~Donghae~

Rush hour – Or lunch, whichever you prefer to call it. It was that time of day again where I could slack off without teachers nagging at me to focus because the musical was one damn distracting thought. I felt restless. I couldn’t relax about yesterday. After a long night of contemplating my decision on playing Beau, my desires and doubts have been going at it since this morning. Should I have really accepted? I wanted to play Beau. I know that, but I’m also having second thoughts. If this musical just stayed between the school members then maybe I could pick my confidence back up, but I finally remembered it was an open invitation for parents and even talent agents. Also, from time to time the media pops their heads’ into SM’s business and publishes articles online. For sure they’ll be hearing about this when word gets out the musical has changed into a homoual love story. How are people going to react to this? What if people find it offensive and view SM in a negative light?

I ran my fingers through my hair and fisted it, almost to the point it would rip off my scalp. Couldn’t I have just been offered to be one of the enchanted servants? I thought.  Suddenly, my hands let go of my hair and my head dropped down into my stupid realization. I chuckled. For some reason it was funny. Why am I overthinking this? Nothing has even happened yet. That’s right. I shouldn’t dwell on these trivial matters. I should be glad. I have the main role and I’ll get to act like how I dreamed of. It’s unlikely this will ever happen again, so I should take the chance and make the best experience out of it. I’ve got two days, no, tomorrow until parts are official. If I waver now, how will I ever make it in the acting industry? It’s all about risks. I’ve taken far too many to just quit.

“Yeessss, Mrsss. Yoooung.” We all answered.

She smiled. “Good. Stage fighting is allowed, but if an inappropriate command is given, we will skip it. I advise you all to get creative. This activity is supposed to spark imagination and quick thinking. No long silences. It must keep moving on and on.”

Everyone nodded and she started appointing the numbers one and two to students by random. Once she finished she told the two groups to split and organize themselves. I was in group two, along with Siwon, Tiffany, Yoona, Hyukjae, and a few others. Hyoyeon and Sungmin were a part of group one. Both groups stood in a straight line opposite from each other across the room and we were given the okay once it was silent. The narrators were speaking in chronological order so there was no confusion. Already right off the bat things escalated quickly.

(All commands will be bolded)

Hyoyeon was the first to give out an order. “Tiffany is furious and slaps Hyukjae.”

Hyukjae sent her a glare but she shrugged with sly smirk.

“She can’t do that can she? She called out two names. That’s against the rules.” He objected.

“Ahhh, I see what she did there.” Mrs. Young explained, “She called out two names, but she only gave Tiffany a control. She hasn’t broken a rule yet. It’s very clever of her actually.”

He sighed with no choice but to comply.

Tiffany looked over at Hyukjae with reluctance, but he gave her a sharp nod and they met out in the center where Tiffany raised her hand and swung it towards Hyukjae’s face. She just barely missed. He had dodged in time before it was about to land a very unattractive mark on his left cheek.

“You worthless piece of trash!” She screamed, “You dirty, lying, stinkin’, cheater!” She was throwing her fists at him but they were weak hits so Hyukjae was able to block each one of them.

“Hyukjae yells back frustrated that she won’t listen to him.”

“Listen to me! You’re mistaken! This isn’t what you think it is!”

“Shut up! I don’t want to hear it!”

“Yoona pops in – The one Hyukjae had an affair with.”

“Mistaken? Oh,” She wickedly giggled. “She isn’t mistaken, not at all. You see, Tiffany-honey. This is 100% what you think it is. Don’t be shy, Hyukjae. Tell her all about our little date we had in my room.” Yoona held his arm while his biceps with creepy tenderness. Her devilish eyes watched Tiffany’s disgusted reaction as they continued to appall her with their intimacy.

“You-You can’t be serious, Hyukjae. What… What about our child?!?!”

Yoona released Hyukjae’s arm in a heartbeat. “You have a kid?!” She exclaimed, shocked. The man she had stolen away no longer looked desirable to her. The fact that he already had a child turned her off.

“Oh? You didn’t know?” Tiffany put her hand on her hips, strutting towards Yoona with a menacing aura. She poked her in on the chest. “Yes we have a child, it’s in here.” She pointed at her stomach.

“Hyukjae doesn’t remember ever doing it unprotected.”

“A child?! We always used protection! Whose child is this?!” He snapped, enraged by this absurdity. He roughly grabbed her shoulder and spun her to face him. “Tell me whose child this is!”

“It’s yours and don’t touch me!” She broke free, holding her belly. “After all, if anything happens to me, there goes your first kid.”

“Don’t lie to me!”

“It’s true, the broke! I can prove it!”

“What? Are you just going to search through the trash and show me it?!”

“Donghae is a doctor who proves she is pregnant.”

I took a step into the circle, prepared to improvise.

“No need to prove anything, I am a doctor and this is indeed your child.” I assured. “I’ve ran tests, there’s no doubt it isn’t yours.”

“See!” Tiffany threw her hands up. All the rage in Hyukjae quieted down as he realized he had overreacted. He apologized but to no avail. Tiffany was still upset.

“Yoona confesses she is also pregnant.”

“Enough! I’m tired of all this! Yay, you’re pregnant, so what? But are you forgetting that we also did it? And it wasn’t an accident.”

Tiffany’s face froze in horror as she put the puzzle pieces together. Holding her stomach, she then grabbed Hyukjae’s collar with her free hand and pulled his face down to her level, “You got her pregnant too?” She sounded like she was about to rip him into shreds like a piece of paper.

“Tiffany goes crazy and tries to kill Yoona’s baby.”

She let go of his shirt and staggered backwards in disbelief. Betrayed and broken, she was trembling in like a volcano about to explode. Her hair tangled in her fingers and she held her head like she was trying to hold her sanity together. Out of nowhere she started with a low chuckle that gradually turned into a boisterous cackle. It was a straight minute of hysterical laughter until she opened her eyes to the size of golf balls and pointed a finger at Yoona, panting heavily. “It’s all your fault, you witch! IT’S ALL YOUR FAULT. I’ll kill you!” Tiffany lunged forward towards her and swung a few punches towards her belly. She blocked and retaliated. Then Yoona pushed Tiffany making her fall backwards. I moved reflexively to catch her.

“Ladies, please.” I implored. “You guys are pregnant! Think about the babies!”

“Yeah, please! Let’s all calm down and let’s talk this out!”

Yoona and Tiffany both shoved Hyukjae to the ground and yelled in sync, “DON’T TELL ME TO CALM DOWN!” He hid under his arms curled up into a ball as they joined together in ‘kicking’ the out of him. I watched in amusement as he attempted to squirm away, but they both grab his ankles and pull him back.

“Donghae feels terrible cramps in his stomach and realizes that he’s going into labor.”

Everybody paused and I was frozen stiff. Me? Going into what? It was dead silent in confusion until we heard Mrs. Young counting down. “3…2…1– ”

“Arrgh!!” I dropped down to my knees, gasping in pain. “It’s-it’s coming!” I cried frantically. “Ahhh...!!” I panted some more.

Tiffany and Yoona immediately pushed Hyukjae aside to come to my aid. They laid me on my back and each grabbed one hand. I tried my best to suppress my smile but I nearly lost it when I saw Hyukjae appear between my legs, opening them. “Haaaarrrgh!” my body tensed, feeling really hot, but it was mainly because it hurt to hold down a laugh.

“What’s happening to him?!” He said looking at me in terror.

“Are you stupid?!” blurted Tiffany, “He’s about to give birth!”

I had a great view of Hyukjae’s white panicked face. He was doing a surprisingly good job at staying in character. “Wha-what do I do!?! We need a doctor!!”

“The only doctor here is him!” Yoona pointed out. “And he’s the one having a baby!! Do something!”

“O-Okay! G-give me some instructions, Doc! W-What do I do?!” He stammered.

I had no idea what to tell him so I cried out in distress as a reply. A few giggles managed to escape, but they were covered quickly with some more loud screams of agony. I’m pretty sure no one smiles while they’re giving birth but hey, I was trying my best as a male.

“Are you serious?! You’re asking him to direct you?! You worthless trash!” Tiffany snapped.

“Oh, so you wanna try and deliver his baby?!?”

“Hell no! You do it!”

“That’s what I thought!”

“Stop yelling!” I shouted “It’s not helpiiiiiiiiing…!! Haaaah…!! Huuuuurrrrrryyyyyyy!!!!! The baby’s coming!!!!”

Hyukjae still looked at me lost. He then looked over towards the narrators who were just laughing like mad people at the scene. One of them realized it was their turn and decided to save them from making this an even bigger mess.

“Siwon who is a doctor walks by and notices a man giving birth. He goes and calmly helps deliver his baby.”

“Excuse me, I’m a doctor,” Siwon announced, pretending to pull out medical ID as proof. “Let me help deliver this baby.”

“Oh god, please.” Hyukjae stepped aside, worn out. He wiped his head like he was sweating from high pressure. Siwon now replaced his spot and had the most serious expression, like an actual doctor. “Just relax and slowly begin to push. Take a few breaths in between each push to help.” He instructed. He looked at Hyukjae, “Give me your jacket.”

Hyukjae looked dazed. “Huh?”

“Now!” Siwon demanded. It surprised everybody to hear him yell like that and it woke Hyukjae back into reality. He promptly ped his jacket and Siwon used it to cover my legs for some privacy like if this was a real situation.

Tiffany squeezed my hand, trembling. I could tell that she too was holding down laughter and it was killing her. Her face was red as a tomato, but mine was probably worse.

“Push!” Siwon ordered.

“I’m pushing, goddamn it! I shouted breathlessly. I faked push by just making grunting noises.

“I see the head!” He said. “Keep pushing!”

Siwon looked around for something to play the baby. Hyukjae caught on and ran over to Mrs. Young’s desk and searched for something. He found a plush monkey toy and threw it over. It landed right in the doctor’s hand and he took the jacket off my legs to wrap it around the monkey.

“Congratulations, Donghae! You’ve successfully given birth to your new baby boy!”

I finally relaxed and so did the girls. They assisted me in sitting up and I was just relieved it was over. He handed me my baby and I held it in my arms. Hyukjae came over to look and everyone else crowded around.

“Space – Give him some personal space.” Siwon said.

“Sooooo...” Yoona went on. “Who’s the other uhhh… Father?”

My eyes widen. Oh yeah… This couldn’t have just happened on its own. I looked at my baby, and then I looked up at Hyukjae. I looked back at my baby, and then held it up next to Hyukjae.

“No way…” Tiffany was flabbergasted.

“There’s no mistake.” Yoona agreed.

Siwon held his hand out in front of Hyukjae. “You’re a father now, sir.”

“YOU CHEATER!!!” Yoona and Tiffany both cried as they chased Hyukjae.

“Dear god…” I muttered under my breath.

Suddenly there was clapping. Everyone applauded us for our crazy mess of an improv. “Wonderful! That was highly unexpected but well done. I almost stopped you guys a few times but you guys were so serious I didn’t want to interrupt. We’ll play a few more rounds and switch. Bravo!”

When class ended, someone wrapped their arms around me from behind. Their hand touched my stomach and gently rubbed it. Irritated I swung my backpack onto my shoulder, hitting them and left.

“Ow…! Donghae, wait up! I was joking.” Hyukjae called.

I stopped and turned back with a smile. “Freakin' monkey. You coming or what?”

“Hyoyeon, who are you play?” I asked.

“Mrs. Potts.” She grumbled. “So close! So close into playing chip! But no! Henry, the little freshman, is chip! And I get to be his mom!”

“You gotta admit he’s pretty cute.” I chuckled.

Hyoyeon stared at me.

“What?”

“Ew.”

“Huh?!”

“How old are you? 17? And he’s like what? 10? Are you a ert or something?”

“He’s 14!”

“Tsk, tsk, tsk. Too young for you to be setting your eyes on him.” She shook her head, displeased. “That’s my son you know.” I looked at her dumbfounded. “You’re a taken man too.”

“Was.” I corrected her.

“For now.” She said. “You and Hyukjae are going to end up together. I can see the future.”

It felt weird hearing that from Hyoyeon, considering the relationship they had, or at least use to.

“But don’t you…” I dropped my voice into a soft whisper “Love him?”

She half smiled with a sigh. Her eyes directed towards her ex-fiancé who was chilling on the stage with some guys. “Of course I do, I’ve always had. But that can’t change his feelings. If he’s attracted to guys, I can’t do anything about it. And trying to convert someone is just down right stupid so there’s really no other choice but to accept who he is.” She laughed, somewhat bitterly. “I wish I could’ve understood that a few years ago. But how could I? He told me so many times we would always be together and that when we married the promise was sealed. But Hyukjae came out to me that he was gay when we were 12 and our engagement broke off. I was so angry I held a grudge on him for 4 years and treated him terribly. He moved suddenly moved without telling me and changed his number and I didn’t know what to do then. I started to believe he hated me, so I searched desperately in circles to apologize to him. Now that we’re together again, I don’t know how to bring it up or act like I’m sorry.” She paused. I thought she was taking a moment to wipe away fallen tears but her face was perfectly fine. Her love for him was beautifully genuine. Those words sounded of an accepted defeat, but a strong will to move on. She broke out from her silent trance and picked up the other corner of into a full smile. “But I don’t think it matters. I’ve come to the realization that as long as he doesn’t hate me, that is good enough. Don’t tell him I told you all this, alright?”

I didn’t understand how she could endure all of that. She was stoic, but she definitely didn’t start out like that. I reached for her hand and it. Hyoyeon looked stunned, but became at ease after she knew I was just comforting her.

“Say… Do you like Hyukjae back?”

I stopped for a moment to think about it. “I think I’m questioning.”

She nodded. “Ah, you’re in that state.”

“Hyoyeon?”

“Yes?”

“How do I know if I really do like him?” This was something I really needed to be clarified. Hyukjae explained it to me once, but I couldn’t’ grasp what he meant. There was no one else who would be of help – Besides Key or Jonghyun – but right now Hyoyeon felt like the right person to ask.

She chuckled. “Tell me, how would you describe falling in love with a girl? You’re straight right? Or Bi, you can be Bi – Anyway, how would you know if you liked a chick?”

“You get hot, your heart beats uncontrollably, you desire to get closer, you blush, stuff like that I guess?”

“Exactly, it’s the same if you like a guy. Don’t separate love into two categories, in the end it’s just love right? There’s nothing special or different if you fall in love with a male or female. There’s no secret language or code to tell you, because love is only one emotion out of hundreds Try not to focus on gender because to love someone for what they are is bull. You should love them for who they are – Their soul, their personality. Same goes for your own self. You should love yourself and accept that you've fallen for a guy, even if there's a small chance you could be misinterpreting your feelings. Once you've learn to love that part of you, I think you will feel much better about your situation."

I grinned, noted everything she said. It was almost like what Hyukjae told me, love is love. However, she added in something he didn't mention. Myself. I need to love myself. Her perspective on love actually helped. My head felt like an endless fog had cleared and the sun was shining some light in my dark, ignorant mind. “Thanks, Hyoyeon. I really appreciate your advice.”

I felt a hard thwack on my head from her fingers. I rubbed the stinging spot, confused.

She smirked. “If you really understood what I just said, then confess your feelings for him. And even if you’re still questioning even the slightest, confess anyways and test if it really is what you think it is. You never know until you try.”

 The first rehearsal was just a brief explanation of how things were going to go. Everyone pitches in to making the set except for a few characters who will be rehearsing lines and rewriting the script. I was one of those few characters without question. I picked up the thick packet and read off the characters.

Narrator – Lee Sungmin

Beau – Lee Donghae

Beast – Lee Hyukjae

Gaston – Choi Siwon

Clogsworth – Lee Jinki

Lumiere – Lee Minho

Mrs. Potts – Kim Hyoyeon

Lefou – Kim Ryeowook

Chip – Lau Henry

Maurice – Kim Youngwoon

The Three Bimbettes – Choi Jinri, Kwon Yuri, Im Yoona

Feather duster – Seo Joohyun

And so on…

I then flipped to the pages where there were… Kiss scenes.

“Whatcha lookin’ at?” Hyukjae popped up beside me during lunch.

“Just looking at the script.” I closed it.

He noticed and frowned at me. “You hiding something again?”

I kept silent. How was I supposed to explain to him? I held out for a little longer until he dismissed the suspicion. “Are you going to be at rehearsal today?”

“Of course, it’s not Beau and the Beast if there’s no Beau.”

“You’re right.” He laughed. Right at that moment my obnoxious stomach decided to grumble like an earthquake, Hyukjae even gaped at how loud it was and laughed some more. “Where’s your lunch?”

“I skipped.”

“Why?”

“No money.” He was quick to offer some of his lunch. ‘Say awww’ he said. I opened my mouth and he fed me a piece of meat. “Good?”

I nodded.

“Heechul made my lunch for me. He’s one hell of a cook.”

I opened my mouth again.

“Done already?” He laughed and fed me some more. “Hey, you’ve got some sauce on your lip.” He pointed out. I my top lip. “Still there.” I then my bottom. “Missed it.”

“Where is it?!” I said.

He used his thumb to wipe it and then it off. I found myself unconsciously staring at his lips. They were pink and plump. The way he pouted was adorable. Since when have they looked so cute? I gulped. Damn…

“Ahem.” Someone cleared their throat.

We turned and found Siwon sitting across from us.

“H-how long you been there?” I asked, startled.

“Dude,” He put down his own copy of the script. “I was the first one here.”

I think this chapter is a little longer than the other's but I'm working on making them longer ^^ I'm working on advancing Hae's feelings too so Eunhae could get to some lovey-dovey action, like damn 37 chapters. I really want to start writing some naughty scenes, but I must stick to the story *^* In due time it will progress to higher levels of intimacy, so I thank you all for being very patient with my fanfic! I really appriciate all the comments and support.Thank you~