae has been messing with him but now, Donghae only looks confused. Hyukjae remembers their hug, remembers how it felt like a weight lifting from him and crushing him at the same time.
Donghae looks to Hyukjae expectantly. Hyukjae holds eye contact for only a moment before tearing his eyes away and finishing his trek to his room. Donghae listens to Hyukjae's door as it closes quietly and then he shivers. He looks around, realizing that the wind coming through windows has caused a rapid drop in temperature. Even so, he doesn't want to close them. He doesn't want there to be a single trace of fish in this house. He doesn't want Hyukjae to feel upset anymore.
-
Donghae sits on the front step just outside Hyukjae's front door, watching a stray cat eat the fish Hyukjae had thrown out earlier. His eyes move to his car and he begins to think about all of the places he could go. There are no places that he wants to visit. There are no places he wants to stay. He doesn't know how to leave the place that he's in, so his eyes drift back to the stray cat.
Slow footsteps make their way down the stairs and to the front door. Donghae hears Hyukjae sitting down next to him but he doesn't look.
“Is that a cat?”
“Yeah.”
Silence fills the air after that, save for the breeze in the trees and the small sound of a cat chowing down on fish.
“I never slept with Ryeowook,” Hyukjae says softly. “I know you were just saying that to make me angry but... I thought I should tell you.”
“You didn't have to tell me,” Donghae replies just as softly. “I meant it when I said I didn't have the right to say anything.”
A few more seconds of silence pass until Donghae speaks again.
“I'm sorry I made you angry.”
“It's okay, I know why you did it.”
Donghae turns to Hyukjae who is looking at the ground.
“It's not fair,” Hyukjae says. “It's not fair for you to make me angry like that. You... need to learn to be more patient.”
Donghae smiles sadly at that. “You're right,” he says. “I'm sorry.”
Hyukjae stays quiet, glancing at the stray cat again. Donghae's eyes go to the cat as well. They both stare at it in silence until it has its fill and walks away.
“You know,” Donghae says, “they say a stray cat will stick around after you feed it once.”
The silence between them is short this time.
“Then maybe you should stick around and keep buying expensive fish for it.”
Donghae looks at Hyukjae but Hyukjae doesn't look back. Hyukjae stands up and walks inside without saying another word. Donghae finds himself looking at his car again. He smiles, shakes his head, and then follows Hyukjae inside.
-
It's Sunday morning and Hyukjae is silent again. Donghae takes on the task of cleaning up around the house while Hyukjae locks himself away to work. After yesterday's breakthrough, Donghae thinks that putting up with Hyukjae's mood swings will eventually pay off.
As the clock nears twelve in the afternoon, Hyukjae emerges from his office in a paint-splotched t-shirt that used to be white and a pair of equally splotched jeans. He walks to the kitchen, searching around for something. After several minutes, he stops and approaches Donghae.
“Do you think we should maybe... shop together? I mean, we could save gas, or whatever.”
Donghae is stunned for a moment but quickly gathers his thoughts and agrees. When Hyukjae immediately approaches the door and begins putting his shoes on, Donghae is puzzled.
“You're gonna go out wearing that?” he asks.
Hyukjae looks down at himself and then looks to Donghae and shrugs. “I'm shopping for food, not walking down a red carpet.”
“Fair point.”
Donghae remembers the Hyukjae who would make sure that he looked his best every time he stepped out the door but he doesn't address Hyukjae's fashion choices anymore and follows him outside. Once they're in Hyukjae's car, Donghae makes sure to stay completely silent and look out the window without even thinking about glancing at Hyukjae. He doesn't want to risk screwing up Hyukjae's mood.
When they arrive at the grocery store and step out of the car, Donghae finally looks at Hyukjae who is staring down curiously at his own shirt. Donghae continues to watch as Hyukjae rubs a dried spot of paint on his chest.
“Regretting your choice of clothing?” Donghae jokes.
Hyukjae looks up at him and shakes his head before looking back to the paint.
“I accidentally mixed some colors together on my shirt. They made a nice shade of purple.”
Donghae watches Hyukjae concentrating on the shirt and undoubtedly trying to think of which colors he'd accidentally mixed and what he can use the color for. Unknowingly, Donghae smiles at this Hyukjae, the Hyukjae that finds beauty in everything. When Hyukjae looks at him and immediately looks away and begins walking to the entrance of the grocery store, Donghae's smile fades. He considers the idea that maybe Hyukjae has changed and then, with his head held high, he follows Hyukjae into the store.
Hyukjae gets straight to shopping and Donghae stays out of his way, picking out his own items although he can't seem to help looking in Hyukjae's direction frequently. When he reaches shelves full of sweets, his eyes land on a brand of chocolate cookies that he recognizes as a favorite of Hyukjae's. Pulling the box from the shelf, Donghae makes his way over to Hyukjae and holds the box out to him.
“Do you still like these?”
Hyukjae glances briefly at Donghae before looking at the cookies. “I actually don't know,” he says. “I haven't eaten them in a while.”
Donghae is about to put the box in Hyukjae's shopping basket but the sight of a man approaching them catches his attention. The man is wearing a bright blue shirt and a friendly smile directed towards Hyukjae. As Donghae stares, Hyukjae notices and turns his direction to the man as well.
“Hyukjae,” the man says, “what are you doing here?”
“Buying food,” Hyukjae says simply.
“Oh, right.” The man smiles and looks at Donghae. “Who's your friend?”
Hyukjae glances to Donghae, unsure of how to introduce him. Donghae looks to the man, not trusting his overly friendly smile.
“I'm Hyunwoo,” Donghae says, “I'm Hyukjae's friend.”
When Donghae sees the stunned look on Hyukjae's face, he instantly regrets this decision. When Hyukjae turns and walks away without saying a single word, Donghae regrets his decision even more.
“Hyukjae?” the man calls out, attempting to follow Hyukjae.
Donghae puts a hand on the man's shoulder to stop him. “He's, um, going through some things right now. You should just let him go.”
Donghae leaves the man there and follows Hyukjae, finding him at the checkout counter. Donghae doesn't say anything. He puts his items on the counter and then reaches for his wallet only to find that he hasn't brought it along. He curses himself and then looks at Hyukjae who's having a simple conversation with the cashier.
“Um.” Donghae clears his throat. “Hyukjae. I sort of... forgot my wallet.”
Hyukjae looks at him with a cold, hard stare. He then tosses his entire wallet at Donghae who barely manages to catch it.
“Who's your friend?” the cashier suddenly asks Hyukjae with a smile, oblivious to the tension.
Hyukjae glances from Donghae to the cashier and then back again.
“I don't know.”
As Hyukjae walks away, Donghae is left facing the confused cashier.
“Who are you?” the cashier asks, smile gone.
“A dead man.”
-