The past few months had been pretty tough. Their activities as Super Junior D and E had ended last year, and even though the group activities with the rest of the members were on-going, they barely had time for eachother.

Having scrutinized his own schedule as well as Hyukjae's, Donghae had booked 2 plane tickets to Bali. One for him, and one for the man he loved. Some time away from the hustle and bustle of their busy life would help them reconnect and maybe put things back into perspective. Drifting away without any explanation was not an option for two people so much in love with eachother.

But when Donghae asked Hyukjae to pack his stuff for the trip that they were going to take in 2 days, the other man refused.

"You should have asked me before you started to plan everything on your own Donghae. I have things that I need to do during the free days so you can ask some other member to go with you," an irritated Hyukjae said to him. 

And even though Donghae should have argued or fought or screamed or begged Hyukjae to go with him, he decided to take the trip all alone. He just needed to escape reality for now, even if he had to go unaccompanied.

                                       *****

He kept the trip brief, much shorter than he wanted to actually. It wasn't because he was in a hurry to get back. It was because the test results had come out.

Two weeks ago he had fallen down while running on the treadmill because of the sudden piercing pain he felt at the base of his spine. Thinking that it was nothing but a muscle spasm, he had used ice packs and muscle relaxants and stayed in bed for a day. But then it happened again when he was in the shower. And then again while he was sleeping one night , causing him to wake up twisted on unr sheets, dripping with sweat.
So, hesitantly, he had gotten an MRI.

And now he had to get back so he could meet the oncologist to inquire what exactly was wrong with him and how bad it was. The doctor had told him about all the possibilities of his illness, depending on the signs and symptoms. But Donghae was not ready for that sort of a diagnosis. He was too weak, specially without Hyukjae by his side, more emotionally so than physically. 

                                       *****

The moment he landed back in Korea, his manager took h