“I miss Shindong hyung and Sungmin.”

“Me too Fishy.”

Donghae, Eunhyuk and Siwon were sitting in their company’s cafeteria. It was 2 in the afternoon; they weren’t really hungry although they haven’t eaten their lunch. The three felt full just by looking at the people who come and go in the place.

Donghae      Eunhyuk

Vacant           Siwon

(A/N: Seating arrangement)

Siwon’s chin was on the table as his arms were spread on it. Eunhyuk’s feet were on Donghae’s lap and his hands playing the bottled water on his right hand. Donghae’s body was slumped on the chair and his head was on the back of the chair, facing the ceiling. Clearly, they defined the word, “laziness,” that day.

“I’m glad that Yesung hyung will come back on May from his military service,” Siwon said.

“Ne.” The two lazily replied.

Silence.

“Are you guys sure to enlist this year?” Siwon was the one who initiated a conversation. He couldn’t stand the silence in them. It just made him sleepy. Half of him wanted too; half absolutely didn’t. It was a beautiful day but they just couldn’t find something that was worth spending their time to.

Dara told Hae that Minzy asked for a members’ bonding time. The 2ne1’s maknae stayed in the U.S. for the past months and enrolled in a school so it was normal that they missed each other so much. Donghae understood it although at the back of his mind, he really wanted to join them.  IU has her schedules and goodness gracious, Eunhyuk whined the whole yesterday when he knew about it. Well in Siwon’s case, he just broke up with his girl so. . . yeah.

The three of them knew that Kyuhyun would choose his computer than them in any day so. . . screw that evil maknae! Heenim thoughtfully asked them to go to his place though. To watch Frozen. The three swore that they could perform an impromptu play in front of their hyung with the exact lines and scenes in that movie for they’ve watched that movie for a thousand nth times!!! Courtesy of Kim Heechul, of course. Kangin wanted to spend his free time with his girlfriend while Leeteuk was in SNSD’s practice room. He was busy helping them for the new concept in the girls’ comeback.

“I think so. Isn’t that the plan? The three of us will enlist together this September. Soo Man sanjangnim allowed us already, unless there’ll be some changes.” Eunhyuk replied to him.

“Have you talked to IU ssi about this?” asked Siwon.

Eunhyuk paused for a while and straightened up from his seating. “Yeah. Lots of times. She also thinks that the sooner I enlist, the faster I will come back. And I think she’s right.”

Siwon straightened his body on the chair and took the emptied bottle on Eunhyuk’s hand and began playing with it.

“How about you Donghae? What did Dara ssi say?” Siwon turned to the fish who’s the only one remained on a sluggish position.

“I don’t know.” Donghae replied in an almost inaudible tone.

“Mwo?” Siwon’s eyes widened. He stopped tapping the table with the plastic bottle.

Eunhyuk took his feet off Donghae’s lap and placed his elbows on the table. “Yah Fishy. Don’t tell me you guys haven’t talked about it,” he said seriously.

He remained unmoved. “We haven’t,” Donghae admitted.

“Wae?!” The two asked simultaneously.

“You only have 5 months and a half if we’ll really enlist on September and yet you haven’t told about it to her. She’ll be mad at you Fishy.” Eunhyuk told him.

“Yah! That’s unfair to Dara ssi, you Pabo fish!” Siwon opened the bottle and threw the cap to Donghae. Before the fish was even hit, he caught it with his right hand.

“Ani. That’s not it. Of course, we talked about it. Once. She told me that she’d wait for me no matter what.” Donghae closed his eyes and crossed his arms above his head.

“But why are you acting so gloomy and all? Aren’t you happy with her answer?” Eunhyuk poked Donghae’s stomach with the bottle that he grabbed from Siwon but the fish didn’t even budge.

Silence.

IU is right.

Enlist earlier to come back sooner.

But how will I survive 2 years without Dara?

What if her fanboys take advantage of our situation and pursue her?

What if no one will protect her from those hungry wolves?

What if she fell in love with another person? Two years is two years. No communication and all.

What if I come back and she says that she doesn’t love me anymore?

“Yah Fi-“ Eunhyuk was cut off when Donghae suddenly rose from his seat and stood up in front of them.

“WHAT IF I ASK HER TO MARRY ME NOW?!”

Every artist, trainee, dancer and SM staff stopped from eating & chatting and looked at their direction. Eunhyuk and Siwon were stunned and could just look at the stupid fish. It took Donghae a few seconds to realize that he just said it out loud. No. Said isn’t the right word. He just shouted it out loud.

The two grabbed his collar and pulled him down to sit again. Donghae’s face was on the table as the two kept on pushing his head more to it.

“Ha. Ha. Ha.” Eunhyuk kept on laughing hysterically and tapping their table.  “How are you gonna marry Angelina Jolie? She has Brad Pitt already. They don’t need a fish in their mansion. They want huge and expensive dogs. Not a lowlife fish like you!” Eunhyuk said out loud and kept on glancing at the crowd who resumed to whatever they were doing after hearing his words.  

When everything seemed to be back in normal, the two glared at the person whose face was still slammed on the table. He was mumbling incoherent words.

“Pabo fish! You don’t have to shout and make a scene here.” Siwon whispered to him as he gritted his teeth.

“Ayyworonetdutgehnskdieofhuak.”

The two looked at each other and then removed their hands on his head. Donghae glared at the two. He was rubbing his whole face. His forehead was so red. His nose also hurt plus, he just made out with the cafeteria table!

“That hurt!” He snarled at the two. He was checking if his jaws were still intact.

“Idiot,” the two retorted.

He just rolled his eyes on them. “Wae? What’s wrong with that?”

“Aish! This stinky fish. You haven’t even told Soo Man sanjangnim about your relationship and yet you’re planning on proposing to her already. Are you insane? Haven’t you learned from Sungmin?” Eunhyuk just shook his head which earned a nod from Siwon.

Donghae was silenced. The monkey has a point.

“I’m not a monkey and of course, I have a point! ” Eunhyuk flicked Donghae’s forehead.

“Oww! Yah! How did you know what I’m thinking?!”

“You just said it loud and clear! Pabo!” Siwon answered for Eunhyuk.

“Did I?” Donghae scratched the back of his head but then he snapped back to Eunhyuk. “Yah Lee Hyukjae. How could you?! You know how I feel. Aren’t you thinking the same with IU? Plastic monkey.”

“Aigoo! This fish- wha-what?” Eunhyuk was taken aback with the way Siwon was squinting his eyes on him.

“Do you?” Siwon questioned him.

“What?” Eunhyuk tried to act innocently.

“What Donghae said.”

“Aish.” Eunhyuk was now the one scratching the back of his head. How did the tables turn on me now? “Arasso. Arasso. Of course I know what he’s feeling. There are times when marriage comes into my mind but I know it’s insane so I tend to erase it on my mind.”

“Why is it insane?” Donghae asked him. “I don’t think marriage is an insane thing. It signals that you’re ready for a lifetime commitment with your girlfriend. ”

“Ne. It’s a sacred event in our lives. You present your partner in front of God. You make your vows on Him. It isn’t a joke.” Siwon looked at Eunhyuk seriously.

“Huh? What are you guys talking about? Of course, I know that! Aigoo.” Eunhyuk frustratingly shook his head from left to right. “What I’m saying is that it’s insane to think of marrying IU at this point in time because she’s still too young!”

“Aaaaahhh.” Donghae and Siwon reacted in unison.

“Tch. But you know Donghae, I understand why you’re thinking that. Dara ssi is already at the marrying age and there really is no guarantee that she’d wait for you. Don’t look at me like that. I’m not saying she’s gonna cheat on you but it’s like the dilemma of every boyfriend that enters the military. Isn’t that one of Sungmin’s reason why they pursue the wedding? It’s selfish and just at the same time.”

The two just looked at him. It’s not everyday to see Hyukjae being serious but when he does, even Confucius have to listen to him. He only shows this part of him to Donghae and IU.

“But Hae, just a piece of advice from your bestfriend. Before you give your whole world to Dara, let her see your world first.”

“Wae? I’ve shown it to her already. In-”

“The best part of your world.” Eunhyuk cut him off. “How about the worst? Your world isn’t just about yourself, Lee omma, Donghwa hyung and us, your Super Junior brothers. We’re not even halfway there. And that goes the same to Dara ssi as well. You’ve met who? Her family? 2NE1? And who else?”

Donghae opened his mouth to say something but closed it then right away.

“Hae. Tell me. When are you planning to tell everything to sanjangnim? It has been months since Sungmin got married and weeks that he’s in the military,” asked Siwon.

“I know. I know. Do you think I’m not doing anything to tell sanjangnim? Every time. Every single time that I enter his office, I’m ready to spill everything but. . .” Donghae put his hands on his face wiping not the sweat but the frustration that’s slowly coming out and then looked at his friends again. “I don’t know why but it feels like fate doesn’t want me to. If he’s not out of the country, he is busy over something. And if not about those two, he’s mad at his artists, staff, media and everyone else. From what happened to Sungmin, to Jessica, to Kris and Luhan, to Fx and Shinee’s fans. . . I don’t know anymore.”

Siwon and Eunhyuk pitied their friend. Of course, they knew how he felt. They’ve been there. All they could do is just pray and be there for each other every time the storm comes.

“What’s with that look on your faces?” Donghae chuckled at his friends’ facial expressions. He doesn’t want them to worry about him. He and Dara are both fine. There’s no one and nothing that could come between them.

The two sensed that he was back to his normal pabo-fish-self. Siwon and Eunhyuk stood up and went beside him. They leaned down and put their arms on Donghae’s shoulders.

“It’s our day off. Let’s do something interesting.” Eunhyuk grinned at Donghae.

“What?” They pulled Donghae up and walked towards the door of the cafeteria. “Yah. You two, where are we going?”

“We don’t know either. But let’s find something that’s worth our time. Let’s do something which we’ve never done before! Something that’s uber cool” Siwon exclaimed. They didn’t care if they were too noisy and people were looking at them.

“Let’s!” Eunhyuk and Donghae raised their fists on the air.

They were halfway from the exit door when Donghae asked, “So, what are we gonna do?”

The three of them stopped from walking and faced each other. They simultaneously put their right hand under their chin and began pulling their imaginary Dumbledore’s beard.

“Hmmmmmn.” The three hummed in chorus.

“Movie?” Siwon suggested.

“What’s new in that?!” The two widened their eyes to him.

“Choreograph a new dance step?” Eunhyuk suggested this time.

“We’re on a day off and you want to work?!” Siwon shouted at him.

“Ice skating?” asked Donghae.

“Do you know how weird that would be? Three guys enjoying themselves in the rink. I’ve had enough of our haters calling us “gays” in SNS, okay!” Eunhyuk told him.

“How about a trip to Jeju? Tokyo? Singapore? We have our villa there and don’t worry for the tickets. I could call-“ Siwon looked for his cellphone on his back pockets.

“Siwon. Day off. Not daysssss off. Before we even arrived there, sanjangnim already wants our sorry asses back in South Korea’s soil.” Eunhyuk lightly smacked Siwon’s back head.

“Let’s just visit MBC building. I heard-” Eunhyuk began to say.

The two glared at him. “Shut up. You just want to see IU,” they said flatly.

“Tch.” The anchovy wanted to see her so bad but he knew that the fish wouldn’t let him. It’d be unfair to him and his desire to be with Dara right now.

“Let’s just go to the grocery,” announced Donghae.

“What are we going to do in a grocery store?” The two questioned him.

“Eh? I need to buy a new conditioner. I don’t think the new one that our hair stylist gave me is suited for my hair. I don’t think my hair is soft anymore. I love it when Dara touches my hair. What if she got turned off with how my hair feels now?” Donghae began massaging his hair.

“What?” The two were dumbfounded.

Siwon blinked his eyes and shook his head. “How about trying a French cuisine?” He turned to Eunhyuk.

“Ani. I’m not really hungry. How about let’s just buy gallons of different ice cream flavors and then hang out at your house?” Eunhyuk asked him in return.

“That’d be boring. After eating, we won’t do anything else.” Siwon shrugged his idea off.

“Let’s just go buy every ramen from different countries and then compare which tastes better. We could even combine them to create a new flavor that suits our tongue,” Donghae thoughtfully suggested.

Eunhyuk turned his back to Donghae and faced Siwon.

“How about buy painting materials, make a portrait of each of us members and then g