fifteen;

Her arms crossed over her chest, Lee Sora skeptically looks at what her parents like to call her brother, who is lethargically sprawled on the sofa and whining as if he is currently experiencing the worst moment of his life. Seeing that, she really wants to walk over and kick him in the balls, just to give him an actual reason that might explain his current state.

But even if the urge to slap her brother at the back of his head is itching her senses (or maybe she’s just allergic to him), she likes to believe that she is a responsible and caring sister (although that’s more of a chore rather than anything else). Sighing in annoyance, she reluctantly steps in the living-room and makes sure that nobody can see her, before she goes to take care of her retarded brother.

Because there’s definitely no way she’s going to risk her reputation for that redhead brat.

“What the is wrong with you?” she nicely kicks him in the stomach (not the balls – that’s how generous she is) and rolls her eyes when Hyukjae lets out a pained oof! “You’re taking all the couch, you stupid monkey.”

The boy holds his painful stomach with a grimace before he difficultly wriggles on his back, and throws her a nasty glare – and Sora doesn’t hesitate to kick him again, until he falls off the couch and hits the carpet. Smirking in satisfaction, she sneers at him and arrogantly flops down in the middle of the sofa, then stares down at him.

“What the , noona!” Hyukjae hisses as he gets up and glares at her. “That hurt.”

“That was the point, thank you,” she rolls her eyes again. “Now be nice and tell me what the is wrong with you, so I can kick you out of this house. It’d better be settled by the time my drama starts, understood?”

The younger boy unconsciously starts pouting, as he sulkily rubs the painful spot of her stomach. His eyes are avoiding hers, and Sora immediately recognizes the signs of his embarrassment and hesitation. “What makes you think I want to tell you about my problems, anyway?” he finally mumbles. “You’re only going to make fun of me in any case.”

“Glad we agree on this point,” she scoffs. “Now. Tell me. Lee Minho and Park Shinye are on the screen in less than an hour. I'd rather watch them than you.”

Glaring at her once again, he petulantly starts mumbling under his breath.

“Well it’s –” he cringes a little, then lets out a defeated sigh. His shoulders suddenly slumps down in desperation as he falls on his knees and buries his head in the couch next to her. Whining loudly, he finally speaks up “It’s about that Donghae dude,” he says with a pouty voice. “It’s – we don’t like each other, remember? And – well – I realized not so long ago, like ing yesterday because Kyuhyun is a bastard, that we interacted through letters for a whole month. It was supposed to be anonymous at first, but now we both know. And, I just – it’s horrible.”

Sora a disbelieving eyebrow at him and silently judges him for being a member of the penpal club. Then, when she is sure that Hyukjae feels her mocking stare practically piercing him (he weakly glares at her in return, but that only earns him another kick in the sides), she thoughtfully says “Donghae… Isn’t that the guy you’re always talking about?”

Hyukjae whips around on his knees, and grimaces when they scrap against the carpet underneath. “I don’t!” he exclaims, and looks a little bit panicked. “I don’t care about him, ok? I swear that I don’t!”

This time, the elder girl decides to him at the back of his head, in hopes that it might help his neurons to get back in the right places. “Of course you do, you insolent brat,” she hisses. “So what? Did you realize somewhere along the way that you have a crush on him? That’s about ing time!”

Squeaking in horror, the redhead hastily scrambles up on his feet and frenetically shakes his head no. Seeing the panic flaring behind his single-lidded eyes and the way he looks like he’s about to have , Sora almost feels sorry for him.

Almost.

“Oh my God,” she snickers evilly and straightens up in interest. This is actually funny. “I was just joking, but it’s actually true? You’re crushing on Lee Donghae, the guy you always claim to be hating and who stole your holy strawberry milk in freshman year?”

“No!” he is quick to deny, then squirms uncomfortably when Sora gives him a judging glare. “Technically, I might be crushing on my penpal. But only might, ok?!”

“Who is Donghae, so it boils down to the same ing thing. And you wouldn’t be fretting about this if you weren’t really crushing on him,” she dismissively brushes the argument aside.

Hyukjae feels his heart stops for a fraction of second in horror.

Then, she smirks in his direction, and he can't help but feel very, very uneasy. “So,” she says sweetly – way too sweetly. “When do you plan on banging him, hmm?”

Letting out a desperate sound, Hyukjae wonders if it’s not too late to disown her as his sister.

=

Donghae stares at his phone and wonders, his heart torn between his pride and the need to talk to someone he feels comfortable with. Of course, there’s still Sungmin – but apparently he’s on a date with whoever his boyfriend is, and he doesn’t want to bother him.

And it’s simply not the same as with his penpal – as with Hyukjae, he has to remind himself with a grimace.

Even if he hates to admit it, the guy – Hyukjae, for ’s sake – has always managed to lift his mood up ever since they started to talk to each other, and he kind of misses sharing texts and letters like they used to before it became this whole mess.

Which only was the day before, he has to remind himself. There’s actually no need to be so dramatic, but he feels really down and doesn’t have the heart to think positively about anything.

To be honest, Donghae doesn’t really know what he is supposed to think about his penpal’s real identity. He knows that it’s embarrassing, and that they told each other a bunch of private stuff that could become very, very compromising. But a part of him also finds the situation kind of thrilling, and funny.

As much as he strongly judges himself for it, he has to concede that he’d prefer not to have to let go of his penpal, even if it means talking with Hyukjae – because if he has to be honest, he has started to truly like him.

As a potential friend, of course.

=

When Hyukjae receives an unexpected message about two hours later while he’s sprawled on his bed (he decided to beat a retreat seeing how abusive his sister can get), and that he realizes the sender is actually Donghae, he wonders if it’s okay to cry a little. Both his sister and supposedly best friend have been messing with his head for the past hours (days, if they are to talk about Kyuhyun), and he honestly doesn’t know anything anymore – and that definitely includes his ing feelings for the brunette student. Well, to be honest, that’s really the only thing that is tormenting him at the moment, but he wants to believe that he’s not completely desperate either.

He’d like to affirm that no, he doesn’t feel anything for him but a complete indifference that sometimes edges to school rivalry (ahem) and he obviously doesn’t care about all this penpal they were dragged into. But when his heart starts pulsing faster in his chest and that his stomach twirls in anticipation at the sight of Donghae’s ID on his phone screen, even he has to admit that it’s somewhat hard to believe.

But he decides to act like a man and be brave, and after releasing a long breath and mentally encouraging himself (he’s glad Sora isn’t here anymore, or she might have kicked him again for being so pathetic), he finally taps on his phone and opens the text message.

Dickhead: hey hyukjae.

Inwardly repeating the two simple words, he frowns and starts wondering what this is supposed to mean. Because even if he doesn’t want to analyze every single word he receives like these crazy chicks in the dramas, he has to admit that this message is a bit puzzling. It’s not friendly, or cold – or anything specific, to be honest. Hyukjae really doesn’t know how he is supposed to interpret this; is Donghae angry? Indifferent? Awkward? Shy?

And then, what is he supposed to answer him? A simple hello? Or just yes? What’s up?

Or maybe he should be cool and not reply at all, he wonders.

Shut up brain, you’re being stupid again, a voice that disturbingly sounds like a mix between Kyuhyun’s and Sora’s immediately scolds him.

He ponders, and ponders, and ponders – and three minutes and fifty-four seconds later (yes he counted, ok), he finally decides to make it short, simple and natural.

In short, just perfect.

Hyukjae: what

Well maybe it didn’t come out the way I wanted it to.

Staring helplessly at his screen, he feels like whining out loud and sulkily kicking the air with his feet. But before he can go past the last limits of his sanity, his phone rings again, indicating that he just received another text message. He only has the time to wonder why Donghae is texting him out of the blue, even though he does know who he really is, before he hurriedly opens it.

Dickhead: I don’t know why I’m telling u this but

Dickhead: I think Hara is cheating on me...........

“,” Hyukjae immediately exclaims and sits up on his bed, a worried expression creasing his forehead.

All concerns about possibly crushing on his penpal or whatsoever instantly leave his mind, as he focuses on Donghae and the content of the text.

Hyukjae: I’m sorry? What makes you think that? Are u sure??

Dickhead: saw her snogging a dude in front of me. Ain’t that a good proof enough?

Chewing on his lower lip, Hyukjae’s frown deepens as he somehow understands how Donghae must feel, although they only shared a couple of texts. As much as he is supposed to hate the guy, cheating is always painful and he shouldn’t make fun of his misery.

And to be honest, he really wants to build that Hara-’s head into a wall.

Hyukjae: are u sad?

What kind of question is that, Lee Hyukjae, of course he ing is!

Dickhead: I’d say I’m rather disappointed. I don’t love her but she’s still my girlfriend, so it still hurts.

A confusing surge of jealousy and anger rushes through him as he reads the message, as he wonders how he can lift the other’s mood up. Hesitantly tapping on the keyboard of his phone screen, Hyukjae suddenly realizes that he doesn’t care if it’s actually Donghae. No matter what, he has to admit that they did become friends, even if it was through anonymous letters. And as much as he is scared to admit it, he does care for him – as a friend or as a potential crush, he doesn’t know.

But, he thinks determinedly. This isn’t the problem right now – right now, I focus on Donghae.

Therefore, he only has a second to think before he is pressing the Send button.

Hyukjae: ...........wanna meet up?

=

A quick glance allows Donghae to see a small part of the coffee shop where Hara and her other boyfriend are having a date. An angry frown furrowing his eyebrows, he only hesitates for a short moment before he is already sending his answer.

Donghae: ......ok.

=

Hyukjae lets out an embarrassing squeal as soon as he reads the text, and starts the air in excitation.

So is that a date??

Wait.

What.

OH MY ING STRAWBERRIES NO GO KILL YOURSELF LEE HYUKJAE.

lol at Lee Sora noona. and hyukjae, you embarrassing fanboy, tsk tsk

this chapter was funny to write but i don't know if you guys enjoyed it? ;-; i'm going to update faster now because the contest deadline is in, like two-three weeks. Yay, i guess? hahaha

Anyways, thank you so much for all the comments/upvotes/subscribers. Please remember to leave some feedbackk :D

Ciaaooo