The moment Hyuk Jae opened his eyes the next morning, there was a nudging thought at the back of his head. He hoped Dong Hae did not like the guy today. Of course, the guy would absolutely like Hae because he’s adorable and kind and beautiful and and and…

Hyuk Jae whacked himself in the head as he remembered he himself was supposed to be trying to get Dong Hae a boyfriend. He scolded himself for being a selfish jerk, wanting Hae only as his best friend. Hae has to go out, meet people, enjoy life.

He texted Sung Min.

“You better have nice people for Hae okay. If not you’ll suffer my wrath.”

A few seconds later, there was a reply.

“Of course, what kind of person do you think I am? And for “suffer your wrath”, absolutely not. You can’t even win me. EVER.”

Hyuk Jae knew he could not win Sung Min with the evil Kyu Hyun hovering around so he decided not to reply and went back to sleep. Or rather, went back to lying in his bed worrying about how Hae’s date would go. If anyone asked, he wished it would go well. If he hoped otherwise in his head, well, no one would get hurt.

----

Dong Hae ing dreamt about Lee ing Hyuk Jae. Dong Hae might have admitted to liking Hyuk a teeny tiny bit. But he does not want to act like a teenage girl mooning over a guy, dreaming about him. Oh, what the heck, he is already acting like a teenage girl mooning over a guy.

That aside, there are greater problems Dong Hae has to face today.

He was already dreading having to tell Mario about his chosen theme because the more he thought about it, the stupider the idea becomes. Beauty in everyday thing? Pfft. People will like it, sure. It’s the things they see everyday! HOW WILL THEY FIND BEAUTY IN THEM? Your head is screwed up Lee Dong Hae.

He could not suddenly change his idea. He already did all the preparations. The only way is to hope Mario does not think it’s stupid.

He got out of bed reluctantly. All the enthusiasm from the first week was gone. He trudged down the stairs, following the smell of breakfast. Well, at least the breakfast was bacon and eggs.

----

Dong Hae nodded with a smile to Sandara as he reached the building.

“Go right ahead.” She said.

Of course, Jay was already in the class and waved Dong Hae over to the table they took the previous week.

“Good to see you again!” Jay greeted him.

“Yeah, how’ve you been?” Dong Hae replied.

After all the pleasantries, Jay asked him what his sub-headings were. Dong Hae was not at all confident and did not want his idea to be judged by someone he barely knows yet so he kept mum.

“Oooh! Somebody is keeping all the brilliant ideas to himself!” Jay exclaimed in English.

There was a scoff from somewhere around the back.

Dong Hae groaned. He did not need this.

After the whole group arrived, Mario finally entered the room.

“Settle down people, we’ve got lots of stuff to be done today,” Mario said as he clapped his hands.

As he walked around the class to ask for the homework that he gave, he read/listened/watched each person’s ideas. Dong Hae was hyperventilating. His palms were sweaty and he felt like he was  choking.

“Hey, hey. Calm down yeah? We’ve got about 5 people in front of us.” Jay tried to sooth him while being entirely amused by Dong Hae’s nervous breakdown.

Dong Hae silently cursed the stupidly handsome git seated beside him.

“Easy for you to say, Mr. Confident,” Dong Hae mumbled.

Jay just chuckled. The bastard.

Dong Hae could not pay attention to the rest of the group’s ideas.

It was not long before Mario was at their table, standing beside jay, asking for whatever he got.

Jay showed him some prints that he got previously, about the human body. Of course, Dong Hae should have known, the weird ert.

“This is the boldest idea I’ve heard today,” Mario commented.

“I guess, being in an Asian environment, especially in South Korea where a lot people are concerned with their look and bodies made me think of this, you know.”  Jay explained.

Dong Hae was still amazed at Jay’s perfect English. And of course, how deep he thought to get the idea.

“Like through this, I hope that people would appreciate the beauty of their own bodies and appearances more, whether they were fat or skinny or anything else for that matter.” Jay continued.

“Hmm… that’s a nice sentiment. A lot people would start thinking about as an expression of the beauty of the human body but yours has a nice touch of human perspectives and how these shape lives. I’m impressed Jay.” Mario praised him.

Oh god, no no no no no. It’s my turn. OMG it’s my turn now. . He’s walking this way. GOD. He’s right in front of me. OH GOD HELP ME.

“So, what do you have to share with us today? Dong Hae? I must say I have high hopes,” Mario said.

Jay took hold of Dong Hae’s clasped fists underneath the table, squeezing them. He looked encouraging, asking him to go on ahead, a soft smile on his face.

Dong Hae unclasped his hands and produced a small recorder. He handed it to Mario. Jay clapped Dong Hae on the back. Dong Hae was sure he meant well but the force was a little more than necessary and Dong Hae had to let out a small cough. He glared at the stupid American.

“Um… hi… is this recording?... Oh well. So. Um. Oh .”

To Dong Hae's horror, the whole room laughed. There was some static and rustling. Jay was laughing too. Dong Hae hates Jay.

“So. I guess a lot of people would think of things like sunsets, a dancing ballerina, music or things like that as beauty. I don’t disagree. But people enjoy the moment more often than the process. Like, people enjoy listening to a song in the current moment, people enjoy watching a dance. But usually, they forget the effort, thoughts and time put in before some imaginary thing becomes reality, you know? *cough* So for me, I want to capture the beauty of being a pioneer, being successful. I want to capture the beauty of humanity. Instead of a dancing ballerina, it would be the dirty, worn, broken Pointe shoes that shows how hard a ballerina works. Instead of capturing somebody who’s playing music, it would be the many broken mouth pieces due to practice. It could be a light bulb, showcaseing the human sense of curiosity that led to an amazing creation that we cannot imagine living without today. It could be a smile. That’s beauty. That’s beauty that needs no medium, no instrument. That’s the bare form of humanity. *ahem* Yeah. I guess that’s it. Thanks.”

There was a collective silence in the room.

“Well, that’s something different. I hope to see good work from you. This area of the theme is largely unexplored. I can’t tell you how to go about it. But I am taken with the idea where you want to showcase the beauty of humanity.” Mario commented.

After Mario moved on, Dong Hae breathed a sigh of relief. Well, that was over. He could finally listen to other people’s ideas calmly.

“Well, that was awesome. I don’t know why you were having a mental breakdown a few minutes ago.” Jay said.

“I for sure thought that beauty of humanity sounded so cheesy and clichéd that he wouldn’t like it. When the whole room laughed, including you, I almost cried okay. I’m so relieved over here,” Dong Hae complained.

Jay just chuckled and patted him on the head, like he was some pet.

Dong Hae glared, amusing Jay even more.

“He’s that type of person who doesn’t know how good he is. How beautiful he is. I think I’m gonna be in deep. Take care of yourself Jay. You can’t afford to get hurt again.” 

Jay had a small bittersweet smile on his face the whole lesson. 

Hey guyssss, this chapter was quite long cos I didn't know how to cut it. It's almost twice as long as all the other chapters. Thanks for reading! Also, I don't mind getting comments :D