I didn’t know what I was thinking when I asked Donghae to spend the night with me. But I didn’t regret it either. Having him here with me made me feel at ease somehow. I felt protected and safe, like there was a strong barrier covering me from danger.

Donghae was currently having a ‘tour’ around my spacious room, while glancing at me from time to time. He seemed uncomfortable, though I had no idea why. It wasn’t like this was the first time he was in my room, so why was he acting like a high school boy?

“Donghae,” I finally decided to be to the first one to speak. “Come here, l still haven’t finished healing you.”

And like a little kid being told off by his mother, Donghae slowly made his way towards me, avoiding my eyes as he sat down on the bed. I scooted closer, but when I was about to touch his face, his hand stopped me.

“What?” I frowned.

“Aren’t you…afraid of me?” he asked, though he was still refusing to meet my eyes.

He found out, I thought. He must’ve read my mind and found out that I knew the reason why he was cursed. It was strange though, because instead of feeling afraid, I wanted to know more about him and his past. I wanted to bear half of the burden he was carrying on his shoulders, to tell him that he wasn’t alone in this world.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” I patted his face, healing a few small cuts on his cheeks. “There’s no reason for me to fear you, Lee Donghae.”

“There is,” Donghae said, “You know for a fact that I ended up like this because I drank a fairy’s blood. It’ll be wiser for you to avoid me, don’t you think?”

“Stop talking nonsense, Donghae. And sit still, you’re making it hard for me to heal you.”

“Do you want me to tell you what happened to me then?”

I looked at him in the eyes, but the only thing that I could see in there was sadness. What is it that makes you so sad, Donghae? I had always wanted to ask him, but I couldn’t bring myself to say it out loud.

“I made the biggest mistake in my life, Hyukjae,” Donghae smiled bitterly at me, “I can never control myself when anger takes over me, I know this better than anyone else, but I was too selfish back then. I had hurt someone that I cherished more than my own life. I nearly killed him, because I drank his blood when I had no control of my own power.”

I swallowed as I pulled my hands back, my heartbeat loud in my ears as I was listening to what he was saying. I wasn’t scared, but there was this feeling of uneasiness in my heart, a feeling that I couldn’t understand.

“It was too late when I regained my consciousness at that time,” Donghae continued, “I told myself to stay away from him, so that he’d never get hurt because of me again. But I’m always watching him from afar, to make sure that he’s living a happy life. But then, I made a mistake again. He noticed me, and seeing his face right in front of me made it harder for me to hold back.”

I clamped my hands over my mouth, my eyes widened when realization hit me heavily. My hands were trembling, and my heart was beating so fast that I thought it might even jump out of my chest. No, I thought in my mind, it can’t be.

“And when I finally have the one I love in my grasp,” Donghae leaned closer to me, taking my hand and brought it to his chest, “I finally realized that no matter what I do, I could never reach him.”

I felt everything narrowed around me, the sounds around me falling away as he embraced me, his arms wrapped protectively around my fragile figure. Thousands of questions came to my mind, but I knew this wouldn’t be the right time for me to ask him. Donghae wasn’t lying. But still, I needed an explanation; I needed to know the truth that was kept hidden from me all this while.

“I never wanted to hurt you. But in the end I did. I failed to protect you, I broke my promise.”

My heart sank when I heard Donghae’s trembling voice. I bit my lip, trying to hold back the tears that were threatening to fall from my eyes, but I failed. Warm teardrops fell down my cheeks in the end before I could stop myself. And as if he could see that I was crying, Donghae tightened his hold around me, silently telling me that he was there and everything would be alright.

“Donghae…what-“

“Hyukjae-ah!”

We were both startled to hear a voice from outside my room – a voice that I knew too well – but before I could even make a move, the door was already opened. Donghae quickly pulled away from me, both of us were surprised to see Heechul standing at the doorway, grinning widely.

“Hyukjae, I bought something for-“ The smile on Heechul’s lips disappeared the moment his eyes landed on Donghae. He had this strange, fierce look in his eyes, and I knew it wouldn’t be good.

“H-Heechul-hyung!” I stood up abruptly, my heart was beating fast as my palms sprang into sweat. Donghae seemed surprisingly calm though, but facing Heechul when he was furious would never be a good thing at all.

“What the is going on?” Heechul asked, slowly approaching us with his hands balled up into fists; a common reaction that he always had whenever he was mad. His piercing eyes were staring menacingly at Donghae, and I knew then, he had known about this long ago. He knew everything, but he chose to keep silent about it.

“Say something, you little piece of ,” Heechul’s stern voice made it even clear that he was fuming with anger. “What the hell are you doing in my house?”

“I’m sorry,” Donghae stepped forward, bravely confronting Heechul, “I didn’t mean to break my promise, but I just-“

It happened in the blink of an eye. I wasn’t able to move from my spot to prevent Heechul from lunging towards Donghae, knocking him down with his strong punch. I gasped in fear, horrified as I watched Heechul grabbed Donghae harshly by his collar and threw another punch, causing Donghae to crash into the glass window.

“Hyung!” I screamed and rushed towards the bleeding Donghae, pulling him to hide behind me before Heechul could hit him again. “Hyung, stop! Please!”

“Move aside, Lee Hyukjae,” Heechul shot me a glare, the kind of look that he had never given me before. “You know nothing about him!”

“Then tell me everything! Stop leaving me in the dark, hyung!”

“I said move!”

Within a second, I felt myself being pushed away and Heechul once again had his hand on Donghae. Donghae didn’t fight back even once, and I hated it. I hated to see him getting hurt like this in front of me. I ran towards Heechul once again, hugging his waist tightly from behind.

“Hyung, please! Stop hitting him please! I beg you! He didn’t do anything, I was the one who let him in!”

It took almost five minutes for Heechul to calm himself down. Being the weak fairy I was, it was really hard for me to stop him. I was panting hard as I fell on my knees, while looking at Heechul who had finally let Donghae go, and now was facing me.

“You idiot,” Heechul said, and I was sure I saw tears in his eyes, “Do you have any idea of what he did to you?”

“H-hyung…”

“He almost killed you. We trusted him back then, Hyukjae-ah, your mother trusted him with her own life. She treated him like her own son, but what did he do? He betrayed us. You were unconscious for three whole months because of him!”

“He didn’t mean to do it,” I said, trying not to choke on my own words, “He’s not that kind of person.”

“It’s alright, Hyukjae,” Donghae suddenly stood up, giving me a weak smile before turning around to face Heechul. “He’s right. It was my fault, I shouldn’t have come back and ruin your life like I did before.”

“Get the out of my house before I kill you,” Heechul snarled, “Don’t let me see your face ever again.”

“Forgive me,” Donghae said, bowing down at us before he left.

He gave me one last look, a drop of tear fell down his bleeding face as he smiled at me. And before I could scream his name to tell him not to leave me, he had already disappeared into thin air, leaving only a faint trace of his smell lingering in the air surrounding me.

__________________________________

It had been three days since I was grounded. I could rarely go out aside from going to work, but Heechul would insist to send me and pick me up, not even giving a single chance for me to slip away. Donghae was always on my mind though, I had never even once stopped thinking about him.