“You look like a fish” Kyuhyun had blurted out without thinking sending Donghae into a temporary state of shock. Donghae had his mouth dangling open.

“I’ve heard worse. So I’ll let it pass this time”. Donghae said. His arms were still around Kyuhyun’s waist preventing him from getting up. He absentmindedly started roaming his eyes all over Kyuhyun’s face skimming past his delicate features ever so carefully as if trying to etch every single detail perfectly into the farthest reaches of his mind. In fact he was so into absorbing that he hardly paid attention to Kyuhyun squirming in his hold trying to get up.

“You can let me go now!” Kyuhyun said a bit louder this time making Donghae snap out of it. He loosened his hold and watched Kyuhyun getting up and offering his hand to him a second later. He blinked and continued to lie down as Kyuhyun gestured for him to take his hand.

“Come on.” He took it and got up with much difficulty because of the skates he was wearing.

“Umm….So are you done with your practise yet?” Donghae asked nervously suddenly his eyes refusing to meet Kyuhyun’s.

“Ya I suppose so. I was..um..hoping that my ….erm…f..friend would turn up tonight. And its already closing time so I guess I’ll have to pack my stuff and head home anyway.” Kyuhyun said all while blushing.

“Oh! So…..shall I cash in on the good fortune and walk you home?” Donghae said smugly and that made Kyuhyun giggle.

“You are sooooo flirting with me, aren’t you?” Kyuhyun asked adding emphasis with an eye roll.

“Yes. Yes I am” Donghae said lowering his voice and came closer as he maintained eye contact. Now that certainly would have resulted in a nasty case of pleasurable fluttering in his stomach if Siwon had been the one who said it but Donghae’s straightforwardness had almost the same effect. Then he realised he was blushing out of reflex that made him wonder if it had indeed become a habit of his these days.

He coughed slightly to get rid of the awkwardness and slung his bag on his back and headed outside. Donghae followed closely behind him after returning his skates.

“If you really want me to feel less awkward stop stalking me!” Kyuhyun said turning around briefly to face Donghae.

“It isn’t called ‘stalking’ if its done with consent” Donghae stated coolly.

“Consent? Who’s consent?” Kyuhyun asked and watched him fall in step with him.

“Yours of course. Who else’s?” he asked with such confidence that it threw Kyuhyun off guard instantly.

“Excuse me! I, by any means, didn’t give any consent!” Kyuhyun said and began walking at a faster pace.

“No. But you aren’t refusing either! If you seriously think of me as a stalker, you should be shaking in your boots right now or screaming your heart out or atleast kneeing me in the groin till I see my grandpa and grandma smiling down at me from heaven, which is quite disturbing if you think about it.” Donghae said. Kyuhyun chuckled slightly.

This guy is so funny!

“Ha ha. And you most definitely don’t find a stalker’s company amusing either.” He said.

“Alright fine. You’re not a stalker. Happy now?” Kyuhyun raised his hands up in defeat.

“Very. Funny though how people always mistake me for a bad guy” Donghae said.

“Really now!”

“Seriously. Last night when I had come to see you at your house, a beautiful young woman brandished me as one before I even got a chance to tell her the purpose of my visit.” He narrated.

“Woman? Oh you mean Victoria. She is my seonsangnim’s niece.” Kyuhyun said.

“Yes he told me. Speaking of which, did you get my present?” he asked.

“Present? What present? I didn’t get any!” Kyuhyun fibbed but Donghae caught onto him.

“You’re lying. You have even read the message I left for you in the sticky note.” He declared.

“You’re seriously deluded!” Kyuhyun decided to play this out for a bit longer. To be honest, he was kinda liking being in Donghae’s company.

“Really? Then I suppose you haven’t seen the “I love you” I had written at the end.” Donghae’s expression turned serious, hard and demanding and he was staring at the deepest reaches of Kyuhyun’s brown eyes. It immediately froze Kyuhyun in his tracks, petrifying him completely.

“You..You didn’t mention that. You only said you wanted to get to know me better” Kyuhyun admitted and Donghae smiled triumphantly.

“So you admit to having seen my message and my gift?” he said and Kyuhyun figured it was best to shut up altogether rather than suffering another humiliating defeat.

“It was very thoughtful of you. Thank you.” Kyuhyun thanked him and smiled.

“Did it cheer you up?” he asked again.

“To some extent, yes. I am sure I’ll feel better by tomorrow.” Kyuhyun replied.

“Hmm……So uh….” Donghae fidgeted. And again gone was the smug, confident and feisty man who was so full of himself a second earlier and in his place came a different person who was so under confident.

“What?” Kyuhyun urged.

“We’re here!” he said suddenly.

That’s when they both notice that they had reached the house. Surprisingly though the sky which was laden with stormy black clouds was devoid of any. It was a calm night and they had walked all the way from the rink not once feeling awkward or out of place.

“Huh..Oh…I guess I better get going then. Good night.” Kyuhyun said and was about to head inside when his arm was yanked back.

Man up Donghae! Its now or never!

“I need to tell you something, Kyuhyun.” Donghae said and Kyuhyun was afraid to turn around and face him.  Somehow he just knew what was coming at him.

“I have been thinking about you a lot lately.”

Kyuhyun shut his eyes tightly.

 “In fact you’re the only thing I think about these days.”

As Donghae continued his monologue, Kyuhyun felt suffocated. It was not the suffocation due to any ailment rather it was due to Donghae’s feelings choking him.

” These thoughts make me happy and my days seem brighter in an instant.”

He balled his hands into fists till his nails dug painfully into his palms.

” The way you skate, the way you smile, the way you talk, everything about you fascinates me to no end. And your unbridled ambition to win the Olympics inspires me when I am down.”

His breath became shaky. He wanted to run away and into his bedroom and lock himself away but he couldn’t move an inch. He couldn’t blame Donghae for feeling this way but truthfully he had wanted to hear these words come out of Siwon’s mouth.

“So long story short, I am in love with you, deeply and madly in love.” And Donghae gave a finale as grandiose as any action-packed movie.

Kyuhyun slowly turned around and faced him. A million feelings bottled up but none surfacing to give Donghae even a hint as to what he was thinking. To be honest, he himself wasn’t sure of it himself.

“I…uh..” Kyuhyun fumbled for words. He suddenly felt himself getting hotter and flustered and wondered how he should handle this new turn of events. How was he supposed to say that he cant accept Donghae’s feelings because he was in love with someone who hasn’t bothered contacting him since yesterday?

Donghae held Kyuhyun’s hand delicately within the palm of his hands and stared at him to decipher what the look on his face meant.

“I…um..I’m f..flattered….b..but I’m…I’m in …..*sigh*….Just give me a second” Kyuhyun excused and turned around trying to catch his breath. A second later he faced Donghae again and began rephrasing but he was silenced.

“Shhh…..You don’t have to say anything. I know you’re gonna say that you cant accept my feelings ‘coz you’re in love with someone else. Of course I should know better than to force myself on you. So all I wanna say is that it doesn’t really matter if my love remains unrequited.” Donghae paused for effect and continued as Kyuhyun listened patiently.

“Of course, by some miracle, if you happen to return my feelings, I’d be so damn thrilled. But even if you don’t I am willing to accept it. Just let me love you unconditionally.”

“I will always cherish you.” Donghae finally put a period mark.

“How did you know that..” Before Kyuhyun could finish asking Donghae beat him to it.

“That you love someone else? I am a photographer. I can sense what people think just by looking at them. And I could sense the apprehension in your tone of voice. The look on your eyes was one of hesitation not an outright rejection. And I had you figured out just like that!” Donghae snapped his fingers

“I..dont know what to say” Kyuhyun managed in a feeble tone.

Donghae smiled heart-warmingly and asked “Just say yes to what I am about to ask you?” Seeing the apprehension in Kyuhyun’s face, Donghae’s eyes softened and encouraged him to go with the flow.

“Can…Can I hug you?” he asked.

After a brief pause, Kyuhyun smiled and said “Yes”

And the next moment, he was engulfed in a hug that was both gentle and firm that Kyuhyun could almost feel Donghae channelling his feelings through it. He was overwhelmed and surprised for he couldn’t imagine that Donghae had fallen in love with him.

“Can we be friends?” he asked again and Kyuhyun felt himself agreeing to that too and somehow he felt as though he’d cherish his friendship with Donghae for years to come.

Donghae released him from the hug and stared at Kyuhyun again with those eyes full of love.

“Are you sure about this?” Kyuhyun asked.

“Sure about what?” he asked.

“That we can still remain as friends though you feel differently about me.” Kyuhyun said.

“Well it’ll be difficult at first but as we spend time with each other I am sure we’ll get the hang of it. Speaking of, are you free tomorrow?” Donghae asked.

“Well I don’t have classes for the weekend. And my practise is scheduled for the morning. So I guess I am free after that.” he said.

“Excellent. How about I take you on a tour?” Donghae asked.

“A what?” Kyuhyun wasn’t sure he heard him correctly. Just then the front door opened and Hankyung stood there and asked him “What’re you doing standing there? Its getting cold!”

“In a minute” he said.

“Alright I’ll talk to you in detain about it. Give me your number.” Donghae demanded and both exchanged numbers.

“Okay. I’ll call you.” Donghae said and urged Kyuhyun to head inside.

“Good night Hankyung-ssi.” He greeted and left.

“What was that all about?” Hankyung asked Kyuhyun as he let him in.

“I seriously don’t have any idea.” Kyuhyun admitted and trudged back upstairs wondering when Donghae would call him.

Meanwhile Siwon had just come back to his hotel after the boring meeting that seemed to drag on forever. He was tired of having to keep up a calm façade throughout the meeting even though he was anxious about Kyuhyun all along. He had a nice long bath and had dinner shortly after that.

“Oh dear god!” he exclaimed as soon as he saw the list of missed calls. Though he had received three of them from Jessica he seemed to be more troubled because of missing two of those from Kyuhyun. He immediately redialled Kyuhyun’s number and the call got connected. The phone seemed to ring and just when it was about to be disconnected, it got answered and Siwon could finally feel all the pent up anxiety and frustration of the last two days recede.

“Hello Siwon” There was the smooth velvet of Kyuhyun’s voice greeting him from the other end and Siwon wished so badly to be there in person so that he could take him in his arms and say out loud how much he had missed him, how much he loved and adored him.

“Siwon are you there?” came Kyuhyun’s voice over the receiver and Siwon relaxed himself.

“Y..yes. Yes I am here Kyuhyun. I am here.” He said.

“I called you twice but..um..you didn’t answer them.” Kyuhyun said in a sullen tone.

“Ya I know. And I feel so bad to have ignored them. Truth is I am on a three-day business trip in Busan and I wanted to tell you about it but I guess you were busy with your practise that you didn’t notice my calls.” He said.

Kyuhyun became tight-lipped at that. He just couldn’t bring himself to tell the truth about him ending up terribly sick after witnessing Siwon and Jessica together in the hospital ward. The mere thought about that incident shook him to the core.

“Yes…I was busy yesterday. Sorry.” he admitted.

“That’s alright. No harm done. Listen I have something very important to tell you in person.” Siwon said and Kyuhyun’s heart raced. What could it be that Siwon didn’t want to tell him now?

“Ok. Can I get a sneak peek at least?” he asked sheepishly.

“No. No you cant.” Siwon admitted and he could almost hear Kyuhyun whine from the other end.

“Ok. Fine. But it better be worth it.” he said.

And then silence. A comfortable one that lasted for a few seconds.

“I miss…” Siwon began.

“Yeah…”Kyuhyun urged him.

Siwon gulped and rephrased it. This isn’t the time.

“I miss seeing you skate.” He said.

“Uh..Oh….”  was the long drawn reply from Kyuhyun that made Siwon wonder if it had been right to say  that.

“You sound tired and its getting late. So I’ll see you on Monday at the rink.” He said.

“Ok. See you.” And the line went dead. Kyuhyun was filled with an odd sense of expectation and he wondered if it was right to let his imagination run wild at this instant. His mind brought up all sorts of possibilities on what Siwon had wanted to tell him. He did say that it was important and that entailed physical presence from both of them.

And then he thought of Donghae and his little tour. The people around him sure did leave him with cliffhangers.

~~~~~~

Jessica was anxious and the whole thought about meeting Dr.Connors had been unnerving. She looked around the huge hall which was filled with a battery of doctors discussing their heroics and some other medical related stuff that seemed to be greek and latin for her in every possible way. Her doctor strode forward and was seen exchanging pleasantries with a tall and sturdy man. He was the definition of tall, dark and handsome and had sea blue watery eyes, a luscious mop of neatly swept blonde locks, tanned healthy skin and a strong and rigid frame of that of an athlete. He approached her and smiled and she could have sworn she had gone blind after seeing his sparkly white teeth flash at her.

“Ms.Jung, Dr.Connors. Dr.Connors, Ms.Jung” was the brief introduction given by her doctor. Jessica was dumbstruck after seeing how young Dr.Connors was. Judging from the contacts that her doctor had, she had thought that he would have been atleast past 50. But this person standing in front of her qualified to be at the same age as that of her doctor’s son.

“It’s a pleasure meeting you Ms.Jung. Dr.Kim had already debriefed your case a few days ago.” He spoke in perfect American English. When he didn’t get any response from Jessica he had begun thinking if she had trouble understanding what he had said just now. So he began reiterating in Korean and seemed to be fluent at it.

“No..No..please you can speak in English. I did most of my schooling there in the States anyway.” She said finally.

“Oh where in the US?” he asked.

“Los Angeles.” She replied and there was a genuine smile from him.

“I am settled there but I am originally from Boston.” He said and a friendly conversation got carried out between the two over the dinner table. Dr.Kim occasionally joined in the conversation to discuss some important things about Jessica’s treatment that had been done here in Seoul.

“I’ll see what I can do Dr.Kim. I must say that after you had told me about it I took it as a personal challenge to cure her. So you don’t have to worry about a thing.” He said reassuringly.

Jessica smiled gratefully and Dr.Kim said “Excellent. So when can she start the next leg of her treatment?”

“Lets see now. I am going back to the States tonight but I’ll have to return to Seoul anyway the next month for a brief period with the Seoul National Hospital. I’ll see if I can continue her sessions here and if it requires that I take her to the States, will it be okay?” he had asked focussing on Jessica.

“Well Ms.Jung, what do you say?” Dr.Kim enquired.

“I don’t have a problem with it.” she said.

“Wonderful. So we’ll begin as soon as I return. And before you know it you’ll be as good as new Ms.Jung.” Dr.Connors said.

“Thank you Dr. Its been a pleasure meeting you.” She said politely.

“The pleasure’s all mine. Have a nice night Ms.Jung and Dr.Kim” he said and left the venue to catch his flight.

“What had you tongue tied?” Dr.Kim asked.

“Well I was surprised by him. I thought he’d be atleast in his late 50’s like you. I didn’t expect a youngster in his late 30’s.” she said.

“I am puzzled whether I should feel bad about you taking an indirect dig at my age or happy that you had compared me to someone as handsome and lively as him.” He said and Jessica merely let out a chuckle. She did find him attractive but he couldn’t compare to Siwon. To her Siwon held a special place in her heart and he couldn’t be replaced by any Greek God who came her way.

~~~~~~

Siwon had a peaceful sleep that night. All his anxieties had disintegrated just merely by having an overnight phone conversation with the one he loved. The next day he was to make a briefing about the annual sales pitch of his company and so he made sure he had everything ready for today’s round of meeting. He was dressed in crisp formals and had apparently become the eye candy for a dozen women who were present there at the venue. He could sense some explicitly voicing out their thoughts about him but he merely acknowledged them and turned them down politely. He didn’t want to come out rude to them.

“Lucky you.” A colleague had told him.

“You have no idea!” he said dryly and left for his hotel. As he approached the reception desk at the lobby for the key to his room he saw a familiar face sitting on one of the couches facing him.

“Jessica what’re you doing here?” he asked wondering how she might have come to know where he had been staying in Busan or if he was ever in Busan for that matter.

“Dropped by to say hello.” She said and stood up.

“But how did you know that I was in Busan.” He asked.

“Lets just say that I have more ways to find out than asking you about it.” she .

“Sorry I couldn’t answer your calls. I was busy with…”

“Siwon its perfectly okay. You don’t have to be sorry.” she said.

“You might have to make it up to me though!” she added.

“How?” he asked and his eyebrows were pulled up in thought.

“Coffee with me. Now” Her tone was not one of demanding rather it was one of an unsaid anticipation as she walked off in the direction of the restaurant downstairs while Siwon was left staring at her.

Now what…

~~~~~~

Another update for the week….

Can you guys sense the shift in the story?

Its reaching a dramatic turning point and its only a matter of time before it reaches the pace of nothing less than a rollercoaster ride of feelings and emotions.

So brace yourself and enjoy the ride.

Thank you all for your support and keep the love coming!

Have a nice day.