Hyukjae stared at Donghae. “This is a very sick joke, Hae.”

“I'm not joking.” Donghae's eyes never left his sneakers.

“W-Was it something I did?”

Donghae didn't look up, but he didn't need to in order to know that Hyukjae had started to cry. His heart clenched painfully in his chest as he watched droplets of water stain his shoes. He shook his head in response to Hyukjae's question.

“Something I said?”

Another no.

“Then what, Hae?”

“I-I just don't think it'll work out between us.”

“What do you mean it won't work out? You told me that you'd never give up on us. Were you lying?”

“No!” Donghae shouted.

“Then why are you doing this to me? It isn't funny, Hae!”

Suddenly, Donghae's voice hardened and turned almost venomous. “I love someone else, okay?”

“S-Someone else? Who?”

“Jessica.”

Hyukjae laughed dryly. He placed a hand on Donghae's shoulder and leaned his forehead against the brunette's. “Now I know you're lying.”

“I'm not.”

Hyukjae frowned at the coldness in Donghae's voice. “Then look at me and say it.”

He pulled back, and Donghae almost whimpered at the loss, something he feared he'd never feel again. His mind was screaming, Don't do it, you idiot! Stop being stupid and fight that ! Tell him the truth. Don't watch him get hurt again.

He thought about the time when Hyukjae first confessed to him, how scared and nervous he had been. He thought about the time their parents called and how he accidentally made Hyukjae feel like he didn't love him. The latter had cried in his room until Donghae convinced him that his feelings were genuine. He thought about how possessive and heartbroken Hyukjae was when he caught Jessica kissing him. He couldn't do that to him again.

But he didn't have a choice. Hyukjae's reputation was at stake and he couldn't get their parents involved, not yet.

He slowly raised his eyes to Hyukjae's, taken back by the amount of pain and fear reflected in them. He hid his guilty, lying face behind a mask and said, “You're not the one I love. It's Jessica.”

Hyukjae didn't say anything. He just nodded, pushed himself off the wall, and walked past Donghae until he disappeared down the hall.

Once he was alone, Donghae collapsed on the floor where he stood and buried his head in his knees. Everything hurt, a slow burning pain eating his insides, starting at his heart. He didn't even make an effort to wipe the tears that flowed mercilessly from his eyes. If he felt this bad, he didn't even want to think about Hyukjae.

He sensed that someone was standing over him, but he didn't have the strength to lift his head to see who it was. Good thing he didn't because it was the person he least wanted to see right now.

“You did well, oppa,” Jessica chimed. “Your secret is safe with me now.”

Donghae couldn't reply. He just stayed there until everyone left. He was afraid to go home. How was he supposed to meet Hyukjae again after this?

When he opened the door, it was dark and quiet. He began to get worried when Hyukjae's shoes and jacket weren't in the house either. He wasn't in his room either. In fact, he wasn't in the house at all.

Donghae finally mustered up enough courage to call him. It was past ten o' clock and Hyukjae still hadn't come home. No one picked up. He tried again and again. On what felt like the fiftieth try, someone picked up.

“He's here.” It was Sungmin.

“I-Is he all right?”

The line went dead.

Donghae sighed and took a shaky breath. He crawled into Hyukjae's bed, needing to feel, smell, sense anything that belonged to his beloved red head. After crying into Hyukjae's pillow for an hour or so, he fell asleep, clutching the sheets to his chest.

Hyukjae didn't go to school the next day. Neither did Sungmin. Kyuhyun argued about going, but his boyfriend made him. He quickly kissed Sungmin's cheek and smiled sadly at Hyukjae.

The red head was curled up among the pink bedsheets of Sungmin's bed, still sleeping. Dried tears stained his cheeks. Sungmin was sitting next to him and continued to rub circles on Hyukjae's back.

He had been, for lack of a better word, surprised when Hyukjae appeared at his house last night. He had looked awful, his eyes swollen and red from crying. And when he told Sungmin that Donghae had broken up with him, the latter couldn't believe it. It had to be a lie.

And that was when Hyukjae passed out on his doorstep with a fever.

Sungmin and Kyuhyun spent the next couple of hours stabilizing Hyukjae's condition. The Donghae called. Sungmin finally answered after a while and snapped into the phone that Hyukjae was at his house.

The dark-haired boy was broken from his reverie when Hyukjae stirred and woke up. He rubbed his raw eyes and glanced up at Sungmin. He smiled, but it was obviously fake. Sungmin felt awful.

“Just stay here,” he said. “I'll make you something to eat.”

It took Hyukjae a few minutes to assess why he was at Sungmin's house. Then he remembered, and tears returned to his eyes.

Donghae said he didn't love him anymore. And he said it like he meant it.

Maybe it was true. Maybe his feelings really changed. It was possible.

Hyukjae just didn't want to accept that it was over. After everything they'd been through, Donghae left him so easily. It was cruel.

“Feeling any better?” Sungmin asked when he came back. The he saw Hyukjae's tears. “It has to be a mistake, Hyukkie.” He placed a tray of pancakes and strawberry milk in front of him. He watched as Hyukjae didn't even try to drink the milk. “Donghae wouldn't do this.”

“He did, Min.” Hyukjae sighed, wiping his tears vigorously. “He said he loves Jessica now.”

Sungmin frowned. If there was one thing he hated, it was that . “Come on, Hyuk. Don't believe that. There's no way Donghae would...”

Hyukjae was shaking his head. “He looked me in the eyes and said it. He had to have been serious.”

“Hyukjae, I could look you in the eyes right now and say I hate my stuffed bunny, and that's obviously a lie.”

“Donghae hardly makes eye contact with anyone, Min... unless he's serious.”

*~*~*

“Well by all appearances, it's true,” Kyuhyun said into his phone. He was currently observing the new “couple” at school. “But Donghae hyung doesn't look too happy.”

“What do you mean?” Sungmin asked on the other line.

“He looks no better than Hyukjae hyung. His eyes are red and he just looks bad. Besides, I haven't seen him smile or talk all day.”

In fact, Donghae was miserable. He felt crushed inside, and he was worried about Hyukjae. But, Jessica was happy hanging on his arm all day.

“It doesn't feel right, Min,” Kyuhyun went on. “She must've forced him or something.”

“But how?”

“Blackmail?”

“I wouldn't put it past her,” Sungmin mumbled. “We'll figure it out. Love you.”

Hyukjae missed school for the rest of the week. His fever returned and he was starting to hallucinate. He kept calling Sungmin “Hae.”

At school, Sungmin and Kyuhyun kept a close eye on Donghae. He really did not look happy.

It had almost been two weeks before Hyukjae came back to school. He only went home a couple times to get clothes, and he made sure that Donghae wasn't there when he did.

Sungmin watched Jessica intently. He had to find out what she was holding against Donghae to make him hurt Hyukjae so much. And it was evident that Donghae was deeply hurt too.

Three weeks after the break up, Donghae was about to ram his head against the wall. Hyukjae wouldn't even look at him, and he didn't blame him, but still... The brunette didn't know how much longer he could follow this lie. One day, he dragged Jessica to an empty classroom and demanded that she erase the videos from her phone.

“I'm already doing everything you want. Just delete those videos, please.”

“I don't know, oppa. Won't you just run back to Hyukjae oppa if I do?”

Donghae shook his head. “He wouldn't take me back anyway.”

Outside the door, Sungmin smirked at Kyuhyun. Jessica was blackmailing Donghae. And now they knew how. Donghae was lying the whole time about loving her. They would fix this.

Sungmin cleared his throat and walked in the room, startling Jessica and Donghae. Donghae stared at him in desperation, an almost childlike, scared expression in his eyes. Jessica just rolled hers.

Sungmin started, “Did you really think that you could blackmail Donghae into liking you?” Jessica blushed slightly. “That's low, even for you.”

“Don't provoke me, bunny boy,” Jessica hissed. She took out her phone and threatened to press the SEND button.

“I dare you,” Sungmin challenged. Donghae had begun to shake. He sent Sungmin pleading glances.

“Fine.” She pressed the button, horrifying Donghae, but Sungmin just continued smirking.

Message Failed.

She tried again. Same thing.

“What's wrong with this thing?” she shrieked.

Kyuhyun entered the room, grinning evilly. Being the genius he was, he already wirelessly hacked her phone and disabled her messaging components.

“I'll still give it to the principal—”

Her screen went blank. She tried to open the video again, but they were gone. Kyuhyun had erased the video memory in her phone as well.

(a/n: Is any of that possible? Well for Kyu, sure, but seriously... Thank God for fiction^^)

Sungmin grabbed Donghae's wrist and pulled him after him. “You're an idiot.” Donghae didn't reply. “You think a couple of stupid videos would have kept Hyukjae away from you? He's crazy in love with you.” He pushed Donghae down the hall and stood next to Kyuhyun, holding the younger boy's hand. “You know where to find him,” Sungmin said.

Donghae nodded and ran towards the roof. Sungmin smiled and nodded, feeling content. He opened his mouth to yell something after the brunette about make-up , but Kyuhyun sealed his mouth shut with a kiss.