Love is ……………………… when I cannot find the right words to describe you.

Starring at the two guys on the floor was a pair of suspicious eyes. Embarrassed by the situation, both of them quickly dusted themselves and stood up. Donghae, with the injured ankle, was struggling to stand up independently since there was no furniture nearby for him to hold on to. Seeing that Donghae needed help, Hyukjae bend down and carried him up.

“Hyukkie? I had no idea you two were a couple. Yah! Hyukjae! I thought you told us you like girls!” Sungmin sounded furious. He was still rooted along the corridor. His eyes were fixed on Hyukjae, somehow demanding and answer to his questions.

“No no no…..” both Hyukjae and Donghae spoke at the same time.

Hyukjae looked at Donghae and placed a finger on his own lips indicating that Donghae should be quiet. He turned to Sungmin.

“You’ve got it wrong. I do like girls and we are not a couple.” Hyukjae explained.

“Then why did you spend the night here?” Sungmin asked.

“Aish….its a long story. I will tell you on Friday night? Remember? Our dinner gathering? For now, I really need to rush to work.” Hyukjae answered. By this time, Donghae was baffled why Hyukjae was so keen to explain the misunderstanding to Sungmin. Sure, he wanted to clear the air with Sungmin too, but Hyukjae looked as if he was desperate not to let Sungmin go with the wrong idea.

“Ok, I will see you then and don’t even try to escape! See you!” Sungmin bid goodbye to Donghae and started to walk off.

Once he was nowhere to be seen, Hyukjae heaved a big sigh of relief. Donghae was slightly annoyed.

“Yah! What is wrong even if he think we are together? Am I not good looking enough for you?” Donghae said out of the blue. He did not even know why he said it. He was mad at Hyukjae for too many things. Seeing that Hyukjae seemed embarrassed to be ‘coupled’ with Dongahe annoyed him further.

Hyukjae was dumbfounded. He could not believe that these words were coming out of Donghae’s mouth.

“Are you even listening to yourself?” Hyukjae retorted. “Yah! Let’s go, I am running late!”

“So you are not going to stop me from going to school?”

“Aish! You stubborn fish! Do whatever you want!” Hyukjae started to walk off.

“Why are you here?!” Mr Park Jungsoo, the principal, was the first person to spot Donghae limping into the school. Donghae’s bandaged ankle was easily spotted by anyone anyway. He had a really tight schedule for the day and stopped by the school to pick up some documents that he needed for a meeting outside. He was running late but seeing Donghae limping and using the umbrella as a walking stick, he felt compelled to approach Donghae.

Donghae was caught by surprised by his boss’s concerns. “I am fine really. I do not want the boys to miss lessons and furthermore, I teach with my mouth, not with my legs.” Donghae laughed. It is amazing that he can still laugh about this entire situation but he has gotten into so many ‘accidents’ since he arrived in Seoul that laughing about it becomes a coping mechanism.

“Well, I know that, but this school is pretty big and even walking within the school premises will be a challenge for you. How many days of medical leave were you granted by the doctor?” Jungsoo asked.

“Three days.”

“You must really be a workaholic, just like me. I would tell you to go home but I think you will probably not listen to me. Ok, take care of yourself, if you need any assistance let Jihyo know.” Jungsoo added.

“Sure. Thank you for the concern.”

Jungsoo patted Donghae’s back and walked away. Donghae was thankful that his boss was such a sympathetic and understanding guy. He felt blessed as he limped to his classroom. The hallway was crowded with kids rushing to go to their classes. As he walked, he felt so many eyes staring at him, the kids must be wondering how he got injured.

“Mr Lee!”

Donghae turned around to find Kai and Luhan jogging towards him.

“Mr Lee! Omg! I am so sorry! It was me who spilled the water onto the floor yesterday!” Luhan apologized. Luhan was examining Donghae’s ankle. His eyes were blinking and he looks as if he was half asleep.

“Yes, Luhan got an earful the minute our coach came back into the studio. I have never seen our coach so angry, he said that you are an important teacher here and that the incident should not have happened. He is always so clumsy Mr Lee! Better stay away from this guy before he gets you into more trouble.” Kai added.

“Yah! I am not clumsy!” Luhan yelled at his friend.

“Yes you are!”

Donghae watched the two young boys in front of him and cracked. Somehow this petty squabble reminded him of his own squabbles with Hyukjae. The cause of the squabble is small, but was snowballed into a heated argument.

“Stop you two. I am fine, stop arguing please.” Donghae voiced. “Your dance coach said I was an important teacher here?”

Both Kai and Luhan nodded.

That is funny. He never imagined Hyukjae could say anything nice about him especially since they have been in string of unfortunate circumstances from the first time they met. It was surprising to learn that Hyukjae is capable of complimenting someone. He could not help but smiled at what he just heard from the two young boys. But wait, why does his heart feels all marshmallow and fluffy? It is not like it’s the first time he received a compliment from a colleague.

“Noona, stop peeking at me from the door, come in.” Donghae said aloud. He was in his classroom and it was lunchtime. He thought he saw movement at the door and he spotted a sight of Jihyo’s big hair bun. He was not sure why she was just hiding behind the door, instead of coming in straight away.

“Aish, how did you know? Heard about what happened. Anyway, how are you my dear dongsaeng?” Jihyo’s voice was soft and her eyes were full of concern.

Donghae smiled. “I am fine Noona, everyone keep asking if I am ok. I really am. See? I am here today aren’t I?”

“You are here because you are stubborn and you know it.” Jihyo said strictly.

“Have you have lunch?” Donghae tried to change the topic. He was pretty sure she would continue nagging and even though he appreciated her concerns, he would prefer not to talk about it.

“Hello beautiful people!” a voice interrupted Jihyo when she was just about to speak. It was Siwon who just came into the classroom holding a big box of pizza. He entered the classroom loudly, as if demanding the attention from the two people who were inside the classroom.

“Siwon, thanks again for your help yesterday.” Donghae thanked Siwon. He did not want to miss the opportunity to thank Siwon, who had helped him to the doctor’s yesterday.

“No problem buddy, I happened to be here when you needed help. Stop being so formal with me will you?” Siwon answered. “Here, have a pizza. I know you will have problems walking to the cafeteria to buy food.”

“One whole pizza for Donghae? What about me?” Jihyo asked jokingly, pretending to be hurt.

“Of course you can have one Noona!” Siwon replied quickly, not wanting Jihyo to feel hurt.

Siwon was quite charmer. He listens attentively when others speak, not just with his ears but with his eyes too. He was generous with compliments and whenever he needed to say something unpleasant about others, he would apologize first. He is honest, and he often used polite words when he speaks. Whenever he smiles, his dimple sunk into his cheek, everyone falls in love with his charming personality.

He is so different from Hyukjae.

They had finished eating the pizza and lunchtime was almost over. Donghae felt thankful for colleagues who were considerate of his injury. They accompanied him for lunch and shared stories and laughter about the school and the students. It almost felt at home.

“Do you know what happened to Hyukjae yesterday? I have been trying to reach him since last night?” Siwon suddenly asked his two friends.

“Oh? He usually ends rehearsals at 6 pm right?” Jihyo said.

“Yes, I texted him to ask where he was going after work and he said he was going to visit a close friend.” Siwon turned to Donghae. “Do you have any idea who? I thought he would visit you since you injured yourself yesterday.”

Jihyo added, “But these two just met, I would hardly think Hyukjae would refer to Donghae as a close friend. No offence Donghae but Hyukjae is pretty cold towards new people in his life. Once you know him better, he is a great friend. He is usually resistant to making new friends….since………”

“Since that incident………” Siwon added. Both Jihyo and Siwon looked down in silence. They seemed resistant to share further.

“What incident?” Donghae asked curiously. 

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Sorry for the cliffhanger! Haha! I hope you are not too frustrated reading. Lol. Thank you to all who commented in the previous chapter! You are smart readers and can guess accurately! I shall be more adventurous and wild in my next few chapters hahaha... (evil laugh) :p