~*~

"You look happy today."

"Well, that's because I am." Kyuhyun declared, barely able to stop a grin from breaking out.

"What happened?"

"Well... I went to Yesung hyung's house this weekend to tutor him, but he was too sick so we just ended up hanging out." Kyuhyun said simply, not wanting to elaborate on the details. That knowledge was for him and Yesung only.

"Oohh, that sounds fun. No wonder your scary aura has completely disappeared." Donghae chuckled lightly.

"Yep." Kyuhyun was unable to repress his grin at that time. "By the way, how are you and Hyukjae doing?" Kyuhyun asked, turning to look at his friend.

At his words, sadness filled Donghae eyes - which disappeared after just a second, but Kyuhyun's sharp eyes didn't miss it.

"Still haven't talked to him?" Kyuhyun said, voice casual. They had actually met up earlier with Yesung and stopped to chat with him for a while, until Hyukjae passed by.

Hyukjae attempted to apologize to Donghae again, but Donghae ignored the other student and went away in a hurry, making up some stupid lie about having to go to a store.

The look on the blond student's eyes as he watched Donghae walk away was enough to make even Kyuhyun feel sorry for him.

Shrugging, Donghae didn't say anything.

"Your choice then." Kyuhyun only said, not wanting to force his friend into doing anything he's not yet prepared for.

It was the least he could do after all the help that Donghae had given him in the past months.

~*~

"You really won't be able to keep dodging him like that." Kyuhyun commented, watching as Hyukjae's figure grew smaller from afar.

"I can keep trying." Donghae answered, not even looking at Hyukjae's direction. Kyuhyun turned towards his friend, frowning.

"Hae," he started, voice firm. "what's wrong? Did something happen?" Kyuhyun studied the blank expression that his friend wore. He never pegged Donghae to be the overly sensitive sort of guy. One kiss - even though it was without his consent - shouldn't be enough reason for him to act this way.

"You know what happened - "

"Obviously something else did. Cough it up." Kyuhyun's tone booked no argument, and Donghae sighed in defeat.

"It's just that - the day after that incident happened, I was at the cafeteria to buy lunch. I passed by Hyukjae's group's table, and right then Hyukjae said something along the lines of 'I didn't mean for it to happen'. He even looked like he's in despair or something." Donghae chuckled humorlessly.

"But they could've been talking about anything - "

"Yeah, that's what I thought too, until I saw the other guys making these ridiculous kissy faces at each other, laughing around with each other." Donghae sighed deeply. "I'm thinking - Hyukjae and the others must've known that I was interested in Hyukjae, and they're probably playing some kind of sick joke on me. Why else did Hyukjae keep touching me out of the blue? To make it seem like he was interested in me as well, to see if I'd play along with it?"

"Donghae, I don't think Hyukjae is that kind of person."  Kyuhyun said gently, remembering the forlorn expression that Hyukjae wore every single time Donghae managed to escape from him. "And remember, hyung is a part of their group and he's really close with Hyukjae as well. I trust Yesung hyung, he won't let that happen."

"I know, I'm not making a lot of sense right now. It's just... the thought of Hyukjae possibly laughing at me, at what I feel for him... I can't handle it right now." Donghae said, eyes downcast.

"All right." Kyuhyun sighed, clapping his friend at his back. "Just let me know if you decide to do anything, all right? I'll help you out however I can."

"Thanks Kyu." Donghae answered, a small smile on his lips. A thought seemed to occur to him, then, as a small, mischevious sparkle somewhat returned to his eyes. "Kyu, what if I decide to transfer to another school? Will you come with me?"

At those words, Kyuhyun stopped patting Donghae at the back and started to walk off furiously, saying, "No can do. You're on your own then, mate, I ain't giving up hyung for your little problem."

"Yah Kyuhyun! You're really not a good friend!" Donghae yelled, a smile starting to stretch on his lips as he caught up to Kyuhyun's long stride. "Come on, are you really choosing hyung over me?" he nagged, pulling Kyuhyun's arm.

"I'll do that any day." Kyuhyun answered promptly and expertly avoided Donghae's incoming slap in the head without even looking at his friend.

Score one for me! was Kyuhyun's thought as he moved his leg just in time out of Donghae's kicking range.

And another one! Kyuhyun thought with a smirk.

~*~

"Kyuhyun." Yesung started.

"Hmm?" Kyuhyun replied, eyes still focused on the latest problem set that Yesung solved a few minutes earlier.

"How's - how's Donghae? Is he okay?" Yesung asked hesitantly.

Slowly, Kyuhyun put the papers down and sighed. "Not good." he said honestly.

Yesung flinched. "Is he really mad at Hyukjae?"

"Probably." Kyuhyun said. Not wanting to divulge any more information about his friend, he changed the topic. "What about Hyukjae though? Is he alright?"

Yesung sighed as well at the question. "He's not." Yesung sat back in his chair before staring outside the window beside their table. "I really want to help him, but I'm not sure if I should interfere."

"We should just let them figure it out on their own