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The rest of the day passed rather uneventfully. As soon as Donghae arrived back at the salon, he had been hauled to do one cleaning job after another by the director. The poor boy hadn’t been able to even take a small break between his cleaning sessions as Eunhyuk never stopped raining odd-jobs here and there on him.

Donghae never felt more thankful when the large grandfather clock finally chimed nine. He dropped the mop noisily on the floor and fell heavily against the comfortable couch, and laid there for five whole minutes with his eyes shut. This was exhausting; he didn’t know how was he ever going to put up with his workload for the next three hundred and sixty-four more days. It was only his first day of work and he was already being overworked like a mule.

‘Why, of all people, must I be stuck with Eunhyuk for a year? Why not Kyuhyun or the other stylist instead?’

He was so absorbed in his thoughts that he never heard the impatient clicking of black leather shoes against the polished floor until it was too late. His eyes hurriedly fluttered open and he sat up only to stare into Eunhyuk’s irritated face. Donghae gulped and drew back in fear.

Speak of the devil.

“Having a little cosy nap, aren’t we?” Eunhyuk smirked, inching closer to the brunette, a threatening aura surrounding him. Donghae could literally feel the chills.

“S-Sir… I’m sorry—”

“Don’t bother. The back storage room is still in a mess, so be a good boy and clear it out now.”

“B-But sir, that’ll take me more than an hour!! Can’t I please do it tomorrow instead?” Donghae panicked, glancing at the clock. By the time he finished, it would be well past ten at night, and he didn’t deal very well with the darkness when alone. “It’s going to be really dark soon!!”

“I don’t care,” replied Eunhyuk, the smirk never leaving his face. “I want the closet cleaned out by tomorrow morning and I expect everything else to be spotless as well. Oh, and perhaps you could vacuum my office while you’re at it. I forgot to add that to your to-do list this morning.”

Donghae stared in disbelief at the devil of a boss he had. He couldn’t believe his ears. Did Eunhyuk just tell him to stay back in the salon alone and continue cleaning – although it was already spotless – well after their closing time?

“W-What?” he muttered weakly.

“You heard me. You’re not going home till you’re done with everything. Lock up when you leave; it’s just a simple padlock because I just installed an automated lock on every other entrance besides the back door. And remember to be here on time tomorrow as well. I will not hear of any excuse from you. Good night, Donghae-sshi.”

With that, Eunhyuk strode out of the salon, flicking off the main lights, leaving only two emergency lamps on. Everyone else had already gone home, and Donghae was left alone on the couch with only the two lights glowing dimly. Tears gathered in his eyes and he blinked them away in anger, frustrated at himself for crying like a baby.

“I hate you, Lee Eunhyuk.”

-

If there was one thing he hated more than Eunhyuk, it was spiders.

And the storage room was full of the creepy eight-legged creatures.

Donghae bit his lip as he went through the things chucked messily in the storage room, forcing himself to swallow the scream that was rising from his throat. This was the third time he felt something running up his sleeve after walking into probably a dozen spider webs. He wondered for how long nobody ever cleaned up in that place, since the salon had only just opened a little over a week ago. It just didn’t make sense, but he felt his last bit of reserve fly out of the window when he saw a creepy black thing crawling stealthily up his jeans.

He flung away his broom in fright and screamed all the way out into the dimly lit passageway, imagining a horde of spiders chasing after him. He suddenly bumped into a solid, but soft build, and opened his eyes to see Kyuhyun looking at him in surprise.

“Hae?”

“Kyu… Kyu…” Donghae wept, tightening his hold against the stylist. The mere thought of being abandoned alone in an empty salon had scared him to wit’s end and he felt so relieved and happy to know that at least there was someone else in the salon besides him.

“What’s the matter, Hae?” Kyuhyun asked the boy gently, wiping away the tears free-falling down Donghae’s face. “What are you doing here so late?” He hugged the boy and patted his back repeatedly, trying to get him to calm down.

“Spi— Spi— Spiders…” Donghae hiccupped, burying his face in the stylist’s shirt. “Storage clo—clo—closet…”

Kyuhyun’s eyes widened. “What were you doing in the storage closet? Don’t tell me that bastard made you clean that place up as well??”

Donghae nodded, whimpering at the thought of spiders again. Kyuhyun hugged him even closer, muttering to himself. “That . I’ve a good mind to wring his neck in two when he comes tomorrow morning. How could he make you stay here alone after hours just for that? Luckily I came back for my stuff otherwise the poor boy would probably have fainted in fright.”

“D-Don’t leave me.”

The stylist looked down and saw Donghae pleading in his sorry state. He could feel his heart breaking. All the colour had drained from his usual rosy face and he was shaking in fright, not to mention the dirty streaks of dusty tears that were already drying on his face. No way was he going to leave him alone again after what just happened.

“I won’t, Hae I promise. I’ll help you clean out the place and then I’ll send you home personally. Come now,” Kyuhyun said, tugging softly at Donghae’s arm. “It’ll be faster with the two of us working together.”

Kyuhyun kept to his word, and took Donghae home after helping out, although the helping consisted more of killing spiders than cleaning. Donghae simply hated the creepy crawlies and refused to work with the spooky creatures around.

“Here we are,” said Kyuhyun, cutting the engine of his bike. He removed his helmet and helped Donghae off, and then saw him to the door.

“Thanks, Kyu,” Donghae muttered shyly, when he reached the doorframe of his humble home. “I really owe you a lot.”

“Don’t mention it, I was happy to help. Next time that bastard bullies you again, tell me so I can knock some sense into him, literally. Seriously, what was he thinking when he told you to do all that? Aishh that guy…”

Donghae smiled politely and nodded slightly, pushing his hands into his pockets. “Well, um, I should be going in now. My father would be so worried.”

“Good night, Hae. See you tomorrow.”

Kyuhyun hopped onto his bike and put on his helmet again before whizzing off, while Donghae stood there waving until he couldn’t see him anymore.

* * *

The next day, Donghae arrived bright and early, much to the surprise of Eunhyuk. The latter had thought that Donghae would be so exhausted he’d run late for work, but with the bright smile and lack of dark eye-circles, he could tell that the boy had had a good sleep, unlike him. He had spent half the night up in bed, feeling immensely guilty for leaving him in the salon at night and also for making him work overtime. Kyuhyun had given the director a piece of his mind earlier that morning, making him feel even worse.

Eunhyuk was about to welcome the boy when Kyuhyun beat him to it, making him scowl.

Kyuhyun scooped Donghae into a hug. “Hae!!! I’m so glad to see you!! Are you alright? Did you h