Dong Hae POV:

I gave the distance that Hyuk Jae wanted, well in a way. I was always close at hand but I had never brought up the subject of Hye Si since the first day of school. I hadn’t even brought it up once during the summer even though others had.

When we got back from Hyuk Jae’s house that night, I couldn’t do it anymore. If he kept keeping things to himself, it wasn’t going to help him or anybody else. It was time I said something. I cleared my throat.

“Hyuk Jae,” I said seriously.

“Ne,” he said sitting down on the couch.

I slowly walked forward and sat down too. I turned to him.

“We need to talk about Hye Si,” I said leaning towards him.

“No, we don’t,” said Hyuk Jae reaching for the TV remote.

“Yes we do,” I said snatching it away. “I’m serious. You saw what Hye Si tried to do to Jae Eun. Aren’t you even a little mad? She’s your sister.”

Hyuk Jae sighed and leaned back into the couch, closing his eyes.

“Of course I was mad,” said Hyuk Jae quietly.

“But…”

Hyuk Jae shrugged.

“Don’t tell me you still like her Hyuk!” I shouted standing up shocking myself with my outburst.

I tried to calm down.

“Hae, I was ready to marry her,” said Hyuk Jae seriously, standing up as well. “I wanted to spend the rest of my life with Hye Si.”

Calm was not an option. Enraged I shoved him.

“How can you do this?” I asked my voice growing louder. “I can see her for the she is. Jae Eun, your own sister can see it! Everyone can see it!”

“Hae.”

“Everyone could see it before she even cheated on you,” I shouted grabbing his shirt and shoving him roughly against the wall. “How is it that you can’t see it even now?”

“Hae, I can’t help what I feel,” said Hyuk Jae.

“Of course you can! You can choose to not like her!” I shouted frustrated.

“I can’t-“

“Yes you can!” I interrupted. “How can you like someone like that?”

“Shut up!” Shouted Hyuk Jae suddenly.

He grabbed my arms and turned me around, pushing me until I crashed into the wall. Stunned, I looked up at Hyuk Jae who had his eyes closed. He slowly breathed out.

“I love my Hye Si,” started Hyuk Jae slowly.

I opened my mouth to protest. Hyuk Jae’s glare stopped me.

“Just listen.”

I nodded hesitantly.

“I love my Hye Si but,” said Hyuk Jae slowly, emphasizing the word ‘my’ this time. “I hate Hye Si.”

Realization finally dawned on me. I mentally kicked myself for being so stupid and blind.

“I know what Hye Si is,” said Hyuk Jae sadly. “But I can’t let go of the Hye Si that my mind created yet. You think I don’t hate myself for that? I want to get over her.”

There was silence as Hyuk Jae stared at me, trying to make me understand. I ducked my head, embarrassed.

“I’m sorry Hyuk,” I said finally. “I understand now.”

I looked back up at Hyuk Jae. I didn’t realize until then that silent tears had been falling from his eyes.

“Why are you crying?” I asked shocked. I wrapped my arms around him and pulled him closer to me.

“I thought you wouldn’t understand me,” said Hyuk Jae. “I needed you of all people to understand even if no one else could. You’re my best friend. I don’t know what I would do without you.”

I pulled away slightly and reached my hand up to wipe his tears.

“Don’t worry Hyukkie,” I said using my childhood nickname for him. “I’m always here for you.”

I looked up at him to reassure him. Again my hand brushed away his lingering tears. Hyuk Jae nodded and then gave me a weak smile.

Suddenly my heart seemed to skip a beat. I had the oddest urge to kiss my best friend and to let him know that everything would be okay. I suddenly realized that I still had one arm around Hyuk Jae. We were close enough that I could hear his heartbeat.

One second ago, it seemed like my heart had missed a beat. Now it started to beat faster as if to make up for it. I quickly pulled away from Hyuk Jae only to hit the wall behind me.

“Aish,” I said pretending to remember something. “That Jae Eun said that she’d call me.”

I moved to where I had dropped my bag. I took out my phone and pretended to check for any missed calls.

“Nothing,” I said pretending to be frustrated. “What is that girl doing?”

“Anyways, I should go and get some sleep,” I said walking quickly to my room. “Goodnight.”

I didn’t even turn around once to look at Hyuk Jae knowing my face would betray me, even though I didn’t know what exactly I was betraying.

- - - - - - o - - - - - -

Hyuk Jae POV:

Dong Hae’s hand felt warm as he wiped my tears. I slowly blinked trying to stop them.

“Don’t worry Hyukkie. I’m always here for you.”

Again his hands brushed away the remaining tears. I nodded and resisted the urge to pull him even closer and bury my head into his shoulder. I had been doing that a lot lately. Dong Hae was the clingier one and so I just assured myself it was a passing thing because of my emotional state.

Instead I gave him a small smile. Instead of smiling back, Dong Hae seemed to freeze.

There was something else in his eyes that I couldn’t quite place, but something that wasn’t good. It was as if he had heard my thoughts and rejected them but I knew I hadn’t said anything out loud.

Dong Hae immediately pulled away from me and his head crashed into the wall behind him. He winced and I started to reach out a hand towards him.

“Aish. That Jae Eun said that she’d call me.”

He moved away from me. I turned slowly and saw him rummaging through his bag and finding his phone.

“Nothing. What is that girl doing?”

I don’t know why, I suddenly felt bad. I felt jealous, of all things, that he was wondering what my sister was doing. I hadn’t even wondered. He took better care of her sometimes than I did. At least it felt like that since she had returned from boarding school.

“Anyways, I should go and get some sleep. Goodnight.”

With that Dong Hae closed the door to his room. The sound seemed to echo through the rest of the apartment. I felt like I had done something wrong, something that had chased Dong Hae away. I tried to remember if I had accidentally said something wrong.

Remembering nothing, I sighed as I went to pick up my bag. I opened the door to my room.

“Goodnight Hae,” I whispered looking at the closed door to Dong Hae’s room.

- - - - - - o - - - - - -

I woke up late the next morning to the smell of pancakes. Getting out of bed, I padded out of my room. Dong Hae moved quietly behind the stove. I wondered if he was okay after last night.

“Hyuk! You’re awake,” said Dong Hae smiling, spotting me when he turned to get something from the fridge.

He was smiling. Dong Hae was okay. I felt relieved. Maybe I had just been imagining things. I smiled back, happy that things were going back to the comfortable way they were.

“Ne,” I said. “Did you already shower?”

“Ne,” said Dong Hae. “Go get ready. Breakfast should be done soon.”

I quickly showered and dressed. True to his word, Dong Hae had everything ready by the time I finished. There were pancakes, strawberries and even strawberry milk. I sat down slowly.

“I thought we were out of strawberry milk,” I said taking a sip. “When did you get the strawberries?”

“I went to get them in the morning,” said Dong Hae smiling. “I thought we could celebrate the completion of the first week as seniors with our favourite things.”

“When did you wake up?” I asked surprised.

“Six,” said Dong Hae.

“Six!”

“Dae Hyun uncle called me about something. He’s out of the country again and got the time difference wrong.”

“Oh,” I said nodding slowly.

At least it wasn’t because he couldn’t sleep. Maybe I had just been making a big deal out of nothing.

“Hyuk, I’ve been thinking,” said Dong Hae.

“Mm?” I asked putting the last bit of my pancake into my mouth. I immediately went for more and took a few more strawberries too.

“They say that to forget one thing, you should look at another thing,” said Dong Hae slowly.

I nodded and continued to eat.

“Maybe,” said Dong Hae pausing. “You should date someone new.”

I chocked on the pancake I was eating. My hand covered my mouth. Dong Hae immediately leaned over and gave me my cup of strawberry milk. Grateful, I drank it.

“I’m serious,” said Dong Hae continuing. “I’ll help you.”

“I don’t think I’m ready for-“

“Hyuk. You don’t have to fall in love with someone that fast,” said Dong Hae. “I’m just saying to meet other girls, get rid of your past with Hye Si.”

I sat quietly thinking over what Dong Hae had said. Maybe I did need to do this, even if I wasn’t comfortable with it. Maybe then, I would stop imagining odd things.

“As long as you help me,” I said slowly.

“Of course I will. I was right about Hye Si,” said Dong Hae. “Besides, who knows you better than me?”

I nodded slowly. It was true, who knew me better than Dong Hae, except maybe Jae Eun. She came a close second and even then.

“Okay,” I said agreeing.

- - - - - - o - - - - - -

Dong Hae POV:

I had thought about it all night, barely getting any sleep. It was true that Dae Hyun uncle had called me, but that was after I woke up by myself at 5. Yes, I had lied about that too.

I just thought that if Hyuk Jae got over Hye Si, I would stop feeling these odd things such as wanting to protect him. I told him my idea as quickly as possible, so that I wouldn’t back out of it. Funny, thinking that I would back out when I should be worrying about Hyukkie backing out.

“Okay,” said Hyuk Jae agreeing.

I had to help him get over Hye Si. He was my best friend and I had to help him. This was the right thing to do, right? But if it was, why did I keep getting a bad feeling?

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Eunhae!!!!!! :P

This chapter was entirely Eunhae so I feel very very happy with myself. :D

Sorry that the chapter is a bit short though. Please forgive me for that.

Anyways, as usual: Thank you new subscribers!! Please comment because that is like the best thing ever, even if it's to tell me that I completely ruined something in the story because I wasn't paying attention to what I was writing like an ijit.