Title taken from Eric Clapton's Layla.

There he is - the most beautiful person to have walked the Earth. A mortal angel sent down from Heaven to bless our lives with his ethereal grace. His brown eyes are deep and expressive and so pure that they would melt even a murderer's eyes, make him beg for forgiveness and bring him on the path of righteousness. His smile is always genuine and his laughter full of joy and contagious; the sound of it is enough to make a suicidal person love life again. His hair is shoulder-length long and dark brown and he usually wears a mop of it in a tiny ponytail, conferring him a childish look. He is utterly perfect and sometimes I feel unworthy of witnessing such an exquisite sight.

Lee Donghae – the love of my life. He’s sitting a few tables away and waving at me. At me! How lucky can I possibly be?! Despite being in the same year, we are in different classes and we’ve never actually talked before. We know each other because we’re both popular students in the high school, but I’ve never had the guts to speak to him; he’s too good for me – he’s too good for anyone on this entire planet. Still, there he is, waving at me with his adorable crooked smile.

I wave back hesitatingly and try to smile friendly, but I’m pretty sure it resembles a grimace more than an actual grin because of how nervous I am. Donghae beams brighter and gets up.

“Oh, no! He’s coming towards me! Crap what do I do?!” I panic, my heart already pounding inside my chest.

“Get up and greet him, you fool!” my best friend, Kyuhyun, nudges me.

I do so just when Lee Donghae is three steps away.

“Donghae, hi!”

He stops in front of me with a baffled look upon his face, as if he only notices me now.

“Hyukjae?”

What’s happening? I could swear he was coming to talk to me!

“Did you want to say something?” he asks and I lose myself in his beautiful, confused eyes. “Hyukjae?”

Kyuhyun pinches my arm, snapping me out of it.

“Huh? Oh! Well, I thought — weren’t you waving at me just now?”

Donghae frowns, clearly not following my line of thoughts. After seconds that seem like years, he finally says: “Oh, no! I was waving at Siwon.”

He points behind me. I turn and see Choi freakin’ Siwon standing there. To be honest, I have nothing personal against the guy – except I do. He’s ridiculously handsome and overly friendly, very nice and polite; and he likes Donghae. Everybody knows Choi Siwon is courting Lee Donghae, like they’re some kind of prince and princess bound to get married at the end of the fairytale. So, maybe – just maybe – I’m jealous of the guy. I mean, he gets to hear Donghae’s mesmerizing voice right next to his ears and receive his breathtaking smiles. Who wouldn’t be jealous of that?

“Oh …” I mutter, feeling my heart shatter into teeny pieces. “S-sorry! I thought — just forget this happened please.”

“It’s okay, Hyukjae! Let’s talk some other time, yeah?”

Donghae walks past me and I collapse on the bench, my face buried in my hands in embarrassment.

“Loser,” Kyuhyun snickers beside me.

NEXT DAY

“Hyukjae!” Someone calls me as I enter the canteen. I know who it is without looking; his voice haunts me day and night in a sweet torture – Lee Donghae.

Before I can prepare myself as to not embarrass myself in front of him again, Donghae is already before me. He wears the smile I absolutely adore his eyes twinkle in a way that would put stars to shame.

“Y-yes?” I struggle to look relaxed, but my voice betrays me.

“Do you want to sit with me? Just the two of us?” He starts fumbling with the hem of his shirt as the last words leave his mouth. Perhaps it’s just wishful thinking, but … is he nervous like me?

My answer is enthusiastic. “I’d love to!”

Donghae’s smile turns into an ears-wide grin, his eyes wrinkling cutely. He takes my hand and leads us to an empty table, and I forget about lunch and anything else; anything else that’s not Lee Donghae.

“I have wanted to talk to you for a while,” he says as we sit across from each other. “I just never had the courage.”

“Really?” I ask dumbly.

Is this a cruel dream? I find it hard to believe that the Lee Donghae, whom I love since the first time I saw, is only a few centimeters away from me, talking to me, telling me he has been too anxious to do it before. And, dear Lord! He’s even more gorgeous up close!

Donghae shifts his gaze from mine for a moment, before saying: “Really. B-because I think you’re very handsome and also nice and smart. A-and I saw you dancing at events and I couldn’t stop thinking about you the more I passed you in the hallways.”

I feel my spirit leaving my body with every word he mutters and I have to restrain myself from trapping him in my arms, never to let him go.

“Donghae, I can’t stop thinking about you either! You’re the most beautiful person I’ve ever seen and so, so perfect that I don’t know what to do with myself when you’re around! You shine as bright as the sun and I feel like I’m going to get burnt to death if I get too close!”

“Hyukjae!” Donghae gasps. His eyes widen and he covers his now flushing cheeks with his palms. “I don’t know what to say …”

I rub my nape and look away. “I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable. I don’t even know how to express myself properly.”

“No, you didn’t!” Donghae exclaims. He grips my other hand with both of his, prompting me to look back at him. “Hyukjae, I feel the same about you,” he says and my heart stops. “So let’s melt each other until there’s nothing left to burn, and our ashes mix together and rise like a phoenix – again and again, forevermore.”