“I love you Donghyuck.”

 

The confession was hanging uncommented in the air for a moment until tired complaining followed. “I love you too Hyung…. but….please let me go? I'm already late. Very late.”

 

“You’re late every morning, Hyuckie…”, Taeil reminded him happily humming and didn't make any move to release Donghyuck from his tight hug.

 

“Exactly. And you as my guardian should be more concerned about my punctuality.”

 

Taeil chuckled.

 

“You're not allowed to grow any taller, it’s already awful enough to look directly into your eyes.”

 

“I won't….”, Donghyuck promised while still trying to escape his guardian’s sudden display of affection - sadly without any success, “....as soon as let me go.”

 

Taeil gave in with a sigh. Reluctantly he let his arms fall and finally stepped back. Clearly unhappy he watched Donghyuck putting a dark green parka over his school uniform, slipping into a pair of red sneakers and hiding his chestnut brown hair under a snapback. It was a combination that made Taeil wrinkle his nose in distaste. However he had to admit that he didn't know much about current trends and refrained from discussing attire with the cheeky pubescent boy solely for his own protection.

 All too often these discussions had escalated and too rarely Taeil was able to win these heated debates.

 

Except for one time when Donghyuck had insulted the older one as a fashion terrorist, whereupon Taeil had gasped indignantly and corrected him. (“I’m a fashion pacifist!”) Taeil had counted the sound of Donghyuck’s facepalm as applause for his disarming argument and the two of them stopped talking until the next day.

 

“Take care, okay?”, Taeil mumbled and straightened his pyjamas before opening the door of their apartment.

 

“I will.” Donghyuck smiled at Taeil. Every morning Taeil woke him up and he never had to worry about going to school without having breakfast first, since his brother Taeyong always left him some before going to work. And all that even though Taeil could easily sleep for another hour and still be on time for work. It has always been that way but Donghyuck was touched nonetheless.

 

“Don't forget that Johnny is going to pick you up today.”

 

Donghyuck grinned and nodded. “How could I possibly forget?”

 

Taeil rolled his eyes. “Hah. Get lost.”

 

Donghyuck grabbed his ratty old backpack and started walking. Before he stepped onto the stairwell he turned around again to wave at Taeil. In the meantime Taeil had picked up Gilbert, a fat persian cat and secret head of the family, and moved his paw like a windshield wiper back and forth. The student rolled his eyes and continued on his way to school. Everything was normal.

 

For now.

 

Like every day Donghyuck made it into the classroom in perfect synchronicity with the schoolbell and moved to take his seat next to his best friend Renjun. Renjun absentmindedly greeted him with a small “morning” without looking up from the book he was reading. Donghyuck looked at the open page and wasn't surprised to see it filled with pictures of mushrooms. He had gotten used to Renjun’s lack of politeness long ago and took off his parka and snapback after mumbling a retort.

His teacher hasn't arrived yet, so Donghyuck let his eyes wander. Sadly he had to turn around for that. Renjun was an ambitious student and preferred to sit in the front row. It was only because of Renjun that Donghyuck passed last year, so he didn't dare to complain.

 

Donghyuck watched his classmates with limited interest. Even though it was Friday, their looks were empty and unmotivated. Some had their heads on their tables and were napping while others were going over their homework. He was about to turn around when he noticed someone looking at him intensely. He returned the stare and looked into big deep brown eyes. The boy in the last row didn't seem to feel caught, because not only did he keep staring, he also pulled up one corner of his mouth into a smirk.

 

Renjun didn't care about the moment Donghyuck and his classmate were having and slammed his book next to Donghyuck’s ear shut, making him jump and almost falling off his chair. Loud and ringing laughter from the last row immediately followed and Donghyuck boxed Renjun in the side, fully prepared to release an onslaught of curses onto the other boy. The only thing that stopped him was his history teacher entering the room, silencing every conversation in the room.

 

Donghyuck would have to wait until lunch break to cuss Renjun out.

 

“He's not a bad guy you know?” Renjun had just finished all of his side dishes and started on his main dish.

 

“Who are you talking about?”

 

“Lucas.”

 

Silence. Instead of answering his friend's statement Donghyuck looked up from his tray. Lucas was sitting a few tables away. The guy who first had been staring and then laughing at him the loudest. The new one.

It hadn't even been a month since he came to this school and he had immediately been taken in by a student named Sicheng, who previously had been known to be a bit of a loner. For quite a long (and in retrospect embarrassingly) time Donghyuck wasn't even sure whether the originally Chinese student could even talk, since he never said anything in class. But when he suddenly joined the same church choir as Donghyuck and Renjun, he proved his eloquence. In front of all choir members he complained about Father Jaehyun's decision that he should only lip sync during their performances. But when Lucas joined their class, Sicheng had immediately volunteered to show the new student around. But while the teacher was happy to agree to that, Father Jaehyun continued to not be reasoned with. So now during the breaks Sicheng and Lucas stuck together and tried to appear mysterious.

 

Who knows, maybe their conversations were much less interesting than Donghyuck imagined them to be. However, everytime he passed their table he was reminded of how awful his Chinese was. Did that make him want to change that? Not at all.

 

Much to Donghyuck’s relief they didn't notice him staring and he looked back at his best friend. 

 

“And you believe that because…?”

 

“Because I'm sitting next to him in Korean class.”

 

“Ah right.”

 

Renjun himself was also Chinese but had been learning Korean since he was in primary school. In the Korean class, that was compulsory for all the foreign students, he was the best by far. Even though he was basically fluent in Korean since he had lived here for quite a few years by now, he still felt it was much better to be in Korean class than in Chinese class. That way he didn't have to listen to his best friends' cringy pronunciation. ("There are few things more painful than listening to you my mother tongue, Donghyuck.")

 

“Yes. He is one year older than us and..”

 

“He repeated a year? Cool.”

 

Renjun glared at him and continued.

 

“...and he likes to play video games, knows how to cook, likes working out..”

 

“...and was the captain of a football team at some super special school somewhere in America?”

 

“Nope, England.”

 

“Oh my God.” Disgusted, Donghyuck made a face and threw a disapproving look at the topic of the conversation. In that exact moment Lucas looked up and smiled. He smiled at Donghyuck.

 

Renjun must've correctly judged the look Donghyuck was giving Lucas, because he followed Donghyuck’s gaze and turned around. To prevent worse things from happening Donghyuck quickly kicked Renjuns shin. Did Renjun just try to wave at them? How rebellious.

 

“I just wanted to add that he asked about you last Wednesday.” Whining, the young Chinese rubbed his aching leg.

 

Donghyuck exhaled sharply, shoving the rest of his noodles into his mouth. “Why? Does he need tutoring in being funny and popular?”

 

“Nah, he’s much funnier than you to be honest. His Justin Bieber impressions are way better than your Michael Jackson ones.”

 

“Excuse you? He's only entertaining because he's handsome.”

 

“He really is, isn't he?” Donghyuck wished the table was not between them so he could wipe the smug grin off of his friends face.

 

The long pause confirmed Renjun’s statement. Donghyuck breathed deeply and decided that ignorance was the best option he had. He stared at his empty tray. It was normal that the two of them teased each other and rarely knew where to stop. But this time Renjun seemed to notice the change in atmosphere. His tone softened.

 

“When is he coming back? This weekend? Or the one after?”

 

‘He’ was Mark Lee. Canadian, Donghyuck’s childhood best friend and main character in his countless daydreams. In primary school Mark had settled a ridiculously high number of fights in the school yard. All caused by Donghyuck. Mark walked him home every day and tutored him since he was a year older and incredibly smart.

 

“Next...finally.” Hyuck showed off a bittersweet smile.

 

Mark's mother Wendy was Taeil’s best friend, even though they appeared to be at least ten years apart in age. It was normal for the Lees to come over on the weekends or the other way around. It actually seemed that Taeil was only using the kids as an excuse to get closer to (actually happily married) Wendy. 

 

None of that stopped Donghyuck from falling in love with Mark.

 

The fact that he disappeared at the age of 12 to attend a boarding school abroad was the least of his problems.

 

“So you're free this weekend? I wanted to show you something in the forest.” Renjun’s eyes were full of hope. Knowing what that meant after being dragged up a mountain last time just to look at a tiny ring of mushrooms, Donghyuck was ready to whip up any excuse. Thankfully none was needed.

 

“Johnny is coming over today and we are going over to Wendy for dinner tomorrow… you could join?”

 

“Ew no way. I'm not into soy burgers and chia pudding.”

 

Donghyuck’s tortured laughter was sign enough that he wasn't in the mood for Wendy's vegan food either. “Are you sure?”

 

“Quite. Sooooo…. Johnny is going to pick you up?”

 

Donghyuck faked a sigh. “...we will take you home.”

 

“Sweet.”

 

There is nothing worse than a math test.

 

Except if it’s a surprise math test.

 

A graded one.

 

Disbelieving groans went through the classroom and Donghyuck saw his life flash before his eyes after seeing the stack of papers in his teachers hands. As expected, Renjun didn't even blink, his best friend however regretted the sixth round of Overwatch last night.

 

“Donghyuck, Renjun…” Mrs. Kwon’s shrill voice made the two students jump.

 

“...please hand out the tests. I’ll set a timer. As soon as everyone has a test your 40 minutes will start.”

 

Donghyuck hated sitting in the first row.

 

Now they were the ones having to look into the empty faces of their classmates, playing the harbingers of doom. 

 

Both boys stood up, took half of the tests each and began handing them out.

 

In Donghyuck’s head a way too familiar scenario was playing. His brother Taeyong. Arms crossed and eyes burning intensely. Bad grades and people criticising his cooking were two of the few things that made his brother truly angry. And an angry Taeyong meant a hella scary one.

 

The worst thing was his disappointment: “Didn't you promise me to work harder next time?”

 

“Euhm, Donghyuck?” A deep voice disrupted his Vietnam flashbacks. Donghyuck turned around and looked into the deep brown eyes of the crush of every girl at the school, retired football captain and way too handsome Lucas.

 

Said boy slowly held up his test. The one he really shouldn't have turned around until everyone in the classroom had one. Except that both sides of the page were empty.

 

“Oh hang on, I’ll give you…”

 

“Mine's empty too.”, said Sicheng surprised after having taken a peek as well.

 

“Mine too”, someone else said in the second row, just barely holding back their joy.

 

“Same here.”

 

“What the hell? The tests were here just a second ago..” Renjun, who had inspected the rest of his stack, looked quite confused at his friend.

 

By then Mrs. Kwon had stormed towards Donghyuck and took the stack of empty pages from him.

 

“What did you do?” she glared at Donghyuck furiously. “I demand an explanation Lee Donghyuck!”

 

But he didn't have one. He just really, really didn't want to take the test. As well as not wanting to deal with Taeyong when he would inevitably fail it. 

Donghyuck had turned just as white as the page in Lucas' hand he was still looking at. Lucas' gaze shifted utterly confused back and forth between his teacher and Donghyuck, all while trying (and failing) to hide his wide grin.

 

What would be smarter? Telling the truth and thus telling his teacher he didn't know what happened or lying and confirming Mrs. Kwon’s suspicion which in turn meant being the class’ hero who saved them from the test? Donghyuck chose the latter option. The stupid one.

 

“I-I… I have ehum… exchanged the test with a list..” he began, every student's eyes fixed on him, “...a list of all the things that make you a good teacher.”

 

The entire class went crazy.

 

Renjun simply facepalmed.

 

"... however, I firmly believe you blackmailed principal Kim somehow. And as your best friend, I demand you to tell me the truth!"

Instead of an explanation, Renjun found himself shoved and almost landed on the neatly cut grass.

"I guess he just likes me." And Donghyuck was right. The principal had quite a questionable sense of humour which enraged the teachers on a daily basis. Donghyuck lost count of the times he was dragged into the principal's office, where he had to confess his misdemeanours. Mr Kim loved hearing the detailed descriptions of how Donghyuck taped an air horn under Mrs Kwon’s chair or how he promised to apologize to her by baking something. Which resulted in Donghyuck cutting out "E"-letters out of cardboard and placing them into a cooking pan covered with foil ("Here, Mrs Kwon, Brown-Es! HAHAHA").

Having the head teacher on his side als meant not having to fear him calling home. Taeyong and Taeil didn't have to know everything.

"Yeah, but it wasn't you this time. Every piece of paper on my stack was printed." Renjun frowned while walking next to his friend. "And I'm not Houdini. Hell, even Mrs. Kwon's original version was blank, so she couldn't make new copies..."

"Maybe something's wrong with the ink?" Donghyuck himself didn't sound convinced. Conspiracy theorist Renjun's option of a possible fairy intervention wasn't any better though.

"Hm... but what kind of AH." A loud honk made the Chinese boy squeal and Donghyuck jump in surprise. Both searched for the source of the noise, before noticing a silver Tesla pulling up right in front of them without the slightest sound. Inside sat Johnny, showing off his million dollar smile.

Uncle Johnny was another member of the chaotic patchwork Donghyuck called his family. Unlike Taeyong and similar to Taeil, he wasn't related to Hyuck by blood, which made no difference to anyone. Johnny was as stereotypical and great as an uncle can get, always drowning the younger boy in gifts from his business trips. He was also responsible for providing Taeil's medicine.

Once a month Johnny would stop by for a weekend and visit his family in Seoul. Donghyuck, Taeil and Taeyong (and Gilbert) were in fact the only family he got ever since his parents burnt to death ten years ago. Unsurprisingly, he avoided the topic like the pest. Truly a pity, because curious Donghyuck had to ask Johnny's childhood friend. Being the charming and sensitive soul he is, Taeil had told six-year old Hyuckie very graphically about the fire in which the Seos 'roasted like sweet chestnuts in the oven of hell'. "Sadly it saved Johnny the funeral costs", the mortician had added. Donghyuck never digged deeper into the matter ever again.

"I take the front seat!" Renjun shouted and was immediately stopped by his best friend. Donghyuck grabbed his wrist and pulled him back. "Don't even think of it."
It took them a while to stop the scramble and notice it was all in vain: Johnny had locked the front door and used his thumb to point at the backseat. Unbelievable.

"Can't you be cool, just for once?" A whining Donghyuck plopped down on the seat while Renjun walked around the car to do the same. The question only made Johnny laugh, he knew Hyuck liked to brag about having 'the coolest uncle'.

"Safety first, safety second, coolness third, child." The handsome man on the driver's seat turned around. "Hi Renjun!"

"Hi Johnny!"

The engine started as gentle as a cat's purr. And because Donghyuck was a wannabe-gangster still suffering from puberty, he asked his uncle to turn 'Hotline Bling' louder. With rolled down windows they drove past the bus stop, Renjun bending down in embarrassment and Donghyuck waving at his schoolmates with a stupid grin. The kids didn't seem to be offended, in fact, some gave him a thumbs up. After all, the boy somehow saved them from a math test so they'd better show some gratitude.

The obligatory smalltalk ended quickly. Although Donghyuck never saw a problem in confessing his wrongdoings to Johnny and thus having a few laughs, something felt wrong now. Something was odd, different. It hasn't been his fault and the entire matter made no sense at all. He'd just try to pretend it never happened.
This explained why Renjun got kicked for yet another time that day when he tried to address the little magic trick. The Chinese boy huffed and glared at Donghyuck but obeyed by changing the topic.

"Anyways. I'm finally going to quit my single life next Monday." With each word the smile on Renjun's face grew wider.

"Oh my god, you're going to ask... Hyorim?" -"Yerim" "...uhm Yerim out? For real this time? You've been planning to do that for months now."

Unlike Donghyuck, Renjun had cram school four times a week. After school he'd pop back home to eat before taking the next bus for another three hours of studying at a private institute. All despite already being a good student. But good wasn't the best.
In his English class on Monday he met Yerim. Renjun used to never give girls any special attention, but this particular girl seemed to have him wrapped around her finger.

Meanwhile Johnny stopped the car in front of a red light. He looked through the rear mirror, sounding excited. "So what's the plan?"

"I'll play it safe and invite her to go to the movies with me. I thought about a small present along with the offer... roses or chocolate?"

Donghyuck chuckled. Everything about this was so cliché. "Is neither an option?"

"No."

Johnny chimed in: "Both?"

"I'm broke. Buying the tickets is going to be expensive."

Donghyuck grimaced, quickly erasing the thought of Renjun holding a bouquet of flowers with a cheesy smile plastered all over his face. "Aren't roses a little too straight-forward?"

"Well, I'm asking her out after all, so..."

"Go for chocolate. In case of rejection you can still eat it." Donghyuck suggested with an amused grin but had his eyes set on his phone. The boy next to him seemed a little nervous, trying to peek at the screen. Donghyuck noticed with great confusion, already opening his mouth but Johnny was faster. "Who would reject Renjun?"

Renjun nodded in agreement, leaning back again. "Yeah, she won't reject me."

"I would, anytime." Donghyuck's smile was so sweet, he immediately earned himself a forehead-flick.

“Meaning your taste is rather flawed.” Renjun gave him an unimpressed look.

“Oh but Mark is indeed a cutie pie. And a good student, good character…” Johnny began, although quite distracted by the traffic.

“Doesn’t change the fact that he is not interested.”

Renjun’s dry comment caused a small stretch of silence. Usually Donghyuck would retort immediately, however there was no reason for it. Renjun was right.

Renjun tried to break the awkward silence.

“Maybe you and Lucas could hang out sometime. Or we could join them for lunch…”

Sighing and quite annoyed, Donghyuck interrupted him. “Oh hell no. Don't you dare to try and hook me up with…”

“Lucas? Who's that?”, Johnny asked maybe a tad too curiously. “A potential new victim for Hyuckie’s non existent charm?”

“I have plenty of charm. But he’s not gay.”

“How do you know?” Renjun looked out of the window and played with the straps of his backpack.

“How do YOU know?” The topic annoyed Donghyuck. Except for his best friend, his brother, Taeil, and Johnny, he hasn't told anyone else that he was interested in boys. The very fact that Mark wasn't at his school made keeping it that way a lot easier. And secretly Donghyuck didn't want the girls at his school to know; he was quite popular and it gave him a bit of sadistic satisfaction to break their hearts, masking his own bitterness deep inside.

“I don't. But he seemed to be interested in getting to know you.”

Renjun’s winking and Johnny’s “Nawwwww” almost made Donghyuck vomit all over the place in disgust.

They dropped Renjun off and had to drive through the city center to get to the small apartment that Donghyuck shared with Taeil and Taeyong. However they took a small detour to get some fast food for dinner - a tradition for the times Johnny came over.

The rest of the drive was silent. Johnny told him a few stories from his work at a big Chinese enterprise. Donghyuck was content to just listen and occasionally chirped in. It was nice. The silence between them was never awkward. It was something Donghyuck held very dear. He might be a whirlwind at school but when he came home he needed to recharge. And there were few people he was comfortable around enough to do so.

 

At home they were eagerly awaited. Johnny was barely able to put down his bags and the food before Taeyong had thrown himself at the taller man. Donghyuck had barely registered this before he got the same treatment from Taeil and almost stumbled over Gilbert who was brushing against their legs. They soon switched and Donghyuck was being squeezed to death by his brother while Johnny gently put his arms around Taeil’s waist and rested his chin on the others head.

 

When they were all seated in the kitchen a few moments later, they enjoyed their food while Johnny repeated the stories he had told Hyuck before, while Taeyong was telling them about the kids he was looking after at the kindergarten he was working at.

 

However when Taeil started talking about his day at Johnny's insistence, Taeyong reminded them that dead bodies and their preparation for funerals was not a good topic for dinner conversation. Taeil was a mortician.

 

Donghyuck noticed Taeyong anxiously looking at the clock, however Johnny was faster. “What is on TV tonight? Something you wanna watch?”

 

Taeyong smiled shyly and looked at the burger in his hands, which’s sauce had almost completely dripped down on the plate by now. Before he could answer, Taeil did it for him. “He's going to leave later to go partying.” he sounded more accusing than intended.

It's not like Taeil didn't want Taeyong to have fun. But Taeyong was both incredibly attractive and incredibly naive which was an unfortunate combination. He could have whoever he wanted but never found the right person that made him happy.

 

“Well… thats sounds like the three of us are going to have a movie night then?” Johnny looked at Taeil and Donghyuck. Taeyong had already gotten up to get ready.

 

“Sorry I have to go to bed early today. A colleague called in sick so I’ll have to cover for them.” Taeil already sounded like he was ready to fall into bed an hour ago. He looked at the cat at his feet that was trying to get his attention. A small pat on his thighs was enough for the cat to jump, with a grace that you wouldn't expect from such a fat cat, onto Taeils lap. Johnny's disappointment was clear on his face and quickly turned into jealousy. Donghyuck couldn't help but smile. His crush was more than obvious, however Taeil never failed to ignore the latters affection. 

 

One hour later Johnny and Donghyuck started their movie night. Taeyong had been picked up earlier by his friend Yuta. However, not without having asked for their opinion on his outfit at least a dozen times. And each time he entered the room he had pointed out a new spot that they had forgotten to clean after dinner. 

 

“Please dont stay up too long”, Taeil had asked Donghyuck while walking through the living room in his pyjamas and Bugs Bunny slippers. “Snacks are in the cupboard, cola in the fridge...” he mumbled while looking around to figure out whether or not he had forgotten something. He stopped at Johnny's soft smile. “The fire extinguishers should still work, cold packs are in the freezer and the first aid kit is under the sink.”

 

“Did you get the syringes from my bag?” Johnny got up and walked towards Taeil. Due to his long legs it only took him a few steps.

Taeil nodded and pulled up the corners of his mouth into a small smile. Johnny put his hands on the shoulders of the much smaller man. In moments like these Donghyuck wished he could decipher the looks between the two of them. Johnny's look seemed to be one of pure affection while Taeil seemed...nervous.

Taeil was a smart young man, he even had studied at a university in Europe, but dropped everything out of nowhere. He himself said that he wasn't comfortable with where he was in life and had returned to Korea because of that. Yet, a few years ago, during a movie night much like this one, Johnny had told him the truth.

He had told him that Taeil used to be in an abusive relationship. That he had loved a criminal. And that he had only been able to get out of it with some help. Johnny's help.

 

The sound of Donghyuck’s phone vibrating on the coffee table forced his attention away from the pair and disrupted the Johnil moment they were having. Confused Donghyuck stared at his phone while Taeil moved away from Johnny with a small “Good night” and both went to his bedroom to administer Taeils medicine.

 

[ShuaiShuai] Hey there, my hero :D What's good?

 

Donghyuck frowned. Did Renjun have a new number? Not likely, because Renjun wouldn't text him without cussing him out.

 

[FullSun] Who dis

[ShuaiShuai] xuxi sushi

[ShuaiShuai] :))

 

Who was that? A troll? For a moment Donghyuck contemplated blocking the number.

 

[FullSun]...

[ShuaiShuai] It’s me, Lucas. Renjun gave me your number.

[ShuaiShuai] :D

 

Slowly, very slowly Donghyuck turned his phone around and placed it on the table.

 

Renjun is a traitor and shall burn.