After yanking open the front door, I was greeted by an alarmed-looking Ryeowook, his eyes considerably wide and concerned.

"Hyuk, what the hell is going on?" He asked while I took ahold of his skinny little arm and snatched him inside of my house. "What the HELL?!" he cried as his head whipped backward, looking quite offended.

I slammed the door behind us and proceeded to drag my best friend behind me and through my house. When we'd approached the stairs, Ryeo's eyebrows knitted together and he scrunched up his nose in annoyance.

"AND WHY THE HELL IS YOUR MOTHER SCREAMING?!" he demanded. I simply ignored the presence of any valuable words coming out of his mouth and pulled him up the stairs and into my room like a rag doll.

I hardly even allowed him to breathe again before I shoved him into my computer hard enough for his face to slam into the screen. I held his head there and watched him go cross-eyed as I beamed like an idiot behind his back.

"LOOK, RYEO. I WON THE LOTTERY!" I shouted over my mother's shrill screams that should be dying down and possibly suffocating her any day now. I was beyond estatic and I honestly felt like I was a little high as I watched Ryeowook blink painfully at the screen.

Then, Ryeo sighed, "Honestly, Hyuk . . . I can't see a goddamn thing. . ." He blatantly pointed out. My eyes widened momentarily while they took the time to analyze the position Ryeowook was in.

I guess this made sense. . .

Peeling his face off the computer screen, I mumbled a sheepish apology and smoothed out his slightly frayed hair. After doing this, Ryeowook turned to face me, his face set in a deep frown.

"And please, Hyuk. Quit joking. I know there was no way you could have won that lottery. Me treating you to dinner isn't that great, you know?" I groaned and flicked his forehead with my forefinger, making sure to leave a dark red and very noticable spot and causing him to wince.

"No, Ryeo, I really won!" I exclaimed. The annoyed, disbelieving look on his face caused me to let out a sharp breath. "LOOK! I'll show you."

I palmed the back of his head like a basketball and shoved it down to be level with my computer screen, his nose just inches away from touching the light.

"See, look at these numbers." I demanded, jamming my finger harshly into the screen. "I play them every day for the lottery, AND LOOK!" I exclaimed, getting excited again as I took the very official-feeling paper out of my pocket. "Here is my printed out ticket!"

Ryeowook snatched the ticket out of my hand and studied it hard before glancing once at the computer screen, then staring back at the ticket. He inhaled a suddenly shaky breath and eyeballed me with a challenging look in his eye.

He swallowed, "This is in real ink?" I nodded vigorously.

"The ing ink is REAL, Ryeo!"

And immediately, I was almost killed by a flying shard of glass as Ryeowook's incredibly shrill, high-pitched scream was released into the air and effectively fractured my eardrums. His eyes were tearing up as his face started turning a curious shade of light red. He gasped haphazardly for air before he started shouting words at me.

"OH. MY. FATHER. OF. HOLY. FREAKING. JESUS . . . Hyuk! . . . Hyuk! . . . You're RICH!" Ryeowook's eyes began blinking rapidly and he looked dangerously on the verge of dropping a few tears."MY BEST FRIEND IS FREAKING RICH! RIIIIICH!"

Simultaneously, he blew air into his cheeks and briskly fanned his face with his skinny fingers. "Oh, Dear Lord . . . I think I'm going to faint."

I laughed as I pulled him into the tightest hug I think I've ever given anyone before in my life, because Ryeowook was just that right - I AM FILTHY RICH!!

Within minutes, we were all screaming, clapping, and dancing from corner to corner of my room all over again, the movie we originally had planned zapped long gone from our minds; and around an hour later, we had finally settled down, completely.

My breathing finally back to normal, but my limbs feeling as if they were all made of jelly, I lay limply in my bed right beside Ryeowook, staring happily at my ceiling which showed absolutely nothing. My mother had already collected herself and disappeared downstairs, probably to bang her trusty pan against her head in private to tell if she was truly dreaming or not.

Finally, Ryeo broke the silence between us. "So, Hyuk. What are you going to do with all of that money?" he asked.

Well, that's one hell of a question. . .

"I don't know yet . . . Maybe invest." I answered simply, sincerely not sure. We fell back into a comfortable silence once more, thinking about the countless possibilites. Then all of a sudden, an amazing idea conjured up like smoke into my whirling mind.

"OH!" I shouted unnecessarily loudly, startling Ryeowook. "Ryeo, I know what I want to do!" I exclaimed.

He ly his head to face me, his eyebrows held upward in curiosity, "With the money?" he asked me, dumbly, if I might add.

It took all I had not to roll my eyes at him. . . but I failed. My pupils almost touched the back of my head I rolled them so hard, "Noooo," I droned sarcastically, "with the sparkly white wings that have suddenly sprouted from my back . . . YES, with the money!"

His once curious eyebrows became angry, "Don't you start with me, Hyukjae!" I laughed obnoxiously in his face before deciding to return to the original subject.

"No, seriously, though. I know what I want to do!"

"What is it, then?"

I produced what I already knew was a completely doofy-looking grin on my face, "I want to be a secret Santa to some of the people in our school. What do you think?"

Ryeowook pouted his tiny lips and nodded his head, "I think it sounds good." I beamed in indescribable joy and turned to face Ryeowook completely.

In all honesty, I knew why I was so happy and looking forward to working out my new idea. There was a certain fishy-faced friend of mine that I could never stop thinking of and would so gladly love to please.

I just want to see him smile.

"Don't tell anyone about this." I told Ryeo, "Not even our friends. I"ll let them know when the time is right, okay?"

He nodded, "Don't you worry, Hyuk. My lips are sealed." He cutely mimicked the motion of locking his lips and throwing away the key. But then, he suddenly changed his features into a frown.

"But wait a minute!" he half-shouted, "Would you have still told me if I hadn't come over today??"

I laughed a little at the offended look he had on his face, "Of course, Ryeo. You know I tell you everything and always will. You're my best friend." I poked his pointy nose. "I love you!!"

He swatted my hand away while simultaneously replying, "Awww, I love you too, you cheesy bastard!"

I immediately swallowed the smile that was on my face.

He simply laughed at me and continued, "So, what's next?" I assume he was talking about my plans.

"Well, before anything happens, I have to go and pick up the check tomorrow. And then . . . Hell, I don't know. Maybe grab something to eat?"

He frowned at me, "You're hopeless. . ." I frowned too.

"I agree. . ." After a round of a pointless staring contest, I found my eyes growing heavy.

"Ryeo," I called through a short yawn, "I'm getting sleepy, so how about we sleep? . . . You can stay over if you want." I added in after I checked the time, realizing that it had already reached 12 am and instantly appreciated that it was Friday. There was no way Ryeo was walking home by himself at this time of night.

"Thanks," he replied, "But do you have any extra pajamas I can borrow for the night?" I thought momentarily and stood up in order to head over to my closet. I rummaged for a while before I found what I'd been looking for.

"Well, apart from these that I'm wearing right now," I turned around and held up my favorite monkey plushy to show Ryeo, "I think the PJs my monkey's wearing can fit you just fine!" I howled in laughter and actually expected the hard pillow that was hurled at my face.

"Shut up you flat-assed, duck-lipped, walking stick-figure of a MONKEY!" Ryeowook yelled heatedly, his face red and completely ticked off.

I was literally LMFAO-ing at Ryeowook's puny voice and his cutely angered face, rolling all over the floor by this point in nothing but a fit of tears. After a while, I managed to pick myself up a bit.

"Yah~. Why so mean??" I whined in a purposely annoying voice. He frowned.

"You know I don't like it when people talk about my height!" He tried using his puppy dog eyes on me.

I rolled mine, "Yeah, yeah, whatever. It's not anyone's fault that you're clearly shorter than the 'YOU HAVE TO BE THIS TALL TO RIDE THIS RIDE' signs at the amusement park." 

"YAH!

I laughed hard at my own joke before collecting myself. "Okay, okay." I said, not wanting him to cry or something annoying like that, "Here, wear these." I tossed him a pair of alligator green PJ's I had dug out of my closet. He went to go change while I snuggled myself under the covers of my bed.

"Thanks, Hyuk." he whispered when he came back, crawling into bed beside me, "Goodnight."

I smiled softly, "Goodnight, Ryeo."

"Hyuk, get up. You need to go pick up your lottery money." My mom start shaking me when I refused to move an inch.

I just don't think she understood just how good of a dream I was having about a CERTAIN SOMEONE! . . . The lottery money would have to wait. . .

"Ughh, Moooom. Let me sleep a little longer!" I groaned when she wouldn't let up on her wake-up call.

"Nope, honey. You can't. The lottery administrator called to give instructions and directions to you so you'd know how and where to go to get your money. It's already been wired in from the U.S."

I groaned again and then sighed, "Okay, Mom . . . But, before we go, can I have some strawberry pancakes? Ryeo likes them too. Thanks." I finished before she even agreed.

She agreed anyways (like I knew she would), "Okay, honey. Go get ready and then come down to the kitchen." I nodded into my pillow as I felt her leave my side.

I sighed and groaned one more time before I rolled my heavy body over to Ryeowook's side of the bed and forcefully shoved my foot into his side, successfuly kicking him off of the bed. He landed on the floor with a thud. I leaned over the side and called down to him while I listened to him mumble angry curse words at me,

"Wake up, Mom's making breakfast so go take a shower, though I doubt that will help with your natural stench and all. . ."

Leaving him to his own profanities and bitterly performed stretches on the floor, I left the room in pursuit of the bathroom across the hall from my bedroom. Though as I left, I could of sworn I heard something along the lines of,

'I'll kill you in your sleep next time I'm here, Lee Hyukjae. Mark. My. Words. . .'

OR, that could have just been me hearing things . . . . . . . . . . . . . OR, I have Death breathing down my neck in the form of a midget, and I need to watch my back and lower thigh area if Ryeo can reach that high. . .

Anyway, I got showered, dressed, and then headed downstairs to where Mom and Ryeowook were already waiting, him having used the bathroom downstairs beside the livingroom and finished before me, obviously.

"Hyukjae honey, I will take you down to the bank in Incheon right after breakfast, so eat up." My mom told me as soon as I stepped foot into the kitchen. She then addressed Ryeo, "Ryeowook, are you coming with us, or do you want me to drop you off at home?

"I'll go with you two, Mrs. Lee." Ryeowook answered around a mouthful of strawberry pancakes. My mom nodded and settled down into a chair in between Ryeo and I.

"Alright, then finish eating and after that, we'll all go."

The ride to Incheon was a long one, and frankly, I was not at all eager to ever have to go all out of my way like that again. Instead, we requested to have it transferred to a bank much closer to home and in way of my convenience as I thought of ways to carry out my plans.

As we pulled up into the driveway of my home, I finally got a couple of ideas about how to carry out my new role as the secret Santa for the people at my school. Wishing to get feedback on how my ideas would sound to others, I confided in Ryeowook right away when we stepped out of the car.

"Ryeo, about the secret Santa thing. . ." I started to which he replied with a quick, 'Yes?'. "How do you think I should do it?"

Ryeo scrunched up his face as he thought about it briefly, "Hmm . . . Well, I think it would obviously be a bad idea to go around and personally ask everyone what it is they want for Christmas, so. . ." he trailed off as he thought some more.

I thought as well and was quickly rewarded with an idea, "What if I asked a teacher to tell everyone in their class to make a Christmas list for them, just 'for the fun of it'? The students might be a bit suspicious, but I feel like there would be no problem with doing it."

"Well, there could be a problem. . ." Ryeowook interjected. I raised an eyebrow.

"What would that be?"

"High school students are almost NEVER honest or serious about anything. We're almost professional jackasses, if you ask me. You'd be lucky to get even one Christmas list that doesn't say something like Lucky the Leprechaun or Dora's magical backpack and the reason being: (because the bish has everything)." 

This was not a lie. I nodded my head in agreement, but I was feeling very optimistic about this thing, so I decided to say, "Hey, you never know."

Ryeo shrugged and asked, "So, what teacher are you going to ask?" This time, I shrugged.

"I don't know. Mr. Park, I guess. Since we have his class with most of our close friends, it'll be easy to give presents to them all at the same time. Also, in his other class hours I know there are students who don't get much for Christmas. So, there'll be presents for those classes too."

Ryeo nodded at me, but seemed preoccupied with himself. Sure enough, he snapped his eyes open widely and said in a whiny voice that is definitely not as cute as mine, "Can we go eat now? I'm starved."

I sighed and could only agree, "Sure, but you're paying remember?" He nodded slightly with a huge pout on his face.

"You're the millionaire here, you should be paying." he muttered bitterly while I smirked.

"If you don't pay, this millionaire isn't getting you anything for Christmas to make up for my dinner."

Ryeowook sharply gasped for air and shoved a hand over his heart, "You wouldn't dare!"

I grinned evilly, "Oh, but I would."

Twenty minutes later, we ended up being led to our seats in a surprisingly pricey restaurant. As we walked in between many rows and aisles of tables where both groups and couples were seated, my eyes widened in surprise as they locked onto a crazy familiar looking head of beautiful brown locks.

Sure enough, as we approached and passed by in a considerably wide arch, I saw Donghae seated at a two-person dining table . . . along with some toothily-smiling girl.

Saying that my heart crashed and shattered against my chest is an understatement.

Ryeowook constantly tells me to reveal my heart to Donghae, let him see what I truly felt and even share some of the things I thought about him . . . but seeing him sitting there with that girl makes me doubt ever having the chance to do that in the future. The smile he's showing on his face is one I wished to someday be meant for only me.

Just now I realized just how much I wished he would only see me. 

"Come on, Hyuk." I felt a tug on my arm and met Ryeowook's gaze. He looked at me a bit sadly and I guessed I'd been frozen in place for an alarming amount of time to make him look that way.

I sighed and forcefully dragged my body from the spot where my heart had fallen away to where the waiter had already directed us to a small table set for two and left, thankfully facing away from Donghae's angel-like smile and overwhelmingly beautiful face. Pouting, I flopped like a dead fish into my seat across from Ryeo.

"Hyuk. . ." Ryeo started, but I cut him off, my bottom lip almost folding under my chin from how deep my pout was getting.

"Donghae is here . . . and he's with a girl!" I sulked, "I thought he gagged in the presence of women!"

"I honestly thought he did too." Ryeo agreed and then added, "Why don't you go over there, put on your dorky smile, and say 'Hi'? That way, you can find out who she is!"

I sighed and poked out my bottom lip even more, "No, no I don't want to disturb them . . . Let's just hurry and order so we can eat and get out of here. Yeah?" I forced a small smile.

Ryeo smiled back at me and called the waiter over again to place our orders. We scarfed down our food like we'd never eaten before, and with goofy smiles on our faces, too, as food always makes us the most happy - as sad as that sounds. A few scraps before my plate was totally empty, I couldn't find it in myself to finish eating and leave without glancing back at Donghae and his friend one more time.

I turned all the way around in my seat and immediately frowned when I saw that he was staring right back at me, pouting incredibly adorably as I froze under his gaze. Surprising even to myself, we stayed staring at one another like that for quite some time - him pouting, me frowning - until Ryeo decided to call for my attention.

"Hyuk, stop staring. Eat that last bit so we can leave." I was told, so I sighed and ripped my gaze away from Donghae's, returning to swallow what was left on my plate.

Afterwards, we both stood to leave and I followed Ryeowook to the front doors of the restaurant, but as he continued walking and went outside, I honestly couldn't help myself. I stopped and turned my body slightly in order to find Hae's eyes again. But his head was lying against the table, his arms dangling limply at his sides; so sadly, his eyes weren't the ones I met.

Instead, I was left staring eye-to-eye with his lady friend, her face set in stone. I blinked twice and found myself scowling.

What the hell is she looking at?!

After clicking my tongue against the roof of my mouth in annoyance, I my heel and joined Ryeowook outside. I found my way to the driver's seat and dropped Ryeo off at home since he decided not to spend the night again. We exchanged manly 'I love you' s before I drove away from his house and sped along towards mine.

When I entered my house, I at first couldn't correctly place the reason why my heart was beating so harshly, but I greeted my mom quickly and headed up to my room.

"Hey, Mom, I'm home. I already ate, so I'm going to bed. Goodnight." I hardly heard her wish me a good night as well before I had my door shut and was changing into my favorite monkey pajamas.

I felt like I was going to burst, and as soon as my head hit my pillow and I began trying to muffle my loud, sloppy cries into it, I finally realized why my heart was beating so hard that it hurt.

I couldn't get it off my mind . . . that even though he was pouting at me, he looked so happy with her.

At exactly 7 am on Monday morning - after Sunday had been spent with me moping like a zombie the entire day - my fog horn of a damn alarm blared loudly in my ears.

Angrily, I swatted it off my bedside table and was determined to drift back into sleep when a sudden thought slowly occurred to me. Once it actually set in, it had me tripping over my tangled bedsheets and clumsily dashing to the bathroom because, OH , I HAD TO GET TO SCHOOL EARLY!

I had already explained to Ryeowook the day before that I should go into school early to meet with Mr. Park and discuss if he'd be willing to help me.

After hastily, but carefully applying a bit of guyliner to my rumouredly gorgeous eyes, I hurried downstairs to join my mother who I'd already knew would be in the kitchen. I rushed over to the refrigerator, grabbed my usual carton of strawberry milk, stuffed an already cooked pancake into my mouth and bid my mother a short goodbye with a muffled voice.

"Bye, Mom. I'm leaving early, today. See you after school." She mumbled something of an incoherent goodbye as well while I made my way out the front door. Today, I decided it would be best to take my car, making sure to get there quickly.

Once at school, I found my way to my English classroom faster than I've ever cared to. As expected, Mr. Park was already sitting there at his desk. I entered quietly so as not to startle him out of whatever he was doing.

"Mr. Park, can I ask you for a favor?" I asked once he was able to acknowledge my existence. He smiled kindly at me, revealing his famous single-dimple all the girls squeal about.

"Sure, Hyukjae. What can I help you with?" he asked.

"Would it be too much to ask you to have all of your classes make a Christmas list, one from each student? I wouldn't mind if you said it was for something . . . important, but could you tell them to be serious about it?"

He looked slightly confused, but he nodded anyway, "Why, yes, I can do that for you. But why?"

"Well, I want to be a secret Santa for everyone, but I don't want anyone to know it's from me."

"Well, yes, hence the name secret Santa, Hyukjae." he chuckled a bit while I actually glared at my own teacher, "But I think that is so nice of you. I'd love to help you with that, and I'll get started on it as soon as everyone comes in."

I smiled in relief, "Thanks, Mr. Park. I knew I could count on you. And, by the way, what would you like?"

"Me?" he asked incredulously as if there was anyone else in the classroom besides the two of us, "Oh, nothing, Hyukjae. I would just like everyone to have a great Christmas and maybe actually pass my class. That would be a real treat. . ." he trailed off and allowed me to laugh along with him.

"Okay, Mr. Park. Thanks again." I said after we were quiet again.

"You're welcome, Hyukjae. Don't be late to class, alright?" I nodded at him and made my way out of his room and into the suddenly busy hallways.

By the number of people, I could tell classes were about to start soon. Despite the bustle, I walked slowly down the hall, heading towards my locker when I was suddenly stopped dead in my tracks by something as simple as my name being called from behind me.

"Hyukjae!!" Was all it took to get my ears to perk up and have my heart racing again, because I could recognize that sweet angel's voice anywhere. It always made my head spin.

But the difference between other times and now is that . . . I really don't think I could handle talking to him right now. . .

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Part 3 - coming soon. xD