The beginning of the school day could easily be mistaken as a waking nightmare, one that could not easily be woken up from. At this early in the morning, moods are grumpy and if you tried calculating the number of hours until the day was over, you would be counting the hours of the full day; counting the hours that the torture would have to go on for.

*************

HaRa and Hyuk were casually leaning against their lockers, waiting to hear the shrill sound of the bell signalling the unfortunate start of the lengthy day. Both were looking tired, but HaRa’s eyes seemed to hold a little sparkle in them, as though she was anticipating the arrival of a certain someone.

Being as perceptive as ever, this little beam did not go unnoticed by Hyuk and he had an inkling as to what, or who, was making her shine this early in the morning.  He was being a jealous individual, he would admit to that, but despite this he failed every time to put his feelings out in the open.

He was a part of the cliché love story where a guy and a girl where friends since childhood, then the guy starts falling in love with his best friend, but the best friend is adamant about keeping their friendship at the same boring level. Unfortunately for him, the part of the story where the guy sweeps the girl off her feet and declares his love in the utmost romantic way has yet to happen. He also was well aware of his competition, limiting his chances even further of rising out of the platonic relationship he currently found himself in.

“Hey HaRa, why don’t we hang out after school today, we could grab some ice cream or something?” Hyuk was looking at his best friend with pleading eyes; he didn’t want to be denied a chance to possibly ask her to be his.

 For a quick second her eyes flickered to meet his before going back to staring past his shoulder. “Uh, I guess – oh my loveliness, he’s here! I was starting to think something happened and he wasn’t going to make it to school today.”

Hyuk groaned in response, he knew exactly well who this particular he was. Unfortunately for him, once he finished imagining ways to at least kick that nuisance out of school, he took notice of the empty space right in front of him.

He whirled around and sure enough, HaRa was standing and none too subtly flirting with the biggest pest the world has yet to lay eyes on. They were both laughing, talking, and Hyuk was getting more annoyed by the second. He knew he had to do something, so something was just what he did.

“Hey HaRa, I wanted to ask you about the English project we have. When is it due again? I don’t want to be late starting it.” Hyuk managed to stroll over to the duo and wedge himself directly between the two people. He was smiling and decided not to take notice of his best friend’s glare.

“Really, Hyuk? Could you not have waited until we were in English to ask me? You just had to do it now.” The glare was intimidating, Hyuk had to admit. He’s only seen it on a couple of occasions and he always tried to never see it again. However, this time instead of tucking tail and bolting he was ready to stand his ground and not let the glare that the devil himself would be proud of, sway him.

“Yah I had to ask you now. What if I forgot later? Oh by the way I also wanted to ask if you would help me with it. You know English isn’t my strong subject.” At this point, Hyuk was actually glad he was in school. He was sure if this was happening anywhere else, where no authority figures roamed the halls, he would have been made into bite size pieces by now. HaRa’s glare was nothing to laugh at.

“Hyuk. I was currently talking to someone; must you get in the way every time?” Before Hyuk could say anything else, tall dark and handsome spoke up.

*********************

Thankfully, the best time of the day was finally upon the students: lunch time! Since Hyuk and HaRa didn’t have the class before lunch together, they always met each other at their lockers before going off to grab something to eat.

Hyuk quickly packed his bag and started his way towards the lockers before he froze in his steps. Standing in front of their lockers was not HaRa, not the annoyance, not any other students, but no one at all. The space in front lacked any presence at all, and Hyuk quickly had to calm himself down from thinking the worst.

“Chill man. You came here quite fast; maybe she is still in class. Wait for five minutes before freaking out.”

So that was exactly what Hyuk did, he waited for five minutes. Ten minutes. Fifteen minutes. Ok, HaRa wasn’t coming, but she never ditched him at lunch; this was their time. Hyuk then remembered,

“It’s ok HaRa, we’ll talk at lunch. Don’t worry, help your friend.”

 She was with HIM. Without any further delay Hyuk was running all around the school, trying and constantly failing to find her whereabouts. Before he knew it, the lunch bell had rung. He dreaded something had happened while he wasn’t there to prevent it, and sure enough as he started rounding the corner to get to his class, he heard exactly that which he did not want to hear.

“Hey did you hear, the kingka asked someone out.”

“Oh yah, they are going to the new café after school that just opened up. How romantic.”

“Who was it he asked? She must be so lucky and happy.”

“Oh it’s the girl in that English class. What’s her name? Oh yah, HaRa.”

Hyuk didn’t have to hear anymore, didn’t want to hear anymore. He knew each person they were talking about. The kingka could only be Mr. Nuisance and HaRa, well that was the name he was dreading to hear. He knew he had to do something about it, so Hyuk decided he will do what Hyuk does best: getting in the middle of things.

*************************

The dreaded school day had ended, and for some this was equivalent to about 15 hours of freedom before the start of the next school day. For Hyuk on the other hand, he wasn’t thinking about anything other than going to a particular café.

He took his time getting out of the school, he wanted to make sure the lovely duo (he would die before he called them a couple), made it to the café first. Then he would make his grand entrance. Once a solid 20 minutes had passed, he gradually made his way over to where the date was happening.

The new café looked swanky enough, definitely a nice choice for a first date. Too bad for Hyuk, this place would be forever stained with his best friend going with someone else, he wasn’t sure he himself would come here for a date ever again.

Placing that thought aside, Hyuk knew he needed to make an elaborate entrance and keep talking until a particular someone would decide to leave. So he started putting his plan in motion.

“Oh perfect, there you are HaRa. You know I asked a few of our classmates where you would be and thankfully they knew where you were.” Hyuk made sure that his presence was noticed. Everyone in the café actually noticed but he paid no mind to them.

As Hyuk strolled over to the table where the two targets were sitting at, he could all ready tell his best friend was imagining his death yet again.

“Hyuk. What are you doing here again? Can you not leave me alone for five minutes?” Yup HaRa was boiling over with steam already leaving her ears. Hyuk once again paid no mind.

“Well, I figured since it’s kind of a cloudy day, the perfect weather for staying in, we could start on the English project. I said I needed your help and the earlier we start the more time you have to explain everything to me.”

“Hyuk, no can’t you see that I’m –“  Before HaRa could finish her sentence Hyuk started writing on a napkin everything that he needed help on and some of the ideas he had. He of course needed to explain what he was writing so he began doing just that.

“So you see, I was thinking we could write a poem maybe. Or a short story, yah that would be cool. But you know I need help with sentence structure. And why are words in English so weird. Hey you have an English dictionary right. I think I may need that-“

Once again, the talking was cut off. This time though, it was from a chair scraping backwards on the floor. Both HaRa and Hyuk looked to see who created the sound. It was the competition and what he said next made Hyuk have a full dance party celebration in his head.

“You know, I think I’m going to go home. It looks like you two have a lot of work to do and I could always do some work myself. Sorry HaRa, maybe we could do this another time.”

With that little speech left hanging in the air, HaRa and Hyuk sat still until HaRa decided to break the silence by being as loud as possible.

“HOW COULD YOU? I THOUGHT YOU WERE MY BEST FRIEND, YET YOU RUINED THE DATE WITH THE ONE GUY YOU KNOW I HAVE A CRUSH ON? ARE YOU THAT INSENSITIVE TO MY FEELINGS? YOU ALWAYS GET IN THE MIDDLE OF THINGS!”

Hyuk couldn’t take it anymore. He was insensitive to her? What about all the times he did things for her that only couples would do? Share an umbrella; share his jacket when she got cold; buy food every time they went out. She just always thought he was doing it because they were best friends and nothing more. Well he was about to change that.

“Let’s go. I want to tell you something.” With that small mumbled sentence, Hyuk grabbed both their bags in one hand, HaRa’s hand in the other and pulled her outside until they were casually strolling down the street.

HaRa wanted to protest but for some reason when she turned to face him, she got lost staring at his soft but sculpted features. The fire and frustration in her eyes gradually sizzled out until they were obviously filled with admiration. Her focus then shifted to their intertwined hands. She never realized how soft and warm they were against her own flesh. They were strong yet gentle; firm yet protective. HaRa was starting to wonder where these feelings where coming from; she was starting to get confused.

A few minutes later Hyuk found a bench in a secluded area to sit and finally express his feelings toward the only girl he had eyes on for a while now.

“All right this is it. It’s now or never Hyuk.”

Hyuk guided them to sit on the bench and with his hands clasped nervously in his lap and gaze toward the ground, he started talking.

“HaRa, there’s something I want to tell you. I know you are probably mad at me right now for always getting in the middle of things. When we were young I couldn’t keep my nose out of your business and now is no different. But do you know why I did that? It was because I wanted to protect you and always make sure you were safe. I would feel guilty and at fault if anything happened to you. But now it’s a little bit more than that. I got in the middle of things now because I was jealous. Jealous of the guy you had a crush on. Jealous because I have realized that I am in love with you; in love with my best friend.”

With the speech done, Hyuk let out a really deep breath and started to wonder what HaRa’s reaction would be.

“Hyukkie – “

At this Hyuk’s head snapped up. He hasn’t heard that nickname come out of since they were little kids. He softened at the fact that she remembered and called him the name she insisted only be used by her.

“ – honestly I have to admit, this is quite sudden. You were right, you always did get into the middle of things and I would always get annoyed at you for it. I didn’t realize though you always did that to keep me safe and protected. I guess now looking at it I’m appreciative that you did that for me. Coming here with you today, I took notice of things that I never before and I think that maybe I could be starting to fall in love with my best friend too. I’m sorry I took so long to notice and almost hurt you in the process.”

Hyuk couldn’t help but let the smile that was forming spread across his face. He was ok with the fact that HaRa wasn’t fully in love with him yet. It was the fact that she was starting and was willing to give them a chance that made Hyuk so happy and giddy. He didn’t waste any time pulling her into a near bone crushing hug.

“It’s ok if you don’t fully love me yet. We have all the time in the world for that. For now I’m just happy you accepted my feelings and are willing to give us a try. Now what do you say we go get some ice cream. I do remember asking you this morning if you wanted some.”

“Sure Hyukkie, but what about English?”

“What about English? It can wait.”

As the new couple started down the street, Hyuk couldn’t help but feel fortunate about his life. He finally managed to confess to his best friend and finish his cliché love story that he knew would last an eternity. The best thing of all though, was the idea that he could show off HaRa to the school as his and never have to worry about Mr. Biggest-Annoying-Pest in the world any longer.

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Thanks to Cheesecake_luhan for requesting this lovely scenario!! I hope you enjoyed reading it and feel free to request again! :D