Routine; Like A Broken Record

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"I'll be leaving now, Seohyun. I'll leave the rest to you," Donghae called out to the younger girl whilst making his way towards the elevator.

"Yes, Mr. Lee. Have a good evening," came Seohyun's response and the two exchanged a brief nod of acknowledgement before the businessman disappeared into the awaiting elevator.

"Psst, Seohyun-ah!" a co-worker nudged the secretary upon approaching her.

"Don't you find our boss to be so dramatically different nowadays?" the girl tapped her finger against her lip in a pondering manner, "I mean what happened to the workaholic and casanova Lee Donghae?! He's been like a lifeless, mechanical robot these days! Same routines, leaving work at the same time everyday, nonchalance," the girl paused with widened eyes, "Does he happen to be possessed?!"

"Don't be nosy, Seyeon-ah," the calm girl shook her head disapprovingly at the latter, "You know Mr. Lee has still yet to recover from the incident."

"You mean the shooting incident from two months ago? Why would he still be bothered by it?" the ignorant girl asked, perplexed.

"You're forgetting that Ms. Jung is still in a coma," she stared at the noisy girl pointedly.

"Ah," Seyeon now nodded, finally understanding the situation.

"He must be suffering from the overwhelming guilt."

Seohyun could only heave an exasperated sigh in response to the nosy yet dense girl.

He's suffering because he's only realized how much he really loves her, and is paralyzed by the fear that she may never wake up for him to love her the way she always deserved to be loved.

-

"Jess, love, you know that I'm willing to wait for you no matter how long it may take for you to wake up, right?"

Donghae smiled at the sleeping beauty as he wiped her face and hands with a wet cloth.

His smile was innocent, hopeful, and all too painful.

"Just promise me though, that you'll definitely wake up. For my sake. That's all I need, love" he paused as he stared adoringly at the girl before him, "You can sleep for a few months or even years if you want to, I know how much you love your sleep. Just rest well. I'll be here waiting, right by your side, for whenever you're ready to wake again. Just as you've waited for me all these years, I'll wait for you."

With all that he desired to say, said, he brought her frail hand up to his right cheek in a loving manner and then interlocked it in his own big one, before planting a kiss on it and resting it back against his cheek.

It had become a habit for Donghae, a routine, to just simply bask in the presence of Jessica's company when he visited her everyday.

It had also become a habit for Donghae, a routine, to repeat the same words and the same reminder to Jessica everyday; in the case that she might forget.

As much as it pained their loved ones to see the sleeping beauty so perfectly still, it also pained them just as much to see the businessman so perfectly instilled in the routine that he had set up for himself.

Often, they would find themselves confused between the blurred lines of reality and dream as they stumble upon the countless mirrors of a Donghae whom belonged to the previous day, and the day before that, and the day before that, and the day before that...

One would say that Donghae was living the exact same day over and over again.

It seemed to had been the case ever since their return to Seoul.

-

The next day went by for Donghae as per usual, starting off in the same way as had all the days before.

Following his everyday routine, after waking up, Donghae made a quick visit to Jessica's before heading off to work.

It was only once the lifeless guy had arrived to work though, that from there, did his daily routine for once become disrupted.

With his new robotic demeanor at work, the businessman had become even more professional than before, casting away all immaturity.

In the past, Donghae had usually left it up to Seohyun to meet up with any clients that belonged to his group of flings, but now, he would personally take on the meetings in a demonstration of true professionalism, and today was another meeting that he had to tackle.

Unfortunately, this fling didn't resemble any of his past ones, lacking the dignity and pride that the others had at least possessed a bit, if not some, of.

She was shameless from the get-go, unleashing all attempts of seduction upon him from the start with no signs of self-respect or restraint.

It left him baffled that her dad, a man known for his outstanding success in the much appraised company that he had built, was actually considering handing his CEO position over to such an incompatible heir who had proved herself nowhere worthy.

Numerous times throughout their meeting, he had tried to talk to her about the joint project between their companies but his attempts were made futile when all she did was to divert the topic and initiate skin contact.

After ten minutes of futility, Donghae realized that he was even more baffled by the fact that he had once had a fling with the said girl.

"You know, Donghae," she exaggeratedly fluttered her eyelashes at him and leaned in close, placing a hand on his chest to which he coldly brushed away, "You should just forget about that Jessica girl and come to me. I mean, she obviously pales in comparison to me in every way, and let's face it, it's been two months now, Sweetie. She's probably not planning on waking up at al-"

Her words were abruptly stopped short when the businessman harshly yanked her approaching wrist away from him and spoke in the most menacing tone that sent a shiver down her spine and finally triggered some of her tiny pride.

"Watch your words, Ms. Jin. Jessica will wake up and I'll wait for her for as long as it takes. But even if she never wakes up, I'd never ever go to you."

His eyes bore murderously into the both shameless and shameful girl, and with his point delivered, he flung away her wrist and walked out of the room.

-

With the raging storm that was brewing inside of him, the furious businessman thought better of it than to return to work in such a state.

Dialing in his secretary's number, he left special instructions for her to take care of his work for the day before pulling off his earpiece and speeding off towards home.

Chaos released itself as soon as Donghae got home and it only took a mere second for objects to go hurling across his house.

The anger that had been bottled up inside of the scarred man, the pain that he had tucked away so carefully with his lifelessness, the strong facade that he had used to mask his weakening heart, they all came tumbling down and out.

When Donghae was done, his house was an exact reflection of himself and his inner turmoil.

It was a mess, and it was broken.

He sat unmoving in the dark corner of his room as the sun set off into the horizon, leaving his hand to throb with the pain that it had received from his reckless out-lash.

Leaving it until slowly his hand went numb, and so did his body, and so did his heart.

It was almost midnight when the businessman finally stood up, snapping out of his reverie, and left the house.

He was leaving to continue his routine.

-

His sturdy footsteps filled the silent hospital hallway.

Without even having to think about it, his feet unconsciously led him to the right room.

It was like the path one took to school- a path that becomes etched within one's memory following routine.

A quick turn of the knob and the businessman was in his sanctuary.

It was a sanctuary made by the person that could be found residing within it, not by the environment.

By now, even the chair must have remembered and molded to the fitting of his body. It fitted exceptionally well.

Naturally, he grabbed her delicate hands within his and planted a kiss upon them.

"Are you having a good sleep today too, love?"

He smiled gently. It was a gentle but genuine smile.

Despite her condition, just the sight of her was enough to bring a fluttering happiness to his heart.

"Should I read to you the same story again today?"

He chuckled.

"I've been reading to you the same story for months now, love. Even if it's your favourite, you should at least wake up and scold me for reading it to you over and over again. If you don't, I won't stop until it bores you into waking up."

Intertwining their one hand, Donghae used his other free one to flip to the first page of the book.

-

"Did you like it better this time around, love?"

Placing the book neatly back on her bedside table, he proceeded on to dab her face with a wet cloth before moving down to their entwined hands.

Leaning up to kiss her temple, he murmured a soft 'I love you' into her hair before covering her slim hand with both of his.

Settling into his all too familiar routine, the businessman started telling her about his day.

Only this time, it was different.

"You won't believe what happened today, love. I met one of my flings for business today and she actually thought that she could win me back. Unbelievable right?"

He scoffed at the ridiculous idea.

"To think that she thought she could replace you when she can't even measure up to half of the person you are. You set a pretty tough scale to measure up to though, love."

Donghae shook his head and laughed.

"She even claims that you're never going to wake up. That's absurd isn't it?"

He paused.

"Tell me it's absurd."

His voice broke.

"Tell me that you will wake up, love. Tell me that you'll prove her wrong."

A tear slid down his cheek.

Burying his face in her hand, the businessman's facade fell apart as he broke down and silently sobbed.

"I miss you, Jess. I miss you so much. So wake up please, love. Do it for me. Do it for everyone who loves and misses you."

His voice faltered with every word.

"Even if you won't be by my side, just wake up Jess. I just want you to be healthy and smiling again."

It was his only request of her.

Somewhere along the lines of his crumbled outburst and silent tears, Donghae fell into a deep slumber by Jessica's side.

Then, somewhere along Donghae's deep slumber, the sleeping beauty's fingers twitched and her eyes slowly fluttered open.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________