Previously...

EunHae went out and EunHyuk danced in front of DongHae. All was well until EunHyuk mistook DongHae's silence as something negative, so he escaped to his house. SungMin found out and went to visit EunHyuk, while KyuHyun kept DongHae company.

KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK.

"Yes? Oh! SungMin-ssi! Are you here for HyukJae?" EunHyuk's mother asked as she ushered her son's friend in. SungMin bowed and entered the house, replying: "Yes. Was there anything off with him when he came home?"

"I'm afraid so. He came home with his eyes red and face all wet. I asked him what happened but he went straight to his room. Can you go and talk to him please?"

"Of course! Leave this to me, auntie." SungMin reassured despite the panic he felt then. In a few moments he was flying up the stairs into his friend's room.

"EunHyuk?" SungMin asked, as he peeked into his friend's room. The room was only slightly messy, with the pillows strewn across the floor, but the person who sat hugging a large bear plushie on the bed was the personification of a mess.

"S-SungMinnn..." Almost immediately, a wail sounded throughout the whole room. EunHyuk's arms were stretched out and SungMin ran over the pillows through the darkness and enveloped what he thought was EunHyuk in a hug. "It's okay, I'm here. Shhhh."

SungMin climbed onto the bed and they shifted until EunHyuk's head was buried into his neck, slightly muscular arms circling his waist in a loose hold. The latter sobbed painfully and all SungMin could do was to his back, hoping that he was of some use. "There, there. That's better, right?" He pulled the sticky mess away and wiped EunHyuk's face with some tissue he found near the bed. "Do you want to tell me what made you cry?"

A few more sniffles and EunHyuk finally nodded. "I... Went to the arcade with DongHae." SungMin huffed playfully, trying to lighten the atmosphere. "He danced well, and he asked me to dance too. I tried my best, but he stayed quiet even after I was done." SungMin's eyebrows met as he stared at his friend in confusion. "And so?" EunHyuk bit his lips and stared at the small stain on his shirt. "...When I was young, I joined a talent show and I danced to my heart's content. I love dancing, even 'till now, but whenever I dance, no one shows any sort of response. Not then, not now..." The tears start to flow down his well-defined cheeks and SungMin tried his best to stop them with his thumbs. He hummed, signalling that he was waiting for EunHyuk to continue. And so he did. "I don't want to dance anymore. Even though I get so much enjoyment from dancing, the people who watch me dance would always end up hating me. After my talent show performance, the whole school body did not make a sound. The whole hall was silent. DongHae was also silent. I can't, SungMin. My phobia is dancing." EunHyuk bawled his eyes out while SungMin tried his best to calm his friend down.

"The... The audience from your performance. And DongHae. None of them told you anything afterwards? Maybe a smile, walking away, congratulating you... Some of them must have complimented, if not criticized, right?" His hopeful smile dropped to a frown as he saw his friend shake his head. "No... No one approached me, and I doubt DongHae will too. They all hate me now, SungMin. I lost potential friends, and now I've lost DongHae." He sobbed. SungMin flashed a small smile. "Come on now. DongHae was actually the one who told me you ran away. He panicked like crazy and when he saw me he sent me to find you immediately. I doubt he hates you at all, EunHyuk. How 'bout we call him and clear this up? Hm?" SungMin encouraged him with a light slap to his right cheek. EunHyuk was shocked that SungMin had somehow been with his crush, but he kept quiet. He had other things to worry about.

He bit his lower lip, deep in thought. He shook his head. SungMin grinned. "Alright then! Since you THINK he hates you,the both of you can just stop talking to each other, and then maybe you'll finally listen to me and keep a distance!" EunHyuk's head snapped up. "No. I want to continue to talk to him." The grin on his friend's face never fades as he makes a call. EunHyuk stared as his friend went in action.

"Hello? KyuHyun! I need his number."

Hiii SungMin~~~ DongHae's? No.

"But you said you'll give it to me..."

Don't talk in that tone, i-it's annoying. Uh... DongHae's here, I'll tell him to talk with my phone. EunHyuk, right?

"Yes. You can just give the number though. What's the harm? It'll be easier for me too."

I'm on my way to the other room and I don't see why you want his number that badly. When you said your friend likes Hae, were you referring to yourself?

"WHAT?! No. I don't like him at all. Pss---Oh hi, DongHae-ssi! I need to talk to you for a moment."

Exactly why I'm here. Did you find my monkey?!

"Yep. EunHyuk, the phone---H-hello, is this DongHae-ssi?" EunHyuk sneaked a glance at SungMin, as if asking for help, but the latter ignored his SOS signals and busied himself by switching on the lights and tidying the room.

Why's your voice so hoarse? Were you crying? Are you still at home? You okay? ANSWER ME.

"W-wait," EunHyuk coughs a bit, and continued, "I wasn't crying. A-At least not that much. Yes, I'm still at home... I'm okay..." A relieved sigh was heard from the other line.

I see. That's good then. See you in school.

"Uh, no, w-wait. I... Uh... ummm..."

What is it? Speak up, you monkey!

EunHyuk tensed up and took a few gulps of air before he managed to calm down. "Um... D-do you hate me now?"

...What?

"I mean, do you... hate me? After what I did..."

You didn't do anything, and I don't hate you.

"B-but you didn't say anything after I d-danced... Were you disappointed? I've already told you I couldn't..."

Are you going to cry? Please don't. 

"I won't..."

Good. 'Cause I thought your dancing was amazing.

"I se--- eh?"

I-I'm busy, so see you in school! Bye!

"Eh? Wait, so you don't hate me?"

But all EunHyuk received was the dial tone. He stared at the phone blankly, wondering what DongHae meant with the compliment. Was he simply trying to reassure him? Doesn't seem like something he would do. Halfway through thinking he felt his friend stare at him and he turned. "How was it?" He gathered up his courage and smiled. "I think... I think he doesn't hate me! He said my dancing was amazing!" EunHyuk grinned, eyes wet.

His smile was reflected on his friend's face and SungMin ran over. He took the phone, but realized that the other party hung up. "DID HE HANG UP ON MY FRIE---" EunHyuk laughed, trying to calm him down. At least everything's well. The both of them thought, each to themselves.

The next morning...

After the phone call the previous day, SungMin stayed to talk to EunHyuk, and left when the sky started to darken. It was after he left that a surge of paranoia coursed through him. Without the distraction which is his best friend, he suddenly started to worry about how he would face DongHae, and that led to an insomniac night.

By the time EunHyuk left for school, his eyebags were starting to show, but he tried not to bother and tuned out his sister's questions on his wellbeing. He thanked his mum silently for not disclosing the events to his sibling, otherwise he'd get a mouthful from the latter. Eventually they parted ways and EunHyuk slowly made his way to his classroom. It was almost 6 a.m, but since he was only in 9th grade, his classes start at 8, which is 2 hours later than his sister's. He was pondering whether he should enter his class so early, but ended up deciding that he had nowhere else to be anyway.

When he arrived at his classroom, he noticed that the whole room was practically empty. Mixed feelings of relief and disappointment were felt upon realizing that DongHae wasn't there. Sighing at his weird moodswings, he started towards his desk where he arranged his study materials.

Meanwhile, on the school's rooftop...

"So, what is this drama about you and a junior?" HeeChul smirked as he spoke to the crisp air. DongHae's head shot up in an instant and glared at the boy. "Excuse me? Where did you---?" Before he could continue his question, HeeChul passed a small chip enclosed in a glass cube to KyuHyun. The latter squealed and inserted the chip into his MacBook and DongHae sighed. He should have known.

The curiosity was peaked in the group of friends and ZhouMi started to inquire about the topic. DongHae tried to wave it off, but it obviously did not work and the group (except KyuHyun, who started to reformat his laptop at the corner of the area) enclosed around the fish.

Leaving him with no other option, DongHae spilled out the events in chronological order, with KyuHyun occasionally sharing his input. When he was done, SiWon sighed. "So what are you going to do after this? Will you still be skipping class?" To this HanKyung checked his watch and announced that their classes were going to start soon, since classes for the seniors only started at 5 the previous morning because it was the first day of school.

DongHae groaned at the thought of entering class while the weather was still so cold. "I'll take that as a yes." Henry laughed and started to herd everyone out through the door. "KyuHyun! If you're not following then we'll leave you with DongHae."

KyuHyun immediately looked up from his laptop screen and bolted to where his friends were, making sure that the laptop was still processing the gaming data. DongHae scoffed when his so-called friends promptly left him alone to think about his life. After wasting what seemed like 20 minutes, he decided to get up and head towards his little monkey's classroom.

The door slid open gently and DongHae peered in, expecting emptiness but was surprised to see EunHyuk already seated on his desk, engrossed in a novel of some sort. He closed the door as quietly as he possibly could and slowly went over to the oblivious boy. When he was stood right in front of the avid reader, he leaned down and whispered, "Boo!"

To say that EunHyuk jumped an inch through the air would be an understatement. "Who---D-D-DongHae...?"

Oh damn. DongHae thought as the atmosphere became awkward. He rubbed the back of his neck, willing himself to produce some sort of noise to break the silence when EunHyuk erupted with a tiny voice: "DongHae-ssi, I'd just like to know, did you compliment me yesterday to reassure me, or was it genuine?" Never had EunHyuk thought that he could be so straightforward with someone he fears so much (well, kind of), but he was glad that he managed to spit out the question that has been clouding his mind since their telephone conversation.

DongHae averted his gaze and coughed, a light dust of pink covering his cheeks. "I don't understand what you are referring to." EunHyuk bit his lip, a corner of his mind---the more sensitive areas---telling him that the boy in front of him never actually said anything. Perhaps he managed to pretend to hear the words he wanted to hear. But the larger, logical part of him wanted to set things straight, so he continued: "You told me my dancing was amazing through the phone. Did you mean it?" He looked at DongHae dead in his eyes and the latter finally gave in.

The indifferent persona was torn down, and DongHae assured, "Yea, I did. What about it?" YES. SUNGMIN WAS RIGHT, THE PEOPLE WERE ONLY QUIET BECAUSE THEY LIKED THE WAY I DANCED. EunHyuk was about to jump in joy, but suddenly realized, not everyone could have liked him. He was slightly despirited and DongHae noticed this change instantly. He didn't know how he did it, or more specifically, how he felt it, but he knew, and he had to do something. "Don't worry."

DongHae placed a large hand on the taller's head, standing up straight to protect his pride. However, there was one advantage to being shorter. DongHae's forehead was almost on par with EunHyuk's, and he leaned onto the boy's head and smiled. EunHyuk's eyes were clear and the smile was reflected with gratitude. "The way you move, the way you turn, I like everything about the way you dance. But if for some reason, someone comes and tells you otherwise, which I doubt would ever happen, just know that at least I am a fan of yours."

The words rolled right out of his mouth and when he realized how cheesy that must have sounded, DongHae blushed bright red and pushed his monkey roughly. EunHyuk stumbled and fell after tripping over the chair, but he was smiling. His cheeks were tinted with the same colour as the bully's, and the both of them found it hard to make eye contact. EunHyuk painfully got up, feeling a constant slight jab around his knee where the legs of the chair stabbed him, but he was smiling.

DongHae eventually noticed the smile on the taller's face and it only seemed to get larger. At that moment, a student entered the class and after staring at the duo for a couple of moments, he slid the door shut and walked towards them. DongHae's eyes narrowed at the new company and finally realized that the student was the guy who sat next to him on the first day of school: Kim Ki Bum. I.e. the most annoying person I've ever met. DongHae scowled to himself.

As predicted, KiBum went straight to DongHae's side and stood so close people would think they were at least best friends. "Good morning, DongHae-ssi!" He beamed, and his eyes darted slightly to EunHyuk before returning back to DongHae. "So when are we exchanging numbers?"

This ignorant bastard. Can't he tell I'm having a conversation? Okay, so the both of them were just blushing and standing around but still. DongHae grumbled under his breath but he really didn't want to have to deal with KiBum so early in the morning. Without a second thought, he typed in his number into KiBum's phone and glared, "Now scram." But KiBum obviously lingered around, staring at his his phone with glee. DongHae turned to EunHyuk, and the two of them stared at each other for a moment before DongHae clicked his tongue. It's not like he had anything more to say, and he probably wouldn't want to say anything in front of the annoying third-wheel--- wait, third-wheel...?

Why the heck am I feeling weird all of a sudden? My heart beat's quickened. I think I may need to go home and think this through. DongHae thought as a sudden fluttering feeling entered his system, tying his stomach in knots and suffocating him ever so subtly. He swiftly turned away from EunHyuk and wordlessly pushed KiBum out of his way with as much force as he could and exited the classroom.

EunHyuk's P.O.V

DongHae suddenly speed-walked out of the room and the door was left open. He seemed angry to say the least, but I turned back to the guy next to me when people started to enter. I looked at the guy closely and managed to guess that he was probably a classmate I didn't pay attention to.

The guy smirked at me and sat behind SungMin's seat, which is exactly next to DongHae's. I gasped and a worrying thought caused me to have a mini heart-attack. I don't think I would want to associate myself with such a person, but I will admit that he is gorgeous.

So when my brain replayed the whole scene again, of them standing so close, DongHae giving him his number, of his smirk... Oh god. Were they... in love?

I felt my heart simultaneously break but I couldn't act on it as SungMin arrived and started to chatter about irrelevant things, so I simply sat down and tried to keep myself distracted so I wouldn't sink into the sudden revelation and the consequential depression.