Final Chapter.

          The 15th of October finally came and Donghae was a bundle of nerves.

On the 14th, right after supper, he had gone to bed early but never managed to fall asleep. His eyes had remained wide opened, glued to his alarm clock, watching the time run, the minutes change oh so slowly, and yet incredibly fast. A pure torture.

As soon as midnight passed, he stood up and went out of his bedroom. His legs were weak and trembling, he could barely walk, yet he made his way to the bathroom and locked himself inside the small room.

He undressed, not leaving a single piece of cloth on him, and walked to the large mirror hanging on the wall, over the sink. He took a deep, shaking breath, before he looked up at his reflection. His eyes moved up and down, scanned every inch of his body. After a whole minute of scrutinizing, he spun around and turned his face to look over his shoulder, repeating the action but examining the back of his body. Both disappointment and relief made him heave a shaky sigh.

Nothing. Not yet.
The name was going to appear, no doubt about it, but he didn't know when exactly. It could be in a minute or in a few hours, during the night or at the end of the day. It depended on people. It was just going to happen, some time along his birthday.

He spun around again, eyes never leaving his body, traveling up and down his limbs, not really looking at himself but seeking a slight change, the shy apparition of the black letters.

He wasn't sure where the name would appear. Most people had it on the chest, over the heart. Eunhyuk had it on his forearm. It wasn't rare, but not common either. Not that he minded, he quite liked it actually. He wished he could get the name on a part of his body that he could expose as easily as Eunhyuk's forearm. Like that, he could show everybody his soul-mate's name.

Thinking about the red-head made his heart clench again.

He wasn't sure what he would do if the name wasn't Eunhyuk's. He had tried a few times to imagine it, but just thinking about it would made him almost freak out. He couldn't conceive it. It had to be Eunhyuk, he couldn't accept any other name.
And yet, he was fully aware that it could happen. It could be another name. He knew it, but he refused to envision it.

He kept looking at himself in the mirror, turning around and around so that he wouldn't miss any part of his body. He kept doing that for a moment, not realizing how long he had been locked in the bathroom. He didn't even feel tired. It was so late but he didn't care. There was no way he could sleep. He needed to know, nothing else mattered.

He realized hours had passed when he heard the doorknob being lowered. He glanced at the door, tilting his head, before he understood someone was trying to get in.

"Donghae?" he heard his father call him. "Are you in there?"

"Yes", he replied and moved away from the mirror. He grabbed a towel, wrapped it around his waist, and went to open the door. Behind it, he found his father, who looked rather tired and barely awake.

"Already up?" Mr. Lee mumbled, voice husky.

"I didn't sleep."

The man raised an eyebrow. "Son, did you stay up the whole night, locked in there?"

Donghae nodded. His father seemed about to scold him for a second, until he fully realized the reason for his son's behaviour.

"And?" the adult asked, eyes already scanning his son's body, looking for a name that wasn't there yet.

"Not yet", Donghae whispered.

"Oh", Mr. Lee just said. "It'll come, don't worry. But you have class today, what are you going to do? You didn't sleep at all?"

Donghae shook his head. "Can I stay at home today?" he flashed the man some cute puppy eyes. "Just this time?"

"You can't miss school", his father shook his head.

Donghae pouted. "But today is the most important day of my life..."

But Mr. Lee didn't give in to his son's aegyo and remained firm. Donghae used his whining and begging skills, but nothing worked. He found himself pushed out of the bathroom and the door was shut in front of him as his father got himself ready for work.

He went to the kitchen and sat down, face resting on the cold wooden table. After a few minutes of silence and loneliness, the lights were and his mother came in. She seemed surprised to see her son at first, but soon smiled and came to kiss him.

"Happy birthday sweety", she tenderly uttered, her hand playing with the brunet's locks.

"Thank you", Donghae muttered, still carrying his dejected expression.

"Aren't you happy?" Mrs. Lee inquired, trying to make eye contact with him.

"Dad said I can't stay home today... But I didn't sleep at all and I really need to stay and wait for the name to appear!" he whined and straightened himself, before he turned to his mother. "Mom~!"

Mrs. Lee smiled fondly at her son and quickly nodded.

"Don't tell your father, okay?"

Donghae's arms flung around the tiny shoulders of his mother and he hugged the woman, squeezing her tightly.

"Thanks mom!" he grinned widely and let go of her.

She giggled. "Now, sit down and eat something, alright?" she sweetly said. "How about I make you a birthday breakfast, hm? Sounds good?"

Donghae nodded furiously. He was still nervous in his stomach, and he wasn't sure if he could swallow anything, but his mother was so kind he didn't want to make her sad. Thus, he just accepted the menu she offered to make for him and watched her as she turned to the cupboards to find the ingredients she needed.

They kept talking quietly as she prepared the breakfast for the two of them, and the coffee for her husband. Mr. Lee never ate in the morning, he was always in a hurry. And for sure, that morning wasn't any different. At some point, the man stormed into the kitchen, took the cup of coffee his wife had prepared for him and quickly drank it.

"I'm going now!" he hurriedly gathered his stuff, as usual.

"Have a nice day", Mrs. Lee smiled to him.

"Bye dad!" Donghae grinned too.

"Thanks", the man breathed out and walked out of the room, only to come back a second later. "Happy birthday!" he blurted out, flashing his son a smile. "Call me later to tell me, okay?"

Donghae nodded and waved at his father, giggling as the man finally took his leave. He heard the front door being slammed shut, telling him that he was now alone with his mother in the house. He sat back straight on his chair and watched his mother turning off the gas. She held the pan within her hand and spun around, a wide smile on her face.

"It's ready! Do you- Omo!" she exclaimed suddenly. Her eyes widened as they landed on her son. "Sweety! Look! It's showing up!"

Donghae's heart missed a beat and then began to pound harshly in his chest. He froze completely, his eyes as big as saucers. Only a couple seconds later did he finally avert his gaze from his excited mother and moved it down to his own body. He didn't take long to see it. The first glance did it. On his bare chest, a parcel of his skin was turning red. It didn't hurt, nor did it hitch. Actually, he couldn't feel anything at all. Yet, there it was, slowly appearing.

He couldn't take his eyes off it. He was fascinated and terrified at the same time. He wasn't even sure if he was still breathing. Everything stopped around him. He watched his skin getting more and more red, until it turned into a dark crimson color. Then, the reddened area slowly began to reduce, as if it was nibbled by the brunet's skin. Letters began to be formed, a name progressively shaped itself over his left pectoral, first a bit blurred then more and more clear.

Donghae's breath turned short and uneven, a big lump crept up his throat and tears began to well up in his eyes, blurring his vision. The following second, he began to cry.

"Oh, sweety, I'm sorry", his mother whispered and put the pan away, before she quickly came to hug her son.

On his chest was engraved a stranger's name. A name he had never heard of before, a name that had no face and for whom he had no feelings.
It wasn't Eunhyuk's name.

He closed his eyes and embraced his mother's body tightly, holding onto her as he began to sob loudly. A part of him still refused the reality, he still wanted to believe that this wasn't happening. It was supposed to be the most important day of his life, he had waited so much for it, and there he was, heartbroken, crying desperately in his mother's arms.

"I don't want that", he whimpered, his wet nose nuzzling his mother's neck. "I want Eunhyukkie."

"Shhh", Mrs. Lee tried to soothe him, running her hand into his messy locks, holding him tight against her.

But he only found himself crying harder.

He wanted Eunhyuk. No one else. He wanted Eunhyuk, the red-head was the only one he wanted. It couldn't be anybody else. Donghae couldn't accept anyone else in his heart. It had to be Eunhyuk.

"Donghae, that's why most people don't look for the owner of the name", his mother's soft voice spoke as she rocked the two of them back and forth. "Sometimes, you meet someone who catches your heart, and the name doesn't matter anymore. You create your own destiny."

"B-But..." Donghae breathed out between his pants. "I-I..."

He couldn't go on, another wave of tears took over him, blocking the words in his throat. His mother his back gently.

"Now, you have to make a choice Donghae. You're the only one who can make that decision."

Donghae took in a deep, trembling breath, and then he nodded. It wasn't a tough decision. He had to choose between the owner of the name, the one he was meant to fall in love with, or Eunhyuk, for whom feelings had already bloomed. He knew what he wanted, his heart was screaming it to him and he certainly wasn't the type of person trying to deny his true feelings.

If he had to choose, it had to be Eunhyuk. It was simple like that and couldn't be otherwise.

Donghae was someone who couldn't lie to himself. He could only be true to his heart, and that heart was telling him clearly that giving up on Eunhyuk wasn't even possible. So, all in all, the decision was easy.

Yet, his dream was being shattered into a million pieces, and his heart along with it. His whole life, he had dreamt of meeting his soul-mate and falling in love at first sight. He had always imagined his first love would be the one owning the name on his body. And now, none of that was happening.

He had fallen for Eunhyuk. Why try and deny it? He was fully realizing it now and there was no doubts, those feelings weren't lying.
But that was not how he had dreamt things would happen. None of those feelings had been there from their first encounter. There wasn't even an attraction to start with. Only with time, things had changed. From fear, it had slowly turned into curiosity. Then, as he had learned about the other, he had also progressively learned to accept and like the red-head's personality. Admiration had turned into affection, and affection into feelings, until he had found himself completely submerged by them.

He hadn't imagined that his feelings were so strong. It was hitting him now that he had to make a choice, now that he was facing the power of his love for Eunhyuk. Now that he was confronted to it, he was fully realizing how deep he had fallen for the other.

It couldn't be anybody else than Eunhyuk. His heart wouldn't accept it.

And, as understood that, he kept crying harder and louder, his mother's words failing to comfort him. He cried into her arms for a whole hour, until he found himself weak and breathless. His body was slightly numb. His eyes were puffy and red, painfully filling up with new tears that never seemed to end. Yet, after an hour of crying, he gathered some strength and gently pushed his mother away.

"E-Eunhyuk d-doesn't like me", he said, his voice croaky and trembling. "B-But I n-need to t-tell him. E-Even if h-he rejects me, I w-want to tell h-him that I-I-I..."

He started sobbing again as he stood up on his weak legs. Despite his mother's protests, he walked back to his room and managed to get himself dressed with some jeans and a large t-shirt. He didn't even bother to look at himself into the mirror. He knew he probably looked awful, but there wasn't much he could do about that.

He went out of his room and reached the front door. As he was putting on his shoes, Mrs. Lee approached, keys in her hand and coat on her shoulders.

"I'll bring you there."

Donghae couldn't find the strength to smile. He simply muttered a low thanks. He didn't bother to put on a jacket. He just followed his mother to the car and settled himself on the passenger seat. The ride took an eternity. At least, that was what it seemed to him. He had started crying again, silently this time, as he mentally prepared himself for what he was going to tell the red-head.

He was so scared. He had no idea how the other was going to react, what he was going to say. He wasn't even sure himself about what he was going to tell the elder. Everything was confused in his head. The only thing he could think about was that he loved Eunhyuk, and he wasn't going to give up on him. He was going to tell him the truth and try to make the other fall for him, even if it took him years.

"Thanks", he whispered and opened his door as soon as the car stopped in front of Eunhyuk's building.

Mrs. Lee gave a few words of encouragement and told him to call her, she would come and pick him up whenever he'd tell her to. Donghae only nodded, his throat completely blocked, leaving him unable to utter a single word.

What happened next felt strange. He spun around and headed to the red-head's flat. Every step felt like a torture, like an obstacle to overcome. He felt like it took him ages to get in front of the other's door, and yet it happened too soon for him to get ready. He remained silent and motionless in front of the door for a whole minute, before he bravely rang the bell. His chin quivered and he chewed on his bottom lip to repress his tears from flowing out uncontrollably again.  

It took another minute before the door opened, revealing Eunhyuk's sleepy face. The red-head had his eyes still closed and pouting lips, and Donghae couldn't help but think that he looked absolutely adorable like that.

"S'too early, 'Hae", the elder grumbled, unable to open his eyes.

Donghae's heart thumped at the nickname. Eunhyuk was just too tired to say his name properly, but still he felt all worked up just hearing that. He opened his mouth but only to hiccup as new tears made their way down his cheeks.

Eunhyuk cracked one eye op