"Come on Hyuk! The weather is nice, let's get in!" Donghae grabbed hyukjae's hand and literally dragged him into the water. The ocean looked calm and the weather all sunny. Hyukjae laughed and tried to break free.

"No! Hae! Stop! I don't want to get wet! Aish!!"

But the younger one did not stop. He kept dragging hyukjae's tiny body into the water and stopped only when the wave hit them. Both gasping and laughing goofily.

"You're crazy, Hae! What if I can't swim?"

"But you can!" Said Donghae goofily and splashed some water over Hyukjae.

Hyukjae swam to the shore. It was hard to fight the wave and getting harder cause Donghae kept grabbing his waist to get him back away from the shore. Hyukjae almost lost his breath when he reached the shore. He laid down on the beach panting. Donghae laid beside him laughing.

"Hey Hyuk. "

"Yeah?"

"Thanks."

Hyukjae gazed at the one beside him. "What for?"

"For always there for me." Said Donghae as he looked into Hyukjae's eyes.

Confused with the statement, hyukjae just stared at the orange head that laid next to him.

"What's wrong?"

"Nah! Nothing's wrong. I just never got the chance to say it." said Donghae calmly. His eyes were closed as he enjoyed the sun. "So, Thank you."

"You always there for me too. Thank you." Said Hyukjae as he found Donghae really serious with what he said. "Why all of sudden? Is something wrong?"

Donghae shook his head. "Should I wait until there's something wrong to say thank you to my own best friend?"

Hyukjae chuckled. He got up and gave a hand to Donghae. "Come on! It's freezing. Let's get inside."

"Nah! I wanna swim. I came home to enjoy everything, including the sea. I miss this a lot." Said Donghae. Ignoring the other one, he just ran toward to sea and jumped in. Hyukjae just laughed as he saw donghae's head up and down in the water swimming.

Donghae was a good swimmer. Being born in mokpo was the main reason. He lived by the sea. His name was literally mean east sea. Sea was his second home.

Hyukjae turned his head as he heard someone back at donghae's house shouted his name. It was Siwon, asking them to get inside for lunch. Hyukjae gave him a gesture, then turned his head to find Donghae. He waited for a moment, looking at the sea before him. But he couldn't find him. In front of him was just a calmed sea. No splashes, no donghae's head obove the water  to get air. Where was he?

Hyukjae panicked and shouted donghae's name many times. But he was nowhere to be found.  Hyukjae raced to the water and just dive in. His heart pounding so fast. He was so scared that something might happen to Donghae. So he kept diving and search for him.
 

---
 

"Hyuk! Wake up! Hyuk!"

Hyukjae's body stiffed as he opened his eyes.

"Woah.. Take it easy." Siwon caught Hyukjae's shoulder as he just sat up, catching his breath. The look upon Hyukjae's face scared Siwon up. "What ever that was, It was just a dream, Hyuk. You were dreaming. It's alright.."

"Donghae?"

"In his ward. He's ok. Don't worry." Siwon said. "He's ok."

Hyukjae sighing in relieved. It was just a bad dream. Hae was alright.

" Can I see him?" Asked hyukjae as he began to breath normally. Siwon nodded and helped hyukjae off the bed. He felt a bit dizzy but he ignore it. He just wanted to see Hae.

Both friends walked quietly along the corridor to hae's ward at the ICU section.

"How was donghae?" Asked hyukjae once they were at donghae's ward. He sat beside his bed, taking hae's arm with his and brushed it to keep it warm. "Any progress?"

Siwon shook his head. "Sorry, hyuk. But donghae's condition is still the same."

Siwon caught his expression just now and suddenly felt uneasy. He also miss donghae a lot. Eveybody did.

"Siwon-ah, do you think Hae will wake up?" Asked hyukjae suddenly, making Siwon sad.

"Leave everything into God's hand. Just pray and He will listen to you." Said siwon with confident. when he saw hyukjae's tears. He put his hand on hyukjae's shoulder to comfort him.

"Hyukkie, you can't loose hope like this, eoh? We are not loosing Hae, I won't let that happen. God will take care of Hae. You have to have faith in Him."

"In my dream earlier, I felt like he was saying goodbye or something. We were at mokpo, he was saying thank you out of the blue. Then he went to the sea and disappeared. I'm so scared, wonnie."

"It's just a dream. Hae will be fine. The doctor said he's stable right now and he may woke up anytime. You know hae's a fighter."

"He better be.. " Hyukjae whispered as he stared at Donghae's lifeless face. That innocent child like face. How can a cheerful person like him could be this quiet? His sparkling eyes, those goofy smile. They have gone.  He miss them a lot.

----

"How are we going to do this, hyung?" Ryeowook broked the silent. "We're already down to 9, to 8 now without Donghae hyung. how can we perform at all in this situation?"

" I know it's hard."Leeteuk let go a big sigh. "But we cannot stay llike this. He have to go on. We always work things out, right? this isn't the first time we lost our member."

"Without hae.." Hyukjae gazed at Leeteuk. " What am I gonna do without Hae? How can I perform without him?"

"Maybe sungmin can fill in." Leeteuk said carefully. Sungmin looked at Hyukjae. He knew he would mind, so he didn't say anything.

"Mianhae, Hyukjae-ah. I know this might sound harsh but we cannot wait until donghae wakes up and then start the tour. I know donghae would've wanted us to go on." Leeteuk stared right into hyukjae's eyes. Those eyes look so loving, yet tired and hyukjae refrained himself not to argue with his hyung. So he nodded obediently.

Leeteuk then briefed all the member. Giving them all the schedule for the next 2 months. Hyukjae stared at him but seemed lost, he had no idea what he was talking about because his mind was so buzy thinking about something else.

How can I perform without you, hae? hyukjae thought as he let go a big sigh. He closed his eyes as he felt his head became heavier. He felt so tired. All of his energy drained by today's schedule already.

"I'll be there, Hyuk.."

Hyukjae opened his eyes and scanned the room quickly. What was that? what was that just now that he heard? Hyukjae cringed. He heard Donghae's voice just now. But seriously that would be impossible. So hyukjae shook that thoughts off his mind and started to listen to Leeteuk hyung just like the rest did.

It was around 11 pm that finally Leeteuk called off for the day. Every member quietly return to their room. So was Hyukjae. After a quick showered he went straight to bed. 

And then it happened again. The dream came back. Hae was there again. It was the 3rd time this week. But Hyukjae didn't mind. In fact this was something that he always wanted, cause he would be able to see donghae.

"Are you real?" Hyukjae asked carefully. He then sat next to Donghae. He didn't answerr hyukjae's question. He just stared at the sea.

"Hae.."

"I'll be there Hyuk." said Donghae softly. "Don't worry. You'll do great with Sungmin hyung.You know how talented he is. He'll do great, he'll do better than me."

"But I want you, Hae." Hyukjae trew a stone to the sea in desperation. "It's our song, our dance."

"I know. But you have to get used to it, hyuk."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I'm not always around anymore." Donghae looked into hyukjae's eyes.

"This is the only place you can see me now." Donghae tapped hyukjae's head. "I can no longer dance or sing like we use to do."

"In my dream?"

"Yeah, until everything become clear and we can move on."

"Huh? Hae, please cut it out. I don't understand a single word you say." Hyukjae frowned.

Donghae just laughed. "You'll understand someday, hyuk. You'll understand..."