School was stressful to say the least. Even though Donghae was around more, Leeteuk couldn’t stop noticing the horrible looks everyone was sending his way. The middle people at the school that weren’t really social but not at the bottom of the gene pool either were giving him horrible looks now too. Leeteuk wondered if a rumor had been started about him.

All the worry melted as he met up with Donghae after class though. They were going away from school pressures to just be guys. A little of the weight holding Leeteuk down was lifted. Donghae didn’t know his way around town yet so Leeteuk was left in charge of directing their walking. They struck up conversation about the weather and wishing it would stop raining for a while.

Leeteuk guided them into a restaurant he knew pretty well. There weren’t any memories here besides birthdays with his family and he had never seen any of the popular people. Donghae took over getting them a table at the back of the place. The restaurant was more traditional with pillows to sit on at the low tables. There was a grill in the middle of the table and Donghae and Leeteuk both really wanted to use it. They ordered samgyeopsal and got comfortable while it was prepared.

“What kinds of things do you normally do after school?” Donghae asked.

“Well, I’m lucky and only have hagwon on Saturday morning. But usually it’s homework, some internet surfing and sleep. I like to stay out of my family’s way when I’m home.”

Donghae nodded and sipped his soda when it came. “How big is your family?”

“Just an older sister, mom and dad. Inyoung’s at college right now though, so I don’t see her much.”

“And hanging out with friends?”

Leeteuk in a breath and shook his head. “I don’t really have any anymore.”

“What about Sora?”

Laughing, Leeteuk shook his head. “No, she just started talking to me ‘cause I helped her with something once. We don’t hang out, she got my number somehow though.”

“Come on, you think she’s hot.” Donghae teased with a grin.

“No. Not at all.” Leeteuk said with a serious face.

They both leaned back when their food got to the table. Being hungry boys they dived for the meat, getting it cooking right away.

“So who do you think is hot?” Donghae asked.

“You don’t want to know,” Leeteuk chuckled.

“Oh come on, tell me. It’s one of the popular girls isn’t it?”

Leeteuk debated on what to tell Donghae. “Yeah, Sohee I guess isn’t bad, but she’s a terrible person.”

Donghae laughed. “Stick her in different company, do you think she’d change?”

Leeteuk shook his head. “Sadly, she’s doomed. She’ll never be a good person and it’s sad.”

Donghae didn’t like these answers, so he kept prying at Leeteuk. “Come on, tell me who you really like.”

“Well, there’s this girl in this band. She’s pretty much ideal.” Leeteuk was still skirting around the topic. He didn’t want to lose the one friend he had so quickly.

Rolling his eyes, Donghae went to flipping the meat. “You’re really not going to tell me are you?”

“Look, I want to. But it’s not who you’d expect and I’ve kept it a secret from everyone. Right now, I’m not going to tell you.”

Donghae nodded. “All right, I can respect that. I’m still deciding who I like anyway.” He laughed softly and started eating.

Leeteuk sighed now that Donghae had dropped the topic. “So what do you do in your free time?”

“Dance,” Donghae said around his bite of food. “I dance in my sleep I swear. It’s actually why we moved up here. We’re closer to Seoul and my parents really want me to try my dreams out.”

“That’s awesome. So you’re going to do auditions?”

Donghae nodded. “As many as I can until I get signed somewhere.”

Leeteuk wished he had that kind of ambition. He was too busy worried about what Heechul thought of him to think of anything else. He had no idea what he wanted to be when he grew up. But Donghae did, maybe helping him and being around him while he was dancing really would get Heechul out of his mind for good.

“Have you ever been outside Korea?” Donghae asked.

Leeteuk shook his head and ate more.

“Hm, have you ever tried smoking or drinking?”

Leeteuk laughed softly. “I’ve had drinks, but I’m not good at holding my alcohol, so it’s always been a mess.”

Donghae laughed. “That would have been awesome to see. Tell me who you used to be friends with?”

Leeteuk paled at the question. “Uhm. Heechul. He used to be my best friend even. But we don’t talk anymore.”

“Did something happen?” Donghae asked.

“I don’t know. He just stopped talking to me.” Leeteuk looked down at his lap. He’d known that somehow Heechul would be brought up. Hell his mom still asked about him. It didn’t hurt any less and Leeteuk’s hopes for that felt dashed suddenly. Leeteuk was never going to get over Heechul. He’d always be the thorn in his side and every time he pinched to pull it out, the wound bled too much to continue.

Donghae was just watching Leeteuk, slowly understanding some of the reasons behind why he acted like he did. “How did you pick your nickname?” He asked, trying to change the subject.

Leeteuk swallowed hard and spoke softly, not looking up. “Heechul gave it to me. We used to play games and it came from that.”

Donghae sighed and looked around. “So Heechul’s who you like? Who you think is hot, who you don’t want to tell me about?”

Leeteuk’s head snapped up and he stared at Donghae with tears in his eyes. “That obvious?”

Laughing softly, Donghae nodded. “Look, it’s okay, okay? I don’t think any differently about you. Back at my old school there with this guy who totally blew my mind with how good he looked all the time. It happens and you shouldn’t try to control it.”

“But what if it’s why Heechul stopped talking to me?” Leeteuk whispered, wiping his eyes.

“Then he’s an and not worth your time.” Donghae nodded and went back to eating.

Leeteuk let that sink in for a while, composing himself. It was true and he knew it. Heechul wasn’t any better than the people he was hanging out with now. But there was still a nagging doubt inside him that Heechul was that awful. Leeteuk cleared his throat and went back to eating. Their conversation turned happy again and Leeteuk let out some more of his genuine smiles.