A/N: In my years of writing stories, character POV is the one writing archetype I never thought I would do (for obvious reasons) but in my quest in trying to avoid the cliche will-they-but-definitely-eventually-will-get-together-later storyline, I thought You, a reader and shipper like me,  could have a little bit more involvement in this short OS of a very late valentine story of our favorite couple haha xD 
 

Synopsis: You have just graduated from Cupid school, and you first task as Cupid is to make sure Donghae and Hyukjae falls in love. Simple enough but what they don't teach you in school, you'd have to learn the hard way in life. Will you succeed and earn your first heart or will you lose your first assigned couple? Let's find out. 

You looked at yourself in the mirror and slowly took a deep breath. Today's the day. It's your graduation day. After seven years of learning the tricks, signs, and about fate,  destiny, and everything else in between, today's the day you finally get your cupid's bow and arrow. It seems so surreal but the excited grin and heightened sense of giddy you felt inside made it near impossible to hide what you truly felt in that moment. 

"Yah! !" You turned when you heard Heechul yell your name and saw him already stomping his way towards you. "What are you doing? You should be in line for graduation already and getting ready for your first assignment." 

"O-Oh! Is it time?" You looked down on your watch and saw it was nearly 11:11. The time humans use to make their wish the most and when assignments for cupids starts to get assigned. "I'm sorry, sir. I lost track of time." 

"Well, quit dilly-dallying. Unless you want earth to be one quota short, you better get in there." 

You nervously laughed and bowed your heard at him before running off to join the rest of your peers. Heechul was such an eccentric teacher but over the years, you've seen his magic work on so many couples that now, there's no doubt in your mind that he deserves to be the dean of your school. 

Granted, his ways aren't always by the book and more often than not, his approach may seem...unconventional, but at the end of the day, when you see those couples smile and stare into each others eyes, knowing full well how in love they are with each other because of Heechul's work, you just know that that's the kind of cupid you want to be. To be the angel that brings warmth, love, and happiness to humans that deserve it. 

There's no greater sense of accomplishment than that. 

Upon joining your classmates in line, it was like reality hitting you all at once. 

Oh my god!  You thought while swallowing down the lump you felt in your throat. In a few minutes, you are about to get assigned your first actual assignment. Your first humans! 

"Nervous?" You heard one of your classmates say. It was Ryeowook, looking so proud and sure of himself like always. You always envied his confidence and wished that you had a fraction of his conviction to get you through the day. 

"Yeah," you chuckled lightly, trying to shake off your own nerves. "I don't know if I'm really ready for this."

"Relax. You'll be fine." Ryeowook then demonstrated, as the top student of the class, how to pull and shoot an arrow effortlessly. "Just make sure you aim and touch the right people. Easy peasy." 

You smiled and nodded your head in agreement. Right. Aim and shoot, you repeated to yourself in encouragement. Easy peasy. 

"Lee Taemin." 

Applause filled the room and you watched in awe as Taemin walked up to Heechul and accepted his bow and arrow. His bright smile could be seen on the huge screen behind him on stage and five seconds after receiving his bow and arrow, a bright light enveloped him before disappearing into thin air. 

"Oh Sehun." 

Another one of your classmate walked up and the line slowly moved. One by one, you saw your classmates receive their bow and arrow and light up on stage and disappear into the light. Each one going to their assigned humans. You counted the numbers down in your head and before you knew it, Ryeowook was walking up the stage and then it was your turn. 

".

Your heart skipped a beat and slowly walked up the stairs trying not to show how nervous you were. Wow...those lights were hot. Why was it so hot? 

I should've drank some water before coming up here. You tried to smile while discreety your lips. You have no idea who's watching but you could see Heechul waiting for you to pick up your bow and arrow. The stage looked much smaller when you were on the ground. It's amazing how much perception can change when you're the one actually about to experience it. 

"-ssi, are you ready?"

You smiled and turned both hands rights side up, ready to receive your armor. "As I'll ever be."

Heechul smirked and even though you thought it was intimidating at first, you knew that was Heechul's way of telling you that you're ready. 

Accepting the bow and arrow from him, it felt both light and heavy, How is that even possible? You gripped the bow tight, opening and closing your hands around the frame of it, as you placed your bag of arrows on your back. Your chest started to feel warm and when you looked up, all you saw was white. You got scared but when you looked at Heechul for help all you heard him say was, "Lee Sungmin." 

Rapidly blinking your eyes to keep the tears from falling, you decided to look around for some clues to help figure out what was going on. Unfortunately, there was nothing you could see but white...then pink...then yellow....then red...and then all of it swirling together, dancing like paint and merging like cotton candy. It was fascinating. 

"Lee Hyukjae...."

An echo whispered in your ear and you turned to see who it was but only saw the colors around you become more vibrant.

"Lee Donghae..."

Another name was heard and you weren't quite sure what to do with that information and didn't have much time to figure it out before the white light blinded you. 

"Ahh." You couldn't help but wince and rub your eyes together trying to get rid of the spots and minor ache that hit you. By the time you opened your eyes, you were in a classroom. A bundle of red thread laid in front of you while two different people showed on your wall like a security feed. "What-...Where am I?" 

"Hello. Welcome to your first task as Cupid."

An automated announcement came and you looked around trying to find a door or a speaker but only saw Donghae tapping his pencil on the table while trying not to fall asleep in class while Hyukjae, on the other side of the screen, happily played soccer.

"Make sure your couple's thread is untangled before moving on to part two. When you are ready to move on to your second task, press the red button behind you." 

You turned around and sure enough, a lone red button stood there at the end of the thread. A heavy sense of dread started to weigh on you as your eyes traveled to follow the line and saw the many knots and tangle you would need to work on. You did the math in your head, and assuming you were using the right formula, you estimate it would approximately take you eight human years to finish untangling these threads before you could do any actual cupid work. 

"Great." You sighed and lightly shook your head side to side as you reluctantly started your work. "I get one of those hard headed couples."

~♥~♥~♥~

Meanwhile, on earth, Donghae fought hard against the urge to put his head down and fall asleep while his teacher went on about some war that happened 300 years ago and the effects its had on human function today...or was it some day? He didn't really know and could barely process the fact that he was still in school. His eyes shifted over to the clock above the white board and felt his breath hitch when he realized that it's only been 15 minutes since he entered the room. How was that possible!? 

Unable to no longer fight his own instinct, Donghae covered his mouth to let hide the yawn he's been trying to hide and just as he was about to put his head down and take his much needed nap, a sudden harsh hit on the back of his head woke up all his senses. 

Crash! 

"Oh !" 

"!" 

"Lee Donghae! Detention office. Now." 

So much happened within the span of three seconds that Donghae wasn't sure if he was more upset about the soccer ball that just hit the back of his head or at his teacher for giving him detention after  just being a victim of a brutal assault. Before he could even react and yell out in protest, he saw his teacher hover over their classroom's broken window, her scowl evident on her face as she pointed her ruler out to the obvious culprit and yelled, "LEE HYUKJAE! GET YOUR IN DETENTION RIGHT NOW!"

~♥~♥~♥~

"Whew~ Finally!" You smiled and approached your next knot with high sprits. You happily straightened out the thread in front of you with both hands while your eyes looked at the two screens and saw your assigned humans facing each other. Nevermind the sour expressions they had on their face. At least now, they're slowly starting to find their way to each other. "Okay! Next knot. No problem!"

~♥~♥~♥~

Donghae grumbled endlessly under his breath as he entered detention. It was still an hour before lunch so it was just his luck that he was the room's first customer of he day. 

"Lee Donghae," the assigned school baby sitter, as Donghae likes to refer to him, called out to him with half-amusement, barely looking up from his book. "Bright and early today, I see."

"It's not my fault this time!" He refuted but after two years of constantly getting into trouble, he knew he was basically the boy who cried wolf. That was until he heard the door slide open and in entered the actual person responsible for his misery, already looking guilty as sin. "You!" He couldn't help but point. "This is on you!" 

Hyukjae's eyes widened at Donghae's accusatory finger and his first instinct was to run away. He's avoided bullies all his life but without Yunho and Junsu by his side, he's not quite sure how well he'd hold up in his school's equivalent of a prison room. Lucky for him, the teacher was there to help him out. 

"Alright, Donghae. Put the finger away and sit down. You know the drill." Donghae took a brief second to look at him before glaring back at Hyukjae as he took the furthest corner seat available in the room. Ignoring Donghae's dramatic tantrum, the instructor momentarily placed his book down and beckoned Hyukjae to come inside the room. "Don't mind him. He's a regular of mine." 

"O-Oh. Uhm, okay." Hyukjae didn't really know what to say that. "An-Annyeonghaseyo. My name is Lee Hyukjae. This is a detention slip from Ms. Kwon, sir." He handed the pink slip to the other, eyes on the ground to hide the shame he felt inside. 

"Nice to meet you, Hyukjae-ssi." The teacher smiled then beckoned him to grab a seat in the room. "I'm sure you and I will be getting to know each other well in the next two weeks." 

A growl was heard towards the end of the room but neither one of them needed to turn to know who it came from. Donghae's not particularly fond of getting ignored and so he shouted his thoughts out loud. "Yah! Aren't you going to apologize to me for hitting my ing head?!" 

Hyukjae flinched and nervously turned around. The teacher who was in the room, already used to Donghae's potty mouth, simply said, "That's another day, Donghae."

"What the ?" Donghae exclaimed, completely mortified that he was getting punished for standing up for himself. "I deserve an apology!"

"Hm." The teacher turned a page then said, "Yes, you do. Hyukjae, apologize. Donghae, that's three days." 

Donghae's eyes widened further at his extended sentence. "Screw you, old man. This is bull!" 

"Aaand, that's two weeks." The instructor closed his book and shook his head at Donghae and his behavior. "Keep talking to me like a sailor and I'm gonna have you start scrubbing floors out on the hall." Then he turned his head at Hyukjae, still frozen in place, as he gazed back and forth between him and Donghae. "Don't let his potty mouth frighten you, Hyukjae. He curses like he's done time but he's soft as a marshmallow." 

"Like hell I am!"

~♥~♥~♥~

"AH! This is so frustrating!" You complained and threw the thread up in the air. Frustrated at your lack of progress, you slumped down on the floor and sighed heavily trying to figure out how to untangle the ball of knot that's currently in your hands. You've been working on the same knot for ten minutes now which, on earth, is the equivalent of three months. Scratching the back of your head, you knew that the longer you take, the longer it will be for Hyukjae and Donghae to be together. 

"No," you slapped yourself and shook your head trying to remain focused. "You can't give up. You can do this!" You said out loud to encourage yourself as you then start to gnaw on the knot trying to get it loose enough to straigthen the thread. It took several grinding and partial chewing but eventually, you felt the noose loosen and before you knew it, you were pulling the thread out of the knot and straightening the red thread out. 

"Yes!" You screamed in victory and almost magically, the thread lit up and the next few yards of the thread