“Ouch!” Donghae whined, rubbing his cheek. “My tooth aches.”

I sighed, shaking my head.

“That’s because you eat too many sweet things.” I laughed.

Donghae groaned, slapping his palm against his face. He was in some serious pain. Even though it was his own fault for eating ice cream for breakfast, I gave him a sympathetic look, and took a box of painkillers from the third drawer down. I grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and poured him glass of scotch. I handed Donghae the pills, which he downed dry before I could even give him a drink. He took a sip of water and replaced the cap and yanked the glass of liquor from my hands. I smiled while he sipped it carefully, making his eyes widen like they always did. He looked exactly like a fish.

I guess the baby just needed his bottle.

Donghae’s mobile rang in his pocket and he placed his glass on a coaster in front of him and answered it, leaning back.

“Hello?” He asked, immediately switching on his ‘business‘ voice. He listened intently for a while, looking to me. “Sure, hold on a minute.”

He stood up, nodded to me and mouthed ‘sorry’. He then retreated into his office, locking the double doors behind him.

I sighed. Donghae never seemed to be busy with running the company, and I assumed he had an entire team of secretaries in the company’s building running everything for him, mainly because he could afford it. Plus, Donghae obviously enjoyed his carefree lifestyle far too much to bother with work. Every now and again, he’d receive phone calls from business partners of the head office. He’d lock himself in his study for hours, doing all sorts of important business-ey stuff.

I often was curious as to what he talked about when he locked those sound proof doors. Not that he had anything to hide, I just assumed he wanted privacy and focus while he worked. I didn’t mind in the least. The only thing that would bother me, would be when he pulled all nighters in his office.

I’d been living with Donghae for almost three weeks now, not doing a whole lot. This entire experience had been like a luxury vacation in a five star resort, doing nothing but watching TV, shopping or just talking to Donghae about nothing in particular. Sometimes, Heechul would come over and sit with us for a bit. Heechul kept bugging Donghae to let him take me out one night, but Donghae insisted that one of Heechul’s sleazy night clubs was not the best environment for a man like me.

I strongly agreed.

My carefree days under Donghae’s roof, gave me the time I needed to reflect on my life so far. Even though the pain was still there, I was able to deal with it, healing a little more each day. I knew the pain would never fully disappear, but I was able to carry on, pushing everything to the back of my mind.

I knew it was only a matter of time before I needed to snap back to reality and find a place of my own, and another job. I could only freeload off of Donghae for so long.

Deciding that I should get started on cooking dinner for the evening, I went to the pantry to scan for ingredients. Since our first shopping adventure, I’d been to the store several times, picking up things I knew I could make into foods that Donghae would enjoy. Tonight, I decided I would make soup for dinner. I took the pot from the pantry, and the cutting board from under the sink and began slicing potatoes. I added water to the pot, placing it on the stove. In a particularly good mood, I flicked the switch on the CD player that sat on the counter, filling the kitchen with the sounds of Super Juniors latest album (a gift from Heechul of course).

I began cutting carrots, moving the knife and my hips to the beat of the music, happily humming to myself.

Wow. I laughed to myself. I’m really at home here now.

I tipped the vegetables into the pot, wiping my hands on the tea towel I had recently picked out for the place.

“Dinner’ ready!” I called to Donghae, who’d migrated upstairs to his room. I set my bowl down on the coffee table, sitting on my knees and turning on the TV. Usually, we ate dinner at the table, like civilized human beings, but tonight I thought I’d shake it up a bit.

I turned to a channel which appeared to be a documentary on the ocean and smiled.

I heard Donghae coming down the stairs by the sound of his socked footsteps.

“It’s on the counter.” I told him, eyes glued to the television.

“What on?” He asked. He placed his bowl on the small table beside me and sat cross legged on the floor.

“Oh, just a random documentary.” I sighed.

He nodded, digging into his soup. The narrators voice drawled on behind the sound of Donghae’s slurping as he ate his soup.

After a while, Donghae spoke up.

“Do you like the sea Hyukjae?” He asked, breaking the almost-silence.

“I don’t know.” I replied after giving it thought. “I’ve never really been.”

“What do you mean?” Donghae seemed somewhat shocked.

“Well, I’ve been to the beach a handful of times, but I’ve never gone in the water.” I shrugged. “Too cold and wet for my liking. Besides, I can’t swim anyway. It’s not like I’d get far.”

“Too wet?” He repeated, laughing. “It’s the ocean Hyuk, it’s supposed to be wet. So you’ve never even touched the sea before?”

I shook my head, not really seeing what the big deal was. He stared at me like a maniac.

He sighed deeply, turning his head back to the TV.

“I have a boat actually.” He said. “Maybe we should go sometime. Besides, who says you can’t see the ocean without going in it?”

I smiled at him.

“Maybe.” I said, finishing the last of my soup and not really considering whether or not he’d stay true to his word.

As it turned out, Donghae’s equivalent of ‘sometime’ was the following day. Donghae woke me up at about seven, suddenly informing me we were going to the beach.

I showered and dressed, coming down stairs and feeding Choco. I ate breakfast while Donghae prepared things for the day. Once we were ready to go, Donghae drove the two of us all the way to the marina. I stared out the window, leaning my forehead against the cold glass.  I looked out  at the ocean sitting on the horizon. I began to wonder whether or not his was a good idea.

We drove down a small dirt road past the normal beach entrance to a large area with a fence circling it. Donghae drove though the gate and down into the marina. I gazed around, hundreds of boats, all shapes and sizes were parked on the water, all tied to different platforms. Donghae shut off the engine, leading me out and down the jetty. We walked past rows and rows of boats until we came to one at the end. My stomach lurched, seeing the boat which Donghae owned. I stared at what looked like one of those huge boats out of the James Bond movies. It was slender, white and shone in the morning sun. It was easily the biggest boat here, the type a millionaire bought for recreational preposes. It took my breath away.

“Well.” Donghae smiled, stepping up from the jetty and onto the deck. “What are you waiting for? Get on.”

Honestly, I had been terrified. The second Donghae had started the engine had me clenching my fists. Once we were out onto the open ocean, I could clearly see the water. Waves splashed at the bottom of the boat as we tore across the surface. I felt the salty winds though my hair and the sun soaking into my skin.

 I didn’t have to worry though. Because of my unusually pale skin, Donghae had treated me like a baby and covered every inch of my face and arms in sun block so I wouldn’t get burned. He’d also gone as far as to pack my EpiPen and inhaler in case of an emergency. He really was considerate like that.

Surprisingly, even thought Donghae had clearly planned on going out on the water today, there he stood i