DONGHAE POV

It was a slow start, slow being the key word, our conversations were random and short during those little 20 minute breaks that I take for lunch, but somehow, 20 minutes is all it takes to get me hooked on the drug that is Lee Hyukjae’s conversation. At first he was really shy and barely said a word, but that was 2 weeks ago and now he always has something to say. He doesn’t read much like I do, but he lets me tell him about the books I’m reading and such, he’s a great listener and made me realize how much I had been needing one, as the loner I am. Much of what he talks about is school related, but this is US we’re talking about, so I listen attentively like he does with me. As silly as our conversations may sound to outsiders, we have fun, we have lots of fun and sometime, in between it all, we talk about each other, our interests, past experiences, family, love…

He was very amused to hear Henry was my first, so he told me stories about when he and Kyuhyun dated, I joked about getting tested after hearing some of his infidelities and we laughed, then I asked about him and Kyuhyun, and he told me everything; all in all it was light conversation, no pressure, just fun, yet we still got to know all those things about the other that would otherwise be taboo in any normal relationship.

I was afraid to fall into a comfortable habit we call the friend zone, that time when you get so comfortable with someone and enjoy their presence so much you just want it to stay that way, so I made sure to avoid such a disaster by not so subtly running my palm up and down his tight, putting my hand in the small of his back instead of around his shoulders and pecking the corner of his lips instead of waving goodbye, so that he wouldn’t forget, amongst all the friendly chatting, that I still wanted more, even if I’m not pushing for a label just yet.

And then finals came around…

And I buried myself in my books and so did he, we aren’t in the same classes  so we couldn’t exactly study together so that was a setback to our time together, but none of us complained, we’re nerds for god’s sake, this is what we do, this is what we like, as in love as we may be, we wouldn’t jeopardize our education, so those were 2 weeks of zero communication between us, and that time apart made me feel so miserable I realized this “take it slow” thing that we’re doing needs to stop, because I’m already in so deep that not even exams can distract me from missing him. So the next time I