Long walk home
Walk Next To Me
Love is ………………………………….. when I find you beautiful in the ugliest situation.
“Hurry!” Kai exclaimed.
The three of them, Kai, Kyungsoo and Donghae were racing across the crowded hallway. Donghae was having trouble catching up with the 2 youngsters since his ankle was still all bandaged up and he could only dragged it as quickly as he could. His mind was blank; he only wanted to reach the dance studio as soon as he can to prevent anyone from getting hurt.
‘Why would he be in a fight so early in the morning? Who could have antagonized him? How often does this happen? Why? Why? Why?
Questions were lingering in his brain as he tried his best not to panic. He does not even know why he was so worried; part of him felt that he should have just asked Hyukjae to take the day off, especially seeing what a mess he was in the morning.
“There they are!” Kyungsoo yelled while pointing to two guys in a tussle in the studio. At the corner of the studio were Luhan and Tao who were holding hands in fear. They were clearly frightened by the two adults.
Donghae recognized one of them to be Hyukjae but he has no idea who the other one was. Their shirts were slightly ripped and they were engaged in a fist fight. It was a horrifying sight and it is no wonder the two young boys looked so terrified.
“Stop! Stop right now!” Donghae yelled at the two guys. He tried to stop the punches by standing in between them and pulling their hands away from each other but he was not strong enough to tear them apart.
“Stop this right now! We are in a school for goodness sake, the kids are watching!!” Donghae cried, still trying his best to stop the fight which was getting violent by the minute. In the struggle, Hyukjae who tried to break away from Donghae’s grasp accidentally shoved him too hard. Not being able to balance himself, especially with one injured ankle, Donghae fell down and landed on his .
“Ahhhh….ouch! My ankle!” Donghae moaned. He caught the attention of the two guys and put the fist fight to a sudden stop.
“Fish! Are you all right?” Hyukjae rushed over to Donghae who was already on the floor.
“Are you ok man? What were you thinking trying to stop us?” the guy scolded Donghae.
Right. He was trying to stop the fight and there he was, on the floor, again, more injured and in pain and getting reprimanded. School has not even officially start for the day.
“What do you think you doing getting into a fight so early in the morning?!” Donghae reprimanded Hyukjae. Hyukjae rubbed his nose and looked down in embarrassment. “And who the hell do you think you are punching my friend like that in front of the kids?!”
Both Hyukjae and the guy held Donghae’s arm each and helped him up.
“The name is Heechul. Kim Heechul, art teacher. You must be the new Fish, I mean teacher….”
Donghae’s jaw dropped. “You are teaching here?” he asked in disbelief.
“Yes is that so hard to believe?” Heechul questioned back in wrath.
“Well, yes. I thoughts teachers are supposed to show good examples to the kids.” Donghae replied. He was still dusting his pants and shirt.
“He started it first you know!” Heechul pointed his finger to Hyukjae and accused him.
Donghae widened his eyes and starred at Hyukjae, waiting for him to explain. However Hyukjae remained silent and simply looked down.
“Yah! Kids! Get out of here and go to class!” Heechul instructed the boys were paying attention to their argument. The four kids packed their things in a hurry and scurried their way out of the studio.
“I was just telling him about my date last night and he started to punch me. I mean, what did I say?” Heechul revealed.
Hyukjae frowned angrily at Heechul and yelled, “You should not treat a girl like that hyung! They have fragile hearts; you never know what will happen to her!”
“Why do you care, you punk!” Heechul retorted. “Whatever man, what is wrong with you? You calm yourself down first. I shall expect an apology from you after this.”
Heechul picked up his bag and stormed out of the dance studio.
Donghae turned to look at Hyukjae. He was still breathing heavily, and Donghae could see he was still upset and angry over the morning’s incident. He grabbed an unopened bottle of water from the floor and offered it to Hyukjae.
“Here, have a drink and cool down.”
Hyukjae took the bottled water and slam his back onto the mirror and slid himself down to the floor. “I am a complete mess!” He buried his face in his palms and sighed loudly. He was clearly frustrated.
Seeing Hyukjae upset made Donghae sad too. He felt sorry for the guy. On the outside, he may seemed angry and at fault but Donghae thought his actions were admirable. Since he knew the truth behind his cold behavior, he cannot help but felt that Hyukjae was simply a misunderstood personality. Without realizing, he had taken 2 steps towards Hyukjae. He kneeled down next to him and squeezed Hyukjae’s shoulders closer to his own body.
“Thank you.” Hyukjae uttered weakly.
“Anytime.” Donghae comforted.
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“Thanks for waiting, Fish.”
It was the end of the day and school was almost vacant. Donghae, who knew he will take a long time to walk from his class to the school gate, started packing up his stuffs earlier. They agreed to walk home to Donghae’s place together since they had a dinner date with Sungmin and Ryeowook. A few days ago, Donghae would have felt awkward being alone with Hyukjae but after the recent incident, he felt more comfortable with Hyukjae.
“How was your day? Did you get yourself into any more fits? Donghae asked Hyukjae casually.
“Nope, the whole day was all right. I explained to the 4 kids about my behavior this morning and I think they bought it.” Hyukjae laughed.
“Really? What did you say to them?”
“The truth. That I was angry and was not able to control my emotions so whatever Heechul hyung said triggered me more.” Hyukjae explained.
Donghae starred at Hyukjae in silence.
“What? I did tell them that it was wrong and they should never do whatever I did.” Hyukjae continued. Donghae’s stare was piercing into his guilty self.
Donghae smiled. “That’s good.”
“Where is your so called walking stick? Come closer and walk next to me so you can hold on to me! Look at you, limping like one pathetic fish.” Hyukjae nagged.
“So now that you are ok, you are going to continue to mock me and make fun of me?”
“Yes.” Hyukjae answered.
They both laughed.
They were sauntering by the sidewalk as they chat. Even though Donghae’s apartment was 10 minutes away, they were taking a longer time to arrive due to Donghae’s injured ankle.
“Can I ask you something?” Donghae broke the silence.
“You asking me for money?”
“No.” Donghae answered.
“Ok, then you may ask.” Hyukjae smiled.
“What exactly did Heechul hyung said this morning that made you really angry? I mean, if you do not mind sharing…..” Donghae was slightly worried that Hyukjae may start to feel angry all over again but he felt compelled to ask.
Hyukjae bowed down. He took a deep breath in.
“It was nothing really. He was just sharing with me about his date last night. He expressed that he did not really like the girl’s personality but told me that he will keep going out with her because she was pretty. What made me angry was when he said that he was going to dump her as soon as he gets bored with her.”
“Oh…” Donghae muttered.
“He really shouldn’t do that you know. Playing with the girl’s feelings like that. She would feel so hurt.” Hyukjae continued.
Donghae could see from Hyukjae’s was overflowing with compassion. He could almost feel his emotions too.
“I didn’t know you were the sensitive type.” Donghae voiced.
“I wasn’t, but life’s experiences turned me into one.” Hyukjae smiled. “I am actually pretty close with Heechul hyung, so don’t worry about us. We argue and fight all the time.”
“So you argue with people you are close with on a regular basis?” Donghae joked.
Hyukjae laughed revealing his gums. He lifted his hands to cover his gums, as if embarrassed by his gummy smile. It was the first time Donghae had seen him laughed like that and he actually looked pretty attractive.
“So that must mean I am one of those close to you, you know, since we have been arguing every day since we first met.”
Hyukjae seemed surprised by that statement. He ruffled Donghae’s hair and messed it up as they continued walking together in laughter.
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They have finally arrived in front of Sungmin and Ryeowook’s apartment. Hyukjae pressed the doorbell and they both waited.
“Hi guys! You are finally here! Come on in!” The two guys were greeted by a cheerful Ryeowook.
They strolled into the apartment. Donghae was slightly nervous; he recalled that he did not have a very good experience the last time he was here. He most definitely did not want to be caught in between the gay couple again.
“Where is Minnie?” Hyukjae asked curiously while looking around the apartment.
“He is running late from work. You know him, he is such a workaholic.” Ryeowook answered while setting up the table.
Both Hyukjae and Donghae were sitting in the living room patiently. The apartment was really neat and tidy but Donghae still did not understand why they had to choose pink as the colour of their wall.
“So how long have you two been together?” Donghae finally mustered enough courage to ask.
“You mean here in this apartment? We have been roommates for a year.” answered Ryeowook.
“I see. You have been together as couple for a year too?” Donghae continued asking.
There was silence. Ryeowook suddenly froze and casted his eyes on Donghae. Hyukjae, who was right next to Donghae on the couch, turned to him too.
Donghae was clueless as to why the two guys were staring at him with their eyes widened in shock.
“You thought we were gay?!” Ryeowook exclaimed.
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