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“We don’t live together. So we don’t really know how the other does skincare.”
That was the very first thing Lee Donghae said when he was asked who was more meticulous about skincare.
After that came the usual polished remarks—how they managed themselves well, how they would continue to look good in front of fans, how they trusted and used the sponsor’s products. Nothing out of place. Nothing risky.
Lee Hyukjae felt so bitter he almost laughed.
This wasn’t the first time Donghae had taken a chance to hint—carefully, gently—that they were not a couple.
And yet, so many fans stubbornly believed they were real. A real couple. A real ship.
They once were.
They simply weren’t anymore.
Ever since that stopped being true, Donghae had learned to choose his moments. Whenever he thought it appropriate, he would say it was friendship, that they were just friends. When they went driving together, the title would read: Our Flower Language Is Eternal Friendship.
Fans called it overexplaining.
Fans also said Donghae was cute—overexplaining was cute too.
He was cute. Hyukjae thought so as well. Donghae was so beautiful that whatever he did felt justified; at worst, he was hateful and adorable at the same time.
This time was no different. By emphasizing that they didn’t live together, Donghae knew exactly how it would be taken. Fans would think Hyukjae was shy. That it was cute. That maybe they didn’t live together, but were still impossibly close—intimate in ways that didn’t need to be explained.
Very few people would believe Donghae’s words at face value.
But Hyukjae knew they were true.
They had broken up the day before the company was officially announced. At thirty-seven, Hyukjae didn’t cause a scene. He didn’t rush, didn’t argue. He simply asked how everything was supposed to be handled afterward—the company, the fans, all the things that couldn’t be put on hold.
Donghae told him nothing would change.
They would treat fans the same. Give them what they liked to see. The company would continue as planned; they would make money together, no one screwing anyone over. D&E would keep releasing music and touring. When they returned to suju, they would still work hard together, still cooperate with their members as professionals.
He just wouldn’t be in a relationship with Hyukjae anymore.
Even after that, they still found themselves in bed together a few times. When Hyukjae held him down, it still felt overwhelmingly good. Donghae seemed to enjoy it too—his body more open than before, even more alluring. But whatever it was, it wasn’t love. Not anymore.
At Donghae’s request, they eventually took back everything they had left in each other’s apartments. The last traces of shared space were quietly erased.
They had been tangled together for so many years, breaking up and getting back together more times than Hyukjae cared to count. Sometimes it was him. Sometimes it was Donghae. But only this time felt final—clean in its cruelty.
Hyukjae hinted. He tried to please him. He tried to coax him back. Donghae accepted none of it.
And yet, he was still kind.
He ran around for Hyukjae’s solo schedules. On Hyukjae’s birthday, he sent a red envelope and wheeled out a cake himself. When Hyukjae cautiously asked if he could come over to livestream together, Donghae agreed without hesitation. He even suggested ringing the doorbell and letting himself in—fans loved that kind of thing, it would look better on camera.
Donghae was strange like that.
He showed fans how close they were, how natural and affectionate they looked together—then, elsewhere, he would turn distant again, quietly reminding the world that they were not that kind of relationship.
The interview was coming to an end. Hyukjae turned his head and caught sight of Donghae’s lovely profile, the brand representative smiling beside him. He sighed inwardly.
So ruthless, Lee Donghae.And so in love with money.
Suddenly Donghae nudged him with his arm. It was time to read the advertising line. Hyukjae straightened up, mirroring Donghae’s posture without thinking. They spoke in perfect sync, saying the same words, wearing the same practiced smiles:
“The strongest duo, naturally the most loved.”