The incident
Walk Next To MeLove is ………………………. when I see you sad, I feel sadder.
What is it about tears and its power to move hearts? Why do we feel our hearts flinch when we see the tears of others? Why do we automatically empathize when we see others sob? Is it because it reminded us of our sad memories? Or is it because the tear somehow connects the person dropping it and the person seeing it? Why do we have the urge to hug or pull the sobbing person into our embrace? Is it because we feel the need to protect them from the harsh realities of the world? Or is it because we want to comfort them until they get back up on their feet again?
Or is it because, we had subconsciously develop some sort of a feeling for that particular person?
Donghae’s right arm was on Hyukjae’s shoulders. They are on the way to school, earlier than usual. Hyukjae has been walking like a zombie since Donghae caught him sobbing in the morning. He did not talk much and he seemed to be in a daze. Feeling bad, Donghae stayed silent too. Even though he does not really know the history of Hyukjae and the girl from last night, he wanted to comfort Hyukjae. It was his first time seeing Hyukjae so helpless, a far cry from the loud, obnoxious Hyukjae that he knew.
He opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. In the end, he decided to walk next to Hyukjae closely, with his arms on Hyukjae’s shoulders. They were walking slowly to school, partly because Donghae was still limping from his fall.
“Hyukjae ah, are you ok? If you are unwell, why don’t you take the day off?” Donghae said when they arrived at the school compound.
Hyukjae looked up to meet Donghae’s concerned eyes and smiled. “I am ok. The boys need practice. Thanks again for loaning me these clothes. I cannot believe I keep loaning your clothes for work.”
“Its all right, thanks for allowing me to slightly lean on you during our walk here.” Donghae answered. It was actually the first time the two of them were in polite conversation. It sounded formal when they were not busy squabbling with each other. “I will see you tonight at Sungmin’s place?”
“Oh yes! I almost forgot that today is Friday. Walk slowly Fish, you have yet to recover.”
“Hyukjae ah!!” a lady’s voice called out Hyukjae’s name and both of them turned their backs to find Jihyo running after them.
“Noona…good morning.” Donghae greeted his senior.
“Hyukjae are you ok?? I heard what happen from Siwon, come here.” Jihyo signaled Hyukjae to come closer to her and she gave him a big bear hug. Hyukjae obediently abide.
“It must be so hard on you. You sure you are ok? Let Noona know if you need to go home early ok? I will let Mr Park know.” Jihyo comforting words made both Hyukjae and Donghae smile.
“Thanks Noona, I am fine, really. Thanks so much. I will get going now. See you!” Hyukjae waved goodbye to the unconvinced, frowning Jihyo.
Jihyo turned her attention to Donghae, “What about you? How is your ankle?””
“Its slightly better, but my head is spinning. I cannot wait to go home early today and sleep.” Donghae replied.
They started to walk to their classroom. It was still early so there were not many students around yet and they could walk in a leisurely manner.
“Noona…..can I ask you something?”
“Sure dear, what is it?”
“Do you know the girl from last night too? I mean, did Siwon mentioned it to you?” Donghae asked. He did not want to be nosy about it but his curiosity got the better of him. It seemed that everyone knew Hyukjae’s and the girl’s history and it was driving Donghae insane to still be in the dark about it.
Jihyo sighed. “Long story, let’s just say that they were in relationship but it turned ugly.”
“What do you mean?” Donghae probed further.
“Hmm…they were together and they were so madly in love. However, Ji Eun started to be too obsessed with him. She started coming here and started to follow him everywhere. At first Hyukjae was fine with having her around for dance practice but later on she insisted on moving in with him. Hyukjae was not in favour of that since she was still in school. Her studies suffered too since she kept skipping classes to follow Hyukjae around.”
“She stalked him?”
“Kinda. It was the worst when Hyukjae finally had enough and told her that he wanted to break up with her. She got so angry that she created trouble here!” Jihyo explained further.
“Oh dear, what did she do?”
“Well, she started to announce to everyone here that she was pregnant with his child and threatened to kill herself and her baby if he refused to take her back. Can you believe her? My Park was very mad about this matter because it affected the school’s reputation. It was the talk of the school. Mr Park actually told Hyukjae to solve the problem or leave the job. It was really a stressful time for him.”
Donghae was speechless. He knew that Hyukjae had an ugly past but he had no idea it was this horrifying.
“It must have been awful. How did he solve the problem?” Donghae asked again.
“He didn’t do anything. Her parents found out about her obsession and sent her to a mental health clinic to see the psychiatrist. She needed professional help and was put away for quite some time. However, Hyukjae has always felt guilty about it. I guess he felt like he was responsible for her obsession?. He used to be so cheerful and bubbly but since the incident he transformed into a quiet and cold person.”
“Cold?”
“Yes, he doesn’t hang out much with us anymore and he is quieter now compared to before the incident.” Jihyo looked at Donghae’s expression and realized that she had been talking too much. “Opps, I am not sure if Hyukjae would be ok with me telling you all this. So please keep it between us?”
“Sure, I promise.” Donghae assured his worried looking Noona.
“Ok my dear dongsaeng, better get to class now! You wouldn’t want to be late!”
Donghae nodded. They went their separate ways at the hallway. As soon as he arrived in his classroom, he immediately headed to his desk and sat down. He felt overloaded with too much information this morning, plus he was still limping in pain and his head was still throbbing, recovering from the hangover from last night. In his heart, he was hoping that the day would speed up.
After hearing Hyukjae’s story from Jihyo, Donghae felt guilty. He had not been the most polite with him, and even argued with him the entire week. He had no idea that Hyukjae went through so much. The Hyukjae he caught crying in his living room was like an entirely different person. He felt sorry for him and he had the urge to see him and give him a big assuring hug. It may seem weird but wished that Hyukjae would turn back into the rude and obnoxious guy that he was. It would have felt better if he could argue back to Donghae instead of looking depress the whole time.
“Mr Lee! Help!” Kai and Kyungsoo slammed the classroom door opened and dashed to where Donghae was sitting.
Donghae was startled by the loud sound of the door being slammed opened.
“What is the matter with you two?” he asked the two boys who were trying to catch their breath.
“Our coach……he is having a fight………… in the studio.” Kyungsoo sounded alarmed.
Shocked by what he just heard, he stood up, “What?! With who?? ”
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