vi.

Donghae throws himself into the nearest armchair that he can find and releases a long groan. He feels exhausted to the bone, as if a truck rolled over him and left him for dead on the side of the road. His head hurts something fierce, a dull and constant ache that’s pushing painfully against his temples, while his eyes feel dry and sore. Running a hand through his hair, Donghae slumps down wearily into his seat.

The patio is unusually quiet for a weekday at noon. Donghae isn’t too surprised; most of the students are trying to finish some last-minute revising, looking as worn and stressed out as he feels. Midterms kicked off just a bit over a week ago, starting with exams for the law department, while the second week has been dedicated to economics and management majors. Just like every year, the exam period feels like hell; their only consolation is that Christmas vacations start right afterward.

Donghae just finished his third midterm exam, which is nice and everything, but then he still has five more to go through before the end of the week. Just thinking about it intensifies his headache. Groaning, he buries his face into his hands. He’d like to say that he’d been clever enough to start revising early, but really that’d be an outrageous lie, and now he has to find a way to cram four months of material into his brain before his next exam. And then there’s also the mini-thesis to think about, damn it. Although technically it’s only for late February, Donghae reasons, so it’s probably alright if he ignores it for now. Hyukjae would undoubtedly disagree with him, but then he’s probably sailing through all of these exams, isn’t he?

They haven’t met up since midterms started, although Donghae caught brief glimpses of Hyukjae in the hallways as they both rushed to their next exam. He’d wanted to say hi each time he saw him, maybe ask him if he did good so far and give him a word of encouragement, but he never found the opportunity—and anyway he doesn’t even know if he’d have been welcome. The thought makes him feel rather depressed. Still, he wonders if Hyukjae is very stressed, too, and if he’s handling it well. If he’s alright.

Donghae sighs loudly, just as Heechul drops down in the chair next to him. He pats his friend’s shoulder sympathetically.

“Alright?” Donghae asks halfheartedly.

“Who cares,” Heechul retorts. “I just want this to be over.”

Donghae can relate to that sentiment. “Yeah,” he mumbles tiredly as he entertains the idea of a quick power nap. “Where are the others?”

“No idea. It’s almost lunchbreak though; they shouldn’t be long.” Heechul shrugs, closing his eyes and stretching his legs in front of him; he looks ready to fall asleep.

Donghae is about ready to follow his lead, shifting in his seat to get more comfortable and sighing softly, when Heechul says, “they still want to talk to you, you know.”

“Uh, what about?” Donghae asks politely as he thinks, ugh no. If even Heechul is getting involved, then he’s practically assured that the conversation that his friends seem so determined to have isn’t going to be pleasant. He already has a rough idea of what it might be about—and frankly, he’d rather deal with it in his own time, which is preferably not now. Maybe if he plays dumb for long enough then Heechul will just drop the topic and leave him alone, Donghae hopes halfheartedly.

Heechul glares at him, clearly seeing through his defection attempt, then crosses his arms over his chest. “Look,” he grumbles darkly. “I really don’t want to talk about this either, alright? But Kyuhyun and Siwon can’t seem to be able to talk about anything else lately, and it’s ing annoying. So you,” he snaps as he stabs a menacing finger in Donghae’s direction, “are going to listen to what I have to say, and then you’re going to sort it out so I don’t have to listen to it anymore. Understood?”

Gulping, Donghae nods frantically. He doesn’t want to say that he’s scared of Heechul, but really he kind of is; many a stronger man than him has quailed at his friend’s anger over the years. He’s too young to die.

“I talked with Kyuhyun and Siwon,” Heechul resumes talking and then pauses. He grimaces. “Well, they talked at me and I had no choice but to listen.” Yeah, they’re a bit like that, aren’t they, Donghae thinks sympathetically. “You know, about Hyukjae.”

This time, it’s Donghae’s turn to grimace, and he fidgets uneasily in his seat. Even if he was fully expecting it, he still feels an uncontrollable urge to run away as fast as it’s humanly possible at the mention of Hyukjae. He shoves his hands under his thighs to stifle his nervousness. 

Heechul