Hello my dear readers! This is really the end of my story! Thank you so much for walking down this journey with me, be it silent readers or not! I've enjoyed writing it and I hope you enjoy reading it too! Do remember to support my next story, Take Care of My Girlfriend at http://www.asianfanfics.com/story/view/127125/take-care-of-my-girlfriend-donghae-eunhyuk-romance-fictional 

I will be updating the story around next week so please bear with me! THANK YOU SO MUCH! Oh and one last note! This chapter will be written in Donghae's point of view!!! ENJOY!!! And see you at my new story! :)

Donghae’s POV

“Donghae, you alright?”Soobin nudged me awake.

I blinked and that was when I realized I had been day-dreaming. Soobin had collected our dinner and was looking at me with a worried expression.

“Yeah, just a little distracted,”I smiled a little as I opened the car door for her.

“Are you worried for Eunhyuk?”she asked as I got into the car.

“Honestly, yes. His condition is even worse today,”I sighed.

“It’s Haemin’s death anniversary, after all. He hasn’t been alright since she left,”Soobin sighed as well.

“I don’t know what to do with him anymore. It’s like I lost both my best friends that day. Hyukjae is practically soulless,”I started the engine to go back to his place to accompany him for dinner.

I dread to even think what he would do without us today. He would probably cry himself to sleep and skip dinner. I remembered how the two of us had cried ourselves silly that day when she left and how the whole funeral was such a misery. Haemin’s parents wouldn’t stop sobbing about the loss of their only child. Whenever, they looked at me, it reminded them of how she looked when she was just 5, running around my backyard or playing hide-and-seek with me. I, on the other hand, lost my childhood friend of many years. She was there from my earliest memory and my life seemed incomplete without her now. She was my best female friend. Someone whom I trusted and confided in. She had watched me smile, frown and even tear. She was there when I was too ashamed to cry in front of Hyukjae. It was as if God had sent her to me as my neighbor to fill in the missing spots in my life. I had been lonely without any siblings and she came along. She was just like my younger sister whom I took care of.

While her parents sobbed loudly at the funeral, Lee Hyukjae was quiet. That worried me even more since I wouldn’t know how he was coping. Apart from the tell tale signs of his red eyes, his face was like a mask, fixed on with a neutral expression to fool us all. I had silently hoped that he would cry so that at least I know what was going on in his mind but he wouldn’t let Ryeowook and I into his heart. It was as if after Haemin left, he closed his heart to everyone. When night fell, he couldn’t sleep. The whole duration of the funeral, he was just there at the funeral parlour. He only went back to his apartment when he needed to bathe. During her funeral, Hyukjae was like a living zombie. He greeted guests and brought them over to pay respect to his wife.

We tried forcing him to eat but he wouldn’t budge, saying he had no appetite. The already skinny guy had become even skinnier. The day of the burial was even worse; Hyukjae broke down completely and fainted halfway. Ryeowook and I had to rush him to the hospital to get him on an IV drip. The whole time that he was on drip, he cried non-stop. As his best friend, I felt bad for not being able to relieve the sadness in his heart. Watching him cry, I cried silently while feeling so helpless. The last time I saw Lee Hyukjae smile was the moment where he stepped into the car with Haemin after being pronounced man and wife. It had been a whole year.

“Let’s just hope he feels better with the seafood pancake we bought for him. He loves it,”I smiled.

“Don’t worry about it, Hae,”Soobin smiled back as she gave my hand a squeeze.

We got out of our car and headed towards his apartment. The security guard nodded his head, acknowledging me. I was by then a regular visitor to Hyukjae’s apartment. I dropped in every now and then to make sure he was still alive. It all started with that one day where he refused to come out and meet me. I knew he had no plans at all and was lying to me since he had stopped hanging out with our friends ever since her death. So I drove to his house and barged in to find that he had been drinking. For all I know, Lee Hyukjae had never drunk a single sip of alcohol in his life. I was bewildered by his sudden change in behavior and demanded an explanation from him. But instead of opening his mouth to speak, his tears just fell and he talked about how tired he was and how he didn’t know how to live without her. With his voice wavering, he talked about how lonely he felt in his penthouse. It was like he could see Haemin everywhere but not get to her.

I never thought that a silly crush back then could turn into such a deep emotion engrained in him.

‘Ding dong~!’

Soobin and I waited outside for a bit but we heard no footsteps from the other side. We tried ringing the doorbell again.

“He could be asleep. He looked so tired earlier on,”Soobin guessed.

“He looks tired every day. I don’t know what to do with him,”I sighed as I placed my finger on the scanner to get the door open.

I had forced him to let me have access to his apartment since I was dead worried for him. I wanted to come by once in awhile to do a spot check to make sure that he wasn’t doing anything silly.

“Hyukjae, we’re back!”I called out as we stepped into the apartment.

The living room was still and stuffy.

“Hyukjae!”I called out.

“Stop it, you might wake him up,”Soobin nudged me.

“I’ll go wake him up,”I ran up the stairs.

“Lee Donghae! Don’t scare him!”she ran up after me.

“Our Eunhyukkie! Wakey wakey!”I pushed open the door.

I was expecting him to be sleeping on his bed but he was sitting on the arm chair beside it with his eyes closed. In his hands was a photo album and he had a small smile on his face.

“Eunhyukkie,”I called out softly as I shook him.

Instead of waking up, his hand fell off the photo album lifelessly. I stared it for a moment before looking at Soobin.

“Hyukjae ah…,”I shook him a little louder.

But there was no response.

“Hyukjae! Lee Hyukjae!”this time round, I jabbed him in the sides.

Any normal human being who’s pretending to sleep would have shouted out loud in annoyance but not him. His head just rolled a little. Soobin, who was a medical student, pushed me aside to test his pulse and she gasped.

“There’s…nothing, Hae,”she turned to me.

With my hands trembling, I put a finger under his nose and he wasn’t breathing at all. My mouth fell open and my legs gave way.

“Are you alright?”Soobin held onto my hand.

But I didn’t answer her. I watched Hyukjae as he rested in peace. For the first time in 365 days, I saw him smile once again. That was when I realized that he was probably tired from mourning. He was exhausted from day one and it had accumulated till now. He wanted to stop this feeling and the only way to stop mourning was to see her. Now, my two best friends have finally reunited after one long year. Hyukjae, you’ve worked hard this year. Thank you for trying.

“Hyukjae, are you happy now?”

Though my tears were flowing, I smiled for I know Lee Hyukjae is very happy now.