Warning: Long and boring chapter ensues! :P You've been warned.

 

He sighed quietly as he maintained his back on his new bed. His lids blinking lazily as he brought one of his arms to rest on his forehead, his opened palm facing the air. Dimness immediately occupied his sight as his eyes parted open. It was a damp morning and he could hear the sound of the hardworking birds flapping their wings so early, probably in search for their daily life sustenance.

 

He then took a short glance at the alarm clock on the small table just beside his bed and was surprised to see the clock blinking six in red. It was still too early for him to wake up and not even his alarm had rung yet.

 

CLANK!

 

He heard that rattle again; the same sound that stirred him from his deep slumber just a little while ago. He wanted as much as to just lay down again and continue his sleep, but the loud rattle kept on resounding through the small house and it was deeming and arousing much of his curiosity. So, with pure reluctance, he heavily dragged himself out of his bed and made his way out of his bedroom.

 

As soon as he swung the door open, a fragrant smell immediately crept in into his nose. His body immediately jolted into full alert, his lips immediately tugged into his feature soothing smile as he quickly rushed into the noisy kitchen just to find his boyfriend standing in front of the stove, a blue apron wrapping his body and both his hands were busy holding up the spatula and the hot frying pan.

 

“Hyukkie?” He called out, his voice a little husky out of sleep. He stepped closer towards the smaller, wrapping his arms around the latter’s waist ever so lovingly before he rested his chin on his shoulder, nuzzling his cheek against the other’s with much love. Eunhyuk leant it to the touch slightly, feeling a small bloom brewing in his heart as he felt elated to be greeted with such gentle affection very early in the morning. Especially when it came from his Cho Kyuhyun.

 

“Kyu?” he just called back in a whisper, subtly giving a sign of acknowledgement of the other's presence while his eyes were still focused on the hot pan, but his lips forming a sheepish grin as he felt the other’s chest warmly pressing against his back.

 

“Morning, beautiful.” Kyuhyun greeted into his ear, tenderly gazing at the other’s side face, engraving into his mind how beautiful Eunhyuk had looked while he focused on his cooking. A silent sigh escaped his lips as he noticed the difference on his boyfriend’s face. His eyes, they were puffy and swollen, and his face was slightly somber. Even his voice was a little croakier than usual. And with that little observation, Kyuhyun remembered.

 

“Why did you wake up so early, hm, Hyukkie?” He tried to ignore the little things he noticed about the reserved boy in his embrace, prompting their usual casual conversation as he tried to rid of the brewing thoughts in his head. His eyes then shifted to the pan on the stove as he observed how skillful the said boy was as he flipped the rolled omelet before finally placing it on a blue plate at the side. Eunhyuk didn’t even bother to look at Kyuhyun as he poured some more battered egg into the pan while he answered his question with a subtle shake of head.

 

“I just felt like cooking something for you today.” He answered shortly before he tilted his head a little to the back just to take a quick glance at his boyfriend. And this only gave Kyuhyun a chance to sneak a warm peck at the corner of his lips.

 

“Awww, now I felt like we’re a newly wed couple.” Kyuhyun said shamelessly before he tightened the embrace around his waist, loving the very blissful homey feeling they were having right at that moment. Eunhyuk could feel his face burning up a rosy shade of pink as he heard the embarrassing statement. ‘Aish, why is my boyfriend always so cheesy this early in the morning?’

 

Hue of red still hinting on his face, Eunhyuk quickly pinched Kyuhyun’s arm, making Kyuhyun flinched in slight pain before he released the boy from his hug, pursing his lips into an adorable pout.

 

“Good, now, be a good husband and let me finish my cooking.” He said cutely while holding up his spatula, gesturing his boyfriend to sit somewhere else so that he could get the cooking over with and finally served the food. Kyuhyun only stuck out his tongue at him playfully.

 

“I can see now that you’ll make me a grumpy wife soon after we got married.” Kyuhyun whined complaining as he rubbed his sore hand, pouting. He then obediently went to sit at the kitchen island while diligently waiting to be served by Eunhyuk’s cooking. As Kyuhyun sat, Eunhyuk managed to steal a quick glance at his boyfriend, a little thought had been disturbing him off of his cooking ever since Kyuhyun had stepped into the kitchen.

 

‘Why is he up this early?’ He thought to himself, his eyebrows arching to the center as he pondered about the unanswered question before he went back to flip the frying omelet. He had known Kyuhyun for nearly a decade by then; he knew the latter was a heavy sleeper. He was especially infamous in their town for being The Game Owl, staying up so late into the morning just to play his games and waking up even later in the evening whenever holidays took place. It was definitely a rare event for him to wake up this early when he knew Kyuhyun’s everyday routine was to wake up exactly at 8.00 A.M. on the days he had school.

 

“Kyu?” Slow and husky, he called out again while he busied himself preparing the food on the platters just after he was done frying the omelets, placing a small bowl of freshly made coleslaw just beside the said food. Kyuhyun hummed a response as he fiddled with Eunhyuk’s mobile phone on the table.

 

“Do you remember what day is today?” Oh brilliant Eunhyuk, that was another way to dig through secrets. Well, he wasn’t always particularly the best in initiating a conversation, what more when the conversation he was trying to lead was hiding a hidden meaning behind it. A slight crease cropped up on Kyuhyun’s forehead as he shifted his sight to his boyfriend, curiosity and bewilderment obviously got the best of him as he heard the question.

 

“Yeah, it’s Monday, isn’t it? Why?” He answered still, his eyes probing for answers and his forehead frowning as he thought of what sort of mistake could have he done then, considering that he was a little bit of a perfectionist, not to mention a little too intelligent much to everyone’s liking. But to forget any important dates or days? No, that absolutely wasn’t the Cho Kyuhyun they knew. But Eunhyuk’s question really got him as he couldn’t help but wonder of, ‘could I possibly have forgotten anything important today? Like, me? Forget things? Is that even possible?'

 

Eunhyuk only grinned cutely as he saw the confused look on Kyuhyun’s face. He had always liked it when he knew he was the reason behind that expression of his. Kyuhyun was just too perfect in his eyes, so he couldn’t help but loving it when the other would fall into deep thoughts and had to crease some wrinkles on his flawless forehead just because of a mere few simple words that came out of his mouth.

 

“Hihi, nah, I just thought you might have hit your head or something. Can’t believe you woke up this early.” He said to the other while he brought the tray full of breakfast set to the table, still grinning naughtily as he approached the younger. Kyuhyun rolled his eyes at him annoyed.

 

“If I wanted to, I could wake up even earlier than this, okay.” He bickered, eyes squinting real annoyed at his boyfriend. The latter just giggled teasingly as he poured in some fresh orange juice into their glasses.

 

“Whatever makes you happy, Kyu.” He simply commented, not intending to delve further with their small bickers, or he knew the said boy will endlessly bickers over it.

 

Kyuhyun just cutely puffed his cheeks up before he stuffed a huge piece of omelet into his mouth, munching on it cutely as though it was the most delicious thing in the world.

 

“Kyu.” Eunhyuk called his name as he observed the other eating contently.

 

“Hm?” He just hummed a response as his mouth was too stuffed with omelets to voice an answer.

 

“Eat your veges.”

 

“…….”

 

 

 

Just soon after that, they quickly finished stuffing down the good food into their empty stomach with Kyuhyun showering Eunhyuk with loads of praises on how delicious and precious his cooking was every now and then. Minutes later, they finally found themselves preparing for college, putting on a simple outfit as they wore a dark-colored jean and a simple t-shirt, Kyuhyun with his white and short-sleeved one while Eunhyuk with his black sleeveless shirt, revealing his toned biceps along the way. With a little fix of hair and some spray of men perfume onto their body, they finally made their way to the university.

 

As they walked down the street for a good 15 minutes, the enormous building which they had already seen yesterday, finally entered their view. They glanced around the street, observing their surrounding for a few seconds as they saw a lot of students around their age were heading to the same place, all wearing different and trendy outfits, looking as excited as a child on their first day of school. Kyuhyun couldn’t help but smile as he felt excitement brewing giddily inside him. He was as excited as most schoolers would be, because it was definitely his first time studying away from home and not to mention, it was the university of his first choice which he had worked really hard for, for once in his life. But Eunhyuk on the other hand was different from him. He might not show it on his face, but he knew he wasn’t looking forward to this as much as others would. He could feel anxiety slowly taking place in him as he felt his palms sweating and his heart palpitating out of control. Crowded places were what he feared most. Crowded places, habituated by humans, humans with scrutiny and skepticism in their deepest cores. It was Eunhyuk's deepest fear, for it had definitely left a harsh scar in his life.

 

Eunhyuk tried to shake off the fear that was brewing in him. He hesitated initially, but he still took Kyuhyun’s hand into his, clasping on it tightly as though he was garnering his courage from the latter’s warmth. Kyuhyun was utterly surprised with Eunhyuk’s sudden show of affection but he only smiled it away when he felt the moist touching against his palm. He knew immediately that the other was nervous. Kyuhyun just returned the hold tightly as they then continued on walking into the building together. Soon after, they finally found themselves standing in the middle of the large junction just inside the enormous building, in which attached to it was a few equally wide hallways, mostly leading to different classes, laboratories, studios and lecture halls. And since both of them had different timetable for that morning as they were having their introductory lecture in their respective classes, it ended with Kyuhyun heading to his left while Eunhyuk making his way to his right after bidding each other goodbyes. After a few steps, Kyuhyun abruptly turned around on his feet before he shouted Eunhyuk’s name.

 

“Hyukkie!” Eunhyuk turned around immediately after the call.

 

“I’ll wait for you for lunch! Don’t leave me!” He shouted again, not bothered by the stares he received from the students around him, smiling gleefully as he waved his hand goodbye to the other and finally walked away after he had made sure he saw Eunhyuk’s nod.

 

And just soon after, Kyuhyun found himself walking alone down the hallway towards where his first class would be. He saw how most students were already partnered with their friends, or engaged with their own little groups, and Kyuhyun, being the lone wolf from Busan, only sighed weakly, because he knew it would be hard for him to earn himself his own pack, and so, he swiftly brought his black headphone that was hovering around his neck up to his head before he started to play his favorite playlist on, trying to ignore the slight loneliness that was slowly but surely garnering in his heart, since Eunhyuk wouldn’t be with him mostly at school. And as he continued his walk to his class, he failed to notice how girls were glancing and giggling at him, some of them even blushing furiously whenever they thought that they had engaged in a subtle eye-contact.

 

Once he reached his class, he slid the door open as quiet as possible before he stepped into the large hall, his eyes fluttered blink when he finally noticed how every single soul in his class was practically throwing stares at him, some stares of excitement, some stares of annoy and some stares of curiosity. He wondered why would he attract so many attention to himself when it was only his first day, but only ignored the stares of many when he walked to the far back of the hall for an empty seat. However, unlucky for him because just beside the seat that he was aiming for, there sat two good-looking boys, both were technically staring at him, too. He then removed the headphone on his head, letting it dangling around his neck before flashing them a genuine smile.

 

“Hi. Em, is this seat taken?” He politely asked the two boys, and after earning a subtle shake of head, he beamed another smile before he dumped his beg beside the table and comfortably sat himself in the seat, inviting himself even before the two could do so. Kyuhyun thought of introducing himself to the lads, but decided not to when he saw how the two were whispering to each other while sneaking a few glances at him. He let out a silent sigh before he placed his headphone back on his head, engulfing himself with his favorite music. But it wasn’t long after, when suddenly; he felt one of the earmuff of his headphone was lifted up in the air before a loud shriek rung in his head.

 

“Yah!!!!” The shout was heard right beside his ear. His head jerked around abruptly as he felt his head ringing with the sudden high-pitched sound, his body flinching away from the source of the loud shout as his eyes stared widely at the two giggling boys whom were also returning his stare much with a playful one.

 

“Yah! What’s the shout for?!” He hissed in annoy, eyes mercilessly narrowing down at the boys, whom were obviously still in a fit of laughter at the startled response he gave.

 

“Hihihi, oh my god, your startled look is soooo ugly.” One of them remarked, stifling a giggle as he leant in on his elbow before he rested his cheek on his clenched fist, eyes still scrutinising Kyuhyun. His brunette hair was messily surrounding his head, a short fringe hovering down his forehead, giving him a manly appeal with his sharp dark eyes. Kyuhyun just raised one eyebrow at the sudden, not to mention, very rude remark. They were not even friends yet and they were already joking in a very rude way much to his liking. ‘I’m sure as hell I'm not liking these two kids any time soon.’ He thought to himself, glaring at the playful boys much in annoyance.

 

“You looked like a total just now. And here we are believing innocently when the girls were telling us how cool and handsome you are.” The other one nodded his head hastily, adding more agreeing remarks just soon after. His black hair was more neatly arranged; a longer fringe was let down dangling on his forehead, hiding his dark eyebrows behind them. And with a full-frame glasses dangling on his nose, he surely gave himself a look of a handsome nerd.

 

“You had them totally fooled, man. But can’t blame you for that, can we? ‘Cause you are handsome.” Another had continued. “When you’re quiet at least.” The manly looking guy said and broke into a big laughter before he casually gave Kyuhyun a strong pat on his back, making Kyuhyun clumsily stumbling forward upon the strong impact, huffing a puff of air as he did.

 

“Man, you’re weak.” The same boy quickly commented soon after that, raising his eyebrows at the stumbled boy. Kyuhyun then brought his body up again before he turned to the two, his left arm firmly rested on the table. A deep scowl was invading his face as he removed his headphone from his head and placed it on the table.

 

“I don’t understand even a bit what you two were spouting about since a while ago.” He spat in annoy as he eyed the two with a bewildered look before he shifted his cold gaze at the manly guy. He swung his head a little to the side, making his hair swayed along the swing as a sudden look of pride crossed his face.

 

 “And excuse you, I’m not weak. You just caught me in surprise.” He continued, one of his eyebrows rose at the boy. The manly guy’s lips immediately tugged into an obvious smirk after he roughly checked out Kyuhyun’s arms, pretty arms.

 

“Well, can't agree with that though.” He cynically commented with another smirk before his friend quickly butted in to save the straining atmosphere.

 

“Okay, enough with the muscles, boys. Typical.” The latter commented much in annoy as he rolled his eyes at the two boys before he swiftly turned his head to Kyuhyun and threw him a sweet smile as he continued. “Now, we haven’t really introduced ourselves yet to you, have we? My name is Changmin, Shim Changmin. Majoring in singing. y, free and single. 21.” He introduced himself proudly, bringing his hand up as he insisted for a handshake. Kyuhyun hesitantly received his hand, a bit hesitant about making friend with this strange boy who just self-praised himself for being y, free and… single?

 

He then focused to the other boy as the latter had dramatically rolled up the sleeve of his shirt, intentionally revealing his toned arms as he shoved his hand at Kyuhyun before he started introducing himself.

 

“Name is Jonghyun, Lee Jonghyun. 21. Majored in singing too. y, but not free and already taken.” Kyuhyun, feeling a little intimidated with the other’s obvious probing gesture for a handshake just swiftly received his hand with a determined look, his hand immediately squeezing the said boy’s hand in his. Jonghyun flinched a little at sudden strong squeeze, but he held it in before he quickly returned the favor by squeezing Kyuhyun’s too. Both were silently attempting to prove who’s the strongest of them all.

 

The one called Changmin only helplessly shook his head at the two, loudly commenting “Typical boys,” before he tried his best to disperse their strong handshake, and it took him about half his strength until they finally let go. As soon as their grips were released, blood rushed back into their half emptied veins, a slight feeling of numb and pain intermingling as they quietly rubbed their sore hands under the table, careful not to show the other their pain after that little showdown just a moment ago.

 

Soon after that, Kyuhyun opened his mouth to introduce himself to them as he thought it was only right for him to do so since it was a common courtesy. But he wasn’t even near to halfway of his introduction when he was unfortunately interrupted by one of the two boys.

 

“My name is Cho Kyuhy---“ He started, but---

 

“Cho Kyuhyun, we know.” Changmin quickly jumped in, abruptly interrupting and ending the self-introduction for him.

 

Kyuhyun frowned at him, confused. Another smirk tugged on Jonghyun’s lips when he saw Kyuhyun’s confused look.

 

“Dude, you’re famous around here. Girls were gossiping about you around the campus, and we just so happened to be friend with the Queen of Naughty Mouth of our university, so we were practically shoved with much information about, well, boys… Mostly…” He said, chewing on his lower lips, as he somehow looked a bit uncomfortable at the mention of boys. But Kyuhyun only ignored the strange look on his face because he thought it was only natural for a boy to feel annoyed or even disgusted to talk about another boy, especially when it came down to bulk of praises… He was like that at least, sometimes, if the other party was not particularly the love of his life.

 

“I didn’t know that…” Kyuhyun quietly mumbled out, but probably was not low enough since both of the boys could still hear him clearly.

 

“Of course not. You just arrived yesterday. And they’ve been gossiping about you even before you arrived.” Changmin rolled his eyes at the clueless boy. Kyuhyun shook his head in disbelief, his lips parted a little as no words would come out of his mouth, a look of wonder faintly visible on his face. And as though the two could understand his thought, they only slightly shrugged his shoulders a little before answering.

 

“Naughty Mouth…” They both spluttered as a guilty grin popped out on their faces before the three of them burst into a hearty giggle, finally finding themselves comfortable with each other’s presence. And whether he liked it or not, Kyuhyun finally found himself slowly warming up to the funny but unsurprisingly different boys, feeling a little happy to have these two guys as his first few friends.

 

But the elation of having made new friends didn’t last long when the teacher suddenly came in and started their class, and just as soon, the hall turned obediently silent, for most of the students quickly fell into deep concentration at the teacher’s talk.

 

But the silence wasn’t helping Kyuhyun. His eyes were blankly staring at the whiteboard behind his teacher, his mind wandering way pass the subject on hand as he listened to the talk, in with the right ear, but out with the left one. For the first time in a long time, his head wasn’t in a clear state. He wasn’t concentrating on the talk, and that was something that he would rarely do because he was indeed a model student, in contrary to his outer appearance. His mind was somewhere along last night, the night his heart pained, like every other day when his heart was silently weakening and breaking.

 

 

 

Tears had stopped streaming down Eunhyuk’s face by the time they reached their new home. As soon as they stepped inside, Kyuhyun immediately urged his boyfriend to wash up, suggesting that it could at least calm down and soothe his miserable feeling, to which Eunhyuk agreed without much resistance. Soon after he finished showering and drying his hair with the help of his boyfriend, Kyuhyun then tucked him to bed and did his routine activity, waiting for his boyfriend until he finally slept well.

 

After about more than half an hour of waiting and making sure that the boy had finally fallen asleep, Kyuhyun then quietly walked out of the room. But he didn’t immediately close the door tightly. He stood behind the door and left a small open, perking up his ears at the subtle sound coming from inside. It was only a low whimper but Kyuhyun immediately knew that his boyfriend was crying, the thought was severe to his heart that it made him clenched his fist tightly upon hearing the sobs, slightly chewing on his lower lips as he held in the urge to storm back into the room and hauled the other into his embrace.

 

He knew Eunhyuk wasn’t asleep. He knew he was faking it. Kyuhyun knew. He just knew. Who was Eunhyuk trying to fool? Kyuhyun had been accompanying him to sleep for nearly 7 years then; he had already known by heart the way Eunhyuk would always sleep. The way his lips would usually and slightly part open as he breathed, and the way his chest would pump into a slow and shallow rhythm as he slept. Kyuhyun noticed every little thing about his love. And Eunhyuk expected him to believe his bad acting? His eyes were twitching every 5 minutes, and his breathing was shallowly irregular, as though he was trying to hold his breathe in, and his lips was obviously tightly shut. Just with those little differences, Kyuhyun immediately knew that the boy wasn’t sleep. It was just too obvious in the eyes of him who had watched over him more than a quarter of his life.

 

He waited for about another hour, stiffly standing outside the door, not moving even an inch until the sobs eventually disappeared. He carefully swung the door open, very careful not to elicit even the tiniest sound as he was afraid that he might disturb the exhausted boy. He tiptoed quietly into the room and went to stand beside the bed. He choked a sob when he saw Eunhyuk’s scarlet smudged face.

 

“He really cried…” He whispered to himself as he knelt down on the wooden floor. His knees screaming a harsh pain as he bent his joint, feeling his bone and joint numbing and hurting so badly because of the long standing. But he withheld the pain. No, it wasn't that he was withholding the pain, he just instinctively forgot the pain as soon as the sight of his lover's teary face fell into his view. He bit on his lips harshly again when he saw another drop of scarlet tear carefully sliding down Eunhyuk’s face in his sleep. He swallowed bitterly as he placed his thumb on the other’s cheek, trying to wipe the tear and the smudge off his face, but the smudge wouldn’t vanish. Knowing all too well, he then just stood up again, a harsh pain instantly striking him as he straightened back his knees before he painstakingly walked into the kitchen just to bring back a bowl of warm water with a tiny piece of towel with him.

 

He then dipped the towel in the water and tenderly wiped the smudge off. He smiled a little when he finally saw the pale skin of his boyfriend again. After he made sure his face was finally red-free, he placed the blood soaked towel in the bowl and gently caressed the locks of his boyfriend before he bent down for a soft kiss at the corner of his left eye.

 

“Donghae…” He heard his boyfriend mumbled a name under his breath, a bitter look quickly shaded his face when he realized it wasn’t his name that the other was calling. He swallowed bitterly as he felt his heart breaking again. He gazed at the other's face as he caressed his eyebags with a heavy heart.

 

“I don’t know what really happened back then, Eunhyuk. But honestly, it was excruciatingly painful to find out that you were crying so much for another man when I was furiously looking for you, thinking what could've possibly happen to you while I'm gone. It really hurt me badly inside, Eunhyuk.

 

As much as I didn’t really want to see you cry because I know real well how painful it was for you, I merely only wished to see you cry even a drop of tear for me, Eunhyuk. At least just once…” His voice sounded like he was pleading, a tear of drop was dangerously threatening to escape his eyes.

 

He paused a little as he choked on his silent sobs.

 

“It took that guy one day to have you cry, Eunhyuk. Just mere one day. But it took me seven years, yet you still haven’t cry a tear for me.”

 

“Seven years, Eunhuk. Seven years, and I wasn’t even sure yet if you really do love me back. If only you would shed those beautiful tears for me. If only you would cry for me even once after all these years, I would’ve believe you immediately...”

 

He bent down to kiss Eunhyuk's lock softly.

 

 “I really do love you, Eunhyuk. I really really do. I love you more than anything in this world. But I’m not so sure if I could handle this any longer. Not when I know there is someone else who could delve into your heart before me… Not when I know I held no place in your heart, but that guy somehow just did...”

 

And just as simple as the words he had laid out to no one in particular, Kyuhyun had silently told himself in his mind, determined to perceive that Donghae boy as a threat, a huge threat to their fragile relationship and a dangerous threat to his love, his seven years of love. But despite his wish to put all the blame on that clueless boy and vent all his frustration to him, he just knew.. He knew it wasn't the boy, but him. He bit on his lips then, eyes falling onto the serene look of the sleeping Eunhyuk.

 

“Why couldn’t it be me…?”

 

 

 

Kyuhyun snapped out of his silent reverie when Jonghyun had suddenly nudged on his ribs hard. A scowl cropped up on his face as he turned to glare at the boy who just disturbed his thought, but it was to no avail when he was harshly nudged again, elbowed to be exact, by the latter as Jonghyun had tilted his head to point at the front. His face was clearly hinted with an uneasy look. Still with a scowl on his face, he heavily shifted his sight to the pointed direction and his body immediately jerked up in surprise when he saw their lecturer was standing right in front of him, her eyes narrowing mercilessly into him as she had her arms crossing against her chest with a stern look. An awkward guilty grin quickly tugged onto his face.

 

“T-teacher…” He called out, sweating. But she only glared at him, piercing merciless daggers into his head. Kyuhyun just let out a stifled laugh as he felt a little awkward under the piercing glare, so quickly he straightened up his body in an attempt to face his scowling teacher. That was when the teacher released a loud sigh.

 

“I know you looked all cool, handsome and mysterious with your silent gaze, Mr, Cho but please do focus in my class. I expected more from you since you're one of the top scorers and I found it very disappointing to see you daze off in your first class. Are you probably thinking about something serious, Mr Cho?" She asked after that, to which Kyuhyun just hastily shook his head because he didn't really feel like telling to the whole class about his love problem. And then she just sighed again quietly when she saw Kyuhyun's refusal to share his thoughts with her.

 

"Now, try to ward off your problems and start focusing to my class, will you, Mr. Cho? You don’t want getting yourself a detention on your first day of class after all, do you?” She voiced out, her fingers tapping on her other forearm impatiently. He just nodded his head hastily as he put on his poker smile on his face.

 

“Yes, teacher. I’m sorry."

 

“Good. Now, back to what I was saying just before our Mr. Cho had handsomely dazed off….” And her words continued to roll on as the class went back to their obedient silence. Jonghyun and Changmin tried their best to stifle their guffaw when they saw how Kyuhyun spontaneously slumped his shoulder down much in relief.

 

 

Soon after the long introductory session took place, they finally found themselves yawning and stretching out their numbed bodies after having intensely listened to their lecturer, telling them of their future heavy workloads that were about to crush them down into a pile of panda goo.

 

“Oh, I forgot to tell you guys.” The lecturer suddenly said with some files in her arms, ready to walk out of the hall to leave. Her voice immediately attracted most of the students’ attention right away, including the trio’s. When she was satisfied with the attention the class was giving her, she just continued--

 

“In the next few months, our university will be holding an entertainment festival. It’s still a long way to go but I’d want to see you guys to start preparing on your own piece if you guys are thinking of participating. I’m not tolerating any plagiarism or even simple cover of existing pieces. To impress me, is to show your creativity and originality. I’ll tell you guys more about the details in the next class, but that’s it for now. I expect some early progress by next two weeks from you guys. Now, if you will please excuse me.” She clarified with her loud voice before she beamed a small smile and walked out of the hall.

 

And with that sudden announcement, the hall started to crack into loud noises and shriek of excitement, most the students immediately discussing whether they’re going to participate or not. And of course the three boys weren’t excluded from the excitement because just like the others, they were already discussing about the same thing as they were pretty much as excited as the others with the news of entertainment festival. All sort of thoughts and ideas to outcast their talents were quietly roaming about in their little box of brain, thinking what to do and what to perform on that very important event.

 

“Yah, have you thought of the theme we’re composing for?” asked Changmin all of a sudden as he nudged Jonghyun on his ribs. Jonghyun was piling his notes and putting them into his bag when he was asked the question. Kyuhyun whom had finished packing up instantly perked up at the sudden throw of question, his face immediately lightened up at the mentioned topic as he showed them a look of interest. Jonghyun could only shook his head.

 

“Nah, not yet. Haven’t gotten any inspiration just yet. You?” replied the other, eyeing his friend as he slung the strap of his bag across his shoulder.

 

“I’ve thought of a theme of love and friendship. And I’ve tried to write the lyrics, but anyhow I wrote them, somehow it turned out into a sad song. You know I wanted to change our image and make us look strong, or at least funky.” Changmin said, his face obviously looking dejected with his own self as he knew real well how Jonghyun was already leaking his manly aura with his muscular figure and sharp dark eyes, while he was blessed with a strong yet very different kind of aura in contrast to his bestfriend, gentle and cuteness overflowing in him with his sweet look.

 

“Wait, you guys compose?” Kyuhyun quickly butted in, eyes widening in sheer amaze as he stared at the two. Changmin just nodded his head, smiling proudly before his smile quickly dropped into a gloomy face.

 

“Yeah, we are. It’s our thing. But lately, we lacked on our source of inspiration. So we haven’t started on anything yet, at all.” Kyuhyun’s eyes immediately sparkled with pure excitement when the other confirmed his ponder.

 

“Show me some of your pieces! No, scratch that. Just sing them for me. I wanna hear your voices!” His voice was a little above a few octaves when he spoke that it sounded like he just let out an excited squeal, his face looking equally excited as his voice.

 

“Why should I sing for you? Ewwww…” Jonghyun faked a look of disgust. Kyuhyun just cocked an eyebrow at him. Jonghyun, he never ceased to amaze Kyuhyun on how he would always found even a simple point to bicker with him. What’s his problem though?

 

“Dude, I just wanna listen to your songs. Its not like I asked you guys to sing it especially for me. That’s just too disgusting for three grown up men.” He replied annoyed, his hands planted firmly on his hip.

 

“Huh? 3 grown up men? Where where? I don’t see any.” Jonghyun teased, feigning a look of search as he saluted himself while subtly glancing everywhere, his eyes swiftly passing by Kyuhyun as though he wasn’t even there. Kyuhyun beamed a look of strange before Jonghyun continued.

 

“Oh, wow. Now I do see some, but surprisingly, I don’t see any three grown up, but instead, I saw two good-looking men with an adorable kid with a hamster cheek around here.”

 

“Huh? Who’s a kid? Whose hamster?” Kyuhyun frowned, a little confused with the sudden change of topic. Changmin stifled a laugh as he heard Kyuhyun’s response.

 

“You, .” Jonghyun naughtily replied which earned him a strong punch on his blade of shoulder. Jonghyun hissed in pain as he rubbed the sore spot.

 

“Well, can’t be fooled by that baby-faced of yours. Damn, you’re strong.” He commented, a look of approving of the other’s strength was obviously painted on his face, but Kyuhyun wasn’t even a tiny bit pleased despite the praise he was given.

 

“To hell with you two. You guys are such a jerk.” He hissed, mad. Changmin quickly bulged out his eyes at his foul language playfully.

 

“Omo, such a foul-mouthed baby. Umma~ Look at our baby, he’s cursing at us~” He faked a cry as he tugged on Jonghyun’s shirt cutely. A slight crease propped up on the latter’s face.

 

“Oh, so now we’re playing house with each other? And who’s the Umma again? Me?” Jonghyun just had to ask, feeling a little awkward because he wasn't even sure when did the family roleplay start to take over their new friendship.

 

Changmin just threw him a subtle nod, grinning sheepishly as he prompted for Jonghyun to be the mom.

 

“Oh come on, Min. Everyone on Earth knew you fit the Umma role better. Such nagging mom like you.” He mocked his bestfriend in an attempt to annoy the latter. But silently he continued in his head, “Not to mention beautiful…” He was being careful not to say that word out loud because he knew how hysterical Changmin could be if anyone ever praised him beautiful. Changmin once told Jonghyun that he hated being called ‘beautiful’ because it made him looked weak, but Jonghyun just mentally smirked at that, because he knew Changmin was technically really really weak for a man. His slender body was too fragile for his own good.

 

Kyuhyun could only stared at them awkwardly as he took a step back from the two boys.

 

“Ha ha ha. I think I’m going first…. I don’t really feel like playing house right now.” Okay, Kyuhyun took it back. Maybe he didn’t really feel too lucky about making friends with two grown up men playing house. Just maybe.

 

“Awww, you just break the fun. Party pooper.” Changmin pouted cutely as he released his hold on Jonghyun’s shirt. Kyuhyun just giggled at that.

 

“Sorry. I’m really going first, okay? Gotta go now. See you tomorrow!” Said the boy as he slung his bag pack on his shoulder, ready to lunge towards Eunhyuk’s class when Jonghyun suddenly pulled on his bag forcefully, halting and tugging him backward as well.

“What the hell?” The victim of the bag-pulling immediately cursed at the forceful tug, completely caught in surprise, staring questioningly at the perpetrator. Jonghyun released the hold as an awkward grin formed on his face, scratching his nape while eyeing his best friend to help him. Changmin heaved a light sigh as he shook his head.

 

“Hey, Kyuhyun. Wanna hang out with us for lunch?” Changmin asked the boy, in place of the other whom was being too shy or too proud to do so himself. Kyuhyun was happy to be invited, but he already made a promise to Eunhyuk and he wasn’t the type to break his promise, especially not to his boyfriend. And so, he only shook his head slightly before he politely refused their invitation, a blissful and merry smile was obviously plastered on his face as he apologized.

 

“Sorry, guys. But I promised to wait for someone. Invite me again next time?” He said, clasping his hands together as a sign of apology before he bad them goodbye and stormed out of his class, startling his classmates whom was hovering near the entrance, and disappointing the girls whom were about to make a move at the famous boy.

 

Both Changmin and Jonghyun exchanged a short knowing glance, before a naughty look crept on their faces. And just as soon, they found themselves tagging along with him, and only a single thought had played in their mind, as they wondered who’s the lucky girl.

 

“Hey, Kyuhyun! Wait for us!!”

 

 

Walking alone towards his class, he fixed his sight looking forward, refusing to glance at the stares that the students were throwing him, his lips dropped into a flat line as he cloaked himself with his usual cold demeanor. His eyes were dark and empty, as though there was something growing behind them, waiting to leap out upon any chance. Everything about him was extremely repelling, fending off any unnecessary contact with people, never intending to form any sort of deep connection with those around him. Be it relationship or friendship, none of them interested him as he refused to let himself drown in such deceiving privilege. Because he knew, with every bits of happiness come the sacrifices and tears. With every hint of the friendship he yearned for comes the betrayal he feared. He might appear strong and unreachable to most, but deep down, he was the most fragile thing in this world, even a single crack could shatter his being into pieces. There was no strength left in him to struggle through his cursed tears, his cursed life.

 

As soon as he reached his destination, he brought up his arm in the air to reach for the knob and strongly slid the door open, probably putting a bit too much force into his grip as the strong impact made a loud rattle sound striking the silent hall, attracting most of the students’ attention towards him almost immediately. He cursed himself for bringing so many pairs of scrutinizing eyes spewing on him; those eyes that he knew were trying to judge him from their first impressions. But he was probably much too used to the stares of many already, so he found himself casually ignoring those eyes as he walked up towards the back of his class, eyes as distant as ever as he found himself an empty seat nearest to the window.

 

“Oh, Hyukjae! I didn’t know we’re in the same class!” A much too familiar voice caught him surprise as he called his name like he was a close friend of his. His head immediately turned around to look at the voice’s owner and he couldn’t even be surprised to see that feature face whom he swore to get away as far as possible, beaming and smiling merrily at him as though nothing had happened yesterday. He was indeed surprised to hear someone greeting him on his first day, given his cold and distant demeanor that he had wrapped himself with, but it didn’t took him longer than a minute to disperse that surprise and startled feeling away, most probably because of the name he was called with, and not to mention that familiar pitchy voice.

 

‘Donghae.’ He murmured in his head, swallowing thickly as the named boy fell into his view. A short glance was all it took and his heart was already starting to pound and speed up rapidly. There Donghae sat in his seat, just behind and above the one he had aimed for. The named boy was sitting and beaming blissfully, excitement was all over his face as he stared at Eunhyuk, his elbows on the table and his chin resting in his palms.

 

Eunhyuk’s sight then travelled to the other two boys that were sitting in the same row as him. One of them was awfully too familiar to Eunhyuk for heaving his obvious gayness from yesterday, and another boy, pretty one he might add, was a face he hadn’t seen before.

 

Eunhyuk could only heave out a heavy sigh as soon as he saw them, or particularly him. Multiple thoughts gradually arose, clouding his head with conflicted feelings in his heart, feeling as though those thoughts were weighing him down when he was suddenly forced to remember his silent promises from yesterday, to stay away from this boy and to shut him off from his life for once and for all. But he couldn’t help but wonder, just why did fate was always so against him? Why did his life always end up entangled with this boy’s, when all he was asking for, was for Donghae to be miles away from him and for Donghae to remain and stay just as his forgotten past? Why did he have to be there in his present? Why was life so cruel to him? What did he ever do to deserve everything?

 

As much as he wanted to ignore the boy in his obvious bliss, Eunhyuk just couldn’t do it, because he found the name that Donghae had called him with was painfully disturbing to his ears. With much reluctance, after he had dumped his beg on the floor just beside his chair, planting himself firmly in his new seat, he then turned his body around, his head lifting upward to look at the boy whom was seated just a stair above and behind him. The other was looking a bit too hyped up as soon as he saw Eunhyuk was finally paying heed to him, although the hype was a bit too much for the latter’s liking. Eunhyuk then threw the coldest glare he didn't even knew he possessed, and coldly spoke to the other.

 

“I’m not Hyukjae. Don’t call me that ever again.” His voice was alarmed with coldness, ringing very differently in Donghae’s ears. It was still his unique voice but it was somewhat distant and definitely cold, completely different from the warm voice that he had heard yesterday. Donghae quickly opened his mouth, intending to retort back, but was only cut short when he saw Eunhyuk quickly throwing him another empty menacing glare. He shut his mouth up again as he bit on the corner of his lower lips. But then, he wondered why should he be scared of this boy here, when he looked so fragile with his thin and lean frame while he on the other hand was bulked with toned muscles and abs? He should be braver than this, and be even firmer to voice out his say and so, he decided to start on it.

 

“But Hyukjae---“ Only to be shut up again as Eunhyuk threw more piercing daggers at him, narrowing his eyes mercilessly as though he was daring him to spout even one more word about it.

 

Donghae instantly bit on his inner cheek, swallowing down whatever he wanted to say as soon as he saw the other glaring at him. He sighed. Since when did he ever care about what others thought of what he was going to say or do? He sighed yet again. He gazed at Eunhyuk whom was already busy bringing out a notepad and a pencil case out of his backpack. His mind wondered around the mystery of this cold guy in front of him and the fragile one in his memory. He was very certain that Hyukjae was his name because he knew those visions were not a lie, so he couldn’t help but wonder why wouldn’t he allow him to call him with that? He pursed his lips into a small pout.

 

‘If I couldn’t even call him with his name, then what should I call him with when I wanted to talk to him? ‘Hey yo, mystery boy. Wassup?’ Will he like it if I call him like that?’ He spoke to himself, playfully thinking of a nickname for Eunhyuk in his lonely self-monologue.

 

But maybe, just maybe, he had probably voiced out those thoughts a little too loudly because just as soon, he immediately caught Eunhyuk narrowing his eyes at him, mercilessly digging holes through his thick skull as he spouted a few words at him.

 

“You don't have to worry. I’m not going to talk to you even if you called. I don’t want to associate myself with your stupidity. Now, just leave me alone.” said Eunhyuk, his hand flipping about the pages of his notepad after her turned back to the front again. His words were only followed by a small pout coming from the pitiable boy behind him.

 

“How would you even know that I’m stupid when you wouldn’t even talk to me…” He mumbled lowly under his breath, completely complaining as his fishy pout adorned his face. His eyes were fixated at the back of Eunhyuk’s head when a glee thought suddenly crossed his mind. Needless to say, he immediately grinned ever so widely as he dramatically cupped his face to hid the happy blush on his face. ‘Omo, did Hyukjae just read my mind?’

 

 After a few minutes being happy on his own, he then casually looked over at his two friends beside him to join their hyped up conversation, mostly about their soon-to-be-commencing acting lessons. But as he stared at the two of them, an idea of introducing his friends to Eunhyuk suddenly popped out in his head, thinking of using it as his excuse to talk more with the lone wolf in front of him. A wide grin immediately tugged on his face as he quickly nudged Eunhyuk’s head playfully with his pointy finger.

 

He poked his head once. “Hyukjae-yah.” he called, but no response.

 

He poked his head again, twice. “Yah, Hyukjae~” Donghae pouted.

 

He poked his head again, thrice. “Hyukjae~ Hyukjae~ Hyukjae~”  He sung his name playfully.

 

Eunhyuk rolled his head annoyed, but he still chose to ignore the hyped up kid, maintaining his cold demeanor to stay in place, trying to ignore the flutters in his stomach everytime he heard the other calling his name, like how he used to.

 

But for the forth time Donghae poked his head again, Eunhyuk really just need to snap.

 

He abruptly turned his head around and shot Donghae another deadly glare, only this time his forehead was frowning and he was clenching his fist. Donghae, oblivious to the annoyance that was obviously bottling up in Eunhyuk, just giggled heartily because his poking was successful and Eunhyuk was finally paying attention to him. As clueless as he always was, he quickly started the introductory session while the chance was still up.

 

“Hey hey, why don’t we introduce ourselves to you? I’ll start with my self then. So, hi! My name is Lee Donghae and I’m from around here, taking danc----“ But as he was just about to reach half his self-introductory, a husky voice jumped in, interrupting and blocking his chance to start a conversation with Eunhyuk, much to his annoyance.

 

“Hi, Eunhyuk-ssi. Can I sit here with you?” Asked a girl very shamelessly, her hair was long, wavy and blonde. Her lips were tugging into a seductive smile as she eyed the seated boy, her body leaning in to sit barely at the edge of the table. The moment Eunhyuk heard her voice, he annoyedly side-glanced at the girl just beside him, even narrowing his eyes at her, before he turned his head forward to face the front again, purposely ignoring the shameless woman for approaching him when he had made it obvious that he didn’t want anyone close to him.

 

But the girl was probably too dense or too bold to understand his simple cold treatment because even after all that, she still stood there, waiting for his response patiently while playing with her hair in the meanwhile. Eunhyuk frowned at her boldness before he threw her another short and merciless side-glance and cloaked himself with an even more intense cold demeanor as he crossed his arms against his chest. When he noticed she was still staring holes at his face, he just beamed her a quick and annoyed smirk. He slowly bent his body a bit, picking his bag up from the floor and cruelly dumping it back on the empty seat next to him. He then swiftly plugged the earphone that was hanging around his neck into his ears before he rested his arms on the table and had his face buried in between them, intending to sleep, fake sleep.

 

The whole class, whom were obviously watching the two as they were curious of how the little flirt would end up with the cold boy, was left agape. They were completely dumbfounded by the obvious and merciless rejection from him towards the famous girl. It was a shocking and amazing scenario, and it would definitely be worth the gossip to be spread around like wildfire around their campus.

 

 The girl was of course startled and shocked as much as the whole class was; her jaw hopelessly dropped into a wide gap in utter surprise, a faint gasp was heard escaping her lips. She wanted to retort back, but only did so with a sudden angry stomp of foot, for no words could leave as she was sent speechless. And with that utterly humiliating defeat, she finally left to her own seat for her own good, her face flushed with anger as she walked away while jabbing some curses towards Eunhyuk along the way.

 

And just after she finally disappeared from their sights, the three boys whom were sitting behind Eunhyuk burst into a proud laughter, the handsomest out of the three was clenching his painful stomach while the pretty boy was slamming his hand hard against the table a few times as he tried his best to contain his laughter. Donghae could only laughed heartily in silent chokes, as he probably was laughing too much that he ended up choking on his own breathing as he breathed out a big fit of laughter.

 

“Yah, that was so cool! Everyone was dying to sit with the Hyoyeon, and yet you just rejected her without even saying a word. Hahaha, you’re cool man! I like you!” The pretty boy blurted out as soon as he managed to control his laughter.

 

Donghae was looking like he wanted to slip in another comment too, but he couldn’t do so when the teacher suddenly entered the class, saying her first hello to start the long introductory session. And with that, their laughter immediately halted as silence swiftly filled the hall, students focusing on the teacher’s clarification about their future homeworks, telling how excited she was to finally becoming one of the teachers who would teach them some dance moves, and that she was very honored to be in that spot after much hard work.

 

But Donghae was probably bored with all the talking by the woman in her late twenties, that's why he decided to disturb the mysterious boy in front of him a little. It just felt right to annoy this boy yet he wasn't really sure why he felt that way when all he knew about Eunhyuk was those disturbing visions of him. Not to mention that they had only met the day before that. But there was something in him, telling him how he felt a sense of familiarity with this playful thought of wanting to annoy the other. He felt strange, but he liked that foreign sense of familiarity around the other.

 

However, feeling like nothing would really come out of him delving further into that familiarity thought, he then just decided to proceed with his plan and took out his notebook and a pencil. He just started drabbling some words and random drawings on the paper, before he ripped them into small pieces and crumpled them. And then he just nonchalantly threw those pieces at Eunhyuk, one by one.

 

At his first throw, Eunhyuk flinched at the sudden impact of the small paper clump hitting his nape.

 

“Read them.” Whispered Donghae when he noticed Eunhyuk’s flinch, but his demand was only ignored as the latter took the paper crumple before he threw it away to his side. Donghae put on his fishy pout and threw another paper clump at him.

 

Eunhyuk just cocked his eyes annoyed, but still trying his best to ignore the disturbance. Dissatisfied because Eunhyuk kept on ignoring him, Donghae decided to present him with some heavy rainfalls of paper clumps, and thus he threw lots and lots of them at him endlessly.

 

Feeling very much annoyed at the endless paper-confetti throws, Eunhyuk finally gave in to him as he took a piece of the crumpled paper before he spread it out open with a low grunt of annoy.

 

And just as soon, Eunhyuk saw the scribbled words.

 

 

 

A warm smile unknowingly tugged on Eunhyuk's lips as soon as he saw the drawing below the last word.

 

‘What is this? A rabbit? A cat? A donkey? Your drawing still as always, Hae.’  He silently thought in amuse. Eunhyuk stifled a quick giggle upon seeing that never-changing doodle of his. How Donghae never changed at all.

 

Donghae peeked his head a little to see if the other actually read his little notes, at least one of them, but he failed to notice the small movement that Eunhyuk made as he took one of the small crumples on his laps. Pursing his lips sulkily as he finally felt like giving up, Donghae then threw another piece of paper clump again at him one last time. It was a little bigger than the previous ones that he had thrown and it gently bumped into Eunhyuk's slender neck, knocking him back to his original sense. The small smile on his face abruptly dropped into his cold look. His heart dangerously thumping in a rare speed that he though it could've jump out of his chest. He caught his lower lips in between his teeth as realization came back to him. It would have been better if he had just ignored those small letters from Donghae as he had been doing since the start, but somehow, somwhere, there was something from the deepest part of his heart that told him to do just the opposite. And he with the weak heart he had, just succumbed to that small whisper of his heart and did just that. He did just that, and regretted it over and over again. Because reading that small letter and smiling happily at that doodle was indeed very far away from his mental promise of staying away from that little dork.

 

He wanted as much as just to let it pass and pretended that he never read the letter, but the conscience was slowly killing him from inside as he could feel that hopeful and expectant look emitting from his behind, or exactly from a certain someone. And with that, he gave in to the conscience and took a pencil from the case and scribbled something on that very same piece before he quietly passed it back to Donghae without turning back. Taken aback by Eunhyuk's simple respond, Donghae’s eyes rounded double the normal size as his mouth was left gaping. Never would have he thought that the mystery boy would actually reply his innocent prank given the said boy's cold behavior towards him, or just everyone except Kyuhyun at that. The boy looked too distant and cold in Donghae's eyes to actually do that, distant yet very near, and cold yet very warm. Although curious, Donghae tried his best to brush off the small thoughts away from his mind. He was content enough that the other was willing to respond to him for whatever reasons. Eagerly, he reached out his hand and received the piece of paper. A wide smile conquered his face as he read what was written on it.

 

 

Eunhyuk.

 

 

Sheepishly, his thumb traced the handwriting tenderly as if it was the most precious thing ever, smudging both the paper and his finger with the pencil’s dark lead.

 

‘Eunhyuk. So that’s your other name. I’ll just use it for now.’ He thought, a foolish ear-to-ear grin invading his face.

 

 

About two hours had passed and the teacher finally stopped her empty rambles much to everyone’s relief. Of course Donghae’s one-sided paper-confetti throwing had to end when Eunhyuk had deliberately replied him with another piece of paper written with ‘ off’. As if on cue, the students spontaneously packed up their stuffs as soon as the bell rang, signalling them that it was finally their lunch hour. Eunhyuk wasn’t excluded when he too quickly gathered his things into his bag before he slung its strap onto his shoulder, dusting all the paper pieces off of his clothes, on courtesy of a certain annoying boy. Excitement was all that he felt when he remembered Kyuhyun’s promise to wait for him. He wanted to be out of that class as soon as possible, possibly hoping to get away from the constant stares that he kept on receiving from the students and especially away from him, him who had been the cause of his nerve-wrecking palpitation ever since yesterday.

 

He was ready to leave the class after he had made sure he didn’t leave anything behind. It was his boyfriend who made him promise to always check on his things before leaving, considering that his clumsy sickness was quite severe before Kyuhyun had to interfere and took care of them for him. Now that they had different classes and courses, he had to do it himself since Kyuhyun wouldn’t be there to help him most of the time. 

 

However, just as he was about to step away out of the class, Donghae jumped right in front of him, halting him from leaving as he blocked his path. Displeased with the sudden obstruction of his way to his awaiting boyfriend, Eunhyuk rolled his eyes at him and quickly released a heavy sigh for another reason. A foolish wide grin was seen on Donghae's face as he gestured his two friends to join him. The other two only did as asked as they walked closer towards them, finally facing the mystery boy. And with four gorgeous looking boys standing in a flock of group together, of course they would attract most of the attention from the whole class effortlessly. Eunhyuk couldn’t help but dug a deep frown when he saw the two boys whom were totally unrelated to him, were standing in front of him, beaming. And it did not help how they were in the center of attraction right at that moment. Eunhyuk had always hated attention, but luck seemed to always be getting in his way in staying low-profile, when everytime he wished for peace, storm would barge in nonchalantly.

 

A cold glare was all Eunhyuk gave them when he was suddenly faced by the three boys, observing them up and down through the corner of his eyes as he silently admitted that they were all such a good-looking guy for being tall, having a unique and pretty face, and their muscles toned perfectly. They had everything that a girl could have asked for in their boyfriend materials. He just prayed that the three boys actually have the brain along with their suaveness. He prayed.

 

Feeling awkward because they haven’t spoken even a word yet since they first encountered and not to mention the cold stare that was given by Eunhyuk, Donghae finally decided to break the silence as he quickly wrapped his arms around his friends’ shoulders, bringing them closer to his body before he beamed a genuine smile at Eunhyuk.

 

“Hey, Hyukj --- Err, Eunhyuk. I want you to meet my friends. But I’ll just start with myself first. Okay? ‘Cause I'm sure you don’t know me.” Donghae started, grinning foolishly as he looked at Eunhyuk.

 

“I don’t ----“

 

“Na-ah. I don’t accept any ‘no’. So, no thank you.” The former shushed his mouth as he shook his head, still that foolish grin hovering on his fishy face.

 

“I’m Lee Donghae. Just call me Hae. The shorter the better, right? I’m 21, and majoring in dancing.” As he ended his self-introduction, they heard muffled noises coming from his two best friends. Both Donghae and Eunhyuk turned to them out of curiosity; a look of confused was clearly visible on Donghae’s face.

 

“What?” He asked dissatisfied when he saw both the boys were trying so hard to stifle their laughter but to no avail as they burst into a big fit of laughter. The muscularly built guy managed to squeeze an answer as he pressed on his stomach because of the dull pain out of laughing too much.

 

“No- nothing. We just found it funny.”

“What's funny?”

 

“Well, the shorter the better, right, Hae?” He added again soon after while he purposely checked Donghae up and down, stopping just right at Donghae’s head, his eyes looking down. Repeat, looking down. Right after a few seconds later, Donghae’s eyes widened in fury as he punched the other’s shoulder, hard.

 

“Yah!!!” He screamed on top of his lungs, glaring up angrily. His two best friends laughed merrily at his outburst as one of them rubbed his sore shoulder.

 

“Yah, Siwon. You’re so cruel. You know his lack of height is what he was feeling bitter the most. Don’t rub it in.” The other one commented, feeling a little sorry for the shorty. Donghae rolled his eyes.

 

“Like your ‘his lack of height’ didn’t rub it in even better.” He hissed annoyed. Really, the pretty boy was really just as clueless as a stupid squirrel. Eunhyuk only smiled innerly as he observed their conversation, trying his best to maintain his cold poker face. After a short while until their laughter quieted down, the muscular guy finally introduced himself.

 

“Sorry about that, Eunhyuk-ssi. My name is Choi Siwon, just Siwon is fine. Also 21, majoring both in acting and dancing.” He spoke politely, flashing his dimpled smile at the boy. He looked at Eunhyuk expecting at least a small smile in return but was disappointed when all he received was his usual poker face. Donghae smiled awkwardly when he saw his best friend’s bitter look before he tugged on the other one to start introducing himself too, trying to avoid the awkwardness that was gradually brewing around them.

 

“Hi Eunhyuk, I’m Choi Minho. But we’re not brothers, if that is what you might’ve thought. Just cousins. Also 21, majoring in both acting and dancing too.” He ended his self-introduction with a small bow, showing his elegance with his rich-boy feature and the complete politeness.

 

She just stared blankly at the playing television showing a random morning show as she plopped down weakly on the couch. The blinking light of the television illuminated the dimmed living room while its low rumbling sound filled the cold and still air of the house.

 

 

 

“Eunjae….” She called out. Her voice was weak and her heart was aching. She couldn’t bear to see her nephew in such a disheveled state. He had been lying down on his bed ever since he got home, his hair was a mess, his face was somber and his stomach was left empty ever since.

 

“Go away.” His words were harsh, but Yoonjae never really took them to heart because she knew Eunjae. He had always been like this ever since he came into their life, and she knew he never really meant what he said whenever he was in his usual depressed state. But what she minded more was his croaky voice, that voice he had every time he cried.

 

“Eunjae… Please, eat something…” She pleaded.

 

“I said, go away, Yoonjae.”

 

“Eunjae!” Yoonjae gasped loudly. As far as her nephew would get when he was depressed, he would never go as far as being rude to her, to the point of calling her by her first name even if it was only a slip of tongue.

 

He sighed quietly. He then sat up, his legs dangling down his bed as his weak gaze fell onto his aunt.

 

“I’m sorry, Aunt. Just, just please let me be alone for now. I need some time.” He said half-pleading as he clenched his fist so strongly that it paled out of blood.

 

“Okay. Just, just at least eat something. I’ll leave the tray on your table.” She said with a sorrowful look as she placed the tray full of dinner on the table near the window. Once she saw Eunjae’s weak nod, she just quietly left the room, leaving him alone just as he wished.

 

 

 

She took a quick glance at the clock on the wall just above the television and she sighed. She didn’t even know anymore if it was too late, or too early. She hadn’t winked a sleep ever since she left Eunjae’s room last night. She had too much things crowding her head, too much stuffs weighing her down. Eunhyuk. Heechul. Eunjae. All of them were important to her, and she tried to think of anything to help them but none had crossed her clouded mind. She sighed again, very loudly this time.

 

She stood up and dragged herself to the kitchen, opening up the fridge as she started to gather the ingredients for their breakfast. Feeling thirsty all of a sudden, she took a bottle of water from the fridge and poured some down into the glass that was placed on the kitchen island. Just as she picked the filled glass up, it slipped down her dry hand and crashed onto the hard floor, glass shattering into shards and water stagnant and flowed.

 

Her chest pumped up and down heavily as she stared at the shards on the floor. Her heart was starting to pound very heavily when suddenly; she heard a loud thudding sound coming from upstairs. Her heartbeat raced even further. What was that? Is that, is that Eunjae….?

 

And as the thought struck her mind fast, she yelped loudly. “Eunjae!” Her voice was hinted with worries and hast. Hurriedly, she stormed up towards Eunjae’s room. She swiftly swung the door open as she reached the room but all that fell into her sight was the chill morning air, the empty room breezed by the soft wind, the curtain of the only window in the room swayed and danced guiltlessly along with the breeze. She searched the room in hast but Eunjae was anywhere but in that room. She swallowed her thick saliva when she saw the tray on the table, plate and bowl both emptied diligently. She stepped closer to the table, her eyes never darting away from the wide opened window just in front of the table. Her chest was pounding even heavier than she had ever been as the peach curtain continued on waltzing with the blowing wind, the chill air grazing against her warm skin. And as though it was on cue, the glass on the tray just suddenly tripped over as the curtain flipped harshly against it. Her eyes immediately darted towards the object as the pitching sound of glass falling onto the steel tray resounded in the quiet room loudly. And it was there, a piece of paper lying and slipped perfectly just under the glass that was rolling to and fro on that very same tray.

 

With every ounce of her remaining energy channeled to her weakened arm, she took the paper with a trembling hand and read the words,

 

It was delicious. Thank you.

And I’m sorry.

 

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Yo peeps! Gallons of apologies to you sweet cupcakes for this very very delayed chapter! I wasn't satisfied with how it turned out, and I'm stil not right now, but I decided just to go with it. (((Rainfall of apologies ensues)

It's a very long chap, and all those contacts between them are very necessary for this story *winks*, so stay with me in this! ((Altho its boring as hell))

 

p/s: that nasty looking doodle and ugly writing is mine :P Don't blame donghae for that hahaha

 

Feed me comments pls XD I love seeing you guys commenting and voicing your thoughts and questions about the story! it made me laugh with pure evil, because I have the answer, but couldnt and wouldnt answer kekekeke :P

 

Advertising my own lame stories :P

Three Hearts and Two Realms ((( KyuHaeHyuk )))

Fishy's wish came true ((( KyuHae )))