Day Late Friend (Chapter 1)
With four hundred pairs eyes staring at me, I couldn't help but feel nervous. It wasn't my fault! Nobody told me that high school starts at 8 am and not 12 pm! Just my luck that my first period was a mass lecture.
"Sorry I'm late," I apologised while still standing outside the door,waiting for the teacher's approval to enter.
"Well you'd better be young man. Come on in, and hurry get a seat so you wouldn't miss out on a lot," she said kindly.
I mouthed a quiet 'thank you' before proceeding to look for a vacant seat. There was,well two vacant seat. One beside a girl who was sneezing like flu could kill her, and well another was beside a boy. Instinctively, as a male, it was only natural that I walked over to take a seat beside the boy. As I climbed up the steps heading for the seat, people were giving me empathising looks but i shrugged it off anyway.I looked down at the boy and smiled. However, he merely smirked at me and turned his head away.
Okay.Awkward much, I thought to myself as I sat down on the vacant seat. Throughout the whole lecture, I could feel him glaring at me, as if angry at me but I continued to ignore it. He hadn't spoken a word and somehow I thought that I shouldn't try to piss this guy off.
Just as class was ending, I abruptly stood up, forgetting the fact that my pencil case was on my lap. Instantly, my stationaries fell onto the floor. As I bent down to count and pick them up, I realised that my favourite pen was rolling away. Slowly, it stopped near a purple show. I gulped as I slowly looked up at the owner.The boy beside me immediately jumped, shocked by the pen.
"I'm sss..sorry," I stuttered as I crawled to the pen. When I caught hold of the pen, I felt accomplished, but at the same time scared of the boy, so immediately tried to stand up, forgetting that in the auditorium, the table tops were connected to the seats. My head immediately met with the underside of the boy's table and soon, his water bottle toppled over, spilling all over him, and some on my hair.
"LEE.HYUK.JAE." he groaned as he started to roll up his sleeves. I gulped.
I laughed as I remembered the first time we met. Not in the most pleasant situation one could wish for, but definitely a memorable one.
I sat at my study table, accompanied by the dim lighting, as I flipped on to the last page of my history notes. I had a major exam the next day so I decided to do some last minute recap.Stretching, I stacked all of them up and put them at the top right hand corner of my small table. I was still tired, having reached home barely two hours ago after Donghae had put me in the cab and stuffed some money in my hands for the cab fare. I didn't have time to ask where he was going. I didn't dare to anyway. Did I really want to know?
I stood up, and quietly pushed my chair in, not wanting to disturb the neighbours sleeping downstairs. It was, afterall half past 3 in the morning, and any saint person who didn't have difficulty sleeping would be in deep sleep now.
I sighed as I walked over to my bed that was about three feets away from me. I like my apartment. It is, well small but it was cosy. There was enough room for a bed and a study table, and there was a kitchen and a toilet. What more could I ask for, with the amount of money I had? I slipped under the covers and silently prayed for the well-being of my mum, who was taken care of by my aunt, back in my hometown. Slowly, my eyelids started to get heavy.
Knock Knock.
"URGH!"
KNOCK!KNOCK!KNOCK!
I quickly scrambled out of bed, heading towards the door.Looking through the peephole, I sighed when I realised who it was.I quickly unlocked the door
"Are you drun..."
"Hyukkie!" He immediately threw his arms around my neck and put his whole body weight on me. Pulling him into the apartment, I repeated my question.
"Are you drunk, Hae?"
"Ugh" He disentangled himself from me and went to help himself onto my already small bed. I shook my head disapprovingly and went to take out some change of clothes from the cupboard. Slowly, I started to undress Donghae,using all the strength I had to maneuvre him. Many people would feel shy or embarrased to do it, but somehow I just got immune to this over the years. When Donghae's upset, he'll get drunk. When he gets drunk, he can't seem to remember his own address but mine. When he get's to my house, he'll just hog my bed. And the morning after...oh god don't remind me.
I put away his dirty clothes ,tucking him in under the covers that I was supposed to be in by now,and then proceeded into the kitchen to look for something to cook.Not being able to afford much things, I only had the ingredients to make porridge but well, it was still better than nothing.
Leaving the ingredients to boil, I went out to check on Donghae. He was still asleep. I looked at the clock on the wall. 6 am. Two more hours to my exam. I was feeling pretty nervous. Sure, I had studied hard enough for it, but it was still an exam. I don't do well in exams, it was like a fact.
I had a quick shower and prepared set the table for Donghae's breakfast. I looked again at the clock on the wall. 7.10 am. Just enough time for me to reach that place 10 mins before the exam. I smiled to myself as I checked the contents of my bag once again, trying to start my day in an optimistic way.
I walked over to the bed and stopped right beside Donghae. Slowly, I leaned down.
"I'll be back in two hours,okay?" I whispered to his ears, knowing that he was still deep in his sleep. I smiled at the beautiful sight in front of me, and gave him a quick peck on both cheeks.
Saranghae... I mouthed silently, knowing very well that I couldn't say it out loud.
Standing up straight, I headed for the door, ready to leave.
"Hyuk..Hyukkie...Where are you going?"
I stopped in my tracks and sighed. This was exactly what I wanted to avoid.
"Hyukkie..Don't go!" Soon, the same boy who was soundly asleep just moments ago scrambled out of bed and wrapped himself around me.
"Hae-ah..I need to go,"
"No..no please don't go.I need you.." his grip around me tightened.
"Sorry Hae-ah,Remember the exams I told you about? I'm having it now..I'm sorry Hae, but I can't miss it.I spent my entire savings to pay for this. I have to go. I'll be back soon though," I tried to reason.
His grips around me loosened as he started to let me go.
"Ahh..it's..it's okay..i'll just...BLUEK!"
I turned around , only to be greeted by the sight of Donghae crouching on the floor,repeatedly vomitting. Instinctively, I ran over to him and tried to rub his back.
"It's okay, just go..." he said in between vomitting.
I frowned. His face was losing colour so I reached out to touch his forehead.
"Oh my god Hae! You're burning up!" I exclaimed as I tried to help him back to the bed. Once he made it safely back under the covers, I started to clean him and the mess up.
I glanced at the clock on the wall again. 7.49 am.
I sighed, and walked over to the bed with a damp towel and a bowl of ice water. Slowly, I soaked the towel in cold water and put it over Donghae's head to absorb the heat he was emitting.I waited for the towel to gain heat, and then I repeated the whole process again. And again. and again. Until he stopped my hand.
"I screwed your life up again, didn't I?"
"Ssh.. go back to sleep," I whispered, placing the towel back into the bowl instead, taking a seat beside him.
"I'm sorry," he sat up and buried his face onto my neck.
"I know..Now just go to sleep," I tried to coo him, even though I could feel water running down my neck.
We stayed in silence, taking comfort in the familiarity of each others' company.
Somehow, in the process, I ended up sleeping too.
~~
"Sorry I'm late," I apologised while still standing outside the door,waiting for the teacher's approval to enter.
"Well you'd better be young man. Come on in, and hurry get a seat so you wouldn't miss out on a lot," she said kindly.
I mouthed a quiet 'thank you' before proceeding to look for a vacant seat. There was,well two vacant seat. One beside a girl who was sneezing like flu could kill her, and well another was beside a boy. Instinctively, as a male, it was only natural that I walked over to take a seat beside the boy. As I climbed up the steps heading for the seat, people were giving me empathising looks but i shrugged it off anyway.I looked down at the boy and smiled. However, he merely smirked at me and turned his head away.
Okay.Awkward much, I thought to myself as I sat down on the vacant seat. Throughout the whole lecture, I could feel him glaring at me, as if angry at me but I continued to ignore it. He hadn't spoken a word and somehow I thought that I shouldn't try to piss this guy off.
Just as class was ending, I abruptly stood up, forgetting the fact that my pencil case was on my lap. Instantly, my stationaries fell onto the floor. As I bent down to count and pick them up, I realised that my favourite pen was rolling away. Slowly, it stopped near a purple show. I gulped as I slowly looked up at the owner.The boy beside me immediately jumped, shocked by the pen.
"I'm sss..sorry," I stuttered as I crawled to the pen. When I caught hold of the pen, I felt accomplished, but at the same time scared of the boy, so immediately tried to stand up, forgetting that in the auditorium, the table tops were connected to the seats. My head immediately met with the underside of the boy's table and soon, his water bottle toppled over, spilling all over him, and some on my hair.
"LEE.HYUK.JAE." he groaned as he started to roll up his sleeves. I gulped.
I laughed as I remembered the first time we met. Not in the most pleasant situation one could wish for, but definitely a memorable one.
I sat at my study table, accompanied by the dim lighting, as I flipped on to the last page of my history notes. I had a major exam the next day so I decided to do some last minute recap.Stretching, I stacked all of them up and put them at the top right hand corner of my small table. I was still tired, having reached home barely two hours ago after Donghae had put me in the cab and stuffed some money in my hands for the cab fare. I didn't have time to ask where he was going. I didn't dare to anyway. Did I really want to know?
I stood up, and quietly pushed my chair in, not wanting to disturb the neighbours sleeping downstairs. It was, afterall half past 3 in the morning, and any saint person who didn't have difficulty sleeping would be in deep sleep now.
I sighed as I walked over to my bed that was about three feets away from me. I like my apartment. It is, well small but it was cosy. There was enough room for a bed and a study table, and there was a kitchen and a toilet. What more could I ask for, with the amount of money I had? I slipped under the covers and silently prayed for the well-being of my mum, who was taken care of by my aunt, back in my hometown. Slowly, my eyelids started to get heavy.
Knock Knock.
"URGH!"
KNOCK!KNOCK!KNOCK!
I quickly scrambled out of bed, heading towards the door.Looking through the peephole, I sighed when I realised who it was.I quickly unlocked the door
"Are you drun..."
"Hyukkie!" He immediately threw his arms around my neck and put his whole body weight on me. Pulling him into the apartment, I repeated my question.
"Are you drunk, Hae?"
"Ugh" He disentangled himself from me and went to help himself onto my already small bed. I shook my head disapprovingly and went to take out some change of clothes from the cupboard. Slowly, I started to undress Donghae,using all the strength I had to maneuvre him. Many people would feel shy or embarrased to do it, but somehow I just got immune to this over the years. When Donghae's upset, he'll get drunk. When he gets drunk, he can't seem to remember his own address but mine. When he get's to my house, he'll just hog my bed. And the morning after...oh god don't remind me.
I put away his dirty clothes ,tucking him in under the covers that I was supposed to be in by now,and then proceeded into the kitchen to look for something to cook.Not being able to afford much things, I only had the ingredients to make porridge but well, it was still better than nothing.
Leaving the ingredients to boil, I went out to check on Donghae. He was still asleep. I looked at the clock on the wall. 6 am. Two more hours to my exam. I was feeling pretty nervous. Sure, I had studied hard enough for it, but it was still an exam. I don't do well in exams, it was like a fact.
I had a quick shower and prepared set the table for Donghae's breakfast. I looked again at the clock on the wall. 7.10 am. Just enough time for me to reach that place 10 mins before the exam. I smiled to myself as I checked the contents of my bag once again, trying to start my day in an optimistic way.
I walked over to the bed and stopped right beside Donghae. Slowly, I leaned down.
"I'll be back in two hours,okay?" I whispered to his ears, knowing that he was still deep in his sleep. I smiled at the beautiful sight in front of me, and gave him a quick peck on both cheeks.
Saranghae... I mouthed silently, knowing very well that I couldn't say it out loud.
Standing up straight, I headed for the door, ready to leave.
"Hyuk..Hyukkie...Where are you going?"
I stopped in my tracks and sighed. This was exactly what I wanted to avoid.
"Hyukkie..Don't go!" Soon, the same boy who was soundly asleep just moments ago scrambled out of bed and wrapped himself around me.
"Hae-ah..I need to go,"
"No..no please don't go.I need you.." his grip around me tightened.
"Sorry Hae-ah,Remember the exams I told you about? I'm having it now..I'm sorry Hae, but I can't miss it.I spent my entire savings to pay for this. I have to go. I'll be back soon though," I tried to reason.
His grips around me loosened as he started to let me go.
"Ahh..it's..it's okay..i'll just...BLUEK!"
I turned around , only to be greeted by the sight of Donghae crouching on the floor,repeatedly vomitting. Instinctively, I ran over to him and tried to rub his back.
"It's okay, just go..." he said in between vomitting.
I frowned. His face was losing colour so I reached out to touch his forehead.
"Oh my god Hae! You're burning up!" I exclaimed as I tried to help him back to the bed. Once he made it safely back under the covers, I started to clean him and the mess up.
I glanced at the clock on the wall again. 7.49 am.
I sighed, and walked over to the bed with a damp towel and a bowl of ice water. Slowly, I soaked the towel in cold water and put it over Donghae's head to absorb the heat he was emitting.I waited for the towel to gain heat, and then I repeated the whole process again. And again. and again. Until he stopped my hand.
"I screwed your life up again, didn't I?"
"Ssh.. go back to sleep," I whispered, placing the towel back into the bowl instead, taking a seat beside him.
"I'm sorry," he sat up and buried his face onto my neck.
"I know..Now just go to sleep," I tried to coo him, even though I could feel water running down my neck.
We stayed in silence, taking comfort in the familiarity of each others' company.
Somehow, in the process, I ended up sleeping too.
~~