Donghae’s POV 

I rolled onto my stomach, burying my face into the fluffy pillow. It was only eight in the morning, but I had been up since the crack of dawn, rolling around the large king sized bed, trying to think of something other than Hyukjae. 

I blushed as my mind ended up drifting there anyway, and I shook my head against the pillow, hoping to shake him out of my head. But it was no use. 

Ever since he had dropped me off that night after the circus, my mind couldn’t seem to think about anything other than Hyukjae. 

No matter what I did, I couldn't keep him out of my head. 

… Maybe it has to do with the fact that he had almost… kissed me… 

“Argh!” I let out a noise of aggravation, and lifted my head up off the pillow only to smack it back down. 

Stop it, Donghae! You’re so stupid! As if Hyukjae was actually trying to kiss you. Impossible!

Thinking back to that night, I blushed deeply and shook my head against the pillow.

I had been a little confused by his actions that night. He had looked uncomfortable, and I had thought that maybe it was because he had been tired and just wanted to go home already. But then he had started leaning closer and closer to me. I didn't know what to do so I had just stood there. It wasn't until he was a couple of inches away from my face that he seemed to snap out of something and abruptly pulled away. After he had rushed out a ‘goodbye’, I had watched curiously as he practically sprinted back to where his car was sitting. 

Somehow, my stupid mind wondered to the idea that maybe Hyukjae had been trying to kiss me. I mean, it made sense, right? I had watched enough drama reruns with Sandara noona to how a kiss scene worked. Somehow, my mind connected that night’s incident to a stupid tv romance drama and now here I am, jumping to insane conclusions and driving myself crazy over something that didn’t even happen.  

Since then, I couldn’t get him out of my head. All day yesterday, I couldn’t get anything done. I was supposed to help out Matthew with his moving, fill out some housing forms for college, and call Kyu. But, instead, I had been too busy holed up in my room trying to keep my sanity intact.

My heart would race a mile a minute as I thought about the possibility that maybe he had been trying to kiss me. My stomach would do a little flipflop move and then I would spend the next five minutes pacing around the room, trying to make sense of the world again. 

Even now, as I squirmed uncomfortably on the bed, I felt my face overheat and my heart pick up just imagining what would have happened if he actually did kiss me. 

Stupid, stupid, stupid! 

I rolled over again on the bed, this time onto my back with a pillow clutched to my chest. I let out a sigh. 

Of course Hyukjae wasn’t going to kiss me. Why would he want to kiss me? 

Why was it even bothering me? Did I want it to actually happen…? No, t-that’s not supposed to be right. 

If I wanted him to kiss me, wouldn’t that mean that I like him? 

That can’t be. I just liked spending time with him, that’s all. He was fun to hang out with and really nice to talk to, but that was it. After Saturday’s circus event, I got to know more about him and I got to see him in a different setting than usual. And I liked it. B-But that doesn't me I like Hyukjae, right? 

I let out another sigh as I turned my head to glance at the clock on my nightstand. 

It’s already been thirty minutes. Usually, I would be up already since it was Monday. I would have to be at Hyukjae’s office building at nine, but not today. 

Matthew had just moved out of his old apartment and into a nicer one in the city. I had offered to help him, and since I didn't go yesterday, I was going today. 

That meant I wasn't going to see Hyukjae. 

Part of me was happy that I wouldn't have to face him today. I mean, with the thought of him kissing me stuck in my head, there was no way I was going to be able to look him in the face or speak to him without blushing and stuttering madly. And what if he found out what I was thinking? He would be disgusted and never want to see me again, and I didn't want that to happen.

But part of my was upset that I couldn't see him. I wanted him to smile at me and maybe help me clear up this crazy dilemma. 

I let out another sigh. 

Alright, Donghae, time to get up. No more crazy talk. 

I smacked my forehead a couple of times before sitting up.

OK. Let’s see, first thing on the list: call Hyukjae and tell him you’re not coming in to work. 

…Uh, not quite ready for that yet. 

Moving down the list. Let’s see. I have to give Kyu a call. 

I’m pretty sure he’s going to be annoyed that I blew him off yet again yesterday, but hopefully he won’t be too stingy about it. Maybe I could ask him to come with me to Matthew’s. That way we can still hang out and Matthew with have more people to help him. 

I scooted over to the edge of the bed and grabbed my cell phone, dialing Kyuhyun. 

I waited until the last ring before he picked up. 

“What?” he grumbled heavily, sounding as if he had been in the middle of sleeping. 

“Hey, Kyu. It’s me.”

I heard a grunt and some ruffling before he answered again. “You ditched me yesterday. I hate you,” he mumbled sleepily into the phone. 

“Sorry. I was just… busy, I guess. And why do you sound like the dead?” I asked. Kyu usually slept in late, but that was only because he was lazy, not actually tired. 

Some more grunting. “Had the late shift last night,” he paused to yawn. “Got home at five.”

“Oh.” I guess he wasn't going to be able to tag along then. “Well, maybe when you wake up later, you can call me.”

“Mh hm,” was the response I got. I chuckled and said goodbye before hanging up. 

Now I have to call Hyukjae. 

I covered me face and tried to calm myself down. Gosh, I’m acting as if I’m about to talk to the president or something. 

It’s only Hyukjae. Only Hyukjae. The Hyukjae that you want to kiss. 

No, no, no, no! Ughhhh!

I dialed his office number before I thought of anything else stupid and embarrassing. 

Usually Hyukjae had a number that went through Yongguk first, but Hyukjae had given me the number for his office directly, so it made things easier. The couple of times I met Yongguk, he terrified me, so not having to talk to him was ay ok. 

The phone picked up after the first ring. “Lee Hyukjae.” He sounded bored, but at the same time still authoritative and professional. 

Just hearing his deep voice rumbling in my ear made me blush all shades of red and I pinched my leg to calm down. 

“Uh, h-hi, Hyukjae. It’s Donghae,” I said hesitantly. 

“D-Donghae! Oh, uh, morning.” He answered sounding surprised. 

“Morning.” I pinched myself again to stop the blushing. “I, uh, was just calling to tell you that I—I won't be coming in today.” 

“…Oh.” 

I titled my head curiously. I was expecting him to sound angry, not disappointed. 

Just then, I heard a voice in the background that sounded like Sungmin. “What’s wrong, lover boy? Who is it?” 

I heard a soft thud over the phone as if Hyukjae was covering the speaker with his hand. He hissed out something and Sungmin made a gleeful noise. There was a some shuffling before I heard Hyukjae curse and then there were more weird sounds. 

I pouted and pulled the phone from my ear and stared at it weirdly. Did they forget I was still on the line? “Hello?” I tried, but it was drowned out by the batter going on on the other end of the line. 

“Don’t you dare! Hey—! No, give it back! You can’t just—Wait, wait, wait!” Hyukjae ended up shouting and I heard some loud thuds, before Sungmin’s voice came over the phone, sounding out of breath. 

“You really need to watch were you lunge. Seriously, you almost knocked over my laptop,” he said away from the speaker. Then he voice got clearer. “Donghae, sweetie! How are you?” he asked happily. 

“Oh, hi Sungmin hyung. I was, uh, just telling Hyukjae that I can’t come in to work today,” I repeated my excuse. 

Sungmin gasped dramatically. “Are you ok? You’re not sick or anything are you?”

I chuckled and shook my head, then remembered I was still on the phone. “No, I’m fine. It’s just that I wanted the day off so that I could help a friend who just moved into a new apartment.”

“Ah~ I see… Is it just going to be the two of you?”

“It seems so,” I replied, playing with the pillow in my lap. 

“Well, it’s ok if you want the day off. It’s just that Hyukjae was really looking forward to seeing you today.” 

I found myself blushing at the way Sungmin worded it. Hyukjae made a noise of distress from somewhere in the room, but Sungmin hyung just shushed him. 

There was a pause until hyung spoke up again. “Hey, you know what?” Sungmin asked as if he had just thought of something genius. “Hyuk can go with you!” 

For somewhere in the background, I heard Hyukjae sputtering dumbly, “W-W-What?”. I had the same reaction. 

“N-no. That’s ok. He probably has a lot of w-work to do and— and I don’t want to b-bother him,” I tried to explain. Just thinking about spending the day again with Hyukjae had my heart jumping out of my chest, but I didn’t want to be a burden.

“Oh, trust me. You’ll be doing everyone a favor. He’s been a grouch all morning and I think a little outing is just what he needs,” Sungmin said, sounding a bit mischievous. Hyukjae barked out something again that I couldn't hear. 

“Stay put, Romeo,” Sungmin warned before turning his attention back to me. “So is that ok? I’m pretty sure your friend won’t mind the extra hand.”

I nibbled my bottom lip thoughtfully. 

Pros: I get to spend the day with Hyukjae. Plus, Matthew gets someone else to help him out. 

Cons: I’m probably going to make a fool of myself in front of Hyukjae… But I guess Matthew will be there to help me out, right?

“Donghae? Are you still there,” Sungmin asked. 

“S-Sorry. I, um… ok,” I said hesitantly. Sungmin squealed in excitement and Hyukjae called out in the background asking what was going on. 

 have a paper and another final on Friday. gonna be so glad once they’re over with. 

i won’t be surprised if you guys don’t find stuff to comment about in this chapter. I guess you can consider it a “teaser” chapter…sort of. 

I don’t mean to keep dragging this story. it was supposed to be part of the next chapter but I started writing it today and i got this far and when I finish something, i get impatient and want to put it up immediately (hence why there's so many mistakes, weird sentences, and awkward dialogue sometimes)

you guys don't know how long i stared at this chapter before posting it. i feel like I'm deceiving you guys. it’s like the neverending story. haha get it? never ending story. like the movie?

sigh~

pretty excited to write the next one, though