The party at the Lee's mansion was in full swing with CEOs and officials from other big companies chatting about the latest business trends and gossips which doesn't interest Hyukjae or his friends at all.

"Hyung, have you seen Hae?", Hyukjae asked trying to find that mop of brown hair he hasn't seen since early that morning among the crowd.

"Sungmin called and said they're already on the way.", Heechul said nonchalantly while sipping from his glass of red wine. Heechul has been observing his younger friend who has been fidgety the whole time since the party began.

"When did he call?", Hyukjae asked.

"About 30 minutes ago.", the cat-like man said.

"What? But it doesn't take that long to get here!", Hyukjae shouted over the loud music.

"Relax Hyuk! They'll get here.", Heechul said.

Just a second after he said the last word, Donghae came through the door with his best friend, Lee Sungmin. Donghae was wearing a black tux that seemed to be custom-made just for him. Sporting a newly-dyed brown hair, Donghae has dark brown almond-shaped eyes, high nose and an incredibly charming smile on his thin lips.

"Hae! Over here", Hyukjae shouted.

"Hyukkie!", Donghae greeted his lover as the smile grew into a big grin. He wanted so badly to pull him into a hug but knowing that there are several eyes trained to them, he stopped himself from causing problems. After all, except for their close friends, nobody knows that they are lovers, much less that the heir is gay.

Black-haired Hyukjae wore a set of white tux which brought out the gorgeous light brown eyes, milky white skin and a defined jaw line.

"What took you so long?", Hyukjae pouted.

"Sorry. Sungmin Hyung needed to drop something at Kyuhyun's place before we come here.", Donghae apologized trying to stiffle a giggle. He always get tempted to kiss his lover every time he pouts.

"It's okay. At least you're here now.", Hyukjae smiled.

Suddenly, the music was turned low as Mr. Park, Mr. Lee's secretary stepped in front of microphone.

"Ladies and gentlemen, if I may have your attention please. Our Chairman, Mr. Lee has some announcement to make.", Mr. Park said before giving the mic to the Chairman.

"Thank you for coming tonight.", Mr. Lee started.

"As you may have heard, I decided to retire from being Chairman of the Lee Corporation in order to give all my time to my wife who have been very patient with a busy man like me.", he announced while looking lovingly to his wife who is standing at his side.

"I am thankful that my son has grown into a responsible man. After years of school and training, I believe he is ready to take over my position without me worrying that he'd mess it up", Mr. Lee said which earned him a good-natured laugh from the guests.

Once the noise died down, he motioned for Hyukjae to come forward which the latter obliged.

"I would also want to take this chance to announce my son's engagement to the daughter of my best friend, the CEO of Kim Corporation."

Murmurs from the crowd can be heard a everyone takes time to absorb the information. Indeed, a marriage between these two top companies will yield them to be almost indestructible.

Hyukjae was stunned by the announcement and his eyes unconsciously darted towards the equally shocked brown-haired male who has his eyes on him with tears threatening to fall.

Hyukjae wants so bad to contradict his father but he knew he cannot embarrass his own father in front of these people who looks up to him.

"This is Kim Hyoyeon, my son's fiance.", Mr. Lee announced.

Donghae was having a hard time breathing. He tried to stand up only to feel a wave of nausea attacking him. He tried to grab the corner of the table where they were seated and almost stumbled down if not for Sungmin who has grabbed him in time before he fell off his chair.

Everyone was busy throwing their congratulatory message to the new couple that nobody noticed as Sungmin dragged Donghae outside the suffocating mansion towards his car. Nobody noticed except for Hyukjae who was trying hard not to run towards his lover, to comfort him and to wipe those tears away.

But as if his legs were made of heavy lead, he just stood there with mouth agape, his inner being in turmoil, tuning out all the noise from the guests and ignoring the loving look from the girl whom he's supposed to marry.

An hour later, Hyukjae found himself opening the unlocked door to Donghae's apartment only to hear soft sobbing coming from the bedroom. Without thinking twice, he walked towards the room and as he took in the sight before him, his heart couldn't help but shatter into pieces. Donghae was lying on his side, hugging his nemo plushy close to his chest with eyes red and puffy from all the crying.

He immediately run towards the crying man and pulled him to his arms while whispering soothing words to calm his lover. They laid on the bed as they both tried to hold on to each other, afraid to let go even for a second.

As the tears finally stopped flowing, Donghae turned his head to look at his lover who returned the loving gaze with a small smile on his face.

"I love you.", was all Hyukjae could say before capturing the man's thin lips. Donghae let out a soft moan and unconsciously wrapped his arms around Hyukjae's neck as the said man pushed his tongue into his warm cavern.

~*~

The sun’s rays peeked between the thin curtains as Hyukjae stirred from his sleep, arms still wrapped around his sleeping lover.  He brought up his hand to gently caress Donghae’s face trying to smoothen the frown forming between the brown-haired male’s eyes. He then traced his fingers down to Donghae’s nose, around each eyes and cheeks until it rests on top of his lover’s lips. Donghae released a silent sigh as he slowly opened his eyes.

“Good morning”, Hyukjae greeted which earned him a shy smile and a kiss on his cheeks.

After a few minutes of silence, Hyukjae tried getting up to get dressed.

“Are you leaving?”, Donghae asked.

Hyukjae gave him a peck on his forehead as he say, “I need to talk to Dad.”

“About what?”, Donghae asked.

“About us.”, Hyukjae replied.

“Hyuk – “, Donghae started before a finger on his lips stopped him.

“I have to do this, Hae. I’m not letting you go.”, Hyukjae stated as he zipped his pants up and put on his white polo.

Hyukjae turned to his lover who is still sitting on his bed and smiled.

“It’s still early. Go back to sleep. When I come back, I’m not going anywhere anymore.”, Hyukjae said.

Hyukjae caressed the brown hair and continued. “Dream of me. Dream of that house we are planning to buy or that vacation we wanted to take. Dream of something good, something as good as our reality.”

Hyukjae grabbed his wallet and car keys on the night stand and walked towards the door. With a last glimpse and smile, he closed the door and walked out of the apartment.

~*~

After Hyukjae left, Donghae was too worried for his lover that he decided to just get himself something to eat for breakfast. His worry has grown exponentially when, after three hours and a very clean house, Hyukjae still hasn’t contacted him. He decided to watch TV to get his mind off his worries.

“He promised he’ll make things alright.”, Donghae whispered to himself in an attempt to calm his nerves. But everything turned black as he read the headline flashing on the screen.

“Headline: Lee Hyukjae, the newly appointed CEO of Lee Corporation died on a car accident.”

“Lee Hyukjae has gotten into a car accident early this morning when his car was hit by a delivery truck on the expressway. The driver of the truck was allegedly drunk and lost control of the wheels. Witnesses stated that they’ve seen how the truck driver seemed to be fighting sleep and noticed how the truck swerved between lanes before it eventually crashed into the driver’s side of the black BMW of the CEO. Both drivers were immediately rushed to the hospital but Lee Hyukjae was pronounced dead on arrival while the truck driver is still in coma.” The news anchor reported.

Donghae was sitting on his sofa, still in shock, as his eyes are glued to the television tuned in the news channel. He couldn’t hear the rest of the news. All he could hear is is heart breaking and his breathing becoming harsh.

Donghae didn’t notice how the tears wouldn’t stop falling from his eyes. Neither did he notice how his phone kept ringing in the background nor the angry knocking on the door and Sungmin shouting his name. He only became aware of his surrounding again when he heard a loud crack as the door was forcefully opened and a worried Sungmin and Kyuhyun came barging in. With one look at the distressed boy, Sungmin ran forward and enveloped Donghae into an embrace.

~*~

Heavy rain kept pouring that day. There was a storm coming, the weather forecast stated. But it didn’t keep the man from the grave of his beloved.

“I’ve been promoted yesterday. I never thought I’d really get it considering that everyone was saying that Leeteuk will surely get the position.”, Donghae whispered.

“I finally finished paying for the house. It’s still lovely, still as homey as how it was”, he continued. “I’ll be getting a month of vacation before I officially starts my job on my new post so I thought maybe London would be nice. Remember how we always wanted to visit the place?”

A lone tear escaped his grief stricken eyes as he continued. “It has been a year, Hyuk. I still don’t know how I got through a whole year without you. I wanted you to stay with me, stay forever. I keep praying that this is all just a nightmare, that you will come back, that you haven’t left me.”

Donghae sobbed until his knees gave up and he stumbled down.

“Tell me, Hyuk. Tell me how to move on, how to forget all the memories of you beside me.”

Donghae stayed there until the sun has set and he’s enveloped by darkness.

The howling of the wind was loud. The rain still kept pouring.

“I want to stay, but I have to go my way. But always know that I love you… until that last breath.”

It was a simple sentence. It was said in whisper. But he heard it. Maybe it was just his mind playing tricks on him, his desire to hear his voice again. Nevertheless, he still wants to think it was Hyukjae talking to him.

As he stepped inside his black car, he knew, he won’t be letting go. He will wait. He’ll wait until the moment Hyukjae’s beside him again, until they’re together again. For forever.