Donghae softly smiled at his reflection in the mirror, straightening his shirt before checking the time. He was supposed to meet Leeteuk for lunch in twenty minutes, and he was already running so late.

The rules that SM had set in place for Donghae and Hyukjae stated that they were not allowed to use their cell phones, which had been confiscated before their enlistment. They were only allowed a total of two visits each for the duration of their military service. What's worse was the only member allowed to visit with Donghae and Hyukjae was Leeteuk, and he was required to report back to the managers afterwards to inform them about "whether or not the behavior has improved," as they had told the leader.

Of course Leeteuk wouldn't tell them anything that they wouldn't want to hear, and he had promised both Hyukjae and Donghae that they didn't have to be afraid of getting caught during their visits.

Today was Donghae's 29th birthday, that's why Leeteuk chose for them to go to lunch for his visit. But that wasn't why Donghae was so excited.

It had already been a year.

One whole year had passed since his enlistment, and Donghae had to admit that his boyfriend was right. Time had been moving so fast since he enlisted, and now he had only nine months left.

He made so many new friends, and Donghae was so grateful that most of them overlooked his idol status and treated him like a normal person. One of his closest friends was Kwon Jiyong. He was a about two years younger than Donghae, and he was just so kind towards the brunet that Donghae could surely say that Jiyong made his military service that much easier. Jiyong was the most supportive of Donghae's relationship with Hyukjae, saying that Donghae was so brave and that he wished the couple the best in their future together. Jiyong was always there when Donghae wanted to talk, and he would listen just how the brunet wanted.

Of course there were plenty of others who were constantly making fun of Donghae and saying really offensive things about both him and Hyukjae. They would swear at him and say rude and inappropriate things, but what he hated the most was when they would bring Hyukjae into their cruel jokes. Donghae was never the confrontational type, but he would not allow them to say such things about his boyfriend, and each time it happened Donghae most definitely stood up for Hyukjae and he would not-so-politely ask that they keep their mouths shut. "They don't know Hyukjae. They don't have the right talk about him as if they do," the brunet told Jiyong after those guys made one especially rude comment about Donghae's boyfriend.

Donghae never cried though. He remembered what Leeteuk had told him, that Hyukjae wouldn't want him to cry, and that Hyukjae would want the brunet to stay strong for him. So he promised himself that he would be strong for Hyukjae.

He missed Hyukjae like crazy, of course. With each day that passed, Donghae missed his boyfriend more and more. Starting from the day he enlisted, he had been counting down how many days were left until he would see the blond again -- now there were only 273 days -- and he was so much more anxious and excited now that a whole year had passed already.

Twenty minutes later the brunet was seated at a table across from Leeteuk in a cozy restaurant, patiently waiting for their food.

"How have you been Donghae?" the leader asked softly.

Donghae shrugged and took a sip of his ice water. "I can't complain, I guess. I'm happy that my service is more than halfway to being finished. I can't wait to go back to the dorm because I miss the other members and... and obviously I miss Hyukjae."

"I'm sure he misses you too. I'll tell him that when I visit him in January," Leeteuk said.

"Thanks, Teuk."

"How are the others?" the leader wondered.

Donghae shrugged. "There's a lot of mean people, always making fun of m