Dark Night [Sequel to 'White Night']

Chapter 2

Wooseok sighed for the nth time this morning. He was in Dongyeol’s bed, his foot propped up onto an extra pillow, while his boyfriend prepared breakfast. Wooseok had never been one to just sit around and now he was forced to do just that – for two endless weeks. The only silver lining was that most of that time would be spent with Dongyeol.

The thought brought a little smile to his face. Sometimes he still couldn’t believe how lucky he was. If you had told him half a year ago that Lee Dongyeol would ever choose him over Hwanhee, his best friend and long-time crush, he would’ve deemed you crazy. But the past three months had been absolutely amazing for them.

“Breakfast is here!” Dongyeol announced and shuffled into his bedroom with a tray in his hands which he placed over Wooseok’s lap before sitting down next to him. “Bacon, eggs, toast and orange juice...my favorite”, Wooseok said with a smile. Dongyeol grinned and leaned in closer to kiss him. “Whatever it takes to nurse you back to health as soon as possible”, he mumbled.

“How are you feeling?” Dongyeol asked him. Wooseok shrugged, letting the younger feed him a piece of bacon. “It barely even hurts. The doctor was probably just overexaggerating”, he replied. Dongyeol raised his eyebrow at Wooseok. “I may not be captain of our team but I won’t allow you to play next Wednesday!” he warned the older. Wooseok pouted again. “But-”

Dongyeol didn’t let him finish but shut him up with another kiss, this one a bit more heated than the last one. Wooseok’s hands tangled in Dongyeol’s brown locks as he deepened the kiss. He felt Dongyeol smirk right before he pulled back just as Wooseok was getting into it. “No buts, eat your breakfast”, he said with a cheeky grin on his face. “I’m suddenly not that hungry anymore”, Wooseok mumbled and tried to catch the younger’s lips in another kiss.

Dongyeol blocked him with a slice of toast which he’d snatched from the tray. He laughed at Wooseok’s baffled expression and took a bite from the toast. “So much for nursing me back to health”, Wooseok mumbled, fake offended, as he began munching on his own slice of toast. Dongyeol just chuckled.

“Hello, somebody home?” a voice came from downstairs. Wooseok looked at Dongyeol who crawled out of bed again to greet their guest, whom he had immediately recognized. “Hwanhee”, he said once he’d reached the bottom of the stairs. His best friend grinned at him. He knew where the spare key was so Dongyeol wasn’t surprised that he’d let himself in.

“Hey”, he said. “Do you want to practice today, just us like in the old times?” Dongyeol laughed. “Why do you have to make it sound like we’re 40 and retired?” Hwanhee chimed in with his laughter. “Well, we just barely hang out lately...”, he said. Dongyeol made a face. That was true. A few months ago they had been inseparable but once Dongyeol had started dating Wooseok, their time together had become less and less.  

“I can’t today...Wooseok’s here...I’m taking care of him, you know...because of his injury...”, he told the slightly older male. Hwanhee’s face fell. “Oh...”, he commented. Dongyeol didn’t fail to notice an emotion running over his best friend’s face; he couldn’t quite put his finger on what exactly it was, though.

“Um...is his foot okay?” Hwanhee asked. Dongyeol nodded with a small smile. “He probably won’t be able to play next week but he’s going to be alright...”, he replied. Hwanhee made a sound of acknowledgement. “That’s good...well, if you can’t I’ll just practice alone or with Changhyun...”, he said and turned to leave.

“Hwan-” Dongyeol began but the door already slammed shut after Hwanhee. Dongyeol sighed and decided to go back upstairs to Wooseok. The older had finished breakfast and was looking at him expectantly when he entered the bedroom again. “What did Hwanhee want?” he questioned.

Dongyeol was glad to see that his boyfriend was no longer bitter when he spoke Hwanhee’s name. It had taken a lot of time for Wooseok and Hwanhee to get along again after what had happened between them three months ago. However, Dongyeol couldn’t help but feel like their relationship had never fully recovered...and that it was partly his fault.

“To practice...I told him I’m taking care of you, though”, Dongyeol replied and got back in bed. “Was he mad?” Wooseok questioned and put an arm around Dongyeol. “I’m not sure...he took off pretty quickly...”, Dongyeol replied. “He’s been pretty distant lately, now that I think about it...maybe he’s mad at me...”, he said, thinking about how quickly Hwanhee had taken off.

“You should go, then...I’ll be fine on my own”, Wooseok told him. Dongyeol looked at him. “Are you sure? I don’t want to leave you here by yourself.” Wooseok gave him a quick peck on the lips. “Talk to Hwanhee. I can’t have any kind of tension in my team!” he said. Dongyeol thought about it for a few seconds before he got up once again, this time taking the tray with him.

“Don’t walk around too much!” he warned his boyfriend. Wooseok just waved off. “I’m fine, nurse Lee. Now go!” he teased. Dongyeol stuck his tongue out at him and got ready to head to the ice hockey stadium.