Donghae’s POV

“How did you know?” I quickly asked, not even bothering to deny.

“You mean it’s true?”

Damn it.  I should’ve denied.

Henry smiled mischievously and pointed at Kyuhyun, who shook his hands defensively once I threw an evil glare at him.  “Why are you blaming me?   It’s not my fault you’re too easy to read.”

“What do you mean?!” I was now in a state of panic.  For all I know, I might’ve been casually walking around with the words ‘I like Lee Hyukjae’ written all over my face without my awareness.

“Hyung, I’ve been noticing you’re not-so-hidden secret glances at Eunhyuk-ssi for months.  Remember how I was insisting on you getting a lover soon?  I was kinda implying something.” Henry explained in amusement.  “But how did you think it was Eunhyuk…-ssi?” I stuttered. I wasn’t used to addressing Eunhyuk formally now.  “Easy.  Through the elimination method, due to various reasons, I ended up with just three people…” I eyed him suspiciously before urging him to go on.  “It couldn’t be Changmin, because he’s too tall for you.  And it definitely wasn’t Sungmin, so it just had to be Eunhyuk.”

“Why can’t it be Sungmin?” I challenged, ignoring his comment on my height.  It’s a complex of mine.

“It can’t be Minnie because I said so.” Kyuhyun replied bluntly.

I raised my eyebrows and shifted my eyes at him suspiciously.

Maybe I should question those two after I’ve dealt with my own love life.

“So, hyung…you like guys?”  Henry grinned while I sighed in defeat.

“I don’t like guys.  I like Eunhyuk…-ssi.”

“But Eunhyuk-ssi’s a guy.”

“Exactly.  I don’t like ‘guys’.  I only like him.” I blushed slightly after realizing how cheesy I was.  “AISH!  Why are you even asking these things?!” I pushed his teasing smile away and grabbed my glass of water to cool myself down.

Suddenly, a dreadful thought hit me.  If Henry, one of the least perceptive people I know, was able to notice…then what about Siwon?

“Siwon must feel left out.” Henry laughed mischievously.  I felt guilty for leaving Siwon out of it, but at the same time, I was more relieved.  It wasn’t that I wanted to hide it forever to him.  It just so happened that our other friends had too much free time to bother figuring out my complicated love life.

“How did you even find out about it, Kyu?” I then turned to face the younger while he just smirked back.

“I’ve always known, Sungmin just confirmed it.”

Oh yeah…Sungmin and Kyu…

..--..--..

I stared at the clock and groaned one more time.

Henry and Kyuhyun had already left my house hours ago after finally getting tired of teasing me, and now I was left with my lonesome.

Bad idea.  Loneliness and unrequited love was never a good mix.

I frowned while facing my blank phone.

Should I call him?

I decided against it, and instead just faced my nemo plushy situated safely between my arms

Sungmin has Kyu, Kyu has Sungmin…but me?  I have no one.

“I only have you now, Mr. fishy.”

Oh, the pains of being alone.  I have perfected it.

Why would Eunhyuk text me, anyway?  It’s not like he’s obligated to.  I’m not his lover.

I ignored the pang I felt in my heart.  Acknowledging the thought only made the pain twice more.

“Mr.fishy…your appa is lonely.”

I probably look like a crazy person, talking to a stuffed toy...but if you were as lonely as I am, you’d understand.

I sighed again for the last time before flipping my phone shut.  I give up.

(Nan geuraeyo)

Geudae jinam sarangboda

Ajik bujokhajiman geuradonal mideojullaeyo…

“Yoboseyo?” I reluctantly answered my phone, annoyed at whoever decided to call me in the middle of the night when I was already in a crappy mood.

“Hae?”

I felt my heart missed another beat once I recognized the voice from the other line.

“Eunhyuk?” I mumbled slowly, fearing that it might just be a dream.

The short silence was then replaced by soft chuckles from the other guy.

“I wanted to call you earlier but something came up.  Anyway, Sungmin and I…”

“It’s fine.” I broke his unnecessary story-telling.  I wasn’t too keen on knowing what he and Sungmin did earlier.  In fact, he could just skip that part and talk about something else…anything… because all I wanted right now was to hear him.

But then he stopped talking.

I quickly looked at my phone to make sure the call wasn’t disconnected yet.

“Eunhyuk-ah?” I felt another wave of anxiety kick in.  This time, for a different reason.

“I’m still here.” He replied lowly, I could almost feel his breath against my skin.

Silence once again filled the air.  It wasn’t the awkward silence; rather, it was a soothing one.  Word’s weren’t necessary.  I was contented by just hearing his silent breathing through the receiver.  He was silent as well, for a reason unknown to me.  I closed my eyes, cherishing the moment slowly, making sure to make each moment seem like forever.

We stayed that way for a good 5 minutes before he finally spoke again with a light chuckle.

“You should sleep now.  Talk to you next time, I guess?”

“Sure.” I felt a bit dismayed that he was already ending the call, but what was I to do?  I was in no position to demand too much attention from him.  The fact that he bothered to call was already enough to make me sleep in contentment.

“Goodnight, Hyukkie.”

“Unn.” He mumbled.

“Sleep tight.”

“You too.”

I stayed on the phone, refusing to end the call before he does.  I decided to wait silently until the very last second.

“…Hyukkie?”

“huh?”

“…are you not hanging up yet?”

“Ah, yeah.”

I chuckled.  My heart fluttered at the thought of him refusing to end the call just yet.  It may just be my wishful thinking or a product of my hopeless romantic imagination, but at least it gave me the slightest hope that he probably felt the same way.  That maybe he still hadn’t hang up because I was still on the line. A guy can dream, right?

I was about to ask him again when he finally spoke.

“Hae?”

“Yes, Hyukkie?”

“Don’t be lonely anymore.”

I froze.  I felt my hand growing colder by the minute as it started sweating.  My heart was beating like there’s no tomorrow, and my breathing became a struggle.

He had no idea what he was doing to me.

“W-what are you talking about, Hyukkie?  I’m not lonely.” I tried to pull it off as a joke, but it turned out silly due to my stuttering.  He also laughed lightly, either because of my pathetic humor, or my stuttering…I don’t really care now since my mind was blank.

“You said you we’re lonely yesterday, and I don’t want that.”

“What does my loneliness have to do with you?” I was really flustered.  He was back again to unconsciously making me fall for him even more.  That’s not possible now, Hyuk!  I’m at the rock-bottom!!!

“Of course it has everything to do with me.  I told you, I like you.”

Wha…?!

I frowned “Yah!  I told you to stop saying those things!” My face felt hot due to the blood rush triggered by his words, but I didn’t want to get my hopes up for nothing.

“Why not?  I don’t want you to forget it.  I like you, I like you, I like you~” He continued teasing in a sing-song voice.  I wasn’t feeling giddy anymore, instead I felt annoyed.

“Aish!  Go and call Sungmin.  He’d really like to hear that from you.”

“No way!”

“And why not?” I challenged out of the blue.

“Because it’s exclusively for you.  Goodnight Hae!”

*beep* *beep* *beep*

Chapter 18 =_=