Nearly two years ago, Donghae's life had been a mess. A mess in the words of a father dying in cancer, the hopeless case of  getting a job and managing to not get fired, again, leaving him broke and struggling to pay the monthly rent.
He hired a flat for a fairly good price a month, with a small kitchen and bedroom to move in, the bathroom was so small it's not even worthy of bringing it up. 
At least the flat had been blessed with a balcony, and so this is the place where Donghae spent minutes turnning into hours, leaning on the railing while wishing for better days. 
Better days that were seemingly never going to come. 
Luckily, it did. 

A month later, after moping around on his bed for hours just like any other day, he finally found the strength (with a little help from a friend's nagging) and got out of the bed, got dressed in a black tee and some worn jeans. With a sigh he leaved the apartment along with his comfort zone and headed out into the upcoming spring. The asphalt on the sidewalk had finally melted into sight, and it felt somewhat odd underneath his converse shoes that were headed towards the closests Starbuck's shop. The air was fresh and the sun was softly caressing his skin.

The glass doors were pushed open before him as he entered the shop, feets going straight ahead to the table where he knew is friend was going to be seated at. And just as predicted, his pale friend were sitting in the booth, leaning back with legs crossed. Looking as comfortable as ever.
"Hyung." He greeted before sitting down in the assigned chair in front of the other, placing his baseball cap down on top of the table before leaning back as well. 
"Finally got you out of that flat of yours." Sungmin sighed, a light shake of his head. "I ordered Americano for you, just how you like it."

Donghae felt something warm squeezing at his chest as a small smile creept onto his face, feeling thankful towards his friend who had actually managed to get him to leave hom and get some much needed sunlight onto his flesh, it had been a little too long.
A typically with cup filled with black liquid was placed down in front of him, and he lifted his head to flash a grateful smile towards the waiter. His fingers immediatly found theier way around the cup, almost burning them in the process.
He didn't have to talk about himself around Sungmin, there were no wrods needed and they both knew that he was wasting his life away doing absolutely nothing.
He listened in silence while Sungmin filled him in on the latest details from his life, and about how things were going with his fiancé Sunkyu, aka Sunny.

And just like any other day Donghae  found himself envying the other, his life was going in all the right directions. He had a work to go to, a place where he was needed, owned a nice villa outside of Seoul and was engaged to a beautiful woman who seemed like the perfect match for him. All these things that he himself wanted, that he needed, 
With a soft sigh he lifted the cup up to his lips and blew on it in hopes of making it chill a tad bit faster, his body longing for the caffeine.
Just then something seemed to catch Sungmin's attention as said male raised his hand, waving slightly. "Jessica, is that you?" Donghae raised an eyebrow at the shocked tone his friend was using and looked up as well, only to be met by a young woman making her way over to their table, her honey blonde locks bouncing off her shoulders as she walked.

"Sungmin, oh my god it's been ages!" She exclaimed at the same time as she flopped down next to said male, throwing her arms around his neck. "How you've been?" A bright smile grazing her lips as she finally pulled away, and Donghae was struck with the cup halfway to his lips, watching the scene unfold in front of him. Momentarily stunned by the beauty this single human being managed to pursue.

After some chatting between the two, totally leaving him out, by the time he had finished drinking half of his coffee Sungmin finally noticed his presence again. Donghae didn't blame him, it's easy to forget someone who doesn't really speak. "Ah Hae, this is my cousin Jessica." He announced, she turned to smile at him and he found himself melting slightly, completely forgetting which nerves to pull at to manage a smile. 
He hadn't felt something close to this in forever, he didn't think he was able to ever muster feelings like this for anyone ever again. 

 

It was a nice change, to go from being practically alone all the time, to have someone by your side.

Their first date was at the movies, lame and original, but it had a nice feel to it. The second time Donghae brought her out to his favorite restaurant, also original. Needless to say, he wasn't very experienced with dating and therefore went with the cliché ones, but it still worked out. 
On their third date their lips finally got to meet. They were standing at her front porch, Donghae ready to drop her off after a date at the aquarium, and so his thin lips met her cherry red ones. It felt strange and wrong, but it worked, it had to.

Skipping six months towards present time he moved into her apartment, mostly because it was much bigger than his own one. He had managed to get a job again, as a financial at some car industry. It felt good to be back in the game.
He went to work, sat at his office dressed in a nice suit and when he got home he was met by the smell of cooked food and a kiss on the cheek.
What else could he ask for?

Donghae managed to keep his work for once, mostly through hard work and dedication. He even managed to make friends with his co-workers, which was always a plus.
And so as he was standing in line to the coffee machine during afternoon break, eyes dangerously close to give in to the sleepiness that was clouding his mind as he covered a yawn with the back of his hand. A tap on his right shoulder made him voice out a startled sound through his nose before turning around, meeting the mischievous grin of Cho Kyuhyun, or rather Co Manager Kyuhyun as his nametag read. Donghae smiled at him together with a nod of his head.

"I was thinking and why don't you bring your woman and come for dinner at 18?" He asked as he pushed past the line and refilled his coffee cup. Donghae tilted his head slightlyto the side, not aware that they were already close enough friends to invite each other over for diner, nevertheless he wasn't going to turn the offer down, Kyuhyun was his almost boss after all. 

The evening went by just fine. Donghae had went in a dark blue suit with his bangs stylishly sprayed upwards, and Jessica had been wearing a red gown with her hair up in a bun, looking much like a princess straight out og a fairytale, yet Donghae's heart didn't flutter like he said it did. 

One year later a small velvet box found its way into his pocket, weighing heavy as he and Jessica were taking a walk along the Hanriver one evening.
A stop at the bride, his one knee hit the pavement as he held the small box out to her surprised face. She squeaked and exclaimed that yes, she was going to marry him. Donghae smiled and embraced her petite body, slipping the golden ring onto her manicured finger. 

He just wanted normal.




 

Not yet proofread and I'd like to apologize for eventual mistakes in the text. English isn't my mother tongue and I was kind of stressed while writing this, bare with me guys <3