I won't rate this chapter but I'm still warning you : bad language in this chapter.

Chapter 4.

          October had smoothly started and Donghae was amazed at how time had been running fast since that summer day he had met Eunhyuk. Almost two months had passed, so much had happened and a lot of things had changed since then.

His relationship with Eunhyuk was getting a bit better every day. It was far from perfect yet, the red-head would still ignore him or reject his attempts to get a date, but somehow he could feel that the tension was slowly diminishing.

In two months, Donghae had learned a lot about Eunhyuk.
He could still remember the first impression he had had of the elder: the other teen was terrifying. Fierce and cold, glaring at everyone and always giving the impression that he was about to attack.
That first impression however had soon been replaced by another one, as Donghae had progressively noticed that Eunhyuk was all barking but no biting. A mask to protect himself, to keep people away, that was what it was. Just acting mean, but not being mean for real. He was fooling everyone with appearances.

Of course, the red haired teen was rude and easy to anger. He never talked much, except when he wanted to tell someone off. It didn't take much to make him glare at everyone around. But Donghae had found out that he wasn't that bad, when you looked at him closer.

If at first he had been scared, spending time with Eunhyuk had taught him not to fear the elder teen anymore. Eunhyuk was just a bit grumpy and hypocrite, always saying the opposite of what was on his mind. Donghae had learned to simply accept the red-head's personality, and eventually he had begun to quite like it.

He would find it cute when Eunhyuk scowled at someone, his expression would turn sort of adorable (in a very weird way), and he liked to try and guess what really meant the other's words, what they really said.
At some point, he wasn't so sure why he had felt scared in the first place.

And after some time, he realized something else. The power Eunhyuk had on him was incredible. A simple look from the red-head would make his heart thump in his chest. Just a word could make him happy or sad for the rest of the day. Just a gaze was able to make him lose all his composure. He couldn't stop thinking about the other, all day long. His mind was full of Eunhyuk. He missed him when he wasn't with him, and enjoyed each second he could spend by his side. Time always strangely seemed to stop when he was with the other.

He had never felt like that before.

But he didn't think too much about it. He just enjoyed the time he could spend with Eunhyuk and every day he would do all his might to get the elder's attention and try to work on their relationship. Eunhyuk was special after all, his eyes had a power on people, it wasn't surprising that he reacted like that. It was only a natural response to Eunhyuk's strong aura.

The most positive turn of events was that Eunhyuk wasn't as grumpy as he used to be. At the beginning, he would always wear that pissed off expression every time Donghae would show up and his body would react to the brunet's presence, tensing and getting uptight. But slowly, as if Eunhyuk was lowering his guard, the red-head progressively relaxed.

Donghae was happy to see that Eunhyuk wasn't reacting as negatively as he used to. Of course, he still barely talked and never smiled to him. But the red haired teen didn't seem as bothered about Donghae's presence anymore and the brunet eventually got the chance to witness Eunhyuk's true self.

The red-head was rude and tough towards strangers, but acted really differently with his friends. He didn't talk much, but Donghae soon found out that he listened a lot and had sharp eyes. Eunhyuk would always pay attention to his friends and observe them. If he noticed that one of them was a bit sad or in a bad mood, he would ask what was wrong. If he noticed that one was getting cold or sick, he would share his scarf. If one was hungry, he would grumpily scold him and order him to go and eat.

It was really discreet attentions, but Donghae didn't fail to notice them. He could see how Eunhyuk cared for his friends. Sometimes it felt like he even cared a bit for him, even if the red-head tried not to show him. Like that day he had always fallen after tripping on his own feet, and Eunhyuk had reacted fast to catch him and prevent him from getting hurt. If he really hated him, he would have let him fall, right?

Donghae smiled with satisfaction as he remembered the scene. He could still remember how Eunhyuk's arm had wrapped itself around his waist and how he had found himself pressed against the red-head's warm and slim body. His heart had missed a beat before going wild in his chest, pounding so powerfully he could feel it through his whole body.
Of course Eunhyuk had been quick to let go of him, but his heartbeats had needed a few minutes to get back to their normal pace.

But then again, Donghae had not thought too much about it. He had tripped, almost fallen, it wasn't surprising that he had received a shock and felt his heart react to it, right?

"Be careful kid!" a voice suddenly boomed next to him, startling him.

He jumped and looked up, snapping out of his thoughts. He bowed to the man with whom he had almost collided and muttered a shy apology. The man snorted, gave him an annoyed look, and walked away.

Donghae pouted and watched the man for a couple seconds, before he turned around and began walking again. He scolded himself for getting too distracted and almost crashing into someone. It wasn't the first time. He had been day-dreaming a lot lately, and most of his thoughts were directed toward a certain red-head. It was as if he couldn't stop his mind from drifting away.

He crossed the street, trying his best to keep focused on his surroundings this time. He walked another more minute before he finally arrived to his destination. Heechul had sent him a message telling him that Eunhyuk was hanging out around the bus station, alone, and Donghae had jumped on the occasion to rush to the place and spend some time alone with the other.

He stopped in the middle of the square and looked around, scanning the surroundings and trying to find the red haired teen. It was usually easy to spot him, because of his flaming hair, and there wasn't so much people around. Yet Donghae didn't manage to find Eunhyuk and his bottom lip automatically jutted up as he pouted dejectedly.

He took a few steps backwards and leaned against the closest wall, still looking around for the other. He ignored the small group of noisy high school students chatting next to him, just a couple meters away, and wondered if Eunhyuk was already gone.

How disappointing! For once they could have spent some time just the two of them...

He remained in the same position for a whole minute, pouting his life out, stubbornly scanning the place with wide opened eyes, but it wasn't very fruitful.

"Hey guys! Look there!" one of the teens next to him suddenly gasped, sounding strangely excited.

Donghae glanced at them, his attention caught by the tone of the teen. He watched how they all turned to look at something the guy was pointing to. Another one scoffed.

"The ", he disdainfully muttered. "It's been a while since he didn't come to class."

"I'm glad he doesn't", the first one retorted. "We don't need that kind of trash with us. I bet he sells his 's to get ed... Disgusting!" he added with a grimace, scrunching his nose.

The others laughed, while Donghae rolled his eyes. People were so intolerant, it sometimes amazed him. Why was it so important which gender you preferred? It wasn't like you could choose those kind of things. And when you love someone, does it really matter if it's a man or a women? Love between humans is supposed to be something beautiful, no matter the gender.

"He even dyed his hair in red", another snorted. "How to be the gayest possible", he commented with a snigger.

This time, Donghae's eyes widened in shock and his heart missed a beat. His head jerked up and he looked in the direction the teens were looking at. His heart clenched as he finally spotted Eunhyuk standing a few meters away, music in his ears, waiting for his bus. He looked so lonely and melancholic, looking down at the ground like that, it saddened the brunet.

They're insulting Eunhyukkie! he realized and an unpleasant feeling invaded his guts. How can they say such horrible things about him?!

He pushed his body off the wall, ready to leave and run to the red-head, but another comment stopped him before he could take the first step.

"What a ! I wish they could definitively expel him from the school. We should get rid of people like him."

Donghae's blood fired up instantly. He spun around and closed the few meters separating him from the teens.

"How can you say that?" he snapped, eyebrows knitted together, now clearly upset. "How can you say so much horrible things about Eunhyukkie?!"

The teens turned around to watch him, surprised but quickly gaining back their composure. One of them cocked up an eyebrow arrogantly.

"What? You know the ?" he blurted out, eyeing Donghae with disdainful eyes.

"Don't call him a !" Donghae instantly retorted.

"But that's what he is", another one snorted. "A disgusting !"

"Don't talk about him like that!" the brunet said between his greeted teeth. "Eunhyukkie isn't disgusting and he's not a ! It doesn't matter what gender he prefers, he's a human being and he deserves respect!"

"He doesn't deserve any respect", the first guy retorted. "He's trash and he's a failure. Our society doesn't need people like him."

Donghae was so upset, so shocked by the teen's words, that nothing came out of his mouth. He felt a huge lump appear in his throat and it was as if his heart was crashed down by the violence of the strangers' words. He watched the guys in front of him, speechless.

He couldn't understand how people could say such mean and hurting words. He couldn't understand how they could say those words and direct them towards Eunhyuk. How could they insult the red-head? How could they say those things about him? Eunhyuk didn't do anything to deserve those words.

Donghae was dumbfounded.

He realized those were the people Eunhyuk had been to school with. He realized how hurt the red-head had probably felt, the insults and disdain he had faced, the judgments he had been through. That was why Eunhyuk didn't want to go back to school. Those people had hurt him.

He felt like crying, just thinking about how Eunhyuk had probably felt, hearing those harsh words, facing those contemptuous people. He felt so sorry for the red-head he didn't manage to stop his eyes from welling up.

"What?" one of the teens snorted. "Are you going to cry now?"

"Maybe that's the 's boyfriend", another joked, and Donghae flinched. "Oh? Are you? For real?"

"Disgusting", the first muttered when Donghae just watched them without replying.

The brunet's eyes were already watery as he kept taking the verbal hits. He gasped when they kept uttering awful words about him and Eunhyuk, when the insulting words stabbed him over and over again. He watched them with shocked and wide eyes, unable to utter a single word. His head began to slightly spin.

This wasn't how people treated him. Never in his life had he been treated like this. Never had he felt that much hurt and stepped on. People were always nice to him. How did this even happen? Why were they trying to hurt him so deeply? What did Eunhyuk and him do wrong?

"Shut the up, dickheads!" a voice boomed from his right. He instantly recognized Eunhyuk's upset voice. His head snapped to the side and indeed, Eunhyuk was standing beside him, his jaw clenched and his eyes throwing glares.

"Oh, here comes the to rescue his boyfriend. Hey, your princess is getting a bit sensitive over here", the teen sniggered and pointed at Donghae with his thumb.

The brunet could feel how tense Eunhyuk was. He knew the red haired teen could burst any second. But to his surprise, Eunhyuk only took his hand and pulled on it.

"Let's go", the red-head shortly said and spun around, dragging Donghae with him.

"Yeah, that's it, just leave. I hope we won't see your ugly face at school anymore!" the second teen scoffed.

"At least you found yourself a to ", the first one laughed out loud.

Donghae squeaked when Eunhyuk suddenly spun around and pounced on the black haired teen who had said the last words. He grasped him by the collar and shoved him against the wall. The guy released a small yelp of both pain and surprise.

What happened next came so fast and was so violent that Donghae found himself rooted to the ground, frozen. He watched in horror Eunhyuk lift his fist and punch the guy's face, hard and mercilessly. He only gasped but didn't move when the second hit came. He just watched the scene with horrified eyes, shocked by what was happening in front of him and the sounds the guy produced as Eunhyuk's fist collided with his head.

It took a few seconds for the two other teens to realize what was happening. When they did, they tried to catch Eunhyuk and push him away from their friend, but Eunhyuk only released the one he had punched to grab another one and throw his fist into his stomach.
The guy found himself bent in two, breath cut, his expression torn by pain. Eunhyuk turned to the last one, who tried to step backward but not fast enough. Donghae saw Eunhyuk catch the shorter teen and push him against the wall, head first. He fisted the teen's hair and slammed the head against the wall a second time.

That's when Donghae snapped out of his shocked state. Heart pounding in his chest and tears in his eyes, he ran to Eunhyuk and caught his arm before he could slam the other's face again.

"No, Hyukkie!" he whimpered, holding tightly onto the red-head's arm.

"I'm so done with you bastards!" Eunhyuk only snarled, his husky voice sounding half broken. "I'm so done with this !"

"Hyukkie!" Donghae called again, pulling on the elder's arm, not letting him hurt the other again.

Eunhyuk's body was completely tense, his sharp jaw was clenched so hard Donghae could see the veins of his neck popping out. The red-head tried to push Donghae away, but the brunet kept clinging onto him.

It took a few seconds before Eunhyuk finally let go of the guy, who fell down to the ground, panting. Next thing Donghae knew, he was pinned down to the pavement.

"Hmph!" he let out a muffled gasp as his body collided with the ground and a strong body hold him down.

"Don't move!" a stern and deep voice boomed, and Donghae obeyed, scared to death. "Take the other one in the car, I'll bring this one", the man's voice added while Donghae felt something cold and hard being wrapped around his wrists. "Hey kid, we're taking the two of you to the station. Be quiet."

Then he felt himself being lifted up by strong hands. He couldn't really understand what was going on. He only realized the situation when he was brought to a police car and shoved on the back seat, next to Eunhyuk.

He started to panic, eyes moving from right to left. He glanced outside and spotted a couple cops standing next to the three high school students Eunhyuk had beaten up, talking to them and pointing to the car where they were sitting.

"Sorry Donghae", Eunhyuk whispered, catching the brunet's attention.

Donghae took a deep breath, trying to calm down despite how scary the situation was. He was a bit reassured to have the red-head with him, but still he could feel his body tremble and his stomach clench. He was starting to feel dizzy from the overload of stress and anxiety.

He turned toward Eunhyuk and found the latter just sitting there with his face expressionless and his eyes shut. At least he wasn't hurt and Donghae was relieved. Yet, this situation was bad and Eunhyuk didn't seem too bothered by it.
He frowned.         

"You shouldn't fight like this", he found himself saying before he could stop himself.

"Shut up", Eunhyuk grunted. "They started it!"

Donghae felt the lump grow in his throat and his eyes got even more teary. His mind replayed the scene and the harsh words they had received replayed in his ears. He stared at Eunhyuk for a second, his urge to cry growing stronger.

"Don't cry. I said I was sorry", Eunhyuk then said and opened his eyes to look back at the brunet. "Usually I can control mysel