“Hyukjae! Donghae! I made dinner!” Hyukjae's mother called from down the stairs.

Hyukjae stood up from the bed and walked right past Donghae without giving the boy a second glance. He went straight into the kitchen.

Upon hearing his stomach grumble, Donghae also got up and followed the red head down the stairs.

Once everyone was comfortably eating at the table, Mrs. Lee asked Donghae how he was doing.

“Are you settling in well, Donghae?” she began. “I bet you'll feel more comfortable when you have your own room.”

Donghae mumbled a thank you to not be rude.

“Please don't be shy. You're family now. If you need anything, just ask. Oh! I almost forgot! Hyukjae, I bought some strawberry cake to celebrate Donghae's first night with us.”

“Ah! Really!” Hyukjae's entire face lit up.

Donghae was surprised. He had only seen the cold, I-don't-like-you side of Hyukjae. He wasn't expecting to suddenly see such a childish expression on the red head's face.

“Thank you, thank you, Umma!” Hyukjae praised, running over to the refrigerator and taking out the cake.

“Honey, don't eat the whole thing by yourself. Save some for everybody.”

Donghae thought that by the hungry, delighted glint in Hyukjae's eyes that the thin boy could eat the whole cake by himself. He almost laughed. He watched as Hyukjae happily munched on his piece. Was this really the same guy who had insulted his father before? Was this the real Hyukjae? Donghae didn't know, but he vowed never to find out.

After dinner, Hyukjae went back upstairs to shower and change for bed. The strawberry cake had put him in a good mood. He hummed a song while he rummaged through his closet. He quickly threw on some old sweatpants and a sweatshirt over his T-shirt before grabbing an extra uniform to bring with him downstairs. He hadn't noticed that Donghae had entered the room and was following his every move.

Turning around, Hyukjae's eyes widened when he saw Donghae sitting on the floor at the foot of his bed. Addressing the brunette quickly, Hyukjae said, “I'm feeling generous tonight, so you can sleep in my bed. I'll sleep on the couch. I won't wait for you in the morning.” With that, he left.

Donghae sighed, climbing onto the bed. He leaned back against the headboard and thought about his father.

Appa. I miss you a lot. Your friend and his wife are very good to me. I think I'll be okay. It's just, I don't know what to do about that guy. Anyway, I hope you and Umma are happy together in heaven. Don't worry about me too much.

One last though popped into Donghae's head before he drifted off into sleep.

“How am I going to find my way to school tomorrow?”

Settling onto the couch, Hyukjae remembered that he forgot to grab his bag. Sungmin had texted him about meeting in the morning and he didn't want to have to be stuck dragging Donghae along with him. He planned to leave as early as possible.

The red head silently crept back up the stairs and pushed the door to his room open. The light was still on but Donghae was fast asleep on his bed. Hyukjae rolled his eyes for the nth time that day and grabbed his bag from the back of the chair at his desk. Just as he was about to leave, he noticed that Donghae was shivering.

That stupid idiot didn't even get under the sheets, Hyukjae thought. He placed his bag down and went over to his bed. He slid the sheets out from under Donghae as gently as he could and placed them over the brunette. Last time I'm nice to him, Hyukjae told himself before shutting off the light as he left the room.

The next morning when Donghae woke up, he found that Hyukjae had not been lying. He was already gone from the house. Donghae sighed and pushed back the covers, just realizing that he had been under them. Shrugging, he figured that Hyukjae's mother had been the one that took care of him.

“Donghae?” Mrs. Lee's voice rang through the door. She slowly opened the door. “How did you sleep, dear? Were you comfortable?”

Donghae nodded.

“I brought your uniform. It seems like Hyukjae left already. I wonder why he didn't wake you up so you two could go together. I apologize for him, Donghae. He's never acted this rude before.”

Donghae stayed silent.

“Oh, I'm late for work. Will you need help getting to school?”

The brunette shook his head. He'd find his way there.

“All right then. Breakfast is on the table. Here's a house key. Lock up before you leave, okay?”

Nodding again, Donghae offered her a weak smile.

“Have a nice day, dear,” Mrs. Lee said, squeezing Donghae's hand before leaving.

Donghae walked into the bathroom attached to Hyukjae's room and took a quick shower. He wasn't surprised by the strawberry-scented shampoo. He changed into the uniform and dried his hair with a towel. He looked at himself in the mirror. Donghae sighed again; he looked so tired. He had dark circles under his eyes and his looked paler than usual.

Taking the towel off his head, a wry smile crept onto his face. Due to static, his hair was sticking out at various angles and it made him look like he had stuck his finger in a light socket. He smoothed his hair down and fixed his ties before grabbing his heavy jacket and bag.

He ate the breakfast Hyukjae's mother had made—pancakes—and cleaned up afterwards.

He put on his jacket and stepped outside the front door and locked it. Slipping the key into his pocket, Donghae pulled the collar of his jacket closer to his neck and wished he had gotten a hat. The weather was very cold and snow was swirling to the ground from the sky.

Looking for someone to ask for directions from, he spotted some students with the same uniform. He decided to just follow them rather than asking. He memorized the streets that led to the brick building labeled Seoul High School.

“I'm so excited for this semester!” some random girl squealed. Her friends asked her why. “I'm in the same class as Hyukjae oppa!”

“Ahh~ So lucky~”

Lucky? Donghae thought. It was from then on, from the disappointed and happy comments in the hallways, that Donghae discovered just how high up Hyukjae was on the popularity chart. Great. No wonder he doesn't like me. I'd bring down his social status.

*~*~*

“What are you going to do, Hyukkie?” Sungmin asked the red head as they sat at a table in the cafe. Kyuhyun didn't look up from his game but nodded to show that he was also curious.

Hyukjae sipped his strawberry milk, pouting cutely at his friends. He had just told them about Donghae. “I don't know~” he whined.

“Why didn't you bring him with you?” Sungmin took another bite of his cinnamon roll. Kyuhyun wiped the sugar that was smeared on the corner of his cute boyfriend's mouth with his sleeve.

“He doesn't like people,” Hyukjae replied simply. “He told me himself.”

“He can't be that bad, Hyukkie.”

Hyukjae glanced at Sungmin sideways. “He's weird, Minnie.”

“Well, when are we going to meet him?”

Hopefully not at all, Hyukjae thought.

*~*~*

Not too long after, Sungmin, Kyuhyun, and Hyukjae had spotted Donghae aimlessly wandering the halls.

“Hi, Donghae! I'm Sungmin. Nice to meet you!” The dark-haired boy smiled brightly at the brunette while extending a hand.

Just like with Hyukjae, Donghae stared blankly at the hyper, pink-loving boy in front of him. He didn't move or say anything.

Sungmin lowered his hand to his side and smiled awkwardly. He looked very confused and like he wanted to cry. Kyuhyun linked fingers with him for comfort.

“I told you he was weird,” Hyukjae said, regardless of the fact that Donghae could hear him. “Let's just go.”

He grabbed Sungmin and Kyuhyun by their arms and led them away from Donghae who stood there for a few moments more. He quietly followed Hyukjae until he was at the door of Room 1315. (a/n: I do that a lot, ne?^^) Donghae placed a hand on the doorknob and opened it.

The noise in the room slowly dissipated as Donghae handed the teacher his transfer notice. Donghae could feel the stares of the students burning the back of his head. School. He hated it. He hated the people there. He hated having to start all over again where people would bother him with all kinds of questions. Plus, he was Lee Hyukjae's brother. How would they explain this?

“Are you going to introduce yourself?” the teacher asked him, jolting him from his thoughts.

Donghae turned to the rest of the class and froze. So many people were looking at him, all at once. It was his worst nightmare. He could read their gazes. They were looking him up and down, criticizing him. Sure, there were some lovestruck girls in the mix, but Donghae could just feel the weight of those disapproving glares on his body.

He must have been standing there for a while because the teacher cleared his throat and asked Donghae to say something.

No words came. Donghae refused to let them out.

Unable to watch the pitiful sight in front of him any longer, Hyukjae sighed. “For God's sake, his name is Lee Donghae,” he announced to the rest of the class.

“Right....” the teacher said. “So um...Donghae, there's an empty seat in the back, if you don't mind.”

Donghae didn't even nod or anything. He just walked to the back of the room and sat down in the seat next to the window. He fought the urge to look up at Hyukjae, who was sitting two rows in front of him in the middle of the room.

Why did he even say anything? Donghae wondered. And why is my heart beating so fast?