thirteen;

“Let me get this straight,” Kyuhyun grunts and painfully rubs his temples as if Hyukjae is giving him the biggest headache ever. “This guy, whoever the hell he is, basically told you about his whole life – his hobbies, his position in the soccer team when he used to be a player, his favorite movies, and even his ual preferences. Hell, the guy even prefers to talk to you rather than his girlfriend, who he’s been dating for a month now. Am I right?”

The redhead student thoughtfully looks at him, before he drinks up his third strawberry milk pack and already reaches for another. A puzzled expression plastered on his face, he nibbles on the pink straw and tilts his head to the side. “Well, yeah. I guess you can put it this way,” he says pensively before cheerfully adding “Oh, and he also told me that he’s a fan of Shinhwa and Iron Man, if this is of any importance.”

A hiss is sent in his direction, telling him that it’s clearly not the point. Kyuhyun exasperatedly glares at him, his fingers clutching on what used to be his sandwich. “And despite all that,” he explosively grits through his teeth. “You still don’t know who the holy he is?!”

Pushing his chair back a bit, in case Kyuhyun decides to throw his lunch at his face (it really doesn’t look like he’s in a good mood today), he blinks a little and thinks back of the letters he carefully hid in one of his drawers at home.

“...Nope,” he casually replies.

The younger student’s right eyebrow twitches in both frustration and exasperation, while his jaw clenches painfully. The content of his sandwich drips out of his hand and falls on the table, earning a disgusted look from the single-lidded student. Then, so quickly Hyukjae has to worry if his best friend isn’t suffering from an incurable mental disorder (that would explain a lot of things), his shoulders suddenly slump down in what looks like an odd mixture of despair and defeat.

“Oh my God,” he whines suddenly. “What did I do to the world to end up with that poor excuse of a best friend?”

Hyukjae blinks in surprise, then scowls in Kyuhyun’s direction. “Rude,” he pouts.

=

Softie,

Don’t lie to yourself, yoh. Just admit it, you liked it as . I bet you actually want more, you little er. And oh my God, the image of you in the bathroom is hilarious. And kind of hot, too. And also the fact that you were in there because of me. Wow, I should stop here before it goes out of hand, haha.

Sure, thank you! And of course, if you also need someone to talk to, then I’m here! :)

I don’t really know if I believe in true love or not, to be honest. It’s just, I’ve never experienced it, you know? So it sounds a bit too vague to be real. And falling in love at first sight or some like that is a bit too cliché for me to fully believe in that sort of concept. Just as the proverb says, you have to see it to believe it.

So you say you don’t like Lee Hyukjae but in the end it looks like you do a lot of things with him, hmm? Soccer team, dance team… For all I know, you actually might be his stalker! Should I be worried for our poor Hyuk-captain? Anyways, I really like dancing too! I don’t have my favorite style yet (I like them all so it’s hard to choose, you know), though I think that locking and popping moves are really cool. We’ll have to go to a club or something and dance together if we ever met.

So both, but a weak side for bottom? Why am I not surprised, you Skip-Beat lover. Must be tough with girlfriend that can’t you just the right way, I presume. Personally I don’t have a particular preference for either; just like you said, it’s a hard question. It always depends of the situation and the person you’re with. I think the best about is that the game of dominance can always switch in the short span of a second. It’s what makes it so exciting, I think. I do like teasing, but then I like to tease and to be teased all the same, so yeah.

Dude, we have too much in common I swear. Like, soccer is also one of my favorite hobbies. You seriously have to stop copying me, you weirdo.

I’m going to summarize you what I think of strawberries in a single word; perfection. You can’t live without these wonderful fruits. They’re just so yummy, and tasty, and juicy, and oh my God now I want some. I swear I pissed my mother off so many times because of that when I was younger. You know those pregnant women who randomly want strawberries in the middle of winter? I was like that. Except I was six and definitely not pregnant. Mom yelled at me so much for buggering her all the freaking time. I even tried to put a pillow in my shirt once to make it look like I was actually pregnant and had a legit reason to ask for strawberries. It worked the first time because Dad thought it was funny and creative, and that I might just be “the future of this country”. And then I got spanked all the next others.

I think rain is a bit complex. It’s wonderful in summer, when the air is too heavy and humid, and that you really need the weather to freshen out a bit. And completely catastrophic when it’s winter and you forgot your umbrella at home. To be honest, it all depends of the person; some feel down because of it, and others find some kind of energy in the way it falls over the city or something like that. Personally, it’s never the same. Sometimes I feel like it’s washing off all my problems, and the next day I might get the impression that it actually worsens them. I like it and hate it at the same time, and I don’t even really know why, to be honest. Does that make sense, though? I guess not.

Racism is something I’ll never understand. My family has always been pretty open-minded, and I was taught to never be mean with someone only because they’re different. It’s hard for me to get the reason why so many people treat others badly only because of a difference of color. Or even because they don’t love the same genre as the majority does. We’re all human in the end, aren’t we?

Our society has a real problem with racism, but I’m glad to know that things are slowly getting better. Maybe there’s a legit reason (though I don’t really believe that) that brought up the stereotypes about all of them being violent and horrible, or whatever, but that doesn’t apply to all of them. They’re not everybody, and everybody are not them. We only think of the bad people, and never of the good ones.

Ok, so tacos and Starbucks.

- Tired-after-so-much-philosophy-H

=

“Wait,” Hyukjae mumbles the same afternoon, when Kyuhyun and him are trying (and failing) to do their homework at the library.

His best friend looks up from his laptop and raises a questioning eyebrow at him. A frown furrows his eyebrows and his eyes are narrowed, as if he is thinking really hard (Kyuhyun has to stifle a snicker at that).

“Does this mean… Does this mean that you know who my penpal is?” The redhead student gasps in shock. His single-lidded eyes widen comically as he excitedly leans forward, his mathematic book forgotten somewhere on the floor where it fell a second earlier. “Who is it, hmm? Who is he, my penpal?”

The youngest skeptically stares at him for a second, then rolls his eyes without a word. Incoherently grumbling under his breath, he focuses his attention back on his laptop and keeps on pretending that he’s working on his History essay, while truth is Hyukjae can still hear the sounds of his ongoing game coming from the device.

“What if I do?” he eventually huffs, when the redhead is about to implode with impatience. “It’s not like you have to know who he is, right? It’s supposed to be about anonymity, isn’t it?”

“But I’m curious,” Hyukjae tries to pout a bit, and receives a painful kick in the shin in return. “Come on! You gotta tell me!”

“Well I won’t,” the other snorts contemptuously. “I thought you didn’t like this whole penpal thing anyway, and that you only coped with him to get the bonus points.”

Hyukjae opens his mouth to retort something (like what the hell do you know, you insolent brat), until he realizes that his best friend is actually right (he often is, he grudgingly admits). “Well I – Maybe I just started to like him, you know?”

“You like him a bit too much,” Kyuhyun grunts, before cursing loudly when he’s about to lose his game. “I mean, you talk about him all the time as if he’s your boyfriend or something. Keep it down, you lovestruck.”

Shocked and eyes wide, the redhead gapes in his direction. “I’m not lovestruck!” he screeches in a high-pitched voice, which earns him a nasty glare from the librarian. “I’m really not! Right? Right?!”

As panic starts to rise up in his throat and that he vehemently tries to deny the possibility of having developed any kind of romantic feelings for a guy he barely knows (this argument starts to become invalid, but he doesn’t really have the time to think about this right now), he misses Kyuhyun’s evil snicker, as well as the puzzled expression Donghae throws at him from the other side of the library. 

=

Hyukjae: so girlfriend isn’t the special one, huh?

Dickhead: nope. I like her but just as one among others. She’s not //wow//, you know?

Hyukjae: in short you just like having someone to don’t you.

Dickhead: ............

Dickhead: don’t tell anyone.

When Hyukjae reads the latest text his penpal sent him, he can’t help but feeling torn between two things awfully close to happiness and jealousy.

And therefore proceeds to bang his head against the nearest wall a few times, until he’s dizzy enough not to distinguish his right from his left.

=

An eyebrow raised in bemusement, Donghae stares at the redhead student, who is standing at the other end of the hallway and looking miserable. It’s the second time today that Hyukjae acts strangely (and the third this week, but it's not like he's keeping accounts or something), and he can’t understand the reason why. While he’s sure that it's only curiosity which is driving him to ask himself all these very meaningless questions, he really wonders if there’s anything wrong with the other.

Hara has her arm hooked around his and is trying to gain his attention, but it’s barely if he can hear her talking. All his attention is focused on Hyukjae, a frown creasing his forehead and a pout plastered on his face. He sighs a little, until his girlfriend huffs sulkily and stomps away. Donghae blinks at her in surprise, before he shrugs and tells himself he’ll fix things later (it’s not like she’s his first priority right now).

“What are you staring at so intensely, hmm?” a familiar voice chuckles next to him.

He turns around and smiles faintly when he recognizes Sungmin. Not replying, he glances at the redhead once again, before grudgingly looking away. “Nothing in particular.”

“Liar,” Sungmin immediately scoffs. “You were staring at Lee Hyukjae, weren’t you?”

“What – no!” he splutters hastily. “I – of course not!” He opens his mouth one more time, before tightening his lips into a tight line. “I was just wondering what the hell is wrong with him.”

Sungmin rolls his eyes, before he’s suddenly turning around and is calling a name that sounds awfully familiar in his ears. “Kyuhyun-ssi?”

The interested turns around and raises a disbelieving eyebrow. After giving a last exasperated glare to Hyukjae, he finally walks up to them. Panicked, Donghae does his best to hurriedly hide behind his best friend without looking like a coward (he really isn’t, ok), and continuously hisses curses under his breath at him.

“Yes, Sungmin-ssi?” Kyuhyun says almost too sweetly, and if he didn’t know better, he would have thought that something fishy is going on between the two of them. “What’s up?”

“Nothing,” the interested shrugs. “But Donghae wanted to know if everything is fine with Hyukjae.”

The younger (and still taller than the both of them) turns to raise his eyebrows at him, then smirks slyly. “Worried he might get sick or something?”

“Something like that,” he mumbles distractedly when he sees Hyukjae desperately staring at his phone. “I mean,” he quickly adds when he realizes what he just said. “Of course not. I just wanted to know so I can be sure he’s not going to infect me with his germs or something, you know?”

“Right,” the other scoffs sarcastically. “I don’t see what it has anything to do with you, though. But if you really want to know, I think it’s about that guy he wants to date.”

Donghae whips around and stares at Kyuhyun with wide eyes. “What?!” he gasps. “The guy he wants to date?”

“Yep,” he shrugs, and discreetly winks at Sungmin when he’s not looking. “They’re probably boyfriends, but I’m not very sure, you know?”

“Boyfriends?!” he repeats with a screech. Stunned, Donghae can only gape in the redhead student’s direction.

Somehow, he suddenly feels really, really down.

=

That night, when Hyukaje goes back home, he can’t help but thinking hard about who his penpal might be. Firstly, because Kyuhyun has been a jerk all day about this, repeating him that he’s probably the dumbest man alive if he still didn’t realize who the guy is, and secondly because he needs to stop wondering if he actually likes him.

Because, well, that’s not possible, right? He doesn’t know him, except from the letters and the messages they shared. He truthfully thinks that they’re only buddies, but all the mean things Kyunhyun forced in his head are confusing him a little, and he really needs to put an end to this terrifying psychological torture.

Therefore, as soon as he walks in his house, and after his lovely sister hisses that he’d better not go anywhere near her with his stinky feet (it’s a lie, he already fixed that issue a long time ago), he hurriedly goes up to his bedroom and locks himself in. A frown furrowing his eyebrows, he slumps down on the chair of his desk and takes a random piece of paper out of his bag, before scribbling down all he knows about the penpal.

If Kyuhyun managed to guess who it is, then he can, too, right?

Of course I can, he optimistically cheers, before setting to work.

One hour later, though, he still doesn’t have a single clue about who the his penpal might be. His head resting on the cool surface of his desk, he whines under his breath and ruffles his hair in frustration. He knows so much about the guy, but he still can’t figure out who he might be, and it’s driving him completely crazy. The fact that the penpal was a part of the soccer team and of the dancing team narrows the list down to a small bunch of people, but all the options he has don’t make any senses. None of them are as witty as the guy is, or as funny and cute.

Plus, knowing that the pen friend doesn’t like him very much is a bit puzzling. The only person that comes to his mind when thinking about who might dislike him in the high school is definitely Lee Donghae.

But it can’t be Lee Donghae, right?

Right?!

He pauses, thinks blankly for a moment and gasps.

OH MY ING HOLY GOODNESS CHISUS ING CHRIST STRAWBERRIES MOTHERER .

=

Half-wit: Hey I think we have a problem.

Dickhead: hi? what is it?

Half-wit: well. This is awkward but

Half-wit: I know who you are. And you seriously won’t like it.

Dickhead: Uh ok?

Dickhead: who are you, then? It can’t be that bad, right?

Half-wit: …

Dickhead: ?

Half-wit: …dude. I’m Lee Hyukjae.

Dickhead: …

Half-wit: …

Dickhead: .........WHAT THE ING ????!!??!!!!

Half-wit: ......

Half-wit: ...nice to meet you too.

lmfao that only took thirteen chapters of my life. also, this is probably the worst chap of this story. sorry about that :( but on another note, I started a new story, for another contest! >> Two Pieces

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