“Oh, you're home! How was school?” His mother asked; stepping into the front hallway as Donghae opened the door. She looked like she was getting ready to go out; her thick, brown hair was tied back with a violet bow, and she wore a black business dress with violet ts. It must be another fundraising event; she went to a lot of those.

                Donghae was just opening his mouth to recite his first day at school speech when his father called from upstairs: “Did you meet any nice girls?”

                “Dad, please!”

                “Well . . . did you?”

                “Yes, there were girls in my class. Yes, I met them. We talked about some stuff. It wasn't very exciting, but they were nice enough. Satisfied?” Donghae felt that leaving out the part about meeting a kid in the bathroom, getting hit with a soccer ball in the face, making a diva as a friend and the chicken obsessed kid at the restaurant.

                His mother listened to this exchange with great interest, and winked at Donghae, saying, "Well, it was only your first day!"

                Why is it that I turn sixteen and my parents are suddenly so eager to have me married off? Muttering something about homework, Donghae quickly retreated to his bedroom to escape his parents' teasing. He shut the door hastily behind his and heaved a great sigh of relief. At last . . .

                He dropped his bag of books by the vanity, and paused to look at his reflection in the mirror. His pants were a little stained near his private area and he scowled a little, wrinkling his nose at the mirror. Country nerd, right, that’s all I ever will be.  An unwelcome jolt of memory erased the smile and he turned away from his own troubled expression. Being tough might be useful in some situations. It certainly would have been a welcome trait at his last school. Donghae collapsed face-first on his bed. SM Academy had better be different.

                A light tickling at his ear distracted his from giving in to self-pity. He looked up, and his brown eyes met a pair of shiny black ones, set over a whiskered nose.

                “Bada, there you are! Are you hungry?” He scooped up the bundle of white fur, and Bada barked happily, welcoming him home. Donghae got up to refill his food dish, and he followed out to the kitchen. “Oh man, I wish I could bring you to school with me. You must hate being alone, don't you?”

♦♦♦♦

                Mrs. Lee went to tell her husband that she was leaving for the hospital benefit dinner. There would be a lot of important families there, including the Choi’s, and she was a bit anxious. But, believing in what she was doing, and in the responsibility of the wealthy to do their part in helping others, she was determined that she would succeed in her presentation. Mr. Lee was in his study, looking over some political documents that his job gave him.

                “Darling, I'm leaving, now.”

                Mr. Lee looked up at his wife, smiling broadly. “You look beautiful. I know you'll be fantastic. You always are.”

                Mrs. Lee returned the smile, and bent to kiss her husband. “Honey, make sure Donghae doesn't lock himself in his room all evening. It isn't good for him to be alone all the time.”

                “Ah, don't worry! All boys his age do things like this. With any luck, he's at least pining over some young girl he met at school today.”

                Mrs. Lee laughed. On that point, they agreed.

♦♦♦♦

                “Girl” was perhaps the wrong word. Donghae hadn't exactly met the young man he was thinking about now. By met he meant he didn't even know his name. All he knew about him was that he was skinny, dark-haired, and attended SM Academy. And his friend liked chickens. Then his mind mentally went over to his lips. Donghae covered his face.

                What the hell is happening to me?

                Bada sniffed at his hands, and he opened them, his face feeling hot. This couldn't possibly be good. Was he now pulling away from girls and sashaying his way to boys? His thoughts strayed back to the young man in the restaurant. Was he a friend of Sungmin? Surely he heard him being called Hyukjae? He was good-looking though . . . No! Donghae shook his head to get rid of the thought. 

I can't be thinking like that on my first day of school. I need to focus on homework. With renewed determination, Donghae pulled out his history notes and began studying. He had a week's worth of make-up work to do if he was ever going to catch up to the class. Though, he already knew the content they were learning, so basically, there was no point in doing so; but being a school enthusiast, he might as well just do it.

. . .

. . .

. . .

                A soft knock on his door woke him. It was nearly 9pm. “Shoot . . .” he mumbled groggily. “Come in . . .”

                Mr. Lee greeted him with a big smile and produced a slice of strawberry cake on a paper plate. “Leftover from your mother's fundraising dinner,” he explained, setting it beside him. “I thought you might like to have some.”

                Donghae's eyes widened, and he happily dug in. Cake was one of the few things in life that could make him forget about his adolescent woes. Mr. Lee watched, amused, as he frosting off the little plastic fork.

                “Working hard, I see,” he said wryly.

                Donghae gave an unmanly like huff. There was a short silence between them during which only his chewing and swallowing sounds could be heard.

                “Donghae . . .” his father paused, looking unusually serious and uncertain. He sighed. “Goodnight. Enjoy your cake.” He turned to leave, and then paused at the doorway. “Your mother and I are leaving in a week for England. I don't know how long we'll be gone; two weeks at least. My job is sending us there for a business trip.”

                Donghae nodded. “I remember. Goodnight.” It wasn’t the first time they left him alone like this, they’ve been on quite a few business trips before.

                “Good night.” Mr. Lee shut the door behind him, feeling guilty. He really hoped he could make some good friends at school, who would be there for him when he and his wife weren't.

                Donghae sighed and ran a hand through his disheveled hair. Taking off his glasses, he started to dress in his usual night attire. Doing his routine in the bathroom, he turned off the light and went to sleep on his bed, somehow feeling a bit bitter after his father had left.

               “Donghae, we’re over here!”

                Donghae looked around like a lost puppy and saw Sungmin waving at him with a grin. Donghae smiled and waved back weakly as he walked toward him, gripping onto the strap of his backpack. As he got closer, he stopped dead in his tracks.

                There stood in front of him was a person with a gorgeous pair of lips and a gummy smile. “Oh it’s you again! I’m Lee Hyukjae.”

♦{Author's Note}♦

Gah, it's a short chapter compared to the other two TT^TT but I thought I might as well squeeze in another chapter for today since I may not be able to update tomorrow. Thanks your reading, and please leave comments about what you think! Hope you enjoyed! ^^