Lee Donghae liked London. It fit him. The cold air, small cafes and buildings wore with the years and the generations that had passed by. It was a calm city.

It had been almost eight years since he had moved here, running away from the bright lights and sleekness of Seoul, South Korea to come somewhere in which history held true. It was a nice change but he still missed the buzzing of Seoul and even more his hometown of Mokpo.

But if change was the only reason he left, Donghae would be lying to himself. He left for reasons he would never admit to himself because it would never work out. From the very beginning he knew that and when those feelings didn’t leave he had no choice but to go. Donghae didn’t mind screwing himself over but never him. Donghae could never hurt him.

It was Mid November. Chilly but no snow yet. Early morning meant the streets were fairly deserted, the city still waking up from its slumber. Donghae made his way down the small alleys to his favorite coffee shop. Ever since he moved to London he had developed a habit of drinking coffee every morning.

He sipped at the hot liquid, thoughts wandering to eight years ago and the terrible excuse Donghae gave him to explain why he was moving. Something about school and new experiences and when he had offered to come with Donghae, Donghae had insisted that his place was in Seoul. ‘I will visit soon.’ Donghae hadn’t been back to Korea in eight years and he had no plans to go back anytime soon.

He had even helped Donghae pack all his stuff for the move, chatting and making Donghae promise to call frequently and send pictures. Donghae never called.

It was regretful but for his own good. It wouldn’t work out; couldn’t work out. Love never works out.

The day went on, the coffee leaving a distinctive bitter taste in his mouth that Donghae had become all too familiar with. The streets began to fill up with people as London awoke, children going to school and adults rushing to work. The sort of organized chaos Donghae had grown to appreciate. A little window shopping, some thinking, mostly gathering inspiration for a new song; Donghae now worked as a lyricist with the occasional composition.

Donghae walked through the quaint streets, making his way towards the bridge where he did his best work. There was something furry on the cobblestone. As he got closer Donghae realized it was a hat. Fluffy and warm and it looked a lot like the one he had gifted Donghae before Donghae left. He had one similar to it. If Donghae remembered correctly, it was an expensive hat. Deciding to take it, because leaving it here on the street would probably ruin it, Donghae made note to try and see if he could find the owner later and continued towards the bridge.

Donghae spent what must have been hours staring at the skyline, tapping his pen on his thigh, the beat upbeat and happy. He wasn’t feeling particularly bubbly though and the words that were running through his mind were the ones that he said to Donghae before he boarded the plane.

I’ll miss you.

Exasperated with his lack of inspiration, Donghae decided to push the song back and instead began to scribble down the words in his head. Pages were quickly filled, pen scratching across paper.

Morning quickly turned to afternoon and afternoon quickly turned to night. Donghae got up, stretching and grabbed the hat, heading back to his apartment. His plans were quickly soiled as it began to rain and Donghae cursed himself for not paying attention to the forecast this morning, running inside a nearby store to escape the weather. He immediately checked his notebook, sighing in relief when he say that the pen wasn’t smudged.

Donghae wandered deeper inside the store. It looked like a large department store and what better way to kill the time than to look around? Stepping onto one of the escalators, Donghae went down to the lower levels, humming absentmindedly to himself. A man was on the opposite escalator, going up, and Donghae looked back, catching a lithe body and long legs but no face.

It had been an hour or so and it looked like the rain had taken a momentary break so Donghae decided to make a break for it and get back to his apartment before it started up again. This time, Donghae decided to take the elevator, pressing the button and waiting till the door dinged open.

Donghae exited the department store, approaching the intersection to cross. As he rounded the corner, Donghae looked at the hat in his hand; it looked so much like the one that was gifted to him.

“…Donghae?”

Donghae looked up, surprised. The man standing in from of him was much slimmer and taller than Donghae remembered. He wore a leather jacket and ripped jeans.

“Hyukjae?” His voice was a whisper. What was Lee Hyukjae doing in London?

Hyukjae grinned, showing off that gummy smile that Donghae missed so much. “It is you! And you found my hat too!” Hyukjae gestured to the fluffy hat in Donghae’s hand.

“W-what are you doing here?” Donghae still couldn’t believe it. Lee Hyukjae was in London.

“I came to visit you.” Hyukjae said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Donghae, on the other hand, was speechless. It had been eight years.

Hyukjae’s bright smile faded. “You’re an idiot you know that, right?” He muttered. Donghae still said nothing.

Donghae inhaled sharply as he felt Hyukjae’s arms wrap around him. “I missed you.” Hyukjae whispered into the crook of Donghae’s neck. “I really missed you.” Donghae swallowed hard before returning the hug.

“I missed you too.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Author’s Note:

Eunhae drabble thingy idk what it is. As you can see I am slowly crawling out of my Starlight cave and writing about my other fandoms again.