„I´m sure you can tell that the tight piece of cloth on Donghae is an orange shirt, right Hyukjae?”

The pretty woman said and I wanted to wipe that toothy smile from her face with my shoe at that moment. Nicole was still standing behind Hyukjae and couldn´t hide her amusement. I was boiling with anger but it wasn´t only the girl I was mad at but myself too. It was my fault that Hyukjae´s blindness was found out and I had to do something to help. Punching Nicole would be a wrong option so maybe I could try begging? I was taking too much time with my thoughts and so Hyukjae was the faster one of us to act.

“Of course I can, Nicole. Don´t you think it suits Donghae a lot?” Hyukjae stated in a cold voice. The blonde wasn´t amused but I quite didn´t catch how he changed the subject from the colour of my shirt to my own persona.

“I told you I would find out your secret,” Nicole giggled and Hyukjae fisted his white shirt.

“Let me guess. You are going to tell everyone that I´m dating Donghae, if I won´t pretend to be your boyfriend at school so you could climb back up on your hypocritical social ladder,” Hyukjae chuckled still with his unreadable expression. Wait, what?! Did he say ´dating´?! I widened my eyes in surprise but stayed still. I´m sure Hyukjae knows what he´s doing.

“Tell it to everyone, I don´t care!” Maybe he doesn´t.

“Hyukjae!” I had to stop him. This was a bit too much already, saying that we were d-dating. The blonde was facing Nicole and even after my call didn´t look at me. Scratch that, didn´t dare to look at me.

“Your lover doesn´t seem pleased by your selfish behaviour, Hyukjae. Stop being a brat and face the consequences of being rude to me. I warned you before, didn´t I?” Nicole kept pushing Hyukjae and the blonde began trembling. I didn´t know if it was fear or anger since I couldn´t see his face but I had to stop him before he provokes the girl any further.

“Hyukjae!” I called one more time and that probably did it.

“Fine! I´m sorry!” Hyukjae broke down and I immediately regretted yelling at him. “The truth is that we´re not dating and that I really do have a secret. I would hate very much telling you so I agree with your childish conditions. So shut your mouth and I´ll listen to you, okay?!” The blonde cried out and then finally turned to me: “Now, excuse me.”

The moment he faced me my heart stopped beating. Hyukjae was on the verge of tears and his eyes screamed pain and most importantly betrayal. I wanted just dig a hole in this cabin and bury myself. Getting no reaction from me Hyukjae chuckled darkly and ran out of the cabin.

“Hyukjae!” I called after him but he didn´t stop, not even after the alarm started ringing. Hyukjae ran out in the clothes he was just trying on and guess what, I did too. I made a horrible mistake by scolding the blonde when all he needed at the moment was my support which I so happily offered to him a few days ago. How could I have forgotten?!

“Stop, thieves!” The security guard yelled chasing behind us but none of us stopped nor even listened to the poor guy. Hyukjae ran with all his might which, as I knew from our PE classes, was incredible. But I did my best to keep up with him and in the end even caught him. The circumstances of the catch weren´t exactly ideal I would say.

Hyukjae was probably too distressed to avoid the reinforcements or maybe he really didn´t want to. He was no thief to begin with so being caught by the shopping mall security guard seemed like a better option than running out of the building with the stolen goods. I of course gave up voluntarily and soon we were both taken to the interrogation room in the base of the mall.

“Tell me your name and address, I´ll call your parents,” the guard asked Hyukjae.

“No, thanks,” Hyukjae answered rudely pissing the already annoyed man.

“If you don´t want to talk than I´ll have no choice but to call the police and you´ll pass your night behind the bars of the station. How about that, huh?” The guard was angry but the blonde didn´t budge.

“Suit yourself!” Hyukjae exclaimed and smirked.

“Aren´t you being unfair to your friend over here?” The guard tried his last trick and pointed at me.

“I see no friend of mine in this room,” Hyukjae retorted and didn´t spare me a single glance. Now I´m doomed. But I decided to stay quiet and let myself be taken to the station with him. I still had some hope and a few hours in the same cell, didn´t I?

As expected the guard´s patience was only this short and in forty-five minutes we were already sitting in the custody of the local police station. They made us change back into our clothes and unfortunately took our belongings. I had my ID in the wallet with my address so it wouldn´t be long before my mom arrives. I saw Hyukjae hiding his own ID in his pants so there was a big probability that he wouldn´t get home until tomorrow morning. I stayed quiet nevertheless.

I was glad they didn´t put us in the cell with a homeless person who reeked but to one with a drunkard who was quietly asleep in the corner. We had enough privacy to talk about what happened in the mall. Now I only had to make the blonde male speak to me.

“Hyukjae?” I asked carefully but there was no response from the body crouched against the wall. Hyukjae was sitting there with his legs against his chest and head buried between them. His long arms were rounding his body, keeping it from taking more space of the cell than necessary. He looked so small suddenly and I remembered my promise to myself from the day I found him in the gym. I should really take better care of him from now on.

“I´m sorry,” the blonde mumbled all of a sudden and I almost didn´t hear his whisper over my heartbeat. “I was selfish and scared. I wanted her to forget about my statement and went overboard, I´m sorry,” Hyukjae whispered in a tiny voice full of guilt and regret.

What the hell?! Why was he even apologising? Wasn´t it my fault in the first place? I asked him about the shirt, I didn´t defend him and I wasn´t on his side. Hyukjae ended up cornered and all that because of me and not the other way. And now it was him apologising when I should be the one begging for mercy.

“You don´t have to always blame everything on yourself, Hyukjae. Let me fight for once too. I can´t be protected for the rest of my life by you,” I wanted him to understand but somehow ended up scolding him. Hyukjae was silent again and I wondered if it was possible to dig a hole in the police station. I couldn´t bury myself here, they surely have sturdy ground, it´s a police station after all.

“Oh My God, Donghae!” Just when I wanted again to speak with Hyukjae, my mom arrived. “What in the world has happened?!” She was confused but didn´t look mad at all, more like worried.

“Mom, can I tell you at home?” I said and she of course agreed.

“I already paid the bail for both you and your friend so let´s hurry home,” she gave me the most assuring smile she could muster at the moment.

The policeman came and opened the cell letting me out and kicking Hyukjae after me too. The blonde was awkwardly standing in front of my mom and still hiding his face under those white bangs.

“Why don´t we take him home with us?” She suddenly stated and Hyukjae flinched.

“I´m sorry but it´s not necessary,” Hyukjae spoke very quietly but his voice was way too broken to be ignored. Only now I realised that I haven´t seen him cry until now. At least not from sadness and even now he managed to hide it from me very well.

“No way, let´s just kidnap him, mom!” I cancelled the discussion and pushed Hyukjae towards our car. My mom only nodded in agreement pulling on his sleeve. The skinny boy had no choice but to let himself being kidnapped and forced to a sleepover at my place.

“What do you want for dinner Donghae?” My mom asked once we entered the house. I sat Hyukjae on a chair in the kitchen and went to help my mom with the dinner.

During the dinner I told my mom about the misunderstanding at the station. I took off the situation in the shop and only told her that I upset Hyukjae enough to make him cry. And looking at the ghost figure silently stuffing his mouth on the other side of the table, she understood.

“Do we have a dessert? Hyukjae loves sweets,” I asked while taking the dishes to the sink.

“Wait, this is The Lee Hyukjae?! That friend Hyukjae?” My mom suddenly exclaimed and the ghost at the table flinched again. I didn´t even realise that I didn´t say his name even once during the dinner. It must be because I didn´t want to upset him even more by talking to him now.

“Yeah, of course. Do I have any other friends? Who else it would be, mom?” I joked but somehow it wasn´t funny, heh.

“You should have said it earlier! I´ll cut bigger piece of cake for you, Hyukjae. I´m so happy I finally get to meet the famous hero of my little son,” she chirped and went to dig into the refrigerator for the cake.

Suddenly Hyukjae stood up and it looked like he wanted to ran out of the house but his sleeve got caught by the handle of the door and with a strong tug his body spun and he fell flat on his . Everything happened so fast that neither my mom nor me could react to it. Hyukjae himself was surprised and for a few seconds it was dead quiet. Then out of the blue he started crying. All those emotions he was holding inside, that strong mask and confident posture, Hyukjae was wailing.

“It´s not fair!” Hyukjae cried and I hurried to his side. I´ve never done this to anyone but at that moment it was the only right thing to do. I went down on my knees and brought Hyukjae into a hug. At first it was light, I only put my arms around him and patted his back but the blonde had different idea. Hyukjae grabbed the shirt on my sides and pulled me towards him. Being closer to him I tightened my embrace and he started sobbing even harder. Hyukjae was shaking and wailing so pitifully that naturally even my eyes became glassy.

“I´m sorry, Hyuk. It was everything my fault, I didn´t want to hurt you trust me. I just panicked and I regretted immediately. I should have been by your side and not always wait for you to solve the situation. I got too used to the fact you´re there for me but this time it should have been me taking care of you. I´m really sorry. Let´s be friends again, neh?”

Our bodies swayed from side to side and I never broke the embrace. Hyukjae´s fingers were still clutching my shirt and his face was buried in my chest allowing all his tears and mucus soak it.  Slowly he was calming down the wails subsiding to sobs and sniffles. And then came a soft whimper which I identified as ´Donghae´ and which sent a rush of shivers through my body thanks to the desperation behind the tone.

“Yeah?” I answered nevertheless and even my mom came closer to hear him. We were both scared of what might come after such strong reaction we had witnessed just a while ago.

“My favourite shirt is torn.”

“Huh?” Did I hear right? I slowly untangled my arms from around his body and pushed him slightly from my body to take a look at him. Hyukjae was definitely a mess. His shirt was indeed torn on the sleeve and it was too, just like mine, soaked by his endless tears. Hyukjae´s white hair was sticking into all possible directions and his face was terribly red. Hyukjae´s eyes were tired and still teary and huge snot was dangling from his pretty nose. What didn´t fit the picture though was the huge pout my blonde friend was sporting. I couldn´t help but slightly chuckle.

“Don´t laugh. I said it was my favourite, bastard,” Hyukjae than wiped his face and nose into his non-torn sleeve and protruded his lower lip even more.

“My, my. Come up here and take the cake, Hyukjae,” my mom cooed at the boy and turned to me, “Donghae in the meantime will prepare you a clean shirt for tomorrow and pyjamas for the night.”

I decided to let my mom handle the situation. I still wasn´t good enough in social interactions and somehow I sensed that Hyukjae needs a special treatment right now, which only she can give him. And I myself was a bit confused with the whole situation. Hyukjae has always been impossible to read and although it seems like he just spilled some of his inner feelings, I wasn´t able to decipher the meaning behind them. It´s a pity.

“I´m really fine with sleeping on the ground or on the coach, Donghae,” Hyukjae sighed standing in my room in my pyjamas an hour later. I´ll spare you my findings about how impossibly attractive Hyukjae looks in those baggy clothes with his wet hair and the smell of my shampoo. I had to focus and not forget the incident a while ago. My mom had some kind of a secret talk with him before and then sent the boy to take a shower. Now the blonde was standing awkwardly in the middle of my messy room and watching me prepare his bed. Well, our bed.

“It´s a double bed, Hyuk,” I didn´t even look at him, partially because of his angelic looks right now, and continued, “we both can sleep here comfortably and you don´t count even as a half of a person with your weight. I don´t understand what you are contemplating about here.”

For once Hyukjae ignored my insult about his body and silently climbed on his half of the bed. But I would be happier if he retorted something to me. Having him so silent was confusing me and it was impossibly awkward. I wonder if he thinks so too. But it´s possible that he doesn´t because since the start he has always been comfortable with me even in the most awkward situations.

“Now I know after whom you take such a nice ´blue´, Donghae,” Hyukjae suddenly spoke up when we were both settled in the bed lying and watching the ceiling.

“What are you talking about? I said it was after my foreign father,” as usually I didn´t understand my friend.

“No, I don´t mean your eyes, which are very pretty by the way, even if I can´t see the colour,” Hyukjae chuckled, “I meant your personality. You said you take after your father but it´s definitely your mom.”

“That´s not true, I´m explosive and hot-headed like my dad and my mom is so kind and everything!” I had to argue. How can he talk about it if he doesn´t know. I don´t like where this conversation goes but I´ll let him continue for a bit longer. I should let him speak if he feels like being sincere for once, shouldn´t I?

“It´s not like you are a rude person, it´s more like you´re protective. And you are also one of the kindest people I know, so stop berating yourself so much.” Hyukjae was looking to the ceiling and had a small smile on his face although I knew; he was being very serious right now.

“What do you mean protective? You´re saying nonsense, Hyuk,” I just lash out on anybody, how is that being kind or protective?

“You may not agree with me now but I´m sure, you´ll realise one day.” Hyukjae bit his lip and hesitated for a bit before he explained it all. “Honestly I believe that you are angry that your only inheritance, which you would like to be proud of and which belongs to your father, your exotic trait, is being looking down on. That you are bullied for something you would like to be praised for. I just feel sorry that I myself can´t do it since I´m blind. I´m sorry, Donghae,” he finally turned to me and gave me an apologetic smile.

To tell the truth, I really didn´t agree with Hyukjae but I decided to let it go and maybe even think about it later. Up until now I was sure that I was angry at my father for making my life hell. And I was sorry to my mother who had to endure it all. But isn´t pity making it even worse? Hyukjae has never pitied me nor hold back just because I´m being bullied. He doesn´t care because he´s sincere with me and that´s what I really like about him. That´s the reason I decided to be his friend. He doesn´t talk about himself much but he would never lie to me.

“You said you didn´t like me always protecting you, right?” Hyukjae broke the silence again. I didn´t expect him to open the topic. So I hummed and hoped that he would continue. Luckily he did.

“When you become more confident of yourself, because you honestly don´t have anything to be ashamed of, you can do it.” Once more I wasn´t sure of Hyukjae´s message. It definitely wasn´t just a compliment, which by the way made me incredibly happy.

“Do what?” I asked because this was very important topic and the blonde was also very important, I wouldn´t let anyone else look into my inner soul as I let him.

“Protect me.”

The color black relates to the hidden, the secretive and the unknown, and as a result it creates an air of mystery. It keeps things bottled up inside, hidden from the world. This color gives protection from external emotional stress. It creates a barrier between itself and the outside world, providing comfort while protecting its emotions and feelings, and hiding its vulnerabilities, insecurities and lack of self confidence.

Thanks for the waiting. Here´s another chapter! It lack the humour but we have some more Hyukjae in it finally. :D Btw, our boys look so impossibly handsome these day. The airport fashion blow me away, then the concert and Donghae´s photoshoot. And SiHyuk´s tweets are ¨just great! Thank you for reading and your supportive comments- PandaHero