The last thing I ever wanted

Hyukjae sighed as he leaned back in the cushioned seat of the theater, letting his head fall back and land on the top, eyes closing.  “Aigo,” he breathed out, knowing that the chances of being heard were close to none with the amount of noise going on.

The sound of people standing from their seats, picking up their things and filing out of the auditorium surrounded him as he stayed in his position for a short while.  It was his best friend who snapped him out of whatever trance he’d managed to slip into within the space of thirty seconds.  “What the hell are you doing, Hyuk?”

He cracked an eye open and looked over his at best friend who, despite his dark hair and currently uplifted eyebrow, resembled a bunny (mainly thanks to his teeth, which were particularly bunny-like).  “I’m waiting for Hae, duh.”  His best friend’s raised eyebrow only seemed to meet his hairline as he looked down at Hyuk.  “Hyuk, you realize that you can go backstage if you want.  They won’t say anything to you because Donghae and Kyu are back there.”

Hyukjae lifted his own eyebrow in challenge to his best friend.  “Sungmin, you realize that your logic is slightly flawed?  Even if Donghae and Kyuhyun are back there and want to see us, security has every right to kick us out.”

Sungmin rolled his eyes at Hyukjae before saying, “Right, but they won’t because Donghae and Kyu are there.”

Hyuk opened his mouth to protest but settled for yelping in surprise when Sungmin, with an impatient roll of the eyes, roughly grabbed his arm and practically dragged him up the steps of the stage to backstage.  “Aigo,” Hyukjae found himself saying as Sungmin expertly evaded all the stage props and bustling people that littered the backstage area, occasionally waving to someone he knew.

He seems to come back here a little too often, Hyukjae thought to himself.

After a few more evasions and waves, Sungmin slowed to a stop and dropped Hyukjae’s arm in favor of wrapping his arms around his boyfriend.  “Hi Kyu,” he said, the grin on his face evident through his voice.  The tall, dark-haired boy he hugged simply smiled and wrapped his arms around the blond’s waist and planted a soft kiss to his forehead.  “Hey Min,” he said in a voice that was as deep as it was affectionate.

Hyukjae barely paid them any mind; he was far too focused on the brown-haired boy with the smooth jaw line that stood before him with a fond smile on his face.  “Hi Hyuk,” he said, dark eyes gleaming in the dim lighting that seeped in from the open doors of dressing rooms and small breaks in the curtains.  Hyukjae felt his heart freeze, time momentarily standing still as he looked over his boyfriend.

A year had passed, an entire year exactly that day, and in that year, Hyukjae had affirmed his belief that he would never get used to how gorgeous he thought Donghae was.  How he’d managed to land someone like him, Hyukjae would never know.  How he’d managed to keep someone like him, Hyukjae would never know.  Donghae had once told him that he’d fallen in love with his gummy smile, although he stayed around simply because he fell even deeper with Hyukjae for being Hyukjae, although Hyukjae himself had been and still was skeptical about the explanation.

It wasn’t that he doubted himself as a person or had low self-esteem, at least not typically; it was just that he couldn’t quite come to terms with the fact that he’d been able to successfully land someone who seemed so out of his league.  He’d always figured that with his looks, what with the awkward nose that everyone had always told him he’d “grow into” and the skinnier-than-average frame he possessed despite the amount of dancing he did that he’d end up with someone who was average and  looked as if they fit him.  Instead, he’d gotten Donghae.

Not that he was complaining, of course.  As a matter of fact, he was beyond grateful for his boyfriend, who, now that he remembered, was standing before him waiting for him to respond.

“Hi Hae,” he said, stepping over to plant a soft peck on his boyfriend’s lips.  He felt the other smile against his lips before he pulled away to look at his boyfriend, wrapping his arms around his boyfriend’s waist lovingly.  Donghae’s eyes were practically sparkling as he looked back at Hyukjae, a broad smile on his face.

“Happy anniversary,” Donghae said after a moment of studying Hyuk’s face, letting a huge smile break out over his lips.  Hyukjae grinned the gummy smile that Donghae claimed to love so much.  “Happy anniversary.”  His voice was soft and low, but Donghae had heard it and his smile had only broadened as he proceeded to wrap his own arms around Hyukjae’s neck and pull him in for another kiss.

It was a longer kiss this time, although no less sweet, and Hyukjae swore his heart felt like it was going to beat right out of his chest.  Even after all of this time, he thought.  Even after all of this time, my heart beats wildly around him.

The sound of someone clearing their throat made the two part and turn to look at the other two boys with them.  Hyukjae had almost forgotten that they weren’t alone.

Sungmin sure hadn’t.  As a matter of fact, he was standing before Hyukjae with his arms crossed over his chest and a devious smirk on his face, eerily matching the face Kyuhyun wore regularly and was wearing at the moment.  Hyukjae succeeded in fighting down the blush that threatened to appear on his cheeks, although he saw the light pink tint across his boyfriend’s face.

“It seems like you don’t mind being back here now, huh Hyukjae?”

He mentally cursed Sungmin for making him blush, and then mentally cursed Kyuhyun for laughing at his misery as he wrapped an arm around Sungmin.  “Shut up,” he said, although it came out as nothing more than mumbles.  He felt his boyfriend tighten his arms around his neck and place a soft kiss on his cheek.  “It’s okay, Hyukkie, I still love you,” he said sweetly into Hyukjae’s ear, making the blond blush even more.

Donghae laughed, his breath hitting Hyuk’s neck and making him, overall, all that more flustered.  He was absolutely positive he looked like a firetruck’s offspring by the time Donghae let him go and said, “I’ll be back out in five, I just have to finish changing and then we can head out.  Okay?”

Hyuk simply nodded, struggling to send the blood in his face back to the rest of his body, as his boyfriend went off to finish slipping out of his costume.

xXOXx

After Donghae had finished throwing on his casual jeans, v-neck tee, and leather jacket, he’d grabbed Hyukjae by the hand, waved bye to Sungmin and Kyuhyun, and practically dragged the blond out of the auditorium of his school and into his car.

He’d driven off without saying a single word about where he was taking the blond, leaving Hyukjae curious and anxious.  Hyuk trusted Donghae was going to take them someplace special, because Donghae was Donghae and Donghae always had something special planned in mind.

Yet as they kept driving and heading away from the hustle and bustle of Seoul and into the darkness of the night, Hyuk began feeling uneasy.  He turned to give his boyfriend a look, who, sensing Hyuk’s anxiety, placed a hand over his and calmly ran his thumb over it, sending him a warm smile.  “Don’t worry, Hyukkie,” he said.  “We’ll be there soon.”

Hyuk frowned and parted his lips to ask where they were going but quickly closed them when he realized that maybe asking for the eighth time wouldn’t get him an answer anyway.

Donghae was right; the drive wasn’t much longer, and within the space of ten minutes, Donghae had parked the car and pulled the key out of the ignition.  Hyukjae frowned as he looked around, feeling his confusion grow as he searched for a sign of where they might be.  Well he sure as hell found one when he saw the gate leading to a field of nothing but gravestones.

He felt his blood run cold and his heart drop to his feet, somewhere in the back of his mind registering Donghae exiting the car, opening his door for him, and pulling him out gently.  He looked over at his boyfriend with a concerned eyebrow after a moment of silence in which he examined the relatively dark area around him.  “Hae, what are we doing at a cemetery?”

His boyfriend merely gave him that breathtaking charismatic grin of his and wrapped an arm around him.  “Don’t worry, Hyuk; just trust me.”

“But Hae, it’s dark and creepy out here.”  And it was; it was close to ten o’clock at night and the streetlamps weren’t doing much.

“I know, Hyuk, but I’m here with you.  Don’t worry, nothing bad is going to happen.”

Hyuk raised a questioning eyebrow at which Donghae laughed and planted a kiss on his lips.  “Just come on,” he said, sounding oddly excited.  Hyukjae didn’t question him; rather he let himself be guided in through the wrought iron gates and down the cement paths that led to the different areas of the cemetery.

Their walk was short, lasting only a couple of minutes.  Donghae abruptly stopped at a white marble gravestone before turning to face Hyuk.

“Hyuk,” he said, voice suddenly serious, “there’s someone I’d like you to meet.”

Hyukjae simply looked at his boyfriend’s face, trying to decipher what was going on through his eyes.  Donghae betrayed nothing but seriousness, face and gaze entirely void of anything but.  He took hold of Hyukjae’s hand and rubbed it with both of his own for a moment before he continued.

“When I was younger, my father got very sick and died.  I was a teenager back then, and I’ve never stopped missing him.  I used to miss him so badly that there’d be whole months when I just couldn’t smile.”  He paused and bit his lip.  Hyuk felt his heart breaking at the sight.  Silence reigned for a few moments in which Donghae continued to play with Hyuk’s hand, not meeting his gaze.  The blond stared at his boyfriend, waiting for him to continue.

“But then you showed up.”  His voice seemed to lighten as he looked up at Hyuk, who gasped when he saw the tears in the corners of his boyfriend’s eyes despite the loving smile that was on the boy’s face.  He hastily wiped away Donghae’s tears with the pads of his thumbs, all the while listening to him speak.

“You showed up and you made me smile.  You joked with me, and kissed me, and laughed with me and made me happy.  I thought I’d never be perfectly happy again, and I’d accepted the idea, and then you came in and changed my world.  You became my world.  I know that might sound weird, but it’s true.  I love you so much, Hyukjae.”  He took a shaky breath, Hyukjae just looking into his face with his brow furrowed and lips in a small, concerned pout.  “You make me the happiest I’ve been since my father was alive.”

More tears escaped, tears that Hyukjae wiped away before placing his forehead against Donghae’s, hands on his cheek, thumbs his face softly.  The blond felt his own eyes b with tears, more so because of the fact that Donghae was crying.

He’d never seen Donghae cry but in that instant one thing became certain; he hated seeing Donghae cry.

He softly, ever so softly, placed his lips over the brunette’s before pulling him into a tight embrace.  He felt Donghae’s arms wrap around him just as tightly and breathed out a sigh.  Silence passed between them as they stood there in there dark, clinging to each other in front of the white gravestone as if their lives depended on it.  When Donghae spoke, his voice was no longer shaking, but it was still soft.

“I want you to meet my father, Hyuk.  That’s why we’re here.”  He pulled back to look the blond in the face somberly.  “Will you?”

How could Hyukjae say no?

“Of course, Hae,” he said, placing a soft kiss on the other’s lips.  His boyfriend smiled at him as he stepped out of his arms and over to the gravestone. 

“Hey Dad,” he said, crouching down and placing a hand on top of the gravestone, a sad smile on his face.  Hyukjae felt his heartbeat speed up as he watched from his spot.  “There’s someone here to meet you, Dad.  His name’s Hyukjae.  He’s really special to me.  Remember how I told you things have been tough since you left?”  Donghae paused, tilting his face up toward the sky, seeming to wait for an answer.  He smiled after a second and continued.  Hyukjae simply watched silently, shifting from one foot to the other, suddenly nervous.  “Well, Hyukjae here managed to make it all better.”  Another pause.  “I love him, Dad, and I hope you’ll love him too.”

With that, Donghae turned to Hyukjae with a small smile and waved him over.  Hyukjae shuffled over and crouched down next to his boyfriend, who took hold of his hand and placed it next to his own on the gravestone.  He waved a hand, signaling Hyuk to start talking.  The blond cleared his throat and turned to an angle where he was able to see both Donghae and the gravestone.

“Uh, hi there…”  He paused and turned to look at Donghae, mouthing ‘What do I call him?’  Donghae smiled and said amusedly, “Just call him Dad.  He won’t mind.”  Hyukjae nodded before turning his attention back to the gravestone.  “Hey, uh, Dad.”  He paused and swallowed.  Donghae’s hand found his as he struggled to find words.

“Um, it’s finally nice to meet the person who took part in creating my boyfriend and all that.”  He stopped, realizing what he said with his eyes wide.  “Oh wait, that sounds bad.  I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that.  I mean, not the whole ‘it’s finally nice to meet you’ part, the other part.  Um.”  He paused again, biting his lip unsurely.  He really didn’t know what to say.

He stayed crouched there for a few moments with Donghae holding his hand atop the tombstone, just taking big breaths and wondering what to say.  It wasn’t until Donghae used his free hand to rub along Hyuk’s arm that he found the words.

“Alright, I got it now.  Let me start over.”  He cleared his throat and began again.  “Hi Dad, I’m Hyukjae.  It’s nice to finally meet my boyfriend’s father; you clearly mean so much to him.  He made me wait a whole year before meeting you.  I guess he wanted to make sure I was suitable and, well, I guess he thinks so; I hope you think so too.  I love your son, way more than he knows, I’m sure.  And I want to thank you for helping to create such a beautiful person.  Your son is a good guy, and I’m sure you’re proud of him as his dad; I know I am as his boyfriend.”  He paused again, a small smile gracing his face as he intertwined his fingers with Donghae’s on top of the tombstone.

“We make a year together today, and it’s been the best year of my life so far.  It’s funny; I thought I’d somewhere along the way stop getting so nervous around your son, but no.  Every time he’s around, my heart starts beating really fast and I get really anxious.  I still get butterflies, as weird as that sounds.  He’s perfect to me, so thank you for giving me such a perfect being to love, Dad, even though I don’t deserve him.  He’s become my everything, and I’ll be fighting to spend much, much longer with him.”  He felt his smile broaden as he rubbed the words etched onto the gravestone with his hands lightly, turning to look at the now teary brunette.

At the sight of Donghae tearing up again, Hyukjae panicked.  He removed his hand from Donghae’s and placed both hands on the boy’s face, wiping his tears before they fell.  “Wait, no, don’t cry!  Why are you crying?  Did I do something wrong?  Did I say something bad?  I’m so sorry, Hae!”  He pulled the boy into his embrace in their crouched position.  The sound of soft, breathy laughter hit his ear, making him stop and pull back to look at his boyfriend.  He frowned in befuddlement, hands on Donghae’s shoulders.

“Oh Hyuk, I’m not crying because I’m sad.  I’m crying because I’m happy.”  He placed a soft kiss on the blond’s lips.  “And you do deserve me, so don’t worry about it.”  He smiled through his watery eyes and Hyukjae pulled him in for another tight embrace.  They stayed that way for a while, taking comfort in each other’s warmth.

When they finally did move, it was because Donghae began pulling Hyuk up to stand along with him.  “Well Dad,” he said, looking down at the grave with a small smile stretching his lips, “we’d better get going.  It was nice seeing you again, Dad.  I’ll visit soon, and I’ll bring Hyuk with me, again.  That is,” he said, turning to look at the blond again, “if you want to come.”

Hyukjae smiled reassuringly at his boyfriend.  “Of course.”  Donghae returned his smile before intertwining his fingers with Hyuk’s.  “I’ll be seeing you, Dad.  I love you.”

“Bye, Dad.  I love you too,” Hyukjae pitched in as they began turning to walk back to the car.  The kiss on his cheek indicated that Donghae was happy with the way things had turned out.

And if Donghae’s happy, I’m happy too.

xXOXx

Hyukjae let out a long, relieved sigh as he set down his mug, the warm, caffeinated liquid landing comfortably in his stomach.

They were in the café that they’d gone to on their first date, sitting at the same table in the same seats.  The only thing that had changed, really, was that it was ten thirty and they were just getting there, whereas the first time they’d been there, half past ten was the time they’d left – that and the fact that the two boys who had been practically strangers setting out on an unknown path just a year ago already had a year’s worth of memories behind them and were hopelessly, undoubtedly in love with one another.

Hyukjae watched Donghae as he took a sip from his cup, the boy’s entire body seeming to relax at the contact with the liquid.  He let out his own relieved sigh with his head tilted back, eyes closed in the perfect picture of serenity as the light shone down on his face, giving him an almost angelic glow as he set his cup down.  He popped an eye open to find Hyukjae staring at him with a huge smile on his face.

“What is it?”

The blond just shook his head, biting back the huge grin that was threatening to come up onto his face.  “It’s nothing.”

The brunette furrowed his brow and instinctively placed his hand on his upper lip.  “Do I have whipped cream on my face?”

Hyukjae shook his head with a small chuckle.

“Then what is it?”

“It’s nothing.”

Donghae raised a knowing eyebrow at his boyfriend.  “It’s definitely not nothing, or else you wouldn’t be grinning so hard.”  But he found himself smiling at the gummy grin he adored so much.  The blond didn’t utter a single word, he just sat and stared at the boy for a while.  Donghae’s curiosity peaked.

“What is it,” he practically whined.

Hyukjae finally let out the laugh he’d been holding in before reaching across the table and placing his hand on Donghae’s cheek, rubbing it with his thumb affectionately.  “Nothing, I was just thinking that the lighting in here made you look angelic, although we both know that’s not really the case, particularly not at my house, at least.”

The blush that adorned Donghae’s face put tomatoes to shame.  Hyukjae only laughed again as he leaned over the table and kissed his boyfriend’s head lightly.

“Anyway, Hae, I’ve been thinking,” he said, pausing to take a sip of his coffee.

“Oh, that’s dangerous for you, Hyuk, don’t hurt yourself,” Donghae said jokingly, successfully evading Hyuk’s playful slap.

“Right, right.  Anyway, I’ve been thinking.”  The blond’s face fell into complete seriousness now, although deep inside he felt the butterflies going wild.  “How would you like to move in with me, Hae?”

The brunette in front of him froze, his cup of hot chocolate halfway to his lips, lips themselves parted in a sort of duck-like manner.  He placed the cup on the table and fixed his gaze on Hyuk, cocking his head to the side.  “What’d you say?”

Hyuk blushed and let his gaze fall to his drink.  “I was wondering if you’d like to move in with me, Hae.”  His voice was low and soft, a shy smile spread over his face despite the intense flips his stomach was doing, his hope slowly being torn away with each passing moment in which Donghae didn’t answer.

“Lee Hyukjae,” he finally said after a moment.  “Lee Hyukjae, look at me.”

The blond picked up his head to look at his boyfriend, who leaned over the table and pecked him lightly on the lips.  “Of course I’ll move in with you,” he said once he’d sat back down, his heartbreaking smile planted firmly (and widely) on his face.  Hyukjae felt his heart beating against his ribcage.  “Are you sure,” he asked, although he couldn’t help the grin that was on his face.

Donghae’s smile broadened at the look on Hyuk’s face.  “I’ve never been more sure in my life, Hyuk.”

“About anything?”  He found himself asking, although somewhere deep down, he thought he knew perfectly well what Donghae meant.

“About you.”

His gummy grin could’ve lit up Seoul for the night all on its own.

became my everything.

And there it is, the sequel to "The Last Thing I Ever Wanted"
Equally cheesy, and almost twice as long.
Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this one shot. (:
Thank you so much for reading, Lovelies <3