“Well, someone looks horrible today.”

“Shut up, Cho.”

Kyuhyun sniggered as he watched the pathetic human being just a few inches away from him slump over his own locker, head blended expertly between the numerous textbooks stuffed into the metal confinements. As much as the boy wanted to leave Hyukjae to mourn for his Maplestory life on his own, he was scared about what the depressed elder could get himself into.

“Hey, it’s not my fault you pulled an all-nighter last night just to stalk a Mercedes.”

“She’s not just a Mercedes!” Hyukjae wailed, his voice slightly muffled since he decided to let his upper body stay inside his locker, “She stole my kill!”

It was true, though. Hyukjae did spend the whole night trying to find the female character; researching on forums, asking nearby players, going through every available party quest, and even spent millions of mesos flying to every island available on Maple World. All of his efforts to gain revenge on the player went futile, and the poor boy ended up crying himself to sleep.

Hyukjae sighed before finally looking up at the younger, “She ruined me, Kyuhyun.” He hissed, “I will get my revenge. I will find her, and I will show her no mercy.”

“It’s just a game,” Kyuhyun tried to reason with the boy, “You can’t let her—“

“You did not,” The elder interrupted. “Just call Maplestory a game.”

Kyuhyun shrugged at the accusation, “Okay, maybe it’s not just a game. It’s a tense battle between Maplers and the Black Mage, who is currently on his way to break the seal the five heroes of Maple World have managed to lock him in, and on the day that he escapes everyone will come together and defeat him once and for all.”

“Glad you noticed.” Hyukjae grumbled before slamming his locker shut, slinging on his shoulder-bag, and pulling his laptop up onto his chest before making his way down the hall for English class.

Donghae didn’t know why he did it.

Maybe he wanted to gain the elder’s attention? Or maybe he wanted to cheat his way into getting the monster’s EXP (even though it was very clear that his character had already reached Level 200 and didn’t need a single speck of Experience Points from the gargoyle). The first seemed logical, while the second just made him sound like a noob.

But at that time, being a noob sounded better than making the love of his life suffer a terrible geeky fit the night vacation break ended.

“Seriously, what do you see in that guy?” Sungmin asked, chewing his lunch in the process and unattractively showing the mushed up rice in his mouth.

Ryeowook slightly winced at the sight. “Ew, hyung. Just… ew.” He complained while handing the elder a napkin from his lunch tray.

It was a few minutes into lunchtime, and the three friends had seated themselves in the darkest corner of the cafeteria again (mainly because Sungmin didn’t want the sun shining from the windows to ruin his flawless skin). After they had gotten their food, a particular group from their grade decided to plop down onto the table just across theirs.

And Donghae started to really wish that they hadn’t.

“They literally spend their whole time on the computer, and just look at that terrible haircut!” The eldest of the three shrieked in disbelief, “I never knew blind people could sign up as a hair stylist!”

The group consisted of four teenagers: Kyuhyun, Kibum, Shindong and Hyukjae. They had officially gained the title of so-called ‘nerds’ of the school; and surprisingly, they were completely fine with that. The fact that they are always spotted with a laptop in their hands just emphasises the point more.

And what do they do with the laptops? Play Maplestory, of course.

Donghae sighed, his eyes barely moving away from the man of his dreams, “Doesn’t he just glow, Min? Look at him, so perfect and flawless.”

“His hair resembles a porcupine, if you haven’t noticed.” Sungmin answered, swatting the napkin that was again shoved into his face by Ryeowook.

The love-struck idiot moved his gaze away from the boy, furiously tapping away on his laptop, to glare at his friend. “Shut up, Lee. At least I have the tendency to show my love for Hyukjae instead of keeping it locked up.”

“Are you trying to tell me something?” The elder returned the glare.

“Yes, indeed I am.” Donghae countered, “Why can’t you just stand on the stool you’re sitting on right now and scream to the world that you’d do anything to have Cho Kyuhyun’s shoved up yo—“

“SHUT YOUR FACE!” Sungmin screeched, throwing his body onto the younger while at it.

The ruckus they made successfully gained unwanted attention from the table across from theirs, and Donghae caught a glimpse of Hyukjae’s eyes gazing at his before going back to his laptop screen.

If Sungmin wasn’t currently sitting on his hips and squeezing the life out of his neck, Donghae could’ve sworn he would be sporting a hard-on right then and there. 

A/N - I refuse to edit at 1:37 in the morning. Nope.

This chapter is as horrible as Kyuhyun's hair for SJM's comeback.

I swear it gets better otl.