Donghae POV

“Who are you?”

I stared dumbfounded at the guy who was practically begging me not to reveal his secret to anyone.

And as if the situation was really entertaining, Sungmin had started chuckling in amusement.

“Donghae-ssi…he’s Hyukjae.  Lee Hyukjae from 2-A.” he pointed towards the guy who still had his head hung low.

“Lee hyukjae,.. as in Eunhyuk?  The cold prince?!”

“Bingo.” Sungmin nodded enthusiastically with a laugh while Eunhyuk frowned

“How can you be Eunhyuk?!  I mean…earlier…you were…” I grimaced

“Ah about that.  I asked him to do an aegyo for me.” Sungmin grinned from ear to ear, as if what he was saying made complete sense.  I merely frowned while Eunhyuk smacked Sungmin’s head, obviously asking the guy to explain it more clearly. “Araso, araso~” Sungmin giggled while avoiding another smack before facing me.

“You see…this guy isn’t really that cold, stuck-up, emotionless, jer—

SMACK!

He rubbed his head before pinning Eunhyuk to the ground, covering his mouth from speaking.

“…anyway, I understand why you’re surprised seeing him like this. But as you can see…this is what he really is. I mean, did you even see how cute his aegyo was?” he grinned while the other guy struggled below him.

 “Okay…?” I simply answered. I still wasn’t entirely convinced but it was better than denying the reality in front of me.

..--..--..

The next day, I lazily dragged my feet across the halls, making short nods towards the people who greeted me.  Before heading towards the room, I noticed the familiar figure of my friend from afar.

After managing to catch Siwons attention, he finally turned to me, beaming happily only to be replaced with a look of worry once he noticed my disheveled state.

“Hey, had a bad dream last night?” he asked while enveloping me into a friendly hug.

“No…it’s worse.”  It’s real.

 And as if on cue, the regular shrieks piercing through the hallways had erupted, and it could only mean one thing.

As usual, it was Eunhyuk, walking like a ramp model among the sea of ‘groupies’.

I could only scoff at the scene, remembering all the events last night.

-Flashback-

After the awkward introduction, Eunhyuk left to grab another slice of strawberry cake from the kitchen, leaving Donghae and Sungmin alone.

“Uhm…so, why…uhh…”

“Why is he like this?” Sungmin smiled, reading the younger’s thoughts. “You may find this unbelievable but Hyukjae is really shy… sort of socially awkward.” The older guy smiled amusedly, “He won’t even hold a girl’s hand even when they are alone.”

Donghae found it hard to believe, but that explains why Eunhyuk apparently rejected all the girls (and guys) who confessed to him.

“He doesn’t really enjoy attention so he started avoiding people so that they’d lose interest in him.  But you can’t help it…he’s just too beautiful to remain unnoticed.” Sungmin started again with his fits of laughter.  What is with him and his giggling?!  I swear this guy was made of laughing gas.

“He even tried to copy Yesung-hyung and decided to wear a helmet to class.  Good thing we were there to stop him.” Sungmin roared with laughter at the recollection. “Anyway, at least he’s given up.  He’s like a cute little lamb now.” Donghae cringed, “He’s even agreed to let us dye his hair blonde.  It looks good on him, right?” the bunny guy grinned and continued to explain how they literally took advantage of Eunhyuk’s submissiveness to them.  Donghae was now left speechless.

“Anyway, I trust you to keep this to yourself.  He really isn’t what he looks like.  He depends on his friends a lot.” Sungmin chuckled, but Donghae could tell he was serious.

“Y-yeah, I won’t tell anyone.”

No one would even believe me anyway.

They both stayed in silence when Sungmin suddenly turns to him with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

“You know…If you want, we could ask him to do another aegyo.”

-End of flashback-

“Hyung!” Henry snapped in front of Donghae, causing the older to jump in surprise.  “You’re spacing out a lot.  Break’s over.” Henry grinned and pulled his hyung out of his seat.

..--..--..

After waving goodbye to Henry and Kyuhyun, Donghae slowly walked back towards his home alone.  Normally, Siwon would walk with him till the next block, but today the tall guy was still stuck in school for another meeting with the faculty.

Sighing, he kicked a lone rock aimlessly when he finally reached the park.  He paused for a moment and stared at the familiar shortcut.

After a short internal debate, he stepped forward and ventured towards the same path he took last night and ended up once again in front of Eunhyuk’s house, his fingers centimeters away from the door bell.

Aish, what am I doing?

He turned around to head home only to be forced to a halt when he saw Eunhyuk standing behind him with an unreadable expression.

After a few seconds of awkward silence, with both of them frozen in place, Eunhyuk was the first one to move.  After taking a quick glance around the area, he finally walked towards Donghae while the latter gulped in anxiety.

“Why didn’t you ring the bell?  Isn’t Sora-noona answering?” The older stepped forward to ring the bell impatiently until his older sister finally rushed to open the gate.

Eunhyuk entered the house casually, while Donghae remained glued to his spot.  Upon noticing that the younger didn’t move an inch, Eunhyuk made a small motion for him to come in.

After deciding that it was already too late to run, Donghae finally stepped inside the house.

Donghae’s POV

“Uhm…I saw you this morning.”  Nice way to start a conversation, Donghae.

I watched anxiously at Eunhyuk’s reaction.  I could feel the lump on my throat as he made a quick glance at me before nodding, “Yeah.  I saw you, too.”

“Oh…”

And that was how our conversation ended.

I fail at socializing.

I think he sensed the looming awkward atmosphere between us, and I was thankful that he decided to turn on the TV.  However, the lame variety show was not enough to cover the unspoken questions we had in mind.

Finally, he cleared his throat while I instinctively tightened my grip on the sheets of their couch.

“Uhm…do you like reading comics?”

I stared wide-eyed at him.

What?!

Here I was, intruding his house for no apparent reason…and all he asked was if I read comics?!

“I’ve read a few.” I finally managed to choke out those words after calming down from my shock.

“I see…”  I knew our conversation would end there, but then he started talking again, “You should try reading this.” He handed out a book among the piles of comics scattered on the center table.

Actually, I lied.  I’ve never read a single comic book in my entire life…but since we were actually having a decent conversation, I guess I should just ride along.

“I actually want to read that one.” I pointed at a random book, only to regret once I saw what it was.  I don’t even have to read the title to know that it was a cheesy comic.  The picture of a princess on the cover kinda gave it away.

“Ah, no…not thi—“

I was suddenly interrupted when I heard a light chuckle.  I’m certain that it wasn’t from me, and knowing that there were only the two of us in the living room; it could only come from one person…

I looked up only to feel my heart leap from seeing him with a small gummy smile etched on his lips.

For the past few years that I’d known him, it was the first time I’d seen him smile so…naturally.

And just to be clear, the heart leaping was all due to surprise…nothing more.

“Sungmin gave that to me for my birthday. I could lend it to you if you want.” He handed it to me while I just nod absentmindedly.  I still haven’t completely recovered from the impact.

As of the moment, only two things ran in my mind.

First, I should start getting into comics.

And second, Eunhyuk should smile more.

Chapter 3 is out. =_=

I honestly think the story is leaning away from my description...what do you guys think?

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