Donghae’s POV

I waited for his respond, how he would react. Although I already expected that scary look of his when he’s angry, I couldn’t help but to give in.

*Flashback*

“Donghae-yah,”Leeteuk’s voice could be heard as I entered the living room, to join the rest of the members. He took a few steps closer, pulled my arms and dragged me to our room.

“What’s the matter?” I asked him.

“Ok, the first thing you have to do is to promise me that you’ll keep this as a secret. When I think it’s the right time, we’ll tell him,” he said and I looked at him.

“Hyung..what are you talking about?”

He handed me a paper which I guess, a letter and I took it before I realized that the letter was not mine.

“Hyung..this is not mine. Why are you giving Hyukjae’s fan letter to me?” I asked, bewildered of the situation.

He didn’t even utter a word. Instead, he pointed at the letter, as if to signal me to read the letter without being so noisy. It took me several minutes to finally notice that the letter wasn’t from a fan.

‘WARNING : LEE HYUKJAE’

Abruptly, I opened the letter to read it and what worried me the most happened.

Dear Hyukjae oppa,

I’m sorry for writing the letter. I’m not an anti and for your information, I’ve been loving Super Junior for quite some years now. I’m Donghae oppa’s bias and I know Eunhae is a popular couple, but I hope I won’t see it in the future. Oppa, can’t you see that he’s a man, and he needs a woman in his life? If he continues on doing this, then he’ll never get the chance to fulfil his dream, becoming a caring husband and father. I thought some people even posted hateful comments and you should have listened to it, or else, you leave us no choice but to make you stay away from him. So please, just leave him alone.

P/S: How’s your injured leg? Maybe you’re fine right now, but it won’t last for long because that was just the beginning, actually.

*****

“Hyung, is this why~”

“Yes,”he uttered weakly.

I kind of suspected that I was the cause that Hyukjae injured after seeing that hateful comments. I was pretending being cool, because if I didn’t, then Hyukjae would get worried of our friendship. I threw the negative thoughts away and tried to believe that this won’t affect us, but not after the letter was given to me, the night he got injured and it proved that I was being such a burden to Hyukjae.

“Don’t tell Hyukjae now. If he sees this then he would get scared so we have to protect him. Don’t worry Hae, we’ll tell him later, when it’s the right time,” he assured me while I was trying hard to not let any tears escaped my eyes.

Knowing there’s someone out there, having an intention to hurt Hyukjae scared me to death.

“Shouldn’t we make a report or something? This is serious,” I eyed him with a pleading look.

“And get ourselves involve in this? If we report this, the situation will get much more worse and who knows what she might do? She pushed him off the stairs and I believe she could have done more than that,” he sighed and looked exhausted, he must have been so worried too.

“The solution is simple, Donghae. Stay away from Hyukjae for awhile, until things get better,” he said and I had no other option but to nod.  

It’s all my fault. I’m the reason he’s hurt. If the only way for prevent it from happen is to avoid him, then I have to do it although I know it won’t be easy.

*End of flashback*

********

“Hyukkie?” I whined and he turned his attention to me after staring at the letter for quite some time.

“This? This is the reason why you behave like this?” he asked me and his eyes were staring at me, with a disbelief look.

“I’m sorry, Hyukkie,” I blurted while he gave me a sharp look. He threw the letter to the floor and walked heading to the door. I knew he was mad and knowing he isn’t the type that gets mad easily freaked me out.

“Hyukkie! I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to steal your letter! I--”

“I’m not mad because you took my letter, Donghae. I’m disappointed because I can’t believe you’re avoiding me just because of some stupid letter,” he sighed, walking away didn’t even bother to turned around to see me that was left clueless with his last sentence.

He..he’s disappointed??

***************

Donghae’s POV

Why Hyukjae? Why are you being like this?

“Oh, I’m so full that I feel my stomach is going to explode any minute now!” Shindong-hyung joked and all the members laughed.

Well, except for me who was staring at Hyukjae. He didn’t even pay attention to me although he knew I was observing him since the dinner and when we were already in the car, heading to the dorm. He stared into the night with earphones attached to his ears, perhaps the only way to say that he wasn’t interested on talking with me at all. There was no sign of anger; instead, he ignored me completely.

If this is the way you’re torturing by making me feel guilty, then you win! You’re driving me crazy with this silent treatment of yours!

  An idea hit me when our car came across a small park in our apartment area.

“Stop the car!” I exclaimed and got everyone’s attention. They turned their head around, “What?”

“Stop the car right here. We’re going to the park for a moment!” I beamed and placed my hand on Hyukjae’s. He took it a few seconds for him to finally register it in his mind and shoved my hand at once when he realized what I was up to.

“What do you mean by ‘we’!?” he barked, moving closer to the window to keep a safe distance from me.

Eunhyuk’s POV

What is he trying to do!? Asking me out to the park alone with him in the middle of the night?

Okay, that was the second thing that worried me. The main reason I refused to talk with him was because I knew he would bring up the previous issue, about the letter when he got the chance.

“Since our dorm isn’t far from the park, we’ll walk home before you know it,” he flashed a smile at the leader.

“But remember y--” Leeteuk-hyung’s world trailed off when Donghae rushed out of the dorm and waved to the members, dragging me with him.

We walked to the park with his hand, tightly gripping my wrist and he told me to sit on the swing. Slowly, he walked and stood in front of me with his eyes closed.

“Hyukkie, punch me if you want,” he mumbled.

“What?”

“I said, punch me if you want, if it satisfies you, do it. I rather being punch by you than being ignored,” he repeated but for the second time, he opened his eyes and eyed me with full of confidence as if telling me that he would accept the fate that he was about to face.

“PUAHAHAHA!!” I burst into laughter when I saw his sudden seriousness, which was definitely not something that I could see everyday.

“W..Why are you laughing?”

“You..You should see the look on your face when you said that! It’s priceless!” I managed to say after laughing so madly but he arched an elegant eyebrow, looking completely lost.

I smiled, seeing his reaction, “Oh my, I think I won’t be able to be mad at you for a long time, Hae. It’s really hard to get angry on you if you can’t stop being cute,” I mumbled and his lips started to curve into a smile.

“This is weird. Am I dreaming? Is Lee Donghae trying to apologise and even ask me to punish him although I’m the one who always make a move each time we get into fights?” I faced him, teasingly.

“You’re not mad right now, Hyukkie?” he sat on the swing next to me and hooked an arm through mine.

“No, I’m not. I never was. You’re the..” I replied and before I could finish my sentence, he fished about in his bag and handed me a drink, which seemed like a carton of milk.

“Strawberry milk?” I asked, amusingly because all I could remember was that the last time when he bought strawberry milk for me, was when we had an argument and this park was the exact same place where he apologised to me with a cartoon of strawberry milk in his hands. That was years ago, and it reminded me of the good times we had together.

Fights or arguments never sets us apart, as the matter a fact, it helps to strengthen our bond, actually.

I took the strawberry milk and drank it while Donghae fixed his gaze on me with sparkling eyes. I looked over to him; catching his eyes when I felt a sudden discomfort by the way he was staring at me with silence and a smile.

“What?” I asked nervously and my heart started hammering.

“Why are always get into fights? It’s quite confusing. I rarely argue with other members but not you. We argue all the time and the next thing we know, we get together again,” he blurted.

“That’s because, we’re so close that we fight over the simplest things. That’s a way of showing affection, I guess,” I responded and he smiled cheekily, looking at the ground.

“Ah~ That must be true then,” he said before continued, “I’m probably loving you too much,” he shrugged.

A flock of butterfly started to flutter inside of me.

Umm..we’re talking about brotherly love, aren’t we?

“Still, I’m sorry for taking your letter. I was scared, Hyukjae and I had no choice but to hide it from you,” he explained and his fear was visible.

He turned his head to face me and I sat still, not moving an inch.

“When Leeteuk-hyung gave me that letter, I was..I didn’t know what to do. It scares me knowing that you would probably get hurt and what torn me apart is that it’s all because of me,”

“Pabo,”

Donghae’s POV

“Pabo,”

“I’m expecting you to protect me, but look what you are babbling right now. Aish, being a friend with a stupid fish is so troublesome! You should’ve protected me, not avoided me. Did you think that by keeping away from me would settle all the problems? No, it won’t. I won’t be hurt because of you, Hae. How can I, if having you beside me makes me happy?” he asked and slowly, my face beamed and all red.

Hyukjae’s words were right. I should’ve have protect him with all my heart and be right there when he gets in trouble, guiding him every step of the way, wipe his tears when he’s sad and shield him from any harm in the world.

“You’re right. I’m truly an idiot!” I exclaimed and he smiled sweetly.

“I’m supposed to protect you! You’re apart of me!” I said, smacking my head and he broke into laughter.

“Promise me one thing, though.” he mumbled with a stern voice, gaining attention from me.

“What promise?” I asked and suddenly, I felt cold all over.

“You can’t hide anything from me; it doesn’t matter if it hurts me. You have to be honest and if you lie to me, or keep it to yourselves, you’re actually hurting me in ways that you can’t even imagine. I’m saying this because I don’t want anything; anything at all separates us, Hae,”

Why does he have to make me promise when things are getting more difficult for me?

Does it hurt you, Hyukkie, if you know that this stupid, liar friend of yours, make you as a bet?

“And one more thing,” he added. “Will you protect me, if things start to get into our way?”

My lips quivered, unsure of what to say or to think as I stared at him who was stretching out his palm. He placed his both index and middle fingers on his palm, the way we usually do when we make a vow or promise on something important.

“Well?” his voice snapped me back to reality.

Without thinking any further, I placed my index and middle fingers on his palm. He grinned a mile wide.

The bet is in a whole different chapter and for now, I just need to get it off my head. I’m happy right here, right now, and nothing can ever spoil that. Friends for ever.

“Eun,” he uttered.

“Hae,” I said.

“Saranghae,”

“Saranghae,”

********

It’s almost midnight but neither of us to want return to the dorm yet as we were having so much fun by talking about the simplest stuff and laughed over the silliest things.

“It’s getting cold here, don’t you think?” he said all of the sudden and wrapped his arms around his body. “I’ve should have worn thicker clothes,”

I didn’t know what got into me but that moment, I instantly stood in front him and got on my knees as I pulled off my jacket. Hyukjae who was shock on my sudden behaviour, looked down to me, “Hae, what are you doing?”

I didn’t reply, instead, I wrapped my jacket around his trembling body and grinned, “Didn’t you say you’re cold? This should keep you warm,” I said in soft voice.

“Donghae..” he uttered weakly and gave my hand a slight squeeze.

“No need to thank me. See, how lucky you are for having such a caring best friend? I made a promise to protect you and I will, my dear, Hyukjae. A cold weather is not an exception,” I said and looked at him. Hyukjae kept his head down and I smirked, knowing that he didn’t have the courage to have an eye contact after all mushy things I did.

“Aww~are you shy?” I and he looked at me with a reddened face.

“NO!” he prompted.

“Just admit it,”

“NO!”

“Fine, fine, you’re not shy.” I said in defeat.

 “You’re just blushing,”

  I let out a chuckle as I was having so much fun, teasing him and he mumbled, “Whatever,”

*******

Eunhyuk’s POV

We remained in that position for a while; I was comfortably sitting on the swing and Donghae was sitting on the ground. Although, I repeated over, and over again, not to sit on the ground, he was being stubborn, saying that he likes the feeling of being close to me.

No one can ever separate Lee Donghae and his clinginess.

“Your girlfriends must be so lucky,” I blurted out.

He eyed me with an innocent look like usual and I flashed him a gummy smile of mine.

“Because you’re so romantic. If you put on a jacket to a girl like you did to me, I’m sure she’ll fall for you,” I uttered and somehow, I felt jealous over what I just said.

“Well, did you?”

“Huh?” I turned my attention to him and I found him, gazing on the ground with a blank face.

“Did you fall for me?” he repeated and I was about to deny it, for sure, but my tongue were numb and my voice didn’t seem to cooperate either.

What if I did?
 

“Idiot! Why would I fall for you!?” I managed to exclaimed, though I, myself didn’t even sure why there’s a sudden uncertain feeling buried, deep inside in my heart.

“I know, I know. Just joking,” he laughed.

“I was telling the truth. Your girlfriends are so lucky to have a boyfriend like you. I wonder, how do you treat them~” I mumbled.

“If you’re curious, why don’t be you one and see it for yourselves?”

“YAH!” I shouted and when I realized, I was chasing him around when he started to make fun of me.

“Hyukkie! Be my girlfriend!” he yelled.

“You’re so dead once I get my hands on you!”    

He got so absorbed in his attempt to run away from me and laughing in the process, he failed to notice where he was going. By seeing him running under the slide to get away from me, I used a shortcut and he was startled when he turned around and saw I was in front of him. “Got you,”

“Okay, okay. You got me, Hyukkie. No more running away, I’m tired,” he panted and since I was tired for chasing that idiot, I just nodded, with my eyes closed.

Was it just me, or perhaps the weather just turned warm as I felt the cold atmosphere was steadily decreasing?

The space under the slide wasn’t spacious enough to have two adult men, standing under it and Donghae and I were basically so close that I could feel his warm breath against my neck. There was no other sound except for me and Donghae who were gasping for air. I opened my eyes slowly and found him staring at me with hesitation in his eyes.

We’ve been this close numerous times but does it feel so different?

I knew we weren’t in a comfortable position but nothing seemed to stop me from getting closer to him and he didn’t push me away either.

Could it be that, we both like the position we’re currently in?

We were breathing heavily and my heart started to beat faster than normal again, as we knew exactly what was bound to happen. I could only scarcely breathe; scarcely blink while he swallowed hard. Abruptly, he turned his head to the side when our face just inches apart and that made me sigh in relief, and somehow, in a weird way, a bit disappointed.

“We have to return to the dorm now. It’s late,” he flustered and walked away without turning back again.

I just nodded and followed him.

********

As soon as I reached the dorm, I went straight to my room and lay on my bed.  I placed my palm on my chest, wishing my heart stop beating like crazy but it was worthless.

I was mesmerized by the way he stared at me with his shinning eyes, and not to mention, he looked so beautiful.

Was I blind all this time, not noticing how attractive he is? 

Owh!?

No, no, no, Lee Hyukjae! You can’t do this!

Donghae’s POV

My palms started to get all sweaty when I recall what happened earlier, and I was lucky enough that he didn’t hear how loud my heart was thumping, it felt like it was going to burst any time soon!

Did he try, by any chance, to kiss me? Oh! What an absurd thought!

I shook my head enthusiastically, as I realized I was being so stupid to actually believe that he would do that.

But it’s not THAT stupid, isn’t it? I was kind of expecting it to happen, not until I turned my head and missed the chance of being kissed by him.

Huh!? Did I just say that!?

No, no, no, Lee Donghae! You can’t do this!