A few minutes earlier...

"Yo."

Hearing Kyuhyun's voice, Donghae turned and returned his greeting.

"You haven't found Hyukjae yet?" Kyuhyun asked.

"I did. He's sleeping in the courtyard." Donghae answered, taking the drinks from a vendor machine. "I'm just buying this for when he wakes up." he said, showing Kyuhyun a box of strawberry milk.

"Oh." Kyuhyun nodded. "Have you seen Yesung hyung?"

"Yep, he's in the courtyard sleeping too. I found Hyukjae using his lap as a pillow." Donghae chuckled.

"That doesn't bother you?" Kyuhyun asked before inserting a bill on the vending machine. He took out a can of coffee and an energy drink.

"What, Hyukjae and Yesung hyung? Not really, I think they're cute. Besides, Hyukjae’s been friends with hyung longer than he’s known me." Donghae shrugged.

"Not the jealous type huh?" Kyuhyun commented and Donghae nodded.

"What about you then? Does it still bother you?" Donghae suddenly remembered.

"Nah. If it was another person, probably." Kyuhyun answered lightly. Then he began to look thoughtful. "No, I take that back. If it  was another person, I would really, definitely, get jealous." Kyuhyun said with such conviction that Donghae laughed.

"As I've always said, my friend, other people are right to be afraid of you." Donghae said, clapping Kyuhyun on the back as they started walking towards the courtyard.

"By the way, how's the song coming up?" Donghae remembered with a start.

"Everythings' going great, we've already worked out most of the harmonizations. For the adlibs, we'll just do our own things for that." Kyuhyun shrugged. "Thanks again for giving that song to us - to me, especially."

"You're welcome."

"Hey." Kyuhyun gave him an assessing look. "I've been meaning to ask this for a while - did you compose that song for Hyukjae?"

"Yeah, I was planning on asking for you three to sing it for him, but it's okay." Donghae hurried to explain when he saw the slightly crestfallen look on his friend's face. "It's alright, you can have that one. I'll just compose another song - "

Donghae stuttered to a halt as his eyes took in the scene a few meters away from him. Hyukjae was still sleeping where Donghae had last seen him. But now, a guy was crouching down in front of him, face too close to Hyukjae.

An unpleasant emotion that rarely made itself known reared its head up inside Donghae, which worsened as he recognized just who the other student was.

Choi Siwon.

When Hyukjae bolted up, surprise evident on his face, Donghae could feel his eyes narrowing and his mouth pressing into a thin line.

A chuckle from his side drew his attention somewhat.

"Not the jealous type, huh?" Kyuhyun playfully.

"Shut up." Donghae snapped.

He could probably tolerate other people being that close to Hyukjae, but not this guy.

"Well, I could understand you. That guy's really threatening as a rival." Kyuhyun commented offhandedly, probably hoping to rile Donghae up even more.

Eyes narrowing even more as he watched Hyukjae and Siwon chatting happily together, Donghae was just about to kick his friend to shut him up when his eyes widened.

An evil chuckle made its way past Donghae's lips – a sure sign that he'd been hanging out way too much with Kyuhyun.

"I'm glad you understand me then, Kyuhyun," Glancing at the scene before him, Donghae threw a smirk at Kyuhyun, "'cause I think I know who Siwon is interested in right now."

Donghae walked towards Hyukjae gleefully, leaving Kyuhyun staring at Siwon and Yesung all cozied up. Siwon was still looking at Yesung in adoration, and Hyukjae was watching them warily.

Plopping down beside Hyukjae, Donghae threw an arm around Hyukjae's waist and pulled him closer. He pecked Hyukjae on the lips as a greeting, wanting to diffuse the slight stress he could feel building up in his boyfriend.

"Don't stress yourself up and just enjoy yourself." Donghae told Hyukjae as he handed him the carton of strawberry milk, earning a bright smile from the blond.

Popping open the drink, Hyukjae took a long sip before Hyukjae he eyed Donghae quizically. "Enjoy... what?"

"You'll see." A smirk was once again visible on Donghae's face, and he glanced backwards at Kyuhyun.

Following Donghae's gaze, Hyukjae saw Kyuhyun standing utterly still a few feet away from them. Hyukjae watched as Kyuhyun's expression darkened, eyes narrowing just a little bit more at every second that Siwon continued to hold Yesung.

Seeming to reach his limit, Kyuhyun stomped towards the small group and Hyukjae braced himself for what was about to happen.

Kyuhyun sat down next to Yesung, and without saying a word, he jerked Yesung off of Siwon and shifted his hyung's weight onto him. Yesung groaned and a crease formed on his forehead and Kyuhyun immediately gentled his hold on him. He caressed Yesung's dark locks, the gesture calming Yesung down. His breathing evened out and Kyuhyun smiled tenderly down at him, all the while ignoring the wide-eyed look that Siwon was giving him.

"Erm," Hyukjae said tersely. "So... Siwon, this is Donghae."

"Hello Donghae. I'm Siwon." Siwon politely held his hand out for a handshake, and Donghae accepted it reluctantly.

"I'm Donghae, Hyukjae's boyfriend."

Hyukjae glanced up at his boyfriend in surprise . Was that possessiveness that he just heard in Donghae's tone?

"Boyfriend? So the rumors are true." Siwon threw Hyukjae a calculating look. "Hyukjae, was Donghae the one you were talking about? The reason why you rejected me?"

"Uhm, yeah." Hyukjae replied, blushing a little. He could clearly remember crying on the taller man's shoulder during that time.

"I thought it was just a one-sided love?" Siwon asked Hyukjae curiously, and since there was no malice in the other student's tone, Hyukjae didn't take offense at the question.

Donghae, however, immediately became defensive. "It was never one-sided, it was just a misunderstanding."

Hyukjae looked up at Donghae, a little confused. He had never seen Donghae act this way before - he even looked a little upset. Hyukjae hurriedly changed the topic.

"And Siwon, this tall guy here is Kyuhyun." he said, gesturing towards Kyuhyun.

Siwon bowed. "Hello, nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too." Kyuhyun was at least polite enough to respond. "I'm Kyuhyun, Yesung's boyfriend."

Okay, Hyukjae decided. Kyuhyun wasn't being polite; he just wanted to stake a claim.

Heaving a deep sigh, Hyukjae watched as Siwon's eyes widened once more, before his eyes lowered down to Yesung's still sleeping face. Siwon's handsome face slightly crumpled down into what could only be regret, and Hyukjae couldn't help feeling sorry for him.

"Siwon..." Hyukjae started, wanting to break the awkward atmosphere, but Siwon was already standing up.

"Well, I just stopped by to say hi. I'm gonna look for Kibum again." About to leave, Siwon patted the creases on his pants. He then stopped and looked at Hyukjae. "I'm really glad everything worked out for you. Stay happy, alright?" Flashing a handsome smile at Hyukjae, he waved goodbye to all of them before walking away.

~*~

Flinging his long body down on the blanket next to Kibum, Siwon stared unseeingly at the blue sky before him.

"What's up?" Kibum nudged Siwon.

Sighing, Siwon sat up and watched Kibum's friends lounging around. He was feeling a little depressed and Kibum immediately picked up on it.

"What's your problem this time?"

"Your friends Hyukjae-ssi and Yesung-ssi are really cute." Siwon commented and Kibum rolled his eyes, already knowing where this was going.

"They are, and they're both already taken."

"I know."

There was a bit of silence before Kibum spoke up. "All right, I'm just curious, who else is your type among my friends?"

Reluctantly, Siwon scanned his surroundings once more. A movement on their left caught his eyes, and he watched as a lean student sat up and stretched. A dimpled smile appeared every now and then as he chatted happily with a definitely pretty boy. "He's cute." he commented a bit disinterestedly, eyeing the dimpled student.

Kibum followed his line of sight and blanched. "Oh no, no, no, wrong choice. Keep your eyes away, Siwon, don't even look at him!"

Hearing the panicked tone of his friend's voice, Siwon immediately obeyed. "What? Why can't I look at him? I'm just answering your question!"

"You did notice that other guy that he was talking to, right? The pretty one?" At Siwon's nod, he continued. "That guy you were eyeing, he's Leeteuk hyung. And his boyfriend is the one he's talking to, Heechul hyung."

Upon hearing the names of the students, a shiver went up Siwon's spine. Heechul was notorious at their school for being obnoxious to people on general, and even more so towards people who showed the slightest interest in his boyfriend.

Siwon shot his friend a wary smile, thankful that Heechul didn't see him staring at Leeteuk. That was one minefield that he wasn't willing to tread upon.

"Thanks for saving me. But..." Siwon trailed off, his earlier depression returning. "Why does this keep on happening to me? Am I just really unlucky?"

"And towards all of my friends too."

That comment really was just unnecessary, like rubbing more salt into his wound. Siwon almost pouted.

"Okay, Siwon, I'll give you a tip." Kibum started. "I know there are a lot of really interesting people in here, but keep in mind that there are only a handful of us that are still single. And to keep it simple, all of us are all here in this area." Kibum pointed out Kangin, Changmin, Hankyung, Henry and Zhou Mi, who were all playing some type of card game.

"So, is this like the Singles Zone?" Siwon asked in a drily.

"You could say that." Kibum answered with a laugh.

Siwon cast one last look at Leeteuk before his eyes strayed to Hyukjae's area. He saw that Yesung was now awake and was talking to Kyuhyun. He watched as Yesung smiled up at the taller student, and Siwon sighed internally as he noted how beautiful the dark-haired student's smile was.

"I seem to keep on liking guys with really cute smiles." Siwon mumbled moodily.

"I'm sure you'll find the right one soon." Kibum laughed, thumping his friend's back supportively.

"I wish." Siwon answered and looked at his smiling friend. "You have a nice smile as well." he said distractedly, still mulling over the failures he had experienc