Title: Unconventional Friendship

Characters: Jung Yunho (DBSK/TVXQ), Lee Donghae (SuJu), BoA (cameo)

 

Story

As soon as the vast doors to the rather prestigious high school opened, the man walked in with as much fervour to his presence as a man of power himself. This man was Jung Yunho, the class king of this so called mini-universe of high school.

To those that viewed him in such an awe-struck manner, he seemingly strutted with confidence down the halls as if merely paving his own path in between the crowds, when in reality, he was slouched, walking with the least amount of energy possible towards his locker, just wanting to get the day over with.

Truth be told, Yunho actually did not like all the attention he received, and he concluded that the only reason for all the attention was probably his passion for football (or was it soccer in America?). If attention was the after effect, then he had to deal with it, especially since he was a captain of the team and by God, did he treasure that position.

He came from a middle class family, and though his grades were more than enough to get him a substantial scholarship to go on to college, he wanted to have sports as well, and he was rather certain that having that type of information on his transcript would do him no harm. Besides, it just opened more doors for him anyway.

However, he still disliked all of the looks of admiration whenever he came into the halls in the morning. What the people saw in him, he honestly did not know. If he were to describe himself, he was just a regular teenager that came from a middle-class family, that was blessed by some omnipotent being for having better than average looks as well as knowledge, intellect, and physical abilities.

But just because he possessed those qualities did not mean he was immune to his human nature. He cared about other people, surprisingly enough to his peers.

And this part of his nature was revealed when gym class had begun the following day.

A face that he didn’t recognise walked through the doors of the gym that day, and his form was rather lanky in nature, but not enough to be considered a twig. He paid no more attention to the man for today was his day to shine.

They were playing football today (or, once again, soccer in America).

However, just as the games were becoming more and more interested, an all-encapsulating screamed aded and echoed along the vast gym walls. Yunho’s eyes immediately located the source to find the young man he didn’t recognise earlier sprawled on the floor, knee bent towards him as he was clutching the lower part of his shin, teeth tightly clenched.

He quickly rushed over to him, bending down to his level.

“Hey, man, what happened?!” He asked in an alarmed fashion.

Of course, he didn’t really get a coherent response as the other moaned in pain, eyes shut tight. Yunho looked up, watching as some of the students stopped in the middle of the game and the coach rushed past the crowd, bending down alongside Yunho.

“What happened?” He asked Yunho, the other shaking his head in response.

The man bent down further, talking to the man in a soothing voice as he examined his shin further, gazing at the injury. “We must carry him to the infirmary. I’ll need some help. You,” he said, pausing to point at Yunho, then to two other males as they slowly and carefully lifted him. The young man made a small noise of pain as they hoisted him up and carried him towards the door.

“Wait, you’ll need this.”

The owner of the voice jogged towards the boys, handing them the key. “The nurse is not here on Wednesdays,” the girl explained. 

“Thanks for the info...” Yunho began, trailing off as if to persuade the woman to give up her name.

“Sora.”

“Thanks again.”

And with that, he and the two other men hoisted the unknown man up onto Yunho’s shoulders, and he carried him to the school infirmary.

 

---

 

As soon as they got there and unlocked the door, it was just as Sora had explained, the room lights weren’t even and the vicinity had clear of any other living being with the smell of medication ading the entire room. It was a rather musky, but still relaxing smell.

Yunho turned and let the man ease himself off his shoulders and onto the workbench on the opposite side of the room. He then turned to the other two.

“Thanks for the help guys, you can go back. Tell the coach I’ll take care of him.”

Surprisingly, without a word, the two students (who he couldn’t even recall the names to) listened to him and turned, walking out the door without muttering another word. Perhaps it was the fact that they didn’t really care for the new presence, but of course, Yunho had always been different.

Taking the absence of the nurse as a sign of leeway, Yunho immediately began scavenging the numerous medical cabinets for some type of bandage to wrap the now swelling body part.

“Thank you, by the way.”

He stopped, turning towards the man who was smiling brightly at him.

Yunho was slightly rendered speechless, enough to keep his composure, but he responded as well.

“It’s nothing.”

“On the contrary, it’s rather unusual for a stranger to randomly help another stranger, is it not? I believe that’s the sign of a good heart, mate.”

He turned towards the man once more. “What’d you call me?” He didn’t mean it in a threatening manner, but he wasn’t used to that type of mutual endearment.

“Mate? Sorry, I’m not really from here. Kind of a habit. Anyway. I’m Donghae.” He smiled again.

Yunho surprisingly felt himself slightly uncomfortable with the informal atmosphere, but he greeted it with open arms. It was a rather nice change from the other people that only ever viewed him as some person atop a pillar, never to be touched. This person, whoever he was, was the first to greet him on such equal terms.

“Yunho. Jung Yunho.”

“Ah, so you’re the one the whole school talks about.” Donghae nodded in recognition. “Though I’m quite confused. You don’t seem like the type that would randomly help someone.”

“Misconceptions, I suppose.”

“I’m assuming it’s not the only one. You’re not really comfortable with your position, are you, Yunho-sshi?”

Yunho turned to him again, wide-eyed. How was this stranger able to read him so well? He hadn’t met the guy more than 15 minutes ago, and it feels like they’d had this mutual connection all their life. This startled him, and he felt rather exposed -- as if this person, Donghae -- had suddenly broken down walls no one ever had.

“What makes you say that, Donghae-sshi?”

The other shrugged, focusing on the task at hand as he tightened the bandage before he looked up at him. “A hunch, I suppose. A man of your position must have better things to do,” he said simply. It was logical, of course, but this did not make Yunho feel at ease.

With a small smile, he lifted the injured leg carefully and placed it gently on the bed, standing up and picking up the tools he had used and walked over the the cabinets he had found them, returning them in place.

“You are welcome to say otherwise. Just so you know. I would not like to act too familiar.” Donghae said.

Placing the bandage inside the drawer and closing it, he turned so he could look at the other.

“No no, it’s...it’s fine. It’s a nice change.”

“Cathartic, is it not?” Donghae smiled once more as he examined the rather well-done bandaging of Yunho. “Perhaps your isolation from everything else is bad for you.”

“I’M NOT ISOLATED!” Yunho suddenly burst out in anger. He was surrounded by people all the time! How in the in world did this damn man-

“You sure?” He looked at Yunho straight in the eye, and for some reason, Yunho gulped at that. “I’m not here to judge you, so all I can tell you right now is exactly what I see. I could be wrong, but how you respond says otherwise.”

“What are you, some damn therapist?” Yunho growled.

“No, but my father is. I guess I get part of it from him.” Donghae said, once again, with a smile on his face as he began to stand up. That alarmed Yunho, his anger suddenly fading within a moment’s notice.

“Whoa whoa whoa. You can’t stand up.”

“Sure I can. I’m physically able to, see?” Donghae demonstrated, which he did rather successfully other than his facial features giving a wince in pain.

“Yeah, and I’m ing Harry Potter.”

“I didn’t know Harry was Asian.”

“Just sit back down, damn it. I’ll inform your teacher that you can’t make it to class. Who’s your teacher.”

“I’m guessing the omnipresent Yunho has his own flaws.” Donghae taunted. “I’m in your class, Yunho-sshi. I sit two seats away from you.”

Dear lord, if Yunho counted how many times this man could surprise him...it would take more than one hand. Yeah, that’s already one hand too many.

“You’re in my class.”

“If my memory serves me right, and I’m pretty sure it was my leg that got injured, not my head.”

“You know you have a horribly roundabout way of clarifying things.”

“Makes life more interesting, I suppose. Besides, I’m not physically capable of much, not like you anyway, so what I can’t do physically, I make up for with my speech.”

“That’s...a rather interesting way to put it.”

Yunho found himself nodding, he, turning towards the door. “I’ll come see you after school. Don’t you dare move until then.”

“Oh, I just lifted a finger, sorry.”

“Shut up.”

---

That next day, Yunho indeed clarified that Donghae was in his class. He sat just where he said he was sitting and when he turned to look, he was given a rather friendly -- correction, infuriating -- smile. Scowling, he turned to face the blackboard as class started. The teacher had just walked in the classroom, the students rising and bowing to greet him.

After what seemed to be eternity, lunchtime came. The young man quickly closed his books and notebooks, placing them inside his bag neatly when suddenly, he felt a presence beside him. As a person who was constantly approached by others, he gazed up with his usual friendly smile. Only for it to disappear completely from the face of the Earth as his eyes met the male’s.

“And who are you?” Yunho asked, smiling again knowing he had an image to uphold and despite his inside boiling in irritation, he had to endure.

Donghae smiled -- that infuriatingly smug and pleased -- smile. “So it is true that even you have your flaws. It appears memory loss is one of them.”

Standing up abruptly, he came face to face with the shorter boy. “You. Me. Out.”

“I thought you’d never ask,” Donghae replied, smiling as he followed the other outside of the classroom, limping slightly. The other did not even wait for him and proceeded to walk with long strides. Although he tried to catch up, the pain was keeping him from doing so.

“You know, if you’re planning on running for the meet, you should practice outside not inside the school building.” Slightly out-of-breath, he placed his hand against the wall and used that as support.

Yunho, once making sure that no one was in sight to see their conversation, turned towards the panting man. He felt just slightly -- probably 1% of his entire being -- bad for him since he knew he was following him on an injured leg, but that feeling was completely overpowered by his annoyance with such a being.

“What in the world are you doing, greeting me like that?”

“Aw, don’t be like that, Harry. I thought we bonded rather well yesterday.”

Yunho’s anger boiled inside him even more, to the point to which he was taking deep breaths to calm himself down.

“You realise no one does that?”

“You realise I’m not ‘no one’, whoever that is.”

“Yes...I’m seeing that...”

“What’s so wrong with someone greeting you anyway?”

“It’s unwarranted!” He immediately replied, though way too hastily for it to be even slightly genuine. If he was being completely honest with himself, his reputation be damned, he really didn’t know why he was so angered by Donghae’s greeting, though perhaps the eyes that were facing them at the room at the time had something to do with it. Come on, Yunho? Talking with some random commoner? It was unheard of.

“Is that like your automated response or something?”

“Do I look like some soulless machine to you?”

“Well you certainly act like one.”

Yunho caught something in his throat at that. Whatever he was about to say, whatever he wanted to say to lash back out at the man had completely vanished. All his intentions were no more, and he merely looked at the man with a sudden burst of surprise.

“What?”

“I don’t understand why you contradict yourself. You’re not even comfortable with your status at this school, yet you do everything to uphold that. What? Is it only when dire consequences ensue that you deviate from that? Is that why you helped me yesterday even though you had no idea who I was? Are you merely acting on behalf of everyone else’s expectations? To the point of breaking?”

He opened his mouth, closing it again after. The words died down in his throat and once again he was left speechless in front of Donghae. The other simply looked at him, patiently waiting for an answer before he gave him a small smile.

“Cat got your tongue, Harry?”

Yunho wanted to punch him. He really did, but he couldn’t. Because although he disliked it now, the way Donghae slowly peeled away each and every layer of him was a relief. No one had ever cared enough to do that.

his lips nervously, he held his hands up in defeat, turning around to not give the other the pleasure of seeing him so unnerved or see the way the corners of his lips were twitching as if he was about to smile but was clearly restraining himself.

“Whatever,” he scoffed.

He heard the other laugh, causing him to roll his eyes. “Did you magically turn into a fourteen-year-old girl or is it just me?”

“Oh shut up, Donghae.”

He heard another laugh come from the man behind him, and it wasn’t until he felt a hand on his left shoulder when he finally faced him again, not even restraining the corners of his lips curling upwards anymore.

“What I’m saying is that you need at least one friend in this chaos.”

Yunho smirked at him, eye-ing the other man. “And you think you’re that person?”

“Would you prefer some random bootlicker that praises the floor that you walk on?”

“Probably not.”

“Well good, cause there is no way in hell I’d be in’ your boots.”

---

It had been a good year and 3 months ever since that encounter, and now, the entire school had accepted the rather unconventional friendly bond that the two men shared. Donghae, although not as prominent as Yunho, had somehow managed to develop his own status within the school grounds. A rather large majority of his attention was from girls too, surprisingly, but Yunho merely concluded that it was because those girls were mentally insane to see his friend as handsome in the first place.

Morning came again, and as Yunho was just about to slam his locker shut, a girl entered the periphery of his vision. A girl he noticed all too familiarly, and it wasn’t until Donghae’s voice spoke when he was brought back to his regular train of thought.

“I may not have the same opinion, but flies do tend to find your open mouth rather attractive.”

“You sure do know how to ruin a moment.”

“Comes with the job, mate.” Donghae smiled, Yunho merely shaking his head in response as he slammed his locker shut.

Donghae began again.

“So, Kwon BoA, huh?”

“What about her?”

“You fancy her.”

“I DO NOT!” Yunho vehemently denied, which of course, meant the exact opposite. “Just...keep it to yourself.” Yunho fiddled with the padlock on his locker as to avoid the other man’s gaze.

“She is rather beautiful.”

“Donghae.” Yunho groaned. “Not now.”

“It’d be a shame for such beauty to be handed over to another male.”

“Hey, quit it-”

“Perhaps even one less attractive, though she does seem like the one that would go for persona-”

“DONGHAE, SHUT UP!”

THE END