“He’s here!” Ryeowook announced.

“Ok everyone, HIDE!!!!!” yelled Sungmin.

“You know Min, I think he already knows that we are all here.” commented Yesung.

“My plan has no breaches, so now hide!”

Kyuhyun put a hand on his hyung’s shoulder.

“You better do as he says; he can be really scary and violent…”

And so, Yesung and Kyuhyun hid in a corner of the room, while Sungmin switched the lights off. They were all holding their breaths, until two shadows entered the dance room. Then the lights were turned back on and everyone got out of their hiding places, screaming, “Welcome back!”

“Guys!” exclaimed a surprised Donghae.

He was looking at a room filled with his dearest friends and his dance mates; the dance room was decorated too, with a banner congratulating him for his return from the hospital. Sungmin almost jumped on him, excited like a kid.

“SO?! Surprised?”

“You better say yes or else we are all dead…” Eunhyuk whispered discretely in his ear.

“Yes, very, Min. Thanks! You didn’t need to do all that.”

“See? I told you Donghae-hyung didn’t need any of that.” said Kyuhyun approaching.

Sungmin hit the younger behind the head.

“If it was up to you, he wouldn’t have had a birthday party!”

Kyuhyun mumbled something about someone being a stupid bunny, what got him to be hit again. Junsu, Yesung and Ryeowook came to hug Donghae.

“Well, Minnie went overboard again but it turned out quite nice” commented Junsu.

“We are so happy to have you back hyung.”

“Me too, Wookie.”

Donghae smiled at his friends, he was feeling relieved to see all those familiar and warm faces. Discreetly Eunhyuk slipped his hand in Donghae’s. But Sungmin noticed their intertwined hands.

“What’s that?”

“What’s what?” asked Eunhyuk innocently.

Sungmin pointed at their hands. All of their friends turned to them, and Donghae didn’t think he could be more embarrassed than at that moment. He tried to let go but Eunhyuk squeezed it harder.

“We are together.” he simply said.

Donghae turned surprised to Eunhyuk. Yes, they were together and it wasn’t a secret for a while now, but it was the first time the boy really admitted it. Sungmin frowned and put both hands on his hips, ready to scold his friend.

“That’s all? After a year turning around each other, fighting and making everyone go crazy because of your stories, you just come to us and say: now we are together?!”

“What? Were you expecting fireworks or something?”

“A little, yeah…”

“Well, no fireworks!” said Eunhyuk blushing slightly. “We just like each other…”

“WE KNOW!!!” they all exclaimed.

Donghae had never seen Eunhyuk so red; he didn’t even know that the boy could blush like this. Everyone started laughing and congratulating them. Then all the other guests came to welcome Donghae, one by one.

It had been a month since Donghae woke up from his coma. At first, he was confused and lost. He didn’t understand why everyone was making a fuss about him being awake… Then they told him, he had been sleeping for 3 months. It was really a shock for him because he didn’t remember anything after the accident; he just slept peacefully until he woken up months later. But somehow, he had a feeling he couldn’t shake up, that he dreamed during his sleep, but couldn’t remember what it was about. Actually, he wasn’t even sure if he was awake, because everything really changed. His cousin Saehyun would come visit him a lot, always accompanied by his parents. Ever since he fell in the coma, she started living with her uncle and aunt to support them. And his parents were really attentive and affectionate to him, as if the fear of almost loosing another child made their behavior change completely.  Then there was Leeteuk and Heechul. Both boys came to visit Donghae at the same time, they apologized and told him they were trying to work out their relationship, and for now, things were relatively good. It was surprising, but Donghae was happy that he finally got what he wanted, for everyone to come together and face the future.

Because of the time, he spent sleeping; Donghae had to stay one more month at the hospital for rehabilitation reasons; his muscles were weak with the lack of exercise. But classes already started so as to not be left behind he would have a private teacher and Eunhyuk would come by every day, after class, to bring him the homework. His relationship with Eunhyuk changed completely, too. No more awkwardness, no more  lying to themselves, no more rudeness. He was a sweetheart and they’d never been happier than now. Eunhyuk loved him and he would tell him that every single day and Donghae couldn’t be more in love with the thin boy.  Every day he would receive the visit of all of his friends. Who would tell him what he missed over the months. The Kyumin couple was always the same weird fluffy bickering couple, it was Yesung’s last year so they were making sure they spent as much time together as possible and Ryeowook was never far away from him. His dance club mates came to visit too, once or twice, always gossiping about what was happening at school. Hangeng came by a few times too, he was happy to see that the boy had come to his senses. He informed him that Heechul’s band stopped their criminal activities, and that they turned their HQ into a dance studio where many boys could come and share the same passion instead of ruining their lives. This extreme change in Heechul was welcomed by everyone. Then there was one last person who came to see him often… Siwon. He had come back from Hong Kong and settled things with his dad to stay and graduate in their school. At first it was a bit weird and awkward for Donghae to have his ex around again, but their friendship ended up taking over. The one who was least happy with it, was Eunhyuk, he always made a point of honor to show Siwon who Donghae belonged to. Well at any rate, everything got back in place and things were better than ever.

Now one month later, he was discharged from the hospital and he knew Sungmin had prepared a not-so-surprising surprise party. Donghae was still a bit dazed and weak, and the only thing he wanted to do was to go back to their old room and cuddle with his boyfriend. But he was thankful for the attention his friends were giving him so he stayed as much as he could. Eunhyuk stayed next to him, holding his hand, and making sure he gave him as much support as the other needed. When he couldn’t take it anymore Donghae thanked everyone and they sneaked out, to go back to their room. The brunet opened the door and went in to stop and look around the room. It was as he had left it.

“Brings back memories right?” said Eunhyuk behind him.

“Right. Do you remember the first time you stepped in that room?”

“I do… I thought it would be the worst year of my life.”

“Well, it was pretty bad!” Donghae laughed.

Eunhyuk approached the brunet, wrapped his arms around his waist and hugged him from behind.

“But in the end it was an interesting and rich year. We learned a lot.”

“Yeah, we came a long way.”

“And I learned to know you… that, was worth everything.”

Donghae turned his head enough for Eunhyuk to kiss his lips softly. Then they went into the room and cuddled on the bed for a while.

“Are you sure you’re ready to come back to school?” Eunhyuk asked, concerned.

“I want my life to go back to normal.”

The thin dancer nodded, understanding exactly what he meant.

“This year too we are going to be roommates, that’s great.”

“I especially asked Kangin-hyung. I wouldn’t let anyone else have you.” Eunhyuk said with a possessive look.

“And I wouldn’t let anyone else have me either.”

They smiled at each other, kissed and fell asleep comfortably in the arms of one another. Yes, now things were going to get back to normal and they were ready to start the year, as it should have from the beginning. Together.

***

It was a beautiful autumn morning. The sun was shining and birds were singing, in the now colored trees. Smiling, Donghae got out of the car and just enjoyed the weather for a while.

He didn't imagine being here today, but he was, so he just took a deep breath and closed his eyes, relaxing in the warm embrace of the sun rays.

The brunet was excited though, because today was a special day.

Today was Rinha's wedding.

Actually it was meant to be a few months ago, but the girl had been insisting on Donghae being her best man and so everyone waited for him to wake up and recover as soon as possible.

Words couldn't express how thankful he was for getting a second chance and having all those amazing people in his life. The clouds that surrounded him for a long time were finally gone and he could see the light and the sky instead of everyday grey and only rain.

Sometimes fate seemed to have mercy, especially with him.

The brunet got distracted from his thoughts when he felt a hand on his right shoulder and an arm embracing him. He turned around to see Eunhyuk right next to him in a suit, looking even more handsome than he already did in casual clothes. But maybe it was just his imagination, like always when he saw that beloved gummy smile of his boyfriend, making the world shining brighter every time.

“Good morning, handsome.” the blonde said, giving him a peck on his left cheek.

Returning the sweet gesture with a grin Donghae took his hand and they both walked up to the little church in front of them. The whole scenery looked like in a movie, so real but at the same time too beautiful to be true.

Standing right next to the dancer, the brunet just recognized how well the dark blue of his own suit matched with the grey of the others. 

Rinha really had a good taste for colors or maybe she just knew how to make things perfect and right.

They hadn't had much talk and they didn