(Hyukjae POV)

Monday

It was a crazy weekend, exams were over but school was still in full gear.

I arrived to my first morning class , there was still about twenty minutes left till class starts .

There was about thirty other students here right now . Unlike me  and these losers here , others rushed to class just seconds before it started . Yeah, they had a life and I didn't . Like who the hell comes to class almost half an hour early on a Monday morning ?

I made my way up the stairs and sat in one of the middle rows .

I was still recovering from the breakdown I had at the competition. I was also still recovering from my surprise win. Let's just say I had a lot to think about these past two days .

I pulled out my phone and started playing a game that I have recently been addicted to .

"Oh my god ! It's Hyukjae ! Hey ! " Suddenly a couple of voices made me almost jump off my seat as I was so lost  in my game.

Oh lord ! It was those guys .... those three guys I always saw in class. What .....wait ....how did they know my name and why are they coming towards me?

" Hi! Congratulations man ! You were awesome on Saturday ! And by the way my name is Kyuhyun." The tall one said as he reached out to shake my hand .

"We came to your competition , you did great ! And I am Ryeowook. " The shorter one added as he reached out his hand next.

Oh my god,  they were there ? Who else was there ? I was getting nervous now cause people were already starting to recognize me and it was just morning .

"Oh , really ? Thanks guys ! Thanks for coming out, it means a lot ! " I managed to say still in shock .

But wait, where was the other one ? Where was the middle one ?

"You must be so proud ! You represented our school at a global level competition." The shorter one said smiling.

"Yeah ....it feels nice ." I replied returning the smile.

"Yah , Hae ! Come over . Hyukjae's in our class ! " The taller one called out to someone sitting in the lower rows.

" So what are you going to do with the grand prize ? You are so lucky ! " The shorter one asked admiringly.

"I was planning on donating it to the dance major here at school . I think that  they can really use the extra money , since it's not that well established yet ." I explained myself as that was what I really wanted to do so the school could get larger dance studios .

I looked down at the person who the taller one had  just called out to.

He was the one , the middle one . He was seated and was talking to someone on his cell phone . He was leaning his head on his hand. He looked depressed. I didn't see him move his lips much , he just sat there nodding his head.

Finally he let out a deep sigh and his shoulders relaxed. His face was long , with sadness clearly evident. An expression of pain covered his face. This was different from the last couple of times I saw him when he was laughing hysterically.

He ended the call and got up and made his way up the stairs to where we were.

I could see him clearly now . This was the first time I was actually seeing  him this close up.

I felt my eyes growing bigger as he got closer and my breathing suddenly got ten times faster.

" Hello." He was standing right in front of me now , just two  feet away .

"Congratulations , you deserved it . I am Donghae. " He said forcing a smile as he reached his hand out for a handshake.

Donghae , so his name is Donghae .

His smile lasted less than half a second. He was trying to keep the smile to come across as friendly but the pain in his eyes and face defeated his efforts.

"Than- , Thank you . " I said stuttering and my hand was trembling like crazy as we shook hands .

"Hyukjae ! My man !" Out of nowhere Kangin appeared as he ran up the stairs and gave me a painful high five.

"Hyukjae ! Our champion ! Man what the hell are you doing at school today ? You should be at a club or something , celebrating ! " Heechul came after  pulling me in for a hug.

" Guys , he is a good student . Unlike some people here !" Leeteuk added trying to mock Heechul.

This just got uncomfortable now . There were six guys standing all around me hugging and praising me  . I hated being the center of attention.

"Oh, hey! "Leeteuk said turning to the three unfamiliar guys standing next to him, wondering what they were doing here.

I left the need to introduce them to each other , or it might just seem awkward.

"Guys this is Kyuhyun , Ryeowook and Donghae . They were at the competition too. " I pointed out each one of them to introduce them.

"And guys this is Kangin, Heechul and Leeteuk , my long time friends ." I added as I introduced the guys next.

A couple of "Hi's " and " Nice to meet you's" were exchanged . Kangin, Heechul and Leeteuk were good at meeting new people , they literally knew more than half the people on campus , mostly because they were at like every party and also because they were not socially awkward as I was.

Suddenly I caught his eyes . Donghae , it felt strange to say his name in my head , he was looking at me . When our eyes met unexpectedly he forced a smile again and quickly turned around and went back down to his seat.

He didn't even give me the chance to respond back with a smile.

His friends were still here , chatting away with my friends .

Donghae sat down and pulled out his cell phone.  Again, he rested his head on his hand and stared at the black cell phone screen . He looked anxious and it seemed as if he was waiting for someone's call.

I just sat there looking at him . For some reason I was not interested in what the rest of the guys were talking about. My mind was somewhere else.

"Hi guys , we are hitting the pub after classes . Would you guys like to join us ?" Leeteuk asked Kyuhyun and Ryeowook eagerly.

"Um, yeah sure ! " Ryeowook agreed sounding just as excited .

"Ok then we will meet around seven at Ruby's Pub and Grill !" Kangin added .

"Alright , we'll be there !" Kyuhyun replied waving bye as they headed back for their seats.

The Professor arrived and everyone went off to sit down.

The class was full now and the lecture started.

(Later that day)

The guys and I arrived at the pub which was right on campus . This was the guys' meet up place, they came here often to chill.

Sungmin and Shindong joined us as well.

I sat beside Sungmin . I wanted to catch up with him.

We were now waiting for our classmates me met today.

After a few minutes , they finally arrived .

"Hi  guys !" Kyuhyun and Ryeowook said taking their seats.

"Hey guys ! " We all greeted them again for the second time today.

"Where's Donghae ?" I asked looking around .

"Oh , Donghae is working an extra shift today. " Ryeowook said smiling.

He was working ? Why did I feel uninterested all of a sudden. This was weird . I mean I have all my friends here and my best friend Sungmin here too , why did I want to leave all of a sudden. I seemed pretty excited this morning about it but not anymore.

"Guys let's order drinks !" Leeteuk said .

Everyone order something with alcohol in it . I ordered a alcohol free cocktail .

To my surprise Sungmin ordered alcohol today as well. Usually him and I are the only ones that opted out from consuming any sort of alcohol.

Sungmin seemed very talkative today as well. He kept on bringing up one topic after another . I enjoyed it though , talking with him was easy and I could relax .

Along with the drinks,  the guys also order buffalo wings , garlic bread and nachos . We ate and talked .

"Here is to Hyukjae's victory !" Heechul announced unexpectedly and everyone raised their glasses and cheered.

I think we just made new friends today. Thanks to my winning the competition.

After a couple of hours everyone left .

I headed home and was tired as heck.

I didn't have energy for homework tonight . I crashed onto the bed and thought about everything that happened today.

I found out that Kyuhyun , Ryeowook and Donghae were international students who came from South Korea. They were selected to study abroad because of their outstanding academic achievements . They were living in the dorms on campus and shared a suite.

But the event that replayed again and again in my head was of him.

When my eyes abruptly met his. The sadness that fell over his face . The way he stared at the blank cell phone screen. And the way his hand came into connect with mine. That weird sensation that the touch left lingering on my skin.

I was about to fall into a deep sleep when I heard a knock on the door.

"Yes , come in!" I said , thinking that it was probably mom bring me a warm cup of milk or something as she has been doing for the last two days.

But to my surprise , dad stepped in and the room lights.

"Oh , dad!" I sat up and fixed my bed hair. No one deserved to see my bed hair. I was not expecting him. We have not gotten a chance to talk since  almost two days now. I leave early for school while he is still asleep and he comes home late at night when I am asleep.

Does he know that I won ? Probably mom told him, definitely she would have for sure.

Dad walked in and closed the door behind him. Suddenly he froze , something had caught his attention.

I traced his eyes and saw that he had noticed the trophy sitting on my desk.

He just kept on looking at it , without any expression on his face.

Finally he slipped his hands inside his side pockets and walked over to me. I was sitting on the bed , not having a single clue about what to expect.

"Your mother tells me that you were not feeling well last night. What happened?" He stood at the corner of the bed and looked at me .

Oh god mom ! Why , why did you have to tell dad ? I didn't know how to answer him so I just moved around in bed , trying to buy myself some time to think through my response.

"Nothing dad, I was just feeling tired . I am fine now, promise !" I finally let out , trying to comprehend his next reaction .

He just stood there and kept looking at me. I took a deep breath and looked away . This was so awkward . Was there anything else he wanted to talk about ? Was he going to congratulate me on my winning first place ?

"That's not what the nurse said ." He took a deep sigh and said .

Seriously mom, why did you have to tell every single detail to him?

"Ummm yeah, the nurse-----, she said I needed to rest and consume more fluids." I stuttered out.

There was silence now. I played around with my fingers , worrying about what he will ask next.

"You need to look after your health more properly now . This is a very important time in your life, you are in university and can't afford to mess around with your education. Don't let silly things spoil your health . Do you understand ?" He said in a more serious voice now.

"I will ." I looked up at him and said.

Silly things ? This was important to me . The competition was not just some sort of a  silly thing .

"Alright , rest now and your mother has told Ammi to prepare more water based foods for you. Make for you take care for your diet. " He added.

I just nodded .

Dad let out a deep sigh again and turned around to leave .

That's it ? He was just going to walk out like that? Was he ?

I couldn't help it. I quickly got out of bed and stood up.

"Dad! I came in first place!" I said excitedly, expecting him to say something encouraging back.

He stopped suddenly , without turning back to face me again.

"Your mother mentioned that as well." Was all he said as he walked out of the room closing the door behind him.

I stood there like a statue. I felt my heart drop. I craved his satisfaction. I craved my father's approval. Yet, at the same time I felt guilty. About what , I was not quite sure of and I felt like he had the right to ignore me like that. But, I just wanted him to say that he was proud of me, or at least anything close to that.

I sat down on the bed and looked over at the trophy .  

For the first time were since I received it, I looked at it and that usual smile didn't appear on my face.

Not this time.