“Wakey, wakey eggs and bakey!” Sungmin sung from the hallway, banging a frying pan with a spoon in an unmelodious manner.

“Ugh, shut upppp.” Donghae groaned and pulled the pillow over his head in a futile attempt to drown out the insanely loud noises.

“Come on sweetie, it’s your big day!” The overly cheerful man called from just outside Donghae’s room, reminding the brunet of his dreaded big day.

Donghae groaned as he reluctantly sat up. It had been a few days since his throat had gotten better, and a day since his medicine ran out and the doctor said he could go back to school. He was silently mulling over the idea of fooling his roommate into thinking he was still sick and could really use an extra day, but in the end he decided not to. After all, lying is bad and Sungmin would probably find out anyway. On top of that, it wasn’t like Donghae had anything to be afraid of about going to school. Right? Unless you were talking about Hyukjae and his band of miscreants, oh and the upcoming play that he absolutely wasn’t ready for. The meek brunet would just have to face his fears and get through it with the help of his friends.

His friends who had been texting, calling, and pestering him ever since he told them why he wasn’t at school the past week. Zhoumi had been nonstop texting him and giving him updates about every little detail that went on at school. The red head would tell him all sorts of things, from what everyone was eating for lunch to the shoes that their teacher wore that absolutely did not go together. Although tiresome, it did keep Donghae’s spirits up and his thoughts away from a certain person he shouldn’t be thinking about.

“Are you coming?! I made breakfast!” Sungmin shouted from downstairs, breaking Donghae from his thoughts.

The boy groggily got out of bed and shuffled his feet down the stairs. He sat on a stool at the island and pulled a plate of eggs and bacon towards him. He sloppily shoveled food into his mouth with his eyes closed, trying oh so desperately to wake up.

“You’re still in your pyjamas?” Sungmin asked, and Donghae didn’t need to open his eyes to know that the other was wearing his disapproving frown.

“I’ll change after breakfast. Don’t worry about it.” Donghae muttered through his full mouth of food. He had to admit it, Sungmin was a pretty good cook despite his other annoyances.

“If you have time, that is. We’re going to be late if you don’t hurry it up.” Sungmin turned around to put some dishes into the sink and turned the tap on. “And you can’t give me the excuse that you’re still feeling sick because that Dr. Jungsu or whatever said you were A-Okay.” Sungmin sort of growled when he said the doctor’s name. Obviously still holding some ill feelings towards the man after hearing about him and Siwon.

“Yeah, yeah. I got it.” Donghae nodded his head and pushed his plate forwards and slowly stepped off his stool.

On his way up the stairs back to his bedroom he heard his roommate yell something about not wearing sweatpants just because we’re in a hurry and blah, blah, blah. The brunet didn’t pay much attention. Just like he didn’t pay much attention to what he was going to wear today, because honestly, he was tired and didn’t really want to go to school, and even though he didn’t want to go, he didn’t want to be late. If he was late, then he would have to walk into his first period class after everyone else was already there, and then people would stare at him, and it was to no doubt that Zhoumi would make a huge ruckus and disrupt the class. Donghae just wanted to attract as little attention as possible. For the most part, it was because he didn’t want Hyukjae to see him, and he didn’t want to see the blond either.

After picking out some black slacks and an oversized hoodie, Donghae grabbed his backpack and made his way downstairs where Sungmin was waiting for him at the door. The brunet ignored his friend’s disapproving look and exited the house first. As soon as he felt the air on his face, Donghae shivered and pulled the sleeves of his hoodie over his hands. The warm September air that he had felt several nights ago had been replaced by the end of the month and the cool air that autumn brought with it.

They arrived at the schools in no time at all thanks to Sungmin’s crazy driving. It was a complete miracle that the guy even managed to pass his driving test the first time around.

Donghae got out of the car and said goodbye to Sungmin because the bunny-boy had seen Siwon in the distance and had already started to run off in that direction. This left Donghae alone and the boy slowly started to fill with anxiety. His eyes desperately darted around in search of that one platinum blond head of hair, so that he could do everything that was possible to avoid it.

Luckily, the brunet made it inside the school without any dangerous confrontations. He was just about to enter his classroom when an arm wrapped itself around his neck and pulled the brunet downwards. Donghae started to freak out and was about to scream when he realised two things. One; he was in school, and two; it wasn’t Hyukjae.

“Zhoumi! How could you do that? Scared the out of me…” Donghae pushed the taller boy away from him and straightened out his clothes – not that it made much difference.

“Sorry, sorry, I was just so happy to see you! It’s been forever without you by my side.” The boy made a pouting face and wrapped himself around Donghae once more, squeezing the living daylights out of him.

“Jeez, you’re such a dork.” Donghae laughed it off though, and told himself to be less on edge. The two happy friends entered the classroom and sat in their seats. Zhoumi couldn’t stop talking about all the things that Donghae missed, and that he would be glad to help him with the homework, except the Chinaman wasn’t so sure he would be able to help that much.

Shortly after, class started and Donghae was lost to the world of books, homework, and whole hearted education. He may not have been much of a brainy kid, but he wasn’t completely dumb either. He knew how much he would struggle if he didn’t get caught up with everything soon. Chaos would ensue and he’d have no choice but to drop out and go into hiding. Or at least, that’s what his anxiety filled mind was thinking right about then.

Before he knew it, the lunch bell had rung and they were headed for the cafeteria.

“Oh my gosh,” Donghae suddenly blurted out.

“What?” Zhoumi asked, stopping to watch the brunet freak out in the middle of the hall.

“I totally forgot.”

“What?”

“I have to go and get something – er no, do something I mean.”

“What?”

“Right, um, it’s yeah,” Donghae stuttered and looked around, his face started to redden. “I just need to see the teacher about a math problem. It’ll be fine. I can go myself. See you later.”

Zhoumi was about to reply, but the flustered brunet was already halfway down the hall. Zhoumi shook his head and sighed, but smiled anyway. He pulled out his phone to text Henry as he continued on his way to the cafeteria.

Donghae on the other hand, was not going to see a teacher about a math problem. Although it wasn’t a lie that he was going to see a teacher. In fact, he was going to see Mr. Kim, the drama teacher, his homeroom teacher, and also the teacher who was taking charge of the open house play. After their strange phone call while the brunet was sick, Heechul had texted Donghae to tell him when rehearsals would take place. Mondays and Wednesdays at lunch, then after school every other day. It just so happened to be Monday and Donghae knew that if he missed his first day then he would never hear the end of it from his eccentric teacher.

The reason why the starring actor didn’t tell his friend what he was doing was because he was embarrassed. Donghae didn’t exactly want Zhoumi knowing that he was going to be in a play. He knew that Zhoumi would just freak out and want to come to his rehearsals and be a part of it and he might even ask to be in the play or a part of it somehow. And if the guy didn’t react like that, then he’d probably make fun of him. Either way, it was a lose-lose situation for Donghae. It would be better to leave it to the last minute, at least that’s what Donghae believed.

Donghae stood in front of the auditorium where they were supposed to be meeting, and hesitated for a minute. He was a bit nervous, well, a bit was an understatement. There were so many things going on in his head at that moment. He wondered if all the things that happened last year would resurface during the play. He was curious about Seohyun who he didn’t really know a lot about, but he knew that he saw her talking with Hyukjae. That made him worry about whether Hyukjae knew that he was in the play, and if he was going to sabotage it in some way. More than anything though, Donghae was worried if he could still act.

Well, it’s now or never, I can’t really back out of it now. Donghae told himself, and with that he pushed open the doors to the auditorium and entered the darkened room. Most of the lights were off, and he realised that it was because they were running through the script right then. He softened his steps and slowly crept up to where he saw some other people sitting in the chairs. He also noticed that Heechul was crouching on the floor in front of the stage. Just then, three people appeared on stage in a hurry.

“Milady, you cannot! The king forbids you to see that man!” One of the students called out to Seohyun who was standing at the edge of the stage. Donghae noted to himself that the boy who spoke wasn’t a very good actor, and he could see the frustration on Heechul’s face as the act went on.

“No law or rule that my father makes could keep me away. My heart will not bend to your chains, you will see to that!” Seohyun scrunched her face and ran off the stage, leaving behind the two male students. Wow, she’s really good, Donghae thought, nodding his head.

“What do we do now? If we do not go after her the king will have our heads.” The student from before said.

“There’s nothing we can do for now, but assure her safety.” As soon as the actor spoke, Donghae recognized him to be Kibum. He was surprised that he hadn’t noticed before since the boy was his dear friend, but the room was dark, and he wasn’t feeling well, and there were many other excuses to be made. “We do know where the scoundrel lives, yes? We will keep close watch on him and the princess.”

“Yessir.”

The lights suddenly and Heechul yelled out “Cut!” to signal the end of the scene. There were a few people who clapped for the three actors, and others who just stood and wandered towards the stage. Donghae himself made his way towards everyone, hoping to get Heechul’s attention and to say hello to Kibum.

“Kibum, Seohyun, you two were stunning. Loved it, just a few things to touch up on. You on the other hand, Sungjae you need a bit of work. Like just a bit. Or a bit more than a bit. Oh well, I’m sure you’ll get it.” Heechul shook his head and patted the boy on his shoulder. “Ah! Could it really be? Our star of the show has finally showed up?!” Heechul turned around and quickly noticed that Donghae was there.

“Hello.” The brunet said shyly, noticing all the eyes that were on him. He recognized a few people from the same grade, and some others who were younger than him. Donghae walked up to the teacher and stood beside Kibum who hugged him hello.

“Wonderful that you’re here! We’ve had some difficulties with rehearsals since you’re in most of the scenes but haven’t been here. Oh well, it couldn’t have been helped since you were ill. I hope you’re all healed up though.” Heechul looked Donghae up and down once and then again and nodded to himself.  “I guess we’ll have to have someone catch you up on what’s going on. You script should be somewhere...” Heechul left to look around for Donghae’s script, leaving the brunet and Kibum alone for the time being.

Kibum looked to Donghae and gave him another warm hug. “It feels like it’s been forever since I’ve seen you. Like seriously, you have been sick for too long.” The boy smiled and let go of Donghae.

“I know, but I’m better now and back in business.” Donghae laughed. “I didn’t know you were in this play, let alone that you were into acting.”

“Haha, yeah, I know. But when Mr. Kim asked, I just couldn’t refuse. Plus he said it’d look good on an application or something like that. Who knows, it sounded fun enough.”

“Yeah, Mr. Kim will say just about anything to get someone to do something for him.” Donghae laughed. He was feeling pretty good now, knowing he’d have a friend with him. “So… what’s this whole play about? And who are you playing?”

“Right, I guess you haven’t been here for a while.” Kibum lead the other over to the front row of chairs where they sat and he pulled out his version of the script. There were many highlighted parts and little annotations and comments that the boy had made. “It’s set in the middle ages, and it’s about a princess who falls in love with a mercenary that comes to the castle for work. The problem though is that the king – her father – doesn’t approve of it, and so there’s that stuff and some other stuff. It’s really a bit confusing since Mr. Kim was the one who came up with the plot and everything else. I’m playing the captain of the guards, so I’ve got a good amount of lines.” He explained.

“Sounds good enough. Not too bad. Could you quickly fill me in on who’s playing who? I’m really sorry about this,” Donghae looked nervously to the floor. He knew Kibum wouldn’t mind, but he still didn’t like to ask too much of his friend who had already put up with so much from him.

“No it’s totally fine. Choi Siwon is playing the king, as you saw earlier, we have Seohyun playing the princess, then there is Sungjae over there, he’s one of the guards. Let’s see who else, there is a list somewhere… Oh yeah, you know Taeyeon? She’s playing the merchant’s daughter who is also in love with the mercenary and in the play she plots to sabotage the princess. I don’t know how though, Mr. Kim hasn’t released that bit yet… I think because he doesn’t know yet.” Kibum laughed, then he looked to his right and saw that Donghae’s face had turned pale. “Hey are you feeling okay?”

“Hmm? Oh, yeah. I’m fine. You said Taeyeon?” Donghae asked, mumbling his words.

“Yeah. Wasn’t she in the play last year with you?”

“…Yes, she was.” Donghae blinked a few times and then forced a smile. “What’s my role?”

Kibum was still worried, and wanted to press his friend a bit more, since he knew he was holding something from him, but he didn’t want to upset the other. “I believe, you are the mercenary. Lead role and all.”

“Right, that’s cool. Lots of memorizing to do I guess.” Donghae’s smile faltered as more memories of the past turned up.

Taeyeon had been the female counterpart to Donghae’s role in the play last year. They had worked well together and she was a really nice person. Donghae didn’t have anything against her, but her name reminded Donghae of what happened last year. Because they were so close and she helped him through a tough time, Donghae knew he wouldn’t be able to go through this play without the two of them talking about that.

It's been a while, sorry about that. >_> I was going to update earlier but there was a power outage unfortunately. Please enjoy the little hint at the end ♥