“Good morning!”

Hyukjae and Donghae nodded at some of the girls greeting them as they made their way into the main building. It had been two weeks since they entered the same college, though Hyukjae had no idea how they managed to end up together.

But he was beyond glad though. He still had a hard time adapting to his new life as the hot, eye candy Lee Hyukjae who gained a huge attention since the first day he came here.

Lee Hyukjae and Lee Donghae were the hot topic among the students, and while Donghae didn’t give a , Hyukjae was as nervous as hell. His trauma was back haunting him again. He was too afraid of being rejected for the second time.

“Hey...”

Hyukjae glanced to his side when he felt a hand around his arm, and there was Jessica walking in between him and Donghae, sticking so close as if they had known each other for years. She was the ‘it’ girl, the kind who never bothered to involve herself with those who weren’t popular.

“Are you two free today?” Jessica asked, flashing a flirty smile towards the both of them.

“Maybe,” Hyukjae answered, attempting to make her leave but apparently Jessica wasn’t that easy to handle.

“Come on, let’s hang out. You can drive, right? Let’s go somewhere nice.”

“I’ll be working after class so no,” Donghae said flatly, not even affected by Jessica’s seductive stare.

His cold response managed to shut her up and they left her behind, completely oblivious of how other female students cheered at Jessica’s fail attempt to approach the two college hotties.

Exactly as the rumours stated, Lee Donghae and Lee Hyukjae were definitely unattainable.

“This is harder than I thought,” Hyukjae plopped down on the cemented floor once they reached the rooftop, and let out a deep, exasperated sigh.

When he decided to get a makeover, the only thing he had in mind was to get back at Yunho and that was it. He clearly didn’t think his life would change completely, from an invisible geek who was always forgotten, to a ‘smoking hot creature who’s a walking – well, that was what Heechul kept calling him, though he would never understand how the latter’s mind works.

“Now you know,” Donghae gave him a small smile and sat down next to him, leaving no space between them.

When their knees touched, Hyukjae felt something stirred inside him, something that he knew he had felt before, whenever he was close with Donghae. He wasn’t an idiot. He knew what these feelings were, but refused to admit it.

If there was one thing he’d never want to happen again, was being rejected again. Especially by Donghae.

From the first time he saw him, he knew Donghae was out of his league. There was no way the latter would be willing to accept him, a guy, as someone more than a friend. So it was probably best to suffer silently and keep these unrequited feelings deep inside him, so that he could still stay beside Donghae. This was enough for him.

“I’ve been wondering, Donghae,” Hyukjae started, trying hard not to look at the latter because he knew Donghae was staring at him. “Don’t you have someone you like? You’re popular and girls are head over heels for you. How many times have you dated before?”

“Do we really have to talk about this?” Donghae didn’t look like he was pleased at his unexpected question, but he told him anyway, “A few times. But none of them worked.”

“And now? Is there anyone you like?”

Donghae was silent at first, he kept his eyes on the clear sky above them, looking at a group of birds flying in circles before disappearing from his sight. And then he said, almost inaudibly low, but enough for Hyukjae to hear.

“There is.”

“Oh,” Hyukjae hated how his voice obviously sounded like he was disappointed. “Who’s that lucky girl? She must be beautiful.”

“Yeah, beautiful indeed.”

“You’re not courting her?”

Donghae let out a small chuckle, though it sounded bitter in Hyukjae’s ears. “There’s only one person I don’t dare to touch.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t want to ruin her life. She’s so pure that I’m afraid I’d taint her.”

“She’s so lucky, you know. And trust me, she’d definitely accept you,” Hyukjae said with a fake smile, and silently praised himself for not breaking down in front of Donghae. “How did you know her though?”

“She came to me when I had my worst downfall.”

Hyukjae thought it was safe to look at Donghae now, but he couldn’t be more wrong, because the latter still had his eyes on him. He swallowed, but he couldn’t look away. He could only hope that Donghae wouldn’t be able to notice the hurt in his eyes, because he wanted to keep this hidden. There was no need for the latter to learn the truth.

“What happened?”

“I, uh...I used to get involved with the bad things,” Donghae said, and this time he finally looked away, avoiding Hyukjae’s eyes.

“Bad things? Like what?”

“Like...you know, the bad guys, drug dealings and all that.”

“You really did?!” Hyukjae was beyond surprised that he was literally screaming in the latter’s face, but quickly calmed himself down when he realized he had no right to interfere with Donghae’s life. “Are you still...”

“No, I quit. Don’t worry.”

“You made the best decision.”

“Yeah, I did.”

“What exactly happened anyway? You haven’t told me anything about this.”

“Minho and I used to work together,” Donghae said, and Hyukjae once again was left speechless by the shocking truth. “But he bailed on me one day. Or more like, he betrayed me. He called the cops and I was caught, but he got away.”

Hyukjae’s eyes widened. “Holy . He really did that?”

“Yeah, because his girlfriend tried to get close to me. In other words, he was cheated on. And the whole school knew.”

“Wow, that’s one hell of a drama I’ve ever heard.”

Now that explained why they seemed like they were going to kick each other’s when they met at the party last time. Hyukjae made a mental note not to go near Minho again, so they wouldn’t end up killing each other.

“I was still under aged at the time, so I only got to stay in the cell for a week and go for a counselling session for two months.”

Listening to Donghae’s story, it made Hyukjae realize, that his life wasn’t that bad compared to his. He wasn’t the only one who had to suffer, some people had it worse than him.

“It didn’t just end there though,” Donghae said, “Getting caught means that you’ve become a threat that needs to get disposed of. Those bastards came to beat the out of me in three groups, and I was all alone.”

“But you seem fine now?”

“That goes without saying. I defeated them, of course.”

“All of them?” Hyukjae couldn’t even tell how huge he had his mouth open. “What are you, a Hercules?”

“That was when I met her. She was like...my life saviour. Though I’m pretty sure she didn’t remember me.”

“I’m sure you’ll find someone better than her,” Hyukjae managed to put on a bright smile on his face, but that was all he could think of to say.

Pretending to be fine when you were hurting inside was definitely not easy, and he was so worried Donghae might notice. He always did, and he knew he had to leave now.

“I have another class in an hour,” Hyukjae didn’t even spare Donghae a glace as he got up, backfacing him, “Bye Donghae.”

“Hyukjae, hold up.”

“I don’t want to be late. See you later!”

Hyukjae could see how confused Donghae looked when he left him, and he felt bad, actually. But he couldn’t stay any longer. Donghae would certainly notice the change in his expression, he never failed to do so.

So he had to leave, before it was too late, before this precious friendship he treasured so much would get torn apart by his selfishness.

*****

Hyukjae couldn’t forget what Donghae had told him. About how he was involved in drug dealing, betrayed by Minho and thrown into the jail, and how he fell in love with the girl whom he met on that day.

His life saviour.

He wanted to hold him close and tell him that he’d be there for him, but at the same time, he couldn’t. It wasn’t Donghae’s fault, he knew it. Falling in love is something inevitable, but he still felt hurt. The only person he’d ever given his heart to was in love with someone else.

Donghae had been calling him for so many times yesterday that he even lost count of them, but he was too scared to answer. He was afraid he’d break down and cry if he were to hear Donghae asking for the truth.

“Hyukjae, we need to talk.”

As he was about to walk back into his room after having dinner that night, Hyukjae was stopped by Kyungmi’s serious voice. He gave her a questioning look as he sat down across her, bu