#35. Super Junior M [Donghae-centric]
Fandom: Super Junior M
Title: The Grand Adventure of Love, in Space
Rating: G
Pairing(s): Donghae-centric (with Zhou Mi/Henry and one-sided Kyuhyun/Zhou Mi)
Length: 4112
Summary: In the busy life of a cadet studying onboard an intergalactic exploration spaceship, you'd think there wouldn't be much time to plan and scheme. When talking about Donghae, you'd be wrong.
Warnings: N/A
Notes: I'm really sorry if you hate this, but I had such a small amount of time to write this in and I tried very very hard to give you a fic you could enjoy, and keep the essence of yours. It was fun to remix for you, and I hope you can get some enjoyment from this!
Remixee author: verocity
Title of work you remixed: Of Cheshire Cats and Hello Kitties
Link to work you remixed: http://verocity.livejournal.com/9434.html
Donghae liked to see his friends happy. He also liked romance, and seeing happy couples. So it seemed to him that the best way to combine these two things was to make his friends romantically happy, together.
His friends were the group of cadets all in his class; most of them had known each other from their academy days, and his core group had all been placed on the same ship as him. Except for Henry and Zhou Mi who had joined them part way through the academic year, both from another academy. Henry himself was from another planet, his blue Rhyleen skin the most obvious sign of this. They had fit in well with the rest of the cadets, however, Zhou Mi with his cheerful disposition, always ready with a smile, and Henry with his friendly nature; it was almost as if they'd always been a group together.
So, in an effort to make his friends happy, Donghae had tried to gently 'push' some of them together. The first time, along with Shiwon's help, he had tried to set Henry and Ryeowook up. They'd gotten pretty close since Henry had arrived, and Donghae had been certain that with just a little hint of romance, they'd soon be on their way to galactic bliss together. It hadn't really worked out, though, and Donghae figured that his trick of locking them in a room together for a long amount of time was what had done it, he just needed better tactics!
Shiwon had washed his hands of any further romantic scheming, citing that they had too much work this year to fool around and play games, and it was that that decided Donghae's next attempt. Shiwon had always been a little bit uptight, and quite a follower of the rules (well, until Donghae dragged him into other schemes and pranks, because he did really like to play around) and part of that, Donghae was sure, was down to Shiwon's being an alien. Those were well known traits amongst those of the Apreence, a humanoid species who were considered galaxy wide to be the most attractive humanoids in the universe. Donghae thought that Shiwon did have features that were almost perfectly formed, and was almost too good looking to be true.
He'd tried to set Shiwon up with Hangeng, who was their cadet leader, and Donghae thought was sorely in need of a little romantic interlude in his life, but that plan had fallen through as well; Donghae blamed it on the fact that Hangeng was quite upright, and it was actually frowned upon for cadet leader's to become involved with a cadet, what with favouritism, or something.
So Donghae's latest plan was to set up Kyuhyun, who he had definitely noticed was harbouring a crush strong enough to condense into a black hole, for Zhou Mi. They'd been thrown together quite a bit, with Kyuhyun helping Zhou Mi catch up on their ships standard navigation practices and computer systems, and this had obviously had an affect.
So, he was going to help them along a little bit, and help Kyuhyun to get his man. Because Kyuhyun was just a little bit dense about the subtle art of courting; once, Donghae was sure, Kyuhyun had had a crush on him. They'd been good friends for a long time but Donghae hadn't realised this possibility until after the crush seemed to have cooled, probably because Donghae hadn't done anything about it. He was much less observant on issues concerning himself, but despite his possible lost opportunity, he wanted to help Kyuhyun do it properly this time. And his smile was so bright, every time he saw Zhou Mi, that even Donghae's heart was all aflutter over Kyuhyun's quite obvious crush.
It began with giving Kyuhyun advice. “Give him some presents, okay?” Donghae told him one day, as they were both on kitchen duty; it was Hangeng's idea, who thought it would provide valuable insight and training in having everyone in their group rotate weekly and do different jobs in their sector of the ship. It would broaden their view on just how many people it took to run a successful intergalactic exploration ship such as theirs, and how everyone's duty ensured the ship and crew could keep running smoothly. Donghae thought it was just to get them all out of Hangeng's way for a bit.
“What are you talking about?” Kyuhyun glanced over at Donghae, before returning to his task of feeding little coloured blocks into a machine, which would become everyone's dinner, later.
“I'm talking about Zhou Mi!” Donghae said. “And your giant crush on him. You need to show him what he means to you, so try giving him some presents.”
“Huh,” Kyuhyun mumbled thoughtfully. It was worth a try.
-
Donghae figured that a push in the right direction was all that was needed, and things would take off on their own. A nice, low maintenance plan. He liked those, because there really was quite a lot of work to do. It was one of the most important years of their cadet life, this year spent on the ship, because their results would determine if they were suitable at all to crew on a ship and where their skills would be best used. Donghae really didn't like the idea of all those hard years at the academy going to waste, and he did want to make a success of himself.
It was why he was studying, and quite late, with Henry one evening in one of the empty study rooms.
“Okay, so let's go through the natural life on Aldron. Hey, those green and purple plant things we have in the gardens, those are from Aldron, right?” Donghae leant over his study-comm, features scrunched up into a concentrated frown.
“Mm, I think so. They grow bigger on Aldron than they do in our gardens, though. They can be as tall as a building in their natural habitat.”
“Oh, wow!”
The studying was going pretty well for Donghae, and Henry was really good at all the nature and biological life subjects. After some time of quiet note-taking, Henry eventually turned towards Donghae, nudging his shoulder. “Did you hear about the cats?”
“What?” He turned from his comm, and gaped up at Henry. “What cats?”
“Zhou Mi came into his room the other day to find several soft toy cats scattered about. It was pretty weird. Apparently they were presents?”
Donghae wanted to grown, and go find Kyuhyun and ask how he'd gotten his advice so wrong. But he also wanted to laugh, imagining the bemused look that must have crossed Zhou Mi's face. “Strange way to show affection.”
Henry laughed, “Yeah, I guess. I think it was kind of sweet, though.”
-
“I think it just needs a few more pads put onto it first,” Ryeowook said, stepping back to contemplate their masterpiece. He, Donghae and Shiwon were all working on it together. 'It' was a large, electric blue flowering plant, found in one of the ships plant gardens; they collected flora and fauna from all across the galaxy, to furnish the little pieces of what was sometimes thought of as 'home', for crew and visitors to enjoy.
The three of them were trying to think up ways the ship itself could become more fun, and more homely.
Moving over towards a small box on the floor, Donghae grabbed a handful of the little black pads inside it and went to hand them out to Shiwon and Ryeowook. After adjusting them, hopefully correctly, Ryeowook stuck them all onto the pot the plant sat in.
“Okay, Shiwon, have you got the switch?”
Shiwon held it up for proof, an anticipatory smile on his face; he did like some schemes, really.
“Let's see if this works,” Ryeowook said. Shiwon turned on the switch, and the pot shot straight up into the air, landing neatly on the ceiling. A few tense moments of watching it, and it stayed.
They all let out a victorious whoop at their success.
“Excellent! Ceiling plants will become all the rage soon enough,” Donghae declared. “Now we can brighten up the hallways, and not have any clutter!”
The victory was ruined somewhat later, when Kyuhyun had laughingly pointed out how anyone was going to water and feed the plants.
-
There was no inkling of Donghae's plan not working until it, quite spectacularly, didn't work. It had seemed that however much Donghae prompted Kyuhyun to try harder, Zhou Mi just didn't get the idea. In both their opinions, Zhou Mi was just being stupid and not seeing what was right in front of him, and he'd have to soon so Kyuhyun would just have to woo him more. But nothing seemed to come of it. Even Donghae's effort to contrive situations to throw the pair together (getting Ryeowook, or Shiwon, to swap out their cleaning duties and put Kyuhyun in their place instead, whenever it was also Zhou Mi's turn) just resulted in nothing. Zhou Mi was still his ever friendly, smiling self around them all, and around Kyuhyun, but nothing more.
But it wasn't until the day before a particularly important assignment that Donghae, and Kyuhyun himself, learnt why it just wasn't working out. And then Donghae could have kicked himself, for not noticing sooner the look on Henry's face whenever Zhou Mi was around - it almost mirrored the look on Kyuhyun's own face around Zhou Mi.
“I'm so miserable, Shiwon,” Donghae declared, flinging himself across Shiwon's lap. It was an awkward position, because Shiwon's bed wasn't very big, and he was already pretty tall.
He didn't see, but Shiwon was trying very hard to keep himself from smiling at the lap full of whiny Donghae he had found himself with.
“What's wrong? Did no one save you any jumjuice, again?”
“No!” Donghae tugged at Shiwon's shirt, annoyed. “Because Kyuhyun's really heartbroken, and I'm the one who gave him all the advice.”
“Ah,” Shiwon said. His hand came up to ruffle through Donghae's messy hair. “That's not your fault, no one knew that Zhou Mi and Henry had a thing going.”
“But I should have!”
Shiwon couldn't keep from laughing here, just a little bit. Trust Donghae to become so emotionally involved in someone else’s love life. “It's not like you opened the door for Kyuhyun, and made him walk in there. Really, no one saw it coming. Kyuhyun doesn't blame you.”
“Well, he should.”
There were a few sniffles from Donghae, and then Shiwon felt a light tugging again on his shirt. Eventually, Donghae pushed himself up, and leaned comfortably against Shiwon's shoulder. “I won't ever try to set people up again” he declared firmly. “My matchmaking days are done!”
“That's probably for the best,” Shiwon agreed, calmly. “Just focus on your studies.”
Donghae looked up at Shiwon, and made a face. “Well, I'm gonna have some fun in between, at least.”
“But not with other peoples relationships.”
“No,” Donghae agreed, shaking his head.
Glancing down, Shiwon noticed the slightly damp patch near the bottom of his shirt. “Hae, did you use my shirt to wipe your nose?”
-
Things were a little bit awkward the next time they were all together as a group. It was a practical assignment day, which meant they were in one of the cadet test rooms; the room was designed to look exactly like a smaller version of the bridge of a standard, intergalactic spaceship, it just wasn't attached to any running parts of the ship itself. It served as a valuable tool to teach cadets at how a real ship was actually run, and what their chosen duties would include. Zhou Mi and Kyuhyun were both at the navigation computers together, as that was their strongest point. Henry was on his own, over at the biology and sciences comm-desk. Ryeowook was taking on the duties of second in command to the captain, for this test, (the 'captain' being Hangeng) and Shiwon and Donghae were both interested in the piloting and engineering aspect of running a ship.
They were all being tested that day on their specific areas, and it would determine how they were placed for the rest of their year aboard ship. From what Donghae could see, Kyuhyun was a little tense, sitting over by Zhou Mi, and Henry couldn't stop turning to look at them both, until Hangeng saw and told him to stop. They were individual tests, today, and Donghae hoped that by the time they came to doing a full run-through of a mission that everything would be more normal, as it would require them all to work together and communicate, in order for them to all pass successfully.
He didn't know if Kyuhyun was actually talking to Zhou Mi, yet, or what had fully transpired between them, and he wasn't really going to ask. He felt really awful for Kyuhyun though, and Donghae wished he could see his friend smile again, he seemed like a different person when he didn't smile.
After the nerve wracking test was over and they were all free to leave, Kyuhyun was the first to leave the room, and seemingly as quick as he possibly could. Donghae watched him go, his heart heavy, and sighed.
“Don't worry about it,” a voice said next to his ear, and Donghae felt a comforting hand on his shoulder. He turned to see Ryeowook smiling at him.
“About what?” Donghae asked, a bit confused.
“Whatever it is you're sighing about.” The look on Ryeowook's face was knowing, but he didn't elaborate any further.
Behind them, as Hangeng tidied up and went about putting the equipment back in order, Zhou Mi and Henry were together, gathering their things and talking quietly to each other. Henry was looking up into Zhou Mi's face, eyes wide, as they spoke, leaning slightly towards him. Something occurred to Donghae, then.
“They don't really act very couple-y, do they?” He said, looking back over at Ryeowook. “They've been a thing for a little while now, but I've not noticed any extra affection.”
“Maybe they don't want to hurt anyone's feelings?” Ryeowook offered as an explanation.
Shaking his head, Donghae said, “But Kyuhyun's not even here right now.”
Ryeowook fidgeted a bit, readjusting the bag on his shoulder.
Donghae looked at him sharply. “Do you know something that I don't?”
Putting on a face of perfect and complete innocence, Ryeowook shook his head. “Not at all. Just give it time, I guess. Once everyone is used to the idea of it.”
He still had the feeling that Ryeowook knew more than he was letting on, but Donghae let it go. He didn't need to know anything else, and he hoped that Zhou Mi and Henry could be happy together. And he hoped that Kyuhyun could smile again, soon.
-
“Does it still hurt?” Donghae asked. Behind them, serving that day's cafeteria duties, were Zhou Mi and Henry; in between jobs Henry seemed to be teasing Zhou Mi, and Donghae could see the flush of deep blue across Henry's cheeks from where he sat. This was where his gaze was trained, before he turned back to Kyuhyun.
His friend only glanced over briefly, and shrugged his shoulders. “Not as much.” There was a pause, as Kyuhyun dug around absently in his food with a fork. Then, he spoke up again. “I really did think that he might feel the same way too. Or that he was just, I don't know, too stupid to realise, but if I tried hard enough I could make him see me? But I guess this whole time all he saw was Henry.”
Donghae still felt guilty; guilty for encouraging it, for not seeing people quite as well as he usually thought he could, and for Kyuhyun, who had really bared himself for love and not gained anything.
Kyuhyun continued. “Don't worry, I'm not going to pine away over him forever or anything. What a waste of myself that would be.” He looked up at Donghae, offering him a brief smile.
Donghae laughed, and nudged Kyuhyun's leg with his foot, playfully. “What a waste that would be!”
“Of course. The entire galaxy would be disappointed, to never have a chance to learn what lays beneath my quiet, brooding exterior. I can't deny it that now, can I?”
It felt good, really really good, to hear Kyuhyun making jokes again, and almost smiling properly. Of course, they were jokes at Kyuhyun's own expense, but getting over a broken heart was not a quick and easy thing.
He had a thought, and Donghae suddenly spoke up. “Do you want to come somewhere with me?”
Kyuhyun raised an eyebrow, but shrugged his shoulders, a clear sign he was going to go wherever Donghae did.
“Great!”
After cleaning up their things, Donghae took Kyuhyun's arm and all but tugged him through the ship alongside him, leading him through the hallways of their cadet sector, to the nearest garden. It was a comfort to be in a room brimming with living, breathing plant life from all across the galaxy and from all types of planets. The ship didn't go planetside very often, and endless hallways and bedrooms and working rooms could become dull, even the lounges and the club rooms and entertainment rooms couldn't quite beat the feeling that came from settling amongst a bit of nature and life, as this was the one thing that the dark recesses of the galaxy itself was void of.
Donghae nestled himself comfortably in the grass, amongst the electric blue and vivid green leaves of one of his favourite plants, and patted the ground next to him for Kyuhyun to sit.
They were without words for a time, until Donghae spoke up. “It's one of my favourite places to just, sit, and be part of the universe,” he said. It could be a bustling, busy life that they led, but for moments, here and there, to just take yourself out of it all and be was a wonderful feeling. And Donghae suspected that Kyuhyun would appreciate being able to just sit in this little pocket of time, and remove himself from the mess that Donghae had helped create.
Eventually, Kyuhyun reached out and took Donghae's hand, and turned to him with a smile. A widening smile, that spread across his face and nearly held all the warmth in it that it had once held for Zhou Mi. Kyuhyun didn't need to say anything, for Donghae to understand his thanks.
And just to keep that smile on Kyuhyun's face and lighten the mood a little, Donghae began to tell him all about the different plants that surrounded them; it wasn't all strictly true, but Kyuhyun seemed to enjoy it, and kept the smile on his face.
-
“I found it in one of the empty storage rooms!” Donghae declared, proudly, showing his new friend off to Henry, Hangeng and Shiwon. The little fluffy bundle of deep purple fur in his arms was a cheeble, and Donghae had never seen one before. It was the most adorable thing in the universe, and he thought it would make an excellent pet. It already loved him, Donghae was sure, as it was content to just sit there snuggled up in his arms.
Hangeng looked at it doubtfully. “How did that get in here in the first place?”
“Must have gotten on board somehow, when we were docked on Quigyn,” Ryeowook said. They all looked intently at the little thing in Donghae's arms. “It is really cute, though,” he added, reaching out to pet the little bundle.
“Can I hold it for a minute, please?” Shiwon asked, his eyes lighting up, and Donghae allowed him the privilege of holding what he had already come to name as 'Kibummie'.
Hangeng still didn't look like he approved of all this. “You really should take it to one of the biology rooms and let them take a look at it. We're not meant to just bring lifeforms on board like this.”
“But I didn't, he was already here! Hiding in the storage room!” Donghae didn't want to give up his new found pet. And, he already knew what he was going to do with it.
A quarter of an hour later, after he'd finally managed to pry Kibummie from Shiwon's grasp, Donghae was on his way to Kyuhyun's room, a large smile on his face and the purple bundle in his arms. He knocked on Kyuhyun's door, and went on in when the door slid open.
“Kyuhyun, I have something for you!”
Seated at his small desk, Kyuhyun looked round. He eyed the fluffy lump in his Donghae's arms. “What's that?”
“It's a present, for you.”
Kyuhyun got up and came over for a better look. The cheeble lifted it's head, and looked warily around itself. “Donghae, what is that?” Kyuhyun asked again, taking a slight step back.
“It's a cheeble. I found him in the storage room, I thought he'd make a nice pet for you. I named him Kibummie.” And he proudly held out the bundle to Kyuhyun, until he was forced to take it from Donghae, somewhat cautiously, as if he didn't really want to hold it.
“Uh, I don't think this is allowed, you know.”
Donghae waved a hand, not caring. “He's yours, so take good care of him!”
-
Kibummie the cheeble didn't last very long on board the ship. Donghae had had no idea how very, very quickly it could breed, and just how very much could be eaten by all of the resultant baby cheebles. It kept the kitchen in their sector shut down for nearly a week, and a thorough cleaning of the entire ship had to be undertaken in order to find, collect and round up all of the wayward cheebles, so they could all be safely returned to where they had come from.
Donghae was really disappointed; Kibummie had been a wonderful pet, until it had started to breed and take over the ship, and it had made Kyuhyun laugh, for the few hours before chaos ensued. And all the little babies had come in various shades and colours and had looked so adorable, but it really had been a pain not being able to eat in their own sectors cafeteria.
It was a shame though, and Donghae moped for a whole week after all the cheebles had finally been expelled from the ship.
“Cheer up,” came Kyuhyun's voice, and a Kyuhyun himself to match, as he sat on the couch next to Donghae. Their cadet lounge room was all but empty at that moment. “It's not your fault that you didn't go to bio department and find out what the hell it was you'd picked up. How could you have known?” He pulled an innocent face, and when Donghae looked round he couldn't help but laugh a bit; it didn't suit Kyuhyun.
“I just liked having a pet around. And it was really nice to see you smiling again.”
Kyuhyun's face went thoughtful at that. He nudged Donghae's shoulder, and settled himself more comfortably onto the couch, and up against Donghae, taking up all the space. “I suppose you'll just have to find other ways to make me smile, then,” he said casually, looking nowhere in particular.
But Donghae found Kyuhyun's hand suddenly holding onto his own, warm and steady, and he looked down at his friend. An easy smile spread across Kyuhyun's face, and Donghae felt a warmth begin, deep inside his chest. It was what Donghae had been waiting for, and trying to bring out, and Kyuhyun was giving them away freely.
“I'll have to think very hard, then,” Donghae said, smiling in return, “about what kind of things I can do.”
“Just promise me one thing?” Kyuhyun asked.
“Hmm?”
“No more presents, alright? I've had enough of those.”
Donghae let out a laugh, loud and sincere and completely aimed at himself. “Okay, no more presents.”
He settled up against Kyuhyun, happy and relaxed for a little while, and content that the mess he had helped to cause was going to be okay now. Kyuhyun still looked hurt sometimes, when he saw Zhou Mi and Henry together, but Donghae would just have to try a little harder at those times to make him smile again. Not too hard, though.
Title: The Grand Adventure of Love, in Space
Rating: G
Pairing(s): Donghae-centric (with Zhou Mi/Henry and one-sided Kyuhyun/Zhou Mi)
Length: 4112
Summary: In the busy life of a cadet studying onboard an intergalactic exploration spaceship, you'd think there wouldn't be much time to plan and scheme. When talking about Donghae, you'd be wrong.
Warnings: N/A
Notes: I'm really sorry if you hate this, but I had such a small amount of time to write this in and I tried very very hard to give you a fic you could enjoy, and keep the essence of yours. It was fun to remix for you, and I hope you can get some enjoyment from this!
Remixee author: verocity
Title of work you remixed: Of Cheshire Cats and Hello Kitties
Link to work you remixed: http://verocity.livejournal.com/9434.html
Donghae liked to see his friends happy. He also liked romance, and seeing happy couples. So it seemed to him that the best way to combine these two things was to make his friends romantically happy, together.
His friends were the group of cadets all in his class; most of them had known each other from their academy days, and his core group had all been placed on the same ship as him. Except for Henry and Zhou Mi who had joined them part way through the academic year, both from another academy. Henry himself was from another planet, his blue Rhyleen skin the most obvious sign of this. They had fit in well with the rest of the cadets, however, Zhou Mi with his cheerful disposition, always ready with a smile, and Henry with his friendly nature; it was almost as if they'd always been a group together.
So, in an effort to make his friends happy, Donghae had tried to gently 'push' some of them together. The first time, along with Shiwon's help, he had tried to set Henry and Ryeowook up. They'd gotten pretty close since Henry had arrived, and Donghae had been certain that with just a little hint of romance, they'd soon be on their way to galactic bliss together. It hadn't really worked out, though, and Donghae figured that his trick of locking them in a room together for a long amount of time was what had done it, he just needed better tactics!
Shiwon had washed his hands of any further romantic scheming, citing that they had too much work this year to fool around and play games, and it was that that decided Donghae's next attempt. Shiwon had always been a little bit uptight, and quite a follower of the rules (well, until Donghae dragged him into other schemes and pranks, because he did really like to play around) and part of that, Donghae was sure, was down to Shiwon's being an alien. Those were well known traits amongst those of the Apreence, a humanoid species who were considered galaxy wide to be the most attractive humanoids in the universe. Donghae thought that Shiwon did have features that were almost perfectly formed, and was almost too good looking to be true.
He'd tried to set Shiwon up with Hangeng, who was their cadet leader, and Donghae thought was sorely in need of a little romantic interlude in his life, but that plan had fallen through as well; Donghae blamed it on the fact that Hangeng was quite upright, and it was actually frowned upon for cadet leader's to become involved with a cadet, what with favouritism, or something.
So Donghae's latest plan was to set up Kyuhyun, who he had definitely noticed was harbouring a crush strong enough to condense into a black hole, for Zhou Mi. They'd been thrown together quite a bit, with Kyuhyun helping Zhou Mi catch up on their ships standard navigation practices and computer systems, and this had obviously had an affect.
So, he was going to help them along a little bit, and help Kyuhyun to get his man. Because Kyuhyun was just a little bit dense about the subtle art of courting; once, Donghae was sure, Kyuhyun had had a crush on him. They'd been good friends for a long time but Donghae hadn't realised this possibility until after the crush seemed to have cooled, probably because Donghae hadn't done anything about it. He was much less observant on issues concerning himself, but despite his possible lost opportunity, he wanted to help Kyuhyun do it properly this time. And his smile was so bright, every time he saw Zhou Mi, that even Donghae's heart was all aflutter over Kyuhyun's quite obvious crush.
It began with giving Kyuhyun advice. “Give him some presents, okay?” Donghae told him one day, as they were both on kitchen duty; it was Hangeng's idea, who thought it would provide valuable insight and training in having everyone in their group rotate weekly and do different jobs in their sector of the ship. It would broaden their view on just how many people it took to run a successful intergalactic exploration ship such as theirs, and how everyone's duty ensured the ship and crew could keep running smoothly. Donghae thought it was just to get them all out of Hangeng's way for a bit.
“What are you talking about?” Kyuhyun glanced over at Donghae, before returning to his task of feeding little coloured blocks into a machine, which would become everyone's dinner, later.
“I'm talking about Zhou Mi!” Donghae said. “And your giant crush on him. You need to show him what he means to you, so try giving him some presents.”
“Huh,” Kyuhyun mumbled thoughtfully. It was worth a try.
-
Donghae figured that a push in the right direction was all that was needed, and things would take off on their own. A nice, low maintenance plan. He liked those, because there really was quite a lot of work to do. It was one of the most important years of their cadet life, this year spent on the ship, because their results would determine if they were suitable at all to crew on a ship and where their skills would be best used. Donghae really didn't like the idea of all those hard years at the academy going to waste, and he did want to make a success of himself.
It was why he was studying, and quite late, with Henry one evening in one of the empty study rooms.
“Okay, so let's go through the natural life on Aldron. Hey, those green and purple plant things we have in the gardens, those are from Aldron, right?” Donghae leant over his study-comm, features scrunched up into a concentrated frown.
“Mm, I think so. They grow bigger on Aldron than they do in our gardens, though. They can be as tall as a building in their natural habitat.”
“Oh, wow!”
The studying was going pretty well for Donghae, and Henry was really good at all the nature and biological life subjects. After some time of quiet note-taking, Henry eventually turned towards Donghae, nudging his shoulder. “Did you hear about the cats?”
“What?” He turned from his comm, and gaped up at Henry. “What cats?”
“Zhou Mi came into his room the other day to find several soft toy cats scattered about. It was pretty weird. Apparently they were presents?”
Donghae wanted to grown, and go find Kyuhyun and ask how he'd gotten his advice so wrong. But he also wanted to laugh, imagining the bemused look that must have crossed Zhou Mi's face. “Strange way to show affection.”
Henry laughed, “Yeah, I guess. I think it was kind of sweet, though.”
-
“I think it just needs a few more pads put onto it first,” Ryeowook said, stepping back to contemplate their masterpiece. He, Donghae and Shiwon were all working on it together. 'It' was a large, electric blue flowering plant, found in one of the ships plant gardens; they collected flora and fauna from all across the galaxy, to furnish the little pieces of what was sometimes thought of as 'home', for crew and visitors to enjoy.
The three of them were trying to think up ways the ship itself could become more fun, and more homely.
Moving over towards a small box on the floor, Donghae grabbed a handful of the little black pads inside it and went to hand them out to Shiwon and Ryeowook. After adjusting them, hopefully correctly, Ryeowook stuck them all onto the pot the plant sat in.
“Okay, Shiwon, have you got the switch?”
Shiwon held it up for proof, an anticipatory smile on his face; he did like some schemes, really.
“Let's see if this works,” Ryeowook said. Shiwon turned on the switch, and the pot shot straight up into the air, landing neatly on the ceiling. A few tense moments of watching it, and it stayed.
They all let out a victorious whoop at their success.
“Excellent! Ceiling plants will become all the rage soon enough,” Donghae declared. “Now we can brighten up the hallways, and not have any clutter!”
The victory was ruined somewhat later, when Kyuhyun had laughingly pointed out how anyone was going to water and feed the plants.
-
There was no inkling of Donghae's plan not working until it, quite spectacularly, didn't work. It had seemed that however much Donghae prompted Kyuhyun to try harder, Zhou Mi just didn't get the idea. In both their opinions, Zhou Mi was just being stupid and not seeing what was right in front of him, and he'd have to soon so Kyuhyun would just have to woo him more. But nothing seemed to come of it. Even Donghae's effort to contrive situations to throw the pair together (getting Ryeowook, or Shiwon, to swap out their cleaning duties and put Kyuhyun in their place instead, whenever it was also Zhou Mi's turn) just resulted in nothing. Zhou Mi was still his ever friendly, smiling self around them all, and around Kyuhyun, but nothing more.
But it wasn't until the day before a particularly important assignment that Donghae, and Kyuhyun himself, learnt why it just wasn't working out. And then Donghae could have kicked himself, for not noticing sooner the look on Henry's face whenever Zhou Mi was around - it almost mirrored the look on Kyuhyun's own face around Zhou Mi.
“I'm so miserable, Shiwon,” Donghae declared, flinging himself across Shiwon's lap. It was an awkward position, because Shiwon's bed wasn't very big, and he was already pretty tall.
He didn't see, but Shiwon was trying very hard to keep himself from smiling at the lap full of whiny Donghae he had found himself with.
“What's wrong? Did no one save you any jumjuice, again?”
“No!” Donghae tugged at Shiwon's shirt, annoyed. “Because Kyuhyun's really heartbroken, and I'm the one who gave him all the advice.”
“Ah,” Shiwon said. His hand came up to ruffle through Donghae's messy hair. “That's not your fault, no one knew that Zhou Mi and Henry had a thing going.”
“But I should have!”
Shiwon couldn't keep from laughing here, just a little bit. Trust Donghae to become so emotionally involved in someone else’s love life. “It's not like you opened the door for Kyuhyun, and made him walk in there. Really, no one saw it coming. Kyuhyun doesn't blame you.”
“Well, he should.”
There were a few sniffles from Donghae, and then Shiwon felt a light tugging again on his shirt. Eventually, Donghae pushed himself up, and leaned comfortably against Shiwon's shoulder. “I won't ever try to set people up again” he declared firmly. “My matchmaking days are done!”
“That's probably for the best,” Shiwon agreed, calmly. “Just focus on your studies.”
Donghae looked up at Shiwon, and made a face. “Well, I'm gonna have some fun in between, at least.”
“But not with other peoples relationships.”
“No,” Donghae agreed, shaking his head.
Glancing down, Shiwon noticed the slightly damp patch near the bottom of his shirt. “Hae, did you use my shirt to wipe your nose?”
-
Things were a little bit awkward the next time they were all together as a group. It was a practical assignment day, which meant they were in one of the cadet test rooms; the room was designed to look exactly like a smaller version of the bridge of a standard, intergalactic spaceship, it just wasn't attached to any running parts of the ship itself. It served as a valuable tool to teach cadets at how a real ship was actually run, and what their chosen duties would include. Zhou Mi and Kyuhyun were both at the navigation computers together, as that was their strongest point. Henry was on his own, over at the biology and sciences comm-desk. Ryeowook was taking on the duties of second in command to the captain, for this test, (the 'captain' being Hangeng) and Shiwon and Donghae were both interested in the piloting and engineering aspect of running a ship.
They were all being tested that day on their specific areas, and it would determine how they were placed for the rest of their year aboard ship. From what Donghae could see, Kyuhyun was a little tense, sitting over by Zhou Mi, and Henry couldn't stop turning to look at them both, until Hangeng saw and told him to stop. They were individual tests, today, and Donghae hoped that by the time they came to doing a full run-through of a mission that everything would be more normal, as it would require them all to work together and communicate, in order for them to all pass successfully.
He didn't know if Kyuhyun was actually talking to Zhou Mi, yet, or what had fully transpired between them, and he wasn't really going to ask. He felt really awful for Kyuhyun though, and Donghae wished he could see his friend smile again, he seemed like a different person when he didn't smile.
After the nerve wracking test was over and they were all free to leave, Kyuhyun was the first to leave the room, and seemingly as quick as he possibly could. Donghae watched him go, his heart heavy, and sighed.
“Don't worry about it,” a voice said next to his ear, and Donghae felt a comforting hand on his shoulder. He turned to see Ryeowook smiling at him.
“About what?” Donghae asked, a bit confused.
“Whatever it is you're sighing about.” The look on Ryeowook's face was knowing, but he didn't elaborate any further.
Behind them, as Hangeng tidied up and went about putting the equipment back in order, Zhou Mi and Henry were together, gathering their things and talking quietly to each other. Henry was looking up into Zhou Mi's face, eyes wide, as they spoke, leaning slightly towards him. Something occurred to Donghae, then.
“They don't really act very couple-y, do they?” He said, looking back over at Ryeowook. “They've been a thing for a little while now, but I've not noticed any extra affection.”
“Maybe they don't want to hurt anyone's feelings?” Ryeowook offered as an explanation.
Shaking his head, Donghae said, “But Kyuhyun's not even here right now.”
Ryeowook fidgeted a bit, readjusting the bag on his shoulder.
Donghae looked at him sharply. “Do you know something that I don't?”
Putting on a face of perfect and complete innocence, Ryeowook shook his head. “Not at all. Just give it time, I guess. Once everyone is used to the idea of it.”
He still had the feeling that Ryeowook knew more than he was letting on, but Donghae let it go. He didn't need to know anything else, and he hoped that Zhou Mi and Henry could be happy together. And he hoped that Kyuhyun could smile again, soon.
-
“Does it still hurt?” Donghae asked. Behind them, serving that day's cafeteria duties, were Zhou Mi and Henry; in between jobs Henry seemed to be teasing Zhou Mi, and Donghae could see the flush of deep blue across Henry's cheeks from where he sat. This was where his gaze was trained, before he turned back to Kyuhyun.
His friend only glanced over briefly, and shrugged his shoulders. “Not as much.” There was a pause, as Kyuhyun dug around absently in his food with a fork. Then, he spoke up again. “I really did think that he might feel the same way too. Or that he was just, I don't know, too stupid to realise, but if I tried hard enough I could make him see me? But I guess this whole time all he saw was Henry.”
Donghae still felt guilty; guilty for encouraging it, for not seeing people quite as well as he usually thought he could, and for Kyuhyun, who had really bared himself for love and not gained anything.
Kyuhyun continued. “Don't worry, I'm not going to pine away over him forever or anything. What a waste of myself that would be.” He looked up at Donghae, offering him a brief smile.
Donghae laughed, and nudged Kyuhyun's leg with his foot, playfully. “What a waste that would be!”
“Of course. The entire galaxy would be disappointed, to never have a chance to learn what lays beneath my quiet, brooding exterior. I can't deny it that now, can I?”
It felt good, really really good, to hear Kyuhyun making jokes again, and almost smiling properly. Of course, they were jokes at Kyuhyun's own expense, but getting over a broken heart was not a quick and easy thing.
He had a thought, and Donghae suddenly spoke up. “Do you want to come somewhere with me?”
Kyuhyun raised an eyebrow, but shrugged his shoulders, a clear sign he was going to go wherever Donghae did.
“Great!”
After cleaning up their things, Donghae took Kyuhyun's arm and all but tugged him through the ship alongside him, leading him through the hallways of their cadet sector, to the nearest garden. It was a comfort to be in a room brimming with living, breathing plant life from all across the galaxy and from all types of planets. The ship didn't go planetside very often, and endless hallways and bedrooms and working rooms could become dull, even the lounges and the club rooms and entertainment rooms couldn't quite beat the feeling that came from settling amongst a bit of nature and life, as this was the one thing that the dark recesses of the galaxy itself was void of.
Donghae nestled himself comfortably in the grass, amongst the electric blue and vivid green leaves of one of his favourite plants, and patted the ground next to him for Kyuhyun to sit.
They were without words for a time, until Donghae spoke up. “It's one of my favourite places to just, sit, and be part of the universe,” he said. It could be a bustling, busy life that they led, but for moments, here and there, to just take yourself out of it all and be was a wonderful feeling. And Donghae suspected that Kyuhyun would appreciate being able to just sit in this little pocket of time, and remove himself from the mess that Donghae had helped create.
Eventually, Kyuhyun reached out and took Donghae's hand, and turned to him with a smile. A widening smile, that spread across his face and nearly held all the warmth in it that it had once held for Zhou Mi. Kyuhyun didn't need to say anything, for Donghae to understand his thanks.
And just to keep that smile on Kyuhyun's face and lighten the mood a little, Donghae began to tell him all about the different plants that surrounded them; it wasn't all strictly true, but Kyuhyun seemed to enjoy it, and kept the smile on his face.
-
“I found it in one of the empty storage rooms!” Donghae declared, proudly, showing his new friend off to Henry, Hangeng and Shiwon. The little fluffy bundle of deep purple fur in his arms was a cheeble, and Donghae had never seen one before. It was the most adorable thing in the universe, and he thought it would make an excellent pet. It already loved him, Donghae was sure, as it was content to just sit there snuggled up in his arms.
Hangeng looked at it doubtfully. “How did that get in here in the first place?”
“Must have gotten on board somehow, when we were docked on Quigyn,” Ryeowook said. They all looked intently at the little thing in Donghae's arms. “It is really cute, though,” he added, reaching out to pet the little bundle.
“Can I hold it for a minute, please?” Shiwon asked, his eyes lighting up, and Donghae allowed him the privilege of holding what he had already come to name as 'Kibummie'.
Hangeng still didn't look like he approved of all this. “You really should take it to one of the biology rooms and let them take a look at it. We're not meant to just bring lifeforms on board like this.”
“But I didn't, he was already here! Hiding in the storage room!” Donghae didn't want to give up his new found pet. And, he already knew what he was going to do with it.
A quarter of an hour later, after he'd finally managed to pry Kibummie from Shiwon's grasp, Donghae was on his way to Kyuhyun's room, a large smile on his face and the purple bundle in his arms. He knocked on Kyuhyun's door, and went on in when the door slid open.
“Kyuhyun, I have something for you!”
Seated at his small desk, Kyuhyun looked round. He eyed the fluffy lump in his Donghae's arms. “What's that?”
“It's a present, for you.”
Kyuhyun got up and came over for a better look. The cheeble lifted it's head, and looked warily around itself. “Donghae, what is that?” Kyuhyun asked again, taking a slight step back.
“It's a cheeble. I found him in the storage room, I thought he'd make a nice pet for you. I named him Kibummie.” And he proudly held out the bundle to Kyuhyun, until he was forced to take it from Donghae, somewhat cautiously, as if he didn't really want to hold it.
“Uh, I don't think this is allowed, you know.”
Donghae waved a hand, not caring. “He's yours, so take good care of him!”
-
Kibummie the cheeble didn't last very long on board the ship. Donghae had had no idea how very, very quickly it could breed, and just how very much could be eaten by all of the resultant baby cheebles. It kept the kitchen in their sector shut down for nearly a week, and a thorough cleaning of the entire ship had to be undertaken in order to find, collect and round up all of the wayward cheebles, so they could all be safely returned to where they had come from.
Donghae was really disappointed; Kibummie had been a wonderful pet, until it had started to breed and take over the ship, and it had made Kyuhyun laugh, for the few hours before chaos ensued. And all the little babies had come in various shades and colours and had looked so adorable, but it really had been a pain not being able to eat in their own sectors cafeteria.
It was a shame though, and Donghae moped for a whole week after all the cheebles had finally been expelled from the ship.
“Cheer up,” came Kyuhyun's voice, and a Kyuhyun himself to match, as he sat on the couch next to Donghae. Their cadet lounge room was all but empty at that moment. “It's not your fault that you didn't go to bio department and find out what the hell it was you'd picked up. How could you have known?” He pulled an innocent face, and when Donghae looked round he couldn't help but laugh a bit; it didn't suit Kyuhyun.
“I just liked having a pet around. And it was really nice to see you smiling again.”
Kyuhyun's face went thoughtful at that. He nudged Donghae's shoulder, and settled himself more comfortably onto the couch, and up against Donghae, taking up all the space. “I suppose you'll just have to find other ways to make me smile, then,” he said casually, looking nowhere in particular.
But Donghae found Kyuhyun's hand suddenly holding onto his own, warm and steady, and he looked down at his friend. An easy smile spread across Kyuhyun's face, and Donghae felt a warmth begin, deep inside his chest. It was what Donghae had been waiting for, and trying to bring out, and Kyuhyun was giving them away freely.
“I'll have to think very hard, then,” Donghae said, smiling in return, “about what kind of things I can do.”
“Just promise me one thing?” Kyuhyun asked.
“Hmm?”
“No more presents, alright? I've had enough of those.”
Donghae let out a laugh, loud and sincere and completely aimed at himself. “Okay, no more presents.”
He settled up against Kyuhyun, happy and relaxed for a little while, and content that the mess he had helped to cause was going to be okay now. Kyuhyun still looked hurt sometimes, when he saw Zhou Mi and Henry together, but Donghae would just have to try a little harder at those times to make him smile again. Not too hard, though.