-C H A P T E R T W O-

Day One

When Guilt Gets the Best of You

Hyukjae

            Damn Fish face. Does he think I'm that bad of a person? As if he doesn’t talk s about me when I'm not around, the nerve that guys has. I figured I should just brush the annoyed feeling away, so I picked up the admission form and began contemplating whether I should just go back to sleep or just head back to class. I do have History in my next period; I can sleep during that… so it’s pretty much the same thing. But I can sleep on a bed here…

            “Hyukjae sshi,” I hear the girl call me. I turned to look at her, mentally prepping myself just in case she wanted something like a bucket so she could throw up or something. “Umm, Donghae sshi…does, he…”

Oh please don’t ask me whether that fish face has a-

            “Does Donghae sshi have a girlfriend?”

I immediately scoffed.

Seriously, what do girls see in that guy?

            After giving it much thought, I guess I should just tell her the REAL truth about that fish faced Donghae. “I don’t think he does…” I began.

Just seeing the way this girl’s face lit up at the mention of Donghae being single almost made me laugh, if it wasn’t for the fact that I'm about to destroy whatever girly fantasy she has over the toy-loving fish.

 “But before you even think about dating the guy just throw that petty little crush of yours out of the window, like seriously,”

Tiffany blinked at me. I can bet my entire collection that I have her full attention on me at the moment. I almost feel sorry for her now.

Almost.

            “First of all, he snores. Like hella loud that you can hear it over the thickest wall, and trust me, I live next door to him and it sounded like he has a bulldozer in his room in a replacement for a night lamp. And he has the craziest obsession for stuffed toys, and I mean psychopath crazy. He has a room just for the toys, minus the ones he keeps in his room. And he might tell you that he only has a few now because he gives it off to you girls, but no. He’d rather be ing dead than give his toys away. He would go out to buy a new one for his friend’s birthday, and buy himself the exact same stuffed toy to add to his collection,”

I heaved a long breath after my brief (that was brief, I tell you) explanation on what Donghae is like, which I think was a bit too much information, though honestly, it wasn’t that much at all but Tiffany looked as if she’s been scarred for life. I could almost hear her heart shattering.

Can I laugh now? Wait no.

            “And I'm not done yet, I would tell you more but you might end up crying since he’s not really the Prince that you all think he is. He acts like a five-year-old when he’s with his mother, and he’s scared of thunder too. Like, scared-scared. Did I mention that he snores?” I asked and Tiffany nodded vigorously which made me guess that she’s already heard enough.

            “Wow you really do say bad stuff about him behind his back…” she commented, climbing onto the bed with my help, leaving me feeling rather pleased with myself. “Umm, thank you for the info, Hyukjae sshi,”

            “Glad I could be of help,” I said, trying to sound like a pro, though I can pretty much call myself a pro by now. I’ve been reciting these lines for the past few years.

Tiffany didn’t say anything in return. From the way she was staring into nothingness, it looked as if she was convinced enough. Seeing her in that state, I would’ve done a dance of triumph if I didn’t notice that Leeteuk hyung was holding the stuffed monkey toy that Donghae was rambling on about earlier.

Leeteuk slightly jumped when I handed him the admission form, clearly showing off the fact that I’ve interrupted his thoughts, whatever that may be.

            “Hyung, why do you keep holding on the toy?” I asked, mainly out of curiosity. Oh please don’t say that Leeteuk hyung is just as obsessed with stuffed animals as much as Donghae is.

Leeteuk let out a bubble of laughter as if trying to brush away his thoughts earlier on, before turning to face me. “Well, actually. It was a gift. Unfortunately I'm not really into these kinds of things. I'm already in my late twenties, and plus I'm a guy too. It’ll be rather weird for me to have this thing in my office,” I can only imagine the look on Donghae's face if he hears what Leeteuk just said. Man that would be priceless.

“I figured Donghae would’ve wanted to keep it. From what you said to Tiffany just now, I think Donghae would take a really good care of this thing. I mean, if it were me, this thing would end up looking dusty and old, and it won't be that nice considering that it’s a gift from someone else,” the doctor continued.

I stared at the older male for a few seconds and he stared back at me in return. “So you don’t want to keep it?” I asked, finally.

“If that’s the case…”

God Hyukjae, you really do let guilt get the best of you don’t you?

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

Donghae

            “He’s a bastard I tell you, bastard,” I said bitterly, propping my palm under my chin as soon as I entered class and sat down in my seat.

            “Back so soon? How’s Tiffany?” Kibum asked, eyes not leaving the book he was reading. He sounded rather nonchalant for someone who is trying to show that he cares for a fellow classmate. But this is Kibum we’re talking, he’s better than Kyuhyun though, who never pays attention to anybody at all once he gets hold of his game console. Speaking of Kyuhyun, where is that maknae anyway?

I craned my neck to look for my other friend when both Sooyoung and Hyoyeon joined me at my seat, pulling their chairs at my table.

            “Why so grumpy, Hae-Hae? It’s rare to see you this ticked off,” Sooyoung joked as she ruffled my hair. Great, now my hair’s a lot more hideous than before. I brushed her hand off my hair and went back to my initial position, the frown still visible on my face.

            “Is there a need for that sort of question?” Kibum said, finally looking at me with a grin as if he knew just who I was talking about, which he does. “From the way he stomped his way though and muttering the word bastard and other curse words that even I don’t know had existed in his vocabulary, it’s obvious he’s talking about the jock next door,”

Kibum-ah. You are my best friend, but seriously, why do you always read my mind? It’s starting the creep the hell out me and Kyuhyun you know. I heaved an exasperated sigh and puffed my cheeks in an attempt to grab the girls’ attention, which worked miraculously.

            “Darn Hyukjae had been talking s about me behind my back, I already told him not to but I'm positive he’ll do it anyway. Just the other day a girl from his class asked me if I do snore in my sleep,”

            “Well do you?” Hyoyeon asked and I had to resist the urge to strangle her for being so annoying.

            “I'm a guy! Its normal if I snore so shut up,” I snapped back at her and she laughed. “I do not snore like a bulldozer!”

I tried my best to sound defensive, in which Kibum seemed to have found to be rather amusing. “Well, you still haven’t been able to prove his words wrong, Donghae. This explains why you still don’t have a girlfriend.” He noted with a small grin.

            “Hey you’re right!” Sooyoung exclaimed. “Donghae may be popular and liked by everybody- well, except Hyukjae oppa, but he still doesn’t have a girlfriend,”

I rolled my eyes at the girls’ comments and tried my best to ignore them before Hyoyeon suddenly decide to turn her raging female hormones into ‘raging’ mode. “Hyukjae oppa is not really a bad choice for a boyfriend, now that I think of it,”

            “He is pretty good at socializing and in his studies,” Sooyoung agreed. I seriously thought my ears were going to bleed. I noticed Kibum had already gone back to reading his book. He does that when he’s losing interest in a conversation, which is really funny when he does that it in our classes.

            “He does seem pretty hard to approach but I’ve heard that he’s actually really friendly. A lot of girls are desperately trying to go out with him, which includes yours truly,” Hyoyeon stated while batting her eyelashes, she then looked at me, “Hey Donghae, you and him used to be close. Can't you hook me up on a date with Hyukjae?”

I shot Hyoyeon a dirty look, clearly proving the fact that I am disagreeing.

            “If you ladies think that Lee Hyukjae is the perfect boyfriend material, just give up, like seriously,” I spat. “Friendly. HAH!”

Damn Hyukjae had been blinding my classmates all these while. What will they do without me?

“That punk can't even be close to being considered as friendly, he ing rude and ing brutal. He prefers talking with his fist instead of his brain. Not forgetting, he has a whole stack of magazines under his mattress and some more hidden away from his mother,”

Hyoyeon’s jaw fell. I knew she had always had a thing against guys and . Sooyoung looked just as shocked.

And I was just getting started.

            “He eats like a pig, though you might see him often being skinny and all, but after he eats his tummy swells up like a freaking balloon, and he burps and farts like there’s no tomorrow. It’s disgusting I tell you,”

            “And how do you know that? I thought you guys aren't on speaking terms anymore?”  Looks like I even got Kibum’s attention.

            “We live next door,” I replied, sounding as if I am stating the obvious; which I am.

            “Wait, he burps and farts so loud that you can hear him next door?” Sooyoung asked.

I patted her shoulder, trying to ease the shock that’s overwhelming her whole being while nodding. “And that’s not the only thing I can hear,” I smirked.

            “Okay, that’s enough,” Hyoyeon cut in, eyeing Sooyoung and motioning her to go back to their respected seats. As they pulled their chairs back to their table, I couldn’t help but eavesdrop a little into their private conversation.

            “Damn, I can tolerate the thing as long as he doesn’t do anything erted to me, but farting? Hell no,” Hyoyeon sighed.

I smirked in silence from my seat, and prepared myself for our next lesson. It was quiet for a moment since the teacher walked in.

            “So how long are you going to keep this up?”

To be honest I could barely hear Kibum talking, but I know his almost inaudible mumbling was directed to me. I shot my head up to look at him, and unexpectedly he was actually looking at me, propping his chin in his palm, that small, mysterious (and creepy) smile spreading across his face.

My eyebrow cocked at his question as I stared at him speechless. He looked like he was expecting a smart answer from me, as if he knows what I'm about to say next, or rather, what I should say.

Something’s telling me that he’s trying to get in my head by asking me this rhetorical question.

And there’s that smile too, that I-know-it-all-so-don’t-bother-lying-to-me smile. He does that a lot to Kyuhyun whenever the maknae took his homework without telling him. Something about the maknae’s face twitching as he flashes that creepy smile just amuses him.

            And it seems like he’s just as amused seeing me speechless.

I saw him chuckle softly as he lifts his head to look at the teacher, “So how long?” he asked again; eyes now fixed on the teacher.

            “For as long as I want to,” I answered.

Kibum made a simple ‘huh’ at my respond, and the two of us said nothing more afterwards; finally being able to focus on the lesson.

For one of us that is.

Like I said earlier, Kibum tends to act like he knows what’s going on inside my head, and to be honest, not even once have I doubt this mindreading ability of his. Kibum’s previous question just happens to go on buzzing inside my head and I lost my focus in everything even until it was the end of class.

            “What’s his problem?” I heard Kyuhyun asking Kibum, when he saw me grabbing Tiffany’s bag and left without even saying goodbye.

            “Dunno, probably has a lot in his mind,” Kibum answered nonchalantly.

you, Kim Kibum. Just get the hell out of my head already.

Though at some points, Kibum’s right.

Hyukjae is indeed popular nowadays. First day in high school and girls had already swooned over the guy. How long will I keep making up those things about him? Of course, they’re all not really made up; I just exaggerated a little to make him look bad.

I’ve been doing this for more than a year now, and it’s getting harder because now Kibum seems to see right through my tall tales of Hyukjae.  

            No. It is not because I am jealous of him. Though at some point I really wish I was. But no, that’s not the case. It’s a lot worse.

            I liked him.

            No, wait. I still like him.

            .

Guilt just loves to get the best of me, don’t they?