He had never felt this tired in his life. Okay, maybe that was an exaggeration since he was used to do this but it did not mean he does not get tired.

“You only have twenty minutes to finish the readings then we will go straight to applying what you have read and learned.”

. There was nothing else he could do to speed up his reading pace when his head hurt like crazy. Words and letters bombarded his head like machine guns and he felt like throwing up. Maybe he should have just listened to Heechul last night of not pulling another all-nighter. The stress and fatigue were catching up to him sooner than he had expected.

Groaning from the complexity of the topic, Donghae wished for the night to just end. Sparing a glance around the room, he cursed silently as he noticed that almost everyone’s finished or closed to finishing the reading material. He still had few chapters left and he had never felt before the strongest urge to throw up as much as he did at that moment. Everything was just spinning and seemingly mocking him.

Screw the principal for suspending him for two days last week! Screw his classmates for taking advantage of his absence! Screw the new night class lecturer who was so uptight it was driving him crazy! Screw himself for being so physically and mentally weak! Screw Heechul for being on the other section! Screw Hyukjae for just being his annoying self! So basically, just screw everyone!

Speaking of Hyukjae, it had been a week since his short break and since the last time he had ever seen the bubble tea shop employee. It was not like he did not want to see the older, in fact he did, considering the amount of text messages he received from the taller on a daily basis, but this week’s an absolute hell for the students of Seoul College of Law. And speaking of the hundreds of texts the older had sent him, Donghae still has yet to punish his best friend for giving Hyukjae his phone number.

“Lee Donghae, focus!”

The young lecturer who he failed to notice was already standing in front of his desk said in an authoritative manner. He heard some snickers behind him and he just rolled his eyes, rudely scoffing in the process. He tried to put his full attention back on the readings but he was just so tired that reading even a sentence is almost unmanageable. Donghae briefly glanced at the digital clock on top of the lecturer’s table. He grimaced as red, large and bold 11:10 PM flashed before his eyes.

I just want to go home!

Donghae internally whined. He used to enjoy night classes during his freshman and sophomore years when Heechul and he were classmates, but he slowly and painfully grew tired of them. It also did not help his case when some of his usual classmates including Heechul got transferred to another night class section.

Twenty minutes agonizingly went by and the lecturer immediately passed some work sheets to the class. He did not even give them a short break and Donghae felt like pulling his hair out. He knew he was not the only tired one as constant groans and soft whines could be heard from every corners of the room.

Several knocks were then heard and the school’s security guard appeared on the door.

“Sorry to interrupt your class, Professor Hong, but the food delivery for student Lee Donghae had arrived. He can now go and claim the delivery at the front gate. Thank you.”

Food delivery for Lee Donghae?

Donghae stood up reluctantly. “But sir—”

The lecturer looked at him. “You can go, Donghae-ssi. Be back before you run out of time to finish your work sheet.”

He just bowed as he walked carefully on the hallway going to the front gate. To say that Donghae was confused and baffled were understatements. Of course he was well-aware that food delivery during night classes were allowed and acceptable as long as they would not sneak out outside the campus. However, Donghae was also aware of something. He did not order any food and he was most definitely not expecting a food delivery.

Maybe Heechul hyung ordered for me?

But the more he gave it some more thoughts, the more questions popped in his head. He knew well that Heechul would not even think of ordering some food for him. Why? Because first, his roommate slash best friend is a very stingy person. Heechul will not spend even a coin for someone that is not himself, and that includes him. And second, Heechul knew how much he hates greasy food and most of the time, delivery food are just exactly that.

The moment he reached the front gate, he saw no one aside from the security guard who called for him earlier. Was someone playing a tricks on him?

The guard must have had noticed him as he pointed at the small garden beside the guard house.

“The delivery man insisted he would meet you there, Lee Donghae-ssi,” the middle-aged guard said.

He muttered a soft ‘thank you’ as he tried to make out the person in the small garden. Because of the darkness saved by some light posts scattered around the front part of the campus, he failed to see the other' face.

As he entered the garden, he knew for sure that the person with his back facing him was indeed a delivery man or something. Several paper bags which Donghae assumed contained food and drinks were neatly placed on the wooden bench just a few inches away from the man. The physique of the delivery guy looked very familiar though.

“Excuse me Sir, but I don’t think you have the right person—”

Just then, the man faced him and Donghae instantly recognized that same annoying face he failed to see for almost a week. He still has that teasing smirk which Donghae got used to even though their encounters could be counted with only just one hand.   

“One honey lemon tea and one stir-fry chicken, special delivery for Lee Donghae.”

Donghae resisted the urge to smile, but his face betrayed him. Next thing he knew, a ghost of a smile made an appearance on his face. It was small and could easily be missed but Donghae’s sure it was there. He was not sure whether he was smiling because finally some food to tame his angry stomach or he was smiling because of the absurdity of the situation.