“Wow… Hae this is amazing!” Laura exclaimed as she stepped out of the taxi and was met with a beautiful view of Santa Monica beach. The lights of the colorful shops and restaurants glittered against the darkening sky in the distance over the Pacific Ocean, and people were happily walking along the pier, enjoying spending time with their friends and family. Laura and Donghae were celebrating their anniversary, they had been together for two years, and tonight Donghae was planning to ask her to marry him.

“I knew you’d like it. Come on!” Donghae grabbed her hand and practically towed her along the pier, walking quickly to get to the glamorous Italian restaurant at the very end of the pier. It was a large white building, modern looking, with dark windows that stood from the floor to the ceiling and chrome decorations on the shiny black sign outside.

Donghae didn’t even bother trying to read the sign since it was all written in English, but he knew this was the right place from Siwon’s description. Siwon had told him it was the best place for romantic dates, and told Donghae everything he knew about it, right down to the names of the waiters, some of whom who he was good friends with, apparently. Donghae had stopped listening at that point.

The restaurant was even more glamorous on the inside, and they were both fascinated by the shimmering crystal chandelier suspended from the ceiling above the foyer. They were quickly snapped out of their daze when a waiter appeared in front of them, smiling brightly.

“Hello there, welcome to Sapori D’Italia. Do you have a reservation sir?”

“Um, yes, um… we have a reservation for dinner at 7.30, my name is Aiden Lee!” Donghae spouted in a hopeful attempt at an American accent, silently praying that the man understood him. His prayers seemed to work, as the waiter guided them to a small table next to the window at the side of the restaurant. He handed them a menu each as they sat down then smiled and bowed politely.

“Mr Choi asked us to reserve this table specially for you. It provides the best view of the harbor. I’ll be back in a few minutes to take your order.” They thanked the waiter and grinned at each other as they looked over the menus. ‘Wow, we got the best table! I really need to buy Siwonnie a present when I get back!’ Donghae thought to himself, gazing out of the window at the ocean, not realizing the spaced out look on his face until his girlfriend began giggling at him.

“What? I know my fishy face is funny but you don’t need to laugh!” Donghae huffed, pretending to be insulted.

“Aww, I’m sorry fishy! But you really did look so funny, gazing off into space like that! What were you thinking about?”

“Just… how lucky we are to be here. It’s beautiful right?” ‘But not as beautiful as you, my love’  he thought to himself as he traced the small box in his trouser pocket, the box which contained a gold ring set with diamonds and rubies. The waiter was coming back towards their table, as Donghae began to wonder when would be the best time to propose. Was a date in a crowded restaurant even a good idea? ‘There are lots of people around… what if I tripped over and made a fool of myself? This is way more difficult than I thought. I’m actually scared! What if she says no? That would be so humiliating!’ He was beginning to panic and didn’t even notice when the waiter asked for their order.

“Hae…? Donghae? Ya, Fishy!” He jumped a little as he snapped out of his trance to see Laura looking at him weirdly.

“You were spaced out again. I ordered spaghetti for you since I know you didn’t read the menu. What’s wrong with you tonight? Is something bothering you?”

“Ah, it’s nothing. Really, I’m fine, I promise! I… I have to go to the bathroom!” Donghae jumped up from the table and dashed off towards the bathroom. He glared at his reflection in the mirror for a moment, then pulled the ring out of the box in his pocket, looking wistfully at it and praying for God to give him enough courage to propose. He stayed there for a while, just staring at the beautiful ring and the gemstones shimmering in the light, before finally deciding to go back. Suddenly he was almost knocked over by two waiters sprinting along the hallway. ‘Whoa, so much for great customer service!’ He thought sarcastically.

“BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP…” There was an alarm ringing somewhere, very loudly, and Donghae could barely hear anything. Were people shouting something? ‘What the heck is going on? Did I break something? Where’s Laura?’

Donghae ran into the dining room, scanning through the people who were beginning to crowd around the front doors of the restaurant. Laura was running towards him, grabbing his hand and telling him something, but the alarm was too loud and Donghae couldn’t hear anything else.

There was black smoke beginning to fill the room and he figured it out, it was a fire alarm, and that’s why the waiters were running, the restaurant was on fire! He started to run towards the doors with everyone else, clinging tightly to his girlfriend’s hand.

People were shoving each other out of the way, desperately trying to escape the chaos alive and unhurt. One man took an elbow to the side of his head and fell down. Donghae bent down to help him but he was swiftly pushed forwards and tumbled onto the floor, losing his grip on Laura’s hand. More people were racing towards the doors and he didn’t have a chance to look at their faces to find her.

Donghae thought he heard a voice calling his name and started to get up from the floor, but suddenly there was a loud cracking noise and he looked up just in time to see the ceiling about to plummet towards him. He shut his eyes tightly and desperately hoped that he was just having a nightmare, and he’d wake up any minute.

There was a huge weight pressing down on his back and Donghae’s ears filled with the sound of the building tumbling down and the horrified screams of those witnessing the devastation. It seemed like the awful sound would never end, until finally there was a silence and Donghae assumed he had gone deaf. Choking on the dust and smoke, he opened his eyes to see the building in ruins around him, the worst of it being concentrated in what was the dining room just behind him. He couldn’t believe how lucky he’d been to escape being crushed. The rubble was still in flames, and most of the crowd were in shock, staring blankly at the heartbreaking scene.

Donghae pushed the bricks off his body and got up from the ground, trying to brush the dust away from his clothes. His eyes scanned the crowd, and in horror, he realized he couldn’t see Laura anywhere.

He ran over to the group of bewildered people, searching for his girlfriend but finding only strangers. He tried to remember enough English to ask for help, and stopped in front of a waiter who was seemingly uninjured.

“E-Excuse me, have you seen my girlfriend?” The waiter just looked alarmed and pointed down at Donghae’s right leg.

“Dude, are you okay? That’s a stupid question, of course you’re not okay, but you shouldn’t be walking around like that, I mean I think your leg is broken!” Hae looked down at his leg, the man was right, it did look terrible. His trousers were shredded and through them he could see blood pumping out of cuts in his leg, and it was bent in a rather odd direction. He hadn’t even noticed before, he was too worried about finding Laura. He looked back up at the waiter but he didn’t get a chance to speak again.

“Your girlfriend? If you don’t see her around here, then… I’m so very sorry for your loss, sir.”

A surge of pure terror went through Donghae’s body.

“…There are people still in there. And I don’t think…” The waiter gazed sorrowly at the destroyed building.

“I don’t think there’s any way they could still be alive.”

Donghae dropped to his knees, not knowing whether he was either going to faint or burst into tears. He looked desolately back at the wreckage, not wanting to believe that his girlfriend was in there, but in the back of his mind there was something telling him that it was true. He began to cry, sobbing violently and collapsing to the ground. He was barely aware of his surroundings now, and didn’t notice when he was lifted onto a stretcher and into an ambulance, as firefighters began to search through the rubble.

~ 1 year later ~

Donghae strolled along the rebuilt pier, a bouquet of red roses in one hand, and a small box in the other. He reached the end and stared out at the ocean.

“My love…” He sighed as he felt his eyes beginning to fill with tears, but he refused to let them fall. He touched the plaque which was placed against the railing, a memorial to the five people who had died that night a year ago on the couple’s two year anniversary. He traced his fingers over her name and smiled slightly.

“I never did get the chance to ask you… Would you have said yes? …I’m sure you would.” He pulled a rose from the bouquet and dropped it into the ocean before pulling another and doing the same again until all twelve of the red roses were floating on the surface. He watched them for a while before sitting down by the edge and opening the box to reveal the sparkling ring. He removed it from the box and examined it, the words ‘영원히 내 가슴엔’ engraved inside the gold band. That was a new addition to the ring, and Donghae thought it was perfect. He placed the ring to his lips and kissed it gently before dropping it into the water with the roses.

“Happy anniversary, my love…”

He got up and walked quickly back to the shore, finally letting his tears fall.