Chapters ₂₄ Count on Me and ₂₅ Four More Days of Until You're Mine 

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      I was practicing a piece of music when I heard the doorbell being rung furiously. I quickly stand and approach the door and swing it open. My eyes widen when I see Kai’s friends out of breath and looking like they’ve seen a ghost; they were so pale as they stared at me.

            “Donghae!” one of them exclaims while trying to catch his breath. I stared at him, ready to choke him unless he explained why he said Donghae’s name. I was becoming anxious for some reason.

            “He’s hurt! We found him by the lake!” another says urgently and that instantly made my heart drop. Donghae was hurt?!

            I was already panicking as I ran past them and headed into the woods. Donghae, please be ok! I stopped near the lake and tried to catch my breath, “Donghae?!” I screamed and looked around frantically for him. Someone stands behinds me, but I didn’t realize what was happening; my mind was focused on only Donghae.

            “You’ll see him again…” someone whispered and pressed a cloth onto my nose and mouth. I struggled and tried to pull his arms away from me, but I was already growing weak from the intoxicating liquid. It wasn’t much, but it was enough to knock me out cold.

            I wasn’t sure how long I was knocked out. I could hardly move. I must have been dreaming about Donghae because I heard his voice.

            ‘I’m sorry, Hyukjae…’ he whispered. I felt him lift my shirt, but I was so sure I was only imagining it. He seemed to be inspecting me in my dream. Did he think I broke something?

            I felt a weight on my chest and I clearly heard Donghae crying, ‘Why wont Kai stop trying to hurt you?! I don’t think I can save you each time Hyukjae…I’m weak.” He sounded so broken as he cried on my chest, “I love you.” I heard him whisper gently. Even if it was just a dream, it still made my heart swell up. Donghae has such an affect on me.

            I couldn’t hear him after that anymore. I must have fallen into a deep sleep. When I felt myself coming back to consciousness, I felt oddly at peace.

            I coughed and let out a small grown as I slowly opened my eyes. We were in the back seat of Amber’s ca; I was resting on Donghae’s lap. I stare at him, “W-Where am I?” I look around, confused. Wasn’t I looking for him? “I thought…” it was beginning to hurt while I forced myself to think back, “I thought I saw Kai’s friend…” I frown.

            Donghae shakes his head and his soft fingers my cheek. He smiles sweetly, “It was just a bad dream. All one big bad dream.” He exhales deeply. I could see it in his eyes that he had been crying. Did I really hear him say that he loved me…did I really hear him crying on my shoulder?

            “Sleep.” He whispers while running his fingers through my hair. It was such a nice feeling.

            “You can’t fool me, Donghae.” I whisper. I can read him so clearly. He still seemed upset.

            He frowns.

            Amber parked the car in their driveway. She walks over to our side, opens the door and helps me out until Donghae could get out. Donghae holds onto me while Amber walks off to open the front door.

            I groan pitifully, “I feel like I was drugged or something…” I massaged my aching head with one hand while the other was wrapped around Donghae. He held onto me tightly, like he was afraid I’d fall…or maybe break in his arms or something. I stare at him and crack a smile. He really is sweet…

            He stares at me, “Uhm…come here.” He drags me into his house and forces me to stand in front of a mirror. I stared at my reflection in confusion, my eyes stared at the bruises on my cheeks. “What happened?”

            “You don’t remember?”

            I exhale and closed my eyes while trying to remember the last thing that my mind could process. “I just remember…his friends….telling me that you were hurt.” I’m not sure really, but when I went to look for you…I felt something on my nose and mouth and I slipped into unconsciousness.” I open my eyes and stared at the marks caused by Kai-or one of his friends. “And then I remember something else…” I remember hearing you crying…I remember hearing you say that you loved me…

            He stares at me and smiles, “What do you remember?”

            I shake my head, unwilling to tell him the truth. I don’t want him to feel embarrassed… “Don’t ask.”

            “I want to know!” he sounded so childish…it was so cute. I just wanted to hold him, and have him say those three words once again.

            I crack a smile, “Just drop it, Donghae.”

            He puffs his cheeks, “Fine.” He stares at me, “Wants me to put something on your bruises?”

            I make a face, “You’re always cleaning my wounds…I swear you’re my personal doctor now,” I joked.

            He giggles, “I don’t mind.” He said simply.

            I approach him and smile warmly, “Donghae…” You’re the best thing that has ever happened to me…but I can’t seem to tell you that. I don’t want you to think too much of this; all my feelings for you keep growing.

            “Yes?” he perks up and stared at me with his glistening eyes. I felt like I was losing myself to him, succumbing to his every wish…except the biggest one. Why does he like me so much? Its still difficult to believe.

            I lean down closely to him and he seemed to freeze in place as my eyes gazed into his, “Thank you,” I whisper gently and peck his cheek softly; for some odd reason my heart was pounding against my chest.

            He pouts and looks down at his shoes. He looked embarrassed for some reason I didn’t understand.

            “I’m gonna go shower….” He mutters softly and then walks off without saying another word.

            I only laugh quietly to myself. Is that why he was so embarrassed? I half smile and call SungMin to help me. He helped me by walking me back home. “Don’t worry I just feel dizzy.” I assured him in case he thought I was dying or something dramatic.

            He only nods with a small smile and helps me into the bathroom. I figured a shower actually sounded helpful with relaxing me.
            Once I was done, I felt a million times better even though I was still bruised; I decided to avoid looking at myself in the mirror. SungMin and I walked back to Donghae’s house and this time Min didn’t have to hold on to me to help me anymore. Henry let us inside and I just sat on the couch while they whispered to each other suspiciously. I eyed them and once they turned to look at me I gave them all of my attention.

            “Hyung, do you think SungMin could spend the night?” Henry asks in his usual cute voice.

            SungMin smiles brightly, “Yea?” he grins at me with a hopeful expression.

            “I don’t see why not.” I smiled at them and began wondering why Donghae wasn’t downstairs yet. Was he still showering?

            Donghae makes his way slowly down the stairs and I had to contain myself because I suddenly felt happy enough to grab him and hug him tightly. He clears his throat and approaches us, “Are you guys hungry?” he asks sweetly. Aw Donghae is so kind with always thinking about others.

            We all stared at him and shook our heads. Donghae sits beside me on the couch and crosses his arms across his chest.

            “We’ll be in my room!” Henry chirps, grabs Sungmin and they sprint up the stairs.

            Donghae stares at me and smiles a bit, “Do you feel better?”    

            I shrug, “Sort of” I feel a lot better now that Donghae’s here. I scoot closer to him with a sweet smile on my face. “Donghae how the heck did you get away from Kai and his friends?” Just the thought of someone as cute, and fragile like Donghae getting away from someone as crazy as Kai made me shiver. I didn’t want him to be close to Kai…I wanted him far away from him. I stared at Donghae as I began t o remember bits of what had happened earlier, but I couldn’t really understand the part where Donghae saved me from them.

            He wrinkles his nose in a thoughtful manner, “Good question. I really don’t know.” He stares at me, “I just kept running...and I honestly have no idea why I didn’t stop.” He stares at me and I smile while trying to imagine him determined to get me away from Kai.     

            “You’re crazy.” I whisper and grin at him.

            He giggles, “You can count on me, Hyukjae.” He says happily.

            “For anything?” I challenge.

            He nods once, “Anything.” He sounded so certain that he would do anything for me.

            “I’m feeling a little cold now…” I pout, trying to give him a little taste of his own medicine. His pouts always get to me, but I figure he’s a lot better at making that little face.

            “I’ll go get a blanket!” he was about to stand, but I grab his arm and pulled him onto my lap. I really didn’t want him to leave me, now or ever, so I just held onto him tightly. His eyes widened and he stared at me with a confused expression.

            “I had something else in mind.” I smile and wrap my arms around him. I rest my head on his and peck his forehead lightly.

            He smiles big and wraps his arms around me; he held me closely to him. My heart beat was accelerating for some reason, but I decided to ignore it. It must be nothing important…

            “You’re so warm.” I whisper softly. I was really enjoying this moment with him here in my arm. My heart continued to feel weird...but at the same time it felt oddly pleasant.

            Donghae was smiling big as he snuggled his head on the crook of my neck. His arms were wrapped around my shoulders but then he moves them; he presses his hands on my chest.

            “You sure you don’t want a blanket?” he asks.

            “Hmmm…do I still get to hold you?” I really loved holding him. His warmth made me yearn for more; I wanted to hold him much longer than just tonight. I didn’t care that this need to hug him was….strange.

            He laughs, nods and slowly gets off of me to walks over to a room; he came back with a big fluffy blanket. He had such a cute smile on his face. He gets on my lap once again and wraps the blanket around us.

            “We’re being watched.” I whisper once I noticed Henry and SungMin poking their heads over the stairs.

            Donghae frowns while looking at the stairs since Henry and SungMin hid away from our view. He smiled sweetly and I wrap my hand around his underneath the blanket. My fingers intertwine with his sweetly. My mind was going back to what had happened today.  Kai had the opportunity to really hurt me today, like he’s always wanted, but Donghae save me. “You could have gotten hurt today, Donghae.” I couldn’t even think of the possibility of something happening to him.

            “Not really.” He answers simply. How can he be so calm?

            “Kai’s friends could have hurt you Donghae.” I whisper; I was getting scared just by saying it. I don’t know what I would ever do if Donghae was ever seriously hurt. I don’t think I’d be able to handle it. “You need to stay away from Kai-”

            “He wouldn’t hurt me.” He whispers, “Plus…how can you ask me that when he practically kidnapped you?”

            “I’d prefer that than you getting hurt.” I say honestly.

             He frowns, “You don’t get it, Hyukjae…I would so anything for you even id my life was in danger, but it wasn’t…” he says.

            I stared at him and shook my head, “If something happened to you…” my voice drifts. If anything ever happens to you Donghae, I don’t know what I would do. I think I could possibly go insane.

            He lifts his head from my neck and stared into my eyes, “If something happened to me…what?”

            I crack a smile and his cheek lightly. He blushed lightly. It was such a beautiful color on his cheeks, “I don’t think I could live without you.” I smile, “After all…you are the one that keeps saving me, healing me, feeding me. What would I do without you?” I grin. I meant every word deeply. I could no longer imagine my life without Donghae always being there with me.

            He smiles big and stared into my eyes.

~~~

            The next day, while sitting behim my piano and attempting to practice, the doorbell rings. I slowly rise up and head towards the door; I swing the door open and smile when I see Amber, “Hey Amber.” I was a bit confused but I still smiled politely at her.

            Amber smiles, “Could you please pick up Donghae at his work please?” she smiled sweetly and I felt unable to refuse. I couldn’t anyway since I really wanted to see Donghae again.

            I nod, “Of course don’t worry about it!” I grin excitedly and she smiled back.

            “Thank you! Oh-! And could you take him food? He’s really hungry.” She smiled cheekily and then walks off.

            I smile and quickly walk off towards my car, I get in and drive off to get Donghae some food.

            When I was driving towards the sea food restaurant, I noticed that he was with kibum and they were laughing so happily. I froen a bit when I see them laughing while approaching me. I don’t think they noticed me. I park the car in front of them and slowly step out once I noticed their confused expressions; they were staring at the car trying to figure out who it belonged to. I nearly glared at Kibum but I forced myself to look at Donghae; I smile, “Amber asked me t o pick you up.”

            “Oh.” He grins.

            “Well then I’ll see you tomorrow Hae.” Kibum smiles and pulls him into a hug. Donghae smiled and hugged him back happily. I don’t know why but I had the sudden urge to strangle Kibum.

            “Goodnight Kibummie!” he waves before walking into my car. He puts on his seat belt while I tried so hard to calm down this sudden anger boiling inside of me. Why was I so damn upset?! I don’t care if Donghae falls in love with someone else!! Ugh, who am I kidding?

            “Thanks for coming, although I’m sure Amber could have come on her own…seriously, sorry for bothering you.” He apologized.

            Of course it doesn’t bother me. I really wanted to see you… I just hate having to see him be so kind to someone else. I kept no expression on my face while driving, “Its not a bother, Donghae.” I say simply.

            I noticed he had his hands on his lap from the corner of my eye. I see him intertwining his fingers together nervously while looking out the window, “So…did you have a good day?” he asked.

            “Fine.” I say simply. Fine?! I could have at least said ‘it was fine’ but no I just didn’t want to talk or else I’ll confess to him how much I hate seeing him with someone else. What the hell is wrong with me lately? Why am I becoming so possessive with Donghae?

            Donghae noticed something was wrong; he pouts and stared at me, “Why are you mad?”

            Damn, he’s good, or I’m just that damn obvious. I stayed quiet though. I felt stupid for letting this get to me as much as it did.

            “Lee Hyukjae, why are you mad?” his voice grew louder, but I didn’t budge. I only glared at the road. I’m so stupid…so stupid for being so upset. Hae crosses his arms and puffs his cheeks, “Sorry.” He mumbles.

            Why is he sorry? I’m the one who’s being stupid.

            “Hyukkie..” his voice softened and his lower lip quivered, “Please tell me what I did to upset you…so I can know why I’m apologizing.”

             I park the car near a public park.

            “What are we doing here?” he asked.

            I reached back to grab his food that was on the backseat. Donghae’s eyes widened when he sees the carton boxes filled with food. I opened them and he instantly grins when he sees the seafood inside.

            I smile at him, “Amber mentioned you were hungry.” I say and then hand him his food and chopsticks. He was quick to grab his food. He devoured his food while I just stared at him and laughed. He stops eating and stares at me with his mouth full.        

            “Remember to chew.” I chuckle. “Wouldn’t want you to choke.” I smile at him and he at much slower and actually chewed his food longer before swallowing. I hand him his strawberry drink and he grabs it and chugs it down a bit. He continued to eat his shrimp. “I love you shrimp.” He mumbled before eating it.

            “More than me?” I pout. He stops eating and stared at me with a confused expression.

            He only shakes his head and continues to eat.

            “So…you and Kibum seem pretty close, huh?” I asked casually. How close are they really? Close enough for him to fall in love with Donghae? I don’t see why he wouldn’t fall for him…he’s so kind, cute and-

            He drank his juice then stared at me, “What?” he leans forward. His eyes widened, “You think there is something between me and Kibum!?!?!” I glare at him when he begins to laugh, “Hyukjae…are you jealous?” he asked in an innocent tone.

            I roll my eyes and look off to the side, “Why would I be?” I have no reason to be jealous…Donghae and I are just friends…that’s it.

            He puts the carton boxes in the back seat and leans closer to me, “Yah, stop worrying, ok? You know I only love you.” He pokes me shoulder grins sweetly.

            I stared at him, “Only me?” that’s hard to believe. 

            He nods.

            I turn to him and lean closer, “How did you meet Kai?” It seriously bothered me that they knew each other. I want Kai to stay far away from Donghae.

            Donghae freezes and frowns, “Kai…?” he stares off to the side and clears his throat, “There is nothing between me and Kai.” He says and then exhales. “I met him when I was like…eleven…or around there, but ever since he pushed you in the lake I am unable to see him in a friendly manner.” He explains.

            “Tell me.” I was really interested in knowing how it started.

            He takes a deep breathe and begins his story.

            While he told the story I couldn’t help but try to understand why Kai didn’t seem cruel to Donghae. Normally, he was an to anyone he first meets especially to people who are easier to pick on.

            Their first meeting was actually something I didn’t expect it to be.

            “That was the very first time I saw him, and I started to see him more and more once I started playing soccer because he would come and watch when we’d go against his school. He instantly recognized me.”

            I stared at him attentively, “You don’t like him at all?”

            He shakes his head, “No…to be honest his character is really dangerous. I’ve seen him try to hurt other students in an attempt to impress me, but his plan backfired.”

            I roll my eyes, “That is so like him…” he starts the car and I frown.

            I drive off quickly and my mind was clouded with all the possibilities Kai could have with Donghae. Does he want to hurt him? I won’t let him put a finger on him!

            I park the car in the driveway and we step out of the car slowly. I walked him up to his house and we stopped in front of the front door. I really wanted to say something to him, I hated being silent, but I really didn’t know what I could say.

            He stared at me and cleared his throat; he seemed nervous for some reason, “So your birthday is coming up…” he chewed on his lower lip. Why does he seem nervous?

            “Oh…is it?” I say sarcastically and laugh.

            He smiles at me, “I bought you something…and it can’t wait until your birthday, but it can be used on your birthday.” He says.

            He totally lost me. “I am confused.” I frown.

            He digs into his school bag and takes out two fancy looking tickets and hands them to me, “I know you really wanted to see the musical of uhm…the Phantom of the Opera, so I got you two tickets.” He grins and stared at me while I just stared at the tickets in shock. “But! I got you two tickets because I didn’t want you to go alone…I didn’t want you to have a lonely birthday, so you can take anyone.” He nods, “Don’t feel obligated to take me just because it’s my present…to you.” He kept rambling on while I just stared at him. His cheeks were becoming tainted with a light pink color.

            Is he serious? I slowly take the tickets from his hand and stared at the seat number. It was under the hundreds which meant the price for these tickets must have been really high. I was beginning to feel really guilty for him spending so much money  on me.

            “Uhm…goodnight…” He mumbles nervously before unlocking the front door.

             “These seats…” I stared at the tickets.

            Donghae turns and stares at me, he waited until I continued what was on my mind.

            “These seats are really close to the stage, Donghae, how in the world did you ever-”

            “DON’T ASK!” he points at me and nods, “Don’t you know its rude to ask prices on a birthday present.” He gave me a know it all face and as humorous as I found it I couldn’t brush away the guilt.

            I stare at him, “I can’t accept these.”

            Donghae seemed shocked, “But…you can’t give me back a present that I worked hard to get.”

            “Exactly. Why did you? I would have been satisfied with anything simple.” Spending time with him at the park would have been enough for me.

            “You don’t deserve something simple…so please just take your present and enjoy your birthday…or did you not want to see the Phantom of the Opera?”           

            “I did…or do…” I frown and stare at him. “Will you go with me…?” I ask softly. I actually already planned to spend that day with him because he’s the most important person in my life.

            He stared at me and half smiled, “You should take SungMin.” His voice was soft, and I couldn’t help but notice how adorable he looked tonight.

            “He won’t want to go,” I say simply, hiding a smile.

            “You should take Hyoyeon…” He looked around and pursed his lips.

            “Her company is no where near as pleasant as yours.” I smile when I noticed Donghae’s smile grow by my words.

            “…KyuHyun?” he challenges me with a cheeky smile.

            “He hates musicals.” I smirk; I knew we were getting closer to him accepting me. It would be an amazing birthday with Donghae there beside me.

            “Heechul?”

            “He’s much worse.”

            Donghae grins and places his fingers to his lips, “Any of your other friends…maybe they want to go…” his smile nearly touched his eyes as he spoke. Aigo, I just wanted to pinch those cheeks.

            I take a step towards him and he takes a step back but was trapped between me and the front door. He leaned his back on the door and stared at me with wide eyes.

            I placed my hand beside him and leaned closer to him; I smile, “I would much rather spend my birthday with you than with anyone else.” I say softly, lean in and peck his cheek sweetly. Donghae’s smile only grew but he looked up at the sky instead of looking at me. Did I make him nervous?

            “Goodnight Donghae.” I whisper and walk off towards my house.

            “Night…” I hear him whisper as he watched me walk into my house.

            I quickly ran inside and cupped my head while my head began to spin and my heart beat accelerated. Why do I feel this way?? I don’t understand…I love Donghae, I do, but just as a friend…nothing more…right? No. I can’t love him more than a friend. That’s nearly impossible for me.

            I sat behind my piano and stared at the keys.  

            Donghae…I smile just with thinking about him. He’s so kind, sweet, and he really does bring out the best in me. Every day I’m with him I completely forget the hell I’ve been through in this house. I look around and turned when I hear SungMin walking in. “Hey…” I smile at him and he smiles back.

            “Hi...why are your eyes glowing?” he smirked and approached me, “Did you meet a cute girl, or what?” he eyed me suspiciously when I stayed quiet. His smile grows, “Or did you see Donghae?” he chuckles when I remained quiet.

            “Yea I was just with him.”

            He nods and hides a smile as he sat beside me, “I understand.” He grins and looks to the side, “What happened?”

            “Looks like we’re going to watch the Phantom of the Opera together…on my birthday.” I look down at my hands and chewed on my lower lip.

            “Oh!” he nearly sang, “How fun.” He beams.

            I smile at him, “Yea, I’m excited.”

            “About the musical or about being with Donghae for a whole day?” he teased and I just glared at him.

            “Both!” I say quickly then frown, “I don’t know honestly…” I stand and head for the stairs, “I’m just confused…” I say honestly before walking up to my room. I walk inside and sat down on my bed. I laid down and stared at the ceiling with a small frown. What are you doing to me Donghae?

            I smile and pull his sketchbook from under my pillow and flip through the first couple of pages.

            I grin when I see a sketch of me behind the piano. I turn the page and stared at the passage he wrote about me. Should I read it? I might as well! I shrug and sit up as I begin to read the passage softly in my head.

            ‘Hyukjae actually talked to me today! Well…sort of. He seems really tired lately and I think it has something to do with him playing (practicing?) his piano songs late at night. I never mind hearing him play because it’s like my lullaby! But I’m sure he doesn’t do it by choice since he seems to be in a bad mood…and a sleepy mood too. ):

            We were sitting in French Class when he was drifting off to sleep. He looked so handsome in his suit; luckily he didn’t catch me drooling over him or else that would be embarrassing! Anyway, point is that I offered to write down the notes for him while he took a nap. He mumbled a thank you and fell asleep so fast!

            I feel bad for him sometimes. I really want to ask him why he plays until dawn, but I don’t want him to think I’m snooping into his life or anything. After I wrote the notes for him he even smiled at me (it was a weak smile that nearly made my heart ache(I wanted to hug him so bad)) and thanked me. I told him I would help him anytime. I mean, we’re barely in middle school but I told him I’d even help him when we were in high school if he wanted to. I’d always be there for Hyukkie.

            Even if he could never love me the way I love him, I want to stay by his side to watch over him.

            He doesn’t know or understand how much his presence has helped me. He’s my handsome angel that I will love until the day I die.’

            I set the sketchbook down while frowning. Donghae thinks I’m his angel? I crack a smile…how funny…because I see Donghae as my angel. I smile and stared at the words on the page. I felt my heart beat pounding against my chest as I stared at the words about me over and over again. I always want to be there for Donghae too…and his presence has helped me as well.

            My eyes widen as I placed a hand on top of my heart softly.

            Could it be that I’m falling in love with Donghae?

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KYYAAA i'm getting closer to the good part!! XD

Thanks for reading!! :D