Title: Remember Me
Pairing: EunHae with KyuMin and YeWook on the sides
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Angst, Fluff, Romance, AU
Summary: What if your beautiful past lives in someone else's present?
A/N: Inspired by two stories I've read but I won't disclose what stories they are until I finish the whole fic. Otherwise people will know the ending. :D
- chapter 1 -
Lee Hyukjae's heart felt like it was about to burst as he held his breath and swam faster. He felt his arms and legs begin to ache but he knew he had to give his all. This was the final lap anyway.
He was so tired. But the cold water he was in kept him from stopping. He picked up speed and raised himself to gather air and to satisfy his lungs. I should get a new record for this. He thought.
Hyukjae let his mind wander off to something more peaceful to make him relax and not think about how sore he was all over. He thought of drinking a ton of strawberry milk later on or how he'd finally be able to pop in that movie he'd always wanted to watch but just didn't have the time to do so. He thought of taking his dog Choco out for a walk who was getting cranky being cooped up inside of his apartment for the past week. He thought of finishing the lap with a new time and scowled when he realized his mind went back to what he was doing. His muscles pulsed again and he mentally groaned.
Finally, when he thought he couldn't take it anymore, he was nearing the end. Grinning inside, he gathered all his last strength and kicked harder. He willed his muscles to relax but didn't let his speed down.
This was his favorite part, feeling the rush of adrenaline when he knew he was about to finish a race. Eyes locked forward, he thought of him winning already. He didn't care about the trophy. He didn't care about the prize. All he wanted was to set a new record for himself and he knew he was about to get it.
He finally reached the end and slammed his palms on the wall, signalling that he was finished. He pumped his fist in the air right after out of triumph. He didn't cool off like he usually did and he knew he would regret it later on but he took off his goggles and stared up at the person holding the timer for him.
"How was it?" He panted as he held himself, allowing the cold water to slap against his body. His best friend, Lee Donghae, who was squinting at the tiny stopwatch he held in his hand, jumped up and down.
"2 minutes..." He said. Hyukjae held his breath and waited for Donghae to finish. This is it... he thought.
"2 minutes and 13 seconds." Donghae finished and Hyukjae's mouth fell open.
"What?!" He bellowed and felt his knees give way. Thankfully, he was in the water so he floated instead.
"2 minutes and 13 seconds." Donghae simply stated as he stopped jumping and sat down at the edge of the pool with his legs in the water. He handed Hyukjae a water bottle and the other took it, gulping down everything.
Hyukjae's chest rose and sank again as he caught up with his heart, both from exhaustion and clearly from a shocking disappointment.
"H-how?" He asked in between breaths and instead of drinking the rest of the water, he tipped the whole bottle to his face.
"Ugh, Hyuk!" Donghae flinched and moved away in an instant as bits of water splashed on him.
After a few more deep breaths, Hyukjae willed himself upright.
"How can it only be 2 and 13 seconds?" Hyukjae srunched up his face as he thought about this and Donghae laughed at the sight of him.
"Why won't you just admit that you're not aiming for a new record. Why won't you just admit that what you're actually aiming for is to beat mine." Donghae pinched Hyukjae's nose and Hyukjae gave an "ow!"
"Hey!" Hyukjae patted the bridge of his nose from where his goggles imprinted and glared at Donghae but smiled at him afterwards.
Hyukjae and Donghae were best friends since Hyukjae could remember. Donghae was Hyukjae's first happy memory after a car crash that took his parents life when he was still 5 years old. He was in the back seat when a drunk driver rammed them over but he was the only one out of the three that was spared from death. Having been placed in an orphanage in Mokpo, it was there that he found Donghae. Families would visit the orphanage once a month to get their children to have fun with the kids from the orphanage and no one would approach him because of how skinny he looked. Donghae was the first one to come up to him and they were instantly friends. Though families would only come back once a month, Donghae and his family would visit him every weekend.
Now, they were both 18 years old on their last year of High School and joining one of the most well-known swimming competition in the country. What he loved about his and Donghae's friendship was the fact that they loved sports the most. He and Donghae would train every day after school and trained harder on weekends. It was always Donghae's dream to join in one and it was just perfect that Hyukjae was sports oriented as well. They were both joining in this for the first time, a double relay, and Donghae wanted no other partner except Hyukjae.
"Yah. Quit smiling goofily like that." Donghae teased and threw him a towel. Hyukjae chuckled as he did and failed to catch it in mid air leaving a very drenched towel floating on the water.
"Seriously though, how can it only be just 2 minutes and 13 seconds most of the time?" Hyukjae muttered again, squeezing the towel and handing it back to Donghae who gave out a sigh across from him.
"Did you think of it as a real competition like I told you so?" Donghae asked, playing with the wet towel. Hyukjae nodded, drinking from another one of their water bottles.
Donghae has this strategy in a competition that always gets them to win. Even when they were joining sports events at school, they used this tactic all the time when they trained. Donghae taught Hyukjae that everytime they were training, one should be able to envision himself in the actual competition and imagine it as if it were real. Sure it was tiring all the time to give it your all during training but it helped when it came to the actual event.
And it also amazed Hyukjae how a kid like Donghae who just knew sports and didn't care a lot for grades managed to think of this very smart tactic.
"What if..." Hyukjae lowered his bottle for a second and peered at Donghae. Donghae stared back. "What if you're just purposely timing me all wrong?"
Donghae laughed at Hyukjae's accusations which they always had every after training when Hyukjae wasn't able to get the time he wanted.
Donghae playfully smacked his face with the wet towel but Hyukjae caught it and tugged at it causing Donghae to give a small yelp as he fell on the water. Donghae clambered at the other one's back and pulled Hyukae down, playfully trying to drown him.
"Ahhh! Hae!" Hyukjae wriggled underneathe him and sputtered but Donghae wouldn't let him go. Hyukjae was stronger than him but since he was spent from all the swimming he had done, he had no energy left to tackle the other one back.
"Hae- umff- stop!" Hyukjae said in between being "drowned" and laughing at what Donghae was doing to him. Finally, Donghae did let him go and hit him playfully once more. They both floated side by side, staring at the ceiling at the empty indoor pool. It was a Saturday so there were no students practicing.
Donghae lifted his hand to feel the warm sunlight that streamed into one of the windows. He found comfort in it's warmth with his back filled with cold water.
"That's for accusing me of your time." Donghae said. "Just face it Hyuk. I'm better at you in swimming. Just like you're better than me in running."
It was true. The event they were joining was a swimming competition. It wasn't Hyukjae's specialty. He was more of a runner. He was good in track. Nobody could beat him at that. But he knew swimming, and he wanted to join. So Donghae trained him. Both of them now were extremely good in swimming but Hyukjae was still a bit behind than Donghae. Everyone knew they couldn't beat "The Fish".
"Fine... But I'm still training for it." Hyukjae smiled as clouds must've moved from outside streaming in more sunlight at the two of them.
They stayed that way for awhile. Floating and just listening to how peaceful it was. The cold water was starting to get comforting and when Hyukjae thought it couldn't get any better, he slowly felt warm soft fingers lacing around his own.
Hyukjae closed his eyes and smiled even wider as Donghae held his hand. They were more than best friends. They loved each other. It was a bit weird at first but they couldn't deny it. What they had, it was real.
"Hyuk..." Donghae whispered, knowing the other one would hear it.
"Mmmm." Hyukjae replied, feeling the other one squeeze his hand.
"Thanks for being in this competition with me." Donghae whispered again.
Hyukjae squeezed Donghae's hand back, assuring him he felt the same way.
"I'm glad i'm joining it with you." Hyukjae replied.
They stayed that way for a little while enjoying the cold water but loving the warmth that radiated from each other more as they both shared that peaceful moment.
* * * * *
"Choco!!! I'm hooooome!" Hyukjae bellowed as he twisted the doorknob and entered his own apartment.
Being legal at 18 was one of the things that Hyukjae loved. As soon as he had his birthday, he immediately set out to look for a place of his own. The orphanage he stayed in was alright with it since he was legal now anyway. Working part time and saving for almost ten years of his life, he was able to find a small place and the landlady was kind enough to give him a cheaper rent than the one she normally offered. Plus he and the landlady's grandson were really good friends and he didn't think of her as a landlady. She was more like his halmeoni now.
Choco, a small dog that Hyukjae still couldn't quite figure out what breed it was, rushed at him with a leash on his mouth.
"What?! Choco, I just got home!" Hyukjae groaned, realizing that his dog wanted to be taken out for a walk. He dropped his bag on the floor and settled on the couch but before he could close his eyes, Choco jumped into his chest and began barking right at his face.
"Alright, alright!" He took the dog in his arms and carried it towards the bedroom, piling all his laundry atop him to quiet him down. He couldn't let the neighbors get pissed at him so fast.
"You're just like Donghae." Hyukjae muttered and chuckled at that. "Always talking non stop."
Choco was a gift from Donghae during their first year in High School. Donghae found the poor thing while he was walking to school one morning. Choco was then a puppy and Donghae thought it would be a great surpise gift for Hyuk. And what a surprise it was when Hyuk nearly got a heart attack when he was rummaging though Hae's backpack for a strawberry filled cookie and out popped Choco.
"I can't keep it!" Hyukjae remembered arguing with Donghae that afternoon when class ended.
"Oh come on Hyuk!" Donghae pouted, lifting the dog to Hyukjae's face. "I'd love to keep him but you know how mom says no pets are allowed. And besides," Donghae settled the dog in his lap and tickled it's belly. "He's kinda like you and I don't want to give it away now."
"Like me?" Hyukjae had replied back then. "How so?"
Donghae cuddled the puppy in his arms. "For starters, he's stubborn like you. He wouldn't get inside my back pack which made me late for school."
Hyukjae stared at the puppy that was now asleep in Donghae's arms.
"And," Donghae continued. "He finished half of the strawberry filled cookies I was planning to give you. That makes him so much like you."
Hyukjae had then smiled and sat beside Donghae, stroking the puppy. He knew he was about to give in anyway. Donghae pouting earlier made Hyukjae's heart melt.
"Alright. But why are you calling him Choco?"
"Because we can't really call him Strawberry. That's just too long." Donghae rolled his eyes at Hyuk as if what he said was so obvious. "And he's brown, Hyukkie."
Choco's soft barking sounds from underneathe the pile of laundry jolted Hyukjae from that memory. He patted at Choco's head from underneathe all his clothes, stripped down and entered the shower, making sure that the heater was way up high.
As soon as he was done, he dried himself off and changed, gathering all his laundry and placing a mental note to do them tomorrow. He gathered Choco up and placed on his leash. Choco was so hyper about going out that Hyukjae had a hard time placing it in. When he finally did, he checked the time and saw it was almost lunch.
"Come on Choco." He said and Choco barked happily. "We're eating out for lunch since I'm too lazy to prepare anything." Saturdays were lazy days for Lee Hyukjae.
He turned off all the appliances and placed on his jacket. But before he could step out of his apartment, Hyukjae was surprised to see Donghae about to knock as he opened his door.
"Donghae? What are you doing here?" Hyukjae released his hold on Choco when the dog sensed Donghae. Choco was crazy about Donghae just as much as Hyukjae was crazy about him.
"I figured I'd have lunch with you." Donghae replied crouching down and meeting Choco's barks. "Hey Choco! I missed you too. Eventhough we saw each other yesterday."
"What happened to that lunch thing you have with your parents?" Hyukjae asked as he locked his apartment door and ushered them outside.
"Canceled. And I didn't want to eat at home. The food over there is boring." Donghae replied and began making baby faces at Choco, which he always does at him.
"Since when was food ever boring to you?" Hyukjae teased and stopped when he saw a familiar car parked in front of his apartment building. "And when has your dad ever allowed you to take his car out?"
Donghae's dad was always strict about everything. Hyukjae wouldn't hang out at Donghae's house a lot because of this. But his mom was an amazing cook and he really couldn't say no to Donghae's mom making him visit their house often.
"You ask a lot of questions today, Hyuk." Donghae replied. "Come on! I'm hungry!"
They left without using the car since the place they usually ate at was just a block away. They both ordered Korean BBQ, a treat they'd give their selves every weekend.
Hyukjae couldn't help but laugh at Donghae's challenge in eating Korean BBQ. He dared him to put so many spicy stuff and see who would last. Loser would have to buy them both ice cream afterwards so it took one of them a great deal of courage to finish the whole thing up. In the end, Hyukjae lost and Donghae couldn't help but dance around all red in the face at being the winner.
"You know, I just did that because I love you too much and I didn't want you to suffer." Hyukjae said as they both paid for the meal and left the restaurant. Donghae faked gagging at what he said.
"Wow Hyukkie you're so cheesy. And I don't buy that at all." Donghae replied but nevertheless linked his arm around Hyukjae's as they went to the nearest park to look for ice cream and to let Choco walk around as well.
"But I love you too." Donghae grinned at that and Hyukjae playfully pushed him away and did a gagging sound back at him. Donghae scowled and threatened him that he was going to buy the most expensive ice cream he could find.
But of course he didn't and they ended up buying strawberry ice cream as usual. Eventhough Donghae wasn't too fond of strawberry ice cream, he always picks that flavor. Hyukjae would always ask him what his favorite was but he would just reply, "everything".
Weekends were always the best for them. They would use Saturday as their whole day off (except every morning was allotted for trainings) and just play around. Video games, watching a movie (an English one because it was always Donghae who picked them) or laze around. Then Sundays would be dedicated to finishing schoolwork and study separately which irritates Donghae to extremes and he would latch on to Hyukjae by Monday declaring how much he missed the other in just over a day.
Time always flew by quickly for them and they found themselves walking back towards Hyukjae's apartment with a tired Choco. It was almost dark when they reached Hyuk's building.
"You better get home quick. Your dad's always cranky when you're not home by this time of the night." Hyukjae said as they sat at the front steps enjoying the cool night breeze.
Donghae was silent for awhile and Hyukjae noticed something was up.
"You okay?" Hyuk asked and saw Donghae gave him a smile all too quickly.
"Yeah." The other replied but Hyukjae could see something was up.
"Hae, I don't think so." Hyukjae said. "What's up?"
Donghae gave him an "Aish" and replied how he was fine and to stop asking stuff so much.
"Would you mind if I stay for the night?" Donghae suddenly asked and Hyukjae gave him a look.
"Okay, you're avoiding something at home. What is it?" He sort of demanded. Donghae would usually stall going home whenever something was up. Hyukjae knew this a lot.
"Nothing... It's just... my dad." Donghae muttered, playing on Choco's leash.
Hyukjae knew Donghae and his dad were arguing a lot lately. But Donghae never told him why that was so. Hyukjae didn't want to pry even if he wanted to know so much. But it always bothered him when Donghae was like this.
"Hae," Hyukjae took his hand and squeezed them as Donghae rested his head on Hyuk's shoulder. His head fit perfectly beside him and Hyukjae liked that. "You need to go home. Staying here and avoiding him will just get you to argue with him some more."
He heard Donghae sigh as he said them but held him close anyway. He couldn't let Donghae go without showing him that he was there whatever that problem was.
"I'll go home in awhile. I promise." Donghae whispered. "But let me just stay here for about 5 more minutes.
So they stayed that way, Donghae with his head almost near to Hyukjae's heart and Hyuk just lacing his fingers around Hae's. Indeed, Saturdays like this were his favorites.
But just like every happy moment, they seem to end. And it ended for them a little too quickly when Donghae's phone rang and he groaned as he saw who was calling.
"Answer it." Hyukjae nudged when he saw who was calling. It was Donghae's dad.
Donghae uttered a huge sigh as he did so. Hyukjae scooted away from Donghae so as not to invade on his privacy but the volume was up and the night air was silent.
"Donghae, where are you? You know how I feel about you taking the car. Do you know what time it is?"
"Dad, I'm leaving now. I was about to go home."
Pause.
"... Are you at Hyukjae's place?"
Another pause.
"...Yes... I am."
The apprehension in Donghae's voice made Hyukjae look at him. Something was wrong.
"Did you forget what we talked about this morning?"
"Dad, not now. Okay? I'll talk to you when I get home."
"Bring Hyukjae with you. I need to talk to him"
Donghae immediately looked at Hyuk with worried eyes and Hyukjae mouthed at him, "What's wrong?"
"Dad, please don't. I didn't forget what we talked about. Really."
"Just bring him over Hae. You better be home in 15 minutes"
And with that the line ended. Donghae stared at his phone for the longest time until Hyukjae prodded him.
"Come on. You already wasted a few minutes." Hyukjae said and stood up but Donghae grasped at his arm.
"Wait!" Donghae said and the worried tone in his voice made Hyuk worry as well. "Stay here. I'll explain why you can't come."
Hyukjae wondered at this. "Hae, what's wrong? Your dad sounded serious. I don't want him to be mad at me or anything." Hyukjae thought about what he said. "Wait, he's not mad at me, right?"
Donghae looked at him with pleading eyes to stay but he knew he can't keep Hyukjae away from his problems too.
"Hae, come on." Hyukjae tugged at Donghae's hand and with a defeated expression, stood up and led Hyukjae towards the car.
"I'll be right here." Hyuk said as Donghae drove them towards his house. Hyuk could feel Donghae getting worried by the minute and it confused him so much. But he didn't want to ask yet. All he can do was just comfort the other. Hyukjae gave the other one's hand a tight reassuring squeeze and for a moment, he felt Donghae relax.
"I'll be right here."
- chapter 2 -
Pairing: EunHae with KyuMin and YeWook on the sides
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Angst, Fluff, Romance, AU
Summary: What if your beautiful past lives in someone else's present?
A/N: Inspired by two stories I've read but I won't disclose what stories they are until I finish the whole fic. Otherwise people will know the ending. :D
- chapter 1 -
Lee Hyukjae's heart felt like it was about to burst as he held his breath and swam faster. He felt his arms and legs begin to ache but he knew he had to give his all. This was the final lap anyway.
He was so tired. But the cold water he was in kept him from stopping. He picked up speed and raised himself to gather air and to satisfy his lungs. I should get a new record for this. He thought.
Hyukjae let his mind wander off to something more peaceful to make him relax and not think about how sore he was all over. He thought of drinking a ton of strawberry milk later on or how he'd finally be able to pop in that movie he'd always wanted to watch but just didn't have the time to do so. He thought of taking his dog Choco out for a walk who was getting cranky being cooped up inside of his apartment for the past week. He thought of finishing the lap with a new time and scowled when he realized his mind went back to what he was doing. His muscles pulsed again and he mentally groaned.
Finally, when he thought he couldn't take it anymore, he was nearing the end. Grinning inside, he gathered all his last strength and kicked harder. He willed his muscles to relax but didn't let his speed down.
This was his favorite part, feeling the rush of adrenaline when he knew he was about to finish a race. Eyes locked forward, he thought of him winning already. He didn't care about the trophy. He didn't care about the prize. All he wanted was to set a new record for himself and he knew he was about to get it.
He finally reached the end and slammed his palms on the wall, signalling that he was finished. He pumped his fist in the air right after out of triumph. He didn't cool off like he usually did and he knew he would regret it later on but he took off his goggles and stared up at the person holding the timer for him.
"How was it?" He panted as he held himself, allowing the cold water to slap against his body. His best friend, Lee Donghae, who was squinting at the tiny stopwatch he held in his hand, jumped up and down.
"2 minutes..." He said. Hyukjae held his breath and waited for Donghae to finish. This is it... he thought.
"2 minutes and 13 seconds." Donghae finished and Hyukjae's mouth fell open.
"What?!" He bellowed and felt his knees give way. Thankfully, he was in the water so he floated instead.
"2 minutes and 13 seconds." Donghae simply stated as he stopped jumping and sat down at the edge of the pool with his legs in the water. He handed Hyukjae a water bottle and the other took it, gulping down everything.
Hyukjae's chest rose and sank again as he caught up with his heart, both from exhaustion and clearly from a shocking disappointment.
"H-how?" He asked in between breaths and instead of drinking the rest of the water, he tipped the whole bottle to his face.
"Ugh, Hyuk!" Donghae flinched and moved away in an instant as bits of water splashed on him.
After a few more deep breaths, Hyukjae willed himself upright.
"How can it only be 2 and 13 seconds?" Hyukjae srunched up his face as he thought about this and Donghae laughed at the sight of him.
"Why won't you just admit that you're not aiming for a new record. Why won't you just admit that what you're actually aiming for is to beat mine." Donghae pinched Hyukjae's nose and Hyukjae gave an "ow!"
"Hey!" Hyukjae patted the bridge of his nose from where his goggles imprinted and glared at Donghae but smiled at him afterwards.
Hyukjae and Donghae were best friends since Hyukjae could remember. Donghae was Hyukjae's first happy memory after a car crash that took his parents life when he was still 5 years old. He was in the back seat when a drunk driver rammed them over but he was the only one out of the three that was spared from death. Having been placed in an orphanage in Mokpo, it was there that he found Donghae. Families would visit the orphanage once a month to get their children to have fun with the kids from the orphanage and no one would approach him because of how skinny he looked. Donghae was the first one to come up to him and they were instantly friends. Though families would only come back once a month, Donghae and his family would visit him every weekend.
Now, they were both 18 years old on their last year of High School and joining one of the most well-known swimming competition in the country. What he loved about his and Donghae's friendship was the fact that they loved sports the most. He and Donghae would train every day after school and trained harder on weekends. It was always Donghae's dream to join in one and it was just perfect that Hyukjae was sports oriented as well. They were both joining in this for the first time, a double relay, and Donghae wanted no other partner except Hyukjae.
"Yah. Quit smiling goofily like that." Donghae teased and threw him a towel. Hyukjae chuckled as he did and failed to catch it in mid air leaving a very drenched towel floating on the water.
"Seriously though, how can it only be just 2 minutes and 13 seconds most of the time?" Hyukjae muttered again, squeezing the towel and handing it back to Donghae who gave out a sigh across from him.
"Did you think of it as a real competition like I told you so?" Donghae asked, playing with the wet towel. Hyukjae nodded, drinking from another one of their water bottles.
Donghae has this strategy in a competition that always gets them to win. Even when they were joining sports events at school, they used this tactic all the time when they trained. Donghae taught Hyukjae that everytime they were training, one should be able to envision himself in the actual competition and imagine it as if it were real. Sure it was tiring all the time to give it your all during training but it helped when it came to the actual event.
And it also amazed Hyukjae how a kid like Donghae who just knew sports and didn't care a lot for grades managed to think of this very smart tactic.
"What if..." Hyukjae lowered his bottle for a second and peered at Donghae. Donghae stared back. "What if you're just purposely timing me all wrong?"
Donghae laughed at Hyukjae's accusations which they always had every after training when Hyukjae wasn't able to get the time he wanted.
Donghae playfully smacked his face with the wet towel but Hyukjae caught it and tugged at it causing Donghae to give a small yelp as he fell on the water. Donghae clambered at the other one's back and pulled Hyukae down, playfully trying to drown him.
"Ahhh! Hae!" Hyukjae wriggled underneathe him and sputtered but Donghae wouldn't let him go. Hyukjae was stronger than him but since he was spent from all the swimming he had done, he had no energy left to tackle the other one back.
"Hae- umff- stop!" Hyukjae said in between being "drowned" and laughing at what Donghae was doing to him. Finally, Donghae did let him go and hit him playfully once more. They both floated side by side, staring at the ceiling at the empty indoor pool. It was a Saturday so there were no students practicing.
Donghae lifted his hand to feel the warm sunlight that streamed into one of the windows. He found comfort in it's warmth with his back filled with cold water.
"That's for accusing me of your time." Donghae said. "Just face it Hyuk. I'm better at you in swimming. Just like you're better than me in running."
It was true. The event they were joining was a swimming competition. It wasn't Hyukjae's specialty. He was more of a runner. He was good in track. Nobody could beat him at that. But he knew swimming, and he wanted to join. So Donghae trained him. Both of them now were extremely good in swimming but Hyukjae was still a bit behind than Donghae. Everyone knew they couldn't beat "The Fish".
"Fine... But I'm still training for it." Hyukjae smiled as clouds must've moved from outside streaming in more sunlight at the two of them.
They stayed that way for awhile. Floating and just listening to how peaceful it was. The cold water was starting to get comforting and when Hyukjae thought it couldn't get any better, he slowly felt warm soft fingers lacing around his own.
Hyukjae closed his eyes and smiled even wider as Donghae held his hand. They were more than best friends. They loved each other. It was a bit weird at first but they couldn't deny it. What they had, it was real.
"Hyuk..." Donghae whispered, knowing the other one would hear it.
"Mmmm." Hyukjae replied, feeling the other one squeeze his hand.
"Thanks for being in this competition with me." Donghae whispered again.
Hyukjae squeezed Donghae's hand back, assuring him he felt the same way.
"I'm glad i'm joining it with you." Hyukjae replied.
They stayed that way for a little while enjoying the cold water but loving the warmth that radiated from each other more as they both shared that peaceful moment.
* * * * *
"Choco!!! I'm hooooome!" Hyukjae bellowed as he twisted the doorknob and entered his own apartment.
Being legal at 18 was one of the things that Hyukjae loved. As soon as he had his birthday, he immediately set out to look for a place of his own. The orphanage he stayed in was alright with it since he was legal now anyway. Working part time and saving for almost ten years of his life, he was able to find a small place and the landlady was kind enough to give him a cheaper rent than the one she normally offered. Plus he and the landlady's grandson were really good friends and he didn't think of her as a landlady. She was more like his halmeoni now.
Choco, a small dog that Hyukjae still couldn't quite figure out what breed it was, rushed at him with a leash on his mouth.
"What?! Choco, I just got home!" Hyukjae groaned, realizing that his dog wanted to be taken out for a walk. He dropped his bag on the floor and settled on the couch but before he could close his eyes, Choco jumped into his chest and began barking right at his face.
"Alright, alright!" He took the dog in his arms and carried it towards the bedroom, piling all his laundry atop him to quiet him down. He couldn't let the neighbors get pissed at him so fast.
"You're just like Donghae." Hyukjae muttered and chuckled at that. "Always talking non stop."
Choco was a gift from Donghae during their first year in High School. Donghae found the poor thing while he was walking to school one morning. Choco was then a puppy and Donghae thought it would be a great surpise gift for Hyuk. And what a surprise it was when Hyuk nearly got a heart attack when he was rummaging though Hae's backpack for a strawberry filled cookie and out popped Choco.
"I can't keep it!" Hyukjae remembered arguing with Donghae that afternoon when class ended.
"Oh come on Hyuk!" Donghae pouted, lifting the dog to Hyukjae's face. "I'd love to keep him but you know how mom says no pets are allowed. And besides," Donghae settled the dog in his lap and tickled it's belly. "He's kinda like you and I don't want to give it away now."
"Like me?" Hyukjae had replied back then. "How so?"
Donghae cuddled the puppy in his arms. "For starters, he's stubborn like you. He wouldn't get inside my back pack which made me late for school."
Hyukjae stared at the puppy that was now asleep in Donghae's arms.
"And," Donghae continued. "He finished half of the strawberry filled cookies I was planning to give you. That makes him so much like you."
Hyukjae had then smiled and sat beside Donghae, stroking the puppy. He knew he was about to give in anyway. Donghae pouting earlier made Hyukjae's heart melt.
"Alright. But why are you calling him Choco?"
"Because we can't really call him Strawberry. That's just too long." Donghae rolled his eyes at Hyuk as if what he said was so obvious. "And he's brown, Hyukkie."
Choco's soft barking sounds from underneathe the pile of laundry jolted Hyukjae from that memory. He patted at Choco's head from underneathe all his clothes, stripped down and entered the shower, making sure that the heater was way up high.
As soon as he was done, he dried himself off and changed, gathering all his laundry and placing a mental note to do them tomorrow. He gathered Choco up and placed on his leash. Choco was so hyper about going out that Hyukjae had a hard time placing it in. When he finally did, he checked the time and saw it was almost lunch.
"Come on Choco." He said and Choco barked happily. "We're eating out for lunch since I'm too lazy to prepare anything." Saturdays were lazy days for Lee Hyukjae.
He turned off all the appliances and placed on his jacket. But before he could step out of his apartment, Hyukjae was surprised to see Donghae about to knock as he opened his door.
"Donghae? What are you doing here?" Hyukjae released his hold on Choco when the dog sensed Donghae. Choco was crazy about Donghae just as much as Hyukjae was crazy about him.
"I figured I'd have lunch with you." Donghae replied crouching down and meeting Choco's barks. "Hey Choco! I missed you too. Eventhough we saw each other yesterday."
"What happened to that lunch thing you have with your parents?" Hyukjae asked as he locked his apartment door and ushered them outside.
"Canceled. And I didn't want to eat at home. The food over there is boring." Donghae replied and began making baby faces at Choco, which he always does at him.
"Since when was food ever boring to you?" Hyukjae teased and stopped when he saw a familiar car parked in front of his apartment building. "And when has your dad ever allowed you to take his car out?"
Donghae's dad was always strict about everything. Hyukjae wouldn't hang out at Donghae's house a lot because of this. But his mom was an amazing cook and he really couldn't say no to Donghae's mom making him visit their house often.
"You ask a lot of questions today, Hyuk." Donghae replied. "Come on! I'm hungry!"
They left without using the car since the place they usually ate at was just a block away. They both ordered Korean BBQ, a treat they'd give their selves every weekend.
Hyukjae couldn't help but laugh at Donghae's challenge in eating Korean BBQ. He dared him to put so many spicy stuff and see who would last. Loser would have to buy them both ice cream afterwards so it took one of them a great deal of courage to finish the whole thing up. In the end, Hyukjae lost and Donghae couldn't help but dance around all red in the face at being the winner.
"You know, I just did that because I love you too much and I didn't want you to suffer." Hyukjae said as they both paid for the meal and left the restaurant. Donghae faked gagging at what he said.
"Wow Hyukkie you're so cheesy. And I don't buy that at all." Donghae replied but nevertheless linked his arm around Hyukjae's as they went to the nearest park to look for ice cream and to let Choco walk around as well.
"But I love you too." Donghae grinned at that and Hyukjae playfully pushed him away and did a gagging sound back at him. Donghae scowled and threatened him that he was going to buy the most expensive ice cream he could find.
But of course he didn't and they ended up buying strawberry ice cream as usual. Eventhough Donghae wasn't too fond of strawberry ice cream, he always picks that flavor. Hyukjae would always ask him what his favorite was but he would just reply, "everything".
Weekends were always the best for them. They would use Saturday as their whole day off (except every morning was allotted for trainings) and just play around. Video games, watching a movie (an English one because it was always Donghae who picked them) or laze around. Then Sundays would be dedicated to finishing schoolwork and study separately which irritates Donghae to extremes and he would latch on to Hyukjae by Monday declaring how much he missed the other in just over a day.
Time always flew by quickly for them and they found themselves walking back towards Hyukjae's apartment with a tired Choco. It was almost dark when they reached Hyuk's building.
"You better get home quick. Your dad's always cranky when you're not home by this time of the night." Hyukjae said as they sat at the front steps enjoying the cool night breeze.
Donghae was silent for awhile and Hyukjae noticed something was up.
"You okay?" Hyuk asked and saw Donghae gave him a smile all too quickly.
"Yeah." The other replied but Hyukjae could see something was up.
"Hae, I don't think so." Hyukjae said. "What's up?"
Donghae gave him an "Aish" and replied how he was fine and to stop asking stuff so much.
"Would you mind if I stay for the night?" Donghae suddenly asked and Hyukjae gave him a look.
"Okay, you're avoiding something at home. What is it?" He sort of demanded. Donghae would usually stall going home whenever something was up. Hyukjae knew this a lot.
"Nothing... It's just... my dad." Donghae muttered, playing on Choco's leash.
Hyukjae knew Donghae and his dad were arguing a lot lately. But Donghae never told him why that was so. Hyukjae didn't want to pry even if he wanted to know so much. But it always bothered him when Donghae was like this.
"Hae," Hyukjae took his hand and squeezed them as Donghae rested his head on Hyuk's shoulder. His head fit perfectly beside him and Hyukjae liked that. "You need to go home. Staying here and avoiding him will just get you to argue with him some more."
He heard Donghae sigh as he said them but held him close anyway. He couldn't let Donghae go without showing him that he was there whatever that problem was.
"I'll go home in awhile. I promise." Donghae whispered. "But let me just stay here for about 5 more minutes.
So they stayed that way, Donghae with his head almost near to Hyukjae's heart and Hyuk just lacing his fingers around Hae's. Indeed, Saturdays like this were his favorites.
But just like every happy moment, they seem to end. And it ended for them a little too quickly when Donghae's phone rang and he groaned as he saw who was calling.
"Answer it." Hyukjae nudged when he saw who was calling. It was Donghae's dad.
Donghae uttered a huge sigh as he did so. Hyukjae scooted away from Donghae so as not to invade on his privacy but the volume was up and the night air was silent.
"Donghae, where are you? You know how I feel about you taking the car. Do you know what time it is?"
"Dad, I'm leaving now. I was about to go home."
Pause.
"... Are you at Hyukjae's place?"
Another pause.
"...Yes... I am."
The apprehension in Donghae's voice made Hyukjae look at him. Something was wrong.
"Did you forget what we talked about this morning?"
"Dad, not now. Okay? I'll talk to you when I get home."
"Bring Hyukjae with you. I need to talk to him"
Donghae immediately looked at Hyuk with worried eyes and Hyukjae mouthed at him, "What's wrong?"
"Dad, please don't. I didn't forget what we talked about. Really."
"Just bring him over Hae. You better be home in 15 minutes"
And with that the line ended. Donghae stared at his phone for the longest time until Hyukjae prodded him.
"Come on. You already wasted a few minutes." Hyukjae said and stood up but Donghae grasped at his arm.
"Wait!" Donghae said and the worried tone in his voice made Hyuk worry as well. "Stay here. I'll explain why you can't come."
Hyukjae wondered at this. "Hae, what's wrong? Your dad sounded serious. I don't want him to be mad at me or anything." Hyukjae thought about what he said. "Wait, he's not mad at me, right?"
Donghae looked at him with pleading eyes to stay but he knew he can't keep Hyukjae away from his problems too.
"Hae, come on." Hyukjae tugged at Donghae's hand and with a defeated expression, stood up and led Hyukjae towards the car.
"I'll be right here." Hyuk said as Donghae drove them towards his house. Hyuk could feel Donghae getting worried by the minute and it confused him so much. But he didn't want to ask yet. All he can do was just comfort the other. Hyukjae gave the other one's hand a tight reassuring squeeze and for a moment, he felt Donghae relax.
"I'll be right here."
- chapter 2 -
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