This must be a joke. I found the news after the radio show and called Donghae right away but he wasn´t picking up. Donghae had a schedule in Japan. I sent him a text to call me as soon as possible. Then I was supposed to go to the club but before that I received a call from Lee Sangmin.

“Don´t come today, Hyukjae. There are reporters all around, you should take a break tonight,” he said.

“I´m really sorry,” I was bowing deeply while holding the phone.

“Don´t worry about that,” my boss only told me gently, “I owe you so much anyway, one day off is nothing.”

“Will I get paid?” I joked.

“I wonder,” Lee Sangmin answered but then he asked me to be careful and call him tomorrow evening.

From the radio station I was trying to go straight home but even there were many reporters. The problem solved for me the guard, who called a taxi and then escorted me there. More than reporters there were Donghae´s fans all around. Girls that absolutely hated seeing my face were screaming profanities. I was seriously irritated that the same thing is happening to me again and this time I haven´t done a single thing wrong.

Strangely I didn´t regret anything. Especially not my new relationship which I wanted to keep. Sitting on the backseat of the taxi, I was looking out of the window at frozen foggy streets. My nose was still red, my ears were already warming up. The taxi driver was listening to old trot songs and I was tapping my fingers in the rhythm. As if nothing was wrong, as if there weren´t any articles about me everywhere. It was February and I liked that the coldness was chasing people inside to the warmth.

Decisively less people were waiting in front of my house and I easily slipped through. I thought that once I reach home, everything will be much better. That I would be able to take a shower and relax for the first time in a long time. I couldn´t imagine myself going to sleep and I was looking forward to a movie night. But the reality was different.

I was standing in the empty apartment and the doorbell kept setting off. Strangers were pressing the button to irritate me. I didn´t feel comfortable at all, Donghae hasn´t answered to my text yet. And the worst thing was that Drop-Face got the chance to bother me again. But compared to this morning he was in much better mood. This is what he wanted after all.

“Po.” Drop-Face let out a strange short sound. I glanced at him and his face was on his thigh.

“Po.” He quietly bubbled. I rolled my eyes and finally took off my shoes. Walking to the bedroom, I grabbed a change of clothes and shuffled to take a shower. I made the water warmer on purpose to thaw a little. I kept telling myself that things would be alright, once Donghae calls, things will be fine.

But once again my self-hypnosis didn´t work. When I arrived to the kitchen, I took my phone. I had three missed calls from Donghae but when I called back, his phone was once again turned off. It was frustrating but at least he left a message with explanation. That he read the article and that he´s sorry and also that he can´t react now because he has a shoot and his phone has the manager. Donghae should be back earliest the day after tomorrow. I crouched on the ground.

“Po.”

“Po.”

“Po.”

Drop-Face woke me up from my paralysed state. Nothing can be done, I need to get back on my feet. The bell stopped ringing. I can enjoy my evening and talk to Donghae later. It´s not a big issue anyway. When I saw the headlines and the photo of the restaurant we dined in, I feared for the worst. But it turned out that the waiter that was in charge of our table leaked on SNS the information that I grabbed Donghae by the neck. Of course, after the SNS war from the end of the last year, people didn´t like seeing that I was once again bullying their favourite superstar. It was silly. But it made me understand how careful I needed to be. We could have pretty much been caught kissing.

“Po.”

I made myself hot chocolate and opened a pack of chips. Settling myself on the sofa, I the TV. And from then on I felt like a doll. I was bored, lying on the sofa for many hours, switching channels, switching snacks. I didn´t sleep the whole night, which wasn´t any surprise since I´m used to sleeping during the day, but I didn´t even sleep after that. I exchanged a few messages with Donghae, all were only coaxing, nothing was solved. It couldn´t have been solved until Donghae arrives back to Korea tomorrow morning.

“Po.”

“Po.”

The day went on even slower than the night and Drop-Face has already been going with that ´Po´ sound for twelve hours straight. Sometimes I would feel like I´ve gotten used to it but at the next moment the sound prickles me and I shiver. His tactics were obvious, to make my nervous self go even more insane. I won´t lose to him.

“Po.”

It was five in the evening and two of my friends from the radio came to my house and brought dinner. We ate together and chatted about the situation a little. I told them it was another hoax and that I would definitely not strangle Donghae, who was my good friend. I was glad they came, it made me relax and it was good to know that the whole Korea doesn´t think I´m a vulgar punk. This whole thing wasn´t even a normal issue, it was nothing and it would soon be forgotten.

“Po.”

After seven o´clock we all headed to the broadcasting station. My show was starting in less than an hour and my colleagues also had the night shift. We took one of my friend´s car, drove from the appartment and parked at the station underground parking, therefore I didn´t know if there were still any angry fans waiting for me. I guessed there weren´t. It was a small thing. For the third time, I tried for a self-hypnosis.

“Hello! You are listening to Kiss the Radio, I´m Eunhyuk, the honey DJ for your ears,” I began with the usual phrase. “There´s icing on pavements, be careful, everyone!”

My eyes fell on the online comment section I had displayed on the monitor in front of me. I wanted to do both, laugh and cry at the same time. Of course, the ones that didn´t forget about the incident would make their way on the chat.

“There´s the comment from listener 4457: ´Eun DJ should be careful, if I meet you on the pavement, I´m going to grab your throat too.´ I should watch out then. It reminds me of Lee Donghae´s song: ´Watch out´.” I chuckled but couldn´t shake off the feeling of being watched and hated. I´m not asking to be famous and even less to be infamous. The song was playing, then came commercials and then the next segment.

“It´s February and-,” my talk was interrupted by somebody entering the studio. “It looks like we have an unexpected guest?” My eyes were wide and I was pushing back the happy smile that kept appearing on my lips. I missed him.

“Good evening, everyone! This is Lee Donghae,” the singer greeted and taking off his coat he sat down next to me. The staff was panicking and trying to quickly equip Donghae with a working mike and headphones.

“Weren´t you supposed to be in Japan?” I asked genuinely.

“I rescheduled it so I could arrive already this evening. I caused a mess to a friend of mine and left. That´s not what best friends do, right?” He smiled at me and I blinked. “So, I came to take care of everything. Eunhyuk is my favourite non-celebrity friend, who looks after me well. Please, look after him too when I´m away, my pretty ELFishes.”

And then I suddenly had a thought, that this man who stood for me, I would maybe want as my lover, after all.

Uh uuuuuh! Last two chapters!!! Are you excited? Isn´t Donghae sweet? In the next chapter he will be a little more agressive, though... I´m sure you will like it, especially since I´m going to reveal it! Donghae´s monster on Wednesday! Thank you for reading, take care! - PandaHero