Twenty-two, fresh out of school, he was looking for a job in a new town with a degree he knew wouldn't get him far. It felt good to start fresh, to go to a place on his own. He's a bad boy, hates his family, but lately he'd been dreaming of seeing the world. He dreams of traveling to find more excitement than he ever could in his small hometown.

Although, life has a way of picking at your ambitions until your dreams of traveling make you wind up in a ghost town, living in an empty apartment, on your own and with nothing to your name. Life pulls and twists at those dreams until they become that; dreams. The inspiration he had back then has fled. He works a 9 hour shift at an office he doesn't care for. He only chose to work there because they were hiring at the time.

For the first few months of living in that town, he was still hopeful. He still dreamt of living large, of seeing what the world had to offer, of finding love. The job he had was okay, yes, but he hoped of putting away enough money so that he could leave and find something amazing. His hope and dreams faded as time went on.

Time went by and soon his dreams were only memories. The remaining light in his eyes dimmed, his already cold smile turned into an always there scowl. When he slept, he saw glimpses of the places he longed to go and the resounding ache in his chest was enough to wake him. It was enough to bring him to tears.

He wonders how he could have let his life go this way. He supposed it was because he had always been a loner, pushing away his family and any people willing enough to try and get close to him. He knows that he isn't anything and feels like giving up on life. What's sad is that as much as he hates this town, he doesn't want to go home either.

Everyday is always the same and he feels himself going tired with repetition. He wakes up, gets ready, grabs a cup of coffee at the cafe across the street, goes to work, never smiles, acts like his life is just fine when it isn't, and then goes back home to an empty apartment. That's always the worst part. Walking into his apartment with the sunset glistening in through the windows, painting the whole room a mix of red and orange. He always feels alone. He feels alone in every sense of the word.

A year and a half pass. A year and a half of monotonous nothing, drags him further down into the whirlpool he seems to be caught in. When he feels like he can't stand it anymore, when he feels like not doing anything for one more day will drive him mad, something does happen.

It starts with his usual routine. He gets up at 7 and gets ready, trying to quirk a smile in the mirror as he regards his reflection but it comes off as a grimace. The look disappears and is replaced with his usual scowl that has formed over the past year. He looks away and runs his hand through his brown colored locks.
He grabs his bag and is moments from the door when his seldom used cell phone rings. He lets it ring, watching it with cold amber eyes. The answering machine picks up as he leaves. He catches his boss's voice telling him that the office is closed until noon today.

This is where his routine breaks.

He contemplates on what to do with his free time. Eventually, he decides to go somewhere and goes back into his apartment to grab his keys. No way can he spend so much time in his quiet apartment.

His body, functioning only on the usual, the routine, pulls him to the little cafe across the street. Most of the workers there have been there so long that they knew his name and knew his order by heart when they served him at his regular table; the one tucked away next to the window.

Today, however, the mundane is broken. There is a new server at the café.

This is where his routine breaks, again.

The server is all light and unguarded smiles, all kind words and easy laughter. The server thrives with enthusiasm shining in his golden eyes. The server talks quietly but rapidly about how all the other workers seem to know him, and how he, the server, wants to know customers that well too. The server asks him his name with a quiet smile and a small blush covering his cheeks. His nerves and emotional receptors are working at a pace they haven't in a long time. They stun him a bit as the server stares patiently at him. It takes a few moments to gather his scattered brain cells but he does.

"Oh Sehun," is all he can bring himself to say, still reeling from the brightness and enthusiasm and laughter and he can't breathe because what is going on this isn't part of his routine.

The answering smile and small giggle he gets squeezes his heart in an odd way as the server replies with an honest, "Nice to meet you, Sehun. I'm Lu Han."

And, Sehun decides later on, this was where his routine really broke.

Lu Han takes his order and writes it on his note pad before putting the pen behind his ear. He tells Sehun that he'll be back, before he leaves to go into the kitchen.

Sehun's pulse is racing, his eyes are still cold and blank, and he can't help but feel like there is some color on his face. He feels breathless, his mind's staggering, but it's a feeling, a true feeling - something he hasn't felt in a long time.

Lu Han brings him his coffee, two sugars and one milk, with a bright grin and it's warm enough to rival the sun. After the gray, the dark, the repetition, Sehun feels like basking in that warmth. The cafe is mostly empty, the few regulars visiting this early in the morning are only grabbing their drinks and leaving. Sehun can't bring himself to leave, not yet, not when something is actually coming alive inside of him.

He watches as Lu Han looks around and then plops into the seat across from him. It wasn't uncommon for servers to do, not here, not when business has a small locale. Sehun swallows and blinks, wondering what's going on.

The new server merely starts to talk to him. Asks him about his life, about what he was doing in this town. Lu Han tells him how he got a job here to raise money to travel one day and Sehun, despite the ache in his heart that grows with each word that stumbles out of the pink lips, hangs onto every sentence. His attention is focused on one thing for once.

Eventually, the server laughs at himself and apologizes about talking so much to a stranger, but still smiles genuinely and thanks him for listening to him blather on and on because, really-

And Sehun shakes his head, telling the server that he really didn't mind the company. Lu Han leaves Sehun with one more gentle smile before heading back into the kitchen. Sehun finishes his coffee, takes out money and a nice tip and, after a moment of hesitation, writes a quick, messy note on a napkin with the pen Lu Han left behind when he sat down to talk. He leaves them all on the table and walks out, heading for work.

When Lu Han comes back out later, he grabs the money and his pen and picks up the note with a soft smile. His eyes linger on it for a moment before tucking the two simple words into the pouch of his apron.

Thank you.

Sehun goes through his routine after that, working later than usual before walking into a dark and empty apartment. It's too quiet in there but for once he can't seem to care because his mind is still caught up in the warmth and light it met today. That night, he doesn't dream of forgotten dreams, but of finding himself and another person traveling the world. Another person that has fluffy, white-blonde hair, a shy smile, and beautiful golden eyes.

He wakes up for work the next day, well-rested but still as empty as every day. He gets ready and leaves his apartment, running across the street. He enters the cafe and goes to his table with an eagerness he can't really seem to understand. His server, a young woman he has known since he moved here, brings him his usual and he sighs, dejected for a reason he doesn't know.
He still pays her and gets up to leave when a folded napkin is placed on the table in front of him. He glances up and meets the eyes that pierce through the mundane and light up the world around him. Lu Han doesn't say anything, and pushes the napkin towards him once more before leaving to take another order.

Sehun opens the napkin quietly, staring down at the words that were written in Lu Han's messy scrawl. He feels something stir within him. His heart is beating too fast, and he can't understand why these two words are making him feel but they are and-
He steadies himself and tucks the napkin into his pocket, the warmth of those two, little words spreading through him on his way out the door and down the street to work.

You're welcome.

Sehun can't shake the feeling that's in his heart away. The thought and sense of an unknown connection beats restlessly. Every time he goes into the cafe and sees Lu Han working, he wants to capture the boy's attention and smile and warmth and just keep him there for himself. Lu Han keeps the repetition from driving Sehun insane. He is the one splash of color and light that Sehun is determined to grasp on to and never let go.

The two word notes left on napkins have become an every day thing. The words are never anything special, but they fill Sehun with something he can't describe.

The days turn into weeks and Sehun has a pile of napkin notes left on his island counter. He has started to go into the cafe earlier and earlier, drowning in the taste of warm coffee, in the sense of sun warmed cushions and of bright, adorable Lu Han. He can't get enough of him, he finds. And, even as time goes on, and Lu Han continues to work in a job he doesn't really want to work, Lu Han's smile never changes. That's what Sehun loves most.

He tells Sehun all about his dreams. Eventually, Sehun starts telling Lu Han about the dreams he had given up on. As the months wear on, some of the light and hope begins to return to Sehun's eyes.

Every day the light in his vacant eyes grows brighter and soon, he's doing something he's never done to anyone before. Smiling at them. He is soon smiling back at Lu Han, voice filled with a brand new passion as he speaks about viewing the world. The server giggles with a gentle smile that is reserved for Sehun and Sehun alone. Lu Han never says it to Sehun, but it fills him with happiness to see that light, that spark, in the eyes that had looked so broken when they had first met.

_______________________________________

It was a warm day in August, a little over a year after meeting Lu Han and spending nearly every morning talking to him that he was feeling confident enough to try something new.

Sehun laughs as he writes this new message on the napkin, deciding that he really hates repetition and that this was a good way of breaking it. He smiles brightly to himself and leaves the note under his money like he did on the first day he met Lu Han. Then he leaves, walking out of the cafe.

Lu Han returns to the table and his soft lips turn down a bit when he sees that Sehun is gone. The frown doesn't last long, however, when his eyes catch the note on the table. His cheeks flush a pretty red color and his smile could light up the room. He tucks the napkin into his pouch, blush on his cheeks and warmth spreading through him.

Date me?

The next morning, when Sehun is getting ready, he stops and looks at his reflection. He quirks his lips up into a smile and soon it becomes a full grin. He can actually look at himself again.

Before he leaves, he decides that he wants to call his parents. His mother cries and his father is near-tears as Sehun spills his heart to them, apologizing. They forgive him instantly and tell him that they love him. He hesitates only a moment before he replies, actually feeling the emotions as he speaks them, before saying goodbye. He leaves the apartment.

Even though they have been very close this past year, Sehun's heart still races when he makes his way over to the cafe. What if he had been wrong? What if he just ruined his one shot at happiness? What if, God forbid, he had to return to the routine he had before?

He swallows his fear and walks into the empty cafe. His heart sinks when he can't find Lu Han, and he is panicking. He soon sighs dejectedly and turns to go to work when a hand catches his. He turns slowly as a note is pressed into his hands. He reads it over and his heart swells as his eyes widen. He can't breathe because there are soft lips pressed to his that taste like coffee, and the store is warm as the sun rises outside the window. He loses himself in the kiss, the note all but forgotten as he feels Lu Han's arms around his neck and his own going around Lu Han's waist.

Any day.

_____________________________________

Three years go by, and they are finally living their dream. They are traveling all over Europe first, before moving on. Sehun couldn't be happier because he has finally found someone that thinks of him as something. He is irrevocably in love.

When they realized they had the money to travel between them, they laughed and quit their jobs and celebrated. And, Sehun can't help but realize, leave the mundane routine behind them. That night they share their first real 'I love you' and they drown in light, warmth, love, each other, and Sehun is so happy he could cry.

The only thing they bring with them, in memory of their old lives, are the notes passed between each other. One morning, while Lu Han is asleep in their shared hotel bed in Paris, Sehun goes through the notes. His heart still squeezes when he reads them all.
This is what inspires Sehun, three years into their relationship, to write a new note. He folds it and rests it on the pillow beside Lu Han's. He grabs a small box out of his suitcase and moves it around in his palm nervously as he steps out onto the balcony. He stands there with a smile on his face as he waits for the sun to rise over Paris.

Marry me?

When Lu Han wakes up, he snuggles back into the pillow and mumbles a 'good morning' to his lover. When no answer meets him, he blinks open his bambi eyes. He looks around the room in question, when his eyes land on the note. Gently, he reaches over, unfolding it.

He gasps, hand flying to his mouth, eyes widening. He stumbles out of the covers and moves towards the balcony, spotting his lover outside. He doesn't care that he's only in his boxers and one of Sehun's t-shirts. He slides the glass door open and slips outside with the note in his hand.

Sehun turns around and smiles, getting down on one knee. He's still in his bed clothes too, but Lu Han doesn't care. He can't even remember when Sehun looked so perfect. Lu Han listened as Sehun told him about how he was the one that broke Sehun's routine that had become his life. He tells him how grateful he was, how grateful he still is and how much he loves him. He tells him how he wants to break the routine everyday, with Lu Han.

Lu Han is speechless, before his face breaks into the most breathtaking smile Sehun has ever seen. He puts a hand up to Sehun, a gentle 'stay there', and slips back inside. He digs and finds a pen and scrawls a messy note on the back of Sehun's before running back outside. He hands it to Sehun, all smiles and sunshine and so...Lu Han, that Sehun staggers slightly while standing to take the note that his lover holds out.

Sehun scans the words before throwing it over his shoulder and smiling brightly at Lu Han. Lu Han smiles back before holding out his hand. Sehun slips on the simple engagement ring before taking Lu Han into his arms and kissing him with all the love that he can muster. The former server just recuperates and holds onto Sehun tightly.

Finally, Sehun cries internally. 'With you, my life will never be routine.'

The note flutters from the balcony, the words, in ink, glinting in the sunlight.

Any day.