~Ratin, Ratin swipji anheun eoneo-deulleo tto hokeun keukjeok, keukjeok~

Lee Hyukjae blearily reached out for his silver ipod to turn of the goddamn alarm. He sighed, wondering how he had had the sense to set one of his favourite songs as his alarm tone. Waking up at five in the fricking morning was really a pain in the . Paining asses, that reminded him of that manga he had read the day before. He shook his head and ordered it to stop wandering and focus on why he was awake. Having successfully eases his mind, Hyukjae got up and walked into the bathroom to take a shower. Pretty much the same, daily routine - strip, soap, wash, shampoo, ri- wait a minute. He squeezed the bottle harder but to his horror, there was nothing in it. He knew there was only one thing to do now...

"Kyuhyun! How dare you use up all my shampoo?! I know for a fact that it was half-full just yesterday. After I've told you over and over again-"

"You're holding the empty bottle of lotion" said Kyuhyun, interrupting his brother's passionate tirade.

"Oh. Right. Well, go back to whatever you were doing then" He snapped and banged the door shut.

Hyukjae placed his hands on his head and groaned. As a result of his useless yelling, he now had a pounding headache. Shaking his head, which only worsened the pain, he proceeded to wash his hair with the shampoo. He spent a good five minutes staring into space, thinking about the pros and cons of slavery until he realized that he needed to finish his english homework. He quickly rinsed and brushed his teeth and then hurried out to get dressed.

Hyukjae smiled at his uniform-clad reflection and fixed his black hair neatly. It was a real pity that he couldn't dye his hair. He had always wondered how his hair would look with red highlights or maybe blue streaks. After glaring at Kyuhyun who was lazing around on the bed, he walked out of the room. He failed to comprehend how his brother was so lethargic in the morning, yet the most active person in the house.

He popped into the master bedroom to wake his mother and then headed to his study to finish his essay. Much as he loved the subject, Hyukjae was a freelance writer and didn't appreciate having to work without inspiration. Reluctantly he plodded through it because, all said and done, he hated going to school without completing his homework. Twenty minutes later, a triumphant Hyukjae flung his pen down and packed his bag.

He raced down the stairs and halted at the kitchen. Hyukjae hugged their housekeeper on seeing that she was preparing his favourite chicken pasta for lunch. She took out bread and strawberry jam and expertly made a sandwich for him. She beat last week's record of thirty seconds, he noted. Gulping down his breakfast hungrily and after a final yell to both his mother and Kyuhyun, he left for school at seven-fifteen. There was a good half-hour left till the first warning bell would sound.

Being a semi-environmentalist, i.e. he cared enough to switch off unnecessary electrical equipment but not quite to sacrifice his computer, Hyukjae walked briskly to school. On the way, he looked around at the morning hustle and bustle. He lived in a slightly nostalgic part of the city where people followed a certain pattern in their lifestyle. By now, Hyukjae had already familiarized himself with the chirpy old lady who owned the grocery store - she gave him a free apple once, the creepy hobo who stood by the newspaper stand, the neighbourhood postman with his big red van but most importantly, the dog that sat at the end of the street. Even as he passed by it now, Hyukjae gulped nervously, flashes of rabid barking and red underwear replayed in his mind.

Hyukjae smiled cheerily at the guard and entered 'Seoul Academy' - a prestigious, co-ed school. The blue walls that generally evoked bright feelings only made his mood dreary. The one thing he could actually agree with the majority of the student population was that Mondays should never have been created. All his happy thoughts vanished as it struck him that he would be spending the next eight hours there. He reluctantly dragged himself up the stairs, all the way to the fourth floor, murderously muttering about the lack of an elevator. Being a senior was rather annoying, at times like this. 

The fourth floor consisted of seven rooms only for the senior students and teachers. A few laboratories and a staffroom adorned the floor as well. If one needed to use the restroom, they would have the honour of walking down four floors until they can relieve themselves. Hyukjae walked down the corridor, bowing and waving to his friends and random schoolmates. At the sight of his closest friend, he rushed to pounce on him, after dumping his bag in his class.

"Just how many times have I told you not to do that?"

"Chul-ah, I'm so happy to see you after that long weekend!" yelled Hyukjae, while situated like a monkey on the other's back.

"We chatted like the whole day yesterday!. Now get off of me, monkey!" groaned Heechul, trying to throw him off.

"So what brings you here so early, Princess?" teased Hyukjae, successfully procuring a blush on Heechul's face.

"W-What? The heck you just called me?" spluttered Heechul, straightening himself in an attempt to be manly.

"A little birdie told me all about what happened" drawled Hyukjae, "I can't believe you didn't tell me when you had the entire fricking weekend to bring up the topic!"

"I was too bloody embarrassed to say anything! I suppose it was Key who told you?" He asked, with his arms crossed.

"Actually, I got it straight from the source. Hankyung couldn't be happier" grinned Hyukjae.

"Well he should be. He gets to have the most handsome man of the school and all I get is him" snapped Heechul, his snark resurfacing.

"Oh please. I quote, 'Hankyung's, I mean Hannie's eyes are so beautiful. His accent is marvelous. He makes me swoon with his dance routine.' Need I say more?" quipped Hyukjae. 

"Oh shut up, monkey." He retorted weakly, just as the final bell rang.

One of the frustrating habits of the school was that the entire school would gather in the courtyard for a morning assembly. Heechul disappeared to do his prefect work while Hyukjae stood in line with his classmates. He smiled widely at his other best friend, Hyoyeon. She was his closest female acquaintance and they shared an interesting history. Hyoyeon's aunt and Hyukjae's mother had both been in the same fraternity in college and her sister Yoona was Kyuhyun's present best friend slash crush. Their families often met up and held parties and such.

The students proceeded to the courtyard and after five minutes to quiet down, the assembly began. A most ridiculous - to Hyukjae - thought on self confidence and peer pressure was read out to a bored audience. After another reminder from the Principal to be in their best behaviour, the students were rushed back to their classrooms. Hyukjae smirked when he saw L.Joe being pulled aside for his pink hair and piercings. He was astonished and a little awed that Key was able to evade detention with a half-shaved head.

A weird aspect of the school was that the teachers moved from class to class while the students remained in one. It was most benefitting when the teacher had to walk a long distance and hence delay class hours, but it was rather hard to cut class and leave the campus. Two of Hyukjae's seniors, Eun Ji Won and Tablo had once confided a secret method to get out of the school, but he had yet to try it out.

To Hyukjae's and indeed the entire class' immense happiness, it was announced that their science teacher was absent. In the seat before him, Heechul yawned and put his head on the desk. Obviously someone had spent a little too much time awake and on the computer, thought Hyukjae with a scoff. He turned to his seatmate and began a random conversation on the essence of life. Luckily, a little of Hyukjae's weirdness had rubbed off on Hyunseung who participated willingly. 

When Hyukjae looked up, he saw a tall guy at the door. Simultaneously, his heart took up a faster pace and his stomach churned. The fact that he knew perectly why the boy was peering into the room made him feel ten times worser than before. Hyukjae returned half-heartedly to his conversation.

After all, staring at him wasn't exactly going to cure his heartbreak.

Especially when said boy was in love with Heechul.

A highly descriptive and slightly abstract chapter...

Hope the ending was interpreted the right way. All will be explained in the next chapter~

Thank you subscribers for well, uh subscribing T_T

Rina.