[Title] What Really Matters
[Pairing] Haehyuk, others to come
[Genre] Romance/Fluff
[Rating] PG-PG 13
[Summary] Donghae is the new kid in school and he immediately befriends shy and quiet Hyukjae. As Donghae’s popularity grows, his finds himself having to choose between Hyukjae and his popular friends, who doesn’t think he should hang out with the school ‘nerd’.
[Disclaimer] I only own the ideas in this fic.
*~*~*~*~*~*
Hyukjae played with his breakfast, moving his cereal around with his spoon as he sighed into his bowl again. His mother, finally having enough of it asked him about it.
“Hyukjae, what’s wrong honey?” she asked, looking up from the dishes she was washing.
“Huh?... Oh, nothing umma. I’m just tired.”
“Hyuk-“ she started, but was cut off as the doorbell rang. She dried her hands on her apron and walked to the door, wondering who could possibly be there this early.
Hyukjae paid no mind to it. He had been moping ever since he got home yesterday. He had at least hoped that Donghae would text him last night, but he never did. He ending up holding his phone all night, waking up with the imprint on his face and a depressingly blank screen.
He hated that he had gotten his hopes up, but he knew he didn’t have the right to blame Donghae. He had the right to talk to anyone he wanted to. Just because Hyukjae was the first person he talked to and befriended didn’t mean he had exclusive rights over him. It wasn’t Donghae’s fault that his feelings had unknowingly developed into something more than friendship so quickly. He sighed again forlornly.
“Hyukkie!” He heard an all too familiar voice yell in his ear. Warm arms wrapped around his shoulders and he jumped in shock spilling milk all over his face in the process.
“D-donghae?” he asked in surprise. Donghae smiled and reached over Hyukjae for a napkin. He wiped the milk from his cheek and chin.
“Morning Hyukkie,” he said, grinning widely.
“What are you doing here?” Hyukjae was trying to duck his face to hide the blush that crept on his face from Donghae’s gesture.
“I came to walk you to school. You didn’t forget did you?” Donghae asked with a small frown on his face.
“N-no…” He didn’t forget, but he thought that Donghae would have.
“Then come on,” he said, his face instantly brightening and grabbed Hyukjae’s hand pulling him up. “It was nice to meet you,” he said as they walked past Hyukjae’s mom. Donghae saw Hyukjae’s bag by the door and grabbed it, tossing it on his shoulder along with his.
“It was nice to meet you too dear. Please feel free to stop by more often.” Hyukjae’s mom smiled warmly at him. “Good-bye you two. Have a good day at school.” She waved to them as Donghae pulled Hyukjae out of the door, returning a happy wave of his own.
Donghae walked next to Hyukjae with a smile on his face, but Hyukjae didn’t see it. He was too busy staring at their still entwined hands. To say that he liked the feeling was an understatement. They were warm and comforting, covering his slightly smaller hands easily. The firm grip Donghae kept on his hand only tightened the grip that Donghae now had on his heart.
He listened as Donghae told him about what happened yesterday, trying to squash down his feelings of being replaced. Only they refused to be buried as Donghae talked about how Siwon was so nice to him and how funny Heechul was when he tormented Hankyung. Just when he thought he couldn’t take anymore, Donghae mentioned Jessica.
It was obvious to Hyukjae that Jessica liked Donghae, and he knew that she had a better chance at getting Donghae to fall for him than he ever would. Donghae could never fall for someone like him.
“Hyukkie?” Hyukjae looked up to see Donghae standing in front of him with a worried expression on his face. “What’s wrong?”
“Huh?” Donghae reached over and wiped a tear that had made its way down his cheek.
“Oh!” he said surprised, rubbing furiously at his eyes. “I’m fine. Just… something in my eye that’s all.” Hyukjae tried to smile at Donghae, but it didn’t reach his eyes and Donghae noticed.
He looked around for a minute before telling Hyukjae, “Wait here.”
He turned and disappeared into a store that was a few feet down from where they were. Hyukjae stood surprised, wondering what he was doing. A little longer than a minute passed before he returned.
“Here, maybe this will make you feel better,” he said, smiling and handing his a very familiar pink carton. Hyukjae smiled widely causing his eyes to crinkle and his gums to show, but it was more at the gesture than the drink.
“Thank you Hae,” he said unconsciously and took the drink from his hands. He started to sip at it and looked up at Donghae’s surprised face. “What?” he asked, pulling his lips away from the straw.
“You called me ‘Hae’,” he said grinning happily at him. Hyukjae blushed, recalling the nickname that slipped out.
“Oh, I didn’t mean- I’m sorry-“
“It’s ok. Actually, it’s more than ok. I like it,” he said a full blown smile gracing his lips. Hyukjae just quickly looked away from the dazzling site and returned to his drink.
“O-oh,” he said, walking away from Donghae’s laughter.
“Come back Hyukkie. Say it again,” Donghae asked and Hyukjae shook his head. “Aww, please?” Hyukjae made the mistake of looking at him right at the peak of cuteness. He caved.
“Fine… H-hae,” he said, his cheeks matching the carton in his hand. Donghae threw his arms around Hyukjae, who let out a small squeak.
“I really like it,” he said again. Hyukjae quickly took a sip of his drink nervously. “Is this really that good?” Donghae asked pointing at the drink in his hands.
“Of course. It’s the best thing in the world,” Hyukjae exclaimed. Donghae chuckled at his enthusiasm.
“Really?” he asked, before he leaned and took a sip from the straw. Hyukjae stared dumbfounded as his lips made contact with the same place his lips had been not seconds ago.
Donghae pulled away and licked his lips in an unconscious gesture. “Not bad,” he said pulling away from Hyukjae.
Hyukjae looked after him in shock as he walked ahead, only snapping out of his daze when Donghae turned around and called to him. He walked towards him wondering if Donghae was like this with everyone.
The bell rang, signaling the end of class and Ryeowook walked over to where Hyukjae and Donghae sat. The three were getting ready to go to lunch when their teacher called for their attention.
“Donghae and Hyukjae, can I see you two for a minute?” he asked. Ryeowook told them he would meet them at lunch and walked out the door.
Hyukjae followed behind Donghae nervously. He thought that they were going to get scolded for playing in class again.
“You two are quite friendly right?” Mr. Park asked. The two nodded. “That’s good. We actually have a group project coming up and it was going to be on material previously covered and I was worried Donghae would have trouble keeping up, but since you two are close I was thinking I should just put you two together. Is that alright with you two?” They nodded and he smiled at them.
“Great,” he said happily. He walked around to his desk and pulled out a slip of paper. “Here are the topics you can choose from. Do a little research and just let me know which one you guys decide on.”
“Okay,” Hyukjae said, while Donghae took the paper.
“Just come to me if you have any questions, okay?” They both said an ‘Okay’ and bowed politely turning to walk out of the room.
“Do you want to meet together after school?” Hyukjae asked.
Donghae nodded before saying, “Oh, wait. I can’t. I have to go to practice after school today.”
“Oh,” Hyukjae said disappointment in his voice.
“Do you want to go to the library now and get started now, instead? I still haven’t been there yet.”
“Um, sure. Okay.” Hyukjae started to lead the way to the library on the other end of the building. He made sure to text Ryeowook and told him that they weren’t going to be at lunch today.
They walked around the spacious library until they found a table that was pretty secluded. They sat next to each other going over the list to see what the project was about.
“So we just have to write a report on one of these people?” Donghae asked.
“Looks like it. I think these are names of poets and artists. Some of these names are unfamiliar though. Let’s split the list in half and see if we could find something about them,” Hyukjae suggested.
“Okay,” Donghae nodded in agreement before writing down his half of the list and going off to search. Hyukjae took his half and moved down the aisles of the library.
He had been in here a few times before but he was still not familiar with all of the sections so he wandered around for a minute before deciding that he should ask someone.
He walked to the front desk and was met with a familiar mop of curly brown hair. The younger was busy playing a portable game and hadn’t noticed Hyukjae’s arrival.
Hyukjae cleared his throat to gain his attention. “Kyuhyun-sshi?”
Said boy looked up and mumbled around the stick of Pocky he had wedged in his mouth, “Hyukjae-sshi?”
“Hi. I didn’t know you were an assistant here.”
He finished the treat in his mouth before speaking. “Well, I needed somewhere I could play my games in quiet,” he said, a smirk appearing as he killed off another enemy. “So, what can I do for you?” he asked.
“Well, I need some help finding some books.”
“Obviously,” Kyuhyun remarked, as he paused his game to take the list from Hyukjae’s hand. He examined his contents and rose from his seat. “Follow me,” he said as he walked past Hyukjae.
He led him to an aisle on the opposite side of where his search began, moving expertly through the shelves and pulling out books he knew would help.
After Hyukjae had about six books in his hand he called out to Kyuhyun.
“Uh, thanks Kyuhyun-sshi, but I think this is enough to get me started,” he said, trying to keep a good balance on the books in his hands.
“Oh, sorry. Do you need some help?” he asked, reaching to take some books from Hyukjae, but the latter pulled back, not wanting to inconvenience the younger anymore.
“No, I’ve got it,” he said moving away from Kyuhyun’s advances, only to stumble on his feet and fall. Kyuhyun quickly reached out from him, grabbing him by the waist as he held him upright.
“You alright?” he asked.
“Yeah. Thanks for catching me.” Kyuhyun smirked again.
“No need to thank me. I’ve just got good reflexes,” Kyuhyun said.
“What’s going on here?”
Hyukjae turned around to see Donghae with a few books in his hand and a slight frown on his face.
“Oh, Donghae,” Hyukjae said, and quickly righted himself so that he was no longer being supported by Kyuhyun. “I almost fell and Kyuhyun-sshi helped me,” he explained, not noticing how Donghae's eyes lingered on how Kyuhyun’s hands were still wrapped around Hyukjae. But someone did.
“Is that all?” Donghae asked skeptically. Kyuhyun smiled as he noted something laced behind Donghae’s words and he suddenly got an idea.
“That’s all. I was just helping my hyung here find his books,” Kyuhyun smirked in Donghae’s direction.
“Hyung?” Donghae said and Hyukjae thought.
“Yeah. You’re okay, right hyung?” he asked letting his practiced sweetness come out in his words.
“Y-yeah,” Hyukjae said, startled by Kyuhyun’s sudden change.
“That’s good,” he said, pulling his arms from him, making sure they lingered just long enough. He bent over to pick up Hyukjae’s book and the latter quickly bent down to still his hands.
“Oh, Kyuhyun-sshi, you don’t have to do that, I can manage.”
“Okay, hyung. If you say so. And please, call me Kyu,” he said rubbing a thumb over his hand and winking at him. He watched in satisfaction as Donghae’s fist clenched and stood to leave.
“How amusing,” he said quietly, turning to walk away.
Hyukjae, still confused over Kyuhyun’s sudden friendly nature failed to notice Donghae walking over to him.
“I didn’t know you were so close to him,” he said almost angrily.
“I didn’t either,” Hyukjae muttered under his breath. Donghae had bent down to help Hyukjae and like before Hyukjae tried to discourage him.
“I can handle it Hae.” Donghae looked up, the previous frown on his face replaced with a smile at hearing Hyukjae call him his nickname so comfortably.
“No, I’ll help," he said, reaching for a book at the same time Hyukjae did. Their hands brushed against each other and a shiver made its way up Hyukjae’s arms. He pulled away quickly from surprise and then winced in pain.
“Ouch,” he said, holding his finger.
“What happened?’ Donghae asked moving closer.
“Paper cut,” Hyukjae said, frowning and showing Donghae his stinging index finger. Blood was already starting to ooze out.
“Give it here,” Donghae said, pulling the finger towards him. Before Hyukjae could ask him what he was doing, Donghae had already placed the finger in his mouth. Donghae licked the blood and brought the finger to his mouth sucking on it lightly. Hyukjae face was as red as the blood that pooled from his finger.
“H-ha-hae? W-wh-at are you d-doing?” he asked, his mouth falling him as he watched Donghae pull his finger from his lips and grin at him.
“My mom used to do this for me whenever I got a cut.” He smiled innocently and reached in his pocket to pull out a band-aid. He took the paper off and wrapped it around Hyukjae’s finger. He then placed a light kiss on it.
“I have a bunch of these for football practice. Better?” he asked.
Hyukjae couldn’t hear him over the pounding of his heartbeat in his ears. His face was so hot he felt like he would burn himself if he touched it. He tried to get his body to nod at Donghae but even that proved to be a difficult task.
Donghae on the other hand had began to gather up all of Hyukjae’s books, along with his own and pulled Hyukjae up to stand.
“Come on, let’s get something done before lunch is over,” he said, pulling Hyukjae by his uninjured hand to their table.
Hyukjae just blindly followed, his body on autopilot as his senses ran on a rampage that didn’t seem to be calming down anytime soon.
Previous .:|:.
Next A/N: You go Kyu! There was so much Jessica in the last few chapters, I thought you guys deserved some fluff. So here you go! I hope you enjoyed it! ^^