Football 1/3
Football
Eunhae
Approximately PG-13
An AU in which Eunhae are American football players in high school.
-
It was a hot day and Donghae wished that he could be basking in the sun and enjoying the blue skies. Instead, he was about to his first day at a new school. A typical school day was not about to ensue, however, because typical school had not yet started. Donghae stood in front of the school two weeks before it opened its gates to all students. Today, Donghae was going to try out for the football team.
He stood in the parking lot where his mother had just wished him good luck and dropped him off. He took his duffel bag strap into his hand and a deep breath of air into his lungs and then he took a step towards his new school and his new future.
The football field was easy to find and just next to it was a practice field where Donghae could see a group of boys already practicing. With his breath held, Donghae approached who he assumed was the coach.
“Um, excuse me, I'm here for football tryouts?”
The coach's expression quickly went from focused to weary.
“You must have gotten the wrong paper,” he said. “The date was changed to last Saturday. Tryouts are over and regular practices already started.”
“Oh,” Donghae said sadly. He lowered his head in thought. Football was meant to be his crutch. He had been counting on it to bring a sense of normality to his life in a hectic time.
The coach was clearly disheartened by the look on Donghae's face, so he spoke up. “You know, I think it might be your lucky day. We got a player who likes being absent. If he keeps it up, he's off the team. And if you're good enough, I'll let you take his place.”
“Really?” Donghae perked up instantly.
“Really,” the coach assured. “If you got some practice gear, go ahead and suit up and show me what you can do.”
“Okay!” Donghae exclaimed. Today was already going better than he had expected. The coach was obviously a nice man and, once Donghae showed off a little, he would be on the team for sure.
Once Donghae changed into his practice gear, he returned to the coach. “I'm ready,” he said.
“Good,” said the coach. “Oh, um, I'm gonna need your name, kid.”
“It's Donghae, sir. Lee Donghae.”
“Please don't call me sir.” The coach shuddered. “Just call me Coach.”
“Sure thing, Coach.” Donghae grinned and followed Coach onto the field.
“Listen up,” Coach spoke loudly to gain the attention of his players. “This is Donghae and he's gonna replace Park if he's late again. Which is very likely. So, Donghae here has a lot to catch up on and I need you all to help him out. Understood?”
“Yes, Coach,” came the reply in unison.
“Okay, Donghae, start by runnin' a few drills with the rest of the team.” Donghae nodded and began to walk toward his new teammates. “Hyukjae?” Coach called. “Would you join me on the sidelines?”
A thin but muscular boy with an ever so slightly angry face stepped out from the team and walked straight past Donghae without looking at him. This boy, Hyukjae, stood next to Coach on the sidelines and they chatted together quietly while glancing at Donghae.
“Hyukjae is sort of our unofficial team captain.” Donghae turned to see a boy kindly explaining this to him. His skin was naturally dark but had obviously been made darker by the sun. As Donghae looked around, he noticed that most of the players were in various stages of tanning thanks to practicing in the hot sun.
“I see,” Donghae responded. “So is he just like... really good or something?”
The boy shrugged. “He's practically been Coach's star player since he was a freshman. He scored forty points on his own in one game last year.”
“Holy shit,” Donghae said. He looked back to Hyukjae and happened to catch his eye. He was handsome. Really handsome. In a sort of “I will destroy you” kind of way. Donghae liked that.
“Hey,” Coach called out. “Why are y'all just standin' there? Take a lap!”
Donghae tore his eyes away from Hyukjae and started to run around the field with his teammates. When the lap ended, he expected Hyukjae to join them. Instead, Coach and Hyukjae continued to watch and talk. In between drills, Donghae would peek and see Hyukjae's face growing progressively angrier. What exactly was this guy's problem?
When drills were finally over, Donghae was able to remove his attention from Hyukjae and actually talk to some of the guys. He learned a few names and got a couple of compliments for his fast learning. He wasn't able to enjoy this normality for long, though, because soon, they were all in the locker room together, washing up and changing clothes. Out of habit, Donghae kept his eyes to the ground. He did not look at any of the other boys and cleaned himself up silently.
Donghae knew that this town would be the conservative type, even more so than the previous town he had lived in. Back there, he was taught to keep his eyes to himself so that he would not make anyone uncomfortable by looking at them. None of the boys here knew that he was gay and he didn't really plan on telling them but even so, he kept his eyes to the floor.
“Hey, new kid.” Donghae lifted his head to see Hyukjae standing next to him. His thoughts melted away and he focused on the boy giving him a cold stare.
“Oh, it's you,” Donghae said. “Why do you constantly look like you wanna bite my head off?”
“Maybe it's because you were so busy staring at me that you couldn't even catch a ball out there,” Hyukjae said angrily.
Suddenly Donghae realized why Hyukjae had seemed increasingly angry each time Donghae looked at him. He also realized that staring at Hyukjae instead of paying attention had probably not been a good idea. He could catch a ball just fine, honestly, but he had just made himself look like a dunce on the field. Of course, telling Hyukjae the truth was not an option that Donghae was willing to consider, so he stayed silent.
“Park is a good player,” Hyukjae continued. “Better than you. You're not good enough to replace him.”
“He's clearly very dedicated to the team seeing as he didn't even show up today,” Donghae replied sarcastically.
Hyukjae glared. “It doesn't matter. You throw off the team. I don't want you to fuck this season up for all of us.”
“You mean for you?” Donghae asked. “It sounds like you mean for you.”
Hyukjae took a step forward and made the distance between himself and Donghae rather uncomfortable. “If Coach didn't like you so much, you'd already be gone. If we're stuck with you, you better get your shit together or I'll make sure that you can't play one way or another.”
With a look that could kill, Hyukjae backed away from Donghae and then proceeded to leave the locker room. Donghae blinked. He hadn't seen a single naked body in this locker room and it was empty now, minus himself. Still, he somehow found that he was very, very turned on.
-
Donghae arrived early for practice the next day. Or at least he thought he was early until he saw Hyukjae already sitting on the field, stretching leisurely. Donghae set his bag down and approached Hyukjae with his head held high.
“Can I join you?”
No response. Donghae moved to sit in front of Hyukjae but when he noticed the way Hyukjae's leg muscles tensed up and the way his arm veins bulged, he decided to sit at an angle that would allow him to easily avert his gaze. After a minute of stretching, Donghae grew tired of the silence and decided to break it.
“You know, a lot of the guys on my old team said stretching was for 'pussies.' By which I think they meant women. But stretching is actually a really good thing to do. Prevents injuries and whatnot. So what they were essentially saying is that women are way smarter than they are.”
Hyukjae remained silent and stone-faced until he eventually stood, gave each of his legs a quick stretch, and then began to take a lap around the field.
“I think he's warming up to me,” Donghae said to himself and then continued to stretch alone. Soon, the rest of the team began to show up and practice began. Donghae did much better today than he had yesterday. Hyukjae was usually lost amongst the other players so Donghae didn't have any distractions. Still, he knew that Hyukjae would be watching him and he tried his best to not screw up as badly as he had yesterday. Maybe Hyukjae would never really warm up to him but he could at least try not to get himself kicked off of the team.
When practice was over, it was time to head to the locker room again. Donghae entered and kept his gaze to the floor as he changed his clothes. He decided to skip showering until he got home but when he left the locker room, he wished he had showered because now he was sweaty, smelly, dirty, and standing in front of Hyukjae. Luckily, Hyukjae looked just as grimy as Donghae.
“Did I meet your expectations today?” Donghae asked.
Hyukjae briefly looked up from the phone that he seemed to be busy on. “You sucked less than you did yesterday, if that's what you're asking.”
“I'll take that as a compliment,” Donghae muttered.
“Park is a big guy. He was a receiver. If you really wanna stick around, you better be able to take a tackle.”
“Oh, tackling is actually my favorite part of the game. And I'm no stranger to... receiving.”
Donghae did not know why he decided to make such a terrible, revealing joke to such an angry, hateful person but he did know that he regretted it immediately and instantly began praying that it would go over Hyukjae's head.
Hyukjae's face was blank. A little too blank. Until he finally blinked. And then he turned and walked away. Donghae should have felt some sort of panic. He should have been worried that Hyukjae was about to make his life a living hell. But Donghae felt at ease. The look on Hyukjae's face was not one of malice. It was not disgust. It was just blank. This allowed Donghae to relax as he made his way home so that he could take a much-needed shower.
-
Donghae was hesitant to go to football practice the next day. His stomach churned as he thought of Hyukjae telling everyone on the team what he had said. Still, he gathered his courage and went. When he arrived, he looked at his teammates expectantly but nothing about their demeanor toward him had changed. They greeted him as they had previously and went about their own business as usual. When Donghae looked at Hyukjae, he saw the same broody boy he had seen yesterday.
“Everybody listen up,” Coach suddenly said. “Today we're starting with some jungle runs.”
“A jungle run?” Donghae wondered aloud.
“Oh, right,” Coach said. “Hyukjae, can you teach Donghae how to do a jungle run?” Donghae looked at Hyukjae who looked from him to Coach and nodded silently. “Great. The rest of you, get into position.”
Donghae turned to look at Hyukjae and saw that he was already walking toward a distant corner of the field with a football in his hands. He followed silently.
“A jungle run is simple,” Hyukjae said when they came to a stop. “You start with a throw.” He threw the ball to Donghae who caught it easily. “And then we run at each other and I try to tackle you.” After a silent scream in his head, Donghae ran forward. He managed to dodge Hyukjae even though he maybe secretly had not wanted to. “And now we run at each other again but you pass the ball off to me without stopping.” It was simple enough and Donghae completed it easily. “And now we switch and do it again.”
“So, wait,” Donghae said. “This time, I throw to you and then try to tackle you?”
“Right,” Hyukjae said.
He handed Donghae the ball and then backed up so that Donghae could throw it to him. Donghae threw the ball and Hyukjae caught it. Then, Hyukjae began to sprint. Holding his breath, Donghae propelled himself forward as well. He collided with Hyukjae and took him down to the ground in an instant. He gasped looked down at Hyukjae from his position on top of him.
“I'm so sorry!” he panicked.
Hyukjae looked at Donghae strangely. “Why are you apologizing?” he asked. “That's what you were supposed to do.”
Realizing that this was true and that he possibly looked like an idiot, Donghae cringed. “Right,” he said, “but are you okay?”
“Of course I'm okay. If you ask someone that every time you tackle them, I will kick you off of this team.” Hyukjae sighed. “Also, get off of me.”
Donghae stood up immediately and backed away from Hyukjae. “Sorry,” he apologized once again.
“Whatever,” Hyukjae replied. “Just get back into position. The point of a jungle run is to repeat it until you can do each section as fast as possible.”
Donghae looked at the rest of the team and saw them darting around so quickly that he felt a little intimidated. Then a ball came hurling at him and hit him in the arm.
“Ow!” Donghae said, rubbing his arm and looking at Hyukjae.
“Pay attention!” Hyukjae shouted before going after the ball that had bounced off of Donghae's now very red skin.
Donghae sighed. He had a feeling that this was going to be a rough day.
-
All of Donghae's muscles were sore the next day. He had not been this physically active since the previous football season. So, he groaned his way into practice early the next morning. Hyukjae was there alone again, stretching peacefully. Donghae dragged himself over to him and practically fell onto the grass face first, letting the dew on the grass cool his skin. Hyukjae stopped his stretching to stare for a moment before he continued.
“You know,” Donghae began, his cheek pressing into the grass, “it has occurred to me that I should work out more in between seasons.”
Hyukjae did not respond, of course, but Donghae did not mind. He was content to watch the way Hyukjae's muscles tensed as he stretched. Unfortunately, he was so focused on muscles that he did not realize that Hyukjae was staring back at him.
“What are you looking at?” Hyukjae snapped so angrily that Donghae actually flinched.
“Nothing,” Donghae said quickly. “Sorry.” He turned his head, letting his other cheek rest on the grass. He could tell that Hyukjae was no longer stretching behind him but he did not dare to look and see what it was that he was doing.
“Hey,” Hyukjae said suddenly. Donghae turned his cheek once again and looked at Hyukjae. He almost looked apologetic. For a second, Donghae thought that he was going to say something nice. Instead, he opened his mouth slightly, closed it into a hard frown, and then stood up before darting off to take a very fast morning lap around the field.
Donghae should have been getting used to Hyukjae's cold behavior. But that morning he could only feel a sadness that he did not understand.
-
The next morning, Donghae had to walk to school. His mother usually dropped him off but she was busy that day. Donghae did not mind. He loved the opportunity to take a morning stroll and breathe in the cool air that came before the morning sun baked the world from above. He took his time, thinking that this walk would be enough of a stretch and he would not need to arrive on the field early. He briefly toyed with the idea of Hyukjae missing him but it was too absurd to think about for long.
This morning may have started out pleasantly but it was about to take an abrupt turn. As Donghae approached the school just minutes before practice started, he passed a group of three boys. They seemed to be about the same age as Donghae and they eyed him as he walked past.
“Hey,” one of them called out. Donghae stupidly stopped and turned to see a red-haired boy staring at him. “You got five bucks I could borrow?”
“No,” Donghae said simply. “Sorry.” He turned to keep walking but he could hear footsteps following him.
“You sure about that?” the boy said as he caught up with Donghae.
“Positive,” Donghae replied. He really had nothing on him other than his football gear.
“Really? Because if I find out you're lying, I won't be too happy.”
Donghae decided to pick up the pace then but before he could, there were hands holding him from all sides.
“Look,” he said, “I don't have anything. Can you just leave me alone?”
“Not until I know you're not lying.”
Donghae's pockets were turned out. The contents of his bag were dumped on the sidewalk. His jacket was being inspected by one of the boys. But Donghae remained still, waiting for them to finish their silly game. One of the boys looked at him and then smiled.
“I haven't checked your shoes.”
Donghae was shoved in the chest. He did not try to stop it, he only tried to brace himself for the fall. Still, he could feel the burn on his scraped hands and elbows as they slid against the cement below him. The boys took off his shoes and searched them. They came up with nothing.
“These shoes look pretty expensive,” the red-haired boy said. He was right, they were expensive. Donghae did not say a word. He watched as his shoelaces were tied together and his shoes were thrown into a tree where they caught in the highest branches. As he was hoping that this would be the last of their torture, he heard another set of footsteps approaching. He turned to see Hyukjae, as stone-faced and dashing as ever as he approached them. A part of Donghae wanted Hyukjae to keep walking and pretend that he had not seen this. Another part of him was desperate for someone, anyone to help him up from the ground and tell him that it was over. To Donghae's relief and dismay, Hyukjae stopped next to him.
“What are you doing?” Hyukjae directed the question at the boys.
“He owes us money,” replied the redhead.
Hyukjae glanced at Donghae before looking at the boy. “He owes me money too. And since you've had your fun, I suggest you leave. It's my turn now.”
The boys looked at Hyukjae strangely. Donghae also looked at Hyukjae strangely. He had no idea how those words worked but they did. The boys took one last look at Hyukjae's cold exterior and began to walk away while laughing about Donghae's expensive shoes that were still stuck up in a tree.
Donghae did not know what to say. Had he been saved? Should he thank Hyukjae? Hyukjae dropped his own bag on the ground and approached the tree. He began to climb it.
“Hyukjae, don't-”
“Shut up, new kid.”
Donghae was not sure what he was seeing. Perhaps Hyukjae was simply making up for the way he had snapped at Donghae the day before. If he was someone who could feel that much guilt over such a small occurrence, Donghae thought that he might not be so cold after all. Just as thoughts of Hyukjae being a decent human being entered his head once again, Donghae's shoes were being dropped on his head. Donghae winced. Decent human beings did not drop shoes onto other people's heads.
Donghae put his shoes back on while Hyukjae descended the tree. Donghae picked up Hyukjae's bag and stood. He reached out, handing it to him. Rather than accepting it gratefully, Hyukjae yanked it out of Donghae's hold.
“Don't touch my stuff,” Hyukjae said as if it was an obvious rule.
“Sorry,” Donghae murmured. He turned to pick up his own bag and, when he turned around, Hyukjae was already walking away. Donghae hurried to catch up with him. As he walked by Hyukjae's side, he could tell that Hyukjae was very annoyed. “Thank you for what you did,” Donghae tried. “It was really nice of you and you didn't have to-”
“Didn't I tell you to shut up?” Hyukjae snapped, stopping in his tracks to face Donghae. “We're not suddenly friends because I might've saved your ass from being pummeled by a bunch of losers. I'd just rather not have a player injured before we even have our first game. Got it?”
Donghae was frozen by Hyukjae's words. That was the most he had ever heard him speak at one time. He swallowed and nodded. And then, as Hyukjae started to walk again, Donghae looked at his watch.
“Oh shit,” he said. “We're already late.”
Hyukjae pulled out his phone to look at the time as well. And then he sent Donghae the most evil look Donghae could have imagined. Donghae briefly wondered if more than his shoes were about to end up in a tree. And then they were both running, racing against a clock that had already won.
When the two arrived at the practice field, the sun was already beating down on the grass and Coach was looking at his watch with an irritated look on his face. Hyukjae made it to Coach first. He did not try to explain himself and Coach did not seem to expect him to. When Donghae arrived several seconds later, Coach spoke.
“You know the rules, Hyukjae,” he said. “And as for you, Donghae, you're about to learn. Tardiness is not acceptable. You show up late, you work late. I'm coaching the peewee team tonight. You'll both be there at six to help out.”
“But Coach,” Donghae began, “it wasn't Hyukjae's fault.”
“I don't care whose fault it was and I don't care what happened,” Coach said. “There are no excuses.”
“But-” Donghae started to protest again.
“We'll be there, Coach,” Hyukjae interrupted.
This made anger flare up in Donghae. “What if I would have been run over on my way here?” Donghae ranted. “Or what if my mom died? Would those be good excuses or would I have to practice instead of going to a funeral?”
Coach sighed. “Bring your gear tonight,” he said. “You've just earned an hour of practice time after the peewee team leaves. For both of you.”
Donghae had just dug himself into an immense hole. He did not look at Hyukjae because he did not want to know what pure rage looked like. He kept his head down for the rest of practice, silently dreading what would happen that night.
-
Donghae showed up early and, just as he expected, Hyukjae was already there, observing the peewee team seriously. Donghae could not help finding them adorable - like a miniature version of the team he was on now. He even secretly named a particularly angry-looking child “Mini Hyukjae.” They were not allowed to tackle each other and were instead learning the basics of football through gentle actions.
Donghae thought that Hyukjae might show the slightest bit of warmth in front of the cute youngsters but his face imitated ice no matter the situation. Donghae had to very seriously restrain himself from enjoying the punishment he was receiving. He was having fun teaching the kids what he could but if he let it show, he knew that it would only make Hyukjae more angry. He was already treading on thin ice so he carefully avoided making any cracks.
When the peewee team left, Donghae felt himself slipping on that ice. He and Hyukjae changed into their gear on opposite sides of the locker room. As they exited, Donghae noted that the sun was already setting and that by the time they were done, it would surely be dark.
“Start by taking a lap,” Coach instructed. “Then, since Donghae's jungle run is still slow, work on that.”
“And then what?” Donghae asked.
“That's it,” Coach responded.
“Jungle runs for an hour?” Donghae questioned.
“Do I need to remind you that you were not only late this morning but you also decided to mouth off to me?”
“No, Coach,” Donghae replied through nearly clenched teeth. He noticed that Hyukjae was already running and he raced off to catch up with him. To avoid possibly being killed, he stayed a few paces behind.
When their lap was finished, Hyukjae wasted no time and grabbed a football before hurling it at Donghae who barely managed to catch it. Donghae was too afraid to tackle Hyukjae so he continuously pretended that his tackling skills were awful. After being knocked to the ground so many times that his body was sore, Donghae decided to speak.
“Look,” he said once he had possession of the ball, “I'm really sorry, okay? I'm sorry that I dragged you into this.”
“Just shut up and throw the ball,” Hyukjae said, obviously not wanting to talk. Donghae obeyed and continued practicing and praying that this hour would end.
“Okay, boys,” Coach called out and Donghae nearly collapsed in relief, “time to wrap it up. You can get out of here now. I hope you won't be late again.”
“Yes, Coach,” Donghae said quickly before stumbling toward the locker room to change.
Fortunately, Donghae's locker was on the opposite side of the locker room from Hyukjae's so it was easy for Donghae to avoid him as he changed. Unfortunately, they both happened to reach the exit to the locker room at the same time. Donghae waited for a clearly exhausted Hyukjae to walk through before he followed. He felt bad. It was his fault that Hyukjae was even here. He had already tried apologizing once but he figured that a second time might help.
“Hey,” Donghae said as they walked across the now dark field, “I really meant it when I said I was sorry. I didn't want either of us to be here.” Hyukjae did not answer and it made Donghae a little bit frustrated. “Could you at least pretend that you hear me for once?”
Hyukjae stopped and turned. He stared at Donghae. Then he dropped his bag.
“Your tackles suck,” he suddenly criticized.
“Thanks,” Donghae replied sarcastically. “What does that have to do with anything?”
“I just had to spend an hour putting up with your shitty tackles. You can't be on this team if you can't tackle.”
“You'd try to kick me off the team for sneezing the wrong way,” Donghae accused. “I can tackle just fine. I did it before, remember?”
“And you haven't done it since meaning it was probably just a fluke.” Donghae wanted to retaliate but he could not think of anything to say. “What?” Hyukjae continued. “I'm right, aren't I?”
“Whatever,” Donghae finally said. “I'm going home. I'm tired.”
As Donghae turned to leave, Hyukjae came charging at him. Before he could even think to defend himself, he was being tackled to the ground. He squeezed his eyes shut and although he had tried to brace himself for the fall, as he hit the ground he realized that Hyukjae was cradling his body and head in a way that protected him. When Donghae opened his eyes, he saw the face of a Hyukjae that was scared and confused.
Hyukjae leaned forward abruptly and kissed Donghae. Donghae kissed back without hesitation. Suddenly, Donghae was experiencing the hottest and most exhilarating moment of his life. He reached a hand up and hooked it around Hyukjae's neck, pulling him closer and encouraging him. The kiss was rough like Hyukjae's words but his lips were soft and his hands were gentle. Donghae's thoughts were consumed by only the kiss so it was not until Hyukjae pulled away that his sanity returned.
Hyukjae looked at him with those same scared eyes before he leaned forward slowly and placed a brief, soft kiss on Donghae's lips. And then, in an instant, he was standing, picking up his bag, and running away. When Donghae finally sat up, he saw Hyukjae's back disappearing into the darkness.
-
Donghae really, really, really, really, did not want to go to football practice the next day. He dreaded it so heavily that his stomach felt like a washing machine. He had no idea what Hyukjae's kiss meant or what it even was. He only knew that he thoroughly enjoyed it and would totally do it again if he was not afraid of Hyukjae retaliating in a possibly painful way.
The only reason that Donghae ended up going to football practice was because he needed to know if Hyukjae was there as well. He wanted to see if he was still the same, cold Hyukjae from before or if perhaps softer eyes would show themselves by chance. And as Donghae walked toward the football field, he realized that he really wanted to see Hyukjae again.
Hyukjae was not at the field early as he usually was. Donghae felt alone and did not even bother stretching. He started to wonder if Hyukjae would show up at all. He anxiously waited until the rest of the team began to arrive. And then he saw Hyukjae. His instant reaction was to look away. The only thing that he could think was that he should not have come today.
If they passed each other, Donghae kept his head down. His skills in avoidance were so polished by his determination that he did not look at Hyukjae once during practice. He did have to glance at his feet a few times, just to make sure that it was Hyukjae that he was avoiding and not someone else. Luckily, he had Hyukjae's shoe design memorized.
Donghae was feeling pretty good about how well he had done in avoiding Hyukjae. Yet he was feeling quite sour because he did not know if Hyukjae's cold eyes had returned. None of his questions had been answered and he was left wondering. Just as his sourness felt as if it had hit its lowest point, Donghae's day got much worse.
“Did you hear that rumor that someone on the team is gay?” one teammate asked another.
“Yeah, I did, actually.”
“Must be true if both of us managed to hear it, right?”
“Who do you think it is?”
“I dunno. I'd rather not think about some fag watching us in the locker room.”
“Hey, for all I know, it could be you.”
“Shut up.”
Donghae tuned out after that. He knew that they were still talking about it but he refused to listen. He kept his head down and fumbled as he changed his clothing and wiped away nervous sweat. When the last of the boys left the locker room and it became silent, Donghae let out a breath of relief. Then, he heard footsteps behind him. He turned around slowly and faced Hyukjae.
“Did you tell someone?” Hyukjae asked. He was unusually calm.
“No,” Donghae replied quickly and honestly. He paused. “Did you?”
“No,” Hyukjae replied.
Donghae nodded. “Probably just a coincidence, or something.”
Hyukjae nodded back. And then he started toward the door. Donghae decided that he was not just going to watch him walk away this time.
“Can you just... say something to me? This isn't... it's not fair to me and you know it.”
Hyukjae stopped. Without turning around, he spoke. “I'm sorry,” he said. It was soft and it was genuine and Donghae had no idea whether or not Hyukjae was sorry for not being able to say something or for the confusion he had been put through but he accepted the apology either way. And then he watched Hyukjae walk away.
-