Donghae’s POV

“Donghae! This is the third time you pick up that damn phone!” Heechul growled, snatching away the phone from my grip. I got wide, sad, puppy eyes and pouted. He put the phone in his jacket and dragged me to my position on the dance floor.

“Sorry guys.” The others nodded to say it was okay. We resumed to dancing the dance for Hero which we had been practising for more than five hundred times already, but the managers were never fully satisfied. No matter how hard they trained to perfect each dance move or note in their songs, they always had to do more work. Heechul used to say that the company made them work like this because they didn’t have any else for them to do. I couldn’t help but smile, my hyung’s brutality when it came down to being honest was the best. He never backed down for nothing! Except maybe the extra dance classes that he received.

“Isn’t it enough soon?” complained a tired Ryeowook, wiping the sweat from his forehead. Leeteuk turned off the music and now you could hear how everybody panted heavily, trying to catch their breaths.

“We’re done now in fact. Donghae, Eunhyuk you wanna go through your solo once?” Leeteuk asked us. We both nodded and got in position on each side of the stage. Our solo was mainly to show off our skills, something that both Eunhyuk and I really enjoy. We together with Shindong, who also was in it, were the three main dancers after all, and at times we got to show everyone who good we truly were. Since Shindong was working with his radio program at the moment, Eunhyuk and I worked alone this time. Eunhyuk started by sliding onto the stage, making a cool turn on one foot, like a preview for the ones watching, then he began dancing for real. It had always been a pleasure to see him perform, even practise. The stage presence that he owned amazed me every time. I’d learnt a lot from him, and he from me too. He made a peace sign before leaving the stage for me to run in and pretend to be shot up onto the stage from the floor. I smirked. Dancing, is my specialty. I went through my solo part then stepped to the side for Eunhyuk to dance with me. We did really look dynamic, at least to me. We hit our last pose with as much force possible, waiting for the applauds.

“Great job guys. Go change now so that we can head to the interview.” Leeteuk gave us a thumb up and left. Eunhyuk and I packed our bags and went to take a quick shower, get ready and then walked out to the already waiting cars that would take us to the new location.

“Did you get your phone back?” Eunhyuk asked amused. I shook my head.

“Nope. Heechul hyung still has it...” I muttered. Suddenly, a phone appeared in front of my face. I turned to Hyuk who held up his phone to me. “Thanks Hyuk.” I took it and typed a message to Kayla.

“No problem. But don’t you think that she’s alright? Or why are you so desperate to keep contact with her every hour of the day?” Eunhyuk wondered. I shrugged. He raised a brow. “You don’t know?”

“I miss her. Thanks again,” I replied, handing back the phone to him. He chuckled, shaking his head. I chuckled too. “I know, it’s pathetic of me, isn’t it?” He made a grimace.

“Nah, it’s more like you really are a cheesy prince, believing that she is your princess. Which in a way is kind of pathetic but I also envy it a little.” My time to raise a brow. What??? He envied me??? Really? Eunhyuk laughed and lightly hit me on the head. “Is that so hard to picture?” he wondered. I nodded.

“Well you always tease me for it. You and Kyuhyun both.”

“True. But come on, isn’t it to just look yourself in the mirror Donghae? You’re so ridiculously happy all the time, thanks to Kayla. Nowadays you never get sad about anything unless,” he added when he saw me wanting to open my mouth, I closed it again, “unless it has got to do with Kayla. Then you can have emotions that don’t even exist.”

“Mm…” I answered, “Guess that’s true. It’s been a lot lately and I’m afraid Kayla will get very bored soon in the dorms. She’s been there for three days now, without being able to walk outside. The fans recognise her everywhere now that the media has got a hold of pictures she used to have on her Facebook and twitter.”

“She can’t even have that anymore?” Eunhyuk blinked in surprise. I shook my head sadly. “Wow, it seems that not all our fans are friendly after all. You must have a lot of sasaeng fans then.”

“Yep, I apparently have.” I sighed. Eunhyuk patted my back and smiled at me.

“Don’t worry about it Donghae. It’ll calm down eventually.” He made it sound like a promise. I wondered how he could be so sure about things. Or was I the only one who wasn’t sure that this would calm down? Even Kayla told me not to worry. Hm, it’s probably just you then Donghae, I thought to myself. The streets outside the car window were crowded by people, all heading somewhere different. Wish I could be as normal as them again. For one day… I turned my face forward again, staring into the black leather on the front seat. I closed my eyes, leaning against the window. Taking a small power nap did not seem to be a bad idea at the moment. I barely heard Eunhyuk’s phone pling as it was in his pocket but I did hear what he told me. “Kayla texted that she’s fine. She’s making dinner for us to eat when we get home… She also said she loves you. Although I assume you know that by now?” Both of us laughed. Yep, I know that by now... I fell asleep, smiling.

-

“Donghae? Yah, dude, wake up.” I opened my eyes, feeling a pair of hands shaking me. Eunhyuk stood outside the door, trying to wake me up. “We’re here,” he told me, nodding toward the building behind him.

“Oh,” I said. I unbuckled my belt and stepped out of the car. The other guys were getting their makeup done when we arrived backstage. We each sat down in a chair and the makeup artists did their job, making us look flawless. The interview we were doing was for KBS and would be recorded in front of a live audience. Pressure built up inside me as I thought about all the weird questions they’d ask. If only this ‘scandal’ with Kayla hadn’t happened right now! I needed some quick advice. “Heechul hyung!” I called across the room. He was standing by a mirror, fixing his hair. Surprise, surprise.

“Yeah?” he said.

“I need your help.” He approached me with long steps and stopped by my side.

“What’s up?”

“What do I say when they ask me about Kayla?” I asked. Heechul’s eyes narrowed slightly. “You know they’ll ask me. So what do should I answer? Tell the truth or avoid the subject?” Heechul bit his lips, going into a thinking-mode.

“Try to answer whatever they want to know at first and then say ‘no comment’ is you think they take it too far. That should be a polite way to tell them that you don’t want to talk about it anymore. However, I do think it could be good if you got some info out because the fans are reading bull, our company made up, now. Those are the reasons why our fans are hating Kayla right now. Take this chance to change that.” Heechul said. “It can’t get much worse than it already is.” He has a point there. I smiled.

“Yeah, thanks hyung.”

“No problem, dongsaeng. I’ll do my best to help you if I can.” Heechul, to the grave annoyance of my hair stylist, ruffled my hair before walking away. I gave my stylist an apologetic smile as she redid my hair again.

Half an hour later we were all done and it was time to begin the interview. Under applauds, screams, shouts and cries we took the stage. Leeteuk, Heechul, Sungmin, Eunhyuk, Ryeowook and I. We smiled, waved and did our usual greeting to the fans. In this order we also sat down on our chairs, Leeteuk being the closest to the MCs. It was two men who were interviewing us, one whom we knew from before and a new one. Being the furthest away, I hoped that they’d forget about me and focus on the other members instead. The two MCs introduced themselves and then asked each member to introduce ourselves individually, starting with Leeteuk. Oh crap...

“Good evening, I’m Super Junior’s leader Leeteuk. I’m very happy to be here tonight, thank you everyone for coming to see us!” Leeteuk bowed, flashing his famous dimple smile that caused the crowd to scream.

“Hello, Heechul here. It’s very exciting to be here, thank you for having me!” Heechul continued, bowing as well but not smiling quite as brightly as Leeteuk. Sungmin, Eunhyuk and Ryeowook greeted the fans nicely too, bowing on the end of their small speech. The cameraman sidestepped, holding the camera in front of me. Okay, my turn. Relax. You’ve done this many times. I smiled my most charming smile, bowing to the camera.

“Good evening my angels. I’m Super Junior’s Donghae. Nice to meet you!” The audience screamed and chanted my name loudly as the MCs made ‘Oh’ sounds, exchanging nods with one another. We were all facing them but their eyes were on me. Of course, my smile was faked, because on the inside I was panicking. The new MC spoke about how happy they were that we had joined them for the interview and then... I put my hands together, stretching up my back and smiled the brightest smile possible. The older MC prepared to ask me a question.

“So...” the MC started, grinning in the faked way they always did when they had something up their sleeve. “There’s been going rumours about a certain member in your group, hasn’t it? That a girl is involved, is that correct?” The members glanced worriedly at me.

“Actually, it’s not a rumour anymore. It’s been confirmed. Our company announced it yesterday. And I’ve also written it on my Twitter that the rumours are true.” I chose to stop there to let the crowd react. It was massive; some of the fans cheered but most of them I heard whine and it saddened me to be honest.

“Oh, some of the fans don’t seem to be too happy about that,” the younger MC remarked.

“How long have you two dated?” The older one asked me.

“Soon three months,” I replied. Once again the crowd reacted.

“Have you guys met her?” the MC asked the members who all nodded and Leeteuk answered.

“Yes, we have. She’s really nice and we’ve all bonded well with her. And personally, as the leader of Super Junior, I don’t think she will become a problem at all. She’s very likeable, funny, sweet and she does care for all of us, which is intersting since she actually didn’t know about who we were until she met Donghae.” The MCs got wide eyes and the crowd looked very confused. Ah, they thought I’d picked a fan, huh? He he, no I’m not that stupid.

“She didn’t know who you were?” I shook my head, feeling more confident now. Perhaps that would change their opinion? Knowing that she wasn’t a gold-digger or someone who sought attention, maybe Kayla would become liked quicker? “Then how did you meet? Do tell us.”

“Well, that’s actually a quite fun story.” I glanced toward the members who all gave me encouraging smiles. I continued, “I met her when I, alone, went to the café where she used to work. She worked there as a waitress and I happened to sit down by a table that belonged to her section. As she isn’t from Korea, she didn’t know much about idols. Therefore not recognising me either when she saw my face, which I’ll get to why she did in a moment. Anyway, I wanted to spend some time alone because we had a lot of stress on us by then, with the new album coming up and all. I saw the café and really the first thing that I liked about it was that it had a harmonic vibe and that being exactly what I needed, I simply walked in. The girl, who now is my girlfriend, took my order like I was any other customer. Then...” I chuckled, recalling what happened next. “...when she was going to give me my order someone whom she passed by accidently bumped into her, causing her to drop the coffee all over the person in front of her: me.” The MCs gasped, covering their mouths in chock. I smiled. “Of course, she felt very embarrassed and she apologised a million times. I told her it was okay and she offered to help me clean the hoodie I wore. I accepted her offer even though I was afraid she might recognise me if she saw my face. But she didn’t. The girl didn’t at all react, she just helped me clean the spots on the shirt without further due. Both surprised and very intrigued and obviously attracted to her, I asked her if she could apologise by letting me buy her a coffee sometime.”

“So cheesy our Donghae.” The members teased, chuckling. The MCs gestured for me to continue.

“She agreed and after that we got to know each other. After only the second date I had fallen deeply in love with her. Really, I think it has to do with the fact that she didn’t know I was famous... Because... when you get as famous as us, it’s hard to compare true feelings and ‘idol love’. I’m sure that many of my fans are really angry with me, sad and hate my girlfriend for taking me away from them but that’s not how it is! I love my fans and they’ll always have a special place in my heart. However, I can’t marry all of them, no matter how much I’d want to. That’s the harsh reality. I sincerely hope that our fans won’t turn their backs on us, just because I fell in love. And I can assure everyone here and those who are watching, she does make me happy, very happy. I refuse to compare my love for her with my fans’. It’s two entirely different worlds. The Lee Donghae I am when I’m off the camera, not on stage, not famous, he loves his girlfriend to no end. The other Lee Donghae, who’s a star, has no more place in his heart because it’s occupied by his fans. You’re still my angels. You too bring me so much happiness. I can’t live without you either, please remember that. I never wanted this thing to get out the way it did. It was a mistake on my behalf, for which I deeply apologise.” I got up from my chair and sat down on the floor. “I’m sorry,” I said, making the most humble bow you can do in front of anyone. At that I could hear the sounds of cheering coming from the audience. I looked up to see tears on their faces, wide smiles and, finally, acceptance. I stood up and the applauds broke out. I smiled widely, blowing kisses to my fans. The members stood up too, approaching me to join in a group hug.

“Stop weeping.” Heechul placed his hand on my face, I realised that it was tears he took away. I laughed, feeling relieved that now there would be less problems with me and Kayla.

About 3 hours later we were heading home in our cars. We all yawned now and then, being very tired after such a long day. It was passed 1am already and we had worked hard since 6am in the morning. The MCs had kept us at the set to let us have some food and they told me they were sorry for making it so hard for me in the beginning of the interview, wishing me good luck in the future. The drive home took around 40 minutes before the cars pulled up outside our building. The guys and I tiredly stepped out of the cars, thanking the drivers, then went up to our dorm. Leeteuk opened the door and we walked inside. I had my head lowered from weariness so I didn’t notice the body rushing towards me. The impact that occurred when Kayla threw herself at me caused me to back into the wall, gasping. Kayla buried her face in the crook of my neck and I thought I heard sniffles, even sobs.

“Kayla? Princess? Are you alright?” I asked, alarmed. I dropped my bag to hug her back. She didn’t respond. I frowned, the worry growing larger in me. Suddenly Kyuhyun came, holding up his computer to me. On the screen there was a YouTube clip, showing me. Then I understood. Someone had taped my little speech and put it up on the internet and Kayla must’ve watched it afterwards. I smiled, hugging my princess tighter. Kyuhyun smiled widely too, winking at me, before he went to the kitchen to tell the others. Meanwhile, I stayed where I was, caressing Kayla's back until she pulled away a little. I gently cupped her cheeks between my hands. She indeed was crying, though smiling too. I wiped away her falling tears, shaking my head. “Don’t cry...” I whispered. She sobbed, moving in for another hug. I let her hug me again. Then I gently gripped her hand, leading her after me to the couch. I sat down and pulled her down next to me, wrapping my arms around her, half climbing up on my lap. She wrapped her arms around my neck, resting her forehead to mine.

“I’m so glad I spilled that cup of coffee all over you.” Kayla giggled. I chuckled, trying to keep my composure. The both couldn’t cry because then we’d cry the long night through.

“Me too my princess, me too...” I kissed her nose, making her giggle cutely again. How I loved hearing that giggle, seeing that smile.

“I love you Lee Donghae. The not famous you,” she said, winking. I stuck out my tongue at her.

“I love you too princess. Because you never saw me as famous, just as me.” Instantly Kayla got up on her knees to get a better angle to crash her lips onto mine, not caring about being sweet or gently. These kisses were made out of true love and pure passion.

“Yah! Go into your room if you’re going to make out!” We broke the kiss to look up at Heechul, sticking out his tongue at us.

“Sorry...” Kayla stood up and stretched up her arms in the air, letting out a big yawn. “Tired?” I asked her. She took my hands in hers, nodding. “Let’s go to bed then. I’m very tired too.” I got up and instead of leading the way, I simply picked her up bridal style and carried her into the bathroom.

“Aw, such a Prince Charming!” my princess exclaimed happily. I pecked her lips and handed her her toothbrush. We brushed our teeth and while she went out to say good night to all the members I changed into my pyjamas pants and a shirt. I had just put it on when Kayla opened the door. “Hey,” she greeted, closing the door. She had already changed into her sleepwear.

“Hey beautiful.” I brought her to me, kissed her and then picked her up again to place her on the bed before crawling down myself, turning off the lights on the way. As usual, we cuddled up together, hugging tightly.

“Do you think the fans will be happier for us now?” Kayla mumbled against my chest.

“I hope so. You’re worth being loved by everyone. Even if I love you the highest.” I played with her hair, tangling my fingers in her locks.

“Mm... Good night my prince. I love you so, so much.”

“I love you more Kayla Thompson... Oh, did you hear? I said your last name perfectly!” I said, peeking down at Kayla. She had her eyes closed. I deadpanned. She’d fallen asleep, not hearing my excellent pronunciation. “I’ll say it again someday I guess... Good night princess.” I pecked her forehead one last time then closed my own eyes. I’ll see you in my dreams my beautiful princess.

Yippie! Another chapter!!! I have so much negative things around me at the moment and I gotta tell you, this story just lightens up every day right now! I've been writing on it like a maniac instead of studying for example, but frankly I do not care because I cannot study anymore! I need a break!!! Which I will get next week but still.

Anyway, I hope I pleased you, dear readers, with this chapter too ^^ Please leave your comments about the chapter below because I could really use some good, positive encouragements :) Subscribe if you like the story and feel free to check out my other stories as well! And welcome new readers! Great to have you on board! Enjoy the rest of the story~ Thank you for reading! Love you all!!! <333