Sometimes Sweetly, Sometimes Achingly

Chapter 8: Heal

“It’s okay, we know we’re fucked up,” Soojung casually remarked. She examined her forkful of pie and wrinkled her nose. “Oh, crap. This wasn’t the chocolate one.”

“Anyway,” Donghae cut in quickly with a slightly panicked look in his eyes. “Does anyone have any fun plans for the rest of the holidays?”

Sooyeon shook her head. “I’m back to work on the twenty-sixth.”

“Same,” Yunho said through a mouthful of potatoes. “May spend New Years with Jaejoong but who knows.”

“Ugh,” Jaehyun wrinkled his nose in disgust. “I can’t believe you’re dating my boss now. There’s so many reason why that feels wrong.”

Taeyong nodded sympathetically, said, “I know exactly how that feels.”

Hyukjae, who’d been innocently minding his business and nursing his glass of wine, spittaked all over Jaemin and Jeno. The younger boys jumped back in shock while Donghae’s jaw dropped.

“Lee Hyukjae!” He cried in disbelief.

“Sorry, sorry,” Hyukjae mumbled sheepishly, offering Jaemin and Jeno a full stack of napkins. He turned back to Taeyong, said, “And in my defense, I was your brother’s boyfriend way before I was your boss.”

“It’s still weird sometimes,” Taeyong shrugged.

Soojung rolled her eyes as she grabbed a piece of the chocolate pie. “Sometimes I feel like D&E is just one giant incestuous family,” she muttered.

Hyukjae looked absolutely affronted at that comment. “Excuse me, but I have established a very strict atmosphere of professionalism at my workplace!” He insisted.

“Oppa,” Soojung deadpanned. “Out of your workers, you have a married couple, an engaged couple, and like twenty dating couples. And don’t try to tell me you’re professional when Jongin told me he saw Taeyong making out with Jaehyun in his office.”

“Huh. I guess that’s true,” Hyukjae mused.

Donghae and Yunho, on the other hand, were concerned about something else entirely.

“Taeyong! You’ve been making out with your boyfriend at work!” Donghae exclaimed. He looked positively scandalized by the revelation, with his eyes comically widened and mouth hanging open.

“You’ve been coming to the studio and not telling me?” Yunho demanded.

Taeyong groaned and pressed his forehead against Jaehyun’s shoulder. A blush spread across his cheeks when he thought of how steamy one particular visit ended up being.

Jaehyun, however, didn’t seem to mind. He leveled his gaze with his brother’s and said, “Hey, Hyukjae-hyung. My brother’s been hiding all his cleaning supplies in his desk for a year,” with a smirk.

“Goddammit, Yunho!” Hyukjae shouted.

Donghae sighed. “Why can’t we ever have normal family dinners again?”

“The fucked up-ness of the Jung family has gotten to you guys,” Soojung replied solemnly. “Got any more pie?”

When Jaehyun opened the door, he got assaulted.

“Merry Christmas!” Taeyong shouted, throwing two large handfuls of tissue paper confetti and glitter in Jaehyun’s face.

“What the fuck!” Jaehyun attempted to shield himself from the attack, which just made Taeyong giggle and throw more confetti at him.

Suddenly, Jaehyun snatched Taeyong by the wrist and dragged him down to the ground, holding him in place with a knee to his chest. “Do you surrender?” Jaehyun teased while he held both of Taeyong’s wrists in one hand.