Author's Note: (sorry if this is getting irritating) This is part 3 of 5 of Chapter 8. Because posting the whole Chapter 8 in one go would have you scrolling down until forever, I've divided it into parts and will post them as such, including two or three mini-side chapters as a treat! :D I hope you enjoy!

*Photo of the shoes is mine. As for the rest, credit goes to the original owners.

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8.3

Shanghai

"Hyung! Hyung! Quick, quick, I need your shoes," Hyukjae hurriedly begged his manager while hopping on one foot off the stage. He had removed his right shoe and was waving it around to call the manager's attention.

The clear, moonless, Shanghai night suddenly sprouted angry rain clouds and turned the magnificent award show stage into Water World right in the middle of the boys' ending performance. There was one last encore stage before the show ends completely, and the boys had a minute and a half, the duration of the VTR being shown at this moment, to change and get back on stage. Because of the rain, the stage has become slippery - a condition their current shoes weren't made for. It was lucky the song they were performing was a ballad so not much movement was required. The problem now was their encore - they were going to perform Sorry Sorry, and everybody knew how much movement that has in its choreography. Someone could slip and get injured if they keep wearing these shoes.

"I'm sorry, I already gave mine to Leeteuk," their manager apologized. 

Hyukjae gave a perfunctory thank-you nod and headed for their other manager who, it turned out, had really tiny feet (which was good for Sungmin). After asking a stagehand if he could borrow his shoes and receiving the same reply as the first manager's, Hyukjae threw up his hands in frustration. As the group's main dancer, he should be able to dance well at all times. But without the right shoes…

"Alright, that's it. I'm going barefoot," he declared to no one in particular and made a move towards the stage.

"Wait, take mine," Lily said, kneeling down to untie her shoelaces.

"No, Lily… It's okay," Hyukjae declined. "I can't have you walking around here barefoot."

"Don't argue," Lily returned, successfully untying both laces. Pulling them off, she handed her precious new Chucks to Hyukjae.

"Are you sure?" Hyukjae asked, uncertain.

"Put them on NOW," Lily ordered, pushing the shoes into his chest. "I'd rather have you back in one piece than clean, dry, shoes."

With his signature gummy smile full of gratitude, Hyukjae gave Lily a quick hug and started jamming his foot into a shoe.

"Wait wait wait, I almost forgot. You need these," Lily said, handing him a pair of inch-tall heel lifts.

~ ~ ~

The applause was deafening even backstage. Lily stood in a corner, not wanting to get in the way of the production crew rushing around for the closing. A smile was plastered on her face. Super Junior and Super Junior M received three awards altogether, and the response to their performances was everything artists could ask for. Random screams of the boys' names can still be heard even after the program has already ended. It was a very good night despite the heavy rains.

The Chinese hosts came in first. Lily wasn't familiar with Chinese show business to know who they are, but she found the lady host to be really cute - petite with a sweet voice. She made a mental note to ask Zhou Mi later. Finally, her boys came back in, drenched but in high spirits. They chatted with the hosts for a few minutes. Then, a small camera crew with a reporter appeared. Silently, Lily slipped out and found her way back into the dressing room, sending Donghae a text message telling him where she went.

Not half an hour later, Yesung opened the door to the dressing room and went straight for the sofa where Lily was sitting, playing with her phone. With a huge smile, she turned to greet the rest as they entered and plopped down wherever there's available space. Shindong collapsed between Lily and Yesung, arms and legs spread wide. Their manager hit him with a towel, telling him to sit properly because there's a girl present. Lily laughed and said it was alright. Carefully, she took out her video camera and started filming. 

"Oooohhhh… I'm sooo tired. But that was great! Isn't it, guys?" Shindong said, wiping his face with the manager's towel. Everyone mumbled in agreement.

"Look at these," Leeteuk said, holding the three trophies. "Aren't they beautiful? This is each and everyone's blood, sweat, tears, wrinkles, and eye bags."

"And white hair for you," Kyuhyun interjected.

"I do NOT have white hair!" Leeteuk contradicted, and then quickly turned to the mirror and asked, "Wait, is there? Do you see white hair?!"

"Kyuhyun's kidding, hyung," Siwon reassured, patting their leader's shoulder. "Your hair is uniformly blonde."

A tap on her shoulder made Lily look around. It was Hyukjae with a bashful smile, holding her shoes. 

"Thanks again for lending me these," he murmured almost inaudibly.

"Psssh, it's nothing," Lily replied, waving it off. "I'm glad it worked though. I was worried that it might not fit."

Hyukjae let out an awkward chuckle. "Actually… We are the same size. I was surprised when you asked for that size at the store."

Overhearing everything, Shindong cut in. "Wait a minute. What are you guys talking about? Are you saying that you used Lily's shoes onstage?"

Lily and Hyukjae started explaining at the same time.

*flashback*

Lily stopped on her tracks. Has her eyesight worsened? She seems to be seeing Hyukjae instead of Donghae standing in front of the rendezvous spot. In a dark gray fedora, green plaid shirt, jeans, and a surprisingly subdued color of sneakers, he was craning his neck, looking around for someone. Finally spotting her, Hyukjae waved, his adorable smile complete with eye-wrinkling plastered on his face. He looked so happy that Lily, without noticing, mirrored his wide smile. 

"Hyukkie, you're here!" she greeted, giving his arm a little pinch. 

"I hope you don't mind. I asked Donghae if I could meet you here first and he said yes," Hyukjae explained. 

 "Why would I mind seeing my favorite dancing jewel anchovy machine guy in the world?" Lily teased. 

"Actually, it's dancing machine, or jewel guy, or just anchovy," Hyukjae corrected as they started walking. "Really, Lil, for someone who's been hanging out with us for months now, you still can't fangirl correctly."

Lily pouted. "Isn't it enough that I pretend to be making a documentary about you, following you everywhere in the world, even when I actually have school to attend?"

"We both know that the real reason behind following us around the world is not the documentary," Hyukjae retaliated. Lily gave him a playful slap on the arm, trying and failing to keep herself from blushing. 

"Shut up," was all she could think of for a comeback. "So why did you wanna be my date for today?"

"So you admit that you actually are dating Donghae?" Hyukjae asked excitedly.

"Don't change the subject!" said Lily, giving his arm another pinch.

"Ow! Hey, that one actually hurt," Hyukjae complained, rubbing his arm. "Now I don't want to go with you anymore. I'm leaving."

"Awww Hyukkie… I'm sorryyyy…" Lily apologized, doing the best aegyo she can. It was difficult. How can Sungmin do it so easily? "I'll buy you meat and strawberry milk later, okay? Don't leave me. I went all the way here…"

Pretending to be upset for a few more moments, Hyukjae finally gave in and, grabbing Lily by the arm, pulled her towards a huge shoe store. "Ka ja!"

It was a wonderland of shoes. One after another, each display lured Lily in for a closer look. She was afraid to touch them, afraid that when she does, she'd never let go, which would only make her wallet suffer. After going through three quarters of the store, she silently congratulated herself for being able to withstand all the temptation. 

Until she laid her eyes on these.

Lily stood in front of them, eyes wide, mouth slightly hanging open. Superman Chuck Taylors. It's her favorite superhero on her favorite kind of shoes - a match made in geek heaven. They're gorgeous. They're amazing. They're-

"Limited edition, and there only are two pairs left," informed a petite mall attendant. 

"I'll take whatever's available," Lily blurted out, the impulsive shopper in her rearing its ugly head.

A little startled by her abrupt decision, the lady attendant said, "Um… okay. We have… size 41 and 43.5 in stock."

"May I know what that is in US or Korean size?" Hyukjae requested. 

"Let me see…" said the attendant, checking a chart hanging by a shoe rack. "Ah, it's US size 7 and 9, and Korean size 250 and 265."

"Oooh, perfect! Size 9, please!" Lily exclaimed, clapping her hands together in excitement.

With a slight bow, the attendant went to get the shoes. The two customers continued to look around. A few minutes later, the attendant came back and handed the box to Hyukjae.

"Here you go, sir, size 9. Do you need help trying it on?" she asked.

Chukling, Hyukjae shook his head, "No no, it's for her," he corrected, making the attendant's eyes widen.

Lily gave her an understanding smile. She had huge feet for a girl, and this being China, the land of small feet, she wasn't surprise at the lady's reaction. Putting both shoes on, Lily walked around and checked her feet's reflection on the mirror. Oh, but they looked so cool! She asked the lady if she could wear them out and she agreed while happily escorting them to the cashier.

"That'll be 550RMB," the cashier announced pleasantly.

The gleeful smile on Lily's face disappeared as it dawned on her. 550RMB. That's roughly AU$80, around Php3,500. That's two weeks' worth of food and transportation expenses. Did she really need these shoes? Oh but they're limited edition Superman Chucks. SUPERMAN CHUCKS! But $80 though… It'd be a pretty major blow on her budget.

"Ka ja," Hyukjae said, nudging her with his shoulder.

"Huh? Wait, but I haven't paid-"

"I already took care of it."

"What? No, you didn't have to-"

"Lily," Hyukjae patiently sighed, "while you were looking all confused and kind of constipated debating with yourself, I took care of it. Duh, that's why I brought you here. I owe you a pair of shoes, remember? You lost one saving me from that horrendous Thor lookalike." 

*end flashback*

"Let me get this straight. You bought her shoes, borrowed the shoes you got her, and made her look for heel lifts, too?" Shindong stated. 

"No no no, I already had heel lifts. I saw some on my way to meet him and I thought he could use extra ones so…" Lily trailed off.

"Okay, let me rephrase that," Shindong said. "You, Hyukjae, got Lily brand new shoes to pay her back for saving you from bullies."

Hyukjae nodded.

"Then, you borrowed the brand new shoes you bought for her to use onstage, saving you from potential slipping and other potential injuries because of the rain."

Hyukjae nodded.

"Not only that, but this same girl, who was thoughtful enough about your image, bought you heel lifts just because, which turned out to be perfect timing to do so because you needed it awhile ago, which saved you from looking like a dancing hobbit onstage."

Hyukjae nodded.

"Oh, I see where this is going," murmured Ryeowook, holding back giggles.

"Here they go again…" Kyuhyun muttered, rolling his eyes.

"WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO PROPOSE TO HER?!" shouted Shindong, Leeteuk, Yesung, Zhou Mi, Ryeowook, and Sungmin in unison.

Hyukjae buried his face in his hands in response. Lily patted his head, laughing along with the others.

"Wait, so you two have the same size feet," Kyuhyun questioned, ending the moment. The still-not-proposing-and-proposed-to non-couple nodded.

"Whoa, what big feet you have," he commented.

"You Korean boys just have unusually small feet," Lily retorted.

Sungmin, Ryeowook, Yesung, and Donghae all looked at their feet, then looked at Lily's feet, then looked at theirs again, before finally looking back up at Lily, pouting.

"Alright, alright, I take it back. My feet are the abnormally large ones. Happy?" Lily retracted. She couldn't help but ruffle Sungmin's hair, which was now an adorable shade of blonde. He really had the most amazing ability to act cute, it was almost scary. He beamed at her and gave her a quick hug.

"Ya, hyung!" Donghae warned.

"What?" Sungmin asked innocently. "It was just a friendly hug!"

Donghae scowled in return.

"Did you lend him socks also?" Kyuhyun continued his interrogation.

"Um… no, I needed some sort of protection for my feet so… no," Lily replied.

"So hyung, you used her shoes with bare feet?" Kyuhyun asked.

"Yeah, didn't have a choice. My socks were wet already," Hyukjae answered.

"Well then, Lil, I advise you to throw those away. Burn them if you can," Kyuhyun said.

"What?!" Lily, including some of the other members, exclaimed.

"Guys, come on. We all know the nature of Hyukjae hyung's feet. Just think of the smell he left in there. Besides," Kyuhyun went on, turning to his bandmate, "I don't even understand why you're Lily's favorite. Oh, maybe she based it on dance ranking!"

Awkward laughter ensued. It was a common joke, but everyone could see the hurt behind Hyukjae's forced smile.

"Kyuhyun, do you not have the least bit of sense to know what going too far is?" Lily admonished. 

"It was a joke! We've always made fun of Hyukjae hyung's foot odor," Kyuhyun defended.

"What, so that makes it okay? Are you that perfect? Does your poop not smell?" Lily snapped back.

"You know, if you were Bruce Banner, you'd be the Incredible Hulk right now," Kyuhyun joked, trying to lighten the mood. He's not very sure why Lily was so upset right now. She's witnessed them picking on Hyukjae loads of times and have told them off lightly. But this was a whole new level of reprimand. He's not sure it's even about Hyukjae anymore.

"And you still have the gall to make jokes, huh?" Lily went on, her voice rising to dangerous levels. "Hyukjae is your friend. You've been through EVERYTHING. He was the first to your side when you were dying. He prayed with you. He held your hand and begged heaven to let you live. Remember that, you little punk, the next time you see it fit to carelessly insult him."

The silence that followed was so intense, even Thor's hammer would have a hard time breaking it. Kyuhyun stood there, stunned, his body weighed down by guilt. Everyone else kept motionless, afraid that even a tiny bit of action would elicit another eruption. 

A moment later, Lily spun on her heels and made for the door.

"Hey Lil, are you-"

"Move." Lily commanded, her tone so icy that it made Siwon plaster himself against the wall to make way for her. He watched her storm down the corridor, her pissed off aura making a happily chatting pair of stagehands jump right out of her way without her having to say a word. 

~ ~ ~

It was a little past midnight. Lily sat on a park bench illuminated by a lone lamp post. Her phone started going haywire with calls and text messages half an hour ago - her boys, all except Kyuhyun, were worried and were asking where she was. But she couldn't face them yet. 

For the millionth time, she mentally kicked herself. She got mad at Kyuhyun for going too far but what she did was even worse. It was below the belt. She hit the bull's eye on the most sensitive part of Kyuhyun and it's making her feel indescribably horrible on top of the black hole of sadness she's already feeling about Clare.

Clare. Her best friend was on her mind as she yelled at Kyuhyun. She took out her hurt, despair, and frustration about what's happening between her and Clare on Kyuhyun. Even though he was being an , he didn't deserve such a thing, not in front of everyone, and with a very delicate topic. His face right after she said those words… Oh, but she felt like throwing up. She prayed to never have to see that look on his face as long as she lived. The memory of it made her want to grab a sharp rock somewhere and stab herself. And to think that she was responsible for that face...

This fight with Clare has turned her into a ticking time bomb and it's affecting everything, no matter how much she tried to hold it together.

That's it. She had to fix this right away. As soon as her dad wakes up, she's going to call him and beg him to please allow her to come home even just for a weekend. She'd pay him back the airfare when she gets a job. She just had to see Clare in person. To fix things. Or else her she might just become like Bruce Banner, calm on the outside, but eternally holding the Hulk in.

And then there's Donghae.

Fighting back tears of anger, guilt, and despair, Lily sent a text message:

Donghai-ssi… Neomu mianheyo. Let's just try again next time, okay?