The night sky seemed to be an overpowering shade of cobalt black. The few clouds in the sky showed off their opaqueness - swallowing the moonbeams to use as their own light. There was something about the weather that seemed to reflect one person's feelings only too well. Donghae leaned against the ledge of the windows, arms crossed over one another, watching the one person he'd give up his whole life for, sleeping peacefully. He stood there - outwardly silent - while his thoughts never stopped talking, not once. He looked on, as a faint stream of light outlined the soft features on her face. His once hardened face let out a tired smile as even the moon agreed with him - because to him, Yoona was always beautiful. Standing next to her bed, he reached out to push away the strand of hair that was always sticking to her face. With one hand leaning on the bed and the other gently brushing against her head, Donghae watched her face become blurry little by little, more and more.

"Donghae" The painful silence was pushed aside as a familiar voice filled the room with a little bit of warmth.

Donghae quickly held back his tears as he formally greeted the familiar faces - Yoona's parents. Yoona's mom reached out and lightly patted Donghae's back - almost bringing back up the tears he tried to hold back.

"Are you alright?" Knowing that if he dared to open his mouth, tears would flow from his eyes as words flowed from his mouth, Donghae just nodded with a short answer.

"Yes." His voice cracked even through the duration of such a short word.

"Good." Yoona’s mom nodded but everyone awake in the room knew that their world wasn't just 'alright' or 'good' - it wasn't even close. "How is she?" Leaning over to grab a glance of her daughter, Yoona's mom neared the bed.

"She just fell asleep. Hopefully she'll get a full rest and sleep till morning." Yoona's dad hadn't said a word since he entered, but instead set their coats on the sofa before following his wife to get a good look at his only daugther.

"You should get some rest too. All you've been doing is watching after her. Go home. I'll stay overnight today. Go." Pulling the hospital blanket a little more tightly over her daughter, she urged her son-in-law to go.

"It's true when they say that the love of a mother-in-law for her son-in-law is one of the biggest love there is." Donghae laughed softly trying to play by with his usual playful self in efforts to hide his shaky interior. "But would you mind if I stay here with her tonight? I don't think I can sleep not knowing how she's doing." His gaze slowly drifted from Yoona's mom to the placidly sleeping Yoona. Yoona's mom let out a small sigh as she too turned to face her daughter while placing an encouraging hand on Donghae's shoulder. When she had received the news this morning that Yoona had regained some consciousness, she couldn't have been more excited. But then the news of her state of well being hit hard - because she couldn't remember a time when it wasn't a new beginning for the two youngsters.

"When was the last time anyone was home?" Yoona's mom walked towards to the sofa and started gathering her things.

"Umm. I can't even remember. It's been a few days now." Donghae scratched the back of his head trying to remember the last time he had either walked in or out of their house. They had both been quite busy lately - even before all this happened. "Are you leaving already?" Yoona's mom was already handing her husband his jacket as she put her own on, while holding her purse in one hand.

"You stay here with her. I'm going to go over to your house and do some light cleaning and maybe bring over something decent to eat. I know you guys are probably sick of that hospital food. Don't worry about us, we'll find our way out of here - it's not the first time we've been here." Donghae let out a small understanding laugh. "We'll come back tomorrow dear. Don't forget to get some rest yourself. You need to be strong." How many times had he heard that? But he knew.

"Yes, I know." Yoona's mom gave him a nod of acknowledgement before directing her husband out the door.

"You'll be okay." With one final smile and a soft pat on the cheek, Yoona's mom walked out leaving the room silent and dark as it had been only a few moments ago. Donghae walked back over to the window and watched as the clouds slowly disappeared from the night sky, leaving it so empty and bare. He stared out into the endless sea of black almost feeling like if he stood there long enough, the night would swallow him whole - in a way, he almost hoped. Broken out of his momentary trance, he grabbed a chair from nearby and set it down next to her bed. His knees gave in as he sat down - not remembering the last time he had sat on a chair that day. Donghae reached out to firmly yet carefully hold Yoona's hand in his. Leaning against the back of his chair, Donghae sat quietly - thinking - in what he felt like a timeless zone, hand in hand with a girl he didn't dare ask anything more of.

 

                                                                                                           "Fate. Lovers. Fate."

 

He let out a deep sigh. He tried so hard not to let his thoughts overpower him, or at least not to exhaust him of whatever strength he had left, but it was human nature to let things get the better of you - and he too was only human. "This is fate right? Us - we're fate right?" He hadn't noticed a small tear glisten against the moonbeams as it rolled down his face. "I couldn't ask for anyone else. I wouldn't ask for anyone else." His voice started shaking. "But why is it getting so hard? I know I'm happy - I really am. Because loving you is what makes me the happiest person - the luckiest person in this whole world. But why is it getting so hard?" There were so many things going on in this hospital, this country, this world - that no one could hear this one man's pleas. "Is this too hard for you?" His grip on her hand tightened - worried that she'd just disappear if he didn't hold on. "Whenever you start hurting, a bigger part of me hurts more." He lightly played with her fingers. "You tell me. You tell me when it's too hard. I won't let me be the one hurting you. So you tell me when it gets too hard." Letting go of her hand, Donghae tried to wipe away all the tears that had fallen down his face. For the last time of the night, Donghae stood by the window - this time watching the sun rise from one corner of the world. This time he smiled as he watched the beginning of another day, another world, another life.

                                                                                                                   "Fate. Lovers. Fate."

 

These two lovers were encircled by fate. Sometimes fate was pleasant. Other times it was unforgiving. But it was often the splendid mixture of the two that brought lovers together - forever.