Chapter XXXIII:

Initiating the Battle Plan

“Bommie!”

“Santokki!”

Both girls screamed at the top of their lungs while I clamped my poor ears, saving it from the excruciating noise of their squeal.

Girls, ugh.

I stared at the two as they hugged each other. “I am so happy to see you! Wait. No, I am not.” She said and to my surprise, Bom pushed Dara hard against the bed, spun around while pouting. What the heck?

“How dare you keep this from me, huh? And here I thought I will be the very first one to know about your love life. But no, it was the freaking internet which informed me about my cousin’s new boyfriend. The internet!” she whined.

I should find her gesture cute but it seemed no one was affected by it—not even Dara. 

“She’s cute,” a whisper. Well, maybe Siwon in an exception.

“Yeah, you’re right.” Another whisper. Okay then, let me rephrase my thoughts; no one was affected by her pout except for Siwon and Sungmin.

“How did you meet her?” I asked Ryeowook silently since those two closest to me were in a daze.

“We bumped each other at the elevator,” he said. “I mean, literally bumped at each other. She was fuming in anger because accordingly, her beloved corn shake was spilled and we should compensate for it. When Siwon refused, she kicked him in the groin! That girl is hella scary, man.”

I snorted, biting a laugh back as I imagined our precious visual being kicked on his most sensitive spot. Man, no wonder he was limping on his steps when I saw them. Poor guy.

I continued listening as Ryeowook added how Sungmin rushed out of the Hospital to the nearest fast food chain and ordered her another round of corn shake. He specifically mentioned how the guy comically blushed hard when she kissed his cheeks after doing the deed, and I needed to resist another urge to laugh out loud since I already knew how awkward Sungmin was with girls. I bet Kyuhyun endlessly because of that.

“Bommie,” A giggle grabbed my attention. I shifted my gaze and saw Dara calling out for her cousin. “I’m sorry, okay?” the latter was stubbornly quiet, insistently refusing to look at her.

“Bomtaro?” She tried again, tugging the hem of Bom’s skirt as she recited her name repetitively in a child-like tone while continuously asking for her forgiveness in an adorable way which I have never seen before. I couldn’t help but smile at the sight.

So, she also has this childish side, eh?

The smile dilated into a grin and my visions unfocused as I imagined how it would be if she used this kind of cutesy act on me; her calling me “oppa” while seeking for my attention.

In that imaginary scene, I’ll remain undeterred while stubbornly ignoring her whines then she’ll do a few aegyos in front of me. Wait, not the aegyo. I’ll surely succumb to her by that! How about a pout? Yeah. I might be able to stand that.

So, back to my imagination; that fragmentary Dara will jump in front of me pouting while she asks for forgiveness. After rounds of insistent persuasion, me being the smitten and kind-hearted boyfriend, will eventually capture her in a hug and kiss her passionately afterwards. Oh, that would be so good…and impossible.

“Yah, Donghae!” Siwon smacked my head, shoving me out of my daydream. 

“What?” I asked, annoyed.

“Stop grinning like your fantasizing someone in your mind, hyung.” Kyuhyun said out loud and my face burned in shame. , you tattle mouth!

“I was no—”

 “What did I say about watching too much , Hae?” Eunhyuk intercepted, igniting the already burning flame on my face. Seriously?!

“Oh, God. I wasn’t—”

“So that’s why I could hear weird noises from Donghae’s room.” Ryeowook innocently mumbled but loud enough for everyone to hear. All of the guys started to laugh while I froze, utterly aghast with no decency left in me.

.

“You dare think of some other ty girl in the presence of your girlfriend?” Bom grimly stated, disrupting the barks of their laughter.

Double .

I shook my head furiously. “No! I was thinking of Dara, not some ty girl, I promise!” words spilled naturally out of my mouth before I realized it was the wrong—and worst—thing to say.

Silence whipped around the room as everyone looked at me with some kind of expression; then they burst in another round of laughter. All I could do was to hide my face with a palm and kept my mouth shut. I have nothing else to say since my image seemed to crumble even worst every time I try to explain.

Damn.

How the hell did it turn out to be like this?

“Stop bullying him,” I heard Dara’s voice scolding them. I looked at her and she was smiling, seemingly restraining her own self from laughing. “He’s a man, that’s quite…umm, understandable.” She dawdled.

My mouth dropped and I paled. And here I thought she was actually defending me. “Yah! It is nothing like how you think it is!”

I threw daggers of murderous glare towards my so-called ‘brothers’. “What are you even doing here? Don’t you have your own busy lives to worry about?” 

“Geez, man, calm down, we were just joking.” Shindong hyung patted my shoulders. “And besides, we were also worried for miss lawyer here.”

“I’m sorry for worrying you, but I am okay now.” Dara bowed at them, “Thank you for the concern.”  

“She’s fine, see? Just go back to the dorm!” I tried pushing them out of the door but there’s too many bodies to push; I can’t get rid all of them at once.

“What a selfish fish.” Hyuk sneered at me. Even before I could react to what he said, Kyuhyun slipped past me and ran towards the patient bed.

“Aisht!” I ruffled my hair in frustration, sighing exasperatingly and relented from shoving the others away.

These guys are impossible.

“Noona, Donghae hyung isn’t that bad.” I turned around and stared incredulously.

Wait, am I hearing things, or did Kyuhyun, the evil maknae, just said something positive about me? He even called me ‘Hyung’ without the word fish. Now I’m more suspicious. A part of me sensed that maybe he felt bad after spilling unnecessary things about me and that guilt made him say those words. But then, the other untrusting part of me, warned that this prick has something under his sleeves. He’s Cho Kyuhyun after all—sneaky and vicious, and I desperately hope that suspicion is wrong.

“Have you checked his song with Eunhyuk hyung? It’s awesome!” he said, reaching for his phone stowed in the pocket of his jeans.

Oh.

this might be the perfect step to start the operation Make-Dara-Fall-for-Donghae-and-watch-Jaejoong-cry-at-the-corner. Yes.

The latest ballad song I had with Eunhyuk received a lot of love and since Dara had never heard any of our songs, I am positive that she’ll fall head over heels for me after listening to this. I smirked at the thought.

All the while, er listening to the to the song,Kyuhyun, being the techno geek, had maneuvered his way with the TV; joining wires after wires then finally connecting it with his phone. “Here it goes,” he said, tapping the screen with a sly grin on his face, but I ignored that. Upon pressing, an upbeat, groovy music instantly resounded inside the room.

Wait. GROOVY?! Then it dawned into me.

This is not ‘Sti