fourteen;

“He knows.”

“He does?”

Kyuhyun glances at the hundreds of furious text messages Hyukjae just sent him, and doesn’t even need to read them to know what they are all about. A sly smirk spread on his lips, he smugly leans back in his chair and runs a nonchalant hand through his hair.

“Yep,” he snorts when Sungmin curiously calls his name from the other end of the phone call. “He really does.”

=

Donghae: SUNMING HYUNG THIS IS HORRIBLE MY PENPAL IS LEE ING HYUKJAE WHAT THE HELL DO I DO NOW??!!!!

Donghae: …hyung??

Donghae: Hyung, you gotta reply to me, I’m having a crisis right now!!

Donghae: hyung?? Why aren’t u replying??

Donghae: WAIT OH MY GOD LEE SUNGMIN DID YOU ACTUALLY KNOW YOU ING MOTHERER OF A BASTARD??

Treacherous-Sungmin: no need to be rude Lee Donghae srsly.

Donghae: ASMKNEZAKZAMXPOQNDJSB ARE YOU ING KIDDING ME?????!!!!!!!!!!!!!

=

Donghae lets out a long scream into his pillow, punching it as hard as he can while he fully realizes the horrible mess he managed to get stuck in. It’s already close to three in the morning, but sleeping is definitely the last thing he has in mind, especially every time he remembers that his penpal is Lee ing Hyukjae. His name is continuously resonating in his head and reminds him of all the things they wrote to each other the past weeks (a full month, a voice slyly snorts in his mind but he believes that it's clearly not the moment to make the situation even worse than it already is), and he wonders how the hell he still isn’t dead from embarrassment. Because, really – it’s probably the first time Donghae truly envisages hiding under his bed for the rest of his ing life.

Or exile himself somewhere far away where Lee Hyukjae’s name is completely prohibited.

All the embarrassing stuff he told the redhead bastard come back to his mind (his hobbies, his memories, his concerns – hell, even their ing ual preferences), and he can’t help but cringe at the horrible turn his life is taking. Seriously, could things get any worse than that?

Because he is supposed to hate Lee Hyukjae and certainly not be friendly with him, ing penpals or not. They’re supposed to want to punch, and kick and insult and make fun of one another – not flirt through supposedly anonymous letters and while wondering what it would be like if they actually knew each other.

Yes – because Donghae actually thought about it, and it makes the situation even more horrible than it already is at this point. Now that he knows that the guy who managed to give him a in middle of mathematic class is actually Lee Hyukjae, he seriously doesn’t know whether he should cry of laugh.

Crying sounds like the best alternative.

No, he thinks firmly after a while, when his panic has calmed down a bit. I can do this. All he has to do is ignore him, right? Act as if nothing has ever happened, avoid him as much as possible and never tell a word about it.

And then he remembers the way he was worried about Hyukjae acting strange the day before – and promptly hides under his cover to scream his frustration even louder.

Screw the ing bonus points, he’s so quitting the penpal club.

=

It has to be karma¸ Hyukjae desperately thinks and stops dead in his tracks in the middle of the hallway.

At the other end is standing Lee ing Donghae, who also is his ing penpal. Classes haven’t even started yet that the object of his worst fears is already here, at a few meters away from him and probably ready to kill him with the worst tortures ever known to the world.

I’m so going to ing kill this ing karma.

Then, just as the only explanation that comes to his mind as to why his life has become such a horrible nightmare is that fate is the biggest ever, Lee Donghae slowly turns around, until they’re facing one another.

A blank pause falls between the two of them as they catch each other's eyes with horrified expressions. And probably with the worst timing ever, Hyukjae suddenly remembers him writing to his penpal – who ironically happens to be Lee Donghae – that he found hot the fact that he jerked off in the bathroom because of some he wrote in one of the letters.

So he does the first thing that comes to his mind at this point.

He ing runs away for his life.

=

Donghae wonders if he’s fated to end his high school life as a ninja.

Nervously chewing on his lower lip, he’s crouched down behind a wall of the staircase and is thoroughly making sure that Lee Hyukjae is nowhere to be seen. His eyes narrowed in concentration, he’s trying to estimate the chances of the redhead student suddenly appearing at the other hand of the hallway before he reaches his next class – they're probably very small, but he's already been shocked enough for an entire year and certainly doesn't need things to get any worse, thank-you-very-much. Then, as he’s about to rush to his classroom, his attention distractedly drifts to three familiar voices he can hear chatting behind him.

“Do you know what’s up with Hyukjae oppa?” a girl named Yoona curiously her head to the side. “He’s been acting strange today, no?”

“Not really sure,” Sooyoung shrugs and glances at Jessica. “But maybe it’s – eep!”

She yelps in surprise when Donghae whips around and abruptly grabs her by her shoulders. He knows he probably looks like he’s completely mad (he has to admit that it’s probably only a matter of time before he actually becomes so), but all he can wrap his mind around is the fact that they are talking about Hyukjae.

“You said Hyukjae?” he asks curtly, ignoring the way the three girls are staring at him as if he’s completely crazy. “What did he say? Did he tell you something about me?” He can’t help but be scared that the redhead bastard might have spilled out all his most embarrassing secrets to the whole high school – even if he has to (very reluctantly) admit that a part of him (a really, really big one, that annoying voice evilly reminds him) can’t believe that bull at all (he has to wonder since when he started to trust Hyukjae, and then stop himself from panicking). “Did he?!”

“Eh, no?” Yoona utters with a confused frown. “He really didn’t? We didn’t even talk today.”

Donghae narrows his eyes at her and scrutinizes her face, then huffs explosively and rushes to his classroom without a word. Puzzled expressions plastered on their face, the three girls blankly stare at him hastily walking away.

“What the hell just happened?” Jessican raises an eyebrow. “Why is everybody so weird today?”

“You know what’s the weirdest?” Sooyoung says as she crosses her arms over her chest in perplexity. “Hyukjae oppa reacted the exact same way this morning, when I mentioned Donghae oppa’s name.”

Humming thoughtfully, Yoona cutely pursues her lips into a small pout. “Oh my God,” she mumbles, then, as her features brighten up suddenly. “Do you think they might actually like each other?”

“That’d be so cool!” the other exclaims excitedly. “Can you imagine? Lee Hyukjae and Lee Donghae, the most improbable couple of the high school!”

Before they can start squealing like the childish teenager girls they are, Jessica snorts in their direction and contemptuously stares down at them (even if she’s definitely not the tallest). “Don’t be stupid and go back to your studies, you weirdos,” she scoffs with a dramatic flick of her hair. “It’s not because you both managed to find a boyfriend that you have to think everybody is in a relationship.”

As she whips around and makes her way to their next classroom, a blush furiously spreads on Yoona’s face, while Sooyoung pouts sulkily.

“She seriously needs to get laid,” she grumbles.

=

“You’re such a coward, do you know that?” Kyuhyun rolls his eyes at the redhead student. “It can’t be that horrible, right?”

A Korean history book poorly hiding the top of his head as he plasters himself against the cafeteria table in hopes of staying as unnoticeable as possible, Hyukjae whips around in his chair and murderously glares at who used to be his best friend. Embarrassment is still blatantly flushing his face with a bright shade of pink, while his lips are pursued into an annoyed pout. His single-lidded eyes are narrowed into two furious slits as he mentally tries to strangle the younger.

It unfortunately doesn't seem to be working, judging by the way he's flatly staring back at him.

“You ing shut up,” he hisses venomously and tries to kick Kyuhyun’s shin (he misses his aim, but he likes to believe it’s only because he’d better focus on hiding rather than punching the daylights out of his best friend. Revenge is supposed to be a dish that is best served cold, after all). “It’s all your fault!”

The other raises a disbelieving eyebrow at him and arrogantly leans back in his chair, before he snorts contemptuously. “How the hell is that supposed to be my fault. The fact that you’re probably the dumbest guy of all Korea – wait, scratch that – the stupidest guy of the ing continent doesn’t have anything to do with me.”

“You should’ve told me right away, you ing !” Hyukjae shouts out with an outraged expression, but he can’t really deny the fact that he undoubtedly isn't the brightest crayon in the box.

Kyuhyun then sighs gravely, putting a heavy hand on his shoulder. His eyes turn solemn all of a sudden as he looks up at him. “I know, and I’m sorry,” he utters dramatically. “It’s probably one of the biggest shocks in your life, isn't it?”

“Of course it is!” Hyukjae immediately nods in agreement. “It’s ing horrible!”

The younger nods sympathetically, patting his shoulder a bit too amicably to be completely genuine. “You probably think nothing can shock you anymore, because it’s so big? You feel like you’re going to have a heart attack any time soon, and you wonder if you’re ever going to overcome all this ing , right?”

“, yes.”

“I feel your pain, dude,” Kyuhyun shakes his head sorrowfully, encouragingly squeezing his shoulder. “It must be so hard on you – so much things happening to you so suddenly; you just realized that your penpal is Lee Donghae, and that you possibly might have a crush on him, even if he’s supposed to be the guy you hate the most in the high school. I’m so sorry, you know that, right?” He pauses, then flatly adds “Also, I’ve been dating Lee Sungmin for a month now.”

“What the , I do not have a crush on my penpal and – wait what.” Hyukjae widens his eyes in shock and jumps on his feet with a loud ruckus. “Are you not ing kidding me, Cho Kyuhyun?! You’re actually dating Lee Donghae’s best friend and you didn’t even – where the ing hell are you going, you ing dip?!”

=

When Donghae finds another letter in his locker later that day, he can feel all the blood drain out of his body in the small span of a second. Staring at it in horror, he can’t find the strength in himself to decide whatever he is supposed to do about this, now that he knows who the ing hell actually wrote it. Next to him, Sungmin peers above his shoulder and giggles when he sees the white envelope neatly put on top of his school books. He quickly glares at him, and then clenches his fists together as his brain works as fast as it ever did in his whole life.

“Aren’t you going to read this?” Sungmin still chirps, even if he knows Donghae is still angry at him. “You’re usually so excited every time your penpal sends you something.”

“Shut the up,” he hisses venomously, then stubbornly continues “I’m not going to read them anymore, anyway.”

Sunmin scoffs and raises a smug eyebrow in his direction, before he picks the letter up and tauntingly waves it in front of his shocked eyes. “Then do you want me to throw it for you?” he snickers evilly. “I’m sure you can’t be bothered about this kind of bull, no? You would never waste your time if it's about Lee Hyukjae, am I not right, hmm?”

Donghae knows his best friend is making fun of him. He knows it, and still he can’t help but falling in his trap like a dumb kid (which he probably is, now that he thinks about it). Without thinking about it twice, he hurriedly snatches it away, a furious blush spreading on his face.

 “It's not – I just don't –,” he cringes at how pathetic he sounds, before he finally mumbles in embarrassment “I'll do it.”

He hates to admit it, but having received a letter still excites him as much as it did before, and maybe – just maybe – the fact that he knows it’s actually Hyukjae that send it makes it even more thrilling.

Maybe it’s not too late to really exile myself, after all, he thinks desperately.

=

Hyukjae: i hope Lee Sungmin will break your heart, u ing traitor

Kyuhyun: lmfao see if i care, i'm not the one who's crushing on my worst ennemy who also happens to my penpal hahahaha.

Hyukjae: YOU MOTHERING

Kyuhyun: eww go away that's Sungmin's job

=

After a tremendous day doing his best to stay as invisible as he can (it’s probably the first time he truly dreaded his popularity that much), Donghae is sulking on his way home, his fists shoved in his pockets. His thin lips are unconsciously pursued into a small pout as he unhappily grumbles under his breath. The letter is still safely hidden at the bottom of his backpack – and unopened, since he’s too much of a coward to actually read it.

Then, as he tries his best to tell himself that it really does not matter, and that this situation doesn’t make him feel as bad as it really does since he finds himself missing the redhead's stupid letters and texts (he doesn’t dare to ask himself the reason why yet), even if they actually never properly talked to each other in real life, he spots his girlfriend Hara sitting at the table of a small coffee, at the other side of the street. He blinks at her for a second and has to remind himself that yes, he actually is in a relationship, before he envisages joining her and maybre try to relieve a bit of all the stress that built up today. He's about to walk across the street and greet her, when he notices the guy she's sharing a piece of cake with – and they they're suddenly kissing, softly and almost shyly.

But it's still a kiss, and as much as he knows that he actually doesn't love Hara, it doesn't stop the pain of realizing that his girlfriend is cheating on him right in front of his eyes to quickly spread through him. It pierces his chest and spreads to his limbs, tearing uncomfortably as a bitter taste rises up his throat, his heart clenching in disappointment

It hurts, although he really doesn't want it to, and it's suddenly no use to deny it anymore – he doesn't ing care anymore, because Hara is a , and he really wants to complain to someone. Donghae doesn’t need to think about it twice before the urge to talk to his penpal – to Hyukjae – hits him with full strength.

it.

STOP LYING TO YOURSELF GUISES.

lol what is this even, this chapter is so silly and it so much hahaha. sawrry about that ._.

also, WHAT THE EFFING HELL GUYS YOU'RE SO PRECIOUS

big, big, big thank you to all of you for all the upvotes and the comments, even if I can't personally reply to them all (i'll be honest, i'm really too lazy, sawrry).

i love chuuuu <3

thanks for reading, and please remember to comment/upvote/subscribeeeee!

p.s: funny fact; i only learned that Yoona and Sooyoung were officially dating yesterday haha

p.p.s: twitter @tranthanhxuanvn