EIGHT

After eating his dinner, Kyuhyun immediately did all of his homeworks and played Starcraft afterwards. He clearly remembered that he started playing at 9pm and when his back began to ache, he finished the current level he was playing before turning the computer off. He checked the time and it was already 12am.

“I lost track of time. Aaahh, my back hurts!” he muttered while stretching his back, noting that he heard some sounds coming from his bones while doing it.

He wandered around his room for a while before coming out of the veranda to get some fresh air and to check if his neighbor’s already sleeping. He saw that the lights on the opposite room’s still open and so the girl occupying the room’s still awake.

“She can’t be doing the Math homework up to this time, can she? I mean there are only 5 problems and all she needs to do is to copy the answer then it’s done.” He thought just to clear his conscience out. After several minutes of staying in the veranda, he went back inside his room and dived into his bed. “Ugh, this is a tiring day!”

Kyuhyun kept on rolling on the bed for his eyes didn’t want to close yet. He was doing that for an hour already. He also intended to stay awake just for a while to see that Heechul again. He waited for another hour but Heechul didn’t show up. He thought that maybe everything about Heechul and the water bottle was a dream so he shoved the waiting for the fairy and it didn’t take a very long time for him to finally fall asleep.

---

Kyuhyun woke up a bit earlier than usual. No, he usually wakes up very early. There’s still 2 hours before the class and he’ll only take 30 minutes in going to school. He didn’t really live inside the bathroom so after 45 minutes of eating, fixing himself and arranging his things, he calmly went to school. When he entered the classroom he saw Ryeowook with her head relaxed on the table. Being the devil that he is, he slammed his bag on the table which made the girl jolt up and there he saw that Ryeowook was actually resting on a Math book. Her face was unusually pale and she looked like a panda. When the girl saw Kyuhyun she wakes up and said incoherent words to Kyuhyun.

“This… Tired… Sorry… Ugh!” she said together with a lot of unconnected words and rested her face on her hand. When Kyuhyun steadied her by holding on her shoulder and looking at her straight in the eyes, she finally gained a bit of composure and said, “Sorry. I really did my best Kyuhyun-sshi but I don’t know if my answers are correct. Check your book now.”

Kyuhyun grabbed his book and began to check his answer after he settled in his chair. The first 3 problems were correct but the 4th problem was not. “You know Ryeowook-sshi this is not…“ he began explaining not knowing that no one was listening to him. He erased Ryeowook’s answers and started on scribbling things that only him and the professor can understand. After he finished explaining and changing the answers, he looked at the girl beside him and chuckled when he saw that the girl was sleeping soundly while resting her head on the table top. It seemed that Ryeowook intended to show her face to Kyuhyun so that the latter would feel even a little guilt. Kyuhyun did feel guilty since that moment when he saw eyebags under Ryeowook’s crystal eyes but his guilt dissipated when he noticed the peacefulness in the girl’s face. He leaned towards the girl’s face and felt the even breathing of her. He observed the girl’s face noting that it was flawless, the girl had long, curly eyelids, small nose and pouty lips. Sungmin also has pouty lips.

Upon remembering his best friend, Kyuhyun retreated and went back into checking the homework. There’s still the 5th problem left. He answered it with ease and after he did his homework, he carefully got Ryeowook’s bag and took her Math book. When he found the page of their homework, he saw that there were a lot of doodles on the book.

“This isn’t a drawing book you know.” He murmured as his eyes landed on each of the doodles. There was also a space where Ryeowook wrote Kim Ryeowook multiples of times. Sungmin also loves to write his own name very much. His mood suddenly dropped upon remembering Sungmin again. He emotionlessly did Ryeowook’s homework and returned it to the bag after he finished. He didn’t want to remember Sungmin for the mean time.

He didn’t hate Sungmin. He hated himself. He hated himself for thinking that it’s okay to love his best friend, that it’s okay to confess, that he could handle any kind of rejection afterwards but honestly, he couldn’t. Thinking about how he cried and tried to stay away from Sungmin pisses him off. Because of his stubbornness and selfishness, he failed to send his best friend off. Now he had to wait for 3 months for Sungmin to come back. He wondered if he could still face his best friend like how he used to and if he could still keep him as his. Maybe not. He suddenly missed Sungmin and vowed to talk to him later but for now, he needed to study first.

The teacher started roll-calling the students and when he called Kim Ryeowook for the first time, no one answered. When he called for her again, still, no one dared to speak. Kyuhyun then remembered that Ryeowook was sleeping soundly beside him and so he began poking the girl’s cheeks and when she opened her eyes, Kyuhyun whispered that the professor was calling her. She abruptly stood up and yelled making all of her classmates laugh.

“Oh God! SIR I AM HERE! PRESENT! SORRY I’M LATE!”

Kyuhyun laughed upon seeing the girl’s reaction and he pulled the girl’s hand down before whispering ‘You’re not late! You’re just sleeping. HAHAHA!’

“Miss Kim, next time be sure that you are awake when you enter the classroom.”

Ryeowook bowed a lot of times before sitting down. She glared at Kyuhyun mouthing ‘It’s your fault, bastard!’ before focusing on the chalk board. Kyuhyun, on the other hand, continued with his soundless laugh until he satisfied himself.

---

Ryeowook was unusually down the entire day. For the past few days since she’d entered the school, she was always a walking ball of sunshine for her classmates but this day was different, and of course, Kyuhyun didn’t fail to notice that. Ryeowook’s posture shouted like I want to sleep. I want to go home now. Pleeeeease. Kyuhyun seemed to be worried about Ryeowook too because they were given a lot of things to do. There was a homework in Math again but this time, he didn’t ask her to do his homework too. Even though he was a snarky, evil brat, he’s still a human.

Kyuhyun ate his dinner hurriedly before he dashed into his bedroom and started doing the works given to them. He sighed when he remembered his plan on talking to Sungmin this day because he couldn’t even touch his laptop. He worked nonstop until 1am. If it wasn’t for the English homework maybe he’d slept a bit earlier. Like what he always do after sitting for hours, he stretched his back and went to the veranda for fresh air. He saw that Ryeowook’s room’s already dark. ‘Maybe she’s already done and is already sleeping. Why isn’t Heechul showing up then? I’m the only one who’s awake now.’ He punched himself mentally when the thought of Heechul came to his mind again. After standing outside for a few minutes, he abruptly walked and welcomed himself on his own bed, not knowing that the lights on the first floor of the house next to his were open.

---

As usual, Kyuhyun went to school early. He settled himself on his chair and let a long yawn before fixing his bag. He was too sleepy and it’s not good. His most hated subject which only happens once a week is scheduled today. PE. He hated it so much. He didn’t like wearing thick jogging pants under the raging rays of the sun while working his off. He didn’t want to play but he was forced to. He wouldn’t have marks if he didn’t do what the instructor said. Because of an elective subject he might not be able to graduate.

Kyuhyun’s relaxation was disturbed by Haeri’s excited voice. “Hi Ryeowook-sshi! Did you sleep well last night?”

Kyuhyun looked at the door and saw a still pale Ryeowook walking her way towards Haeri. She gave Haeri a paper bag and said, “Thank you for this Haeri-sshi. Today’s our PE right? Here, I cleaned it already. Thank you very much!”

“O-oh, you’re fast Ryeowook-sshi but I have an extra uniform. Ah, do you already have one?”

“Yeah. I bought one yesterday before going home. Thanks again Haeri-sshi!”

After their small chit-chat, Ryeowook made her way to her shared desk with Kyuhyun. She checked if some glue or slimy or even insects were placed on her chair. Upon ensuring that her chair’s safe, she sat and fixed her things. She did not look at Kyuhyun while doing that and she kept on staring anywhere but Kyuhyun. The boy, on the other hand, did the opposite. He made sure to keep his gaze on the girl because he knows that it’d piss her off. He waited for several minutes but it seemed like the girl was too oblivious of what’s happening. She kept her gaze straight on the board and yawned. She covered with her little hands while doing so and Kyuhyun couldn’t help but to adore the cute thing beside him. When she opened her eyes, she faced Kyuhyun and the boy noticed how groggy the orbs were. It took him a few seconds before returning to his snarky self.

“You look like an alien.”

Ryeowook eyes widened by the sudden attack, however, she’s obviously not in the mood to fight with Kyuhyun today. She smiled before answering back. “Thank you.”

Kyuhyun chuckled upon hearing the girl’s answer. She’s clearly not herself today but that didn’t stop Kyuhyun for pestering her. “What? High aren’t we? HAHAHA! Did you sleep well last night?” he asked while doing an evil laugh.

The girl glared at him before replying. “Oh yes Mr. Cho. Look, I slept after washing Haeri’s uniform and doing all the s need to be done. No, I didn’t even finish doing the stupid Math homework because I am so dim-witted and it pisses me off. I really wanted to sleep since yesterday but failed to do so because I am so bothered by extraterrestrial things and the universe. I really wish it’ll rain later coz I don’t even know if I can survive until 12pm ugh!”

Kyuhyun was shocked about the girl’s sudden outburst but was amazed on how a beautiful creature like her could be as sarcastic as what she’d been a while ago. He laughed out loud after realizing how stunned he was a while ago. Ryeowook must’ve taken it the wrong way though, for she pushed Kyuhyun real hard that he almost fell on the floor. Even so, Kyuhyun just kept on laughing until the class started.

---

The entire class went to the volleyball court after lunch. They’re wearing their PE uniform and the sun is just too high for them to handle. They didn’t even eat heavy lunch because they’ll be doing extraneous activities today. They did warm-ups first before they’re grouped into 6. Boys and girls were grouped separately because they’ll be doing some matches. Boys vs. boys and girls vs. girls. The boys played first and Kyuhyun was placed on the first match. He kept on avoiding the ball because he wasn’t really the sporty type. He was good at games, yes, computer games to be exact. This was too far from that. Their classmates just shrugged it off for they were used to Kyuhyun being like this. Kyuhyun knew it, however, he felt like an idiot while avoiding the ball this time. He looked at the bench after he ran from the ball yet again and saw that Ryeowook was looking at him while laughing softly. That very moment he wanted to bury himself alive. His eyes widened when he noticed that he was suddenly shy in front of the girl and his stance was easily broken when the ball hit him hard on the head. He shouted a loud “Aw!” but he was suddenly praised by his groupmates.

“Nice one Kyuhyun! Because of you hitting the ball with your head I had a chance to spike. We won man!”

Kyuhyun gave his groupmate a confused look before gazing on the score board. They really won. And his groupmate said that it’s because of him. “Right, because of my idiocy we won.” He murmured.

After the first match came the girl’s match. Before Ryeowook stepped in the court and Kyuhyun stepped out of it, Kyuhyun held the girl’s wrist and whispered, “See that? Can you beat that? Oh! Don’t faint. HAHAHA!” The girl gave him an annoyed look before pulling out of Kyuhyun’s grip. She positioned herself on the middle back part and let out a huge sigh to calm down. From that moment Kyuhyun intently stared on the girl.

The match was doing well so far. Ryeowook, apparently, was good at playing volleyball. She was moving swiftly and was cooperating with her groupmates with ease. However, she started losing her balance when they changed court and her group was now the one facing the sun. Kyuhyun thought that the sun really bothered the girl for she kept on rubbing her eyes and she started to become paler now. When she started swaying, Kyuhyun stood up and on impulse, he ran towards the girl when she began to fell. Seemed like Kyuhyun’s timing was right for when he reached the court, Ryeowook fell on him. Her groupmates shouted and their classmates began to gather around them. Kyuhyun took notice of Ryeowook’s white as paper face and the beads of sweat forming on her forehead. Panic rushed through him and he was also shaking while holding onto Ryeowook. Their instructor requested him to carry Ryeowook towards the clinic and so he did. When he laid Ryeowook in the white bed, the nurse-in-charge checked her up and his teacher asked him to go back to the class.

When he entered the room, his classmates suddenly took notice of him. They were asking if Ryeowook was okay, if she’s still unconscious, what’s wrong with her and a lot more but he didn’t bothered on answering all of them. When his classmates got tired of waiting for Kyuhyun’s answer, they went back on minding their own businesses. Kyuhyun sat down on his chair blankly while still trembling. It was not the first time he’d witnessed someone fainting.

Sungmin had fainted multiple of times too. He maybe a very cheerful, energetic and giddy young lad but he has this tendency to faint all of a sudden. The first time Kyuhyun saw Sungmin faint was when they were in grade school. They were playing soccer when Sungmin suddenly stopped and fell to the ground. He fell hard that his head bled and the scene made Kyuhyun freeze. They were still young back then and he didn’t know what to do. When the blood on Sungmin’s head continued to flow, he began trembling and shouted for help. Sungmin’s mom immediately came and she carried the little boy to the house. Kyuhyun went together with Sungmin’s family when he was rushed to the hospital and Sungmin’s mom seemed to notice fear in Kyuhyun’s face. She held Kyuhyun’s hand and drew little circles to it. There he knew that Sungmin has anemia and is prone in fainting. Since then, he also made sure that he was beside the boy when the dark started to eat him up.

Kyuhyun jolted up when he felt someone poking his shoulders. There he saw Haeri looking so worried. “Kyuhyun-sshi, how’s Ryeowook-sshi? Is she okay now?”

Haeri seemed like she wouldn’t be able to sleep if Kyuhyun didn’t answer her and he saw the sincerity in the girl’s eyes. After deliberating on whether to answer or not, he answered Haeri with a simple “She’s fine. Don’t worry.”

The girl beamed up upon hearing Kyuhyun’s answer and she hurriedly excused herself after thanking the boy.

---

During the afternoon classes, Kyuhyun ended up worrying about the girl and at the same time, about Sungmin. Sungmin, because no one might help him when he faints in that foreign place.  However, when the bell rang signifying that it’s already time to go home, all thoughts of Sungmin was brushed away on the side for Kyuhyun hurriedly ran towards the clinic to check on the girl. He was greeted by the school nurse when he opened the door and he politely greeted back and asked if he can see Ryeowook. When the nurse agreed, Kyuhyun calmly went to Ryeowook.

He sat down on the chair beside the clinic bed and looked at the sleeping girl. Like what had always happened every time he looked at her, he viewed the almost-perfect girl. Cute, he thought when he saw Ryeowook smiling while she was sleeping. He then wondered what could possibly be her dream. He loved the picture of her looking this calm. She’s 101% different when she’s sleeping. She looked so strong and hyper when she was awake, just like his bestfriend. Maybe it was on their family’s genes, the calmness and the beauty.

He unconsciously raised his hand to trace Ryeowook’s cheek. When his hand landed on her soft skin, she moved a bit making Kyuhyun’s heart jump and he hurriedly retreated his hand away from the girl. She slowly opened her eyes and blinked several times before settling her gaze towards Kyuhyun. When she saw the boy, she immediately sat up making the bones on her back create several sounds.

“A-ah, I guess I slept long, didn’t I?” she asked.

Kyuhyun chuckled upon hearing the sounds and nodded to answer Ryeowook. Her pale cheeks then were tinted into light shades of pink as Kyuhyun continued to laugh. When he stopped he asked her if she’s already okay which was answered by a nod. They remained silent for a while before Ryeowook cleared and faced Kyuhyun.

“By any chance, were you the one who brought me here?”

Seeing that Ryeowook was already fine, Kyuhyun went back to his normal self and started on teasing the girl again. “Yeah, and you know what, YOU ARE SO HEAVY!”

“WHAT?! How dare you!” she exclaimed as she looked away of Kyuhyun. As she settled her eyes on the light yellow-orange surrounding the summer sunset offered to her eyes, she smiled and said, “Thank you.”

Kyuhyun hummed in response as he too, drowned himself on the calm world in front of them. He shifted his gaze towards the girl and he thought that she’s really beautiful. He was busy adoring Ryeowook’s side profile when the girl turned around that shocked everything out of him. Goosebumps then appeared when she held his hands.

“Oh, KYUHYUN-SSHI! DOES THIS MEAN THAT I AM YOUR FRIEND NOW?”

Kyuhyun pushed Ryeowook’s hands away while flailing his own hands in front of him. “NO! NO WAY! WHY WOULD YOU SAY THAT?”

“O-ohh, but you visited me. Why did you do that if I’m not a friend?” the girl said while pouting.

“Hah! You think I’m that easy? You need to try harder!” he challenged.

“A-aahh, but I’m here because I did your homework in Math and… You’re so mean!”

Seeing the sight of a pissed Ryeowook activated the devils inside Kyuhyun so he continued to . “YOU’RESOMEAN!”

“Waahh!! DON’T DO THAT I HATE ITTTTTT!!”

“WAHDON’TDOTHATIHATEIT!!”

“Cho Kyuhyun—whatever. Okay, I’ll try harder. I’ll become your friend but before that…”

Kyuhyun waited for whatever Ryeowook has to say. She covered her face with her small hands and shouted a fast “LEMMECOVERMYFACEFIRSTCOZTHISISSOEMBARRASSINGOHMYGOD.”

Kyuhyun, for the nth time today, laughed again because of Ryeowook. He then asked, “What’s so embarrassing?”

“EVERYONESAWMEFAINTINGOHGOSH.” Ryeowook whined while her face was still covered.

“Yeah, yeah! That’s embarrassing. VEEEEEEERY EMBARRASSING!”

“I HATE YOU!”

---

Unbeta-ed. Sorry if I don't make sense most of the time. Hehehe. Ughhh, okay, I still don't know whether this story will be ending with Kyuwook or Kyumin. Even so, please, pretty please, stay with me until the last chapter okay? Thank you for reading ^~^