Watch Over Me 14/?
[Title] Watch Over Me
[Pairing] Haehyuk
[Genre] Romance/Fluff/Family AU
[Rating] PG
[Summary] Coming to the rescue of Donghae, whose brother died in a car accident with his wife, Hyukjae suddenly finds himself as the nanny of 6 year Kyuhyun and 4 year old Jino.
[Warning] Older Donghae (25) and younger Hyukjae (21).
A/N: I did a thing.
*~*~*~*~*~*
Hyukjae sits on the couch, quietly tapping at the screen of Donghae’s iPad as he searches through various want ads. He frowns every so often as unappealing jobs keep popping up, but he figures he’s not really in a position to be picky. He shakes his head as he realizes that he has simply become spoiled by working for Donghae, and quickly finds himself doubting his decision to find another job only start the whole process once again. Nothing he has found so far has caught his eye or piqued his interest, but he regretfully resigns to the fact that nothing probably would ever come close to the job that he has now, making his decision all the more difficult. The frown lines in his forehead don’t move as he reads ad after ad, mentally striking off position after position.
He’s trying to do what’s best for everyone, and he’s trying to be an adult about the situation, but he looks down at Jino who is currently using his lap as a pillow and sighs as he thinks about how these kids, and this house has become his whole world. He doesn’t want to leave them, but he also can’t help but think of how selfish these feelings are. He feels as if he’s done nothing but progressively make things worse, and even though it’s not the best option for him personally, he feels that everyone would do a whole lot better if he left before he could do anything more to mess up this little family.
His eyes flick over to the clock and he notices that Donghae should be coming back soon, which means he needs to get up to cook dinner, but… he doesn’t want to move when Jino is sleeping so peacefully. He’s been having nightmares and hasn’t been able to sleep by himself for the last week, causing Hyukjae to stay behind later at night to make sure Jino falls asleep before he leaves, but he always ends up in Donghae’s bed when he comes over the next morning.
He frowns once again when he thinks about how both of them had been falling asleep in their breakfast in the mornings, and he can’t help the internal wince he feels when he realizes he could very much be the cause of this new discord that’s been happening. Hyukjae leans down and presses a soft kiss to Jino’s head before saving the information to some of the ads he had found to be at least bearable. He’s caused enough problems for this family already. It’s time to clean up the mess he’s caused.
“Thanks for cooking dinner,” Donghae tells Hyukjae as he walks up behind the other at the sink washing dishes.
“I’ve told you a million times, I don’t need your thanks,” Hyukjae replies, flicking suds into Donghae’s face, who only smiles toothlessly and picks up the soapy dishes to rinse them off.
“I know, I know. You’re also going to say you don’t need my help, but I’m going to ignore that too,” Donghae retorts as he nudges Hyukjae’s hip with his to make room for himself at the sink. Hyukjae just sighs instead of protesting, knowing that it would just be a waste of time to try and argue with Donghae, and hands him a soapy dish to rinse. Donghae can’t keep the smug smile off of his face as he rinses, and Hyukjae catches it out of the corner of his eye, feeling his own lips twitch in response.
They continue to wash and rinse in silence, each preoccupied with their own thoughts and enjoying the momentary stillness of the apartment. The job is finished a lot more quickly with Donghae’s help-a fact Hyukjae begrudgingly admits to Donghae-and they begin to dry and put away the now clean dishes.
Hyukjae goes to put away a small stack of plates in the cabinet, balancing on the balls of his feet in order to reach, when he loses his grip slightly and scrambles to right himself. A curse is caught in his mouth when he feels Donghae’s form envelope him, righting the stack of dishes in his hand and pushing them safely onto the shelf.
“Thanks,” Hyukjae says breathlessly as he turns around to face Donghae, the small moment of fear causing his heart to accelerate in his chest. “That would’ve been really bad,” he chuckles in nervousness.
“You think?” Donghae asks with a raised eyebrow and a smirk in Hyukjae’s direction. “I thought we were already over this clumsy phase of yours.”
“Shut up,” Hyukjae mutters quietly, feeling his face warm as he playfully slaps Donghae on his chest. The other only chuckles, not even flinching at the attack and keeping his arms on either side of Hyukjae. Hyukjae notices a beat too late and the nerves return to him full force as he takes in the position they are currently in.
“Sorry,” Donghae tries quietly, but the grin on his face is the complete opposite of apologetic.
“Jerk,” Hyukjae mumbles shakily as he brings his hand up to slap at Donghae’s chest in a poor attempt to maintain the casual air and keep his mind off the realization of just how close he and Donghae are, and how fast his heart is beating, and how Donghae’s cologne is clinging to his skin…
Hyukjae can’t help the stuttering of his breath, and it’s so embarrassingly loud in his own ears, he’s sure that Donghae can hear it. He can’t bring himself to look back up and meet Donghae’s eyes, too mortified at the thoughts that are turning in his mind and absolutely certain that Donghae will be able to see the desire painted on his face if he does.
He places his hands flat on Donghae’s chest, wanting to push him away so that he can breathe and fill his lungs with air that is not so saturated with the other’s scent in the hopes that it will clear his rapidly fogging mind, but the message gets lost on the way to his limbs and he ends up just lightly pressing his hands into the other. He draws a blank on what to do next and he thinks he starts shaking with how much this is affecting him. He nearly works up the courage to push the other far away enough for him to run when he feels Donghae’s warm palms encircle his wrists.
The small gasp that escapes Hyukjae’s lips is simultaneously soft and loud, and he feels Donghae’s hands tighten on his as they gently remove his hands from his chest and slowly moves them to their sides. The movement brings the two closer than before and Hyukjae can feel every exhalation of breath from the other wash over his face.
He tries to convince himself that this is just another one of Donghae’s attempts to fluster him and get up under his skin. He should be used to the other’s flirting by now, or at least he should try to act like he is to disguise the how much this is actually affecting him, but he makes the grave mistake of looking up at the other's face and he notices that he is lacking that playful gleam in his eyes, or the cheeky smirk he usually wears. Hyukjae swallows thickly as Donghae’s gaze meets his and he feels the look heating him inside and out.
He’s at a complete loss for words and he painfully waits for Donghae to say something, whether to shatter this moment or propel it because he’s knows that he can’t accomplish anything on his own, not with with the way it feels like his brain is overheating from the smolder Donghae is giving him. He watches the other as he watches him, his gaze flicking everywhere on his face, finally finding a spot to rest on the lower half of his face. All the heat in Hyukjae’s face gathers to that point and his lips drop open in an inhalation of breath that makes them both dizzy.
“Hyukjae...” His name is spoken so low, Hyukjae can feel the vibrations in his bones, and his knees get weak as Donghae moves even closer to him than before, eyes still on the bottom of his face. Hyukjae tries to think through the fog that surrounds his mind, but he’d be better off lighting a match in a wet cave for all that it’s accomplishing.
He feels Donghae closing the small gap between them before he actually sees it, and his hands close tightly in a fist and he desperately wishes that his hands were free so that he can grab onto Donghae instead. He quickly shuts his eyes as Donghae’s top lip gently brushes against his and he feels so light and weak he fears he may pass out before he actually cranks out enough brain power to make himself return the gesture.
“Hyung!” Kyuhyun’s voice comes barreling around the corner, the shock causing Hyukjae’s head to crash into the cabinet behind him in an attempt to break away from Donghae.
“Hyukkie hyung, will you come play with me? Jino keeps eating the controller and I can’t shoot alien spaceships and and destroy the enemy fleet to save the galaxy with his slobber... What are you doing?” Kyuhyun pauses his rant to question the two on the floor.
Hyukjae looks up miserably, hands rubbing the back of his head and lips in a slight pout while his face burns red like a beacon. The color on Donghae’s face answers his call, but whether it’s from actual embarrassment or failing to hold in his laughter at Hyukjae, the other has no idea.
“Hyukkie just had a little accident,” Donghae sniggers as he tries to run his fingers over the afflicted area in between Hyukjae’s attempts to swat at him.
“I’m fine,” he huffs indignantly, turning to scowl in Donghae’s general direction, but still unable to meet his eyes. The laughter that rings out makes his ears burn hotter and he pushes the other over in a petty fit of anger at his misfortune. His satisfaction is short-lived when Donghae just rolls overs and guffaws harder.
“C-come on Kyu, I’ll play with you,” Hyukjae scrambles to his feet, throwing one last scornful look at the ball of giggles on the floor as he marches out of the kitchen.
“Is hyung gonna be okay?” Kyuhyun asks as he follows Hyukjae out of the kitchen.
“I hope not,” Hyukjae responds in a voice loud enough for the other to hear.
Hyukjae is attempting to sneak out after barely managing to avoid Donghae for the rest of the night. Kyuhyun and Jino are finally asleep for the night, and therefore unable to act as buffers between him and Donghae and he desperately wants to make it out before the other finds out.
He quickly shuffles down the hallway and pauses at every creak he makes before moving on silently to the front door. His phone suddenly vibrates in the pocket of his sweatshirt and he nearly jumps a foot in the air at the sensation. Cursing silently to himself, he pulls out his cell and quickly covers the light that comes on as he unlocks the screen. He scans the message from Ryeowook telling him that he’s outside waiting for him and shoves the device back into his pocket.
He bends down to lace up his gym shoes and, with deliberate slowness, reaches out to unlocks the front door. He finally gets the door open enough for his slim body to make it through and his silent chant of almost there is interrupted by a hand reaching past his face to to firmly shut the door at a striking speed. Before he can fully formulate the yelp of surprise lodged in his throat, he is spun around and face-to-face to a slightly smug looking Donghae.
“Hyukkie,” Donghae’s voice is gently chastising, “are you trying to leave without even telling me goodnight?”
“N-no, I mean, I was just-Wookie is waiting for me a-and I don’t want to keep him waiting, and stuff, you know?”
“Did that sound convincing to you? ‘Cause I’m not so sure if I’m buying it,” Donghae gives him a skeptical look and Hyukjae can barely my eye contact without feeling his face flame all over again.
It suddenly strikes him again how utterly unfair it is that he can be so easily reduced to an incoherent mess with nothing more than a look and infinitely composed Donghae can just prance around like the other has absolutely no effect on him at all. He maintains a calm, even playful, demeanor after they, not so long ago, were five seconds from crossing some serious lines. He still manages to maintain that ridiculously oblivious air and act as if everything is okay, and not causing Hyukjae major issues with his sanity.
“You really suck, you know that?” Hyukjae huffs at a surprised Donghae.
“Wha-”
“All this teasing you do- just when are you going to stop messing around with me?” His eyes become hard as all of his frustration builds up and spills out. “It’s not fair that you get to go around all unaffected as I’m spiraling out of control all on my own! I don’t even know what goes through your head half of the time, and all of a sudden you go and pull a stunt like that one in the kitchen can catch me totally off guard!
“I mean, what am I supposed to do with that? And, clearly I’m the only one worked up over it, but still, even if it doesn’t mean anything to you, that’s not always the case for me and I can only be pushed so far!” Hyukjae’s chest rises and falls swiftly as he vents, flustered from more than their close proximity now. He feels close to his breaking point, and he’s afraid of what will happen when he does, especially if he’s falling to pieces on his own.
But he can feel his momentary burst of courage shrinking away as Donghae continues to stare at him with an unreadable expression on his face. Hyukjae’s uncertainty comes up quickly to replace it, and it makes Hyukjae feel strangely vulnerable, as if he had just unintentionally laid himself bare for Donghae, and he’s not sure he wants to hear what the other has to say in reaction to his little outburst.
He finally looks away from the other, wanting to withdraw into himself and run, but unable to do so since Donghae still has him pinned against the door. He’s afraid to comment on it, not sure of what his mouth will choose to spout out, and he’s sure he just made everything between the two irreparably awkward.
“Hyukjae,” Donghae finally voices, sounding more serious than Hyukjae is used to. Hyukjae flinches away from the sound of his voice and closes his eyes, feeling a sting somewhere deep in his gut as he fearfully waits for Donghae to say the words that will put a stop to all the feelings and hopes that had sprung up within Hyukjae without his consent.
“I have to go,” Hyukjae mutters, shrugging to the side to get out of the other’s grasp.
“Wait, Hyukjae. We really should talk about this,” Donghae protests, but Hyukjae shakes his head.
“I’m sorry, I can’t do this right now, Donghae. I just can’t.” Hyukjae turns around and goes for the door handle. In his eagerness to escape, he misses the hurt look on Donghae’s face as he watches the other go without looking back.
Hyukjae nearly runs through the lobby, barely acknowledging Shindong as the other bids him goodnight, and out into Ryeowook’s waiting car.
“What took you so long?” Ryeowook questions as the other buckles himself in.
“Nothing,” Hyukjae answers stiffly. Ryeowook glances at the other after hearing the tone of his voice, but before he can voice his concern Hyukjae quickly rebuffs him with a ‘I really don’t want to talk about it’.
Ryeowook stares at him with a small frown on his face, before sighing and respecting the other’s wishes. He puts the car into gear and starts the drive home, but with every mile they travel Hyukjae feels like it’s getting farther, not closer.
Hyukjae groans aloud as his phone vibrates on the table beside him, forcing him to pause his 8 hour Disney movie binge and roll over so he can slap at the phone until it falls over on the floor beside him. He glares holes into the device; not only has it interrupted his weekend of solitude, it also wants him to move from the very impressive and warm indent he has left in the couch.
He makes a weak effort to stretch his arm out for the phone, but it does nothing but more than make his arm bend in an awkward direction and cause a concerning sound emit from his shoulder. Sighing heavily, he slides off of the couch and rolls over feebly until he’s close enough to pick the phone up. He glances at the screen and frowns even deeper at the unregistered number that flashes across the screen.
Immediately fearing the worst-what if it’s something wrong with the kids, or his dad, or Donghae?- he quickly answers the call before it can go to voicemail.
“Yes, hello?” he answers, his voice a bit higher as he tries to reign in his mild panic.
“Lee Hyukjae.” An apathetic voice answers.
“Yes?” Hyukjae struggles to place the familiar voice. “This is he. May I ask who is calling?”
“This is Kim Kibum. I would say that I apologize for disturbing you at home, but that would be a lie.” Hyukjae goes from surprised to pissed in record time, and is instantly on guard.
“What could you possibly want? And how did you even get my number, you prick?”
“Trust me when I say you have very little that I want, and that this would not be happening except under the most dire of circumstances. This is, however, a conversation that I feel should be had in person. I will send you an address to a bar not far from you. Meet me there in 45 minutes.”
“Are you kidding me?,” Hyukjae scoffs with a sneer. “You must be completely out of the very little mind that I believe you possess if you think for even a nano-second I would want to go willingly anywhere with you.”
“Look at that, it turns out we do have one thing in common,” Kibum laughs once without humor. “Regardless, it would be in your best interest to play along.”
“My best interest? Do you even hear yourself? Give me one good reason why I should do anything besides hang up and block your number?” Hyukjae challenged hotly.
“It’s about Donghae.”
Hyukjae sits across from Kibum at their small booth, tapping his foot anxiously as the other leisurely sips at his drink. Hyukjae grows more irate as the other continues to ignore him entirely, even though he sat down at the booth nearly 15 minutes ago.
“Look, we both clearly have other places we would rather be. How about you stop wasting my time and get to the point,” Hyukjae snaps when the other pulls out the dessert menu for the third time.
Kibum makes a show of slowly closing the menu and placing it back in the holder, even going to great lengths to make sure it is perfectly aligned with the other menus behind it. Hyukjae unsuccessfully tries not to roll his eyes, and scoffs as the other finally looks up at him. The barely concealed smirk makes Hyukjae believe that the other is making it his business to push Hyukjae as far to the edge as he can.
“Yes, I suppose I should speed things up. I’m sure you have tons of video games and manga left unattended,” Kibum says with mock serious.
“What I do in my free time is none of your damn business,” Hyukjae growls, face red at how close to the mark Kibum was, but not wanting to admit it. He didn’t come here for this jerk to make him feel bad about how he chosen to live his life for the past few days. “Now hurry it up with this ‘oh so important’ information before I leave you here with a wet shirt and a sore crotch.”
“There’s no need for all of that, Hyukjae-sshi. And you are right, surprisingly. What you choose to do is your business. However, when it spills over and includes my best friend, I’m definitely going to have something to say about it,” Kibum says, looking slightly ticked off.
“What are you going on about? Since when do you even have friends?” Hyukjae asks. He ignores the deep frown that appears on Kibum’s face, childishly reveling in the loss of words of the other.
“Clearly, I’m talking about Donghae, halfwit.” Hyukjae recoils in shock and mild disgust when he processes Kibum’s words.
“Clearly, Donghae has low standards for friends.”
“Funny, I was thinking the same thing regarding his employees.”
“...Aren’t you technically his employee too, Mr. Assistant?” Hyukjae asks smugly.
“My point is… Whatever little stunt you pulled the other day is causing major issues for Donghae, and I’m here to put a stop to whatever little game it is you’re playing. I knew this whole set-up was doomed from the start.”
“I didn’t pull anything on Donghae, what are you talking about?” Hyukjae asked, confusing winning out over his aggravation at the moment.
“He didn’t go into any details, but whatever you did, or said, has seriously messed him up. He hasn’t come out of his apartment in the last few days, and he barely said one word when I went over there. Whatever you did, you need to go fix it.”
“Look, Mr. BFF, whatever happened between Donghae and I is none of your business and you have no right to meddle.”
“This is not the time for him to be stressing over some petty grievance that you two have. He has a huge contract he’s working on that could make or break his career, and he hasn’t written a word in days. Does your small brain not comprehend how you could potentially ruin his life?”
“You’re exaggerating. Maybe he’s just in a slump. Why do you automatically assume it has anything to do with me?”
“Don’t act like it wasn’t your plan to have him wrapped around your finger from the beginning. I knew it the first time I saw you, but Donghae’s so trusting of everyone he couldn’t see you for what you really are.”
“Just because you’re a superficial prick, doesn’t mean the rest of the world operates that way. You’re only proving what a poor excuse of a person you are and how Donghae deserves to be around better people.”
“And you’re proving what I knew about you all along; that you were just taking advantage of Donghae, and using his kids to do it. You’re lower than low.” Kibum is almost seething.
“I am not taking advantage of him, and I never was!”
“Then care to explain what this?” Kibum pulls out an Ipad and turns it on.Hyukjae belatedly realizes why it looks familiar.
“Why do you have Donghae’s-” his words are cut off as Kibum shoves the device in front of his face. Hyukjae’s eyes readjusted so that he could make sense of what Kibum was showing him. They widen when he realizes he’s looking at the browser history, showing a very detailed list of Hyukjae’s job search.
“Damnit,” is all he can mutter as he runs a hand down his face. “Donghae’s seen this, hasn’t he?” he asks rhetorically. “I know how this looks, but I can explain.” Hyukjae tries.
“Look, I’m not interested in your explanations. As far as I’m concerned, you’re showing your true colors, and everyone has a chance to see you for what you are. The only thing I care about is Donghae, and how much this has upset him. There’s not a lot of people in his life that he’s really close to, and you’ve set him back in a way I haven’t seen since his brother died.” That makes Hyukjae lower his head in shame.
“I could care less whether you’re around or not, but unfortunately, you mean something to Donghae and the kids, so I don’t care what you do, but you had better fix this,” Kibum says as he puts the iPad away, and pulls out his wallet. He leaves enough money for the drink he ordered, and gets up to leave.
“And, that’s not a suggestion.”
Hyukjae slowly opens the door to his apartment, leaning the door after he closes it to ponder how his life has managed to become the mess that it is.
“Hyukjae, is that you?” He hears Ryeowook call from down that hall.
“Yeah, it’s me Wook,” he answers as he shrugs off the door.
“Could you come here for a minute you have a… visitor waiting for you.”
“What?” Hyukjae questions more to himself than anything as he makes his way towards the sound of Ryeowook’s voice. “Who is it?”
He walks into the dining room and stops dead in his tracks.
“What are you doing here?!”
Previous .:|:. Next
[Pairing] Haehyuk
[Genre] Romance/Fluff/Family AU
[Rating] PG
[Summary] Coming to the rescue of Donghae, whose brother died in a car accident with his wife, Hyukjae suddenly finds himself as the nanny of 6 year Kyuhyun and 4 year old Jino.
[Warning] Older Donghae (25) and younger Hyukjae (21).
A/N: I did a thing.
*~*~*~*~*~*
Hyukjae sits on the couch, quietly tapping at the screen of Donghae’s iPad as he searches through various want ads. He frowns every so often as unappealing jobs keep popping up, but he figures he’s not really in a position to be picky. He shakes his head as he realizes that he has simply become spoiled by working for Donghae, and quickly finds himself doubting his decision to find another job only start the whole process once again. Nothing he has found so far has caught his eye or piqued his interest, but he regretfully resigns to the fact that nothing probably would ever come close to the job that he has now, making his decision all the more difficult. The frown lines in his forehead don’t move as he reads ad after ad, mentally striking off position after position.
He’s trying to do what’s best for everyone, and he’s trying to be an adult about the situation, but he looks down at Jino who is currently using his lap as a pillow and sighs as he thinks about how these kids, and this house has become his whole world. He doesn’t want to leave them, but he also can’t help but think of how selfish these feelings are. He feels as if he’s done nothing but progressively make things worse, and even though it’s not the best option for him personally, he feels that everyone would do a whole lot better if he left before he could do anything more to mess up this little family.
His eyes flick over to the clock and he notices that Donghae should be coming back soon, which means he needs to get up to cook dinner, but… he doesn’t want to move when Jino is sleeping so peacefully. He’s been having nightmares and hasn’t been able to sleep by himself for the last week, causing Hyukjae to stay behind later at night to make sure Jino falls asleep before he leaves, but he always ends up in Donghae’s bed when he comes over the next morning.
He frowns once again when he thinks about how both of them had been falling asleep in their breakfast in the mornings, and he can’t help the internal wince he feels when he realizes he could very much be the cause of this new discord that’s been happening. Hyukjae leans down and presses a soft kiss to Jino’s head before saving the information to some of the ads he had found to be at least bearable. He’s caused enough problems for this family already. It’s time to clean up the mess he’s caused.
“Thanks for cooking dinner,” Donghae tells Hyukjae as he walks up behind the other at the sink washing dishes.
“I’ve told you a million times, I don’t need your thanks,” Hyukjae replies, flicking suds into Donghae’s face, who only smiles toothlessly and picks up the soapy dishes to rinse them off.
“I know, I know. You’re also going to say you don’t need my help, but I’m going to ignore that too,” Donghae retorts as he nudges Hyukjae’s hip with his to make room for himself at the sink. Hyukjae just sighs instead of protesting, knowing that it would just be a waste of time to try and argue with Donghae, and hands him a soapy dish to rinse. Donghae can’t keep the smug smile off of his face as he rinses, and Hyukjae catches it out of the corner of his eye, feeling his own lips twitch in response.
They continue to wash and rinse in silence, each preoccupied with their own thoughts and enjoying the momentary stillness of the apartment. The job is finished a lot more quickly with Donghae’s help-a fact Hyukjae begrudgingly admits to Donghae-and they begin to dry and put away the now clean dishes.
Hyukjae goes to put away a small stack of plates in the cabinet, balancing on the balls of his feet in order to reach, when he loses his grip slightly and scrambles to right himself. A curse is caught in his mouth when he feels Donghae’s form envelope him, righting the stack of dishes in his hand and pushing them safely onto the shelf.
“Thanks,” Hyukjae says breathlessly as he turns around to face Donghae, the small moment of fear causing his heart to accelerate in his chest. “That would’ve been really bad,” he chuckles in nervousness.
“You think?” Donghae asks with a raised eyebrow and a smirk in Hyukjae’s direction. “I thought we were already over this clumsy phase of yours.”
“Shut up,” Hyukjae mutters quietly, feeling his face warm as he playfully slaps Donghae on his chest. The other only chuckles, not even flinching at the attack and keeping his arms on either side of Hyukjae. Hyukjae notices a beat too late and the nerves return to him full force as he takes in the position they are currently in.
“Sorry,” Donghae tries quietly, but the grin on his face is the complete opposite of apologetic.
“Jerk,” Hyukjae mumbles shakily as he brings his hand up to slap at Donghae’s chest in a poor attempt to maintain the casual air and keep his mind off the realization of just how close he and Donghae are, and how fast his heart is beating, and how Donghae’s cologne is clinging to his skin…
Hyukjae can’t help the stuttering of his breath, and it’s so embarrassingly loud in his own ears, he’s sure that Donghae can hear it. He can’t bring himself to look back up and meet Donghae’s eyes, too mortified at the thoughts that are turning in his mind and absolutely certain that Donghae will be able to see the desire painted on his face if he does.
He places his hands flat on Donghae’s chest, wanting to push him away so that he can breathe and fill his lungs with air that is not so saturated with the other’s scent in the hopes that it will clear his rapidly fogging mind, but the message gets lost on the way to his limbs and he ends up just lightly pressing his hands into the other. He draws a blank on what to do next and he thinks he starts shaking with how much this is affecting him. He nearly works up the courage to push the other far away enough for him to run when he feels Donghae’s warm palms encircle his wrists.
The small gasp that escapes Hyukjae’s lips is simultaneously soft and loud, and he feels Donghae’s hands tighten on his as they gently remove his hands from his chest and slowly moves them to their sides. The movement brings the two closer than before and Hyukjae can feel every exhalation of breath from the other wash over his face.
He tries to convince himself that this is just another one of Donghae’s attempts to fluster him and get up under his skin. He should be used to the other’s flirting by now, or at least he should try to act like he is to disguise the how much this is actually affecting him, but he makes the grave mistake of looking up at the other's face and he notices that he is lacking that playful gleam in his eyes, or the cheeky smirk he usually wears. Hyukjae swallows thickly as Donghae’s gaze meets his and he feels the look heating him inside and out.
He’s at a complete loss for words and he painfully waits for Donghae to say something, whether to shatter this moment or propel it because he’s knows that he can’t accomplish anything on his own, not with with the way it feels like his brain is overheating from the smolder Donghae is giving him. He watches the other as he watches him, his gaze flicking everywhere on his face, finally finding a spot to rest on the lower half of his face. All the heat in Hyukjae’s face gathers to that point and his lips drop open in an inhalation of breath that makes them both dizzy.
“Hyukjae...” His name is spoken so low, Hyukjae can feel the vibrations in his bones, and his knees get weak as Donghae moves even closer to him than before, eyes still on the bottom of his face. Hyukjae tries to think through the fog that surrounds his mind, but he’d be better off lighting a match in a wet cave for all that it’s accomplishing.
He feels Donghae closing the small gap between them before he actually sees it, and his hands close tightly in a fist and he desperately wishes that his hands were free so that he can grab onto Donghae instead. He quickly shuts his eyes as Donghae’s top lip gently brushes against his and he feels so light and weak he fears he may pass out before he actually cranks out enough brain power to make himself return the gesture.
“Hyung!” Kyuhyun’s voice comes barreling around the corner, the shock causing Hyukjae’s head to crash into the cabinet behind him in an attempt to break away from Donghae.
“Hyukkie hyung, will you come play with me? Jino keeps eating the controller and I can’t shoot alien spaceships and and destroy the enemy fleet to save the galaxy with his slobber... What are you doing?” Kyuhyun pauses his rant to question the two on the floor.
Hyukjae looks up miserably, hands rubbing the back of his head and lips in a slight pout while his face burns red like a beacon. The color on Donghae’s face answers his call, but whether it’s from actual embarrassment or failing to hold in his laughter at Hyukjae, the other has no idea.
“Hyukkie just had a little accident,” Donghae sniggers as he tries to run his fingers over the afflicted area in between Hyukjae’s attempts to swat at him.
“I’m fine,” he huffs indignantly, turning to scowl in Donghae’s general direction, but still unable to meet his eyes. The laughter that rings out makes his ears burn hotter and he pushes the other over in a petty fit of anger at his misfortune. His satisfaction is short-lived when Donghae just rolls overs and guffaws harder.
“C-come on Kyu, I’ll play with you,” Hyukjae scrambles to his feet, throwing one last scornful look at the ball of giggles on the floor as he marches out of the kitchen.
“Is hyung gonna be okay?” Kyuhyun asks as he follows Hyukjae out of the kitchen.
“I hope not,” Hyukjae responds in a voice loud enough for the other to hear.
Hyukjae is attempting to sneak out after barely managing to avoid Donghae for the rest of the night. Kyuhyun and Jino are finally asleep for the night, and therefore unable to act as buffers between him and Donghae and he desperately wants to make it out before the other finds out.
He quickly shuffles down the hallway and pauses at every creak he makes before moving on silently to the front door. His phone suddenly vibrates in the pocket of his sweatshirt and he nearly jumps a foot in the air at the sensation. Cursing silently to himself, he pulls out his cell and quickly covers the light that comes on as he unlocks the screen. He scans the message from Ryeowook telling him that he’s outside waiting for him and shoves the device back into his pocket.
He bends down to lace up his gym shoes and, with deliberate slowness, reaches out to unlocks the front door. He finally gets the door open enough for his slim body to make it through and his silent chant of almost there is interrupted by a hand reaching past his face to to firmly shut the door at a striking speed. Before he can fully formulate the yelp of surprise lodged in his throat, he is spun around and face-to-face to a slightly smug looking Donghae.
“Hyukkie,” Donghae’s voice is gently chastising, “are you trying to leave without even telling me goodnight?”
“N-no, I mean, I was just-Wookie is waiting for me a-and I don’t want to keep him waiting, and stuff, you know?”
“Did that sound convincing to you? ‘Cause I’m not so sure if I’m buying it,” Donghae gives him a skeptical look and Hyukjae can barely my eye contact without feeling his face flame all over again.
It suddenly strikes him again how utterly unfair it is that he can be so easily reduced to an incoherent mess with nothing more than a look and infinitely composed Donghae can just prance around like the other has absolutely no effect on him at all. He maintains a calm, even playful, demeanor after they, not so long ago, were five seconds from crossing some serious lines. He still manages to maintain that ridiculously oblivious air and act as if everything is okay, and not causing Hyukjae major issues with his sanity.
“You really suck, you know that?” Hyukjae huffs at a surprised Donghae.
“Wha-”
“All this teasing you do- just when are you going to stop messing around with me?” His eyes become hard as all of his frustration builds up and spills out. “It’s not fair that you get to go around all unaffected as I’m spiraling out of control all on my own! I don’t even know what goes through your head half of the time, and all of a sudden you go and pull a stunt like that one in the kitchen can catch me totally off guard!
“I mean, what am I supposed to do with that? And, clearly I’m the only one worked up over it, but still, even if it doesn’t mean anything to you, that’s not always the case for me and I can only be pushed so far!” Hyukjae’s chest rises and falls swiftly as he vents, flustered from more than their close proximity now. He feels close to his breaking point, and he’s afraid of what will happen when he does, especially if he’s falling to pieces on his own.
But he can feel his momentary burst of courage shrinking away as Donghae continues to stare at him with an unreadable expression on his face. Hyukjae’s uncertainty comes up quickly to replace it, and it makes Hyukjae feel strangely vulnerable, as if he had just unintentionally laid himself bare for Donghae, and he’s not sure he wants to hear what the other has to say in reaction to his little outburst.
He finally looks away from the other, wanting to withdraw into himself and run, but unable to do so since Donghae still has him pinned against the door. He’s afraid to comment on it, not sure of what his mouth will choose to spout out, and he’s sure he just made everything between the two irreparably awkward.
“Hyukjae,” Donghae finally voices, sounding more serious than Hyukjae is used to. Hyukjae flinches away from the sound of his voice and closes his eyes, feeling a sting somewhere deep in his gut as he fearfully waits for Donghae to say the words that will put a stop to all the feelings and hopes that had sprung up within Hyukjae without his consent.
“I have to go,” Hyukjae mutters, shrugging to the side to get out of the other’s grasp.
“Wait, Hyukjae. We really should talk about this,” Donghae protests, but Hyukjae shakes his head.
“I’m sorry, I can’t do this right now, Donghae. I just can’t.” Hyukjae turns around and goes for the door handle. In his eagerness to escape, he misses the hurt look on Donghae’s face as he watches the other go without looking back.
Hyukjae nearly runs through the lobby, barely acknowledging Shindong as the other bids him goodnight, and out into Ryeowook’s waiting car.
“What took you so long?” Ryeowook questions as the other buckles himself in.
“Nothing,” Hyukjae answers stiffly. Ryeowook glances at the other after hearing the tone of his voice, but before he can voice his concern Hyukjae quickly rebuffs him with a ‘I really don’t want to talk about it’.
Ryeowook stares at him with a small frown on his face, before sighing and respecting the other’s wishes. He puts the car into gear and starts the drive home, but with every mile they travel Hyukjae feels like it’s getting farther, not closer.
Hyukjae groans aloud as his phone vibrates on the table beside him, forcing him to pause his 8 hour Disney movie binge and roll over so he can slap at the phone until it falls over on the floor beside him. He glares holes into the device; not only has it interrupted his weekend of solitude, it also wants him to move from the very impressive and warm indent he has left in the couch.
He makes a weak effort to stretch his arm out for the phone, but it does nothing but more than make his arm bend in an awkward direction and cause a concerning sound emit from his shoulder. Sighing heavily, he slides off of the couch and rolls over feebly until he’s close enough to pick the phone up. He glances at the screen and frowns even deeper at the unregistered number that flashes across the screen.
Immediately fearing the worst-what if it’s something wrong with the kids, or his dad, or Donghae?- he quickly answers the call before it can go to voicemail.
“Yes, hello?” he answers, his voice a bit higher as he tries to reign in his mild panic.
“Lee Hyukjae.” An apathetic voice answers.
“Yes?” Hyukjae struggles to place the familiar voice. “This is he. May I ask who is calling?”
“This is Kim Kibum. I would say that I apologize for disturbing you at home, but that would be a lie.” Hyukjae goes from surprised to pissed in record time, and is instantly on guard.
“What could you possibly want? And how did you even get my number, you prick?”
“Trust me when I say you have very little that I want, and that this would not be happening except under the most dire of circumstances. This is, however, a conversation that I feel should be had in person. I will send you an address to a bar not far from you. Meet me there in 45 minutes.”
“Are you kidding me?,” Hyukjae scoffs with a sneer. “You must be completely out of the very little mind that I believe you possess if you think for even a nano-second I would want to go willingly anywhere with you.”
“Look at that, it turns out we do have one thing in common,” Kibum laughs once without humor. “Regardless, it would be in your best interest to play along.”
“My best interest? Do you even hear yourself? Give me one good reason why I should do anything besides hang up and block your number?” Hyukjae challenged hotly.
“It’s about Donghae.”
Hyukjae sits across from Kibum at their small booth, tapping his foot anxiously as the other leisurely sips at his drink. Hyukjae grows more irate as the other continues to ignore him entirely, even though he sat down at the booth nearly 15 minutes ago.
“Look, we both clearly have other places we would rather be. How about you stop wasting my time and get to the point,” Hyukjae snaps when the other pulls out the dessert menu for the third time.
Kibum makes a show of slowly closing the menu and placing it back in the holder, even going to great lengths to make sure it is perfectly aligned with the other menus behind it. Hyukjae unsuccessfully tries not to roll his eyes, and scoffs as the other finally looks up at him. The barely concealed smirk makes Hyukjae believe that the other is making it his business to push Hyukjae as far to the edge as he can.
“Yes, I suppose I should speed things up. I’m sure you have tons of video games and manga left unattended,” Kibum says with mock serious.
“What I do in my free time is none of your damn business,” Hyukjae growls, face red at how close to the mark Kibum was, but not wanting to admit it. He didn’t come here for this jerk to make him feel bad about how he chosen to live his life for the past few days. “Now hurry it up with this ‘oh so important’ information before I leave you here with a wet shirt and a sore crotch.”
“There’s no need for all of that, Hyukjae-sshi. And you are right, surprisingly. What you choose to do is your business. However, when it spills over and includes my best friend, I’m definitely going to have something to say about it,” Kibum says, looking slightly ticked off.
“What are you going on about? Since when do you even have friends?” Hyukjae asks. He ignores the deep frown that appears on Kibum’s face, childishly reveling in the loss of words of the other.
“Clearly, I’m talking about Donghae, halfwit.” Hyukjae recoils in shock and mild disgust when he processes Kibum’s words.
“Clearly, Donghae has low standards for friends.”
“Funny, I was thinking the same thing regarding his employees.”
“...Aren’t you technically his employee too, Mr. Assistant?” Hyukjae asks smugly.
“My point is… Whatever little stunt you pulled the other day is causing major issues for Donghae, and I’m here to put a stop to whatever little game it is you’re playing. I knew this whole set-up was doomed from the start.”
“I didn’t pull anything on Donghae, what are you talking about?” Hyukjae asked, confusing winning out over his aggravation at the moment.
“He didn’t go into any details, but whatever you did, or said, has seriously messed him up. He hasn’t come out of his apartment in the last few days, and he barely said one word when I went over there. Whatever you did, you need to go fix it.”
“Look, Mr. BFF, whatever happened between Donghae and I is none of your business and you have no right to meddle.”
“This is not the time for him to be stressing over some petty grievance that you two have. He has a huge contract he’s working on that could make or break his career, and he hasn’t written a word in days. Does your small brain not comprehend how you could potentially ruin his life?”
“You’re exaggerating. Maybe he’s just in a slump. Why do you automatically assume it has anything to do with me?”
“Don’t act like it wasn’t your plan to have him wrapped around your finger from the beginning. I knew it the first time I saw you, but Donghae’s so trusting of everyone he couldn’t see you for what you really are.”
“Just because you’re a superficial prick, doesn’t mean the rest of the world operates that way. You’re only proving what a poor excuse of a person you are and how Donghae deserves to be around better people.”
“And you’re proving what I knew about you all along; that you were just taking advantage of Donghae, and using his kids to do it. You’re lower than low.” Kibum is almost seething.
“I am not taking advantage of him, and I never was!”
“Then care to explain what this?” Kibum pulls out an Ipad and turns it on.Hyukjae belatedly realizes why it looks familiar.
“Why do you have Donghae’s-” his words are cut off as Kibum shoves the device in front of his face. Hyukjae’s eyes readjusted so that he could make sense of what Kibum was showing him. They widen when he realizes he’s looking at the browser history, showing a very detailed list of Hyukjae’s job search.
“Damnit,” is all he can mutter as he runs a hand down his face. “Donghae’s seen this, hasn’t he?” he asks rhetorically. “I know how this looks, but I can explain.” Hyukjae tries.
“Look, I’m not interested in your explanations. As far as I’m concerned, you’re showing your true colors, and everyone has a chance to see you for what you are. The only thing I care about is Donghae, and how much this has upset him. There’s not a lot of people in his life that he’s really close to, and you’ve set him back in a way I haven’t seen since his brother died.” That makes Hyukjae lower his head in shame.
“I could care less whether you’re around or not, but unfortunately, you mean something to Donghae and the kids, so I don’t care what you do, but you had better fix this,” Kibum says as he puts the iPad away, and pulls out his wallet. He leaves enough money for the drink he ordered, and gets up to leave.
“And, that’s not a suggestion.”
Hyukjae slowly opens the door to his apartment, leaning the door after he closes it to ponder how his life has managed to become the mess that it is.
“Hyukjae, is that you?” He hears Ryeowook call from down that hall.
“Yeah, it’s me Wook,” he answers as he shrugs off the door.
“Could you come here for a minute you have a… visitor waiting for you.”
“What?” Hyukjae questions more to himself than anything as he makes his way towards the sound of Ryeowook’s voice. “Who is it?”
He walks into the dining room and stops dead in his tracks.
“What are you doing here?!”
Previous .:|:. Next