The two stayed like that. ___ was still sleeping on her bed while Donghae was still sitting on the bed beside her, his hands still holding onto hers, looking at her peaceful face. Then, there was a light knock on the door before Heechul appeared.

“Is…she okay ?” Heechul asked cautiously. He felt bad for causing all this.

“Mhmm, she’s calmed down already, been sleeping for a while now,” Donghae told him and smiled a little.

“Donghae ah,” Heechul said as he approached him. “I’m really sorry for causing all these, I was really harsh.”

“Hyung, I don’t know what happened before that, but all I know now is that she’s okay, and that’s all that matters to me right now. So it’s okay, hyung, don’t worry,” Donghae reassured Heechul with a pat on the back.

Heechul then gave him an apologetic smile before he made his way to the door but Donghae stopped him.

“Oh wait, hyung ! Is the mess outside cleared ?” Donghae asked.

“Yup, I cleared it already. Don’t worry, accompany her,” Heechul said. “I’ll go get some breakfast for you two since you guys have yet to eat breakfast.”

As soon as Heechul left the room, Donghae went back beside ____. She must have probably heard their previous conversation together, as she started to stir in her sleep. He stiffened, unsure if he should let go of her hand for fear she might have a relapse again. Then, she started to blink her eyes open, tightening her grip onto Donghae’s hand. As she turned to her left, she was met with Donghae’s warm chocolate eyes, looking straight right at her, wide opened. She then froze for a moment, getting lost in his gaze.

His eyes. His warm, assuring eyes I missed the most. Donghae oppa… I missed you, b-but…I don’t know why I can’t pluck up enough courage to talk to you.

She continued looking at him, tears slowly starting to fill her eyes.

I want to talk to you so badly b-but…I don’t know how…what do I do ?

Donghae who saw that she was starting to tear up panicked slightly, afraid that she would start to freak out again. Thus, he quickly let go of her hands and backed away from her.

Ottoke ! Oppa…I…the words just won’t come out.

The fact that ___ was trying to speak to him was evident. But Donghae immediately squatted beside her so that they were on the same eye level, and comforted her, “It’s okay, take your time, don’t rush it, alright ? Take it easy…”

Though he had to admit that he really wanted to hear her voice again, he also felt like he shouldn’t be rushing her. Tears welled up in his eyes upon seeing how helpless she was as she slowly sat up from the bed and look at him, tears rolling down her cheeks.

Donghae couldn’t help it and went to sit beside her on the bed, gently hugging her and positioning his lips on her forehead. Shortly after, he felt her body stiffened and he pulled away again, to see her face turn bright pink as she looked down and avoided his gaze.

He smiled, and his hands combed through her hair ever so lightly.

A few days later, Donghae was already in good shape in both mind and body, and was back to his healthy, energetic self. ___ had made great progress in her condition though she has yet to speak to him. Though she still kept her distance away from the other members, she always made an effort to smile at them whenever their eyes meet and she would often be with Donghae. They hadn’t gone back to all the hugs and kisses yet, of course, but she always stuck around Donghae. It felt like the first time they met again, as ___ would blush and get shy around him easily whenever he spoke to her. They weren’t close like they were before yet, but Donghae was contented to see that ___ was already starting to acknowledge him.

That day, Donghae and several other Super Junior members were scheduled to be on Strong Heart, and since no one was going to be at the dorm due to their full schedules today, Donghae had decided to take ___ along to the studio with him for recording. Besides, he had never done that before, and he felt that by doing this he would allow her to understand more about him all over again, and perhaps recall the memories they created together. Thus, after ensuring that ___ was nicely seated at the corner of the first row where she would be in his sight, he quickly went on set to take his position so that filming could begin.

The atmosphere since the start of filming had been really good, and both the guests and the audience had a really happy time. Finally, the time for Donghae to share his story had come, and anticipation grew as it had been a long time since he had made his appearance on the show, whereby he would often arouse huge laughter.

“Now it’s time to welcome the rising blue chip of variety shows, Super Junior’s…LEE DONGHAE !!!” The MCs Kang Hodong and Lee Seunggi announced together, causing everyone in the studio to cheer.

“Annyeonghasayo !!” Donghae greeted everyone brightly.

“Our Donghae,” Hodong said, “It’s been a while since we last saw you ! You’ve been in Taiwan for quite some time right ? We’re really anticipating a lot today !”

He chuckled slightly, “Aniyo, today I don’t really intend to be funny !”

“Really ?” Seunggi confirmed, and Donghae nodded his head.

“…Eun..Hae. Eunhae. Ah, are you going to be sharing about you and Eunhyuk today ?” Hodong asked as he read off the board, making fan girls in the studio scream in excitement.

“Mm, nope,” Donghae said, giving the fangirls an apologetic smile. “It’s Ga Eun and Donghae, which makes up Eunhae as well.”

“Ga Eun ?” Seunggi said. “Ah, you mean your girlfriend ?”

“Ne…” Donghae said, glancing towards her direction, before he continued with his story.

“Ooooooooh,” the audiences and the guests said aloud, perfectly synchronized.

“Yes, the reason why I wanted to share a story about us is because I’ve done something very wrong which cannot be forgiven and caused me to nearly lose her.” He told everyone.

“I only bumped into her after she spent 2 years as a trainee in SME in the practice room. Though it was rather awkward at first, we managed to get along quite well after our first meeting. She had come to Korea all alone, without her parents in hope of achieving her dream of becoming a singer. After knowing about it, I thought she was independent, but in reality she was actually a very fragile person, so easily broken. Very soon she was given an opportunity to work together with us for Super Show 3, and I proposed to her after knowing her for approximately 8 months. Although a regrettable incident happened at Guangzhou, causing her to be unable to pursue her dreams, she chose to stay alongside me and a memorable incident happened in Singapore, where our fans decided to accept our relationship. But just then, the time had come for us to go our separate ways for 4 months,” he explained.

The studio was listening intently, no one interrupting him at all.

Then, he continued, “During my stay in Taiwan, we kept in close contact at first, but gradually as more time passed, our calls were less frequent, and I could feel myself slowly drifting away from her.”

He cleared his throat, trying to steady his emotions before turning towards ___. “I’ve never explained to her the reasons for my actions before, but I think it’s the right time for me to do so now. I saw a photo taken of her at her campus, her clad in a cheerleading costume and a guy kissing her. I felt angry at first, but then I didn’t make the effort to call her or ask her about it. This was when the misunderstanding occurred as I thought she was two timing.”

…Guy…? Jake ? So this is why-

“I was supposed to meet up with her upon ending my long stay in Taiwan and arriving at Korea, but I didn’t bother giving her a call or anything and went back straight to the dorm. It was an utterly wrong decision, as she needed me to help her, to rescue her from the situation she was stuck in. Since then, she…she developed a mental illness, as many of you know. Shortly after, I found out that I had forgotten our 300^th day anniversary, whilst she had done more than enough in preparing for it by knitting a scarf and baking a cake for me personally.” He said.

___ kept her eyes on him intently, never losing eye contact as she listened to his side of the story.

“Ever since then, there were many times I felt like giving up our relationship. She felt easily intimidated and threatened because of her illness, and it made it hard to even communicate or get her to eat her medicine. It  was hard to deal with, but the members always stayed by my side, encouraging me and helping me along. I realized, that if she has yet to give up, then I shouldn’t too. It was my fault in the first place anyway. There were times that I really felt like breaking down, when I felt like she couldn’t even recognize me or recall all that happened between us for the past few months. I had full schedules almost every other day and when I come home, I had to get her to take her medicine because she didn’t want to listen to the other members. It was tough, and many times I cried alone in the bathroom. I’ve never felt so guilty, so bad. I’m the reason for her to lose something that she can never get back that had left a permanent scar on her.” He continued.

I’m sorry, it has been hard on you.

By now, she was hanging her head low, starting to tear continuously as memories of that night flashed through her mind. However, Donghae continued with his story, he himself trying to control his emotions as well.

“Right now her condition is becoming much better, and I’m very thankful for that. Currently, though we’re not as close as before and it feels like day one where our relationship starts from scratch, I’m willing to wait for her to open up to me and speak to me. Even if it means months or years, I will never get tired of waiting for her, and my arms are always spread wide open for the day to come where she hugs me again. I don’t know about being perfect, but I am certain that her sacrificial love for me is my definition of perfect,” he said, wiping the tears that had fallen.

“Why don’t you send her a message on television, she’s watching you now at home, right ?” Hodong asked. Ever since the start of his sharing, the studio had become quiet, as everyone had gotten into the somber mood.

“Well, she’s present at the studio here today,” Donghae revealed, smiling between his tears.

The guests and audiences then turned towards the direction of where his eyes were looking, to see a petite-framed girl who hung her head low. After hearing what Donghae had said, she felt extremely guilty for causing all these trouble and inconvenience to him. She couldn’t lift her head up now, and though quietly, she was sobbing uncontrollably, the tears falling from her eyes to the cloth covering her thighs.

Everyone in the studio had a look full of sympathy on their faces as they saw how she cried so painfully to herself. Then, Donghae walked towards where she was sitting and squatted in front of her, gently holding onto her hands.

“___...? You alright…?” Donghae asked gently and tried to look at her face as her hair had fallen to the sides and covered her face. “Don’t cry anymore, else you won’t be pretty on national TV !”

Despite much of his patient efforts to lighten up the mood to calm her down, she still didn’t budge. However, as the crowd cheered her on, Donghae carefully guided her up the stage, and she wiped the tears on her face, bowing to everyone before trying to hide herself behind Donghae.

“Everyone, I’d like to formally introduce you my girlfriend, Ga Eun !” he exclaimed proudly.

The guests and the audiences clapped and cheered loudly, and a wide smile was plastered on Donghae’s tear stained face.

“Neoumu yeppeo !!” some of the guests commented.

___ was starting to get shy and hugged his arm tightly, looking into his eyes for some source of reassurance.

“Ga Eun, I know that you had suffered a lot, and I can never make up for the amount of pain that you had gone through, but I would like to apologise sincerely to you. Thank you for all the times you thought about me and for me, all the times you told me you loved me. I love you too, and though this feels like the first time we met, and the first day we started dating, I just want to let you know that I’m here for you, waiting for you, till the day you come to accept me again,” he said sincerely, squeezing her hand a little tighter and looking into her eyes.

___, together with most of the people in the studio were in tears now. She took a deep breath, trying to gather some courage to speak to him. Then again, they were on national TV, which made her even more self-conscious and shy.

After a while of silence in the whole studio while the two exchanged eye contact, she spoke.

“…M-mianhe, ….Dongh-hae oppa…” she sobbed, and went forward, wrapping her arms around him lightly and proceeding to sob in his chest.

Donghae couldn’t react. He was too shocked to do or say anything. The other members were too stunned, as their jaw dropped. Donghae stood there, dumbfounded, staring at ___ who was currently embracing him. Everyone in the studio had their eyes wide opened and gasps could be heard, causing Donghae to snap back into reality. Slowly and gently, he lifted his hands and hugged her back, tears rolling down his cheeks endlessly and he whispered, “…___,…it’s you…”

Everyone in the studio gave a standing ovation and cheered at the emotional scene unfolding before them.

She pulled back, continuing to speak softly between her tears, her cheeks pink, “M-mianhe, y…you’ve waited for me for so…so long.”

He tried his best to control his emotions, “You don’t have to be sorry, I’m at fault… D-don’t cry…don’t cry anymore hun, you have no idea how much…h-how much I’ve missed you…”

More tears of joy escaped Donghae’s eyes and ___ too, felt relieved for having been able to finally open up and speak to him.

“I’ve kept you waiting for so long, and I’m sorry that I might need some time to be the ___ that I was before. I’ll try my best, …I…I really w-will…” she whispered, tears rolling down her cheeks, “Don’t cry…m-my oppa…”

She comes back

She says she’s sorry

The skilled hands these I missed caress my own

The apologetic eyes that look at me

The voice I want to hear

Tenderly telling me not to cry

She gently cupped his cheeks and used her thumb to wipe away his tears.

Donghae looked into her eyes, full of fear and worries. Though she was showing a small smile on the outside, he could tell that she was trembling on the inside, afraid of what would lie ahead of her. Then, he reassured her, holding both her hands,“D-don’t worry, it’s a promise…let’s start anew,”

Then, the studio was in darkness except for a single spotlight shining on the both of them like it did during his proposal to her.

“Under your spotlight,” she said, and he planted a small, quick but sweet kiss on one of her hand that he was holding. 

A/N: Hello readers ! Sorry for taking so long to update ! School has started and my first week at school has been super hectic ! After seeing my results for my Mid Year Exams, I think I should...study a lot harder :x Anyway, I had a mini writer's block when I tried to update. So I really thought hard about this chapter for days. I didn't want to continue with all the sad sad chapters any longer, so I hope this makes the mood better ! Really hope you like it and I'd appreciate comments ! :3 Will try to update as soon as my school schedules allow me to ! (: Oh and before I forget, I think I'm only left with about 2-3 chapters ? Before I'll come to end of this story ): Meanwhile, hope you enjoy this chapter !