“Donghae, you looked pale.”

 

Donghae immediately smiled the moment he heard that voice. Lifting his head to meet the gaze of the other, he flipped his hair and flashed his signature crooked smile.

 

“You mean I looked gorgeous? Thanks, hyung. Never took you as the shy type.”

 

“Geez, you’re still annoying as .” The elder squinted his eyes annoyed before he dragged a foldable chair and sat beside him. Donghae just giggled gleefully while he let the hairstylist did her job and fixed his hair up into a clean cut.

 

“Bored much, hyung?” Donghae asked as he side-glanced at the elder. The said guy only raised his eyebrows and crossed his legs before he leant back against the head of the chair, his face unreadable.

 

“Maybe. I lost an offer. Uh, corrections. We lost an offer. A big one this time.” He heaved out a heavy sigh soon after that.

 

“What happened?”

 

“Youngwoon and Jeongsoo, those two stupid s. Aish, they messed up big time, this time.”

 

“Again?”

 

“Yes, again! And worse! Can you believe it, Hae?! They friggin’ messed up everything when we had worked our out like— Urgh, I don’t wanna talk about it. Just thinking about them makes me want to freaking violate someone and just let myself settle peacefully in jail.”

 

“Awwh, my Chullie hyung is getting more mature every time! This is a miracle! Maybe Kangin-hyung and Teukkie-hyung are actually a blessing in disguise for you, Heechul hyung! They could have been angels sent in a devil disguise!”

 

“Don’t you dare, Lee Donghae. I’m on my man-period right now and you really don’t want to ruin your ty MV shooting. And what’s with this concept anyway? Vampire? Really? Can’t they come up with something more innovative and creative? This is so cliché! And what are you supposed to be? Robert Pattin-something?”

Donghae could only chuckle at Heechul’s outburst.

 

“Vampire is fine, hyung. You even said I looked gorgeous like this.”

 

“No! Vampire is pale! And, and, you! You looked paler! You looked as though you could have been sick to death all this time and— wait, I did not say you’re gorgeous, Lee Donghae!” Heechul’s face flushed red as he continued on rattling pointlessly. Donghae guffawed loudly as he clutched onto his painful tummy.

 

“Aish, vulnerable Heechul is always fun to make fun of.”

 

“Urgh, who taught you to be this friggin’ annoying?”

 

“Obviously you.”

 

“Excuse you. There is no annoying in a . You’re a jerk, just like—”

 

“Kangin-hyung exactly. Your teaching , and Kangin-hyung is a freaking genius.” Heechul’s breathe hitched a loud gasp as he dramatically cupped his mouth in his palm.

 

“Oh my god! He laid hands on you!” Heechul’s eyes widened in horror, but Donghae only offered him a smirk.

 

“No, he laid the art of annoying Heechul in front of me.”

“Urgh! Youngwoon!!!!!”

 

 

 

 

“Lee Minhee.”

 

Oh, how Minhee hated that voice from the deepest part of her heart. Mentally rolling her eyes annoyed, she her feet and faked a soft crooked smile as she faced her senior doctor.

 

“Yes, Kyuhyun-ssi?” The man only quirked an eyebrow when he heard her response. His expression was a little too arrogant for her liking.

 

“It’s Dr. Kyuhyun for you, Lee Minhee.”

 

This time, Minhee really did roll her eyes in annoyance. He dropped all formalities with me yet he wants me to call him Doctor? But maybe it was her own mistake when she heard his voice turned colder.

 

“Did you just, roll your eyes at me, Lee Minhee?” His eyes slanted narrower, piercing fiercely into Minhee’s. Minhee could feel her facial muscles all tensed up as she grimaced at his usual cold tone. But it was not Lee Minhee to sit back and listened to this guy’s . So she blankly blinked her eyes several times and shook her head, her face screaming innocence.

 

“Oh, did I? I’m sorry I didn’t notice. It’s probably a reflex action, where it came from the subconscious part of my central nervous system. And apparently, my CNS reacted to, oh, you, Kyuhyun-ssi. Amazing science, isn’t it?” Minhee carved another innocent smile and bravely met his intense gaze. Now, Minhee would have thought that her response was quite intelligent and sarcastic, and it should have fazed the arrogant guy at least a little, but apparently, Cho Kyuhyun was not a guy to lose his composure that quickly.

 

Instead, his lips curled into a beautiful smile, which seemed more like a smirk to Minhee, and bit his thumb as innocent as he would have looked if he had dropped his iness. His eyes beamed with sparkles as soon as he opened his mouth.

 

“Oh, wow, I didn’t know you know science. You could have been a doctor! Oh wait, you are a doctor! Maybe now you can start clerking some more patients instead of lingering around a celebrity and get yourself a shot on television, no?”

 

And Minhee had to admit, his words hurt like a slap. She silenced up almost immediately at his words while Kyuhyun just smirked victoriously. With a bitter taste of defeat in , she forced a smile on her face and bowed politely.

 

“I’ll take my leave then.” She finally managed to say before she walked past him to head for the surgery ward.

 

“Lee Minhee.” That hateful voice once again had called for her name, and Minhee couldn’t quite help it when she gradually found her name irritating just because of this one of a heartless human being, repetitively calling her name like it was some sort of his favorite mantra.

 

She forced another smile and turned around.

 

“Yes, Dr. Kyuhyun?”

 

This time, Cho Kyuhyun did smile widely before he nodded his head and went to do his round around the intensive care unit. And to say that Lee Minhee was baffled was probably a huge understatement. Because, just because she was utterly confused on why did her heart had palpitated and pumped an extra amount of blood to her face the moment her eyes caught glimpse of that beautiful smile.

 

“Minhee, why is your face flushed red? It’s not even that hot in here.”

 

And Minhee blushed a shade darker than before.

 

 

 

 

Now, it wasn’t because Donghae hated his parents when he hesitated to visit home, or when he purposely refused an offered holiday in the midst of busy schedules just so he wouldn’t have a reason to go home, or when he held his arm mid-air deciding whether or not should he just casually opened the door to his parent’s bedroom.

 

He was just simply scared. He was scared of the reactions of his parents would threw at him when they saw him because Donghae was almost certain that one of those reactions would not be of a, Oh-Donghae-our-son-is-home-we’re-so-blessed one. It was a family of five; his parents, the twins, and Donghwa, the big brother. It should have been perfect, until their parents decided that Donghae was the black ship of their perfect family picture.

 

Donghae’s hand shook a little as it rose to reach the knob, his heart telling him to be the son of the house and man up. But even for the lack of his brain, it was at the very least still functioning properly and as his hand nearly touched the knob, it spontaneously retracted itself and decided to just knock on the door.

 

Curse you, you coward of a brain. Nevertheless, it was still a good move. At least his heart was saved from another scowl of his mother.

 

“Umma…? Appa…?” He loudly whispered as he knocked on the door again, softly but louder. When he got no response, he decided he had long crossed the line of polite knocking and swung the door open quietly.

 

“Umma…?” He lowered his trunk and peeked his head through the small gap of the opened door, just like a kid spying on his parents, unconsented. He searched for his parents’ figures but failed when his view was restricted to only less than a quarter of the room. Bravely, he swung the door wider only to find a middle-aged lady standing in front of the makeup table, diligently applying her brick red lipstick on her lips. She threw him a quick glance before she turned back and fixed her lipstick again.

“Donghae dear, what did I say about permission?”

 

“To always knock and wait for an answer.” Diligently, Donghae answered, head bent low. It had always been this way. Always.

 

“Now, would you tell me what’s wrong dear?” She asked, her eyes still fixated on the mirror as she pasted a deeper shade of lipstick on her lips. Donghae eyed his mother expectantly; a hopeful look crossed his face.

 

“I’m just telling you that I’ll be going now. I’ll come home again anytime I have free schedules. Sorry, Umma.” The young boy curled a small cautious smile as he scratched his nape awkwardly. Donghae had hoped that his mother would at least tell him to visit again. He had always yearned to hear that, always, for years.

 

His mother just popped her lips slightly, fairly contented with her over-all appearance before she recapped the lipstick in her hand and twirled on her heels as she offered him a smile.

 

“Okay. Visit home when you’re free, okay, Donghae?” said his mother with her small smile before she patted his shoulder. Donghae just couldn’t help the ear-to-ear grin on his face as he felt her warm touch against his clothed skin. His hope was met and he even got himself an extra credit from his own mother. His mind soared high at the sheer happiness in his heart. And it was only a soft pat too.

 

But his silent soaring couldn’t last as long as he had wanted it to when the sound of a vase, loudly clattering against the mahogany table, had broken the warm exchange between the mother-and-son pair just before a very loud and unladylike groan resounded through the house. Just a few seconds later, a small head with soft and pure black locks running down a pair of puffy cheeks had peeked through the door. Her round orbs shimmering prettily as she looked over the direction of her mother, revealing a very young lady with fairly toned body cladded in a white coat at the door frame, her crooked smile oddly similar to Donghae’s.

 

“Mommmmm! I’m going first, okay? I’m getting very late now and oh god, Cho Bratty Kyuhyun is sooooo going to pick on me over this again and I’ll totally be doomed because he is just that assho— Oh.“ As dramatic as she was as she clamored over her unexpected tardiness, her lips and tongue were almost immediately stoned to silence when she caught sight of the young boy of her age, standing with their mother, lips smiley and all. Her hands abruptly halted in mid-air while she was trying to fix her bed hair in haste.

 

She swallowed thickly as she let her gaze met Donghae's, blinking several times just to see if she saw it right and was not just her, hallucinating. Donghae just did the same, swallowing and blinking hard. Because this was not in his expectation. He, as much as he loves his own twin, had silently hoped that he wouldn’t bump into her that day. He wasn’t ready yet.

 

The beautiful girl’s lips twitched into an awkward smile as she waved a hand at him.

 

“Oh. Umm. Hae, uhh, you’re home? Sorry, I didn’t get to see you last night. Had an emergency case.” She would have knocked her own head for being silly if not for her twin brother acting equally silly as she did.

 

 

“Oh. Umm. Hey, Minhee. Uhh, that’s— that’s fine, really. It’s your… job after all.” Donghae forced an awkward smile as well as he replied, trying his best to sound as casual as a sibling would have, except, they haven’t really talked like one ever since he moved out of their house.

 

 

“Y-yeah. Uh, I gotta go now. Late for work. Umm, mom, I’m going okay? I don’t know when I’ll be back. Don’t wait on me for dinner, okay? Tell dad to stop tasting wine and come home quickly. He is missing a lot about her one and only daughter.” Said Minhee casually, fixing the strap of her bag over her shoulder before she attempted to step out of the room as soon as possible. If only their mother wasn’t as dense as she always did, she would have let her go. Because Minhee didn’t like where this was going.

 

“Now now baby girl, don’t you think you forget something, Minhee?” Their mother asked, her voice extremely soft and loving. Minhee and Donghae could almost hear the pout in that voice. Minhee chewed on her inner cheeks and stole a glance at her twin.

“Uh, no? Mom, I’m getting late now!” Minhee wanted so much just to get out of the stuffy room. But Mrs. Lee wasn’t one to be less stubborn than Minhee was. Well, where else could Minhee have gotten the stubbornness anyway if it wasn't from her?

 

“Lee Minhee! Don’t you tell me you forgot the morning kiss!” Now, their mother was technically and literally pouting her red lips, sulking. And Minhee was torn. She should leave, really, because Donghae was there. But she wasn’t one to disappoint her own parents over such a trivial thing. So she thought, maybe she could try to avoid the possible worst-case scenario once more before she finally consented.

 

“But mom, I’m really really late right now!” She tried to whine out of the problem but their mother just shook her head.

 

“While you’re arguing, 11 seconds had passed by now, you know…” Mrs. Lee alarmed her daughter of her worsening tardiness.

 

“Urgh, fine!”

 

Sparing a second to roll her eyes at her own mother’s stubbornness, Minhee hastily rushed towards Mrs. Lee and smashed a quick peck on her cheek before she left in a storm. Their mother’s lips curled up into a very huge and contented smile as soon as she got what he wanted while she bad her daughter goodbye.

 

And on the other side of the room, Donghae took another step away as the huge smile on his face harshly dropped to the floor, that familiar stung went unnerved straight into his heart.

 

Donghae decided that maybe, just a little maybe, he was still that boy, whom the parents had only spared an eye on him, whom the parents had never really shown their dislike against him yet, never really proved that they liked him either.

 

After all, Donghae was the black ship of their family.