Donghae stared as Eunhyuk finished his 4^th glass of strawberry milk. 

After several weeks of visiting the guy almost every day, he had already grown accustomed to his friend’s strawberry addiction.

He even swears he could smell strawberries coming off of Eunhyuk every time they’d be alarmingly close.

During those times, Donghae would usually be the one to back off.

Eunhyuk paused from downing his 5^th glass and pointed at the magazine he had been staring at for the past 5 minutes.

It was the same magazine Donghae saw him reading before, and it turns out, he was actually looking for a gift for his noona’s birthday.

“Should I buy the pink leather bag, or the blue satin stilettos?” he asked while pouring his 6^th glass.

Why does he even bother using a glass when he’d finish the whole carton in one hit anyway?

Donghae leaned forward from his chair, catching a faint smell of strawberries from Eunhyuk’s shampoo.

After relishing the smell for a good 5 seconds, he decided to lean a bit further back.  Any longer than that would have been too much for him.

Lately, he’s noticed how strange he felt around Eunhyuk.

But it’s just because we’re close friends now.  Nothing more.

“I think these would look good on your noona.” He pointed at a picture of a yellow summer dress, while the older nodded in agreement.  “You’re right!  It’s exactly her style…and not too revealing.”

Donghae smiled at the thought of Eunhyuk being an overprotective brother.  The older started scribbling down the details regarding the dress shop while he watched amusedly.

“I know!” Eunhyuk suddenly snapped up from his position, surprising the other male

“How about dating my sister?”

“W-what?” Donghae stuttered in surprise.  “Sora-noona?”

“Yeah.  I think you’d be the perfect guy for her.” He grinned excitedly

“I…uhh…”

“You’re just her type!  You’re good-looking, you’re smart, athletic, hard-working… Where else could she possibly find a guy as perfect as you?” Eunhyuk was practically bouncing on his chair in excitement while the other struggled to hide the blush from the flattery.

“I…uhm…I don’t really…” Donghae wasn’t completely against it, Eunhyuk’s sister was a great person…only, he didn’t see her in ‘that’ way.

“You don’t see her as someone you’d date, right?” Donghae gulped nervously, anticipating Eunhyuk’s rage.

“All right.  That’s good to know.”

Wait… what?

“What?  I’m just checking if you’re interested in her.  I’m not planning to force you into dating that crazy sister of mine.  Besides, you’re mine.”  Eunhyuk laughed at the stunned expression on his friend’s face and reached out to close the mouth that Donghae had left hanging. “You really look like a fish out of water.”

Donghae tried to hide his embarrassment and the sudden palpitations he was experiencing by pointing at the summer dress again “Stop messing around, you need to think about how you could save enough money for this dress!”  Good thing Eunhyuk was easily distracted.  He took a quick glance at the price, only to shout in horror, “₩250,000?!”

..--..--..

It was the last day of preparations for the festival and Donghae had breathed out a sigh of relief once he did the final check-up on the booths.

It was a three-day celebration where people from outside the school were welcome to participate.  Since SM high school was one of the top private schools in the country,a large crowd was always something they anticipate.

“Did you hear?  Dance club will be participating during the final night.”

Donghae got distracted by the group of girls gossiping among themselves.

“I heard Eunhyuk-oppa will be participating, too.  Kyaa~ Do you think he’ll take his shirt off?”

“I should prepare my camera in case!”

“I can’t wait to see him!!”

Donghae only shook his head in disbelief at how Eunhyuk’s fans were spazzing over him.

I should make sure that Eunhyuk’s costume isn’t too revealing…Scratch that.  I’m making him wear a space suit if I have to!

“Donghae-oppa.” He turned around to see a girl he recognized to be in Minho’s class. “Yeah?”

“Uhm…we’ll be putting up a café for our club…and we’ll really appreciate it if you came.” She said shyly while blushing uncontrollably.  Donghae smiled warmly, and he swore he heard gasps from behind the bushes, “Yeah, sure.  I’ll be there, miss…?”

“Yoo jin. Kim yoo jin.” She exclaimed almost too excitedly, which made Donghae chuckle in amusement

“Alright, I’ll make sure to visit your café, miss yoo jin.” He flashed another smile before walking off.

At the end of the day, he had already been invited to almost 40 booths.  Jessica even managed to give him free meal tickets to their booth.

“Hyung!”

He turned around hesitantly, wishing it wasn’t another invite.  Good thing it was Henry who was running towards him.  “Let’s go home together!  I haven’t seen you since forever!  Agh, I hate how all my friends are part of the student council.” He whined while walking up to the older guy.

“You’re not that free either.  I heard your club will be in charge of the horror booth.”

“What?  How did you know?” he screamed in shock while Donghae just laughed.  “Your club mates invited me.  I think around 4 of them approached me this morning.”  Was it four?  Or Six?  He didn’t really know since he’d already lost count.

“Aish, I told them not to tell my friends.” He pouted, revealing his mochi cheeks that Donghae couldn’t resist pinching, “We’d find out somehow, Henry. So, what’s your role?”

“That’s for you to find out so you have to make sure you pass by our booth.  Anyway, I’ll go ahead.” He waved at the older before walking towards his separate way.  “Make sure you bring Kyuhyun-hyung with you!  I’d like to see that stoic guy scared out of his wits.” He laughed evilly before running away.

Donghae just shrugged off the sillyness of his dongsaeng before continuing his way home when he felt a tap on his shoulder.

“You won’t be passing by today?”

It didn’t take long for Donghae to know who the person was.  He grinned widely and immediately turned around to face Eunhyuk.

“It’s late.  Are the preparations going smoothly?” the older guy asked while walking beside him.

He nodded enthusiastically, almost spraining his neck in the process.  He hadn’t seen the guy for the entire day and he immediately thought it was because Eunhyuk was busy with the dance club.

“Everything’s going well.  How about you?  How’s the dance club doing?”

Eunhyuk just shrugged.  “They’re doing good.  They’re ecstatic once I told them that we could finally use the dance studio freely.”

“That’s great.” Donghae grinned happily.

Eunhyuk stared at him for a moment before reaching out to mess with the younger guy’s hair.

And before Donghae could complain, the older had already ran towards the shortcut that Donghae always took to get to his house.  After watching Eunhyuk slip through the passageway, a sudden thought hit him.

Since when did Eunhyuk pass by this road?

Chapter 9 =_=

I'm terribly sorry for the short update.  I get overly anxious everytime I post another chapter... do you guys think that I'm rushing things?

I'll be looking forward for your feedbacks. ~_

And THANK YOU again for appreciating this fic.  You guys make me deliriously happy. kkkkkk~  See you on Chapter 10 soon!