This is short because it's only Donghae's point of view. There will be another one with the same chapter title but with Hyukjae's pov. Not yet done writing it (and idk when I will finish) so I'm posting this first ^^

There are perks to dating a popular guy.

Although Hyukjae may have lost a teeny weeny bit of his popularity, and people are now probably talking about him – that’s the thing. They still talk about him.

Regardless of the school population’s opinion on him dating a fat guy, the fact still stands that he is popular and the things he does will always, always be talked about. And while many would probably say bad things, there are still those who remain to be his avid supporters. Those who don’t carelessly trash their friendship with him because hey, Hyukjae dating a fat guy is not a big deal and it will not end anyone’s life nor will it make global warming worse and cause penguins and polar bears to lose their shelter.

And so, Donghae finds himself with a small bunch of people who all of a sudden wants to be his friend.

They would greet them in the hallways, smile and wave at him during lunch, the ones his age occasionally patting his shoulder in greeting, and the ones younger than him bowing towards his direction out of respect whenever he passes by.

It kind of unnerves him.

Firstly, because some of them are actually Hyukjae’s fellow popular kids, and him suddenly being seen by people like them who belong to the top of the social ladder makes him feel as if he’s grown even fatter overnight, his size making him extra visible to others’ eyes.

Secondly, because the moment Hyukjae stops dating him, just how many of these people would actually care enough to comfort him as he sobs and buries his fat face into his jajangmyeon? How many of them would still continue to greet him in the hallways, pat his shoulder and bow towards him? How many of them would not go back to treating him as if he’s nonexistent?

He wills himself to stop thinking of that inevitable future wherein Hyukjae will dump his useless fat , and he will return to irrelevance.

Instead, he thinks of the increasing number of haters instead.

So far, he is still safe from any scratches from blood red nails, but that’s probably mostly because he is classmates with Hyukjae. And so, wherever he goes, Hyukjae goes. Not to mention they eat lunch and go home together, so there is hardly any time of the day where he is without Hyukjae. And of course the mean bullies and jealous girls couldn’t really approach him when the ace swimmer is around.

But that doesn’t mean he’s completely free from them.

There is always that time in the morning when he comes to school too early and coincidentally, a bully or two does so as well. It would be the same as before. Harsh insults, pushes and shoves. Sometimes it’d be a little worse. Like a dead lizard waiting for him inside his locker, causing him to shriek and nearly cry. Scribbles on his textbooks and notes, calling him names such as fat thick-skinned and ugly whorish pig, and also oh-so-kindly telling him the elaborate, step-by-step procedures of some really creative ways on how they’re planning to kill him. Roasting him seems to be a popular method, since, well, they view him as a pig.

It somewhat scares him, he admits.

But not enough to tell anyone, Hyukjae included.

After all, the fear instantly vanishes the moment the ace swimmer arrives and greets him with his perfect gummy smile.

And that’s what Hyukjae is.

Perfect.

So perfect that Donghae does not need to taint him with this bad side. He does not need to show Hyukjae this side of him that is so hated and despised by others. This side of him that is so thick-skinned to even have the guts to genuinely smile when Hyukjae is around, despite the fact that others are already glaring daggers towards his direction and mentally strangling him with their blood red nail-clad hands.

This will end anyway.

So he might as well be as happy as he could be while it still lasts.

Because that’s how it is.

He is happy.

Hyukjae makes him happy.

In his simple actions and gestures. His smiles and laughter. His effort in making sure Donghae is never alone again anymore. The way he cracks his jokes and how Donghae no longer needs to hide his face as he laughs.

All his life, the only thing that made him the happiest was food.

And now, he’s found someone who’s made him comfortable enough to blurt out his inner thoughts, his ideas and opinions, his likes and dislikes. Someone who actually eagerly listens, with almond-shaped eyes shining in curiosity and desire to know more about him.

Someone who may actually care.

Maybe it’s delusional on Donghae’s part. That someone like Hyukjae would actually genuinely care about him. A part of him still insists it’s nothing but an illusion. A façade that would eventually fade back into a harsh reality where he would be brokenhearted over Hyukjae’s pretense.

But again, he doesn’t really mind.

He’s lucky enough to have Hyukjae, pretense or not.

*

When he decides to finally introduce Hyukjae to Pudgy one fine Thursday afternoon, Donghae is a bundle of nerves. He’s terribly anxious, various questions popping into his mind as he frets about what could possibly happen.

It’s a big step.

Allowing Hyukjae into his home is showing another layer of himself (not a literal layer of fat, mind you), and that’s something he isn’t sure if he’s ready or not to reveal.

It is, after all,