I glanced down at my watch for the thousandth time as I continued prancing up and down the living room, worried sick to my stomach. This wasn't the first time Donghae was out the whole night but today was different, we were due to catch a flight to Japan in the morning and we couldn't afford to be late.

"Hey Hyuk-hyung, don't worry. I'm sure Donghae will be back soon, he's not that irresponsible."

I emitted a small smile at our eternal sweet maknae, in full appreciation of his concerned efforts. The past weeks have been pure torture with Donghae treating me like a complete stranger, it felt like I had lost a part of myself. Alright fine, maybe terming our relationship as strangers was a bit exaggerated but we had certainly gone backwards from possible lovers to not even best friends or just friends but to a forbidden status of colleagues; a word we had vowed never to use after I had insensitively thrown that word out during an interview. Donghae only spoke to me on professional terms, discussing about our new album, choreography and matters pertaining to Super Junior or Eunhae promotions. Eunhae; what was Eunhae now?

I remembered the last time we were alone together a few days back; in my car on the way to the SM building for practice session, how awkward it had been throughout the twenty minute drive. Donghae was just unlocking his bicycle from the bay when I drove past, deciding unconsciously due to old innate habits to apply pressure on the brake, wind down the windows and call out to him to offer a ride. A glimpse of his expressionless face had me thinking that I was going to be rejected but instead, he had placed the lock back and opened up the car door to slide himself into the passenger seat. However, my slight happiness was short-lived as he chose to remain silent during the entire trip, with my playlist consisting of Kpop and English songs playing in the background as he gave his handphone his hundred percent attention.

"Thank you," his smooth voice echoed in my ears as he stepped out of my Porsche.

Oh how I had missed that voice, it was like music to my ears; truly amazing how two simple words could change my world around. As I stared at the glorious back of Donghae as he walked away, I thought to myself, 'maybe there is still hope for us.'

"You still have a few hours right?" Ryeowook's voice rang out.

I nodded in acknowledgement, knowing that my anxiety was uncalled for since we were due to leave for the airport only in a couple of hours and as Ryeowook had mentioned; Donghae wasn't so irresponsible.

I was extremely grateful towards how accommodating and understanding the entire group had been towards Eunhae's plight; even Leeteuk and Heechul did not bring up the matter again. I guess our two respectable hyungs had already done their part, giving us the push; or rather giving me the push. Although I still wasn't sure what I wanted in terms of our relationship status, I was sure about one thing; I had to set things right between us. This whole mess is my fault and I aim to take responsibility for it and fix things.

I was pulled out of my thoughts by the soft rustling of the key unlocking the main door. The door opened with a creak before my ex-best friend stepped in and removed his sports shoes, evidence that he was out doing some exercise. It struck me as Donghae was never one to set out alone, much less in the middle of the night. I unconsciously thought back on the nights when the spoilt cutie would want to have some food in the wee hours of the morning and hence crawling into my bed to wake me up and pester me for my company, which succeeds every single time; who could resist that face?

However, the beautiful face did not lessen the pain I felt in my heart as Donghae greeted Ryeowook with a smile and ignoring me, proceeding straight into the kitchen to have his breakfast.

“Eat up well Donghae-hyung,” Ryeowook cutely commented.

“Yes I will dear Wookie,” Donghae replied warmly.

“Where were you?” I couldn’t help but ask as I took my seat across him as Ryeowook placed another bowl of ramyeon in front of me.

Silence the only reply I received.

“Who were you with hyung?”

“I was out with Sehun...a little morning run, just to clear my head.”

“Oh, you must be famished then, eat well hyung, are you all set for your Eunhae promotional activities?” Ryeowook inquired.

"Yeah...I love Japan,” Donghae answered in between mouthfuls.

Japan. Donghae loved Japan. The country. Not our activities, not Eunhae, not spending time with me and definitely not me.

Pushing the negative feelings aside, I pulled my luggage up beside his, making to handle both our luggages while passing him my passport to keep in his backpack; a usual routine we indulged in every overseas trip.

However, instead of playing out his old actions of retrieving the passport from my hands, he yanked the luggage handle out of my hands and walked out of the dorm, leaving me standing there with the passport in my outstretched hand.

I refused to let the pain deter me, staying strong. I was determined to win him back whether he liked it or not.

Throughout the entire car journey and flight, Donghae’s attention was fixated on his phone with a frown etched on his forehead. In my mind, all I wanted to do was to wipe that deep lines away from his face but just as my feet asserted pressure on the ground to cover the short distance between us, I saw Donghae insert his ear pieces and close his eyes; indication that he wasn’t up for a chat. Sighing internally, I reassured myself that I will have plenty of opportunities to redeem myself throughout this Japan trip; we were due to return to Korea on Monday and today was only Friday.

As we got off the plane, I had no time to ask Donghae about his reason of unhappiness as we got whisked into the car and were enroute to the studios and dressing room to prepare for interviews. The session began shortly and questions after questions were thrown at us, starting off with those pertaining to our promotional album which we took turns to answer. The group interview was easy and we breezed through it. However as it got down to the individual segment, the questions became more personal.

I was up first and Donghae was seated at the side where the make-up noona was doing his touch-ups, out of the camera view but within hearing and visual range of me. 

“Where would you like to take your girlfriend to for a vacation?”

“I would bring the love of my life to Paris, the city of love and shower him with all the love in the world. No words will be needed between us as I convey my feelings with actions instead, bringing him to eat all his favourite seafood and sweets, buying him anything he wants and definitely make a stop at the iconic Eiffel Tower.”

“Well we have our very own version here in Japan, the Tokyo Tower.”

“Oh yes, I think my love will like it, I’ll definitely remember to bring him there.”

I was glad that they didn’t notice the ‘him’ that I had used repeatedly in place of ‘her’. Either that or they chose to simply ignore it, the Japanese weren’t one for gossips unlike the Korean tabloids.

“What is Donghae to you?”

I instantly turned my attention to Donghae and successfully establishing a split second of eye contact; we both knew what this question meant to us, it had hit all the right nerves. Even though Donghae was quick to avert his orbs and keep his emotions in tact as he went back to giving his phone his full concentration, I did not miss the slight widening of orbs and pausing of fingers which were typing away on the phone when the first word of answer left my lips.

“Hae is the most important person in my life. He means everything to me.”

Short, sweet and simple. Everyone was pleased with the answer as they concluded my interview and the producer gave the cue to switch the interviewee; it was Donghae’s turn.

Donghae was never good at putting himself in the limelight, handling public events, and that was the main reason why I was even here in the first place. Donghae had given up his solo career in exchange for a duet with me. Putting his insecurity and anxiety aside, I was sure that he made the agreement for me more than it was for himself. Donghae was always self-sacrificing and never failed to put others before himself. I am positive that he had requested for a Eunhae debut because he was afraid that I would never get such a golden opportunity myself and he was probably right; I wasn’t half as talented as this lovable creature.

Keeping the above in mind, I remained rooted on the couch behind as Donghae took his a seat beside me. I kept silent and smiled at the camera and crew, gesturing that I was here to stay, to give Donghae the moral support he needed. Donghae made no efforts to acknowledge my presence but neither did he make a move to get rid of me as well; which meant that he approved my action.

Donghae finished his interview quickly and we wrapped up the session by thanking the entire crew with a bow. The producer even added a concluding shoutout.

“Eunhae hwaiting!”

He had no idea how much those two words meant to me; how much I needed that e