Eunhyuk's phone buzzed under his pillow and he reached for it blindly, clumsily swiping it open with no regard for the sender. He already knew who it was. No one else would bother contacting him at- He glanced, bleary eyed, at the small glowing numbers of his alarm clock and groaned hoarsely. What was this kid doing still up at three thirty in the morning?

im killing myself trying to finish that tech assignment I told you about last week. its due at 9 tomorrow morning. you wouldnt happen to know how to convert mwv files to mp3 would you?

Eunhyuk squinted at the screen for a few more seconds before tucking it back under his head. Donghae's constant texts and musings were entertaining during the day but waking him in the middle of the night was taking things a little too far. Eunhyuk had another full shift at his tutoring centre the next day and he couldn't afford to sleep on the job. He should have realised that ignoring that one message wouldn't solve the problem. Ignoring Donghae had never changed the boy in the slightest. The next few successive buzzes proved his point only too well.

i think there's a cat on my roof. its banging around and i could hear its little paws hitting the metal

my backs aching. should i work at my desk or stay on my bed? its warmer on my bed though…

apparently if i rub toothpaste under my eyes ill stay awake for longer. i think ill give it a try but id probably end up looking like a dental version of those american indians

The phone slipped from his grip as Eunhyuk snorted at the last message, hitting him square on the nose. He curled up, writhing among his sheets while clutching his face in a desperate attempt to ease the eruption of pain along his forehead and nose bridge. He barely registered the dull smack of metal on wood amidst his own low moans and slowly shut his eyes as he cursed his luck. If his phone was broken…

Reaching down and sweeping his flat palms over the floor whilst laying on his stomach brought nothing. Eunhyuk resigned himself to getting up with a sigh which turned into another pained gasp as he stubbed his toe on the corner of his bookshelf.

"!" He slid to the floor, nursing his injured foot whilst reaching for his phone blindly before feeling its cool smoothness against his knee. That was it. He was officially not talking to Donghae for the next twenty-four hours. If that kid so much as try to complain about his lack of a response, he would-

"What're you doing?"

"Sora!" Eunhyuk jerked up in alarm and stumbled on a stray cable as the sudden flash of the lights being switched on blinded him. The little girl stood framed in his doorway; a hand on the light switch and her narrowed eyes taking in the mess of speakers and stands with him splayed nearly flat in the middle. "Why are you still up? You should be in bed now."

Her bottom lip jutted out slightly and she crossed her arms indignantly; brows twitching together in an expression of annoyance. "I was." She stressed the word, "But you were being too loud."

Eunhyuk groaned and rubbed at his face as he tried to process everything that had happened in the last few minutes. "Look," He mumbled into his hands, "Sorry for waking you. Try and get some sleep 'cause you've got school tomorrow."

The pout grew more petulant. "But I'm already awake."

"Sora." He shot her a look which was somewhere between a grimace and a frown. "I'm being serio-"

"Okay, okay. I was joking anyways." Sora carefully made her way closer, pressed a light kiss on Eunhyuk's forehead and wrinkled her nose; sniffing and picking at the corner of her eye. "You stink." She said cheerfully before half skipping out of his room.

He sighed despondently and picked up his phone as it buzzed once more by his side.

so i decided that music is overrated anyway and the assignment didn't necessarily require it so ill just leave it out. its more trouble than its worth

hey actually I worked it out nvm

dont try the toothpaste idea Hyuk. my eyes are watering buckets right now

Serves you right.

Whatever pain Donghae was experiencing right now was probably multiplied in the aches of Eunhyuk's face and foot. Not to mention how completely sleep deprived he would be the next day.

Eunhyuk had woken late on Saturday morning and spent the entire train ride to his tutoring centre cursing Donghae under his breath as his barely coherent mind tried to stay awake. It had taken all his concentration to manage not to slip his legs through the armholes of his blazer and he was sure that the tousled state of his hair would raise a few eyebrows at his workplace. Xiah Junsu stared at him from the reception table and his eyes didn't leave Eunhyuk even as he passed him the roll folder for his upcoming class.

"Had a rough night?"

"You wouldn't believe." Eunhyuk rolled his eyes and forced a thin smile on as Junsu grimaced with sympathy. "Sora was sick last night so Onew's now stuck at home today for baby minding. He had a lunch out planned for the weekend with a few of his friends but I convinced him to stay."

"How did you do that? Onew's not one to agree to missing lunch."

"I told him I'd make fried chicken for dinner tonight."

Junsu involuntarily gagged at the thought; brow furrowed as he no doubt questioned Onew's sanity. "But you can't cook! Remember that one time you tried making sandwiches in the staffroom and ended up blasting the toaster into-"

"Yeah." Eunhyuk smiled apologetically at the reminder. "But he doesn't know that and what he doesn't know won't hurt him."

"I wouldn't count on it. We all had pieces of melted aluminium between the slices of ham and cheese."

"Yes, well," he ran his fingers through his hair and was reminded of his unbecoming state and they got caught in the knots at the top. "Nobody died."

"You'd better get in now. I swear, ever since you became the tutor for the senior class, the applications have nearly doubled." Junsu shook his head in disbelief, throwing his hands up for emphasis and losing his pen as it skittered across the room in the process. "Whoops. You look nice by the way. Your class would never realise you're in the same grade as them by the way you dress alone."

"Thanks. I'll head in now." Eunhyuk left Junsu crawling under the table to retrieve the misplaced pen and hurriedly combed down his hair as he entered the classroom. The babble of voices only seemed to grow upon his entry; the light in the room blinding in comparison to the dim yellow lighting of the hallway. The rows of students hardly took any notice of him as he quietly closed the door behind him and set his books down at the desk set at the front. Someone had drawn a misshapen stick figure with something protruding from its waist which disturbingly rese