Chapter 30

Maybe It Is Love

Eunhyuk groaned as his sleep was disturbed by something. His head throbbed in pain, making him let out an annoyed grunt.

 

“What the !” he hissed at his morning headache and slowly sat up on the bed, leaning his back against the headrest while massaging his temple.

 

“Gosh! This is killing me. Those ty bastards!” he cursed at his friends, remembering that they were the ones who made him drink forcefully. He hadn’t even intended to get drunk.

 

He was just supposed to go to the party, spend some time with his friends and go back home by evening. He was supposed to have a nice dinner with his Hae and cuddle him to sleep.

 

Eunhyuk’s eyes widened as realization hit him, “!” When and how did I come home?

 

He then noticed that he was only wearing his boxers under the duvet and the rest of his body was . Did Hae take off my clothes?

 

The headache came back and Eunhyuk groaned, deciding that it’d be better to take a bath and freshen up.

 

Standing up from the bed, Eunhyuk walked towards his bathroom, frowning as he heard the sound of water coming from inside.

 

Strange, he thought, who is there? Is it Hae?

 

Pushing the door open, Eunhyuk stepped inside and froze on his spot. What was a girl doing in his bathroom?

 

A girl was taking a shower in his bathroom. Hearing the door being opened, the girl turned around and smiled at him, “Oh, you’re awake. I hope you don’t mind me using your bathroom.”

 

She turned the shower off and took the towel hanging on the clothe stand before wrapping it around her body, purposely wearing it in a way that showed her cleavage.

 

“Who are you?” Eunhyuk growled at her threateningly. He was in panic even if he didn’t show it. His heart was beating fast in anxiety because he could somehow guess what she was doing in his and Donghae’s apartment. But he was still refusing to believe it without being sure because the possibility of him being right was so scary that Eunhyuk’s throat was closing up.

 

The girl pouted, “You don’t remember? Can’t blame you though. You were so drunk.” She walked closer to Eunhyuk and smirked seductively, “Last night I brought you here because your friends gave me the responsibility to take care of you,” she bit her lip like a , eyeing Eunhyuk’s crotch covered in nothing but his boxers.

 

The redheaded boy’s breath hitched in dread, “What do you mean? D-Did something happen between us?”

 

The redheaded boy could feel that his throat was getting dry from the nervousness. He just wanted her to say that no, nothing happened between us so that he could stop the uncomfortable feeling creeping into his heart.

 

The girl giggled as she touched Eunhyuk’s abs but the redheaded boy slapped her hand away. She looked displeased at the action but answered anyway, “Well, I stripped our clothes, gave you a but you were so out of it. And you also kept mumbling someone else’s name. So, I couldn’t do more than that. But now that you’re awake,” she giggled, “Shall we continue?”

 

She tried to bring Eunhyuk down for a kiss but the redheaded boy roughly pushed her away. She was trying to act cute and it was getting on his nerves, making him even more furious, “Get the hell out of my house.” Eunhyuk began to yell at the girl in anger.

 

His mind was in panic because he had made the same mistake of bringing a girl to their apartment again. The first time he had done that, Donghae was hurt and he had cried to sleep. Eunhyuk still remembered the brunette’s tear stained face after waking up the next morning. Donghae had also confessed his love for Eunhyuk that night but it had been such a sad confession that the redheaded boy could still remember his hurtful eyes, his soft palms caressing the elder boy’s head, his addicting smell.

 

Eunhyuk regretted it so much but he made that same mistake again.

 

“Why are you so rude, handsome? I promise I’m really good at pleasuring my partner,” she smirked seductively and whined, trying to sound y, “We can even have a , you know. Your cute friend who was here last night can join us too.”

 

The redheaded boy’s head snapped up to the girl, it means Hae was awake when I- he couldn’t think anymore. His head was hurting from the hangover and also at the discovery of what he had done.

 

And that was also eyeing his Hae the previous night. Eunhyuk could feel a fire grow in him as his anger towards the girl and himself doubled over.

 

“I said get out,” Eunhyuk began yelling at the girl. “Get out before I throw you out myself. That’s my wife you are ing talking about!”

 

 

 

 

 

 

Eunhyuk stood nervously outside Donghae’s bedroom. He didn’t know how to face Donghae after what he had done unconsciously. It wasn’t technically his fault but the redheaded boy couldn’t help blaming himself for not being careful enough and getting drunk to the point of not being aware of what had been happening with him.

 

Did Donghae cry again? Was he angry at him? Eunhyuk was so nervous but standing there without doing anything wouldn’t help at all. He needed to face the brunette and explain everything to him. His heart was beating in an unhealthy pace from the fear of Donghae not believing him, not trusting him that he actually had no intention to bring that girl home.

 

Eunhyuk had seen Donghae cry for a similar incident before but back then, Eunhyuk hadn’t known why his heart had ached seeing the tear stains on the younger boy’s face. He hadn’t known why he had thought that the way Donghae had blinked his sleepy eyes open was cute. He had no idea why he had felt so happy knowing that the younger boy loved him.

 

But at this moment, he had the answers of all those questions. It’s because he had started falling for Donghae little by little at that time.
Biting his lip in worry, Eunhyuk knocked on the wooden door. “Hae, open the door, please. I’m sorry. I can explain.”

 

There was no sound of movement or any indication that Donghae was going to open the door. Eunhyuk’s heart was being stabbed by guilt and shame for himself. Donghae was really angry with him.

 

He knocked on the door again, this time speaking in a desperate tone, “Please, Hae. You don’t have to forgive me. I know I’m an , a bastard, a jerk. But please, just hear me out.”

 

Silence greeted him again. The redheaded boy’s eyes started watering because he must’ve hurt his little Hae so much. His childhood best friend, his playmate and his wife. His love. The pain was reflecting back to hurt Eunhyuk in a double force.

 

“Please, Hae. You can curse at me, punch me, and kick me. Anything you want. Just open the door, please,” he pleaded, knocking at the door with more force.

 

But Donghae still wasn’t opening the door and Eunhyuk was getting scared. What if something happened to him?

 

“Baby, please open the door or I’m coming in,” he spoke this time in a gentle but firm tone, so worried about the brunette that he didn’t even notice the term of endearment he had used.

 

As there still wasn’t any response, Eunhyuk pushed the door and surprisingly, it was not locked. Stepping inside with a wildly beating heart, the redheaded boy frowned. There was no sign of the brunette anywhere. He checked the bathroom too but it was empty.

 

“Where is he?” his mind panicked as thousands of possibility ran through his mind.

 

Then a piece of paper on the bedside table caught his attention. With hurried steps, he reached the table and picked the paper up, widening his eyes that it was a letter to him written by none other than his missing wife.

 

Holding his breath, Eunhyuk began reading the younger boy’s pretty handwriting.

 

Hyukkie,

 

It’s Donghae. Today is a very special day for you, your birthday. I wish you all the happiness in this world. You are a really precious person and I always want you to enjoy your life to the fullest.

 

I’m sorry. I have always known how about feel about this marriage but I finally realized how wrong it is to hold you back just because we were bound by vows that you never wanted. All this while, I was busy trying to be a better wife for you, hoping that one day you’ll love me back. But I never thought how it was affecting your life.

 

The first time I realized that I was in love with you, we were just classmates that had never talked to each other. I used to watch you from afar, wondering how it felt to be loved by you but you were always surrounded by girls. So, I never had the courage to go up to you and talk. The few times we ended up talking though, we just quarreled about small matters. And then when I was standing at the altar, staring at the man who I fell in love with. I was happy, ecstatic even. To find out that my husband was none other than you.

 

We have gone through a lot of things together. And after marrying you, I have learnt a lot about love, about life. I always wanted to have your attention, wanted you to look at me, love me the way I love you. But now I finally realize that I was just burdening you with my love that you never even asked for.

 

But you are a kind man, Hyukkie. So, you gave me sweet memories to treasure. Even if for a while, you made me feel loved. And now that I know how being loved and wanted by you feels, even if you were just acting for my sake, I can finally let you go now. These beautiful memories of us together, I’ll hold them close to my heart and treasure them forever. Thank you, Hyukkie.

 

This is my gift for you on this day. I’m finally freeing you, Hyukkie. I’m setting you free from me, from this marriage. Forget me and forget everything we did these two and a half months. Pretend that we never knew each other more than strangers. I’ll stop loving you. Please, be happy, Hyukkie. That’s all I want from you.

 

Donghae

 

 

 

“No, no, no, ! No!” Eunhyuk cursed as he ran to his own bedroom and picked up his phone, the letter scrunched inside his other fist. He quickly dialed Donghae’s number and began to pace around his room, “Pick it up, pick it up. Please, pick it up.” He kept chanting as he kept calling the brunette over and over again. But every time he called, the call kept ringing till it went to the voice message.

 

“Hae, pick up the phone, damn it!” Eunhyuk was losing his mind. What the hell did Donghae mean by saying that he was going to free him? Why did Eunhyuk have a bad feeling about all of this? Where did Donghae go anyway?

 

As the brunette didn’t even pick up his fifth call, he decided to call someone else who might know where the younger boy was. Running his fingers through his hair in frustration, Eunhyuk searched for Hangeng’s number in his call list and called him.

 

It rang for a while before it went to voicemail. Gritting his teeth in irritation, Eunhyuk called again and this time the call was received.

 

“Eunhyuk, what the hell! I’m in class,” he heard Hangeng hiss with a whisper.

 

Eunhyuk ignored the elder male’s irritated voice and asked what he wanted to know instead, “Hangeng hyung, did Hae go to school today?”

 

He could imagine Hangeng frowning, “No, he didn’t. Chullie said Donghae was busy with something.”

 

“With what? Did he tell you? Do you know where he is now?” Eunhyuk was desperate to find the brunette so that he could ask him what he really meant by whatever he wrote in that damn letter.

 

He needed to confront him about his own feelings.

 

“Calm down, Hyuk. No, Chullie didn’t say anything about where he is,” Hangeng could sense the desperation, the frustration in Eunhyuk’s voice which made him wonder what was wrong. And why was Eunhyuk of all people asking about Donghae?

 

“Goddamnit, hyung! I need to talk to Heechul hyung.”

 

Before Hangeng could ask him what was wrong, Eunhyuk hung up the call and sprinted towards his own room. He took a jacket and his car keys before running out of the apartment, returning a few moments later because he forgot to lock the door.

 

After that Eunhyuk got into his car and drove towards the school. He was already very late for class so he decided to skip classes for the day. He had more important matters to take care of anyway.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Heechul was chatting with Sungmin as they walked towards the cafeteria. Their class before lunchtime had just ended and Sungmin was whining about how hungry he was because apparently he couldn’t eat breakfast because of his boyfriend. They went at it for two rounds before getting ready for school which had left them no time to take care of their stomachs.

 

Heechul wasn’t listening to half of the other boy’s words because his mind was somewhere else. He was thinking if Donghae had done what he was going to. The younger boy was not answering his call and so Heechul was a bit worried. But he guessed that Donghae didn’t want to talk to anybody at this moment.

 

As if to add more to his worry, he suddenly found himself being dragged to a different direction than the cafeteria by a very furious Eunhyuk. Well, way to go.

 

“Hyuk, where are you taking me? Let me go,” Heechul uttered in a very calm and calculated voice.

 

Eunhyuk ignored his question and kept walking as Heechul didn’t even try to set his wrist free from the younger boy’s grip.

 

As they reached the back of the school building, Eunhyuk finally let his hand go and turned to face him with an accusing gaze, “Now tell me, hyung. Where’s Donghae?”

 

Heechul’s face was calm but a bit surprised as he blinked his eyes cluelessly, “Donghae? Donghae who?”

 

Eunhyuk chuckled in disbelief, “Now you are asking me who Donghae is? Hyung, stop your acting.”

 

Heechul locked his eyes with the redheaded boy and said in a very convincing tone, “I have no idea who you are talking about.”

 

Eunhyuk clenched his jaw, closing his eyes to control his temper before opening them again, “I’m talking about Lee Donghae. Does that ring a bell?” he asked with a somewhat bitter sarcasm in his voice.

 

Heechul blinked as realization washed over him, “You mean Lee Donghae from our class? How will I know where he is?”

 

“Heechul hyung, are you joking with me? It’s Donghae! M-My wife, Donghae!” Eunhyuk finally had enough of Heechul’s silly game and shouted out, acknowledging Donghae as his wife in front of the elder male for the first time which made Heechul smirk in satisfaction.

 

But he had promised Donghae which he would never break. Heechul began laughing, “Really? Hyuk, listen to yourself. When did you have a wife?” Then his tone changed into a stern and mocking one, “I thought you’ll never accept him as your wife in your life. What happened to that?”

 

“I-I... I,” Eunhyuk was at a loss for words because he had said that before. But things were different then.

 

“And you don’t even have a wedding ring,” Heechul pointed out.

 

As if to confirm his words, Eunhyuk’s eyes instantly traveled to his ring finger, finding it empty.

 

“! Just tell me where he is,” Eunhyuk snapped, gripping Heechul by his shirt’s collar while staring at him with a threatening gaze.

 

Heechul just chuckled before uttering in a low voice, “Why should I tell you?” Then his voice became louder at every question, “What will you do if I tell you, huh? Do you love him, Hyuk? What’s the point in telling you about where he is when you don’t even care, huh? Tell me, Hyuk. Why should I tell you?

 

Eunhyuk knew that he had been wrong all this time but he was also trying to make everything right. He had said a lot of things but those were all because he was trying to figure out his own feelings.

 

“That day in the washroom, remember what you told me, Hyuk?” Heechul asked, his expression saddening as he remembered the events.
Heechul could see the guilt consuming the redheaded boy slowly as he thought about all the words he had uttered that day and Heechul wasn’t happy to admit that a sense of satisfaction was building inside him as he watched Eunhyuk regret for saying those words. “If you really meant them, why are you acting like you care now?”

 

Eunhyuk’s grip on Heechul’s collar loosened as he searched for words, “I-I was angry because Hae..... he said he loved me but... he was flirting with Yunho all the time.”

 

Heechul huffed, “When he said he loved you, you should’ve trusted him. Don’t give him hope if you’re not going to love him back. Let him move on, Hyuk. That boy has suffered enough.”

 

Then with a last glance at his friend’s face, Heechul left.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Eunhyuk had spent all day searching for Donghae. He had searched everywhere. The café, the parks and every place he could think of. Even none of their friends knew where Donghae was.

 

Every time his phone rang or beeped, indicating that he had a call or a message, Eunhyuk immediately checked his phone thinking it was the brunette. But every time he was disappointed because it was either his friends or relatives wishing him for his birthday.

 

Everyone texted him, everyone except for Donghae.

 

When it was almost evening, a little hope built in his heart. Maybe Donghae had returned to their apartment. Maybe if he went home, he’d find Donghae greeting him with a cute smile like he did everyday.

 

But when he opened the door to their apartment, the lights were off as if nobody had been there.

 

Eunhyuk could only stand in the middle of the living room, trying not to break down.

 

His phone went off and the redheaded boy received it, knowing very well that it wasn’t Donghae even if his heart wanted to believe otherwise. He was right. It was Junsu.

 

“Hey, dude. How did it go last night? You need to thank us, buddy. We are such go-”

 

“Shut the hell up, Junsu!” Eunhyuk snapped at his friend. He was so angry at Junsu and the other guys, at himself. Everything was so messed up and he didn’t know how to fix them. The frustration, panic and anger was making him go crazy and so he started yelling over the phone, “I ing told you I needed to go home early. I..... I told you that I was not going to sleep around but you guys still made me drink to the point that I can’t even remember that I brought a girl home. I-”

 

Junsu frowned as he heard Eunhyuk sobbing. His eyes widened in concern, “Hyuk, are you crying? What happened, man?”

 

Eunhyuk sobbed, tears running down his cheeks before he could even realize that he had started crying, “H-He left me. He said...... he said that he’ll stop loving me, Junsu. What will I do?”

 

The redheaded boy fell onto his knees as he clutched the phone tightly in his grip, crying because of the agony he felt in his heart.

 

“I messed everything up. Gosh! I’m so ing stupid,” Eunhyuk kept sobbing his heart out. All this time he had been waiting to be completely sure about his own feelings. But he had never thought that maybe Donghae willI get tired of loving him. It hurt so much.

 

“Hyuk, calm down. I’m sorry. I didn’t know that you had someone special so I-” Junsu’s apology was interrupted.

 

“No, it’s my fault. Everything is my damn fault,” Eunhyuk chuckled bitterly.

 

“No, listen, it’s n-”

 

“Bye, Junsu. I want to sleep.” He hung up before Junsu could answer.

 

He sat there on his knees, staring at space for a couple of minutes.
Eunhyuk slowly stood up from the floor. Wiping his eyes, he soullessly walked towards the kitchen counter. He remembered all the time he came home to a pretty boy humming and making ramen for dinner. Donghae would greet him with a bright smile, asking if he wanted some.
Those were good memories that made Eunhyuk smile. But the kitchen counter looked so empty without the brunette that it turned his smile into a bitter one.

 

Then his eyes fell onto the fridge, making him widen his eyes in surprise because there was a small yellow paper stuck on the front of the fridge.

 

With curiosity, Eunhyuk walked towards it and picked the paper up, reading the three sentences writing in it with pretty handwriting. You missed your birthday dinner last night. I tried to make you something nice. Please, eat the food.

 

Reading the note, the redheaded boy quickly opened the door of the fridge and the sight in front of him made him smile.

 

He took the bowls one by one and put them on the dining table. Then closing the door of the fridge, he washed his hand and sat on a chair. After that, he began to taste the foods one by one. The first dish was braised chicken with vegetables and as Eunhyuk took a pair of chopsticks, he wondered how it would taste. Eunhyuk put a piece of chicken in his mouth and chewed, chucking right after because everything was perfect except for the amount of salt Donghae had used. The dish was salty but Eunhyuk still loved it because it was made especially for him by his wife.

 

The second dish was soybean paste stew. It was a tradition for Korean people to eat seafood on their birthday and even though Eunhyuk’s phone was full of messages from his friends and family wishing him a happy birthday, none of those could make him as happy as Donghae’s efforts for him did. The stew was a bit too spicy which made Eunhyuk chuckle again.

 

The fact that the brunette couldn’t cook properly was so cute and it made Eunhyuk want to cook for him and take care of his eating habits. But these dishes were full of Donghae’s love for him. And as Eunhyuk kept eating, each bite reminded him of Donghae’s expressions, his smile, his eyes, his nose, his words and his everything.

 

He loved the dishes so much because Donghae cooked them for him, for his birthday. He regretted last night a lot because if he wasn’t late, if he didn’t get drunk, Donghae would be here in front of him and they’d be eating together. They would’ve feed each other and laugh together.

 

As Eunhyuk swallowed the last bit of food, a tear ran down his cheek, “Where are you, Hae? I...,” Eunhyuk bit his lip in an attempt to force his tears to stop, “I love you.

 


 

A/N: It's Donghae's birthday in two days. I wanted to update on his birthday but for reasons, I won't be able to. So, I'm updating today instead.

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I had a lot of fun reading your comments for the previous chapter. Thatnks for commenting. It makes me want to write more. Hope you'll comment for this chapter too and let me know about your thought.

I have my physics exam tomorrow but look at me, I'm here writing fanfics. I don't know what I'm gonna do with my life. TToTT

Thanks for upvoting this story, guys. I can't believe it has reached 50 upvotes. Love Ya~ <333

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sujueh32
I'm THIS close to losing my . My head is exploding and anger issues are rising.

Comments

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flower__angels
#1
Chapter 43: nice story indeed , i keep rereading this ;) ,thank you for writing
Kethryveris
#2
Chapter 43: Merci pour cette histoire. 💙
cool_fire77
147 streak #3
Chapter 30: Forgot just how good a read this was.....enjoying the second time
HYUKNATION #4
Chapter 35: I love the omc reference
Daikordei
18 streak #5
Chapter 45: This story was great just the right amount of angst but I’m glad you got the plagiarized story taken down I really hope people can actually be creative & stop stealing someone else’s work
Shubha #6
Chapter 40: Just slap that bastered, who palagarised it, I am writer too, I know how hard to creat a story, but ppl are cunning,taking somebody work as theirs it's disgusting ppl
the_fictitious
#7
Congrats to u!!!! I'm getting good newz today!!! Something nice in 2020!!!
Hyukchuliee
#8
Chapter 45: Congrats, finally 💗
choimyuna
#9
Chapter 45: Congrats dear ❤️ i feel really happy for you.
Alantia
#10
Chapter 45: I’m so glad it got resolved! 💙💙💙
What a relief it must be!
Good luck with your studies. 😊