Contains Ch 18-21

My Lullaby, Ch. 19 ,  Maybe in another... , Painting for You,

*~_~*

            I’ve never really been too strict with SungMin, well not as much as I should have been. Growing up, I had so many rules that I had to obey or else my life would become hell. I never wanted that for Min, but lately he’s becoming really rebellious. Not sure why. He doesn’t come home until its really late, and that wouldn’t bother me as much, as long as he told me where he was. But he never did; he said it was none of my business.

            I tried to ignore it, but the parental side of me was becoming dominant. I stuck myself to the piano at school and focused on composing DongHae a song for his birthday. It wasn’t a difficult task. Then I start  to work on another song Ive  been working on for a while,  but I feel the need to ask someone for their and opinion.

            Donghae quickly comes to mind.

            I walk towards the woods, walking towards his house but then I see him. How peculiar that I see him so quickly and since we were closer to the school than to my house (for the piano there) I decided I should just ask him to come back to the school with me.

            He seemed lost in his thoughts because he didn’t notice me. I smile and clear my throat to grab his attention. He quickly turns in confusion and smiles when he sees me. “Oh hi Hyuk Jae!” He says, he seemed really happy to see me, and that just made me smile like an idiot.

            “I need your help.” I say softly, unsure of how to really ask him for his opinion. Words just kept slipping out my mouth, thankfully. “It’s about a song that I’ve been writing…it doesn’t really feel…right.” I frown sadly.. “So I was wondering if you could come, hear it and tell me how you honestly feel about it.” Nothing would make me happier than DongHae being the first one to ever hear this song. It would be a nice addition to his birthday, since it is today. I cant wait to play him his lullaby! I already felt excited, but hid it well from him.

            He grin, “Sure.” He half shrugs and we walk towards the school. “Can’t believe the school actually lets you stay so late…don’t they say anything?” He stares at me while we continued our walk.  

I stare at my feet and shrug. I wonder why they let me stay at school so late…they don’t lock it up until I leave. Maybe its because of the musical’s I’ve written. “They don’t really care…I guess they trust I won’t destroy the school or something along those lines.” I half smile while Donghae laughs. His laugh was really pleasant…well everything about him was.

            “Do you feel better?” he asks suddenly and frown a bit. What is he talking about?

            “Feel better? When was I feeling bad?” I mean, I’m pretty happy when he’s around, so why the sudden question?

            “I mean from your wounds.” He chews on his lower lip and I just shrug. I’m not really sure how I feel to be honest, getting attacked by your cousin isn’t something you can just  get over so easily.

DongHae sticks his hands in his pockets before we walk into the drama room. I walk in front of him and make my way up the steps and towards my piano. I sit down in front of my piano while DongHae just stares at me. I wonder what he’s thinking about….he seems so lost in his thoughts.

            “DongHae.” I interrupt his never ending thoughts with a small smile. He looks up and meets my gaze while I pat the spot on  the little bench I sat on. There was room for him…kind of. DongHae exhales deeply-a gesture I didn’t really pay much attention to- before he sits beside me. He watched my hands while I placed them on top of the piano.

            I was hesitant, “I’m nervous.” I say honestly while DongHae just stares at me. What if he hates it? What if I disappoint him?

            “Nervous? Why?” Donghae pouts.

            “No one has heard this…so…you’re the first.” I mumble nervously, why the heck am I so nervous to play for him?! Its just Donghae…

            He grins at that. “I am?...uhm well don’t worry! I’m a thousand percent sure I will like it.” His sweet smile and small nod encouraged me to begin. I hide a smile as I stare at the keys.

I chuckle at his words. Of course you would like it…

This feeling was beginning to scare me. My stomach felt weird and yet…it was oddly pleasant how much I enjoyed Donghae’s beautiful eyes on my hands as I slowly began to play the piece for him.

            Donghae was smiling really big while I played for him, but everything was a sudden blur. Guess you can say I become lost when I play, but it was a nice feeling knowing that he enjoyed the song as much I hoped he would.

“What’d you think?”

            He parts his lips but no words come out. Did he hate it that much?!?! I felt my heart sink by the thought.

            “That bad?” I frown sadly.

            Hae shakes his head quickly “N-NO! It was amazing…so amazing I don’t even know how to say how I feel.” He smiles a bit. “You…wrote that?...that’s what you’ve been working on all this time?”

            Actually I’ve been working om your lullaby but I won’t spoil that for you, my little Donghae.

            “Well not all this time…just for a while.” I only shrug. I really hope he couldn’t see my sudden excitement.

            “Well you’re really talented Hyuk Jae.” He smiles big. The compliment made me really happy, so I smile really sweetly at him. I wish I could be as sweet as you Donghae…

            “I’m glad you think so…” I chew on my lower lip-I think I acquired this habit thanks to DongHae “I was afraid you would have hated it.” I shake my head and slowly stand. I walk away from my bench while Hae stands up from the bench.

            “Why? Does my opinion matter?” He grins cutely while I just laugh and walk past him.

            Of course your opinion matters pabo, do you not see that?

            We walked home side by side and talking about random things.

            “So how has SungMin been?” he asks.

            I force a smile just by the thought of that rebellious brat.  “Same as always…careless.” I kick my feet around as we walk through the woods.

            Hae pouts, “Careless…? Why?”

            “He never really thinks about consequences…he just does things.” I roll my eyes and slightly smile a bit. I never knew I could be such a parent. “Pisses me off.” I mutter under my breath.

            He shakes his head and a teasing grin spreads across his face “You’re overprotective, huh?”

            I stare at him and smile. Wow….am I that transparent that you figured me out so quickly? “Is it that obvious?” I laugh while DongHae smiles really big, “I just get paranoid…not my fault.” I mumbled the excuse while DongHae just laughs.

            “Hyuk Jae being paranoid isn’t healthy....have you talked to him about his actions?”

            I smile and stare at him. “I have…but of course he doesn’t listen.”

            He frowns, “But…you two get along, right?” I didn’t even have to think about the question. Of course we get along, its just lately something hasn’t been right with us.

            I nod, “We do, but he just always believes he is right…and that he is untouchable.”

            He slightly smiles, “That’s sweet how you worry about him.”

            I shrug, “What about you, how are you with your siblings?” DongHae definitely seems like he’s the sweetest elder brother-since Henry is always talking about him, nonstop- but hearing it from his lips would be nice. 

            He smiles at me. It was amazing how much he cared for them; it was evident in his eyes when he mentioned Henry. “Good. We celebrated Henry’s birthday four days ago and I made him a violin cake.” He says proudly. I was going to say something but luckily I remembered I’m not supposed to know about Henry’s bday!

            I frown, “His birthday passed?? Hmm…I should get him a present.” I stare at him, “What does he like?”

            “Sweets. Junk food. Music.” He shrugs. “He’d be happy with anything really…he’s not picky.” He smiles.

            I felt my heart racing as we neared his house. What if he doesn’t like his lullaby?! He deserves more than just a song and a fish plush….damnit I’m a terrible person! “Would you like to come in for a bit?” He smiles at me while I was panicking all over again. I hesitated….maybe I should go in. No, it should be a surprise. He cant see this coming or else it wont have the same effect!

            “I cant…” I chew on my lower lip, “But thanks for asking.” I smile and just leave him without saying anything because saying good bye didn’t seem appropriate. I was going to see him in mere seconds.

            I waited a while before I walk towards DongHae’s window; I stare at it and smile as I climb up. His presents were placed under his bed by his siblings…hopefully he doesn’t notice them before I get there! The thought made me climb faster and once I stepped inside his room I was completely shocked to see someone was already there.

            “Oh…” I felt awkward while the man glared at me.

            “Who are you?!” he asked abruptly and for some reason he made me feel uneasy. Something about him didn’t seem right.

            “DongHae’s friend…” I said simply as I leaned against DongHae’s drawer. He glared at me, but I said nothing of it.

            The door opens shortly and Donghae makes his way inside; he stares at me in complete shock.  “Erm…hi?” he seemed really unsure of how to react with the both of us here. 

        “Brought you a present DongHae.” His uncle says, but his voice sounded a bit bitter. He seemed to be glaring at DongHae as well…what the hell? I must be imagining things….

            Donghae smiles, “Thanks…I’ll see you some other time.” His voice was oddly sweet as he started to wave him off. He was telling him to leave, but it was obvious he didn’t want to go anywhere. Maybe I should leave…

            His uncle exhales, “DongHae, I came all this way…so we could spend some time together. Don’t you miss me?”

            “Not really.” Donghae says quickly while he pushes him out the door. “You know your way out.” He kicks him out, closes the door and then turns to stare at me in confusion. “How did you…?”

            “Window,” I smirk triumphantly but then quickly frown when I remembered how that man glared at him. “Your uncle…seems a bit odd.” I cross my arms across my chest while I thought about it for a bit longer. Maybe they’re just really close…and he really did want to spend time with DongHae. I only shrug since I had no idea what was going on. “Maybe I’m just tired.”

            Hae only nods, “yea, maybe.”

            He sits on his bed and exhales slowly, “So…you snuck in my room…because…?”

            I sit beside him and smile sweetly, “Guess.”

            He half shrugs, “I don’t know.” He sounded genuinely unaware of my surprise and that just made me even more excited!

            I smile and pull out the large present bag from under his bed; I grin while DongHae only stares at it. I chuckle at how clueless he really was. Did he really not expect any gift from me? “I had to ask your siblings what things you liked…and they said you were obsessed with Nemo.” I smile and pull out a Nemo plushie with a huge smile on my face because he seemed to finally understand what was happening.

            Hae takes the Nemo between his hands and smiles big, “T-Thank you.” He says and hugs his Nemo happily. Seeing him so happy really was an amazing feeling; his smile is just so beautiful.

            Then I pull out a keyboard from under his bed and sit it on my lap while I settle myself beside Donghae. “They also told me you really like how I play.” I was getting excited to play his lullaby. I was so sure he would really like it.

            “I wrote you a lullaby.” I say simply and DongHae seemed completely shocked.

            He just stared at me. “You…what?” He asked under his breath.

            I chuckle at how surprised he was, “DongHae, I wrote you a lullaby…” I smile, but then frown when I realized I should explain to him what I want between the two of us. “I just wanted to clear some things up first. All of this is a birthday slash thank you slash I’m sorry for being an present” I hesitated as I spoke. “I am sorry…for pushing you away…I just…don’t want to hurt you. I really appreciate your friendship DongHae…but I don’t want to hurt you because of…your feelings for me.” I say softly. I really didn’t want to lose DongHae as a friend, but I wasn’t sure how to keep him as a friend either.

            He smiles, “It hurt me more when you didn’t want to be near me. Your friendship is all I ask, Hyuk Jae, nothing more, promise.” He nods confidently and that made me smile. You really are something else, DongHae.

            “Then I would be happy to be your friend, DongHae.” I say sweetly then look down at my keyboard. “Like my portable piano?” I chuckle and he just smiles at it. I was mentally preparing myself for the piece I wrote for him…I’m not sure why I was a bit nervous. I started to play it slowly, a bit afraid that I would regret it later due to nerves. Once I started playing I felt much better. DongHae looked so adorable as he hugged his Nemo tightly and stared at me while I played.  

He seemed so lost as he watched me play his lullaby. He smiled a bit and then whispered, "Thank you..." but it was so soft I figured I must have been hearing things. I smile a bit to myself, feeling great for doing this for him. He deserves this and so much more.

        He started to look really sleepy after a while so I just whisper, “Sleep, DongHae” while I continued to watch my keyboard and continued to play for him.

        He smiles, lies down on his bed and tucks himself in while hugging his Nemo tightly. He closes his eyes and smiles sweetly while I played the rest of the lullaby. 

            Once I was down, I place the keyboard on the floor and slowly sit on his bed; I didn’t want to wake him up since he was already sleeping. I smile a bit and whisper, “Happy birthday, DongHae.” I say softly and stared at the innocent sleeping expression he had; he was resting on his Nemo and his lips formed a slight pout. I smile a bit. Even in your sleep you’re adorable as ever. I softly brush his brown locks from his forehead and felt tempted to kiss him; I lean in a bit but quickly stopped when I was centimeters away from his lips.

            What the hell am I doing?!?

            I quickly back off and just walk out of his room.

            Was I seriously going to kiss DongHae? I felt suddenly nervous by the thought. I dragged myself back home and once I was back in my bed I forced myself to not think about him, or his cute lips.

            The following day, KyuHyun and Heechul decided to come over. I smile while they all gather around my living room. The doorbell rang shortly and they snickered, “Must be the fish.” KyuHyun laughs while I just smile and open the front door.

“Goodmorning!!!” He says sweetly while handing me my breakfast. He was peeking inside my house when he realized I had company. Kyu pokes his head out and smiles evilly, “Hey Fish, bring me any breakfast?” he half glares at DongHae when his only response was a ‘sorry’ expression.

            I smile sweetly at DongHae then stare at my delicious looking breakfast.

            “What about me?” Heechul pokes his head out.

            “Yah I don’t have enough batter to make everyone breakfast.” He frowns and mumbles, “Sorry.” I just wanted to pinch  his cheeks at this point.

            “You don’t have to apologize, DongHae, they can make themselves food.” I smile but half glare at my lazy friends.

            “Well you should stay over Fish we only stay for a bit then race to school.” Kyu half smirks and I wanted to suddenly kick him to the floor. I couldn’t even imagine DongHae beinga part of any of our stupid races. They were dangerous and I would never do that to him.             “Erm…thanks for the…invite but I should get going now.” he smiles at us. “Have fun…racing…” He only half shrugs and waves at us “Bye.”

            We all muttered a goodbye to him; I glare at KyuHyun while Heechul only laughs. “Yah, don’t ever ask DongHae that kind of dangerous question again.” I mumble while they snicker to themselves.

“I think someone is falling…” Heechul mumbles to KyuHyun and they start laughing to themselves.

“Shut up.” I say while I walk inside my house and begin to eat the breakfast DongHae prepared for me.

            “SUNGMIN!” I call out to him and smile a bit when he was ready to go. He smiles and then walks out, “Hey where you going?” I frown.

            “Friends….” He only mumbles before disappearing out the door.

            “You are going to make a great parent one day.” KyuHyun teases and I throw my fork at him.

            We raced to school after, but my mind was just elsewhere. I couldn’t stop thinking about DongHae for some reason. I park my motorcycle, slip out and place m helmet on the handlebars. Taeyeon and SooYoung run over to me so I smile at them, but before I could mutter a greeting Taeyeon says, “Donghae is looking cuter each day, huh?” she grins while I just stare at her.

            He’s always been cute…

            “Doesn’t he have such kissable lips?” Sooyoung teases.

            Before the image of his lips could invade my thoughts I quickly force them away, “Stop.” I mumble and walk off, but they trailed behind me.

            “Oh come on! He’s perfect.” Taeyeon insists, “He could make you happy in every way.” They giggled and I just rolled my eyes and made my way inside the class.

            Why are they bugging me with this? I have realized how cute he is…and how kissable his lips looked last night and aish what am I saying?!

            I half smile when I see the seat beside DongHae was empty. I sit next to him and smile sweetly.

            Donghae was talking to his friend, but he turns and smiles when he sees me, “Oh…hi.” He grins and stares at me.

            I smile sweetly at him, “Hope you don’t mind I sit beside you.” Should I feel bad that I interrupted his conversation with his friend? I didn’t feel all that guilty honestly…

            He shakes his head, “No, no of course not.” He chews on his lower lip and watches me while I take out my notebook. I wonder what he thinks about when I’m near him…does he ever picture us kissing?

            “So uhm what  time did you go  home last night?” He leans on his elbows and stares at me. I take off my sunglasses and set them on the edge of the desk.

            “As soon as you fell asleep…well I waited a bit to make sure you were really asleep.” I lied. In reality I was aching to kiss you, but I forced myself away…I felt a bit guilty for these sudden thoughts. Why does Donghae have to be so sweet…his kindness is getting to me..

            “Thank you…that was really sweet.” He says shyly.

            I smile sweetly “You deserved it DongHae,” You deserve so much more than what I have to offer. I open my notebook and the teacher begins the lesson. What is going on with me?

            After school, I got on my motorcycle and drove myself to the University of my dreams; it was an arts school that only accepted the most talented. It would be an honor to be accepted here. I just went inside for the application papers and then went back out.

            I look around at the campus and smile at the beauty of it.

            I get on my motorcycle and stare off to the side. Is that…Kai?! With DongHae?! My jaw drops and Kai stared at me; he was glaring and he speeds off, leaving DongHae behind.

“Aish! *Frustrated* STUPID KAI!!!” Hae yells out and then crosses his arms.

            I drive near him and stare at him, “What are you doing here?” I ask in a worried tone. Why was he with kai? Donghae smiles once he sees me. “Why was Kai with you?” I frown and look over to where he drove off to.

            “He dragged me over here then just left.” He shrugs a bit.

            “Get in.” I hand him my helmet and he frowns while he takes it.

            “But what about a helmet for you?” he asks in a small voice.

            I shake my head and slightly smile, “Don’t worry about it.” I would much rather you be safe than me.

            He smiles, puts on the helmet then climbs behind me. He wraps his arms around me tightly while I place my hands on my handlebars.

             “Hang on tight.” I say in a husky tone while I quickly speed off; Donghae’s arms tightened around my waist. I didn’t really notice since my mind was clouded with Kai…I needed to get to him…I needed to talk to him. He has to stay away from DongHae. I couldn’t live with myself if he ever laid a finger on him

            I didn’t realize how fast I was driving until I hear DongHae mumble “Slow down, Hyuk jae.” I gently tap his hands that held onto my waist for dear life and begin to slow down.

            “I’m sorry…I wont go after him with you here.” I say softly as I turn the motorcycle into another direction. I was taking us back home instead of going after Kai.

            The drive was a bit quiet; I didn’t notice that the sun was setting on us. I wasn’t really paying attention to my surrounding until I heard DongHae slightly laugh under his breath. That quickly made me smile; his laugh was so cute and pleasant.

            “Why you laughing?” I ask in an amused tone. Although I was still confused…did something funny happen around us?

            Hae only shakes his head and giggles lightly. “N-No reason.” He says in a small tone. Aish, the curiosity will surely eat me alive. I was trying to figure out what could have made him laugh, but then I hear him whisper “So pretty.” I frown and look over at the sun setting. Oohhh so that’s what he was talking about? I smile a bit and drove slower since we were so close to home. For some reason I wanted to stay with DongHae for a longer period of time. “Hyuk Jae.” He squeezes my waist a bit and I slightly lose my breath; he took me off guard. “You’re so sweet.” He says sweetly while I just shake my head and chuckle. His voice sounded daze, it was adorable.

            I didn’t really mind that he was holding onto me so tightly, I figured he was maybe scared or something along those lines. Once I parked the car, he didn’t really seem to notice because his hold around me didn’t loosen.

            I look over my shoulder and frown because he was shaking his head for some reason. “DongHae? We’re here…” I say confused. Why was he shaking his head? His hold around me tightened.

            “I don’t want.” He mutters and I slightly laugh at how cute he looked. His eyes quickly widen and he gets off from the backseat and takes off his helmet and hands it to me. “Sorry Sorry Sorry Sorry,” he pouts and I take the helmet from his hands. “I didn’t mean to hold onto you…” he chews on his lower lip, stares at his feet and started blushing for some reason.

            I smile, shake my head and get off my motorcycle. I’m not sure why he was so embarrassed…I thought it was cute. “Don’t worry about it.” I exhale and look around “So, why did Kai take you to the university?” I frown. I really didn’t want them to talk to each other…the thought made me uneasy. I wanted the two of them to stay as far away from each other as possible.

            He only shrugs, “I don’t really know…he just said that, that was your dream…and for that dream…you need both hands.” He slightly mutters and stares at the ground.

            I half smile, “Is that what he said….huh?” I smirk. “Interesting.” Donghae stares at me, confused. I was used to Kai trying to hurt me…he’s been doing this for so long I’ve become accustomed to it.

            “That doesn’t worry you?”

            I stare at Donghae with a small, playful smile “Worry me? No, it entices me.” Donghae smiles and stares into my eyes. I let out a small exhale as I shake my head slowly. “Unlike Kai, I don’t go looking for trouble…so I would much rather not do anything to him…since he has five minions anyway.” I roll my eyes and Donghae seemed to nod in agreement.

            “You should just avoid him as best as you can.”

            “If it were that easy…” I exhale tiredly. Kai would one day exhaust me; he’s so persistent in hurting me. “We’ve been having disputes since the moment we could talk.” Probably way before that actually, but I can’t remember it.

            Hae stares at me, “I see…so the hate started a long time ago, huh?”

            I nod, “Kai has always been envious, he wants everything and he wants to be better than anyone else, but his problem is that he doesn’t do anything. He thinks that I was born with all these piano “skills” when I had to work hard for it-”

            “And he hates you for it,” Donghae purses his lips and I nod. Kai hating me cut me like a knife. I never meant for him to hate me so much, but even when I try to avoid him he still keeps coming back to me.

            I only shrug, “I felt sorry for him at first, but he’s gotten out of hand.”

            Hae stares at me, “But…how did you two meet each other exactly?”

            I smile a bit. He obviously doesn’t know we’re blood related. “He’s my cousin, DongHae.” I say simply and that seemed to shock the latter.

            His jaw drops, “Wh- What?!”

            I smile and nod, “I know…and my family has no idea how much we hate each other…well they think we just joke around, but it’s no joke. Everything I have, he wants. Like, for example, when I got my motorcycle, he got his.” I roll my eyes just remembering these unpleasant memories. “When I bought my first piano, he bought his…but burned it a week afterwards because he didn’t know how to play.” I slightly chuckle because that part really was funny. Remembering his frustrated face as he burned the piano sure was something to laugh at.

            Donghae only pouts and hugs himself “Family shouldn’t hate each other…” He mumbles. Of course he would say this, lucky him, he’s so close to his own family. I envy him sometimes.

            “I know and I’ve tried to reason with him, but he continues to hate me…and try his best to ruin me, so he will be seen as the better one.” I shrug. No use trying anymore, Kai will always hate me no matter how hard I try.

            “But he’s so scary Hyuk Jae, you have to stay away from him! I think he’s planning to cut off one of your han-” he tried to warn me.

            “Hey! You coming in?!” SungMin pokes his head out from the window and we stare at him. He looked slightly annoyed as he stared at me.

            “Yea…in a sec.”I say simply and Sungmin just goes back inside.

            Donghae half smiles, “He looked mad….”

            I roll my eyes at his childish behavior but still smile, “He’s like that when I don’t feed him.” I chuckle and head towards the front door “Well goodnight DongHae.” I say sweetly.

           “Night, Hyuk Jae.” He says but ends up running into my arms; he pulls me into a tight embrace. I was completely shocked by the sudden hug, but I smile and hug him back. Just holding onto him made me feel a thousand times better about everything that was going on; Kai became irrelevant with Donghae’s arms around me.
            “Sweet dreams.” I whisper softly. I didn’t want to say goodbye to him, but knowing SungMin he’d probably drag me inside and throw a tantrum.

            Hae smiles and nods, “You too.” He responds sweetly. We let go of each other and I frown a bit as he walks off to his house.

            I watch him walk back home, making sure he went inside safely. Once he was inside I walk into my own house and close the door behind me as I sigh.

            SungMin sat on the couch with his arms crossed, “Why are you always with him?” he mumbles while I walk to the kitchen to prepare us something to eat. He walks over to me and just watched me with sad eyes. “Does he mean so much to you?” he seemed to hesitant when he asked the question.

            “Sungmin.” I stare at him, “Donghae and I are friends.” I say simply. “Just…friends.” I nod once so he would understand.

            He sighs, “Promise me?”

            I frown, “Promise what?” I stare at him.

            “You wont fall in love with him…” he says softly as he stares at me with his innocent features. He seemed really scared for some reason, “Then you’ll leave me….like mom and dad…” he sniffles and his eyes got watery.

            I shake my head and pull him into my arms, “I’ll never leave you.” I whisper as he cries in my shoulder, “Never.” I say softly and peck his head.

            “Donghae loves you so much.” He wails and hugs me tightly, “You’ll leave me for him…”

            I crack a smile, “Don’t be stupid…” I whisper.

            “Promise…” he whispers.

            “I promise.” I say simply and hug him tightly. The words felt heavy for some reason; something didn’t feel right. I ignored the feeling and just held onto SungMin.

            That night he slept in my arms. He seemed to have felt better once I made the promise, but I still felt uneasy; all through the night I couldn’t get Donghae out of my mind.

            Rehearsal was finally over and I congratulated everyone for doing such a great job; I was really excited for Christmas to come around. I’m sure we were gonna do just fine. People were already leaving, and I smile while Henry continues to drown me with the latest updates on DongHae. He’s always telling me about DongHae, and it was kind of cute since he seemed to really admire him. I smile at him while he goes on, “And HaeHae is doing swimming!!!” he giggles and I just smile at him.

“Isn’t that amazing?” he grins and I nod.

“It is…” I say simply and I felt a bit uneasy since SungMin was right there. He stayed quiet.

            “I’m gonna go get my stuff.” Henry beams, “Hae, should be here soon.” He nods and I smile at him as he walks off to get his stuff.

            I smile at SungMin, “Isn’t this exciting?” I grin and he smiles a bit, “The musical is turning out pretty good…”

            “Maybe it’ll be better than the kid one.” He chuckles and I only smile at him.

            Hyoyeon walks over to us and she quickly hugs me tightly, “You’re doing such a great job on this Hyukjae, I’m so proud.” She says sweetly and I smile at her words and hug her back. SungMin grabs a little angel toy that he had bought for Henry as a gift then walks off. We had gone off to the store earlier and he bought that for Henry while I bought a little fish for DongHae. I grab the little bag I hid the fish bag in and smile as I hold it gently.

            I smile at Hyoyeon, “I’m so glad you’re in the musical, Hyoyeon…you’re dancing skills are just as amazing as your acting skills.” I say sweetly and she grins happily.

            “Oh, youre so sweet.” She giggles and I smile and look around for Henry and SungMin.

            “Minnie…where is Henry?” I frown when I couldn’t find him.

            “He left with DongHae…” he says simply and I quickly grab him, say goodbye to Hyoyeon and run off after them. “Aish…slow down.” SungMin mumbles while he lets go of my hand and just trails behind.

            I smile when I see Donghae and Henry walking in front of us, “DongHae, wait!” I call out to him and they both stopped walking instantly. They turn and stare at me while I approached them.

I exhale tiredly and smile at DongHae. “Sorry…I had no idea I missed you.” I hand him the clothed bag that hid the fishy and smile sweetly at him “Hope you like it.” I grin while DongHae stares at the bag in confusion.

            Henry nudges DongHae for some reason. DongHae only stares at me and cracks a smile; it made me laugh for some reason “Glad you like it.” I tease.

            Hae grins and Henry says, “We do Hyung! Thank you!” He says cutely and looks around; SungMin was distantly behind me and that made Henry grins, “Erm…SEE YA!” he runs off and leaves us alone.

            “You ok?” I frown. “I was slightly…hurt that you didn’t even bother saying anything to me.” I half glare at him but he only stared at his feet. “But its ok…you must be really tired from practice.” I nod and smile sweetly. Aish, I’m so selfish…wanting his attention when he must be so tired.

            He stares at me, “How did you know I had practice?”

            “Henry doesn’t shut up about you.” I laugh and his eyes quickly widened. “It’s cute…I think Henry really looks up to you.” I grin, “Looks like you’re a role model.” I slightly nudge his arm and we end up walking forward. He grins and stares at our feet as we walk towards the woods.

            “Thank you.” His voice sounded off as he said that. He smiles at his bag then smiles at me. His smile didn’t touch his eyes like it usually did and that scared me a bit. Was he sick? OMO I should take care of him! I was beginning to panic but I forced myself to calm down.

            “You look really tired…are you sick?” We stop walking and I press my palm on his forehead; he was so warm. He smiles warmly and closes his eyes. My heart ached at the thought of him being sick. He always takes care of me…I should return the favor.

            He slowly shakes his head, “No…I’m not…” he mumbles, and took a step to the side, but he lost his balance. Before he could fall I quickly hold onto him tightly.

            “DongHae?” I stare at him skeptically. He looked so out of it…and I was seriously starting to get worried. “Swimming must have made you really tired.” I mumble and quickly carry him bridal style; I needed to get him some food before he passed out on me!

            He kicks his feet around. “N-No put me down!” He clings onto my neck and hides his face on my chest; I only laugh since he looked so cute.

            “Relax DongHae.” I say and continue to carry him home; he seemed to relax once he rests his head on my neck. “Feeling better?” I ask once we were passing by the lake. Almost there!

            He smiles a bit and nods; he was staring at his little present and before I knew it he had taken the plastic bag out of the clothed bag. He gasps once he sees the blue fish swimming around. “A Fishy!” ‘He seemed so happy as he stared at me with big eyes.

          “Not hungry, but thanks for the offer.” I say as I leaned against the counter and watched him as he looked so happy eating his noodles. I just stare at Donghae with an amused smile since it looked like he completely forgot I was right in front of him. He started to hum a song while slurping his noodles. He looked so adorable, and I was so happy that he seemed to be much better. I silently laugh and Donghae freezes when he remembers my company.

            He didn’t say anything though he only pouts with his mouth filled and looks away while he started to turn a bit pink. Once he finished eating, he washed his dish then looked around for something. I smile when he grabs a plastic container and fills it up with water; he gently places his fishy inside and watches it swim around with a huge smile on his face.  

            “Do you like him?” I ask happily. It was a good feeling seeing Donghae so happy because of my gift. I smile sweetly at him while he slowly looks up and stares at me.

            He nods and smiles sweetly, “Thank you.”

            “You’re welcome.” I say softly. I started to think about the musical for some reason, I couldn’t get Donghae’s angelic voice out of my head. I really missed it…soooo much.

            I lean on my elbows and we watch the blue fish swim around. I glance at him and say as slyly as I could, “You should sing for him…you know…as a welcome.” I stifle a smile and purse my lips. Smooth, Hyukjae, smooth. Surely you want him to sing to the fish and not you.

            “Sing him a song?” he slightly tilts his head and puckers his lips as he thinks about it for a while. Oh my god and I though this pouts were cute, while he puckered his lips I seriously had to look away. Too much cuteness might just kill me. Hae scratches his hair, “I don’t know what to sing for him…”

            “I’m sure he’d like anything…” I shrug and avoid his eyes. I was starting to feel a bit stupid. Why did I want to hear him sing so bad?

            “I’ll sing when you leave.” he giggles cutely and I just glare at him. Damnit! I miss his singing voice…

            “I’ve heard you sing before.” I mutter flatly like it was no big deal for him to sing in front of me once again.

            He nods, “Yea…so…therefore you shouldn’t again.” he grins and I only look down in disappointment. Why do I want to hear him sing so much? Aish I’m so weird…I should just leave him alone. I stand up properly and mumble, “I should go.”

            He nods and follows me to the front door, he was staring at his feet while I turned and stared at him, “Uhm…night.” He whispers shyly.

            I smile a bit and wrap my arms around him, “Night.” I chuckle by how cute he looked when he was embarrassed. I should just go…I quickly pull away and walk off towards my house. I smile when I see SungMin and Henry, I wave at Henry and walk off with SungMin, “So…how was it?” I ask in a small voice. My heart felt odd…why can’t I stop thinking about Donghae? I mean…I love Heechul and KyuHyun as friends too but I never think about them like this, not so much in one day.

            “Fine…” SungMin mumbles and we walked in silence towards home. We walked inside and Sungmin jumps on the couch, “Uhm…Hyukjae…” he says softly.

            “Yes?” I stare at him and he smiles sweetly. I smile back.

            “Can I stay over your room again?” he grins and I nod and we walk up stairs. I wrap my arm around him and he quickly runs up the stairs and inside my room; he jumps on my bed and laughs happily. “Let’s watch a movie!” he grins.

            I walk past my window to grab a movie for him. I stop and smile when I see DongHae standing by his window. He grins happily and waves sweetly, “Night Hyukjae!” he calls out happily.

            I smile sweetly at him and wave back, “Goodnight.” I grab a movie for Sungmin and put it on the DVD player. I walk off to my closet to change into something comfortable.

            SungMin whispers, “You think he’ll ever get over you?”  

            I lay down beside him and he embraces me with a small frown. I sigh and shrug, “I don’t know…” I honestly hope not…and the thought me feel sick to my stomach. How can I be so selfish and still yearn for Donghae’s love when I cannot return it?

            The next day I was sitting behind my piano and playing any tune that came to mind, “Why are they so sad?” SungMin teases after a while of listening to me play; he sat on the couch and frowned while I just stared at my music. I hadn't prepared any food since I was so focused on playing and writing a sheet of music so SungMin had ordered pizza. 

            I wasn't sad...I just...I haven’t seen Donghae all day…I frown, “No reason…” I mumble as I circle some notes on my paper. 

            SungMin rolls his eyes, “Play something happier!” he giggles and then there was a knock at the door. He frowns and walks over to answer it, "What do you want?" I heard him say. Was it KyuHyun? Heechul? They were sometimes mean to each other, but playfully of course. 

            I couldn’t hear who responded or what they said, but I frown when I hear SungMin say, “No!” it looked like he was going to close the door on then so I yell out his name to stop him. I saw Donghae approaching me from the corner of my eye. I suddenly felt happy just by seeing him here, “Oh hi Donghae.” I grin at him. “Didn’t expect you to be at the door…thought it was KyuHyun.” I move to the side and pat the bench so he could sit beside me.

            He smiles and sits beside me, “Just thought I’d visit you...” he says softly while I just stare at him. He looked really good in his long sleeved shirt, and he was wearing glasses! I didn’t know he wore glasses…and he looked amazing in them.
            “Didn’t know you wore glasses…” I half smile and peel my eyes away from him; I stared at my music without actually looking at it.

            “Oh…yea.” He frowns, “My vision isn’t too bad though…” he mumbles and I smile at him.

            “My eyes get strained too…so many notes I write.” I chuckle while I press my hands on the key; a small tune escaped. I freeze when I realize I hadn’t offered DongHae anything. “Sorry…I’m so rude…would you like anything?”

            He grins and shakes his head, “N-No just continue to play.”

            “I’m writing…” I exhale deeply and tiredly. Writing music is so time consuming. I could be behind my piano for hours and only get one sheet of music done. “Doesn’t feel right…” I mumble.

            The doorbell rings and SungMin opens it, he walks to us and places the pizza box on the piano. “Here’s your change.” He says sweetly to me and places the money beside the box.

            “Thanks Minnie.” I say sweetly while I scribble out notes on my music.

            Donghae stares at me, “Won’t you eat first? Health comes first.” He smiles sweetly but I only shake my head. I was far too busy to think about eating…maybe I’ll just eat later today. Hae frowns “You can continue to play then…but can I feed you at least?” he offers.

            I smile and nod “Sure.” Donghae is so sweet.

            He smiles as he opens  the pizza box from where he was sitting and peels away one slice; he blew on it to cool it down for me and then places it near my mouth. He slightly giggled while I bite down on the pizza but continue to focus on my music. He grabs another slice and eats that one slowly while he held out my own piece with his other hand. I hadn’t realized I had finished my piece, I just ate whatever he held out near me. I bite down on his slice of pizza and chew on it happily.

          I started to play the sweet song I had composed for the musical, and I was so into it that I didn’t notice when Donghae walked away from me to go to the kitchen. Once he sat back down he had a glass and a straw for me; he held it near me. I drank the juice happily while I continued to play the song effortlessly. Donghae grins sweetly as he watches my fingers hit every key.

            I smile at him once I was done. I didn’t think I could play all the way through it, and it actually sounded kind of nice, “What’d you think?” I asked since his opinion means so much to me.

            “Amazing.” He sounded impressed and that made my heart swell up. He cleans his hands on a napkin then hugs me tightly, he nuzzles his head against my own, “I’m your number one fan, Hyuk Jae.” He says sweetly and I just laugh at how cute he is.

            “Thanks DongHae.” I smile big and hug him tightly; I nuzzled my nose to the top of his head. His scent was amazing, I was quietly drowning in it.

            “AHEM!”

            We pull away and we stare at SungMin, “Hate to break up the moment.” He says sarcastically. “But I think it’s time you go.” He fans Donghae away and I frown at him. Aish, why can’t he be nice to Donghae?

            “SungMin, don’t be rude.” I say sternly.

            Donghae stands and shakes his head; he smiles at us, “No, he’s right. It’s getting late…my siblings must be worried.” He shrugs and smiles sweetly at me while I slowly stood up; I nodded and walked him out to the front door. Donghae turns and pulls me into a tight, warm embrace. I felt my heart heavy as I hugged him back tightly. I never wanted to let him go, but I knew SungMin was watching us. We pull apart and whisper a “Goodnight.” I watch him as he walks out of the house and towards his own.

            “Your gay is showing…” Sungmin says bitterly as he walks up the stairs and locks himself inside his room.

            I sigh and press myself against the wall. Is it wrong for me to start feeling something for Donghae? I close my eyes and shake my head. No…I…I’m not gay…

SungMin’s POV
 

            “Please.” Henry continues to beg. We were standing inside the back room AKA the back of the stage when Henry decided to beg me to do the impossible.

            “No.” I say flatly.

            “Why?” he pout.

            “I don’t like your brother.” I say simply and shrug a bit. Why does he keep insisting on this?

            He kept begging me to help Donghae by telling Hyukjae that was falling in love with Donghae-which he wasn’t! I won’t let that day ever come!

            “But-But…WHY?!” Henry whined. “He loves Hyuk Jae…” he sniffles then gasps, “Are you jealous?!”

            I laugh a bit at the accusation, “Jealous? No. DongHae’s too kind…and kind people get no where in life. Plus I’d rather not have a gay brother.” I say harshly. I just don’t want him with Donghae, why is that so hard to understand?

            He chews on his lower lip, “Please?” he says softly.

            “Henry, you’re my friend, but please…stop. I don’t like DongHae simply because his smile annoys me. His actions annoy me. His EVERYTHING annoys me *he stares at me stunned* Hyuk Jae will never fall in love with DongHae. Ok? He’s in love with someone else.” I shrug and walk off. I actually don’t know if Hyukjae liked anyone but I really hoped he did. Anyone but Donghae.

            I walk over to the drums and just ignore everyone and everything. I needed to get out of here, but Hyukjae was staying here because he wasn’t done with his music.

          I was getting lost in my thoughts until I see DongHae walk inside the drama room. I frown as I stare at him. “Hey DongHae.” Hyuk Jae smiles sweetly and walks up to him. “Uhm…I have to stay for a while…was wondering if you could walk SungMin home please? He really wants to walk on his own, but you know…I get paranoid.”I drown him out instantly. He expects me to walk with Donghae?! What….no, just no!

            Hyukjae dragged me away from the drums and towards Donghae and Henry.

            “I don’t need him to walk me home” I say bitterly. “I’m old enough to walk by myself” I glare at Donghae.

            “SungMin, stop being so stubborn.” Hyuk Jae mutters.

            “If you want you could walk with Henry…and I’ll just trail behind.” DongHae says with his stupid sweet smile. His kindness has to be an act, there is no ing way someone can be so nice.

            “Whatever.” I respond rudely and walk towards the door; I walk outside and head towards the woods. I didn’t care if the fish was following me or not. Henry was walking beside me but he stayed quiet for a while then he says, “SungMin…I love you, you’re a great friend…you welcomed me when most of the drama kids picked on me for being so young….but please, be nice to Hae. At least try…please?” He stares at me with his big eyes and I knew I’d fall for it if he kept insisting. I did care about Henry, but I hated his brother. I will always hate him.

            I shake my head, “No.” I say quickly and then run off, I didn’t want to deal with anyone right now. I just wanted to be on my own! Why does Hyukjae always go to that stupid fish for help? I was running deep into the woods without watching where exactly I was going.

            Someone comes to view and ends up tossing me to the side. I was breathing heavily as I stared at him, “K-Kai?” I frown and felt my insides twist when he pulls out a small knife. Hyukjae could handle his threats and his attacks, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t handle them because I was too sensitive.

            I started shaking, “Where is Hyukjae?” he asks in an eerie voice as he looks around, “Aw well…he’ll miss the show.” He smirks as he grabs me roughly and stabs my side with his small knife.

            I screamed out in pain; tears fell from my eyes as I struggled to get away from him, but he held me tightly.

            “See this?” he drenches his hand with my blood and wipes it all around my hoodie, “I hope you will understand that I’m not playing any games.” He growls as he takes his knife and cuts my cheek a bit. He laughs as he pushes me to the floor.

            I was crying, and screaming in pain; my fingers digging into the mud as I tried to get away from him.

            Kai laughs, “Something…wrong?” He teases.

“How can you do this...to your cousin?!” I recognized Donghae’s voice. What was he doing here?! Did he really come find me?

            I was crying, holding onto my side and shivering from fright. Hyukjae…I needed Hyukjae. I have always depended on him, for as long as I can remember.

            “Oh Kai…my patience is lowering” I heard Donghae say.

            “Is it? I like that.” He threw the knife to the sight.

            I was blacking out, I closed my eyes and tried to calm down my heavy beating heart.

 

                  I didn’t know what was happening anymore, I was becoming numb with the pain. I heard Donghae struggling against Kai but I was too weak to move. “Le-Let me go…” I heard him say. I just exhale and tried to drift off to sleep.

            “Hey fish.” A strange voice says. In an instant someone hurls me off the ground and forces me up on my feet; I scream from how rough he was grabbing me. I felt terrified. Was he going to kill me? His hands dug into my arms and I struggled against him. “So this is the little brother eh?” He squeezes my cheeks roughly. “Cute.” He slightly laughs, and grips my chin roughly. I started shaking as I stared at him.

            “Leave him alone!” Donghae yells.    

            They laughed though so in an instant Donghae kicks his shin and he quickly groans in pain. He pushes me to the  ground and I try  to get further away from them. He grabs Donghae’s arms, “I really don’t like you.” He hits him and I felt my heart hurt at the sight; tears fell from my eyes and I force myself to look away.

            “Don’t hurt him.” Kai shoves his friend.

            Kai and his friends were busy with each other so Donghae runs over to me, wraps my arms around him and runs off towards home. He holds onto my arm and my waist. I whimper at the sudden pain in my side and the emotional damage this left on me. I nearly fall from feeling dizzy, but Donghae leans down and carries me bridal style before he takes off running home, “Hang on.” He urges as he runs past the lake and towards his front door. Someone opened the door and he runs in; he sets me on the couch and someone runs in with some aid kit.

            “Is he gonna be ok?” I hear Henry ask, but I couldn’t really see anything. My vision was blurry from all the crying.

            I was breathing heavily, and holding onto my side to ease the pain. I heard Donghae ripping my hoodie but I couldn’t really see him doing it.

            “DongHae…you’re hurt…” One of his sisters says. Was he hurt? I couldn’t really see, so I closed my eyes and tried to calm down the dizziness and the rush. I wasn’t sure what was happening anymore, but then I felt a sudden pain on my wound.

It stung! I whimper and wail, “It hurts!”

            “Sorry…” Donghae says softly. He started to bandage me up but I wasn’t really sure. I was so out of it. I breathe heavily and rest on his couch; it was comforting. He grabs my hands gently and started to wipe a cloth all over them, to clean the dirt I’m assuming. He started to clean the cut on my cheek gently; I tried not to stare at him.

            “Better?” he asks sweetly as he cleans off my dirty face.

            I look to the side in shame and slowly nod.

            “I’m sorry…I should’ve gotten there sooner.” He says softly. He sounded like he meant what he said.

            I stayed quiet and hugged myself. I sniffled a bit and tried to force the tears to not fall anymore.

            “Want me to take you home?” he offers.

            “No!” I say quickly. If Hyukjae saw me he’d lose it. “I don’t want Hyuk Jae to see me…not tonight….if he does then he’ll get pissed off, yell at me then go after Kai.” I tell him and then the door bell rings. Was it Hyukjae?

            I stare at Donghae.

            “I’ll talk to him…” He says then looks at his sister. “Carry him to Henry’s room please?” he asks and she nods and does what he asked of her. She gently grabs me and carries me up the stairs and into Henry’s room. She sets me down on the bed and walks off to grab some blankets. “How many would you like?” she asks sweetly.

            “…two?” I say softly, I laid down on the bed and felt a bit at ease.
 

Hyukjae’s POV   

I walked into Hae’s house “Is SungMin here?” I was a bit worried since he wasnt home.

            He nods, “Yup…he wants to spend the night…hope that’s ok?” his voice sounded off, but I wasn’t paying attention since I looked down and the bottom of his shirt was bloody. His cheek was slightly bruised. My heart ached at all the possibilities running through my head. I stare at him and freeze, “Donghae…are you hurt? What happened to you?*Staring at his bruise*” I rush over to him and inspect his face. He shakes his head and moves to the side. I frown. “Then…why is there blood on your shirt? And how did you get that bruise?” I raised an eyebrow and just stared at him. My heart was beating so fast for some odd reason, I just wanted to hug him and understand why he was hurt.

            He seemed choked up; the nerves were evident on his face “I-I’m sorry…please don’t hate me…I didn’t-” Tears formed in his eyes and I gently press my palms on his cheek and chin while I stare into his eyes. I just wanted him to calm down. I hated to see him this way.

            “DongHae…calm down.” I say softly trying to calm him down with my words and actions; I smile gently and brush my thumb on his cheek. I was careful not to touch the bruised area. “I could never hate you.” I say simply. “Now tell me…what happened, hm?” I stare into his eyes and he seemed to be giving in slowly. Come one…tell me, Donghae. I need to know who hurt you.

            He shakes his head a bit, “K-Kai…hurt SungMin…b-but hes ok! I cleaned his wounds and he’s fine now.” He nods to reassure me, “Really...” he mutters and I froze the instant he mentioned Kai. No…not SungMin. I’ll ing kill him if he lays a finger on SungMin. “Hy-Hyuk Jae?” Donghae leans closer to me and I snap out of it.

            “Where is he?” I choke out under my breath. I was losing it.

            “Upstairs…in Henry’s room…” he mumbles and I quickly walk off up the stairs while Donghae trailed behind me. As soon as I saw Sungmin on the bed, draped in his blankets I nearly broke down then; I held back my tears as I kneeled beside him. SungMin cried and hugged himself while I scanned how he was hurt; there was a bandage around his waist and a cut on his cheek. My heart was breaking at the sight of him.

            SungMin sniffles and stares into my eyes, “I’m sorry…” He mumbles and I shake my head slowly and force myself to calm down. I was aching to run out of here and hurt Kai for what he did. I crack a half hearted smile as I stare at him. Why is he apologizing to me?

            “Don’t be…” I peck his head, “I’m glad you’re ok.” I whisper weakly.

            “Don’t do anything stupid.” SungMin says softly. He looked scared that I would do something to Kai, but I knew that in the end I wouldn’t. He was still family.

            I shake my head, “I won’t…simply because it’d turn into a never ending cycle.” I hurt him, he hurts me back and it would just never end.

            SungMin half smiles, “Thank you…I need to tell you something…” he mutters, and glances at our audience.

            They all leave quietly and I just stare at SungMin, I gently rub his arm to console him, “What is it?” I ask in a small voice. SungMin pulls me up and I climb beside him on the bed; he pulls the covers over us and hugs me tightly; he rests his head on my shoulder and stares at me with his big eyes.

            “Donghae saved me…” he whispers gently.

            I stare at him and frown when I remember about Donghae’s wounds, “What happened?”

            “I don’t even know…Kai hurt me, and then Donghae was there. I think they fought…and then Kai’s friends showed up and one of them hurt me, but Donghae kicked him. So his friend punched him…but then…Kai stopped him…” he frowns, “He didn’t want him to hurt Donghae for some reason. But after that Donghae took the opportunity to grab me and run off with me…” he whispers and looks down ashamed, “I feel terrible…I hated him so much and yet he still saved me from Kai.”

            I stay quiet and gently run my fingers up and down his hair, “SungMin…Donghae is just…sweet like that…” I mumble. I really didn’t know what to say. His kindness really surprises me sometimes.

            SungMin cried in my arms and I held onto him tightly, “Kai scares me.” He wails and I just pecked his head and tried to calm him down. “He really hates us Hyukjae…” he wails and I only nod.

            “Ignore him…he’ll move on eventually.” I insist. He had to move on!

            SungMin sniffles and stares at me, “Do you like him?” he asks suddenly.

            I frown, “Kai?”

            “No…Donghae” he mumbles and stares at me with his red sore eyes.

            I gulp and was unsure of what to say. I did promise I would stay away from him… “As a friend…I can’t seem to stay away from him…” I respond.            

            “You promised….” Sungmin says in a small voice.

            “I know.” I nod and smile at him, “I know what I said.” But it is so difficult to stay away from him.

            “Forget the promise.” SungMin whispers, “I dont hate him anymore...” he smiles at me, "He's...*hesitant* he deserves you." he nods and I just smile and shake my head, "I know he'd make you happy." He rolls his eyes, "He lives to make you happy."

            “SungMin….” I stare at him, "You have nothing to be afraid of. I will never leave you, ever. You have no idea how happy it makes me to hear you say that you don't hate him.” I say softly and pull him into my arms. I held him tightly and he grins and hugs me back tightly. We talked for a while longer, about Kai and then about Donghae as well.

            SungMin and I ended up falling asleep.
 

Once it was morning, I make my way down the stairs and smile to myself when I see Donghae sleeping on the couch. Aw, he’s so cute. I grin and gently tap his shoulder. Once Donghae peeks under his lashes I say apologetically, “Sorry…SungMin and I fell asleep on accident…” He shakes his head and stands up. He looks around and seemed confused because we were completely alone.

            “No it’s ok…” He wipes his tired eyes and exhales deeply, “Feeling better?” he asks sweetly.

            I nod, “SungMin and I had a long conversation…and I feel calm…” I half smile and he stares at me oddly. I knew he must be thinking I was planning something against Kai. “Yah! Don’t look at me like that!” I chuckle and Donghae cracks a smile. “I can’t hurt Kai too much anyway…but I am thinking about doing something…” I was planning on slashing his tires or maybe pushing him off a cliff.

            “Don’t!” Donghae says quickly. “Please…” he seemed afraid.

            I stare at him then turn my attention to his bruised cheek; I lean in close to him and inspect the purple mark. “Does it hurt?”

            He shakes his head, “N-No, I’m fine.” He smiles big and nods-it was difficult to not believe him with his big cheesy grin. “It was nothing really…” he shrugs and smiles sweetly at me.

            “SungMin told me everything.” I say simply.

            “Oh?” he frowns. “What exactly is everything?” he crosses his arms and stares at me.

            I smile sadly as I remember how Sungmin explained  to me what happened. Kai’s friends laying a finger on Donghae made my blood boil. I wrap my arms around him and in a swift movement I pull him into a tight embrace. I hold onto him tightly and wanted to say so much to him. I wanted to thank him, to tell him just how grateful I was, but nothing seemed right. It wouldn’t be enough. I could have lost Donghae last night; the idea made my heart ache. He exhales a bit and presses his hands onto my chest while he nuzzles his head close to me.

            “Thank you…” I whisper softly. I close my eyes and smile comfortably while my head rested on his.

            He shakes his head, close his eyes and smiles big, “Don’t be, SungMin needed me…so I was there for him. Nothing odd about that.” He says simply and breathes in deeply. His scent was comforting, intoxicating even; I could never get enough of it.

            “You’re too kind for your own good.” I say softly. “Kai could have hurt you and yet you still went out of your way to help Sungmin” I pause and Donghae stays quiet while I continue. “SungMin hasn’t been kind to you and that didn’t seem to bother you at all…” I mumble and smile at that. “I will never get tired of thanking you DongHae...” I say softly and continue to hug him tightly; his warm embrace was so welcoming.

       “Hyuk Jae…” he whispers softly.

            I was so lost in his embrace that I nearly had a heart attack when Henry yells out, “HYUKJAE-HYYUUNNG!!!!!” we quickly pulled apart and stare at him. Henry’s eyes go big, “Sorry Sorry…didn’t mean to interrupt…” He pouts and stares at his feet.

            Donghae clears his throat, “No it’s ok…”

            “What’s up Henry?” I smile sweetly at him. There better be a good reason you interrupted us!

            “Was just gonna ask if you’d like to see DongHae’s art room.” He grins “You’ll love it!” He grabs my hand and drags me away.

            Donghae trails behind and we go into a room in the back of the house; as soon as we walked in I was taken back by all the artwork lying around. The room was brightly colored due to the different paintings. I smile and stare at the canvas in front of me.

            I look at Donghae and grin, “Will you paint in front of me?” his eyes widen a bit.

            “WELL BYE!” Henry runs off and closes the door behind him.

            He clears his throat and shrugs, “Sure…” he stands in front of the canvas, “But it’s boring…” he warns.

            I chuckle and stand behind him; I whisper, “Just paint…I’d love to see.” I was so curious to watch him paint.

            He nods and grabs a small canvas, “But small painting…” he mutters, “I take forever.” He slightly chuckles and I smile big while he grabs his paint cans.

            “Only black paint?” I frown. I thought he would use all the colors of the rainbow.

            He grins and dips his paintbrush into the black paint; he then gently swipes it around the canvas and I smile when I see what he was painting. My eyes were glued to his every movement and I grinned when he started to form a piano with his black paint.

            “I see…” I grin.

            “You’re my inspiration.” He whispers and flashes me a grin.

            I smile big by his words. That made me really happy.

            Time slowly went on by and by the time he was done I was still staring at his hands amazed by how well he painted. “Like it?” he asks after he signs his name to the side of the canvas.

            “I do.” I grin and stare at him. I actually loved it. It was a great painting.

            “It’s for you.” He hands it to me. “Just let it dry properly.” He chuckles while I nod and smile big at him.

            “It’s beautiful.” I beam happily and stare at the piano he painted for me. I was about to thank him but he quickly extends his hand out in front of me.

            “No more ‘thank you’s please.” he grins and I only chew on my bottom lip. How did he know? “Just accept what I do Hyuk Jae…” He leans close to me and smiles sweetly, “No more thanking me, neh?”

            I slowly nod, “I’ll be thanking you in my mind.” I smile big and he smiles as well. “Have you ever thought about putting your paintings in display?” I ask and he only frowns and shakes his head. Why wouldn’t he?!

            “No…I’m not that good.” He smiles a bit.

            I stare at him. Was he serious? I think he’s amazing. “Will you teach me?”

            “Teach you?”

            I nod, “Teach me how to paint.” I say softly and he grins.

            “Okay…” he responds in a small voice.

SungMin’s POV

~One Week Later~

            I headed towards the pool area knowing that Donghae would be there. I felt so scared for some reason, I knew he didn’t hate me, but I still felt guilty because of me he ended up getting hurt. I walk over to Donghae, ignoring the fact that he had just gotten out of the pool and was probably cold as ever. I bow and stared at my feet; I felt too ashamed to look him in the eyes.

            “You ok?” Donghae asks sweetly.

            I shake my head, “No.” I stare at him and exhale deeply, “I-I just…I wanted to apologize for the way I’ve treated you. You didn’t deserve any of it. I also wanted to thank you.” I pause. “Thank you, not only for dragging me away from Kai and his friends, but also for attending my wounds…” I chew on the inside of my cheek.

            He smiles a bit and nods, “No need to go on SungMin. You’re welcome and I have nothing to forgive you for so don’t apologize.” He says simply. He really didn’t hate me?

            I half smile, “Well my brother and I are planning on going to the state fair…and we’d love it if your siblings and you could come with us” I smile sweetly at him. I’m sure he would love to spend time with Hyukjae.

            He smiles, “You want me to go?”

            I nod, “I would love it if you went.” I answer sincerely.

            He giggles and nods, “We’ll be there!”

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So I didnt get as far as I wanted to!!! WAAAA i tried sooo hard and got so far but in the end it doesnt even matter

Hyukjae, your gay is showing!! OMG i love this, he's so like....oblivious to his gay feels. I feel his feels, do you feel his feels?! XD

Sorry...I'm a bit...tired. o.O 

Hope you enjoyed the Ch!♥