“Donghae-ssi!”

Lee Donghae turns from where he’s talking to one of his lablemates in a café. “HanKyung-ssi?”

Hankyung, or Han Geng, Donghae supposes he probably goes by now, smiles and nods. “Long time no see.”

Donghae grins. “It sure has been.  What, two.. Three years now?”

Before the conversation could go any farther, Donghae’s companion speaks up. “Hey, Donghae, I’ve gotta go, so…”

Donghae blinks and turns to him. “I’m sorry Ji. Tell Seunghyun and Youngbae and the others hi for me?”

Jiyong flashes a quick smile, and stands.  With a wave over his shoulder he disappears and Han Geng raises an eyebrow. “Was that…”

Donghae smiles, “Yeah that was ‘G-D’, He really a nice guy once you get to him, if a bit…” He his head to the side and chews at his lip, “driven, I suppose is a good word for it.”

Han Geng nods and glances at the empty seat. “Do you mind if I sit down.”

“No, go ahead.” Donghae laughs. “I’m surprised that you are still here in Korean after that nasty business with your lawsuit.”

Han Geng winces. “Yeah, I’m just back to pick of a few things and sign some paper work.” He lets out a breath. “This is almost more trouble than its worth.”

Donghae looks at him curiously. “Really Hankyung-ssi?”

Han Geng pauses, and his face wrinkles briefly, before he sighs. “Well, its… Its complicated. I really did love what I did, and I loved Super Junior, I just… It was suffocating, I was running on empty, and it got to point where either I was gonna break, or I was gonna break something.” He shrugs. “It seemed like the best choice was to try and get the contract broken. As it is, I can’t go back now.”

Donghae looks contemplative. “Do you miss them?”

Han Geng looks surprised. “Of course I do! We were friends, we were always together, we ate, slept, and worked together, that makes a bond you can’t just cut and leave behind. It was almost like this weird family of mismatched boys who didn’t have a clue what they where doing. So yeah, I miss them. Don’t you?”

Donghae smiles softly and leans back in his chair. “Its been a long time for me Han Geng, I’ve not been part of super junior for four or five years now. Sometimes I wonder what could have been, and I still keep in touch with a few of them, but… I’m not sure I miss them in the same way that you do.”

Han Geng looks thoughtful. “I suppose you’re right, If they hadn’t replaced-” Han Geng breaks off abruptly, eyes stricken, and winces as he looks at Donghae”

Laughter. “Its fine Hankyung-ssi, I got over that a long time ago. You can say it. I was replaced by Kyuhyun-ssi, and then SM traded me with YG for some of their Trainees. Its not a bad thing, I would have never ended up acting other wise.” he raises an eyebrow “How did Kyuhyun-ssi work out by the way?”

Han Geng coughs, flushes a little, but answers. “He’s done great, getting a lot of solo work, the boy can sing.”

Donghae smiles. “That’s good, I knew him as a trainee, but we fell out of touch, so I’m glad.”

Han Geng flashes an uncertain smile. “Hey, Donghae-ssi?”

Donghae grins at him. “You know I don’t mind if you call me Donghae, if you let b=me back to calling you hyung.”

Han Geng blinks, but nods. “Alright…. Donghae, what did you mean by you wouldn’t have started acting other wise?”

“I’m not really YG material, to be completely honest” he laughs “ I write some songs here and there, some lyrics, but musically, we don’t mix. So when I transferred to YG, I moved into the acting department, which turned out to be quite a good decision.”

“Your last drama had really great ratings I heard.”

Donghae blushes, “Oh, we did okay, but I’ll admit it was fun to play the lead.”

Han Geng smiles. They continue talking but after a while Donghae checks his watch. “I’m sorry hyung, but I’ve filming in a little while, I need to go.”

Han Geng pulls out his cellphone. “before you go, why don’t we exchange numbers.” He grins at Donghae “Maybe this time it won’t be three years until I hear form you again.”

Donghae  giggles and pulls out his phone as well. “Alright then.” 

As they are entering the others information into their phones, Donghae speaks up again. “Are you going back to china soon?”

“Yeah, I’m only here for a few days. I’ve got a lot of work to do, and I think we’re currently in negotiations for a spot in a drama, so hopefully that goes through.”

“Oh, what drama hyung?”

“Um, I can’t remember the title, but its supposed to be some kind of Korean/Chinese collaboration about Ethnic Koreans living in china. Apparently they’ve already got the Korean lead casted, and we’re triyng for the Chinese lead.”

“Is it called ‘Heart’s Home?”

“Yes! That was it!” Han Geng’s eyes widen in shock. “How did you know?”

Donghae grins, and flips his phone shut. “Lets just say, I think you’ll get your wish of seeing a bit more of me in the future.”

“What-”

“Gotta run” He stands and bows quickly, “I’ll talk to you later hyung, it was nice talking with you!”

“It was nice” the door shuts and Donghae is on his way down the street. “to… talk… to you, too?”

Han Geng sends a bemused glance after him and laughs. Even after all these years, that same little Donghae who you never knew what he’d do, or say next, was hiding under the exterior of the confident and popular Actor, that Han Geng was unfamiliar with.

As he stands to leave his phone goes  off. “Hey.”

“Geng? You got the part.”

Excitement bubbles up, and an wide grin stretches his face. “I did?! That’s great!”

“Yeah, and I also found out who will be playing the Korean lead.”

Han Geng takes a moment to calm himself down. “Oh?” he says when he finally catches his breath. “Who is it?”

“Do you  know an Actor called Lee Donghae?”

And Han Geng  laughs, because Donghae was right and it seems that He’ll get his chance to get to the know the new and confident Donghae.

And he has to admit. He’s looking forward to it.