"Why am I being dragged here again?" Donghae asked, amusement lacing his voice. Kyuhyun was literally dragging him by his arm towards the cafeteria.

"To have lunch with Yesung hyung and his friends." Kyuhyun answered curtly.

"I thought you didn't want me to talk to him? What made you change your mind?"

"I didn't. Hyung asked for you specifically."

"Hmm, I wonder why."

"Yeah, me too." Kyuhyun sighed, grip not relaxing at all at Donghae. "Just... make sure to keep your distance from him, alright?"

"Yeah, sure." Donghae answered easily. He wanted to assure Kyuhyun that he considered Yesung off-limits, naturally, but he was unable to persuade his friend. Kyuhyun had been looking at him suspiciously ever since he returned from the music club yesterday.

"Hyung!" Kyuhyun stopped in front of his black-haired hyung, who was standing just outside the cafeteria doors.

At the sound of Kyuhyun's voice, Yesung turned towards them. A grin immediately appeared at the sight of them. "Oh, hello Kyu, hello Donghae! You're here!"

"Hello Yesung-ssi. Thanks for inviting us." Donghae said politely, and Yesung waved him off.

"Call me Hyung. And thank you for coming with Kyuhyun as well."

"It's nothing." Donghae smiled charmingly, and Kyuhyun threw him a look.

Understanding the message,  Donghae threw his hands up a little in surrender, just as Yesung turned to walk towards one of the food stands.

"Hey, today it's my treat, alright?" Yesung called out over his shoulder and the two immediately thanked him.

After several minutes, which took Kyuhyun and Donghae way too long just to choose the flavor of the chicken that they wanted, Yesung paid for all of their meals. Each holding their own food tray, Yesung began scouting the place to look for his friends.

"There they are." Yesung said and started walking purposefully towards a table full of noisy male students.

"Prepare yourself." Donghae whispered to Kyuhyun, and Kyuhyun sighed. Spending the last months with just Donghae had made him just a little bit antisocial; he wasn't expecting Yesung's crowd to be just that - a crowd. Though he should've had expected this, as he had seen Yesung with a large group of friends during the music club's registration event.

Leading the two into the free seats at the edge of the long table, Yesung started to grab the attention of his friends before the two could sit down.

"Guys!" Yesung almost shouted - he needed to be that loud to be heard over the racket the boys was making. "I asked Kyuhyun and Donghae to have lunch with us today, I hope you don't mind." As though the words uttered by Yesung were magic, silence descended upon the table immediately.

All heads snapped towards the two of them, staring unabashedly until Donghae and even Kyuhyun began to fidget slightly. They kept their eyes trained on the food on their plate - they never knew that chicken could be that interesting to look at.

A few more moments of silence passed, and the two were increasingly feeling uncomfortable. They were just about to leave as it seemed like they weren't welcome at the table anyway, when an authoritative voice sounded along the table.

“Okay guys, let’s try to act normal for today, alright. Let’s not scare them.” Glancing up in surprise at the student who just talked, Donghae and Kyuhyun received a dimpled smile. “Please have a seat. You’re welcome to join us. And I’m apologizing in advance for anything that the people in this table might do or say.” The student said, pointedly eyeing two other students at their table.

 Almost sighing in relief that the tense moment was over, Donghae and Kyuhyun put down their trays on the table and quietly sat down next to the nice student.

Expecting Yesung to sit beside them, Kyuhyun was slightly surprised to see Yesung sitting directly in front of him when he looked up. Instead of looking at them, though, Kyuhyun found Yesung grinning widely at a friend that was seated next to him. Glancing briefly at Yesung's seatmate, Kyuhyun was about to look back at Yesung and call for his attention when a glimmer of something really bright caught his eye.

Wait, isn't that...

Fighting the urge to grin, Kyuhyun waited for his dearest friend to notice the same thing.

3...

2...

1...

Donghae stiffened almost imperceptibly, but he managed to recover in a heartbeat. A genuine smile lighting his face up, Donghae immediately addressed the student sitting in front of him.

“It’s you! How have you been? You haven’t been molested again by anyone, have you?”

Too amused by his friend's current behavior, Kyuhyun only managed to glance at the blond as the said student shook his head, before he returned his gaze at his friend. He heard a few muffled snickers around the table, but Kyuhyun simply took that as a reaction to Donghae's words.

“That’s good to hear. Oh, I believe I forgot to introduce myself last time. I’m Lee Donghae.” Donghae stuck out his hand to the blond student for a handshake, bright smile never leaving his face.

Kyuhyun mentally applauded his friend's words and actions.  Good to know you finally learned, my friend.

“I’m… Lee Hyukjae." Oh right, Donghae did mention that that was the blond's name. Kyuhyun had almost forgotten - he must've been playing really seriously