(Donghae POV)

As soon as I walked into the cafeteria at lunch, Sungmin dived at me, causing us to both slam into the wall, but even then he didn’t let go. He continued to squeeze me until I could hardly breathe.

“Where have you been?!” he half yelled at me as he let go, though he still kept a firm grip on my upper arms, “I didn’t see you all day yesterday and you didn’t text me or anything! Do you know how worried I was?!”

“Ah, sorry Sungmin-ah~ I was with Hyukkie. We were sorting through stuff and everything else slipped my mind” I said with an apologetic smile.

“Of course it did” Sungmin rolled his eyes “Well, at least I know you’re alright. You can tell me all about it later” he winked “now let’s go eat.”

He took my hand and lead me over to the table where Kyuhyun, Ryeowook, Henry, Shindong, Leeteuk, some guy that reminded me of a racoon, Yunho and Jaejoong were sat.

We both took our places as everyone murmured a hello and got on with their lunch, or continued the conversations they were having before we sat down.

“Where’s Hyukkie?” I asked, noticing the monkey was missing.

“He’s with Jessica” a familiar voice answered from behind me. My heart dropped slightly, but I managed to keep myself together.

I turned around to see Sunny standing there, smiling down at me.

“Oh hey Sunny!” I smiled warmly, “Come sit” I said patting the seat beside me.

She smiled and did just that. Placing her tray down on the table, she began on her lunch.

“What are they doing?” I asked, nibbling on my sandwich.

“I don’t know, Jess just said she needed to talk to him and that it was important” Sunny shrugged, “That reminds me, Donghae oppa, are you free Friday night?”

“I think so, why?”

“I was wondering if maybe you’d want to see a movie with me?” Sunny asked, with a nervous smile.

“I’d love to” I beamed back at her. She was a good friend, so it’d be nice to spend some time with her.

“So it’s a date?” she asked.

“A date?” Oh crap…

“Oh I though… If... If you want it just to be as friends, that’s fine too” she smiled sadly.

This isn’t going to end well… “Well, I guess we could try it out as a date… But promise me that if it doesn’t work out, that we’ll still be good friends, okay?” I said, holding my pinkie out to her.

She laughed slightly but attached her pinkie to mine never the less “Promise” she grinned. And with that we both went back to our lunches.

(Hyukjae POV)

“Jess, where are you taking me? I told Donghae I’d eat lunch with him” I complained as Jessica continued to drag me away from the cafeteria and towards the small field next to the building.

“Just… I’ll explain in a minute” she said, finally stopping when we got to a small part of the grass that had a stoned area with a picnic bench on it.

She sat down and gestured for me to do the same, and so I did, sitting opposite her.

“So, are you going to tell me what this is all about or what?” I asked, resting my elbows on the table.

She sighed but nodded never the less, “The thing is… I… Okay, me and you… we’re good friends, we always have been and we love one another…. But we only love each other as friends. You know it and I know it. We were just kidding ourselves, staying in this relationship. If you can call it that. I think it’d be better for the both of us… If… If we broke up and went back to being friends.”

“You’re breaking up with me?” I asked, trying to process what was happening.

I mean sure, we both know that this relationship was more for other people than it was for us, but it was still hard to believe that she was actually ending it.

“Yes. But we both know it’s for the best, and you know that I… I love someone else. And so do you.” She stated, looking at me with sad eyes.

“What do you mean, so do I? I don’t love anyone, I don’t even like anyone” I denied. Shooting her a small glare but then sighing inwardly as I folded my arms on the table before resting my head on them.

“Oh don’t give me that Hyukjae. You’re an idiot, you’re seriously an idiot!” she all but yelled at me, letting out a huff of air as her small hand slammed down on the table.

“Oh wow Jess, here was me thinking you had a heart and then you go and break up with me and call me an idiot. Yeah, I can see we’re the best of friends!” I snapped back.

“Would you shut up and think about someone other than yourself for five minutes?! Do you think I’m blind? Don’t try and pin this all on me when you know we weren’t working out anyway! You knew I was cheating on you and you never did anything either, so don’t try and make this all my fault! And would you, please, for the love of god, grow a pair and admit you like him!” she raged, standing up. Both her hands of the table as she leaned forward, glaring at me.

I snapped my head up and stared up at her. “Who the hell are you on about?!”

“DONGHAE FOR CHRIST’S SAKE!” she yelled, throwing her hands up in frustration as she walked away from the table slightly to calm herself down.

“Are you mental? Donghae? I don’t like him Jessica, he’s just a friend! And not only that, he’s a BOY. In case you’re too much of an idiot to notice, I like girls! s! Not guys and !” I stood up and walked over to where she was standing.

She turned to face me with her hands on her hips.

“You’re the idiot Hyukjae. You think people haven’t noticed the way you look at him? You think people haven’t noticed the way you guys are with each other? Hell, you gave him strawberry milk! Remember when I asked for a sip once and you said you didn’t share it? What changed? Oh right, you have feelings for him! Just admit it!” she huffed, slapping me on the shoulder before folding her arms across her chest.

“You’re insane. I’m not gay Jess, why won’t you get that through your thick skull?” I spat, pure venom in my words. Why won’t people accept the fact that I AM NOT GAY!

“I’m insane? Oh that’s rich! At least I can sit here and admit that I don’t feel anything for you and that I like someone else, at least I’m not a ing cry baby that can’t deal with the fact they like someone who’s the same gender as them. What you scared of Hyuk, that he’ll top you?” she rolled her eyes. “Well, I suppose you’re too late anyway”

“What the is that supposed to mean?” I glared at her.

“It means that maybe you’re too late, because you won’t just admit you like him, he’ll move on. Hell, Sunny is with him right now asking him on a date” she smirked.

“You’re bluffing” I said simply, more hoping that I was right that actually believing it.

“You know me better than a lot of people. Would I lie about anything to do with Sunny?” she raised an eyebrow.

“Well… He won’t say yes anyway. He’ll just let her down gently” I tried to shrug it off. Ignoring the pain that was shooting through my heart.

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that. Ever think that maybe he’s tired of waiting for you too? At least he can admit to himself that he feels something, it’s right there in his eyes. You, you just keep denying and denying and maybe he’s getting sick of that. Maybe he’ll say yes to her and they’ll have a great time and they might even start dating. What are you going to do then huh? What will you do if you finally admit you like him and he’s already moved on with someone else because he was tired of waiting for your sorry ? You going to go and ruin his relationship just to be the selfish bastard that I know you can be?” she questioned.

“I won’t realise anything because I don’t like him in that way!” I shouted, causing a few people to look over at us “So what if he starts dating someone, so what! I don’t care! I don’t give the tiniest little about who he chooses to date! It’s his life, not mine! I don’t like him so why would I care, Jess? He isn’t tired of waiting for anything because he doesn’t have feelings for me either! We’re friends. Best friends. That’s it Jess, nothing else!”

“If you say so. But don’t come crying to me when you realise you’ve just ruined the best thing that could have happened to you” she shrugged before starting to walk off.

“Yah! Where are you going?” I called after her.

“To eat. You coming or what? You said you were eating with Donghae right?” she replied, not even bothering to look back at me.

I let out a frustrated groan before running to catch up with her.

“This doesn’t mean you’re right” I grunted as we made our way into the cafeteria and over to where the others were sitting.

“Whatever gets you through the day” Jessica rolled her eyes before taking a seat next to Sunny, whilst I sat beside Donghae.

“Hey Hyukkie, I saved you half of my lunch” Donghae smiled as he shoved some of his sandwich in my mouth with a grin.

I swallowed before rolling my eyes and wrapping and arm around his shoulders “Thanks Hae. But that doesn’t mean you can shove it in my face”

“I beg to differ” he giggled, repeating his actions over and over until he’d fed me the rest of his food.

“So, did we miss anything?” I finally asked as everyone were just having laid back conversations about nothing in particular.

“Well, Donghae hyung has a date with Sunny on Friday night” Kyuhyun smirked, as he wrapped his arm around Sungmin’s waist.

My arm dropped from Donghae’s shoulders “W-What?”

“Donghae and Sunny are going on a date. You’re happy for him right?” Kyuhyun smirked again, raising an eyebrow at me.

“O-Of course… I hope he has fun” I said, forcing a smile. “Oh, I just remembered I have to go be somewhere… that… isn’t here” I said before getting to my feet and rushing out to the hall.

I didn’t really know where I was going, but my feet just kept moving. I could hear someone calling after me, shouting my name, telling me to stop. But my body wouldn’t listen, it just kept moving, around corners, up and down stairs. Before long I found myself at the end of the top floor corridor.

There was a window up there. I used to spend a lot of my time here because nobody ever comes near this place. There was a rumour going around that a girl died here and haunts the place, of course it’s not true but at least it means I have the place to myself.

It’s nice here. I can sit and look out over the city and not worry about anything. It’s like a safe place where I can just be alone and not have to worry about anything else.

I sat down on the large windowsill and let my head rest against the window.

I knew I was sad, but I couldn’t pinpoint way that was. I felt like I wanted to cry, but the tears wouldn’t come. It was like I was slowly turning numb and the confusion that was always taking over me was the cause of it!

I heard footsteps coming towards me, but I couldn’t find the will to lift my head and see who it was, because honestly, I knew who it would be. There was only one person that would come after me.

He didn’t say anything. I think he just picked up on the fact that I wanted to bask in the silence that surrounded us. So he just pulled himself up onto the windowsill, over the other side of it. Leaning back against the wall, he closed his eyes. He brought his knees up to his chest before wrapping his arms around them and letting out a barely audible sigh.

The bell rang at some point, but neither of us moved. It wasn’t like we hadn’t skipped class before, so it’s not that big of a deal.

How long we’d been sitting there in silence, I didn’t know. But it was slowly becoming deafening.

“Donghae-ah…” I whispered, my voice cracking a little from my mouth being dry.

“Hm?”

“Will you sing?”

“Now?”

“Ne. Please…”

I didn’t have to say anything else before his beautiful voice broke into the quiet of the hall.

“How could I just let you walk away? Just let you leave without a trace? When I stand here taking every breath, with you. Oo oo. You’re the only one, who really knew me at all. How can you just walk away from me, when all I can do is watch you leave? ‘Cause we shared the laughter and the pain, and even shared the tears. You’re the only one, who really knew me at all.

 “So take a look at me now. There’s just an empty space. There’s nothing left here to remind me, just the memory of your face. Well, take a look at me now. Well, there’s just an empty space. And you coming back to me, is against the odds, and that’s what I’ve got to face!

 “I wish I could just make you turn around, turn around and see me cry! There’s so much I need to say to you, so many reasons why. You’re the only one who really knew me at all.

 “So take a look at me now. There’s just an empty space. There’s nothing left here to remind me, just the memory of your face. Well take a look at me now! There’s just an empty space! But to wait for you, is all I can do, and that’s what I’ve gotta face! Take a look at me now! ‘Cause I’ll still be standing here! And you coming back to me, is against all odds, it’s a chance I’ve gotta take!

 “Take a look at me now”

He sang with so much feeling, so much soul that it amazed me. By the time he’d finished, there were tears dripping gently from my eyes. Before he could notice, I lifted my arm and used my sleeve to wipe them away and then turned to give him a smile.

“You’ve got an amazing voice, you know” I said in a small voice.

“It’s nothing special” he answered, “But thank you”

“Why did you choose that song?” I asked, shifting my position slightly.

“Just because…” He shrugged. There was obviously a reason behind it, but I wasn’t going to force him to tell me.

“Jessica and I broke up” I said after a couple of minutes silence…

“Oh? How come?” he said, looking genuinely surprised.

“Wasn’t working out… But I guess it’s for the best. She loves someone else anyway” I smiled sadly.

“Are you alright?”

“Yeah, it was bound to happen sooner or later” I forced a smile “So, you and Sunny, huh?”

He sighed and shook his head a little “She asked me on a date… I didn’t really want to go on a date with her, I assumed she meant as friends, but the look on her face made me say yes. It’ll just be a onetime thing though”

A smiling made its way to my face against my will. “So, you don’t like her?”

“Not like that. She’s a great friend, but that’s all. A friend” he said, “I feel kind of bad about it though, I don’t want it to get weird or anything when it doesn’t work out the way she wants it to”

“I’m sure she’ll be okay, she’s a strong girl. Plus she will probably just get Jess to eat ice-cream and watch chick flicks with her and then she’ll be fine again. I’ll never understand girls, but then again, ice-cream does make everything better” I said more to myself than anything.

“Well, in that case, Hyukkie, would you like to go get some ice-cream with me?”  Donghae smiled, hopping off of the windowsill and walking over to me.

He pulled me to my feet before taking my hand in his and lacing our fingers together, then proceeded to lead the way out of the school – carefully I might add, so that we didn’t get caught.  

“Are you sure about this? We might get in trouble” I said as we walked hand in hand to the closest ice-cream stall.

“I’m sure. You look like you could use some cheering up anyway” Donghae smiled and gave my hand a reassuring squeeze.

Finally we reached the stall where a sweet little old woman was sitting behind the cart.

“Hello ma’am. Can I please have one strawberry and one vanilla?” Donghae asked politely.

“Here you go” the old woman smiled a toothless smile and handed him the treats. He gave the strawberry one to me before paying – I insisted on paying for my own but he wouldn’t let me – and then making our way over to a near by park.

We sat side by side on the swing, moving gently as we ate our ice-cream.

It was quite, but it was a comfortable kind of quite.

As we sat there I couldn’t help but wonder why I’d felt so relieved when Donghae told me that he only saw Sunny as a friend…

Could I really let myself feel that way about him?

Is that what this was?

It couldn’t be…

It was too foreign. Too new.

But even so, I couldn’t help but be happy that the date meant nothing like that to him…

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A/N: HEY GUISE!

Hope you liked this chapter, Hyuk is finally y free and single and ready to bingo ;)

Also, any of you guys like EXO? If you do, please check out my oneshot~ HERE

Much love~

Until next time<3