“Beige!”

Excited, Ryeowook found himself running after the girl in the hallway, following her until she turned around and stopped, bowing her head at the sight of him, now beaming in glee.“What is it, Wookie-sshi?” asked the girl.

He kneeled down---in a pleading manner, he started begging her. “Can I ask you a favor please??”

Everyone else was looking, recognizing them both as some classmate in their class or someone who lived across their dorm. Anyone who passed by giggled at the sight of the two of them, as if proposing bluntly for others to see. She blushed, as she told Wookie to get up, so people would discontinue that shameful mocking.

“What?” she whispered, people still watching them. Slowly they went about with their real lives when he got up, still happy and anxious to tell her something she was dying to hear. Her heart pounced noisily inside that she placed her hand over that area, hoping to calm it down. But it didn’t. It was leaping in multiple jumps of rope breaks, like what little children play in the streets.

He nodded, ping his bag and searching for the thing he wanted. Inside his notebook, he took out a picture, handing it quickly to Beige. She looked at him in confusion, and yet she found this a bit too insulting on her ego. Her eyebrows furrowed in hatred, but she calmly controlled her whole heart from speaking out. She waited for him to give an explanation.

“You’re good at drawing, right?” Ryeowook asked. “Because I’m not.”

She nodded truthfully, shyly eyeing the picture given to her. It was Ryeowook, with Luna, and their hands intertwined, smiles cheering up any depressed soul out there, except hers, perhaps. She wanted to cry. But what to do now? She could not him down at all; of course, she was a friend, merely just that and not an inch more.

She sighed. “Do you want me to draw this for you?”

“Yes,” Ryeowook replied cheerfully. “I’m going to give it to her as a present for her birthday.”

She smiled, faking an emotion. “Sure. I’ll do what I can. How would you want the drawing to be? Or do you want it painted?”

Ryeowook shrugged, unable to choose which style would be better. “You decide.”

“I can do it charcoal, but that’s too traditional, right?” Beige almost made her tone sound so casual, as if it didn’t hurt her. “I’ll try drawing it on canvas, then. It’s not too big, though.”

“On canvas? Are you sure? A small sketch would have been lovely but...I didn’t mean for you to---”

Beige shook her head pleasingly. “It’s for a friend. I don’t mind at all. I have loads of unused canvas at home. I could ask Mom to drive them over tonight.”

“I’m going to pay you right now for that offer,” Wookie initiated.

She quickly stopped him, shaking her head. “No, please. It’s the least I can do.”

Ryeowook felt eagerly thrilled to hear this and with that, he bowed his head and left Beige, telling her he was off to meet Luna for lunch that day. She sighed in condescending relief; somehow, she made it through. She must learn how to fight off the feelings stirring inside of her every time he was talking to her. It drove her crazy.

Was she really planning to risk her canvas boards just for this ugly photo? It didn’t sound much like her at all. Those canvases were reserved for special occasions, and she would be wasting them all for a birthday present. But how could she thought of this when he already left with an assurance?

Oh well. As promised, she couldn’t let him down, not when he’s practically in love with another girl.

-o0o-

7:45 pm. Saturday, November 13.

After dinner, the boys opened together their card envelopes that contained their first examination results. Nervously and patiently they flipped it open, scared of what the outcome may be. Kyuhyun, seated in his wheelchair, was at the far end, also afraid of what his grades would look like when in fact he only took them when he was at the hospital. Just this morning, he was released with his doctor’s permission, and it agitated him that he would be attending his regular class schedule that following Monday.

All of them had charming beams on their faces, a few (Leeteuk being their leader) started dancing in the craziest dance ever invented, and even Hangeng joined their celebration.

“I got all A’s.” Most of them blurted these results.

“I got a C in my Chemistry,” complained Heechul, shocked. “I must have gotten confused with the electron negativity. Darn it.”

“My lowest is a B-,” stated Donghae. “And it’s no longer a wonder. Thank you Geometry.”

“An A- for my lowest,” Hyukjae announced, grinning. “All right, Hyoyeon.”

“Kyuhyun-sshi? How were yours?” asked the curious Hangeng. “I hope you did well.”

He grinned, showing them complete straight A’s from top to bottom. “I aced Music, as well. Thank you Yesung-hyung for the help on the vocals.”

The hyung nodded. “I wrote something for us to sing. Hyung-nim can play it on his guitar and Wookie can accompany it on the piano. Would you sing with me, please?”

“No,” he rejected, quickly laughing.

The others seemed to disagree yet again with Kyu’s response. Despite that, they all seemed to share an inner thought of bliss that the maknae was finally back from his hiatus health. It scared all of them, frightened that their annoying Kyuhyun would leave this world forever. He should even be dead by now if it weren’t for Shindong. Thankful, they took his jokes more lightly after the accident he encountered.

“Come on, Kyu,” asked the eldest, smiling happily.

“Yeah, go sing,” Sungmin suggested. “We miss hearing you do that. The last time you sang was when we presented Bonamana...like two months ago.”

“He just wants us to keep begging him to start singing,” Siwon stated, “When in fact, he has been dying to do it.”

They all laughed raucously, like some drunken men in the streets.

Kyuhyun rolled his wheelchair towards Yesung, handing him the sheet music with the lyrics under them, Eeteuk hastily prompting himself next to them with his guitar at knee. He waited until the singers were ready before he began strumming the strings, Ryeowook waiting for his hyung-nim to start.

“This song is called someone like me,” Yesung told them all. “I was bored and my turtle helped writing the lyrics. This was dedicated...” He was cut short, the others trying to decode the enigmatic smile the hyung showed. It was a phenomenal gesture, and they found it very intriguing every time he made one.

“For who?” yelled the crowd full of curiosity.

He gulped, blushing. “For a violinist. She means this much to me I don’t...I don’t know if I can actually sing this to her one day. I wish...I wish I could.”

“Yesung-hyung should always be in love,” Ryeowook told him. “So we’ll always have some entertainment in the evening.”

They all wowed at his confession to them, but they knew Yesung was telling the truth, his eyes fierce with the emotion as the music played.

Kyuhyun was first to sing. He slowly watched how the feeling became something so real, so amazing it was.

‘I want to escape from my old insignificant self,’Kyuhyun sang it naturally, relating his whole being to the lyrics.

‘It seems that someone like me can’t give you anything at all.’

“Yesung, it’s such a sad song!” Heenim shouted while the rest were listening to Kyuhyun’s powerful voice.

By the chorus, Yesung started to sing as well, his soft vocals joining that of Kyuhyun’s low ones. As the two of them were singing together, the maknae found the lyrics to be surprisingly hurtful, in a way that they reflected how he felt for Seohyun. But of course, no one could ever decode the real meaning of the song that Yesung-hyung himself. It was such a beautiful piece.

‘If you’re still there,’Kyuhyun was trembling when he arrived at this line, knowing that it had some connection with him and Yesung. It would seem they both felt that way towards a girl they liked so much.

‘I’m an idiot, forgive me...’

All the hyungs began laughing, when the boy made it a point to sing it forcefully, because it was lovely indeed.

‘Don’t you believe that there’s only one person for you,’Kyuhyun began.

‘It’s only me...’Yesung’s notes reached the heavens, the sky merely even a limit.  It sustained until the bridge part where Kyuhyun started his.

‘I’ll be lost forever without you, wandering in a dream... do you remember now?’ Kyuhyun tried defending his ego with another high sustaining voice, as the two great singers finished off the final chorus.

Applause from all over the room, the boys gave a standing ovation.

“You should really sing it to her,” Hangeng advised. “It’s...too gorgeous. She’ll really forgive you...whatever it is you did.”

Yesung smirked. “No, I didn’t do anything actually. She just...overreacts...”

“Because you under-react,” Eeteuk said.

He laughed. “No, no. But yeah, maybe I do under react.”

“You must sing to her,” Siwon told him. “It’d all go to waste if you don’t.”

“Okay, okay, I will,” he assured them. “Next Saturday sounds good. All Music Students are attending a conference about classical music. I could ask for an intermission number. Would Kyuhyun-sshi sing with me?”

The maknae nodded in agreement.

“Ah, Yesung-sshi is going to confess,” Leeteuk said cheerfully. “I hope it’ll work out.”

“How about you Kyuhyun-sshi? How are you and Seohyun lately?” wondered Donghae.

He smiled politely. “That is an excellent question. Next question, please.”

His hyungs stared at him, all with different styles of perceiving the maknae’s words. Something was definitely wrong was a cliché, they all thought. Kyuhyun was often talkative when it was about Seohyun.

“What happened?” Eeteuk asked with concern. “Shindong said you two were not in good terms. That’s why you went drinking. Did you...”

“Hyung,” Kyuhyun looked at him, eyes agreeable. “Seohyun has a boyfriend. I can’t...I can’t...”

“That’s brutal,” Eunhyuk said.

“I’m going to kill that ,” Heechul warned. “How dare her...how dare her think about playing with your feelings. Damn that .”

“Heechul-hyung,” Sungmin started. “Don’t do that. And besides, Kyuhyun...he’s...Siwon-sshi, can you order us some good pizza? The maknae needs some comfort foods.”

“I don’t need comfort foods, Min-hyung,” Kyuhyun told him quietly. “I just need her.”

-o0o-

‘Sorry sorry sorry...’

Heechul’s phone beeped in the dark that evening, and he couldn’t understand who could be calling at such a late hour. He rubbed his eyes, squinting at the wall clock. Both hands were on 2. Do