Donghae walked thoughtfully to his seat, unbothered to greet his classmates in the class. The talk with Siwon just now increased his curiosity about his new partner. He was right. Someone had disturbed the empty space beside him. He slouched in his seat; his head facing the empty space. If I have a new partner, where is he? He should be in class by now, Donghae thought, his eyebrows knitted together.

“Hey, Donghae,” Someone greeted in front of his table.

Donghae turned his head to the bubbly voice. He smiled as Sungmin’s figure appeared in his vision. Sungmin smiled warmly to Donghae and ruffled his hair. Donghae fixed back his hair and sat properly.

“Hi, Sungmin,” Donghae greeted.

“What’s up?” Sungmin asked.

“What do you mean, Min?” Donghae asked, puzzled with Sungmin’s question.

“I mean, are you getting better? You’ve been absent from school for two days,” Sungmin explained.

“Yeah. It was just a normal fever. You don’t have to worry. I’m okay now,” Donghae assured.

“Good to hear that. Don’t get sick too often,” Sungmin advised caringly.

“Thanks for the advice,” Donghae thanked, crossing his arms on the table.

They were silent for a while till Donghae decided to break it. He looked up at Sungmin.

“Sungmin, we have a new student in the class yesterday, right? That’s what I heard from Siwon. He said the newbie will be sitting beside me. Well, I can’t see anyone new in the class. Not even a bag. Do you know where he is?” Donghae poured everything that had been bugging his mind to Sungmin.

“He just went to the Principal’s room for an emergency case, if I was not mistaken. It’s better if you ask Heechul. He knows about the boy,” Sungmin said.

“Err, Heechul? No, thanks,” Donghae said, smiling.

“Did somebody mentioned my name?” Heechul asked, who appeared out of nowhere behind Sungmin.

“Ah, Heechul! You know about the new boy, right? Donghae wants to ask you something about him. I’m going to my seat now,” Sungmin said before leaving them.

“What do you want to ask?” Heechul asked; his arms crossed over his chest.

“Umm, nothing. I don’t know what Sungmin is talking about,” Donghae denied.

Heechul patted Donghae’s back which make him startled.

“Haha, you know you are really bad at lying. You want to know about the new boy besides you, right? Why do you care about him? He just went home, Fishy,” Heechul said, chuckling.

“Went home? It’s still early,” Donghae said, gesturing at the window.

“For emergency case, you idiot. You’re so unlucky to sit beside someone who looks like monkey,” Heechul said, trying not to laugh.

“Monkey?” Donghae repeated, confused.

He was sure that that must be Heechul’s mockery. The boy should not be that bad.

“But wait I think both of you suit each other. We’ll see if you guys can make a perfect couple,” Heechul added, ignoring the confused Donghae.

He emphasized on the word ‘couple’ before exploding into laughter. Then, he just walked away like that. Donghae slumped into his seat and a sigh escaped from his lips. I’ll just assume that my partner goes back for an emergency case and I can’t meet him today, Donghae thought. Heechul just mocked Donghae as he loved doing that to everybody. He was well-known for his mischievous attitude.

Their teacher did not enter the class yet. Everybody in the class was doing their own stuff and joking with each other. Heechul and his friends were the loudest. Some of the girls were peeking at Donghae but he just ignored them. That was a usual thing to him.

On the third period, Mrs. Wi, their class teacher entered the class. Heechul lead the students to greet Mrs. Wi. She nodded her head and asked them to sit. As she scanned the room to look for any absentees, her eyes caught on the boring Donghae. She smiled and walked over to the boy.

“Oh! Donghae, you’re back,” Mrs. Wi exclaimed.

Donghae presented his sweet-as-always smile as reply.

“So, are you feeling any better today? I’m pretty sure you’ve know about your new friend sitting beside you, right?” She asked, smiling.

“Yes, I’m better now,” Donghae answered, not mentioning about the ‘new friend’ next to him as he never meet him and the boy was still a complete stranger to him.

They were solving the Mathematics problems Mrs. Wi gave them just now. Donghae tapped his pen on his chin, trying to figure out the solution. Seconds later, he went doodling on the space of the paper, finding way to solve the problem.

“Donghae! Please come forward for a while,” Mrs. Wi yelled from the front.

“Ah? Yes, Mrs. Wi,” Donghae answered, standing up from his seat.

Donghae paced slowly to his teacher. His mind filled with curiosity and anxiety. Did I do any wrong? Did I have any uncompleted homework? Did I break the school’s rules, Donghae thought. Strings of unanswered questions webbed in his mind.

“Did I do any wrong?” Donghae asked uneasily.

“No, Donghae. Can you do me a favor?” Mrs. Wi asked, grinning.

“Oh, sure.” Donghae said, relieved.

“I’m not sure whether Eunhyuk will be in school or not tomorrow. He had an emergency case just now. His grandpa got a heart attack. I hope he’ll be okay. Anyway, can you please hand this to Eunhyuk when he comes to school?” Mrs. Wi explained, handing Donghae a few printed papers.

“Sure, Mrs. Wi. I’ll give this document to him when he’s in school,” Donghae said.

“Good. Put the papers in this envelope. His library card is in the envelope too. Pass both of them to him, okay?” Mrs. Wi said, passing a big brown envelope.

Donghae took the envelope in his hand and nodded his head. He smiled before leaving the teacher’s table. He walked to his seat casually. As he sat on his seat, he placed both the envelope and the papers on Eunhyuk’s table. Without taking any tiny peek, he stuffed the papers into the envelope. He did not know when the boy next to him going to be back to school. He just hoped he would be coming soon because he did not like to keep people’s private stuff too long. He would feel burden.

Besides, he did not want people to call him a busybody. I’m curious about this new boy but, urgh, I shouldn’t take a look at the document, Donghae thought. He just shrugged it off minutes of thinking later. It’s not a good thing to do that. It’s his privacy, he consoled himself again.

“Hey, hey, hey, Fishy!” Heechul said, suddenly was in front of Donghae.

Donghae looked up at the diva-like guy. He put on a ‘may-I-help-you’ look on his face. He smiled at him and received a wide grin.

“Donghae, why don’t you take a look at it?” Heechul suggested with a smirk.

“No, I won’t. It’s his privacy,” Donghae said, blank faced.

“Aww….come on, Hae! Don’t try to be a good boy,” Heechul said.

“Heechul, I’m not trying to be good or boasting but I can’t do that,” Donghae said, crossing his arms on the table.

“Just a few pages won’t hurt…,” Heechul persuaded, trying to provoke Donghae.

“I won’t,” Donghae stated quite sternly.

He escaped from Heechul’s glare and pretended to be jotting down simple notes on his blank paper, hoping hard that Heechul would leave him soon. Heechul frowned and grunted.

“Being a good boy! Anyway, the boy looks like a monkey. It’s no use looking him,” Heechul mocked, looking slightly disgusted.

Donghae took no note of the mocking boy. He continued ignoring Heechul.

“Yah! Mrs. Wi doesn’t even explain to us about the topic yet and you’re jotting down nonsense,” Heechul yelled, mocking again and went away from the table.

Donghae just bent down his head. I’m a fool. He’s right, he thought. He erased back all of the ‘nonsense’ he doodled just now.

Donghae was walking home after bidding goodbyes with his classmates. Most of them went home with bus, their parents or their own car. Donghae preferred to walk home although he knew he could take the bus instead. He held on the brown envelope tightly as he did not want to ruin or damage it.

The thing that had been flying all over his mind was how the new boy going to look like. Handsome? Cute? Pretty? Sweet? Or might be…like monkey, Donghae thought. Will he look better than me, he thought again. He was drop-dead curious.

He decided to take a peek, just a quick peek and that was it. He opened the envelope and his fingers started to fish for the library card. His picture should be there, he thought. As he pulled out the card from the envelope, a strong breeze blew. The card dropped from his hand. The card lay on the road with its back facing upward. Donghae bent down to pick up the card. He turned the card and looked at the picture. His eyes widened.

Everything around him stopped. His legs glued on their spot. He could not move a step. His brain was frozen. What he was seeing was too absurd to leave.

It can’t be…, he thought.

He was numb and speechless. His dark memories of past started to haunt his mind. He closed his eyes and opened it.

He’s dead. He’s not supposed to be here. What is happening, Donghae thought. He shook his head and vigorously shoved the card back into the envelope. He regretted for what he did. He should not do that. He folded the envelope and quickly paced to his home. All he wanted to do now was sleep and hoped when woke up and everything just happened was a dream. He had an uneasy feeling covering him up.

Donghae knocked on the door just once and opened it. He greeted his smiling mum with a simple ‘Good afternoon. I’m back.’ Donghae walked straight to his room and slightly banged his door. His mum downstairs was confused. She was wondering why Donghae was acting weird. Her precious son usually would be clingy to him like a five-year-old toddler until he was asked to take a bath. She knew something wrong was happening and it was affecting his son’s behavior.

Donghae threw himself into the bed. His bag and the envelope were placed onto his table. Tears started to well in his eyes before they leaked down across his cheeks. Donghae grabbed the pillow and buried his head into it. He still could not believe what he just saw. Everything seemed absurd and unreasonable to be truth.

He bent down and searched for something under his bed. His hands caught a dusty box where he locked all of his bitter memories. He pulled it out of the dark corner and brought it onto his laps although the dusts dirtied his pants. He opened the box and stared at its content. Nothing ever changed since he put those years ago. He picked a wooden-framed photo. He traced his fingers along the glass covering the picture.

That would not change the fact that the new boy looked exactly the same as the person in the picture. He placed the memory back into the box and put the box on his side. He palmed his face. Tears wetted his hands. They could not stop. Donghae himself could not control his overflowing feeling.

Donghae dragged his body on his knees to the corner of the bed. His knees were brought tightly to his chest. He wrapped his arms around them. He cuddled himself at the dark corner, hoping all of these things would just disappear.

Jaehyuk, why is this happening again? Who is this new boy? I’m confused, Donghae thought.

Donghae’s mum was worried of his son today. Donghae had never acted like this. She was sure something bad had happened. She knocked on the door, waiting for any answer. Donghae was in deep thought when the knocking noises filled the room. He did not hear anything at that moment. He could not concentrate on his surrounding as he felt so down.

His mom decided to check on her son in the room. His mum knocked again at the door, calling out his name. Donghae’s mom entered the room. She was shocked to see her son condition. Donghae was cuddling himself at the corner of the room looking so down and tears keep falling on his cheeks. She went straight into the room to coax Donghae.

 “Honey, are you alright? What happened to you? Why are you crying, baby? Did someone hurt you or did you hurt somewhere?” She asked.

She showered him with questions while wiping the tears on his cheeks. Donghae showed the old frame together with Eunhyuk’s document. Mom looked shocked just as Donghae. The two different boys looked completely the same. It must be hard for Donghae to face this tragic memory again. But as a mom she tried to calm his son down. She caressed Donghae’s hair.

“Honey, I know this is hard for you. Yes, I agree they both look the same. But they are two different people. It can’t be Jaehyuk, Hae. The new guy just look like Jaehyuk but he is not him.”

Donghae sobbed, hearing what his mom just said.

“B-but mom, how can I accept this? The new boy looks exactly the same as Jae and he’s going to sit just beside me in school. I have to face him every single day. I just don’t want the past to repeat. I don’t want anyone to d-die…”

His mom puts her forefinger on Donghae’s mouth, trying to stop her son from finishing his words.

“No, Donghae. Everything happened was just an accident. None of it was your fault. I want you to stop blaming yourself, honey. Maybe the new guy is a gift from God to replace your best friend. You always tell me you don’t have any best friend for 3 years, remember. Maybe God heard you and now is the time he gave you a new friend. I know you will be great with the boy,” She said and hugged him.

Donghae sobbed, still in deep thought. He just hoped what his mom said was right.

Donghae went to school like usual although he still felt down about what happened. He entered the class with his bag grasped tightly on his back. He walked to his seat sluggishly and threw his bag onto his seat, unnoticing there was another bag at the seat beside his. He turned his head as somebody greeted him.

“Good morning, Donghae!” Leeteuk greeted warmly.

“Morning,” Donghae greeted uninterestedly.

“Why with that face, Donghae? Are you sick?” Leeteuk asked, worried.

“Nothing. I’m going out for a short walk for a while,” Donghae said blankly, walking past Leeteuk.

Leeteuk was left dumb-founded there. Donghae went out to the school compound. He breathed in fresh morning air and exhaled them out. He wanted to distract himself from the world and locked in his own tiny peaceful world. Later on, class was about to start. Donghae quickened his pace to the class. He did not want to be late for the first class. As he stepped inside the class after knocking at the door a few times, a sleeping-on-table figure beside his seat greeted his sight. His mouth partly open. He stayed at his spot for about a long moment unconsciously.

“Yah!” Heechul yelled from his back followed with an ‘oh-so-friendly’ smack.

Donghae snapped from his trance. He looked at the frowning Heechul before bowing at him. He walked step by step to his place, being cautious for every step he took. As he reached his table, he let his eyes wandered at the brown headed boy. He tried to look at his face but the boy was facing down at the table. He craned to try to take a small peek but accidentally smacked his palm on the table, unintentionally quite full of force.

“Ah…,” The boy grumbled sleepily, who was nobody else but Eunhyuk.

Eunhyuk looked up at the person who just disturbed his peaceful nap.

“Oh! I’m s-ssss….” Donghae could not finish his sentence; instead, his jaw was left hanging opened.

Donghae was full of surprise. He stepped backward, shaking his head, hoping his eyes were lying at him. He stumbled over the leg of table before falling hard on his seat. The shooting pain on his due to the force was nothing to him. He could not believe his eyes right now.

“Eh, are you okay?” The brown-haired boy asked while trying to help Donghae.

Donghae kept shaking his head thousands in a second. It can’t be true! It shouldn’t be. They’re entirely…the same. God. Kill me, Donghae screamed in his heart.

How was it? I’m really sorry for not updating for quite a long time. I hope you’re not mad, right? Anyway, did you like this update? Donghae and Eunhyuk finally meet but there’s going to be more in the future chapters. Please give me your feedback about this chapter.  Silent readers are welcomed, just say hi peeps ! Hehe~ XP Stay tuned to the next chappie!

Comments if you LIKE it,

Subscribe if LOVE it…

«3 EUNHAE «3 

[How about another 20 subcribers so I will consider whether I should continue for the next chapter or not.]

Author love,

mushypanda