CHAPTER 4: DORM1  AND LEE DONGHAE

After lunch, their mini circle of friends had exchanged their ‘goodbyes’ and ‘see you tomorrow’s’ before separating themselves to one another. Jaejoong and Henry left the school grounds and headed on their way home together. Donghae found out that Jessica was also part of the school’s top50 which means that she’s also staying in one of the school’s dormitories. She ranks no.22 in the whole school, and she stays in Dorm3 where all the other female achievers were also staying at.

“I’m sorry,” Donghae said in a low voice but enough for Kyuhyun to hear. Both of them were on their way to Dorm1. Since Donghae is just a newbie, Kyuhyun was the one who was leading the way to their dorm.

Kyuhyun turned his head to look at the guy walking beside him, “Sorry? For what?” Kyuhyun asked.

“For the things I’ve said earlier about your brother, I don’t know you are twins—”

“What you said earlier was true, what’s there to be sorry about?” Kyuhyun cut Donghae’s sentence off. “And to be honest I really don’t care about what other people think of Hyukjae, yes he’s my twin brother but it doesn’t mean that I’ll take his side every time people criticize him. It’s his fault anyway.” Kyuhyun said. “Don’t feel bad, you can say all the things you want to say about him, you can even curse him even if I’m around like what Jessica does and I would not mind.” Kyuhyun assured Donghae.

“Do you hate Eunhyuk?” Donghae asked him,

“Not that I hate him, let’s just say that I dislike what he’d become” Kyuhyun answered.

“So… he’s not this mean and bad before?”

Kyuhyun nodded, “Actually, he was a silent type of guy. There were times that I found myself getting annoyed at him because he was unbelievably shy back then.”

Hearing those facts from Kyuhyun, Donghae tried to picture the-Eunhyuk-before in his thoughts. He pictured a shy Eunhyuk and it seemed so cute, Donghae wish he can get to see that side of him.  “Are you close with one another before?” Donghae asked.

“We were, but there had been a lot of changes now. It’s weird that though we’re twins we treat each other as if we are not related to one another.” Kyuhyun sighed.

“But you said he had just changed, maybe one day he’ll return to his old self again. He’ll soon realize that he’d been too much already, then he’ll change.” Donghae tried to sound optimistic.

 “I doubt that,” Kyuhyun scrunched his nose, “I bet he knew he’d been too much already that he’s not acting normal at all. It’s hard to cure someone who kept on injuring himself. Hyukjae had changed and it will be difficult to bring him back.”

“Kyuhyun, I believe that people change for two reasons. It’s either that they learned enough that they need to change, or they have been hurt enough that they want to change. Maybe, just maybe, Eunhyuk had been hurt before that he felt the want to change. But when he realizes that he took the wrong move and when he had learned enough from this… he’ll feel the need to change, maybe not to his old self but he’ll change for the better.” Donghae gave Kyuhyun a huge smile.

Kyuhyun then stopped on his track then faced Donghae, “You think so? Well, we will see about that,” He smiled at him, “Come on, let’s go inside” he added.

Then Donghae noticed that they were standing in front of a two storey building, it’s the dormitory. There’s a black gate that was about 5 ft. high towering over the entrance, a huge number “1” was attached at it. The dormitory was painted in sky blue and white. It looks like a friendly type of apartment, Donghae thought. He followed Kyuhyun as the guy unlocked the black gate and then stepped inside.

“Close the gate” Kyuhyun said looking over his shoulder, and Donghae did what the other said. “That’s rule number one, always keep the front gate close, as well as the main door” Kyuhyun explained pointing from the black gate then to the glass door which seems to be the dorms main and only entrance. “It’s for our own safety too.” He continued, Donghae just nodded in reply. Donghae watched as Kyuhyun swiped his I.D at the lock detector beside the hi-tech glass door, and as he heard a soft beep from the lock detector the glass door slid open. Cool, Donghae thought.

As they stepped inside the dorm Donghae suddenly felt uneasy he immediately turned his head from left to right as if he was scanning the area for something, or for someone.

Kyuhyun noticed the sudden uneasiness that the other was feeling, “Relax, he’s not here yet.” He laughed a little. Donghae who just got caught laughed nervously back at the guy beside him, “What are you saying? Who’s not here yet?” he tried to sound oblivious of what Kyuhyun meant.

“Aren’t you looking for him? Hyukae? I saw you became suddenly uncomfortable and I thought it’s because you’ll happen to meet him again,” Kyuhyun explained, “Oh well… I guess I was wrong.” he added.

Donghae sighed in relief as soon as Kyuhyun turned his back from him and started to walk further inside the dorm. He doesn’t want Kyuhyun to know that he’s feeling bothered by his twins’ presence, Donghae doesn’t want his friends to worry about him. He then followed the guy inside.

The living room area was the first room that greeted Donghae upon entering the dorm. The surroundings made it obvious that it was indeed a men’s dormitory, the walls were painted in royal blue. There was a long black sofa leaning against the wall with a small framed glass window. A long rectangular black table was placed in front of the long sofa, piles of magazines and books were scattered on the long table. There’s a bookshelf at the opposite wall and at the other corner was a study table with two chairs. While looking around Donghae was startled when Kyuhyun turned the lights on, the room was perfectly lit by the sunlight coming through the windows but after the guy turned the lights on it made Donghae have a clearer check on the area.

“Thanks,” Donghae said, Kyuhyun just shrugged his shoulders in return before heading to a short hallway leading to another room.

Then Donghae went back in roaming around the area. He noticed that the room was a mess, a soccer ball and pieces of crumpled papers lying on the floor, plus candy wrappers on the study table. In the middle of scanning the living room Donghae noticed a medium sized white board hanging on the wall beside the bookshelf. The board seemed to be a shifting schedule for the household chores of Dorm1 occupants, but what attracted Donghae’s attention was the name written on it, the board says:

MONDAY:   

- Choi Kyuhyun  .   

“How cute…” Donghae cooed, “How come you didn’t tell me! We have two Kyuhyun in the house, a Choi and a Lee.” Donghae said cheerfully. His smile faded when he heard Kyuhyun laughing loudly at the other room. “What’s funny? Why are you laughing?” Donghae asked loud enough for the guy at the other room to hear. Then right at that moment Kyuhyun came into view, he was holding a small trashcan.

“Did you just say a Choi and a Lee?” Kyuhyun said suppressing his laughter, Donghae nodded. “What made you think that there’s a Lee Kyuhyun?” he asked him.

Donghae laughed like Kyuhyun just threw a joke at him, “Aren’t you him? Lee Kyuhyun.” Donghae said.

Kyuhyun shook his head, “No, there’s no Lee in here” he smiled then pointed at the white board, “We only have Choi Kyuhyun in Dorm1”

Then Donghae took another look at the white board, curiosity suddenly invading his brain.

“Kyuhyun” he called out, “Then, is this happened to be you scheduled today?” he asked. He turned around and saw Kyuhyun kneeling down on the floor picking up the crumpled papers and other trash on the floor then dropping them lazily in the trashcan. Kyuhyun who obviously heard the question just nodded when he sensed that Donghae was still waiting for his answer.

Donghae’s eyes widened, he suddenly found himself approaching the guy and then he too kneeled on the floor to face Kyuhyun. “B-but Eunhyuk? He’s a Lee and now you’re trying to tell me you’re a Choi, how come you’re twins but you have different surname?”

Kyuhyun had only told the story behind their surname to his friends. But knowing that Donghae will be around for too long, and the fact that he’ll be spending more time with Donghae because he’s part of their small circle of friends Kyuhyun thought that at least Donghae should know a little about that matter. Kyuhyun scratched the back of his head, “regarding that matter, it’s complicated you might not keep up even if I tell you.” he told the blonde male.

Donghae who got intrigued at the issue gave Kyuhyun an encouraging smile, “I promise, I’ll try my best to keep up.” Donghae said. “Besides you made me mega curious and now I’m very intrigued, I feel like I’m going to die if you won’t tell me.” then he crawled a bit closer to the guy, “Come on Kyuhyun, just try.” Donghae said impatiently.

Kyuhyun can’t help but to laugh at the nagging Donghae, “Fine I’ll tell you, but after I’m done with my chores” Kyuhyun said as he started getting up from the floor, Donghae cheerfully nodded.

“It’ll take long though, so try not to die yet while I’m in the middle of cleaning around, understand?” Kyuhyun teased and it made Donghae burst into laughter.

Donghae also stood up, “Fine I won’t, but let me help you clean up. You can’t finish cleaning this mess all by yourself,” Donghae shook his head in disbelief.

“Are you sure? Aren’t you supposed to be asking where your room is so you can start unpacking your things?” Kyuhyun asked.

“I’m a hundred and one percent sure, I’ll unpack later. I really want to help, so you should let me help you or else I’ll die” Donghae joked.

“Well if you insist” Kyuhyun replied while softly laughing, “you can start helping me with the dishes”

After cleaning the living room Kyuhyun lead Donghae to the short hallway leading to the dining room, then both of them started cleaning the area. When Donghae was done washing the mountain of dishes on the sink he noticed that there are only five chairs surrounding the round dining table.

“Kyuhyun, how many occupants does this dorm have?” Donghae asked Kyuhyun who was leaning against the counter.

“Five. But since two of our dorm mates were one of the exchange students that were brought in your school, we are only down to three. Well, you’ll be staying here so it makes us four now”

“Unbelievable. How can two people create such a mess like that, and I thought dorm1 has ten students. Obviously you just arrived an hour ago which means your two remaining dorm mates did this mess.”

“No, it’s Hyukjae who did this. Yesung hyung is never this messy.” Kyuhyun said.

Donghae’s jaw dropped, he did this mess all by himself? “Is he always like this?” Donghae asked. “No, he only does this during Mondays and my other shifts. He enjoys annoying me.” Kyuhyun answered.

“If it was I in your situation I’ll die young due to annoyance-overload,” Donghae can’t help but to shake his head, “So, when is your brother scheduled for cleaning?” Donghae asked.

“Wednesday, why?”

“I’ll avenge you” Donghae answered, Kyuhyun laughed at Donghae’s plan.

“That sounds fun, count me in” Kyuhyun tagged along.

“Fine then, we’ll take revenge on Wednesday. How about throwing a party on Wednesday? Just you, me, and Yesung hyung. And then let him clean up the whole mess?” Donghae chuckled.

“I can imagine the cops arresting Hyukjae by the end of the day after trying to run after you with a knife” Kyuhyun playfully replied,

Donghae who was fully aware of the joke frowned, “You’re just going to let him run after me with a knife? Aren’t you even going to stop him?”

“Who will call the cops then? Of course I can’t let Yesung hyung call them, he is as slow as his pet turtles” Kyuhyun retorted and the two of them burst into laughter.

“So, the other dorm occupant’s name was Yesung? What’s his year is he in?” Donghae asked changing their topic.

“He’s in his senior year, he’s also the eldest here in Dorm1.” Kyuhyun answered.

 “And he has a pet turtle?” Donghae asked again,

“Turtles,” He corrected him, “He has three turtles Ddangkoma, Cloud, and Ddangkoming” he replied.

Donghae mouthed a silent ‘Wow’ . “He sure loves turtle huh, I always wanted to raise a pet. My mom has been very supportive about that so she bought me a clownfish, sadly after 2 days it died. Then Mom bought me another clownfish but our neighbor’s cat ate it, I cried really hard so Mom bought me another one to cheer me up. But after killing my 8^th clownfish my Mom stopped buying me another one and told me that I don’t have any talent for raising a pet.” Donghae ended his story with a pout.

“What a bad luck you got there you should stay away from Hyung’s turtles, though , hyung almost killed his Ddangkoma once,” Kyuhyun said.

“Why, what happened?”

“When Ddangkoma was 2 months old he assumed that the turtle needs to learn how to swim, so he took the turtle to the bathroom then placed it in the bath tub." Donghae gasped, “Doesn’t he know that turtles can’t breathe under water?”

“During those times he was still unaware, luckily the turtle got rescued on time and now he still has his Ddang with him” Kyuhyun said.

“So who was the ‘angel that God sent from above’ to rescue the poor turtle?” Donghae asked, giving stress to the phrase ‘angel that God sent from above’.

Kyuhyun chuckled; shaking his head, “The ‘angel that God sent’  to rescue Ddangkoma was my beloved brother, Hyukjae.”

Donghae gulped loudly after hearing who it was, “Hyukj-, I mean… Eunhyuk?”

Kyuhyun nodded, “He went inside the bathroom to take a shower, but after 2 minutes we heard the bathroom door banged loudly against the wall as he opened it with much force. He stepped out of the bathroom holding poor Ddang as he shouted ‘Who the just left a turtle under water!’ ” , Kyuhyun said imitating Eunhyuks’ voice with much precision, “We were also surprised he didn’t let the turtle drown, most of the time he doesn’t seemed to care about the things around him” Kyuhyun explained.

“So he knows how to care after all” Donghae said in a low voice, but nevertheless Donghae felt glad that the man he’s somewhat afraid of  wasn’t that bad after all , that the guy who had showed impoliteness and rudeness at him in his first day in that school might be just hiding behind a mask.

“You can say that,” Kyuhyun replied, “So shall we see where did they placed your luggage so you can start to unpack”

“Sure, plus you still need to tell me the story behind your intriguing surnames”

“But I won’t tell you everything though, I’ll only summarize it for you.” Kyuhyun said

“Alright then, let’s go check where my room is. Where are the bedrooms?”

“Upstairs, follow me.” Kyuhyun then lead the way up to the 2^nd floor.

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Upon getting upstairs they found the 2^nd room along the hallway widely open. They checked and found Donghae’s luggage inside. The room wasn’t that big, it’s meant for only one occupant. The walls were colored in sky blue, there’s a bed at the left most corner and a drawer at the right side. Donghae’s luggage was lying on the wooden floor near the study table.

“So, whose room was this before?” Donghae asked,

“It’s Kim Ryeowook’s room, so obviously the vacant room was Onew’s room.” Kyuhyun said. “Both of them are in Seoul Royal Academy right now, they’re one of the exchange students our school had sent”.

“You and Eunhyuk, why are the both of you weren’t chosen?” Donghae asked,

“Even how smart he seemed to be the school will never take the risk of sending him anywhere, and as for me I just don’t feel like it, so I refuse the offer.” Kyuhyun said. Donghae just simply nodded, he thinks that maybe the reason why Kyuhyun didn’t accept the offer was because he wanted to look after his brother.

As Donghae gathered his luggage and his other bags on the floor he placed them on top of his bed then started unpacking his stuffs. Kyuhyun insisted on helping him unpack which the latter gladly accepted. It was about 6 o’clock when they’d finished unpacking and loading things up in the room.

“Thanks for the help Kyuhyun” Donghae smiled at him,

Kyuhyun smiled back at him, “You helped me clean up the mess downstairs so it just makes us equal,”

“Fine, so,” Dongae raised his eyebrows, “Now tell me the story” he stood up from the bed and sat beside Kyuhyun on the floor.

Kyuhyun shook his head for he thought Donghae had forgotten about it, but he promised he’ll tell him a little about it so he took a deep breath before starting. “You see, we’re from a broken family, our parents got divorced when we were 13. Of course we were old enough and we’re fully aware of what was already happening during those times it really hurts to see our family getting separated, and I know it pained Hyukjae more because he had been very dependent on our parents, like what I’ve told you earlier he was a very shy type of boy back then. Well, let’s just skip that part,” Kyuhyun sighed, “During their divorce stage they were arguing or I should say debating regarding who has the right to keep us, they even went into trial, and soon after that our Mom won so she gained the right to keep the both of us under her custody. But what made it complicated was when Hyukjae disagreed on going to our Moms’ side, he refused and decided to stay with our dad. So the result was he stayed under our fathers care while Mom took me away to stay with her. After our parents got divorced, our Mom got married to another man, so from Mrs. Lee she became Mrs. Choi. Then my mom asked me if I wanted to change my surname as well, I really love my mom and I don’t want to upset her so I agreed. My step dad was also pleased that I’m  not against the idea of inheriting his name, I worried that I might anger my dad for doing that but I found him fine with it. The person that became very upset about my decision was my twin brother, I felt as if he loathed me for leaving him completely behind.” Kyuhyun took another deep breath as he continued, “The whole process had been very complicated, and it sounds impossible as it looks but money made its way out. I became Choi Kyuhyun and my twin stayed as Lee Hyukjae.”

Donghae found himself speechless, he pitied both Kyuhyun and Eunhyuk for life has been harsh on them, in their puberty stage, when they should be needing a family to hold on and needing a stronger parental guidance.

“I’m so sorry to hear that. it must be hard to recall the past.” Donghae apologized.

“Don’t be sorry, besides I want my friends to know some facts about my life. I don’t want to leave them wondering about my identity.” Kyuhyun said.

Donghae was surprised to what Kyuhyun just said, “So, we’re really friends now? You want me to be your friend that’s why you’re telling me this” Donghae beamed.

Kyuhyun laughed lightly, “Of course! weren’t we friends yet earlier at lunch?” Kyuhyun retorted,

“I wanted you to be my friend but I’m afraid you don’t want me. So, were not just dorm mates-slash-classmates we are also friends now?”

“Yes, we are now friends period.” Kyuhyun replied, giving stress at the last word.

A huge smile plastered across Donghaes face, he was happy that he’s officially friends with Kyuhyun. He’s afraid to call him his friend earlier because Kyuhyun might not want him as a friend, but now he’s friends with him. But that huge smile slowly faded as Donghae was reminded of something. He quickly raised himself from the floor and settled himself on the chair near the study table, he was thinking if he should say it to him or just hide it from him. Kyuhyun on the other hand who got puzzled by his sudden action can’t help but to raised an eye brow.

Then Donghae thought that Kyuhyun had been honest to him, he even told the story of their family to him and it would be unfair if he’ll hide something which concerns his identity too. He took a deep breath, he’ll tell Kyuhyun and if the guy will happen to not accept him anymore after that he’ll just talk to the vice principal and tell him to transfer him to the dormitory with his school mates in Royal Academy.

 “Kyuhyun,” Donghae called out, “if you really want to be my friend, you need to know something about me and I’m afraid it might upset you”

“Well, if it concerns about you why will I be upset? Unless you want to tell me that you’re not making friends with people smarter than you, that will kind of pissed me off” Kyuhyun chuckled. But Donghae remained quiet on his seat. “Go on, tell me, I’ll try my best not to be upset.” Kyuhyun urged him,

Donghae inhaled more oxygen as he could before speaking, he looked at Kyuhyun straight in the eyes, “I’m a gay, I’m homoual Kyuhyunah.”  Then he lowered his gaze to the floor.

Kyuhyun’s jaw dropped and his eyes became as big as saucers. For a second Donghae regretted saying that to the guy, he was about to apologize when Kyuhyun raised himself up from the floor and began walking towards Donghaes’ direction.

Kyuhyun stopped in front of him and placed a hand on top of Donghaes’ shoulder, “Thank you. I’m grateful that you’re being honest with me, I know it’s not easy to say that but you still did.”

“You don’t even feel a slight disgust with me?” Donghae asked.

“I’m not the type of person who discriminates people whether in terms of race or even gender. Seriously Donghae, I’m cool with it, you don’t need to be ashamed.” Kyuhyun assured him.

“Thank you Kyuhyun! It means a lot to me thanks. I trust you that you won’t tell anybody”

“You can trust me, promise.” Kyuhyun smiled at him

Donghae let out another sigh, “I want to tell the others too though, I want Jaejoong, Jessica and Henry to know too. But I’m afraid.”

“Of all people, those three should be the least you should be afraid of. I’m sure and I’ll even bet my one year allowance that they’ll understand.” Kyuhyun said confidently.

“Really? But still I’m afraid, what if they tell? I found Jessica really talkative” Donghae laughed nervously.

Kyuhyun chuckled by Donghaes compliment to his female friend, “Jessica is just talkative when she’s with us. You’ll see tomorrow how quiet she is in class, we find it hilarious. Don’t worry I’ll help you tell the others.”

In the middle of their conversation they heard heavy footsteps along the hallway. Both of them glanced towards the open door to see who was coming, Donghae swear his heart just skipped a beat after seeing who it was. Eunhyuk came into view, he stopped from his track when he saw his dorm mates room Ryeowook opened.

Donghae quickly stood up from the chair and bowed his head a bit lower and greeted Eunhyuk,

“Good evening, I’m Lee Donghae.” he said.

Eunhyuk stared at him for a second, “He’ll stay here?” he asked Kyuhyun completely ignoring Donghae. Kyuhyun replied with a nod, and with that Eunhyuk let his eyes scanned around the room for three seconds before turning his back and continued walking to his room which is at the very end of the hallway.

Donghae sighed in irritation for he was completely ignored, “Kyuhyun, you won’t tell your twin, right?”

Kyuhyun chuckled, “Never.”

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