A tornado of feelings. That was how Donghae felt the whole time he was on Hyukjae’s back. He was embarrassed with the whole situation, angry at his own self for being clumsy and touched at Hyukjae’s selfless gesture. Too many emotions were in him altogether. Is that why his heart was beating fast? His ankle was in pain but he was not sure why he was nervous.

“Thank God you are not that heavy Fish!” Hyukjae words brought Donghae back from his intriguing thoughts.

They had arrived at the general office. The dance studio and the office were only 5 minutes apart but Donghae felt that it was the longest 5 minutes in his life.

“Wait here.” Hyukjae instructed Donghae. Once Hyukjae placed Donghae on a chair he went off into the office.

‘As if there is anything else I can do.’ Donghae thought. He was still in shock. His ankle hurts at the slightest move and he could not sit comfortably on the chair.

‘I am really such a klutz? I keep falling down and getting myself into trouble every single day since the school term started.’

As Donghae sat there trying to suppress the pain, he was also reprimanding himself. He cannot believe his bad luck. How is he going to continue working tomorrow?

Hyukjae appeared from the back of the office with ice pack wrapped with towel in his hands. He was walking quickly towards Donghae.

“Hang in there Fishy. Hold this. You gotta wrap this with the towel and ice to prevent it from swelling any further.” His instructions were clear and concise.

“Ouch! Not so hard!” Hyukjae barely touched his ankle and Donghae groaned in pain.

“Sorry.” Hyukjae apologize.

“What do I do after that?” Donghae was surprised by the immediate apology from Hyukjae.

“Hmm… you need to go the doctor. I can bring you to a nearby clinic but I only end practice in an hours’ time. I cannot leave the boys alone upstairs for long.”

Donghae pouted. He was hoping Hyukjae would continue to take care of him but he also realized that Hyukjae was not free since he has rehearsal with the boys. Wait. Why does he crave for Hyukjae’s care now?

“Wait a second, I will check if my friend is still in school, if he is, he can bring you there.” Hyukjae started dialing his mobile phone.

“Siwon ah! Where are you? Are you still in school?” Hyukjae was already on the phone. “Are you done for the day? I need your help….general office now… Ok great. See you.” He hung up the phone.

“Great news, one of our colleagues will bring you to the doctor’s. He drives so it is easier for you.”

“His name is Siwon? He is a teacher here too?” Donghae was worried if Hyukjae’s friend is of similar characteristics as Hyukjae. There is no way he can tolerate two rude colleagues.

“Yes…..oh! There he is!” Hyukjae exclaimed while pointing to the direction outside the office.

Since the office door was made of glass, Donghae could see a tall guy jogging towards the office. He was well dressed and his hair was neatly gelled. Even though he was a distance away, Donghae could see that he was a really handsome guy.

“Sorry I took so long, there were some boys squabbling along the corridor and I had to stop them. You must be the injured one. I am Siwon.” Siwon introduced himself while extending his hand towards Donghae. His smile was friendly and revealed a pair of dimples on both his cheeks.

“I am sorry to trouble you.” Donghae apologized while shaking Siwon’s hand.

“Not at all, any friend of Hyukjae is a friend of mine! Come on, I will help you to the car.” Siwon gestured to Donghae to hold on to him.

Donghae was sipping a hot drink in his living room. He successfully made it home with Siwon’s help. Siwon was nice. He was polite and considerate of Donghae who was still in pain. He even carried Donghae’s bag the whole time. Donghae was embarrassed since he hardly knew this guy. Above all, he was glad that Siwon was not as rude and obnoxious as Hyukjae.

He was given 3 days of medical leave which means no work until Friday. The doctor had prescribed him some pain killers after he bandaged Donghae’s ankle. Donghae was stubborn. He did not want to miss his classes and he just started a few lessons with his boys. He hated missing class especially when he was just starting to bond with the boys.

‘I will just use the umbrella as a walking stick! Its not like I cannot walk at all!’. Despite the doctor’s warning, he was determined turn up for work tomorrow.  

Ding dong.

Donghae’s thoughts, ‘The doorbell? Who would show up so late at my apartment? My gay neighbours? I hope they are not drunk again.‘

It took Donghae so much effort to simply stand up from the couch. He hopped to the door with his functional leg. He was praying that it would not be his gay neighbours because he was already feeling bummed from the unfortunate events of the day.

“Its me, you Fish!” yelled the voice behind the door.

Ahh…Donghae knew it was Hyukjae That familiar, annoying voice. What would Hyukjae want now?

Donghae staggered momentarily when he was greeted by the smiling Hyukjae. ‘This guy can smile?’ were his first thoughts. As soon as the door was opened, Hyukjae walked in.

“Excuse me, but did I invite you into my apartment?” Donghae voiced.

“I wanted to see how you were doing Fish. Considering that you look like you were going to cry this afternoon.” Donghae wanted to believe that Hyukjae was concerned but somehow the words he chose to express sound sarcastic.

“I am fine. Don’t worry about me.” Donghae shut the door and started hopping back to the living room to sit on the couch.

“Yeah, that hop does make you look really fine.” Hyukjae chuckled. He knows that it was not funny since Donghae was in pain but he could not help but thought that Dongahe look like a cute bunny hopping like that.

Donghae let out an air of disgust. “Are you here to visit me or mock at me?”

Hyukjae chuckled again and walked towards the sofa. He sat right next to Donghae. “Both.”

“Here, put your leg up onto the sofa.” Hyukjae instructed. He held Donghae’s right leg up onto the sofa and he moved on to sit on the floor.

Donghae did not question Hyukjae. He simply followed his instructions. He was not sure why he did it. Perhaps it was the air of authority that Hyukjae has, it made Donghae feels assured.

“I am going to take off the bandage and do a light massage. You ok with that? It will be slightly painful but it will heal faster than merely depending on the doctor’s bandage and medication.”

“Are you sure you know what you are doing?” Donghae could not help but sound worried.

“Of course! I am THE dance major; I used to experience many kinds of injuries so I know what to do when this happens.” Hyukjae could see the unconvinced Donghae. “Just relax and trust me.”

Hyukjae rubbed his fingers onto Donghae’s tight ankle. He massaged it lightly, every now and then checking Donghae’s facial expression. He did not want Donghae to be in too much pain. When Donghae gave him a ‘green light’ look, he continued. He circled Donghae’s toes to increase the mobility at the ankle. He was sure not to miss out Donghae’s calves too since the claves muscles tend to tighten too whenever the ankle swells.

Donghae hate to admit it but Hyukjae’s touch was comforting. It was painful in the beginning but as Hyukjae continued, he felt good. His ankle did not feel as tight as before.

“Ouch!” Donghae yelled in pain when Hyukjae pressed on the swell.

“Hang in there and stop being such a baby!”

The massage went on for about 20 minutes. Hyukjae’s fingers were long and bony so the massage on his swollen ankle felt good. He wished that Hyukjae would continue with the massage. Being in the same room with Hyukjae and not end up in an argument should classify as an achievement.

“You are done! It should heal in no time.” Hyukjae announced while lightly carrying Donghae’s leg and placed it on the couch. “Make sure you place your feet on a pillow when you sleep to elevate it.”

“Thank you. You must be thirsty. Sit down here on the couch, I will go get you a drink…..but first. I need to go pee first.” Donghae revealed.

“Do you usually announce to people when you have to go to the bathroom?” Hyukjae continued chuckling.

There he goes again. The 20 minutes of peace is over and now they are back with their petty squabbles. Donghae pouted to Hyukjae and hopped to the bathroom in the kitchen. He refused to say anything because he knew they will both end up arguing again.

Donghae opened his fridge and took out a bottle of mineral water. He hopped back into the living room and to his surprise; Hyukjae was sound asleep on the sofa. His head was rested on the arm rest and he was curled up like a hibernating hamster.

‘He must be so exhausted.’ Donghae empathized.

He hopped as quietly as he could towards the sleeping Hyukjae and sat down next to him. Hyukjae looks so peaceful sleeping; it was as if he was experiencing a pleasant dream. His fringe was draping onto his eyes, hiding his single eyelids. Donghae could see his defined jawline and thought it made Hyukjae’s face appear sharper.

Lost in his inspections of Hyukjae, without realizing, Donghae hands started moving towards Hyukjae’s hair. He softly returned the dangling fringe that was covering Hyukjae’s eyes to the back of his ears. His hair felt soft.

Upon realizing what he just did, Donghae pulled his hands back.

“Oh my God! What and why did I just do what I did?!” he panicked.

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Yay! I am happy to write this chapter. I was having goosebumps writing the last part HAHAHAA...I know, its weird. Can you tell I am an eunhae shipper lol. Thank you to all who commented in previous chapters. As you can see, I reply to every comment so that is how much I love your comments. Stay tune for next update for more eunhae moments lol.