Love is ……………………… when I care about you, even when I do not want to.

Donghae was just about to tell Siwon that Hyukjae spent the night at his apartment. In fact, Donghae was surprised that he was referred the term ‘close friend’ by Hyukjae.

“Hmm…never mind! Anyway, it is unlike Hyukjae to not reply to my texts. I have been texting him since last night and it is already midday and I still have yet to hear from him! I am getting worried.” Siwon did look worried. Perhaps that explains why he kept checking his mobile phone for the past hour.

“I am sure he is fine. He is one strong guy. Do not underestimate his strength by his size.” Jihyo assured Siwon.

Siwon turned to Donghae and asked, “Do you have anything on after school?”

“Not really, especially with this bandaged ankle.”

“Shall we go for dinner? My treat! I feel like I did not get a chance to get to know you yesterday since everything happened too fast. I will drive, don’t worry.” Siwon’s request was too tempting to refuse.

Donghae smiled and nodded, “Sure why not!”

“What about me? Why do you always leave me out?” Jihyo whined. She was staring at Siwon with her wrinkled eyebrows.

“I can’t offer you Noona, Gary will be mad at me for taking you away from him.” Siwon burst out laughing. The laughter was infectious and Donghae found himself laughing at his angry Noona too. She looked too cute pouting away.

“I know this written work is tough but please do your best.”

Luhan glanced at his teacher. He was sitting opposite his teacher and was struggling to finish the piece of written work that was assigned to him an hour ago. Creative writing was the toughest for him. It is not that he has no idea on what to write, it is just that he has problems finding suitable words to use to express himself on paper. Spelling was another huge challenge for him. The whole process just took too much energy and it exhausted him.

“Its too hard…..is there any other way I escape this?” Luhan whined.

Donghae laughed. He could totally understand what his student is going through. Motivating students to do well for themselves is like a never ending battle.

“I understand, but there is no escape, you gotta practice to be better at it. Your content is good, you just need to reorganize your thoughts and pen it all down in a systematic manner. I have confidence you can produce a good piece of work.”

Luhan sighed sleepily and continued writing. It was almost 5pm and he was tired. He appreciated his teacher spending extra time with him after school which was the main reason why he did not skip this session. He used to have the habit of skipping all extra lessons conducted by the teachers but Mr Lee Donghae seemed different. He seemed to understand and genuinely cared about Luhan.

Donghae’s phone beeped. It was a text message from Siwon.

Siwon colleague:

Are you done buddy? You need me fetch you from your class?

Me:

I am still with a student. I will wrap it up and be there at the carpark in 10 minutes.

“Is there somewhere you have to be?” Luhan asked curiously eyeing his teacher.

“Are you almost done?” Donghae asked his student. He did not really want to reveal about his social and personal life to a student.

“Yes. Here you go. I am sorry in advance for my messy work.” Luhan sighed while handing the piece of work to his teacher.

“Its ok, I am sure you did all you could.” Donghae’s encouraging words was comforting to Luhan. Both of them started packing their bags.

Luhan continued to eye his teacher suspiciously. “Do you have a date?”

Surprised by the question, Donghae asked his student, “Well …. Yes. Why?”

“Is it with our dance coach?”

“Your dance coach?!”

Donghae could not believe his ears. Why would his student think that he has a date with that rude, obnoxious red head?

Luhan giggled. “I saw you two holding hands 2 nights ago. Mr Lee Hyukjae is fast, I mean, you have only been here a couple of days….”

“You think I am dating a guy?!” Donghae was too shocked.

Still giggling, “Its ok Mr Lee, I understand that sometimes guys can like other guys too. Our dance coach is well known for his charms. I mean, have you seen him dance? “

This was absurd. This 12 year old kid thinks that he was dating a guy, that rude, obnoxious guy whom had been nothing but a pain in the since they first met.

“Sorry to disappoint you but I am not dating your dance coach. Plus, I do not like guys.” Donghae answered calmly. He did not want to appear mad about the student’s statement but inside, he was embarrassed by the impression that this student has of him.

“Then why were you holding hands in public?” Luhan continued his interrogation.

Donghae sighed. It really was not going to be easy convincing this kid that there is nothing going on between him and Hyukjae.

“It’s a long story, never mind. Now get going! I am going to lock up the classroom.”

Luhan was not convinced and he was still giggling away, much to Donghae’s annoyance. Once he left the classroom, Donghae started packing his bag and locked up the classroom. Limping along the quiet and empty hall with his umbrella as walking stick, Donghae’s mind was fixed on finding ways to change Luhan’s perception of him.

Donghae could see Siwon’s big smile and wave from a distant away. He wanted to return the wave but his hands were full. He reciprocated a big smile to Siwon.

“Seeing you struggle to walk, I am beginning to think you should have stayed at home today.” Siwon said as soon as Donghae was near.

“I am doing great. Thanks for the concern. So, where are we going?” Donghae asked.

“Hello my friends!” a loud voice interrupted Siwon before he could answer Donghae’s question. That familiar voice was from the carpark. Both Siwon and Donghae turned their heads to look at the direction of the voice.

It was Hyukjae. He was still in Donghae’s outfit from last night.

“Why are you here? Where have you been? Why haven’t you replied any of my text?” Siwon’s questioned Hyukjae. His eyebrows were raised indicating that he was pretty annoyed with Hyukjae.

“Woah. Relax. My phone went dead and I left my phone charger at home.” Hyukjae answered. He turned to Donghae and asked. “How are you Fishy? Did you have fun limping around the school?”

Donghae felt his blood gushing to his head. It is amazing how this red head can make him so mad with mere words.

“I am fine!” Donghae hissed at Hyukjae. “Let’s go Siwon.”

“Where are you guys going?”

“Out.” Siwon answered.

“No way. Fishy here needs to go home and rest. Look at the state he is in!” Hyukjae responded to the clueless Siwon.

“I will be driving. You should go home and charge your phone.” Siwon answered coldly.

“Why are you with him anyway? He was my friend first! And he needs to go home and rest his ankle or it will not heal properly!” By this time, Hyukjae was raising his voice at Siwon.

Siwon was fuming mad, “He is my friend too. Why are you so possessive?”

“Are you tempting him with your car?!” Hyukjae retorted.

“I am fine!” Donghae yelled.

By this time, all three of them had raised their voice at each other. None of them realized that 10 metres away, three young boys were watching them arguing.

“See, I told you they were dating. Now there is a love triangle.”

Siwon, Hyukjae and Donghae turned their heads to the direction of the voice.

It was Luhan. Apparently he was still in school. He was standing in the middle of Kai and another student named Kyungsoo. Luhan’s voice caught the attention of Siwon, Hyukjae and Donghae. The hallway was empty thus the echo made his voice louder and that was what caught the attention of the three unsuspecting teachers.

Their silly argument abruptly ended.

Feeling overwhelmed by the stares of the 3 teachers, the three boys started to panic and scampered away quickly. Luhan’s voice brought them back to senses.

‘What were we arguing about again?” Donghae asked blankly.

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Can't run away from Eusihae! Lol. Stay tune for next chapter! Comments are loved! :D