Close to You

by abbyeepinkish11 | shabbypinkish13

 

 

 

Chapter Two.

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Holding the clasps of my backpack, I walked through the rows of trees where beyond that barrier was Donghae, skipping stones at the lake. I walked down the slope in order for me to be able to reach him. In between skipping stones, he'd often mutter curses and groan, complaining how his life doesn't seem to be going well.

 

I tilted my head to the right at a small angle, glancing at his face as I walked step by step closer to the lake. Upon noticing that another step would lead me to wetting my shoe in the lake, I stopped and bent my knees, sitting down while hugging them. I looked at the sun set in front of me; one word to describe it—beautiful. Yes, autumn sunsets were always beautiful since the orange hue has been permeant throughout the place.

 

I then turned my head to the left, checking if he was still there somehow. He was, however upon seeing his pained expression, it bothered me. His eyes, filled with sorrow as he tries to stop the tears from falling. His eyes depict everything—he was easy to read since his eyes were literally the gateways to his soul. He was a serious person whenever he'd look at someone, and even the slightest glance would often make me quiver, for I don't know how to look at him back, straight in the eyes. His eyes served like an open book to me; all I had to do was understand the picture conveyed and I would already know what he's feeling deep within his heart.

 

He his lower lip afterward, exposing his tongue as his eyes get watery with each stone being thrown. It made me uneasy, and daring myself to do something beyond the ordinary, I picked up a stone from the ground. I tossed it in the air and caught it in my hand again before standing up.

 

With each throw he made with every stone he had picked up from the ground, he had barely let a single stone skip... not even once. He again gets a stone from the ground, and he uses it to his power with regards to skipping it. Upon throwing, I threw mine at the same moment. Mine skipped three times, while his stone might have had collided with mine so it easily sunk in the lake.

 

He opened his mouth in disbelief, as if there was something peculiar with the stone I threw... or he was rather curious to whoever threw it. He followed the direction to where the stone came from—me. His face showed meekness, curious to who I am in the first place as he gazed at me with his deep hazel eyes.

 

I panicked, but I didn't leave myself under a daze. I bit my lip to calm myself down. When I felt like a hint of relaxation has finally dawned upon me, I flashed my best smile at him. “Are you throwing rocks or trying to skip stones?”

 

I pushed my black framed glasses closer to my eyes as I walked towards his direction. Throughout the walk, I looked at the setting sun on my right. I think that by any moment now, I would turn into a puddle if I stare in his eyes the same way he's doing right now. I know it doesn't mean anything, but I can't help but feel so timid. But as much as possible, I didn't want to show it. I don't want to let him see this bad side of mine.

 

When I had finally closed my distance with him, I faced his direction. “You might be only throwing these stones just to express your anger—,”

 

“I was skipping stones.” he raised his tone. I know he wasn't in a good mood and I understood that. “I'm not angry... not anymore.”

 

I realized the hidden meaning of his words when he faced the lake once again, skipping stones in a somewhat throwing manner which I couldn't manage to comprehend. He wanted to ignore my presence—he was more of a friendly person, however from the rumors that I've heard, if I'm not mistaken, he could be scary to talk to. Truly, I'm a courageous girl.

 

I picked up a few stones on the ground and decided to skip a stone first. From the corner of my eye, I could see Donghae, who has stopped skipping stones for a moment just to watch me do so. I aimed the stone, slightly bending my knees to be able to get a better aim at the lake. When everything was all set, I threw the stone and it started skipping on water. It skipped five times before it sank.

 

I turned my head to face him, and upon seeing his expression, I was pleased with how he seems to be surprised at my skill. He opened his mouth once again, his eyes extending throughout their holes as he stares at the lake in front of him.

 

“You know,” I said, making him face me at once, “Dreams could be compared to a stone. They're strong, carrying the belief of a person in it, and they're very hard to break. But when you throw unleash your dream at the lake of life, there's a possibility that it might sink in without even skipping once or twice, or it will successfully skip on the lake. It depends on whoever holds that dream, whether he's prepared himself to unleash it at the lake of life. But in order for his dream to not perish easily, he must work hard for it. He must keep on practicing. He must fail at first before he'd be able to perfect it.”

 

Uttering those words, I captured the beautiful sunset in action with my very own eyes as I smiled. I was feeling more than just happiness while talking to him—my natural side just sprouted out yet there lies a feeling of doubt with myself. It was our first meeting, therefore I must give him a good impression of me.

 

When I faced him, I saw him looking at me. I wanted to calm myself down, and I curved my lip at him in order to suppress these strange feelings of mine. He seemed to have considered whatever I told him.

 

“You know, you shouldn't be keeping all the hurt to yourself. Even though you don't want them to pity you—,”

 

“Why are you even saying these things to me?” he uttered, his gaze averted before turning around to face me. His tone had a hint of anger along with it. “Who are you to tell me these things to me?”

 

I was silenced with his anger. Though fear was slowly manipulating through my head, I would always like to think positively. I bowed my head, listening to whatever Donghae might tell me.

 

“Don't act like you're a know-it-all. I don't care whether I'm sad or angry or in a bull mood. I'd only like to show people my happy side... never the horrible side.” his tone was soft at first, but he raised his voice afterward. “I don't want them to think that Lee Donghae is a weakling... one who easily gives in to his feelings; one who is deeply affected by what others say or what others think; one who isn't worth to be that someone to a person. I wouldn't want to give them an idea that I'm easily carried away with how I feel. Now you're telling me to tell the whole world about my problems? There! I've spoken a piece of my mind to you even though you're a stranger! Are you happy now!?”

 

I kept my silence as I paid attention to his words. Due to his anger, I was easily carried away by my feelings until I felt a warm teardrop flow down my cheek. I didn't want to look at him, for if he notices these tears of mine, it won't do anything good. I quickly wiped them, but in an imperceptible manner wherein Donghae wouldn't even know I'm wiping my tears.

 

As I glanced at him, he looked at me in disbelief. Putting his hands on his waist, he continued. “Life has been unfair to me. I don't know about you, but I know that the hardships we experience is different yet in the same level.” he sighed. “My dad is sick with lung cancer. The rest of our money goes to my father's chemo. I'm failing my quizzes in every subject and if I get another fail this semester, I might not be able to graduate. And now, Jessica just broke up with me because she was into another guy. Life couldn't get better for me, right?”

 

I admit—hearing him professing all his problems to me, I felt pleased and I appreciated it. But it seems like sarcasm was evident in his tone, like everything didn't matter to him when he told me that... like he kept a sense of pride in every word he said.

 

“Life has been unfair,” I broke my silence as he paid attention to me. “But isn't that the reason why God made other people in the first place?”

 

He stared at me upon hearing my answer. I breathed in deeply before adding a few more words. “We're never meant to face our problems alone. Isn't that why we have friends who care for us? We have our family members to run to when we have problems? When we have enemies, doesn't it make us stronger as a person? Though we face problems on a daily basis, you know that you're not the only person who has problems in this world. Therefore, why would you hide it?

 

“Is it because you don't want to add more problems to your friends and loved ones? Or is it because you want to keep your head up high in front of them?” I said in a soft-spoken manner. “Pride has always been with man ever since. I know you must keep a sense of dignity for yourself, but will that dignity be lost if you just express your problems? Humans are never meant to be alone, Donghae,” he looked at me in a surprised manner upon hearing me mention his name, “And you're never an exception to that.”

 

“How did you know my name?” he asked out of the blue, blinking his eyes at me in astonishment.

 

I smiled. “I'd always see you walk this path going to school. I'd see you at the tree smiling, crying, throwing your anger at one of the trees. Throughout the moments I've seen you express your feelings, you would cloister yourself behind a tree, hoping that no one can see your tears and hear your sobs. Each day, my curiosity for you grew. Upon discovering that you're in the soccer team, I found out about your name.”

 

He looked away afterward. “Is that so? Typical.” he said.

 

I sighed, tilting my head to the right, hoping to get a better view of him that way. “If you don't want to add more problems to your family, why not tell your problems to your friends? They seem trustworthy.”

 

“Seem.” Donghae muttered to himself.

 

“Right.”

 

He turned to me once again, his hands inside his coffee brown trench coat as he squinted his eyes at me. “What's your name again?”

 

“Yoona,” I straightened my face. “Im Yoona.”

 

He then chuckled at me. “Just look at yourself right now. You look funny.” he laughed afterward, making me blush in embarrassment as I looked away, pursing my lips with sadness in my eyes. But then, I heard him speak once more. “I'm Donghae. Lee Donghae.”

 

I switched my gaze at him, only to find out that he pulled his hand out to me, asking for a handshake. I looked at his hand at first, bearing deep yet skeptical thoughts about it.

 

“I know that you know me already, but it won't hurt if we introduce ourselves to each other, right?” he added, bringing up a smile on his face.

 

Damn. Why do you have to smile like that? Sure, you were given a lot of problems this world could ever give you but surely, they didn't give you an ugly smile that would scare the heck out of children; and what's unfair about it is that your smile could be compared to the way Prince Charming smiles in fairy tales upon finding his one true love. Damn.

 

I reached out my hand to him as well, gripping onto his hand as I shook it in rhythm with his. “Nice to meet you,” I told him.

 

Though the way we became like this started with anger, it somehow ended up in a simple hello.

 

And as one would often say... simple hellos leads to painful goodbyes.

 

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The weekend had arrived. As expected, I got sick after what happened last Friday, and I couldn't be angrier for the two of them. I had to rest in bed for the whole two days while listening to my mother, blabbering about how I was being such a burden to her by getting sick. She bought me some medicine pills to relieve my flu.

 

But even when Monday started, my flu hasn't been going away yet. Though my temperature has dropped down, my cough and colds didn't disappear. I feel that I have slight fever, yet my mom insists that I go to school.

 

So the usual. Bathe, dress, eat, receive daily nags from mom, walk, take the train, walk to school. Everything has been the same except for... something.

 

Upon arriving at the path where I would frequently admire him from afar, instead of just looking at him, he was already waving his hand at me like he has been waiting for me to arrive. He bore that innocent child look on his face, making him look very irresistible. But wait, was he really waving at me?

 

I widened my eyes, pointing a finger to myself as I mouthed, “Me?” I even looked back to see if there's anyone else whom he is familiar with, and whom he might be waving his hand to, but there was no one.

 

As I continue to walk, Donghae ran towards me, carrying his backpack while holding onto its clasps. “Yoona-sshi, right?”

 

I nodded my head, smiling at him. To be honest, my smile only depicted half of what I really felt that time. It was more like excitement; at least I was able to suppress this uncontrollable feeling of mine.

 

“Why?”

 

He blinked his eyes, puzzled. “What do you mean 'why'? Can't we go to school together?”

 

“No but, why so friendly towards me in the first place?” I asked in suspicion.

 

He was a bit taken aback with the frankness I had displayed. However, he replaced his straight face with a curve on his lip. “I've thought about what you said last Friday when you said that I should express my problems to at least one person. You were a stranger back then, but I felt like confiding to you more than I'd like to confide to my friends and family. I guess it's easier to confide your problems to a stranger rather than someone you actually know.”

 

I nodded my head upon hearing his answer, pretending to understand his words but I was completely puzzled with what he said beyond thinking about what I had said last Friday.

 

“And I thought that... since I have shared to you a piece of my mind, I could give you some more since, to be honest, it's really painful keeping these problems to myself. When I said my problems to you, even though I was sarcastically implying the opposite of how I felt that time, it still felt good inside, knowing that someone pays attention to what I say.”

 

I was definitely flattered with his words; knowing that I could change his mind in one conversation, it just makes me happy.

 

“Thank you, Yoona-sshi.”

 

“What?” I blinked my eyes at him. He smiled at me once again, “Thank you for listening to me.”

 

“Ah, no worries.” I replied, sheepishly smiling back to him.

 

He then looks at the direction of the school, “Shouldn't we be heading to class right now?”

 

I nodded my head before following him to school. For some reason, I felt very happy when I was beside him... that I was able to catch his attention unlike when I used to just stare at him from afar. And now that I've finally gotten to know him better, it just makes me happy knowing that we're friends as of now, and how I changed his perspective somehow made me proud of myself.

 

Knowing that somehow, this could be the best day of my life, I felt colder when the wind blew past us all of the sudden. I laid the back of my palm on my forehead, testing whether I was getting a fever or not. And I was right—I was getting a fever.

 

And such an unlucky day for... PE class.

 

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[A/N] Okay! That's it for now, everyone! I'd like to thank those who had subscribed to this fic. At least it made me know that you actually like this story. And thank you for commenting guys!!

 

 

 

@sushisoju: ㅋㅋㅋ... Seems so. Updated, and thanks for commenting! ^^ Thank you also for subscribing. :]

@melodyoona7: Oh really? One of my winglin readers, I see. I'm glad you liked YoonHae here. Thanks for commenting and subscribing! :]

@NikuroAi: Thank you, and fighting to you too~ thanks for subscribing.

 

 

 

Again, thanks to the subscribers. If you have time, please comment as well. I'd like to know what you think of YoonHae here; spazzing, violent reactions and such. :D Your comments make my day.

 

I haven't beta-edited this yet so I'm pretty much sure that there are lots of corrections, typographical errors and grammatical errors. Please check for them and I'd be sure to edit them. :D

 

Dont' forget to comment too~!! :D I'd be thankful towards you if you do since it keeps me motivated. :D

 

And since I love you all, I'd like to give you a scoop on what will happen in the next chapter, here:

 

“EH!? Really!? You're friends with Donghae now!? OH~ how could our Yoona be so lucky?”

 

“Yoona! Are you okay? Wake up!”

 

“Donghae-sshi, it's okay if you won't accompany me back home. The medicine that the doctor gave me made me feel better.”

 

“But I couldn't care less. Oh, and don't call me Donghae-sshi. Call me 'oppa'.”

 

“Okay... oppa.”

 

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Much of a spoiler? ㅋㅋㅋ...