Dara felt sore. All over. Like going in the gym on the first day with your gym trainer pushing you at your limit when your muscles are still all over the place.

She opened her eyes to see the pristine white ceiling of the room then drifted over to the curtains billowing in the wind from the open balcony and saw the sun’s rays streaming through it.

And smiled.

She quietly turned her head to the side and saw Donghae sleeping soundly beside her, one of his arm around her waist over the blanket he probably pulled over her. She watched him sleep for minute, her eyes roving his face, taking it all. She lifted her hand and gingerly touched his cheek, her heart aching at the thought that this might probably the last time she would get to touch him. Last night… or was it early this morning…? It was beautiful. His every touch, every kisses, every caress…. Nothing would ever come close as beautiful as that.

And she knew that this is that one day that she would never ever regret.

She slowly leaned her head closer to his and planted a soft kiss at the tip of his nose. He was so out of it that he didn’t even shift.

Dara slowly lifted his arm off her waist careful not to jar him awake before she looked around the room. There were clothes strewn on the floor and she reddened when she saw her pants and her underwear. She quietly slid off the side of the bed and hastily took her clothes—where’s her shirt? She covered herself with the clothes she was able to grab before she made a silent run to the bathroom, making a face at the faint pain of her body.

Thankfully, Donghae had some shirts neatly folded in his bathroom closet so she took one and put it on. A little too big for her but it’ll do, though it didn’t cover the hickeys on her neck. Donghae was still sleeping when she stepped out, lying in the same position as to the time when she woke up. She watched him for a couple more minutes before she decided to cook him breakfast.

Which is hotdogs, eggs, and noodles.

She snickered imagining the look on his face when he found what breakfast she cooked for him. There wasn’t much of anything I could work inside your fridge. Same answer she would probably tell him.

She cleaned the mess she made in the kitchen before she started to fry the hotdog then realized that she did the sequence wrong. She should’ve cooked first before she cleaned the kitchen because now, she would have to clean it all over again. She sighed as she started to wipe the bits of oil that splattered on the side of the stove.

She was already buttering the bread she toasted when she heard a door open and she smiled widely as Donghae strode in, his hair disheveled. He was in his trousers that hanging low on his hips and he was shirtless. Her eyes immediately went to his torso, heart pounding loudly as the image of her kissing that, touching it, replayed in her head.

“’morning,” Donghae greeted her sleepily as he pulled the stool chair on the counter and sat down.

Dara cleared her suddenly dry throat and forced herself to look in his face. “Good morning. Coffee?”

“Yes, please.” Then he looked at the plate of hotdogs and buttered toast. He lifted his eyes with an amused smile. “Breakfast?”

“Uh huh.” She nodded while she poured him a steaming cup and placed it in front of him. “Again, you don’t have anything for me to work on.”

He let out a soft chuckle before reaching for the toast to take a bite. Dara poured herself a cup before taking a seat on the stool across from him watching him as he eat. Somehow, the line from a Chris Brown song played inside her head.

There’s never a right time to say goodbye.

Oh shut up! She mentally punched herself. Yes, she knows there’s never a right time which is the reason why she is delaying this. She should’ve just left a note and leave that morning but Donghae deserves better than that. She wet her lips as she looked down on the smooth, flat surface of the counter wondering how she should even start this. How do you even start a conversation where the main point is breaking up? Especially after the beauty of what happened last nght… or early that morning. Either way, she’s still going to come out as an .

“Donghae,” she called him after minutes of watching him silently, her voice turning solemn and quiet. “We need to talk.” She lifted her eyes to look at him.

His chewing slowed then stopped. He didn’t speak for a moment as he stared at the cup in front of him. “Don’t.” His tone seemed to know exactly what she is about to do today. “Don’t say it.” He slowly lifted his eyes to meet hers and the silent plea in his eyes made her heart feel like it’s being wrung out of her chest.

Donghae knew it. He felt it. He knew there was something weird going on last night that he just hoped is him getting paranoid. When she made love to him, when she held him tight, it felt like she is already saying goodbye.

It’s a feeling that suddenly hit him when he watched her sleeping beside him all the while recalling how she acted when she came to meet him. She think he didn’t noticed but he saw her desolation. He felt it. And her tears when she was watching that animated movie…. A part of him hoped that she would dispel his fear and she would laugh and tell him he is paranoid but she stared right back at him with her pained expression, not even denying it a bit or even asking him what he is talking about. His jaw clenched. “So it’s a break up .” Did she get tired of this set up? Did she get tired of him?

Dara gaped at him after he said it. How could he even think that? “No.” Or maybe it is but to her it’s more than that. “It was me trusting you with everything I have and knowing I’m never going to regret it.”

“But you’re still going to break up with me.” He stated it as a fact. “Even if you trusted me with everything you have.”

Dara could only watch him tighten his jaw as he pierced her with his eyes. This is the first time she had ever actually seen him get mad… or close to it. Also the first time she had even heard him use a sarcastic tone. On her.

She really had changed him. Both on the positive and on the negative side.

“I am getting in the way of your training.” She also stated her explanation as a fact.

“Says who?”

“Your eyebags.”

Donghae’s brows furrowed at her quick answer and Dara pursed her lips. She would’ve laughed at her stupid response if she’s not on the verge of crying. “That wasn’t a joke,” she just weakly said.

“I wasn’t laughing.”

She gestured with her hand. “Y—You really do have pronounced eyebags and there are dark circles on your eyes.” Dara she knew she’s making a mess of this supposed break up intro.

Donghae sighed in exasperation as he watched her anxious face. “Why is my appearance even relevant to what you’re trying to do?”

Dara paused to gather her thoughts to make sure they will make sense when they get out of . Truthfully, she doesn’t really know how to start this. How to even explain why she’s doing this. The only thing that she needed to do is to make Donghae realize that he needed to concentrate on his training first before anything else. To forget about everything to do that.

She swallowed hard before starting again. Slowly this time so she wouldn’t trip over her words by the rush of emotions spilling inside her. “Donghae…,” she started. “You are not just good at what you do. You are… relentless when it comes to LDH. When I met you at that first meeting we had with Chairman Yang, I had you pegged as someone who thinks and breathes Work. I believe LDH is the only thing that is running through your mind the entire time which is probably the reason why you didn’t recognized me.” She cocked her head to the side lifting the corner of hoping to, at least, ease the tension off that table. “Though it really pissed me off, I had understood that. I was the same… in some ways. Always thinking about work, how to be better at it, what more can be improved, what strategy to use to get the best deal…. It’s always the same thoughts running through our head that it’s weird why we never even get tired of it.” She paused. “You have a one-track mind, I’m sure you know that. You have this exemplary way of focusing on a goal and working to get it. You even know how to play dirty when you need to.” Her mind recalled how he sends her flowers after he found out she was that girl who holds the power on Account Contract decisions. “What you did for LDH to be where it is now is the product of your hardwork. You once told me you dreamed of making LDH a global brand. Well… this is it.” She let out a small smile. “EXO Group is your dream becoming a reality. I doubt you had even thought of EXO Group as a possibility before and this… coming to you after… what happened with 21 TV… EXO Group is beyond your expected results.” Her gaze drifted down on her clasped hands on the counter. “And if you are the same Donghae that I have met at that first meeting with the chairman, you wouldn’t let anything get in the way of this opportunity. You would only have this mindset of excelling in this training to prove that EXO Group made the right decision with LDH.” She lifted her eyes again to see him just looking at her with a thoughtful stare. “You wouldn’t let anything… distract you in doing what you need to do to ensure that this training would end in a favorible result.” Crap, I’m beating around the bush. “And I need you to be that man again, Donghae.”

Donghae’s jaw tightened but he wasn’t saying anything or even supplying a comment after what she just told him. Dara doesn’t know if he understands what she is saying because she doesn’t think she is clear on what she is trying to say. She exhaled loudly in exasperation of herself making a mess of this. “You’re not the same. You’ve changed.” She decided to just be direct on this. “You’ve changed for me. You do things you have never done before and… I have no words to tell you how much… how much that makes me love you more because all these things… these sacrifices that you do… eventhough you don’t say it that often, I know that you love me just as much and….” She just shook her head feeling so bombarded with emotions right now. “… I feel that I must’ve done something great in my previous life to actually have met you. And have you.” She paused considering the next thing to say because it is so difficult to be direct if you are afraid of the eventuality. “But I need you to be selfish now and focus on your dream. I need you to forget about me.” Then added quickly in case Donghae took it literally. “For a while.” She wet her dry lips as she waited for Donghae to respond.

His gaze was fixed on her, serious and scrutinizing that it made Dara fidget. His stare is making her feel like she did something wrong! He was like that for a minute before he finally spoke. “Did somebody asked you to talk to me about this?” His brows furrowed deeper. “Did Eunhyuk?” He’s the only one who was there to witness him struggling on his training and one he kept berating Donghae about.

“Eunhyuk? No. I haven’t even spoken to him.” Then Dara realized something and she regarded Donghae with the same scrutinizing gaze he was giving her. “And the mere fact that you knew exactly what I’m talking about only goes to show how bad it is going for you and that you are keeping it from me.”

His furrowed brows smoothened a little. “I just need some adjusting,” Donghae weakly said averting his gaze down on the countertop.

Dara rolled her eyes. “I told you before Donghae and I’m telling you again.” Her voice was wry. “You are not very good in lying.” She leaned back on the chair watching him try not to look at her like a kid being reprimanded.

“Donghae, you don’t need adjusting.” Her voice turned soft now. “You need to let me go.” Donghae’s eyes lifted to her face and she continued as her heart felt the pain of the words she is saying. “And I need to let you go.”

“No.”

His direct rejection of the idea made Dara feel really valued but it will only hurt a lot worse. She’s doing the right thing here! His response of not wanting to let her go makes her want to cry but she shouldn’t. She already told herself that if she will end this with Donghae, there should be no bitterness, no drama, no tears, no painful goodbyes. “As much as I love hearing you say that without hesitation, you need to listen to me.” She paused before going on. “You remember that whole fiasco with 21 TV?” She gave a soft chuckle. “How you are willing to lose the contract that you worked so hard for because you didn’t want me to lose my job? What you felt then is how I feel now. This isn’t just a title that you’re going to lose, Donghae. This is your dream.” She swallowed hard. “You cannot be distracted. And I’m a distraction you can’t afford right now. And you know that I’m right.”  

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