Donghae has always been a happy ball with his friends. With strangers, he was docile and timid but when he was with the people he was comfortable with, he never held back.

When the second year of high school began, Donghae was excited. It was boring to be at home. Kyuhyun and Eunhyuk had gone to visit their grandparents over holidays. He felt so alone without his two friends. But, at least, he managed to meet Heechul and Kangin. The two older men had come to visit their homes. They had girlfriends though. It annoyed Donghae.

Heechul and Kangin were so focused on their girlfriends that they forgot about Donghae. They spent time together with him but not as much as he wanted. He was glad that he and Eunhyuk had decided not to have any girlfriend. He would be really sad if Eunhyuk was to go to his girlfriend and spend time with her rather than him.

If Eunhyuk ever gets a girlfriend, he will break them up. Eunhyuk is his - his best friend. As long as they are best friends and in high school, neither of them can date anyone. He knows that in the future, they will date different people and marry. But he hopes it doesn’t happen soon. As long as they are studying, in high school and college, he wishes to stay with Eunhyuk.

Their meeting in school after the holidays was memorable. They had met at home too when Eunhyuk returned but at the school, it was more memorable. Donghae had jumped on him when he saw him as they had arrived separately, Eunhyuk before him. He had clung to the boy for a good three minutes before pulling away and grinning like a lovesick puppy.

He was well aware of what was going inside the hearts of their fangirls. He did it for their sake and his satisfaction. It was a good start for the second year. Eunhyuk had called him a monkey and the two argued over who the monkey was. Kyuhyun was the one to end their banter by putting them in a headlock and expressing his annoyance over not getting a hug from either of them.

Their happy days were going smoothly. One day, Kyuhyun received a call from Eunhyuk to take Donghae for a movie in his place. Needless to say, he agreed after being assured he’d get two bags of spicy rice cakes. He had to ditch his plans with Ryeowook and Yesung though.

“What are you doing here?” Donghae asked as Kyuhyun stood beside him without saying any word. He was waiting inside the school campus after the final siren had indicated the end of the last class. They shared the last class and Kyuhyun had wordlessly followed him outside.

“I’ll go wherever you take me.”

“Have you lost your mind or something?” Donghae asked with a confused look on his face. Why would Kyhuyun suddenly say that?

“I’m here to accompany you at your time of loneliness.”

“I don’t need you to accompany me and I’m not lonely. Don’t you want to go home?” Donghae asked with an annoyed look on his face but his eyes were soft, a clear indication that he was somewhat lonely.

“No. I can’t go home. I want to spend time with you.” Kyuhyun said. “Eunhyuk has been caught by a teacher and can’t watch the movie with you tonight. I need to be with you.”

“Oh, wow, so romantic,” Donghae said flatly.

He was disappointed but accepted it. Eunhyuk hadn’t been spending much time with him recently. He’s busy doing something. Donghae had managed to convince the other to watch the latest movie with him but he didn’t show up in the end. At least there was Kyuhyun. Not Eunhyuk, as he would have liked, but Kyuhyun was fine.

“You don’t know this but I’m secretly a love guru. I run a blog on the internet helping two lost souls finding each other.”

Donghae scoffed, a smirk on his lips.

“You don’t trust me now but one day, when you are having love troubles, you will be begging me for help,” Kyuhyun told him.

“Yeah, sure.” Donghae rolled his eyes and changed the topic. “I’m in the mood for an action movie today.”

“Fine by me,”

The two went home, changed clothes and after that, Kyuhyun was at Donghae’s doorstep and the two headed to the cinema.

** **

The movie wasn’t the only time. It happened on so many occasions. Eunhyuk ditched Donghae and requested Kyuhyun to stand in for him. Donghae was upset but forgave Eunhyuk every time after he apologized. Kyuhyun knew it wasn’t any of his business but what was so important that Eunhyuk couldn’t even bother to spend a couple of hours with the boy knowing how easily he got lonely.

Not only their meetups outside the school but inside the school too, Eunhyuk seemed to avoid Donghae. Whenever Donghae tried to hug him or just hold him, Eunhyuk would dance away and engage Donghae in something else. It frustrated the shorter boy so much. Kyuhyun was also surprised.

There was a tension between Donghae and Eunhyuk, everyone knew that. But no one had any idea about the reason. They had their speculations but no one could be sure. They just narrowed it down to a couple-fight. Studying in the same school, no one had seen Eunhyuk or Donghae showing any interest in any other person except for each other.

But there was Kyuhyun.

It didn’t escape anyone’s eyes how much time Donghae had started to spend with the tallboy. They had even got a ship name – Kyuhae. Although Donghae wasn’t aware of it, Kyuhyun came to know from his friends and wasn’t pleased.

There were more fans of Eunhae than Kyuhae. Kyuhyun started receiving hate from some Eunhae fans and he had no idea why. Neither their Eunhae or even Kyuhae were real. Still, he discovered garbage in his locker or bag. There were malicious talks about him. They even called him a bad influence on Donghae. Someone even called him a homewrecker.

“What the hell is this?” Kyuhyun’s eyes hardened with anger. He hated the invasion of his personal space. His locker was his personal space and someone had placed diapers inside it. Thankfully, they didn’t seem to be used for the purpose they were made for.

“Isn’t this getting out of hand?” Ryeowook asked. “Those delusional es should worry about their sinking lives under stress of studies rather than trying to mess with someone else.”

“What can I say? Brainless people are all over the world to bother others.” Kyuhyun picked the diaper between the tip of his index finger and thumb, cautiously, and walked to the trash can. He let the offending object fall.

“You have it even worse than Donghae,” Ryeowook commented when Kyuhyun returned. “My classmate said that he was being called a cheater.”

“Glad to hear I’m not the only one.” Kyuhyun cleaned his locker of any remaining hate gift. “But it should have been Eunhyuk instead of Donghae. Firstly, it’s his fault, to begin with, and