Donghae woke up thinking about it. Go to the game, don’t go to the game. If he went, he wouldn’t have to face an angry Kyuhyun again. If he didn’t, there was a chance he wouldn’t have to face Kyuhyun at all.

He couldn’t understand why Kyuhyun even cared. He couldn’t understand why Kyuhyun couldn’t just be nice to him like he was to everyone else. He couldn’t understand why Kyuhyun hated him. He combed through his memories to see if perhaps he had known Kyuhyun long ago and he just held grudges for a long time. He couldn’t understand what he had done at all – whether a long time ago thing he didn’t even remember anymore or something he just didn’t realize he’d done - to make Kyuhyun loathe him and want to give him hell.

When he accidentally bit too hard on the inside of his cheek and drew blood, it derailed his train of thought as he tasted the cut with a grimace. It hurt, but he had done worse to himself. He looked up at his teacher, writing a bunch of stuff on the board that he’d never write down. He supposed he could make better grades, but he really just didn’t care enough to try. Maybe he should.

Now that he’d damaged himself, it was a bit easier to stop chewing. He busied himself by drawing doodles on his paper, lining the corner with shitty hearts and stars and making the only words on the page – his name – bold and decorated.

Go to the game, don’t go to the game.

Decisions, decisions.

The bell rang and he was one of the first people out of class, but of course one of the last to make it to his next class. He still hadn’t quite learned the layout of the school. Usually it took him a long time to learn new buildings, anyways. He was probably directionally impaired.

It wasn’t until a few hours after he got home that he realized he needed to decide. Go to the game, don’t go to the game. Give Kyuhyun the satisfaction of winning, piss him off. Feel like somebody’s bitch or become one when he came to school the next day.

He didn’t think he wanted to deal with a mad Kyuhyun again, and it’s not like he’d have to be around Kyuhyun the entire game. He could always find someone to follow around, or he could even leave after the first few minutes.

With his mind made him, he drove back up to the school and found a parking place. He hoped he wouldn’t run into Kyuhyun at all.

So much for that. He saw Kyuhyun with Eunhyuk and the others before he even spotted a place to sit. Eunhyuk spotted him first and waved him over to a clear spot right next to – not surprisingly at all – Kyuhyun.

“You’re a bit late,” Kyuhyun said in a low voice that was hard to hear over the noisy stadium full of people.

“I had things to do,” Donghae lied. Maybe if he counted his mental debate between his rebellious side and his cowardly side.

Kyuhyun seemed content to just talk to the people around him rather than bother him. He watched as Kyuhyun smiled and teased and made jokes with the others, even jumped up and cheered when their team made a touchdown. 

He checked the time on his cell phone and figured he’d spent a long enough time sitting around watching bulky teenagers tackle each other and throw footballs. He glanced at Kyuhyun before he stood up and tried to wedge himself between Eunhyuk and the edge of the bleacher they sat on.

“Going to the concession stand?” Kyuhyun asked.

Donghae swallowed and looked over his shoulder.

Eunhyuk looked expectant; Kyuhyun looked like he’d just caught Donghae with his hand in the cookie jar.

That’s pretty much what Donghae felt like. “Um,” he mumbled, looking away from the both of them. “Yeah. Did you… want something?”

Kyuhyun smiled – an actual smile, not a smirk, though Donghae doubted it was real. “I’ll have to see what they have.” And then he was standing and following Donghae down the bleachers. He gave him instructions to the building like he was a child. Turn left, turn right, keep walking, watch out for that elderly person.

Donghae didn’t think he could eat anything. Just like at the lunch table, his appetite was out the window and his want and need to go home was growing by the second with every word from Kyuhyun’s mouth and look from his eyes.

“I want this,” Kyuhyun stated as he picked up a bag of candy. “Mind buying it for me?” he asked with that fucking smile.

Looking around at the people who weren’t paying them any attention and then to the woman behind the counter who was, Donghae realized he had to make yet another decision.

“You remember that test?”

Donghae blinked. He looked at the candy in Kyuhyun’s hand, back up to the woman waiting on him to answer. He met Kyuhyun’s dangerously pleased eyes because he was fairly sure the bastard knew he’d won. He pulled out his wallet with a grimace and paid for the candy.

“Do you want one?” Kyuhyun asked as they walked back towards the bleachers.

“No thanks.”

“You paid for them.”

“I know.”

Kyuhyun stopped, grabbed his hand, dumped a few of the candies onto his hand, and then smirked at him.

Bitch. Donghae smiled a big smile, a big fake thank you, and proceeded to dump the candies onto the dirt and grass at their feet.

Kyuhyun wasn’t smirking anymore. In fact, he looked nearly as pissed as when Donghae hadn’t shown up at the last game.

“That was rude.”

“I know.” Donghae kicked the candies around a bit, smile still in place.

“I should slap you.”

“Do it.”

Kyuhyun glared at him, lips contorting a bit. And then smack.

Gaping, blinking, sputtering, Donghae watched Kyuhyun’s lips widen in a sneering smile as the sting spread over his cheek and certainly created an angry red welt. “You just –”

His words meant nothing. Kyuhyun had already turned away and started back towards the bleachers, but Donghae didn’t follow. He faced the other direction and touched his left cheek where Kyuhyun’s hand had hit. He honestly couldn’t believe he’d been stupid enough to dare Kyuhyun to slap him, as if he really wouldn’t. 

.-.-.

He didn’t know how or why, only knew that it immensely pissed him off. He threw his phone on the bed because fucking Kyuhyun had got a hold of his phone number. Probably batted his nice-boy eyes at Eunhyuk, the only other person with his number, and of course since Kyuhyun was such a nice guy and more than likely a great liar, Eunhyuk had handed it over.

Donghae somehow knew Kyuhyun wouldn’t just stop at a text message. His cell phone sang his call tone and he wanted to throw it out the window and hope it got smashed by a passing car. He had the suspicion Kyuhyun would call again if he didn’t answer, but he’d probably stop after the third or fourth time.

He fell onto his stomach on his bed with a sigh, listening to his ring tone chime next to him. Kyuhyun just didn’t stop. Wouldn’t give up, wouldn’t get tired of him. It had been days, weeks and Kyuhyun was still going relentlessly. Donghae began to wonder if maybe Kyuhyun had a strange, sadistic fixation on him, or maybe Kyuhyun just loved picking on the new kids.

He swore six times at least as he grabbed up his cell phone and answered it.

“Hey, Donghae, how goes it?” Kyuhyun said like a real friend might, but Donghae knew better by then. He didn’t reply and Kyuhyun laughed. “Mad at me, I see. You can blame yourself for it, though.”

He wanted to shout “go fuck yourself” and then pry the battery out of his phone. “What do you want?” he asked with exasperation.

“To hang out, of course,” Kyuhyun replied. “Since friends hang out together.”

“I’m busy.” Donghae chewed on his bottom lip. He couldn’t go anywhere with Kyuhyun. He really didn’t want to. Not even with ten other people there, he knew Kyuhyun could switch between his nice-guy act and his real self at lightning speed.

“Do you want me to apologize? Is that it?” Kyuhyun asked mockingly. “I’m so sorry, Donghae. My hand must have slipped or something. I’ll make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

Donghae went silent. Why the fuck did he tolerate this asshole?

“Don’t hang up.”

His thumb slid away from the button before he realized he’d been preparing to do just that.

“I’ll be nice if you come,” Kyuhyun said, but it sounded like a huge lie and Donghae knew it was. “I want to go to the mall. My auxiliary cord broke and that one electronic place is having a sale. Come on, I’ll buy you lunch.”

“So you can make me pay you back double later?” Donghae gulped and his eyes widened as he realized he’d let that thought slip out.

“Glad to see you catch on quick,” Kyuhyun said with a chuckle. “Where do you live? I’ll pick you up.”

“I’ll just meet you at the store,” Donghae stated. He didn’t really think he’d get away with it, but it was worth a shot.

“That’s a waste of gas. Do you want to pick me up?”

Donghae bit his lip, contemplating. It would be better for Kyuhyun to not know where he lived. “Yeah, I just filled up yesterday.” Not a complete lie – he had bought about half a tank of gas yesterday.

Kyuhyun gave him brief directions and told Donghae to call if he got lost.

Donghae realized it was an insult after he found the route to Kyuhyun’s house was simple enough for a child to know. Straight down the road by the school, turn left. He pulled into the driveway behind a plain gray car and waited a few moments, hoping Kyuhyun had heard him pull up. He counted to ten slowly and realized he really might have gotten lost. He texted Kyuhyun a quick “I’m here” and hoped for the best.

It was another few minutes and Donghae was seriously beginning to think he had made a wrong turn. He mentally retraced his steps and frowned because he was positive this was Kyuhyun’s house unless he had given the wrong directions.

His heart sped up. What if this was a prank or something? What if Kyuhyun intended to make him wait long enough to go inside and then jump out and kill him? He looked up at the seemingly lifeless house, the dead grass outside sprinkled with orange and brown leaves, the bare, lonesome tree, the dull car.

It was exactly the kind of house that a person like Kyuhyun would live it.

He didn’t know whether to be relieved or kind of pissed when the front door opened and Kyuhyun stepped out, pulling a shirt on over a tank top as he closed the door behind himself and shoved a set of keys into his pocket. Donghae looked away when Kyuhyun made it to his car and he heard the door click as it opened and Kyuhyun ducked inside.

“Oh, God it reeks of strawberries in here,” was the first thing out of Kyuhyun’s mouth as he slammed the door closed.

Donghae glanced at the pink car-freshener hanging on his rear view mirror and then to the gear shift to put it in reverse.

“You like strawberries?” Kyuhyun asked and the smirk on his face was clear as day even when Donghae wasn’t looking.

“They smell good,” Donghae replied. They tasted good, too, but he wasn’t about to share that with Kyuhyun. That was the type of thing friends talked about, not sworn enemies. He really wanted to get the “sworn enemies” part into Kyuhyun’s head before he ended up giving Kyuhyun rides all over the place every weekend.  

“Do you use strawberry-scented body wash and spritz your room in strawberry air-freshener, too?” Kyuhyun asked.

“No,” Donghae grumbled. The damn thing had been the only one that smelled good.

“Take a left,” Kyuhyun instructed.

“I’ve been to the mall before.”

“You’re going too slow.”

“Do you want to drive?” Donghae barked.

Kyuhyun was obviously tearing Donghae up with his eyes. “I offered.”

“You would have made me pay you back the gas money,” Donghae grumbled and pulled onto the loop. He really hoped he wouldn’t get lost. He managed to find the mall right where he remembered and pulled into a parking spot. He really didn’t want to have to walk with Kyuhyun, but the fucker waited on him and sidled right up to him all the way through the mall.

People really found Kyuhyun attractive.

Donghae watched as he smiled at every passing thing with two legs and a vagina, flirted with their cashier that was obviously much older than them, even went so far as to treat Donghae like a wingman. Kyuhyun wanted to buy more than a little cord, too. He led them into a bath and body store and scanned the girly shelves, earning a few curious eyes from the women behind the counter.

He picked up a pink bottle with a grin and popped open the top to sniff before handing it to Donghae.

It was strawberry.

“I’m not a girl,” Donghae said and narrowed his eyes at Kyuhyun before shoving the bottle back on the shelf.

“Guys can wear lotion,” Kyuhyun mused with a laugh and picked up another bottle. “And bathe in fruity body wash.”

The smile on Kyuhyun’s face, that ominous, I-know-where-you-sleep smile, wasn’t losing its potency on Donghae. If anything, it was becoming stronger and more effective. He was still staring when Kyuhyun picked up another pink bottle, uncapped it, and sprayed him with strong, strawberry scented body spray.

Donghae glared and found a yellow bottle with a flower on it, but he only managed to spray Kyuhyun’s back as he high-tailed it behind a big cardboard scent collection display.

“Ew, at least what I sprayed you with smelled good,” Kyuhyun called from behind the display.

Pleased, Donghae put the bottle back and turned to leave the store. A cold hand with some sort of liquid slapped against the side of his neck and smeared strawberry lotion on him. Donghae made a half growl, half yelp noise and smacked the hand away as he heard Kyuhyun’s laugh.

“We’re going to get kicked out,” Donghae hissed.

“We were leaving anyways,” Kyuhyun stated and walked past Donghae through the doorway.

As Donghae wiped away the lotion, he realized something. He wasn’t having as shitty of a time as he thought he would. He supposed Kyuhyun was just in a really good mood.

Kyuhyun avidly turned into the store next door, which blasted rock music and seemed too dark to be daytime. Things glowed and fog oozed from some of them. Donghae really wasn’t sure what kind of store they had entered, and he followed Kyuhyun to a huge rack of CDs and tried not to act as weirded out as he really was.

“Are you ready to go yet?” Donghae asked, quietly as his eyes cut from Kyuhyun to the man at the cash register with a lot of piercings and shades of red and purple in his hair.

“It’s not like you have anything better to be doing.”

Donghae literally had to stop himself from rolling his eyes, but then he realized he didn’t have to do a thing Kyuhyun told him to and did it anyways.

“Want me to slap you again?” Kyuhyun asked, pausing in his CD searching.

Donghae blinked. “Not really,” he mumbled and looked away because fuck Kyuhyun was glaring at him again. He sighed silently with relief as Kyuhyun’s eyes went back to the CDs at his hands and he continued flipping through the rows of unorganized cases. One wrong move and he felt like Kyuhyun would be angry, slapping him and throwing him across the store. He wanted to check the time, text someone and tell them about it, walk away and browse the store on his own, but for some reason he couldn’t. 

“Alright,” Kyuhyun finally said and stepped away from the CDs. “Let’s go.”

He followed Kyuhyun out to his car, almost scared he’d jump in the driver’s seat and demand the right to drive. He didn’t, though he didn’t seem very patient with Donghae’s cautious speed.

“Hey, I promised you lunch,” Kyuhyun said. “What do you want?”

“I’m not hungry,” Donghae lied. He hadn’t eaten all day and he was hungry enough to eat a cow. But eat with Kyuhyun voluntarily? He’d rather starve. He’d already spent over an hour humoring him with a friend-like mall date; he didn’t feel obligated in the least to get lunch with him. He pulled up to a stoplight and tried to swallow the lump in his throat as he began to feel uncomfortable with Kyuhyun’s eyes burning holes in him.

“Turn right.”

Donghae shook his head.

He didn’t know what to do at all as he pulled forward and Kyuhyun reached across him, grabbing the wheel and causing the car to jerk to the right. Donghae regained control and frantically looked around at the cars as he pulled onto the road. He hadn’t even been in the turning lane.

“Go there,” Kyuhyun ordered and pointed out his window at a fast food restaurant.

Donghae wanted to shoot himself as he obeyed wordlessly. At Kyuhyun’s instruction, he pulled into the drive-thru and waited behind a few other cars.

“One day you’ll learn to do as I say,” Kyuhyun stated, his eyes watching a car go by through the windshield.

“I don’t have to do anything you say.” Donghae braced himself for the slap, the punch across the face when he saw Kyuhyun’s eyes slice to him and glare hard. He clenched his teeth and held his breath as Kyuhyun leaned across the car, eyes scrutinizing Donghae’s face as if looking for a good place to sink his teeth into a delicate piece of fruit. A strawberry.

 “I want a number six.”

Donghae opened his eyes, not realizing he’d squeezed them shut, and pulled forward to order. He didn’t fight Kyuhyun anymore, allowed him to pay and knew later he’d eventually owe him back. On the way back, he sped. Anything to get Kyuhyun out of his car.

He parked and watched as Kyuhyun gathered his shopping bag out of the floorboard and paused with his hand on the door handle to look over at Donghae.

“See you at school,” he said before he got out of the car.

Donghae pretended not to see Kyuhyun wave from the front door as he backed out and left. A weight lifted off his chest as he regained the sanctity of his car, and he felt like he could breathe normally again.

.-.-.

Next

A/N: Moving right along! The football mentioned in this story is referring to American football. I know it may seem like the plot is moving kind of quickly, but the story is more about their relationship than the events leading to it. But that doesn’t mean they’re going to be going at it like dogs in heat in the next chapter sadly. Leave me a comment and tell me what you think ♥