"HyukJae? I heard some voices, are you awake?"

"DongHae!"
"EunHyuk?"
I turned to him, amused half-smile on my face, because of how quickly he replied. My smile disappeared, however, much like my heartbeats. He was
right next to my face, and now that I've turned, the tips of our noses are brushing and I could smell his refreshing, minty breath on my lips.
Time stopped, and both of our eyes widened.

I snapped out of my trance, and apparently my jerky movements snapped DongHae out of his as well. That was a close one. I didn't want to think about what would have happened if that gap between us was closed. Shaking my head, I rid of my thoughts and faced my mother, who stood with a concerned expression in front of me. "How are you feeling?" She smiled, reaching out to feel my forehead. I shook my head and she retracted her hand.

"You don't have a fever, that's good. I have already had the chefs prepare some soup, so you should head downstairs. A little bit of warm soup would probably do good," She explained. "I made sure there was extra for you as well, DongHae-ssi. Thank you for taking care of HyukJae all this while." She and DongHae exchanged nods, and I scrunched up my forehead in confusion.

My mother is a caring person, but she usually takes quite a bit of time to warm up to strangers. Since when did she and DongHae get on such good terms? Yes, being able to communicate with actions is a sign of closeness when it comes to my mother. She left soon after, leaving the both of us alone. I turned to look at him, a bit awkward from the previous scene. "D-DongHae...ssi? Um... that is, what exactly happened?"

He flinched when he first heard his name, but once he understood the question he calmed down significantly. "We were at the training ground, wind picked up and you lost control of your wings. I'm not quite sure what happened either, as I don't know how fairies' wings works, but it seems like you've exhausted your energy during practice and ended up blacking out. You've been out for five hours now. It's one PM now. A-are you hungry?"

I went into a daze for a few moments, processing his answer. I... out? I out. I out. That means, I've fainted on the first time I tried to use my wings. On the very first lesson. The most basics, I've failed. I could already feel the blood rushing to my cheeks. I buried my head in my hands, peeking out of the gaps between my fingers. "D-DongHae-ssi, how many people fainted?"

He looked confused for a moment, as if expecting me to ask about lunch instead. Pursing his lips, which was oddly attractive, he gave a thin smile. "No one else fainted, EunHyuk-ssi. But don't worry, I've already notified the teachers and have gotten permission to excuse the both of us for the whole da---" I squealed so loud he jumped. I was the only one who fainted?! I'm supposed to be the top student, what the heck? I was so embarrassed I couldn't even speak.

Frustrated tears formed at the corners of my eyes and I furiously wiped them away. I could feel my skin becoming raw, and I wanted to rub at it harder, as if the action could erase my mistakes. Just as I lifted my hands, a pair of larger ones held them firmly.

I looked at the owner, eyebrows furrowed. Immediately I was met with DongHae's eyes once again, and I blinked back tears. Of all people, I showed my weakness in front of him. Damn it, there goes my good impression on the first male friend in my life. I expected him to hit me, to scream at me like what I expect guys would do, but all he did was pull my hands apart and hugged me.

His hands released mine, one on the small of my back while the other my hair. Instinctively, I nuzzled into his shoulder, inhaling his refreshing scent.

"EunHyuk-ssi, why are you crying?"

"...Isn't it obvious?"

To my dismay, he pulled away. "Oh my goodness, I didn't realize you injured yourself! Where does it hurt? I'll go get some bandages---"

I waved my hand to calm him down. Once he did, I blushed. "I'm not hurt or anything... just embarrassed..." I didn't think he could hear what was hardly a whisper, but he did.

"It's okay. Don't be embarrassed. You were the only fairy who flew above the chairs. I'm proud of you," He smiled, and I felt warmth invading every corner of my body, spreading from the core of my heart to the tip of my toes.

I must have looked funny, because he laughed and pulled me up. "Let's go have lunch, shall we?" I nodded, not trusting myself to speak at the moment. 

"...DongHae-ssi, did the teachers penalize us? I wouldn't want to drag you down with me." I murmured. My family was nowhere to be seen, so I could only assume they went out. The servants cleared the dining table, so now we were having the bread and soup my mother prepared.

"Mm? Nom, wike I jush suad, weh wichers awwoed wus wo weave" As he spoke, bits and pieces of bread came flying out. Where did the handsome boy that was my partner disappeared to? What surprises me even more is that I couldn't bring myself to call such lack of manners ugly. I even found it endearing. Perhaps the fall impacted me more than I thought.

"Idiot, I don't understand what you're saying at all." I showed an expression of mock irritation and panicked when he choked out a small fish bone. Where did that even come from?
"OH MY---ARE YOU OKAY?!" I stood up, going to hit his back immediately. He choked up a few more pieces of bread and started to pant. "I-I'm hokayyy"

Sighing, I sat back down and passed him a glass of water. After downing the water, he repeated: "I said, the teachers already allowed us to leave. They even directed me to your driver so we could get you home safely. In my opinion, rather than punishments, they'd probably admire you. No one dared to go up against that heck of a wind, EunHyuk. ssi." He added as an afterthought, and I chuckled.

"I see. Well, we'll have to work harder again tomorrow. I look forward to working with you. Also, you can just call me EunHyuk. You've done so much today, going so far as to bringing me home, so I don't think formalities are appropriate anymore." I smiled, feeling shy after spurting all that out.

"In that case, you can call me DongHae!" He shouted excitedly, grinning from ear to ear. I felt myself mirroring the smile. His bubbliness is just too contagious. It seems like no matter how down I am, if DongHae's nearby, I can't help but be happy. "Oh, and pleasure working with you too! I can't wait to brag about your abilities tomorrow at school!" At that moment, he looked so proud I felt something swell in me as well. All I could manage was a smile back, alongside a quiet "Please don't make a fool out of us," which, of course, he heard and giggled at.

The next morning...

"I'm off!"

"Be safe," I heard my parents call out before I entered the awaiting car. I nodded at the driver and he started to drive towards the school. I glanced at my wristwatch before opting to stare out the window.

6:02 AM.

As expected, when I reached the training grounds, it was empty, all except for a lone figure sitting on a wooden chair, dead centre.

I yawned. Looking at the frameless mirror above the sink, I tried to keep all the orange strands down with hairspray. From the corner I could see DongHwa walking out of the shower and grinned. Turning around, he looked at me sleepily and started coughing when the hairspray hit his face.

"YAH! LEE DONGHAE!!!" I laughed, running out of the small bathroom. Once we reached our shared bedroom, I ran up to the top bunk and peered over the edge, tongue sticking out. He heaved a sigh before removing the towel at his waist to wipe his face. "I'm so telling mum," he mumbled, and my grin only widened.

"That's why, I said he was the one who---" "Nonsense. Our baby would never do that. DongHwa, you're grounded." My older brother gave a desperate cry and I sniggered. Nudging him with my foot, I sent him a grin; he sent me a glare. "Now now, if you don't hurry, you'll be late for school." Our father spoke. As the efficient man he is, his tie was already done and he was making lunchboxes for us. My mum picked up our dishes as soon as we finished the food on our plates and started washing up.

The two of us picked up our bags from the corner of the cozy kitchen before giving our parents each a kiss. "Be careful always and have fun. Here," My dad said, passing us our lunchboxes. We gave a light bow as thanks. "Work hard as always, don't get hurt!" My mum called. We gave her a thumbs up before running out the door.

After catching a bus, I sat next to DongHwa and as usual, he had questions for me. "Hae, how does it feel to work with a fairy? Is he nice? You went to his house yesterday, didn't you? Wasn't it fun?" I chuckled. "Hyung, I talked about all of that during dinner yesterday!" He rolled his eyes. "Who knows. You tend to leave out the truth when we're with our parents." He shot me a playful glare and I shook my head. Ridiculous.

"Alright, alright. I guess I did miss out something. We almost kissed." I breathed, as if it almost never happened.
"WHAT?!"
"ALMOST."

5:30 AM.

I entered the empty training ground and looked around. It was completely empty, which meant that even the equipment was kept in storage. I headed to the nearest storage building and pulled open the unlocked metal doors. True enough, the hall was filled with a large number of wooden chairs.

With effort, I managed to drag one heavy chair all the way to the training ground. I had no idea how the fairy tutors and KangIn managed to get all the chairs to the training ground on the first day, but it was damn admirable. I was already heaving. The chair weighed like a bag of stones.

Exhausted, I collapsed on the chair as soon as I felt like I got far enough.

SPPV212's note: Sorry about the usual delay ><"" Next chapter shall focus a littttleeee bit more on KangTeuk <3