Beautiful Imperfection ( COMPLETED )

Unexpected Lifeline

Since the very first time he set foot in middle school, Hyukjae knew his life wasn't going to be normal. He was what people would categorize as a geek, nerd, or probably a nuisance too. He was a genius, a transfer student from a prestigious school in New York.
While most people would probably be thrilled to be back in their hometown after spending years in a foreign country, he had a totally different thought. People avoided him. He was all alone. His bad social skills weren't helping either, not to mention his appearance that clearly defined 'the weird nerdy boy who has books in his hand everytime.'
He got used to it though. He wasn't hated by anyone, but he wasn't anyone's friend either. Deciding not to care about what other people thought about him, he isolated himself and began a lonely teenage life.
One thing he felt glad about, was that he was never bullied, not even once. He'd sometimes receive mocking jokes from a few people, but that was it. Well, at least humanity still exists in this world.
"How was school today?"
It was the exact same question he'd get for almost every single day from Kyungmi, his loyal housekeeper.
"Fine," and he'd reply with the same answer each time he was asked.
He indeed thought he was fine the way he was, until the day he first entered high school and met the popular dancer turned idol, Jung Yunho, who happened to attend the same high school he goes to. It was like a dream come true.
Despite his image as a geek, Hyukjae had always loved dancing; it was his passion. He admired Yunho a lot, and it was probably an opportunity sent down from heaven to meet the latter in the flesh.
He thought of him as a dancing god, well, he thought he was, until that one gloomy day he'd never be able to forget.
"I really admire you, Yunho-sii," he braced himself up and bravely came up to Yunho, ignoring the eyes that were secretly trying to take a peek into their conversation. "Can you please be my dancing teacher? I would like to be a dancer like you too."
He didn't know where he got the confidence to open up his usually silent mouth and approach the most popular student in the school. But he did it. Gathering every bit of his little courage, he told Yunho the one thing he had been keeping since the first day of school.
"Really," Yunho smiled at him, the kind of smile that instantly put him at ease. "You want to be a dancer?"
Hyukjae nodded. This is it, he thought. He'd finally achieve his dream, alongside his idol, Jung Yunho. He heard whispers and murmurs mocking him, but he couldn't care less. Yunho was the only one he could see right now.
"Are you kidding me?" Yunho let out a sarcastic laugh, his judging eyes staring at him up and down. "Do you really think an ugly piece of like you could be a dancer like me? Dream on, geek."
Those words left a big impact on him, more than he thought they'd be. He could only stand there looking blankly at the walls, still in the middle of processing each of the word Yunho had told him.
Piece of .
Ugly.
Dream on.
His face reddened, never once had he thought the gentle and nice Jung Yunho he had seen on TV would say something like that. He didn't expect this outcome, he didn't see this coming.
He could hear people laughing, he saw the scornful look they were giving him, but he couldn't walk away. His pride was shattered to pieces, and then he felt it, the raging anger that slowly emerged deep within his heart.
He was humiliated right in front of the crowd.
And he wasn't going to forget this.
*****

"You should eat something."
Hyukjae didn't look up when Kyungmi entered his room, putting down a glass of his favourite strawberry milk on the table. He had been locking himself up in his room for two days straight, isolating himself from the outside world.
It wasn't like he was well accepted out there anyway.
"What happened?" Kyungmi asked again, but as stubborn as he was, Hyukjae still refused to say a word. "You don't want to talk about it?"
"It's nothing."
"You've been sulking for two days and it's nothing?"
"Noona," Hyukjae sighed. He didn't want to be rude, but he preferred to be alone right now. "I'm just tired. You don't have to worry about me."
"Did something happen at school?"
"No."
"You've always been bad at lying, you know that," Kyungmi said, but she didn't ask further and eventually left the room after forcing Hyukjae to finish his drink.
As soon as she was out, Hyukjae slowly climbed down his bed and stood in front of the mirror, studying every inch of his face.
Messy long hair, big round spectacles, skinny frame and outdated fashion style. That was the image he could see in there. He was the weirdo, the kind of person people would never want to be friends with.
"I'm indeed ugly," he told himself. "No one would love an ugly dancer."
Slowly, he felt like the dream he had been chasing up until now was going to crumble down. The dance practices he had all this time was just a waste, he'd never be able to achieve what he'd always wanted.
He wanted to give up. That would probably the best thing to do.
*****

"Jung Yunho you crazy bastard!" Hyukjae screamed as loud as he could, venting his anger that he had been keeping inside for God knows how long. "I ing hate you and your cocky !"
No one would be able to hear him anyway. He was at the rooftop, the only place where he could find peace and calm his mind. Students rarely came up here since it was an off-limit area, but the entrance door was broken and no one was really doing anything about it.
"You think you're that good? Kiss my !" He continued to curse, his hands gripping tight on the metal railings, "I hate you! I hate you! Stupid! !"
"Cursing in the morning?"
Hyukjae abruptly turned around, his heart skipped a beat seeing a student lying down on the bench behind him. Did he hear everything? But how come he didn't notice him? What should he do? Should he threaten him to keep this a secret? But who in the world would be scared of him though?
"You're so noisy," the boy yawned and sat up, his sleepy eyes were fixed on Hyukjae.
Now that he was awake, Hyukjae finally realized he was Lee Donghae, the strikingly good looking student who was definitely on par with Yunho when it comes to his popularity. This is bad, he thought.
They might know each other, which meant that there was a huge possibility Yunho would find out he was cursing him. And he'd be a dead meat for sure.
"Chill, I have no intention of telling anyone," Donghae said as he got up on his feet, "Do whatever you want."
And then he left. That was the first time he talked to Donghae, the popular guy who was loved by all, the guy who had everything. He envied him, to be honest. He wanted to be in his place, but it was impossible.
The time had probably come for him to give up on his dream.

Or not.

The harder he tried to forget, the harder it was to get Yunho's voice out of his head. And he had now come to a conclusion; revenge. He had to do something. He had to prove Yunho wrong. He wanted to make him see that he wasn't like what he thought.
But how?
This wasn't an action movie where he could hire an assassin to beat the out of his enemy, this was reality. A reality where he wasn't anyone, and Jung Yunho was the king.
"Would you like to do an instant makeover?"
Hyukjae's eyes grew wide as he turned towards the voice, only to realize it was from the commercial on TV. Then it hit him.
A makeover.
Yes, that would be the answer he'd been desperately searching for. But once again, how?
"I'm so useless," he was close to bursting up in tears, but he held it in, "I know nothing about fashion. This is just impossible."
*****

It was hard to believe, but the next time Hyukjae went up to the rooftop, he met Donghae again. This time he was fully awake and had a headphone around his neck, his head bobbing, slowly and almost imperceptibly.
He wanted to avoid him at all costs, he really should, but it was too late because the latter was quick enough to notice his presence.
"Cursing time again?"
He remembers me, he thought. He was usually so dull and bleak that people often failed to notice him. It was probably a miracle that a popular guy like Donghae was able to remember his existence.
"Did you tell anyone?"
"No."
"Why?"
"Why should I? It has nothing to do with me."
"Aren't you close with Yunho?"
"Don't be ridiculous," Donghae said, "We hate each other's guts."
Now this was definitely one hell of a topic to gossip about. If anyone were to find out, it'd certainly make a headline in the school's magazines. The two famous school heartthrobs, Jung Yunho and Lee Donghae were actually enemies, who'd have thought?
"If you want to hate him, go ahead, I'm totally fine with it."
Donghae was indeed one weird guy. He was like the epitome of all hotness and gorgeousness, but he didn't seem to care about anyone else. He was nothing like Yunho, who seemed to be enjoying the attention he was getting, way too much.
"D-do you mind if I ask you something?" Hyukjae was stammering, but he was desperate enough to do this. It was now or never. He might never be able to have this chance again. "Do you...do you happen to know where I can get a makeover?"
Donghae gave him a strange look, he clearly didn't expect to hear such question coming from a genius geek. Hyukjae bit his lower lip and looked down, somehow regretting his decision to point out the question. Donghae was probably going to laugh and mock him like other people did.
"I know some places around here," Donghae said, much to Hyukjae's surprise. "Not sure how good they are though."
"C-can you...tell me how to get there?"
Donghae didn't answer right away. But his eyes didn't leave Hyukjae, as if he was trying to read through him. "What did Yunho do to you?"
"What?"
"You were cursing him pretty damn well that day. What did he do?"
"He..." Hyukjae wasn't even sure if he should tell the truth to someone he barely knew about, but the words came out before he could stop himself. "He insulted me in front of other students. I admired him a lot, I love dancing, you see. But he said it's impossible for someone as ugly as me to be a dancer."
Donghae was just blankly looking at him, everything suddenly felt awkward between them. Hyukjae figured he should just leave and find another way, but Donghae's voice stopped him.
"Want me to take you there?"
Hyukjae looked at the latter in disbelief. Did he hear it right? "But...I..."
"A friend of mine is an expert in this kind of thing."
"Are you...are you sure? We don't even know each other."
Donghae stood up and approached Hyukjae, casually wrapping his arm around his shoulder as he dragged him towards the staircase. "Getting revenge is always fun."
Hyukjae didn't get Donghae and his reason at all. But he wasn't going to let go of this golden opportunity. Getting help from one of the most popular guys in school was definitely a path leading to success.
"I can help you," Donghae added, "I'm bored to death anyway. And this seems fun."
"Thank you," Hyukjae bowed at the latter, putting away the pride that he held up so high, "I won't forget this."

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