8. A job and a dream

Something changed between the guys after the movie night. It was nothing big or anything really noticeable. At least not in the eyes of others. But for Hyukjae the change was clear. The tender closeness that had existed between them befor no longer existed. They no longer held each other's hands or hugged as they used to do when they were by themself. Hyukjae assumed that this was a more normal relationship than that they previously had. Now it resembled a more typical friendship between two teenage boys. He thereof tried to persuade himself that the change was good, but now and then he couldn't help but miss the other's nearness.

Dasom and Hyukjae relationship had also changed since the evening when he had been at her place for the first time. Perhaps they hadn't come so far as consider each other as friends, but there was certainly a mutual liking for each other. They always greeted each other with smiling faces, and sometimes they even went over to the other to hang out. This day was such a day. It was Sunday and Hyukjae had just bought a new video game that he was eager to test. He didn't have the chance to play in peace before Dasom walked straight into Hyukjaes room without any notice.

", Dasom! What if I was or if I was in the midst of something inappropriate. Can you pleeeeease start knocking the door before you enter?"

Dasom didn't bother to answer the boy, she went straight to the window instead.

"Why does everybody think it's so hard to knock?" Hyukjae muttered sullenly while he saved and turned off their game.

When he turned his attention to his neighbor, he tilted his head. She peered out of the window while she tried her best to hide behind the curtains. Hyukjae trotted up to her and peeked out the window aswell. A cluster of young girls stood outside Dasosm house and they looked anything but happy. Hyukjae immediatly realized what it must be about.

"Dissatisfied customers?" He grinned.

"In my defense the most have been very happy with their drinks... Thank you very much!"

Hyukjae shook his head.

"Probably because you are the seller... based on what I've seen, it seems not to have worked very well"

Days after Dasoms sales there had been a slight chaos in the school and among the city's youth. Hyukjae had gotten so many different dishes and drinks that he had lost count, it was probably love potion in all of them. Despite this, he had not fallen head over heals for any of the kind girls who had given it to him (probably cause he hadn't taste anything of it).

A loud pling sounded and signaled that Hyukjae had received a message on his mobile. Unfortunately Dasom was much closer to the phone and she snatched it quickly before Hyukjae even had a chanse to move. She looked delighted when she saw who it was from.

"Hae? Nickname on Donghae I guess. Uh, the boyfriend sent a love letter perhaps? "She .

"Yes, strange that my best friend send messages to me, huh? Give me that!"

Hyukjae was accustomed by now with Dasom jokes about him and Donghae being a couple. In a valiant attempt Hyukjae reached after his mobile but Dasom was both taller and faster and managed to feint him away. She quickly jumped up on the bed and opened the message.

"Uh, do you send MMS to each other too? !"

Hyukjae understood nothing but still got red in his face. He made another attempt to get hold of his mobile and this time he did better, probably because Dasom already had seen the message and didn't find it fun to anymore. The picture that had been sent showed Donghae in his workclothes and a happy Taeyeon with a large milkshake in her hand.

"Come down! Taeyeon is here and drinks are on the house ;)"

Donghae had started working at a café to make it easier for his father. The café was pretty sloppy, the boss was rather mean and the salary was not the best, but Donghae was still glad to be able to contribute to the household economy. Hyukjae let his fingers glide quickly over the phone keys to write a reply to his friend. He pressed the transmit button, and then put the phone in safe custody in the back pocket of his jeans. Without saying anything to Dasom he pulled a hoodie over the T-shirt.

"You may stay as long as you want, just don't snoop around. You know how the television works if you want to use it." he smiled at her before he left the room and closed the door behind him. He was well aware that the girl didn't want to go home.

By bike, it took no more than fifteen minutes to get down to the café Donghae was working at. As usual the door squeaked loud when it opened and Hyukjae was struck by the familiar, heavy, odors when he stepped into the diner. He directly noticed Taeyeon who sat and sipped on a chocolate milkshake. Expect for his friend and an older couple the café was empty. It wasn't the most crowded place in town if you say so. Hyukjae sat down beside Taeyeon and she put her arms around him for a brief hug.

"I heard rumors that free drinks are being served here."

Taeyeon looked around before she leaned in against Hyukjae and whispered.

"Special treats for friends... if thats the reason you are here, you may as well runaway before it's to late... The quality of the food and drinks here are not the best as you know"

Hyukjae laughed in agreement.

"Believe me, I have no hopes. Just thought it was a long time ago just the three of us hanged out."

There was a loud crash from the disk room and it was not long before a somewhat stressed and sweaty Donghae appeared at the checkout. He lit up when he saw Hyukjae. He wiped away some sweat drops on his forehead with the back of his hand.

"Thought I heard your voice."

Hyukjae didn't reply, somewhat hypnotized by Donghaes eyes. Taeyeon cleared to remind the boys that she was also in the room. Donghae turned his gaze from Hyukjae to Taeyeon and gave her a beaming smile as confirmation that he heard her.

"So, what do you want? Taeyeon has gotten the honor to taste the house's best milkshake. She loves it!" Donghae winked playfully toward Taeyeon. He was well aware that the shake probably wasn't a magnificent treat.

"I take what she has. Isn't friends supposed to get tormented together?"

Donghae stuck out his tongue before he disappeared into the kitchen again. Judging by the noise Hyukjae had heard when he just arrived at the diner it likely was to clean up the mess that must have arisen after the loud crash. Taeyeon slurpade on her milkshake. She wrinkled her nose when a large lump of unknown substance came out of the straw. The doorbell chimed and signaled that new customers were coming. Taeyeon and Hyukjae turned around to see who it was that had defied the infamous rumors of the city's worst cafe and had dared to enter. A bunch of girls, some years younger than themselves, stood at the door and whispered low as they giggled nervously. One of the girls was holding a Coke bottle which had been adorned with a beautiful lace in gold. Donghae who also had heard the bell came hurrying out from the kitchen to take care of the customers. When he saw the little group of girls, he rapidly ducked down behinde the bar in hope to not be discovered. Hyukjae and Taeyeon looked at each other with raised eyebrows. The teenage boy had not been fast enough in his attempt to hide as one of the girls gasped his name lovingly.

"Oh, Donghae!"

Hyukjae leaned slightly forward to get a better view of his crouching friend. Donghae muttered some curse words, met his friend's gaze and shook his head in defeat before he stood up and smiled a big but not very genuine smile at the teenage girls.

"Hello girls, how fun to see you here again... for the fifth time in two days"

The girls giggled and pushed the girl who held the Coke bottle towards the desk. A deep red color spread in her face while she with trembling hands gave Donghae the bottle.

"One more bottle. How thoughtful of you to think of me and not letting me get dehydrated at work... which is in a cafe."

Donghaes scratched the back of his neck while he looked between the bottle and the girl with a puzzled expression on his face. The girl clapped her hands in excitement when he turned up the bottle and took a sip of the bottle's content. He made a face, the drink probably tasted as bad as the café's milkshakes.

"Oh, you drank it! Does it taste good?"

Hyukjae looked at the girl in disbelief and wondered if she seriously didn't realized that Donghaes grimace suggested that he probably didn't like the taste of it.

"Mmmm, really good." Donghae managed to get out between his qualmishness.

The girls started to bounce energetically as they hugged each other. In ordinary cases, the whole scene would have been very bizarre but sadly enough this was now a part of the ordinary day since Dasoms stupid love potions. After a few words of farewell the girls went their way and the cafe was once again calm.

"You drank it?!" Taeyeon looked surprised at her friend.

"I think this was the seventh bottle I received from them, I hope they stop coming now when they saw that I actually drank it."

Taeyeon and Hyukjae stayed at the cafe until it was closing time (Hyukjae had only taken one sip of his milkshake before he had decided that it perhaps was best to let the rest be untouched to prevent a less enjoyable food poisoning). They parted at the usual place where their paths divided; Taeyeon went her own way and Donghae and Hyukjae walked theirs.

On the way home Donghae told that Minzy would stay at her grandmothers in the upcoming summer. That meant that Minzy would be back in town for a while. Donghae seemed excited about the idea, Hyukjae on the other hand didn't fel particularly pleased by the news. This would with the greatest probability mean less Donghae for him. He knew he was being selfish but he didn't like sharing the boy's attention.

That summer, a few months before his 15th birthday Donghae lost his ity. He and Minzy had quickly fallen back into old habits and comforts. It had stinged Hyukjaes eyes to see the two cuddle. Partly because Minzy probably was the only one that really felt like a competitor when it came to Donghaes affection. But also because it reminded him of a closeness which he previously had had to some extent with Donghae. Both Taeyeon and Dasom had to put up with endless lamentations from Hyukjae; "I don't understand why he wants to hang out with her all the time, she's not even funny", "He can get a much prettier girl", "Dosen't she have something better to do than hang around here, she dosen't even live here anymore". He knew that most of his statements were stupid, she was actually very funny and down to earth and she was anything but ugly. She had always been cute but now that she had grown up a bit, she was also very good-looking. Before Minzy returned to home again, Donghae and Minzy had spent one last intimate evening together that had ended with them having .

Their group of friends had excitedly forced Donghae to tell them everything about his experiences, because he was the first of them to even come close to having such an intimate moment with the opposite . He shrugged and said that it just had been weird. Neither he or she had hardly known what they were doing and when they separated it had been a strange atmosphere in the air. To his great despair Hyukjae caught himself fantasizing about how Donghae would look in a bed while doing not so innocent things. He had to excuse himself and slip into the bathroom to wash his face in ice-cold water to return to the present. What was wrong with him? Friends should absolutely not have such thoughts about each other. He had never had thoughts like this about Taeyeon, Dasom, Tiffany or Luna so why did these images of a sensual Donghae pop up in his head? When he came back from the toilet his friends had already started a new topic of conversation to his great relief.

Donghae and Minzy only talked to each other occasionally after that, and that mostly out of courtesy. The strange first time they had shared seemed to have led to their feelings for each other to cool down, they probably even thought it was embarrassing to think about it. Hyukjae was equally glad of it; more Donghae for him!

A year flew by and life had its little time. The friends hanging out as usual. Hyukjae got a girlfriend, but the relationship only lasted for two months. As usual, he thought the girl was too clingy and whiny. Donghae worked every other weekend and some evenings at the shabby little cafe in town. He whined often about his boss which was a middle-aged man who was just as sloppy as his cafe. The man often scolded Donghae and had unrealistic demands on the teenage boy. Money was needed, however, so he stood out with his work situation.

At winter during their junior year the school desided to organize a prom, which quickly became the school's biggest topic. This was also the same time that Hyukaje was about to begin to understand his true feelings for Donghae.

The storm that ravaged outside seemed to get stronger and stronger with every passing minute. Hyukjae closed his eyes and crawled farther down under the covers. Just as he was about to fall into a peaceful sleep, he woke up to a hard knock on the window. Instead of investigating what caused the sound the teenager tried to go back to sleep again. It was surely only a branch any way. The knocking got louder, however, and Hyukjae eventually gave up the idea of ​​getting any sleep. Frustrated Hyukjae sat up in his bed to try to discern what caused the sounded outside the window. At first, he couldn't see anything because of the darkness, but when the next lightning hit, it was possible to discern a human form outside the window. It took the boy a few seconds before he realized who the figure was. Hyukjae hurried up from his bed, which resulted in that he got caught in the covers and fell to the ground. It didn't affected him however, he got up and ran as fast as he could to the window to open it. A wet and frozen Donghae jumped in and threw himself around the neck of his friend.

"I don't know what to do" the wet boy sobbed quiet.

Hyukjae felt his heart bleed at the sight of his best friend, he put a hand around Donghaes neck and the other laid his head against his chest.

"Schyy, I'm here. What has happened?"

Donghae raised his head and looked deep into Hyukjaes eyes. They stood so for a long while without saying anything, Hyukjae could not determine how long. Donghae never replied to his question, instead he took one step closer before he moved his gaze from his friend's eyes to his lips instead. Hyukjaes pulse began to beat violently and when their lips finally met it was as if the heart was about to explode in his chest. He had never felt so confused as in this moment but yet he couldn't bring himself to ask the questions he needed. The fear of that Donghae would wake up from some kind of trance and flee was too big. The kiss which was initially cautious and innocent began to become more intense and Donghae was now dragging Hyukjae against the bed. Hyukjaes body was burning up, his hands crept in under Donghaes wet t-shirt to touch his skin. The sensation to finally get to feel the other's body was beyond words to describe. The skin was so soft and smooth that it almost felt like touching silk. Donghae broke the kiss so he could pull off the wet t-shirt.

"You are so beautiful" Hyukjae whispered as he looked at his friend.

Donghae smiled before he whispered close to his ear:

"Not as beautiful as you"

Just as Donghae began to Hyukjaes shirt a annoying ring bell sounded somewhere in the background. Hyukjae looked around confused, where was that damned clock? The eyes were desperate searching for the sound source in the dark room. What if Donghae would snap out of his state because of it? THUD!

Hyukjae woke up abruptly when he fell to the floor and hit his head on the nightstand. He grunted and rubbed a hand lightly over the growing bump on his head. He could not help but be ashamed of his dream and it didn't get better when he noticed that he had been a little too excited. He meet his two best friends outside his house as usually to jointly walk to the school. Throughout the walk, he tried to avoid eye contact with Donghae, even if his friend didn't know what his dream had been about, he was too embarrassed to look at him. It was not long before the dream was out of his mind tough. The winter prom approached and Taeyeon tried to give Donghae hints about asking her out. Hyukjae had at one point stuffed his whole hand in his mouth to prevent from laughing out loud. Donghae had never been the best man to understand hints and signals.... Well lucky Hyukjae.

Once at school, they said their usual goodbyes and decided a meeting place for the lunch break. They agreed to meet in the school library.

Hyukjae sat with his nose deep in a book when a sudden "bang" caused him to return to reality. The sound was caused by Taeyeon how had thrown down a thick book on the table and by judging on her expression, she was not happy.

"What's the problem this lovely princess is having?" He grinned and raised his eyebrow.

"I still have no date for the prom," she said with a pouty mouth. It was almost scary how similar she and Donghae could be at times, especially when they did that, "I'm a little puppy and the whole world is kicking at me even though I'm the cutest and nicest ever" -look. An unpleasant heat spread in the belly of Hyukjae when he thought of Donghae doing just that pout without really understanding why his body reacted as it did. Stupid teen body!

"Excuse me, but if I'm not mistaken, you have now dismissed a lot of guys who have asked you out? Are you really that picky?"

Had it not been that she already had gotten a bunch of offers from many acceptable guys he had felt sorry for her. But that wasn't the case and he couldn't bring himself to feel sorry for her. Taeyeon was, after all, very sweet, and although she was not the most popular girl in school Hyukjae knew that she had many admirers. He knew for example that two guys in his math class was very fond of her. They had asked him several times why he didn't make a move on her. He would only shrug his shoulders in response, claiming that he didn't see her that way, she was like a sister to him. It was strange though, that he never had had such feelings towards her. Not even a few fantasies or dreams. It was not like with Donghae. Just the thought of the previous night's dream made him blush. He really had no feelings for Donghae, if Taeyeon was like a sister, Hae must be like a brother to him. Right? Wetdreams was nothing unusual at his age, he knew that. His thoughts were scattered when Taeyeon struck him hard on the shoulder.

"Yaa! You're not hearing a word that I say, huh?"

Hyukjae laughed but looked apologetically at her.

"Sorry. Admit that you are waiting for me or Donghae to ask you out? "

"Finally! One of you who gets it! Serious, so many hints that I've sent out to you and it takes this long to get it? I cann't be bothered with all the weird expectations most guys seem to have. I just want to go there and have fun without someone following me around like a tail the whole night and who will fit better than any one of you two?"

Hyukjae couldn't stay quite any longer and began laughing hysterically. He had certainly seen her signals, although he suspected that Donghae had not noticed anything (he was totally useless at understanding the subconscious signals), but had decided to wait until she said something instead.

"Believe me, I've seen your hints. The one you sent Donghae this morning was hysterical, just a shame that he never understan things like that."

Taeyeon smiled at him and nodded.

"But seriously, why didn't you just ask us instead? You usually never have a problem with being stright forward?" Hyukjae smiled at her warmly.

She hummed a little to herself and seemed to think about it.

"I actually don't know, probably havn't thought that I can ask myself. It's burned into my little brain that it must be the guy who offers the girl" Taeyeon flutterd innocently with her eyelashes as she clenched her hands and put them just under her chin to performe her aegyo.

"Oh come on ...."

"YOU KNOW WHAT?!"

Donghae came storming into the library, resulting in a pair of annoyed glances from a group of students who studied a bit futher away and a warning glance from the old librarian. Donghae noticed her and Hyukjae could see a shudder go through his body.

"Seriously, hasn't she just become scarier and scarier with each passing year? Shouldn't she be dead by now anyway? She is obviously over a hundred years!" Donghae giggled when he came up to his two friends, in such a volume that it precisely was possible to discern what he said.

Taeyeon latched on right away:

"I think she's murdering young girls and drinking their blood in order to avoid dying! Tiffany and I discussed it in math class last week "

"No wonder you barely manage to keep up with your grades in math" Hyukjae mumbled quietly and rolled his eyes. Taeyeon glared at him, if looks could kill Hyukjae would had been stone dead since a very long time by now. Donghae on the other hand hit a dramatic hand over his mouth and widened his eyes.

"Serious Tae, you should NEVER go here by yourself! Me or Hyukjae must follow! "

Hyukjae giggled and looked warmly at Donghae.

"You're not serious about this, are you? Anyway, what are your revolutionary news? You seemed to be quite excited when you came in?"

Donghae continued to look skeptically at the old librarian who in turn still glared in his direction. He then turned to his two friends and pulled on his broadest smile. Hyukjae felt that his heart started beating a little harder in his chest. Must be the coffee that made that impact he decided and pushed away the half-full cup. Four cups in a row, after all, is not good for your body.

"Seolhyun asked me to accompany her to the prom!" Donghae chirped merrily.

Hyukjae felt that the former happy mood was blown away, at least for him. Taeyeon seemed to be as happy as Donghae and pinched his cheek, whereupon the latter playfully waved off her hand. She turned her attention to Hyukjae instead and gave him a dazzling white smile.

"Well what do you say Hyukjae, are you eager to accompany me to the prom?"

Hyukjae ignored Taeyeon totally and continued to stare at Donghae who began to look a little uncomfortable because his best friend's weird reaction.

"You mean that Seolhyun has asked you out? You mean the Seolhyun who is a year older than us? You mean Seolhyun who is the most popular girl in school?"

His intention was to sound humorous but the playful tone was completely missing and the questions appeared as skeptical instead. He could see that Donghae started to get irritated; He tossed his head and raised one eyebrow. For some strange reason Hyukjae thought he was very attractive when he was annoyed. Oh my god, snap out of it Hyukjae! He thought to himself.

"Is it so hard to imagine that or what?" Hae snorted angrily.

Taeyeon scanned both her friends with a puzzled expression on her face.

"No, certainly not. The geeky Donghae gets asked out on a date by Seolhyun."

Hyukjae regretted his words instantly as he said them. Donghae looked hurt and turned to Taeyeon.

"Excuse me, but this nerd needs to go now, our common friend doesn't seem to appreciate my presence. Promise that you'll keep an eye on the librarian, I like you way too much to let an old bitter lady kill you and drink your blood. Bye!”

With those words beeing said Donghae turned around dramatically and started walking toward the exit with long quick steps and his head carried high. He really had a taste for it when it came to overplay drama. Hyukjae sighed.

"I'll go with you to the prom Tae. If you excuse me, I must take care of our way too over dramatic mate before he does something stupid, like writing a song to Seolhyun in which he declares his love for her .... Oh god, I must hurry, I actually think thats exactly what he is about to do!"

He gave Taeyeon a kiss on the cheek before he ran out of the library. She could not help but start laughing, her two beloved childhood friends would always be the same. She glanced at the librarian and saw to her horror that the old woman glared at her. She looked like she was pulling on a long strand of hair on her chin. A shudder went through Taes little body and she decided to sneak out of the building. She didn't want to risk being used as some kind of life potion. Once outside, she saw how a tall handsome figure ran into the music building. Hyukjae would likely find Donghae sitting at a piano in there. She cocked her head and began to reflect on her two best friends. They had during the last few months started to behave a little differently towards each other. She couldn't really define what it was, but there surely was something different in the air between them. She shrugged, they were teenagers after all with all that implies, hormones run amok and all that.

She took up her phone instead and sent a text to Tiffany where she confirmed that Hyuk finally had offered his support at the prom.

Soft piano tones sounded vaguely in the hallway when Hyukjae came up to the third floor. He went to the room that was farthest away from the stairs and quietly slipped down to the floor. The door was open a crack, which explained why he had been able to hear the music heard so well from afar. Hyukjae loved to listen to his friend's piano playing, and most preferably when the other wasn't aware that he was listening. He peeked through the door and saw Donghae sitting at the old piano. He knew that this was Haes favorite piano, he used to argue that it was a special music that came from these old instruments. They had more soul he would say.

Hyukjae looked at the clock and realized it was only a quarter left out of the lunch break and the next lesson soon would began. He stood up and tapped on the door before he strode into the room. The music stopped and a palpable silence settled over the room.

"Hello" Hyukjae said sheepishly before he approached the piano and sat next to Hae.

"Do you really think I'm a nerd?"

Donghae looked down at his hands that still rested on the piano. Hyukjae realized that his words had hurt his friend more than he thought. Hyukjae put a hand on his thigh and the other boy looked at him. Again, the heart began to beat harder in Hyukjaes chest. He had always been jealous of Donghaes eyes, they were really a type of its own. They could convey so many different emotions at the same time and still be so beautiful. He hugged Donghaes thigh a bit before he removed his hand.

"You know I don't. I was just a little jealous at the moment. You have, after all, just been asked out of the school's most popular girl. She almost have every single guy in school running after her as a tail."

He gave Donghae a ridiculous fist punch on the shoulder which caused the other to start laughing.

"Seriously though, I'm actually quite surprised myself. She came up to me in the canteen and asked. Her whole group of friends stod behind her and giggled so at first I thought that she was just playing with me. But she did not, apparently, Yunho told me that she thinks I'm cute. "

"You are pretty cute actually" Hyukjae blurted out before he had time to think about what he said.

The two boys had a light red colour in their face and looked in opposite directions.

"When does your next lesson start? I have written a new song. Do you want to hear it?"

Hyukjae looked at his watch, it was only five minutes left until his next lesson began. He shrugged his shoulders, no one had ever died from running a little late sometimes.

"Not for a while, let me hear!" He showed his gummy smile and Hae nodded happily as he started to play the piano.

When Hyukjae twenty minutes later strolled into the classroom and was told both one and an other from an enraged Mrs. Kim, he could not bring himself to feel guilt. The song had been magical, the best Donghae had composed so far. The look on Haes face as he had told him this was attatched in his mind as his teacher continued to scold him. He took a seat in the back next to Yesung who had already managed to fall asleep from the sound of Mrs. Kim's shrill voice.

"That went fast today" Hyukjae thought. The somewhat strange boy usually used to hold out the first half hour at least. He grinned when he noticed that he had fallen asleep on a paper full of pencil writing on. Neat!