Hyukjae drags Sungmin away during lunch the following day. Donghae, who had pushed himself to go to school despite his cuts, is disappointed when he doesn’t show up, but tries his hardest to smile when Ryeowook fusses over him. Siwon’s with him, as well, assisting him throughout the day. So why is it so hard for him to just get over the fact that he hasn’t seen Hyukjae all day?

“Looking for Eunhyuk?” Kyuhyun asks, grinning as he leaned on his elbows beside Donghae. “You okay?” he finally asks, concern tinting his voice upon seeing the cuts closer up.

Donghae just smiles and nods. “Yeah, I’m fine,” he replies softly, running a hand through his hair tiredly.

“Why’d you come to school today?” Kyuhyun asks. Donghae doesn’t need to reply for Kyuhyun to understand. “I think he’s with Sungmin,” he finally admits, taking a bite of his sandwich. “They’re both not here.”

Donghae looks around, noticing Sungmin isn’t gone now. “Oh. You’re right… Were you looking for Sungmin?” Donghae asks innocently.

Kyuhyun blinks and shakes his head. “I just notice thing,” he replies.

Donghae smiles. “Okay,” he says softly, understanding that Kyuhyun is never one to speak his thoughts outright. After all, Donghae was the one who “found” Kyuhyun. While a lot of kids resented Kyuhyun, jealous of his obvious talent, Donghae greeted him with open arms. Even Ryeowook – sweet, caring Ryeowook – was skeptical at first, them both being singers and all, but in time, he grew to care for Kyuhyun, as did everyone else.

“How do you plan on dancing?” Kyuhyun asks, changing the subject. “The festival is less than a week away. Will your cuts really heal by then? Especially if you won’t rest.”

Donghae shrugs. “Even if they don’t, I’ll dance. I can’t just leave Hyukjae like that,” he says. “Besides, I’ll take some pills, maybe. I’ll make it work.” He smiles reassuringly at the skeptical Kyuhyun. “Have you chosen your song yet?” he asks curiously. “Wookie is doing a ballad.”

“I know,” Kyuhyun says. “I’ll probably do one, as well. Changmin is, as well.”

Donghae nods, still a bit absent-minded. He doesn’t understand why Hyukjae isn’t at lunch, because he always is. He wonders if it has to do with yesterday’s incident, and worries he might have done something wrong. Is Hyukjae mad that Donghae got beat up and that he had to step in? Or that Donghae might not be able to dance because of this? Although, the latter is completely untrue, because Donghae is going to dance; even if the boys broke his legs yesterday, he would have found a way to dance.

“I don’t know why you don’t just go look for him,” Kyuhyun says, smirking. “I think they’re over at the soccer field. Changmin just texted me saying that they were over there, talking to Junsu.”

Donghae wonders why Changmin told Kyuhyun that, but doesn’t ask. He just thinks about why the two suddenly felt the need to talk to Junsu. He understands that they are all good friends, but the walk is really long, and most students don’t want to bother wasting their lunchtime going over there, even if it is to see a friend. Once they get there, they’d only have about ten minutes to eat and talk, anyway.

“Apparently the two just showed up halfway during lunch,” Kyuhyun further explains. “I don’t know why though, and neither does Changmin.”

Donghae just nods and continues eating his food. He hopes he can apologize to Hyukjae for whatever he did at their practice…

… if only Hyukjae decided to attend practice.

Donghae continues checking the room, as if Hyukjae will suddenly appear if he does. But no one is there, and all of the other dance rooms are empty as well. But today is their practice day, and Hyukjae would never skip out on it. He doesn’t understand it, and he wants to rip out his own hair over it. He suddenly wishes he knew Hyukjae’s phone number.

Reluctantly, he pulls out his phone and calls Siwon to ask where he is. Siwon answers that he is still at his Bible study, but will be out in half an hour. Donghae, still afraid to walk home – he insists it’s not because of the bullies, but because he doesn’t want to get more injuries that might put him at risk of not dancing well at the festival – decides to wait outside by the field.

Not many people know this, but Donghae loves soccer. He has since he was a little child, but his father always wanted him to be a singer, not an athlete. He wanted to join the team when he arrived at this high school, but found himself too busy with other classes to even try out.

But sometimes, when he has nothing else to do and is waiting for Siwon, he’d go out to the field and play with someone who’s still out there. Sometimes, it’d even be Junsu, the school’s soccer captain, and despite their conflicting past – for Junsu, although he didn’t hate Donghae back then, he wasn’t exactly fond of the boy – they played well. He wishes he could play right now, just to distract himself, but knows he can’t.

He sits on the bleachers beneath the shade, leaning against his bag for comfort. He drapes an arm over his eyes tiredly and wants to go to sleep, but after a minute of nothing happening, he gives up and opens his eyes to grab his iPod out of his bag. When he does, he’s surprised to see Junsu walking up the bleachers, in his hands a soccer ball.

“Donghae, right?” Junsu asks, making sure although he’s more than 99% sure it’s him. Donghae nods, wondering why he’s talking to him – even in soccer games, there isn’t much to say. “I heard about your… erm, accident,” he says. “I hope you’re okay.” Although the last words are meant to be caring, they sound more awkward than anything else.

“Thanks,” Donghae murmurs, playing with his earphones. He wonders what Junsu wants.

“Do you want to play?” Junsu suddenly asks.

Donghae blinks. “Um… I don’t know if I should,” he says slowly. “I should rest for the festival.”

“I’ll go easy,” Junsu says with an easygoing smile, and Donghae still hesitates. “Come on. I don’t have anyone to play with,” he says, pouting. Donghae can’t help but notice that he has a pout very similar to Hyukjae’s.

With a sigh, Donghae nods. He has to admit to himself that he is very bored doing nothing, and without dance practice, he fills stiff. Maybe soccer could help him relax.

-

A/N:LeeStarLy asked if this was Haehyuk or Hyukhae, and I’ve been meaning to answer this for a while. I guess this is Hyukhae, but I don’t mind which you classify this. I am not too crazy over who is the “man” or who tops and such, as long as they’re together. :) But if I had to choose, this would go under Hyukhae, because this in Hyukjae’s perspective mostly. On a weird side note, I listened to “I Remember” by Bang Yong Guk (ft Yoseob) and it was really good :D Watch the MV – it’s amazing. I really wasn’t going to listen to it, but I’m glad I did. It’s gorgeous and it’s not your classic k-pop song.

Hyukjae drags Sungmin away during lunch the following day. Donghae, who had pushed himself to go to school despite his cuts, is disappointed when he doesn’t show up, but tries his hardest to smile when Ryeowook fusses over him. Siwon’s with him, as well, assisting him throughout the day. So why is it so hard for him to just get over the fact that he hasn’t seen Hyukjae all day?

“Looking for Eunhyuk?” Kyuhyun asks, grinning as he leaned on his elbows beside Donghae. “You okay?” he finally asks, concern tinting his voice upon seeing the cuts closer up.

Donghae just smiles and nods. “Yeah, I’m fine,” he replies softly, running a hand through his hair tiredly.

“Why’d you come to school today?” Kyuhyun asks. Donghae doesn’t need to reply for Kyuhyun to understand. “I think he’s with Sungmin,” he finally admits, taking a bite of his sandwich. “They’re both not here.”

Donghae looks around, noticing Sungmin isn’t gone now. “Oh. You’re right… Were you looking for Sungmin?” Donghae asks innocently.

Kyuhyun blinks and shakes his head. “I just notice thing,” he replies.

Donghae smiles. “Okay,” he says softly, understanding that Kyuhyun is never one to speak his thoughts outright. After all, Donghae was the one who “found” Kyuhyun. While a lot of kids resented Kyuhyun, jealous of his obvious talent, Donghae greeted him with open arms. Even Ryeowook – sweet, caring Ryeowook – was skeptical at first, them both being singers and all, but in time, he grew to care for Kyuhyun, as did everyone else.

“How do you plan on dancing?” Kyuhyun asks, changing the subject. “The festival is less than a week away. Will your cuts really heal by then? Especially if you won’t rest.”

Donghae shrugs. “Even if they don’t, I’ll dance. I can’t just leave Hyukjae like that,” he says. “Besides, I’ll take some pills, maybe. I’ll make it work.” He smiles reassuringly at the skeptical Kyuhyun. “Have you chosen your song yet?” he asks curiously. “Wookie is doing a ballad.”

“I know,” Kyuhyun says. “I’ll probably do one, as well. Changmin is, as well.”

Donghae nods, still a bit absent-minded. He doesn’t understand why Hyukjae isn’t at lunch, because he always is. He wonders if it has to do with yesterday’s incident, and worries he might have done something wrong. Is Hyukjae mad that Donghae got beat up and that he had to step in? Or that Donghae might not be able to dance because of this? Although, the latter is completely untrue, because Donghae is going to dance; even if the boys broke his legs yesterday, he would have found a way to dance.

“I don’t know why you don’t just go look for him,” Kyuhyun says, smirking. “I think they’re over at the soccer field. Changmin just texted me saying that they were over there, talking to Junsu.”

Donghae wonders why Changmin told Kyuhyun that, but doesn’t ask. He just thinks about why the two suddenly felt the need to talk to Junsu. He understands that they are all good friends, but the walk is really long, and most students don’t want to bother wasting their lunchtime going over there, even if it is to see a friend. Once they get there, they’d only have about ten minutes to eat and talk, anyway.

“Apparently the two just showed up halfway during lunch,” Kyuhyun further explains. “I don’t know why though, and neither does Changmin.”

Donghae just nods and continues eating his food. He hopes he can apologize to Hyukjae for whatever he did at their practice…

… if only Hyukjae decided to attend practice.

Donghae continues checking the room, as if Hyukjae will suddenly appear if he does. But no one is there, and all of the other dance rooms are empty as well. But today is their practice day, and Hyukjae would never skip out on it. He doesn’t understand it, and he wants to rip out his own hair over it. He suddenly wishes he knew Hyukjae’s phone number.

Reluctantly, he pulls out his phone and calls Siwon to ask where he is. Siwon answers that he is still at his Bible study, but will be out in half an hour. Donghae, still afraid to walk home – he insists it’s not because of the bullies, but because he doesn’t want to get more injuries that might put him at risk of not dancing well at the festival – decides to wait outside by the field.

Not many people know this, but Donghae loves soccer. He has since he was a little child, but his father always wanted him to be a singer, not an athlete. He wanted to join the team when he arrived at this high school, but found himself too busy with other classes to even try out.

But sometimes, when he has nothing else to do and is waiting for Siwon, he’d go out to the field and play with someone who’s still out there. Sometimes, it’d even be Junsu, the school’s soccer captain, and despite their conflicting past – for Junsu, although he didn’t hate Donghae back then, he wasn’t exactly fond of the boy – they played well. He wishes he could play right now, just to distract himself, but knows he can’t.

He sits on the bleachers beneath the shade, leaning against his bag for comfort. He drapes an arm over his eyes tiredly and wants to go to sleep, but after a minute of nothing happening, he gives up and opens his eyes to grab his iPod out of his bag. When he does, he’s surprised to see Junsu walking up the bleachers, in his hands a soccer ball.

“Donghae, right?” Junsu asks, making sure although he’s more than 99% sure it’s him. Donghae nods, wondering why he’s talking to him – even in soccer games, there isn’t much to say. “I heard about your… erm, accident,” he says. “I hope you’re okay.” Although the last words are meant to be caring, they sound more awkward than anything else.

“Thanks,” Donghae murmurs, playing with his earphones. He wonders what Junsu wants.

“Do you want to play?” Junsu suddenly asks.

Donghae blinks. “Um… I don’t know if I should,” he says slowly. “I should rest for the festival.”

“I’ll go easy,” Junsu says with an easygoing smile, and Donghae still hesitates. “Come on. I don’t have anyone to play with,” he says, pouting. Donghae can’t help but notice that he has a pout very similar to Hyukjae’s.

With a sigh, Donghae nods. He has to admit to himself that he is very bored doing nothing, and without dance practice, he fills stiff. Maybe soccer could help him relax. He gets up and follows Junsu down the bleachers. When they get to the bottom, Junsu tosses him the ball lightly and tells him he can start.

The two start a slow-paced game that Donghae is thankful for. Then, as things start to speed up, he finds himself more and more unusually tired, but he doesn't want to stop playing. It isn't until the ball rolls off the field and is stopped by the foot of a passerby that he finally is forced to take a break.

"What are you doing?" an incredulous Hyukjae asks upon seeing Donghae exhausted, his cuts becoming even more highlighted. "You should be resting!"

"Is that why you didn't show up to practice?" Donghae asks, frowning and panting. "We need to practice. Really, I'm fine."

Hyukjae glares at him. "Do you think I'm that stupid?" he demands, picking the ball up and tossing it to the right of Donghae, where Junsu is approaching. "And you - what are you doing? You know what happened." He doesn't like being mad at his best friend, but he can't understand why Junsu would do something as stupid as playing with an injured boy.

"I'm the one who said I'd play," Donghae speaks up. "Stop yelling at Junsu. He's your best friend, after all."

"That's no excuse for stupidity," Hyukjae mutters under his breath so that neither of them can hear, although Junsu has an idea but decides to keep quiet. Junsu isn't stupid - he knows - but Sungmin and him had a theory about their best friend and his dance partner. He just wanted to test it.

"It's not my fault if he wants to wear out his body," Junsu says, trying to act nonchalant while biting back a smile. He wonders why he doesn't act - he'd be amazing at it. "I just offered to. If anyone's stupid, it's him."

Donghae's eyes widen, and he's speechless.

"What?" Hyukjae asks, his voice dangerously low. He so desperately wants to laugh along with Junsu like he always does, and ignore the hurt look on Donghae's face, but he can't. He wants to hit himself for it, though.

Junsu opens his mouth to reply, but decides against it because he wants to save his face. So he just shrugs, spinning the ball on his finger coolly. He waits for Hyukjae's next action, wondering quietly what it would be. Would he punch him? Probably not. Would he walk away? Maybe.

Hyukjae approaches his friendly slowly, facing him when he's closer. Then, without another word, he hits the ball away and it flies across the field. He can't think of anything else to do that he won't regret, so he just leaves afterwards, not even looking at Donghae as he does.

"He's mad at you," Junsu muses, smirking as he watches his friend leave. He admits that he's apologetic, but it's part of the plan. "Sorry about all of that," he apologizes sheepishly. "Let's just say Minnie and I were testing something." He glances over to find where the ball went. "I'll see you around, Donghae. Keep practicing soccer, too, and hopefully you can join the team soon." And then he leaves.

Donghae just frowns. He has no idea why Junsu is so mad that he pissed off his best friend, or what he even meant by "testing something". All he knows is that Hyukjae really is mad, like Junsu said, and that he just wants to run after him to apologize for whatever he did wrong. Too bad he's too tired.

-------

A/N: LeeStarLy asked if this was Haehyuk or Hyukhae, and I’ve been meaning to answer this for a while. I guess this is Hyukhae, but I don’t mind which you classify this. I am not too crazy over who is the “man” or who tops and such, as long as they’re together. :) But if I had to choose, this would go under Hyukhae, because this in Hyukjae’s perspective mostly. On a randomside note, I listened to “I Remember” by Bang Yong Guk (ft Yoseob) and it was really good :D Watch the MV – it’s amazing. I really wasn’t going to listen to it, but I’m glad I did. It’s gorgeous and it’s not your classic k-pop song, and... it's wow. Really.

Next two chapters should be focused around the festival...Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed! [And thanks to those who subscribed! Over a hundred now. You all are simply amazing!]