Donghae’s POV

You may think that since Siwon already knows, I might’ve had already planned on making a move towards my confession to his cousin.

Sorry to say this but…I’m still on the process of preparation.

“Until when are you going to prepare?!” Jessica screamed in my ear while we both hanged out at the school park.  I no longer question her membership in the singing club because damn, this girl’s got lungs!  I even had to move about a foot away from her to protect my poor ears.

“Aish.  I can’t just go to him and confess!  It’s not that easy.”

“You’re just making it appear ‘not that easy’.  Look at me!  I’ve been confessing to you for years!  It’s not that hard.”

I shook my head in disbelief, giving up on continuing our argument.

“You’ve been telling us that you’re going to confess…but you have no plans yet, do you?” she shifted her eyes at me.  Why was she even mad?

“I thought you like me.  Shouldn’t you be jealous?” I teased, just to sway the conversation a bit.

“Of course I like you!  You mean after all those years of confessions, you still doubt me?” she looked perfectly offended. “I even send you freshly baked cookies every weekend, and you still question my love for you?”

“You wha…?  You mean those were from you?!” I raised my eyebrows in shock.  I had always wondered who was the idiot who left cookies at our front door.  I should’ve known.

She nodded her head enthusiastically before grabbing both my hands together.

“If you still don’t believe me, then I have no choice but to confess again.”

“Stop this.” I took my hands away from her and faced the front only to have them grabbed again by her.

“No, oppa.  I won’t be able to sleep well unless I tell you how I feel.”

“Fine.  Fine.  I believe you.” I pulled my hands away, but she already had a good grip on them.

“Then do you accept me?”

“Yes. I accept you.  Now can you let go?” I sighed, glad that she finally decided to let go of my arms.  But since it was Jessica, she suddenly wrapped her arms around me in joy.

“Hey.  Don’t get too close!  People could misunderstand!” I struggled in pushing her away until she finally let go.  “Oppa, saranghae.”

“I know, I know.” I answered nonchalantly while swatting her prying hands away.

..--..--..

Why did my friends even leave me with Jessica today?  She was even more stressful compared to Sungmin, Kyu, and Henry together.

I sighed while walking through the hallways back to our room.  It was a fairly normal day, aside from the Jessica-being-Jessica moment earlier.

I turned the corner, walking past a staircase when I heard something that caught my attention.

“Eunhyuk-oppa, I really like you.”

Huh?

It didn’t take long for me to figure out that someone was confessing to Eunhyuk behind the stair case.

Well, of course I was rational enough not to barge in and rip the girl’s head off, so I remained standing behind the wall.

It’s not my fault I could hear them!  I just so happened to feel tired and I needed to lean on the wall!

…

Alright, maybe I AM eavesdropping…but we’re talking about Hyukkie here.  MY Hyukkie!

I leaned in closer to get a good earshot of their conversation.

“Will you please go out with me?” The anonymous girl finally asked.  If this happened a few months ago, I would have really gone mental by now, but since I was used to Eunhyuk being confessed to at least once a day, I had learned to adapt.  Besides, I already know where the confession would lead to.  Pssh, the girl should’ve known better.  Eunhyuk was never the type to reply to these things, and instead he’d just walk out of it casually, without a word, leaving the girl (or guy) cold.

It maybe was the worst way of rejecting someone, but in all honesty, as long as he refuses, I’m all good.

I was about to walk away before they even catch me listening in when Eunhyuk’s voice startled me.

“Sure, I’ll think about it.”

I stood there motionless, not even caring that I could be caught any time soon.  I didn’t even bother knowing the identity of the girl once she ran past me, blushing madly.  All I cared about was if I was hearing things correctly, and if it was really Eunhyuk who said those words.

But there was no denying it was him.  I had long been accustomed to his voice. I would never mistake it for anybody else.

And knowing that it was really him made it more appalling.

..--..--..

“Eunhyuk said what?!”  Sungmin screamed from the bubble tea he was drinking.

I blame my irrationality and impulsive tendencies as to why I randomly dragged these three idiotic friends of mine at home to listen to my woes.

”Wait.  We’re talking about Hyukjae, right?  Lee Hyukjae?” Sungmin questioned again, earning a light smack on the head from Kyuhyun.  “Pabo.  Of course it’s him.  Who else could it be?!”

After throwing a glare at Kyuhyun, Sungmin turned back to face me, “I don’t understand.  Are you sure it was Hyukkie back there?  It could just be someone else with the same voice…”

“No.  I’m sure it was him.  I’d never mistake him for someone else.” I frowned.  Saying it out loud only made it more surreal…and painful.

“You mean Eunhyuk actually told a girl that he will think about her confession?!  That’s basically telling her he’s considering her as a girlfriend!”  Sungmin shouted once again while I frowned even more.  He wasn’t doing well in comforting me.

“What’s the big deal?  He’s not 5.  He can go date anyone, if that’s what he wants.  What’s so surprising if he suddenly considers a confession?” Kyuhyun suddenly blurted out while fumbling through his game.  “You don’t expect him to stay single forever while waiting for your confession, right?  Technically, he doesn’t even know you like him.”

“Kyu!” Sungmin growled at the indifferent Kyuhyun and leaned in to smack the younger, but I was quick to stop him.  “Kyuhyun is right.  There’s nothing surprising with this.  I shouldn’t even be feeling this way.” I pulled out a stiff smile.

“See.  This is why we keep telling you to confess.  Who knows, he might be dating her already.” Kyuhyun shrugged, not minding the death glares that Sungmin was already throwing at him.  Henry, who had been quiet all this time remained still, with his mouth agape.  I guess he didn’t really know what to say during these kinds of situations.

With a long sigh, I finally stood up and stretched while they watched me curiously.

After making up my mind, before they can even question me, I quickly left to head towards Eunhyuk’s place.

..--..--..

“Ah, Donghae-ssi.  He’s upstairs.  You know his room, right?” Sora moved aside to let me in their house.

I quickly scurried up the stairs towards the familiar door of his room.  After a few uncertain knocks, the door finally opened, revealing a stunned Eunhyuk.

“What are you doing here?”

I swallowed the lump that had mysteriously formed in my throat.

“I have to tell you something.”

I did my best in trying to sound calm and composed, and I think I pulled it off well.

I took a step inside his room but he suddenly blocked my way.

“You can just tell me tomorrow.” He frowned before pushing me out.

I ignored the angry tone of his voice and forced my way back in.  Thankfully he was skinny, so it left a small space at the door for me to squeeze myself into.

“What are you doing?” He asked while I made myself comfortable on his bed.

“I told you I have something to tell you.”

He scoffed at me and tugged me out of his bed. “I don’t have time for this, Donghae.”

I paused for a second after hearing him call me by my whole name.

I can’t even recall the last time he called me that way, and I didn’t like it at all.

“Why are you pushing me away?”

“Because this is MY room, and you’re trespassing.”

I frowned “That wasn’t what you said when I first came here.”

He raised his eyebrows, probably recalling the first time I visited his room.  I used the chance to remove my hands from his grip and sat back on his bed.

“I’m not going anywhere until you listen to what I have to say.”

After a few seconds of hesitation, he had finally given up.  He sighed loudly and walked over to his chair before plopping himself down.  With his arms crossed and eyebrows creased in a scowl, he finally spoke.

“Make it quick.”

I smiled half-heartedly before inhaling deeply in preparation of what I was about to do.  I took a quick peek at him and found him staring at me impatiently.  Maybe this wasn’t a very good idea.

“Are you going to say anything or are we just going to stare at each other?” He asked in irritation.

Well, he wasn’t the only one annoyed now.  Why was he acting like this all of a sudden?  He never pushed me out of his room, and he certainly never talked to me this way before.

“Are you mad at me?” I blurted out and I could see he was a bit taken aback.

After regaining his composure, he scowled at me once again. “No.  But whatever you’re going to say, say it quick.  I’m not staying up all night for this.”

I frowned once again.  He just told me he wasn’t mad, but his actions tell otherwise.

“Fine.  I’ll be quick.” I stared gravely at him before speaking again, “I like you.”

Chapter 20 =_=