"Hey honey," Donghae greeted first thing when she opened the door, five hours later. Judging by the distant of his voice, Hailee could figure out that Donghae was in the kitchen, making dinner. She slowly made her way there, knowing that the sight of Donghae would either break her heart or mend it. Donghae was chopping carrots and he was wearing the same clothes he'd worn this morning. Though to Hailee it was the most beautiful sight she'd ever seen. He had rolled up his sleeves to stay just above his elbows and his hair was ruffled and he smiled at her. His brown eyes sparkled in the dim lights, dazzling Hailee a bit. He had also ed the first two buttons on the dark grey flannel shirt, exposing some of his neck and his collarbones. Hailee stumbled forward and stood on the opposite side of the kitchen island. Donghae put his hands beside the chopping board, allowing himself to lean forward – his arm muscles were flexed – and he softly pressed his lips against hers. "How was your day?" he asked, pulling away and going back to the carrots.

"It was good. Yours?" Hailee responded automatically.

"Good I guess. I had lots to do, which is why I didn't ask you out for lunch today. Sorry."

"No need to apologise," Hailee quickly said. Donghae looked up at her again, smiling wider. "I understand that you were busy. I was busy too..." She was losing her voice now. It happened every time she attempted lying to Donghae, she was frankly incapable of it. "What are you making?" she instead asked, completely changing the subject.

"Bulgogi!" Donghae said.

Hailee raised a curious eyebrow. "With carrots?" she asked. Donghae proudly nodded.

"Yes. I wanted to try something new and since this is our last day being only a couple, I thought I'd make something traditional but with a twist. I don't know if that sounded weird but that's my plan at least." Donghae chuckled and put the carrots to fry together with the other vegetables. Hailee smiled and sat down on a chair, resting her chin in her hand and observing Donghae as he prepared the meal. All day she'd hated whenever someone mentioned the wedding but she couldn't be irritated with Donghae, ever. He was too kind, too gentle, too fragile. "Here, have a taste." Donghae held up a spoon to her, having his hand underneath it in case it spilled. Hailee obeyed and tasted it, her eyes widening due to the sensation of great flavours mixing in . "Is it good?" Donghae wondered.

"It's amazing!" Hailee exclaimed. Donghae's shy smile appeared and he tasted himself. He nodded in agreement and put in some more salt. Hailee noticed how his tongue brushed over his bottom lip as he went into a thinking mode of what more could be missing. "Soya?" she suggested, upon which Donghae smacked his hands together and ran to the refrigerator, took out the soya and poured some in. He tasted again and nodded contently.

"You're a genius princess," he stated. "I think it's done now. You can pick which wine you want," Donghae said. Hailee nodded and went to pick out her favourite red wine before joining Donghae at the table. Donghae lit the candles while Hailee dimmed the lights so that a cosines  filled the room. They sat down and Donghae plated up the food for them both.

"This is lovely," Hailee said.

"Well, good food and lovely company often does the trick," Donghae answered. As they started eating and converse about the day in general, Hailee felt a little bit happier. Donghae had that affect on her, lifted up her spirit tremendously in a matter of minutes. Yet she thought about what would the upcoming events of tomorrow. "What are you thinking about, my love?" Donghae asked when they were doing the dishes. Hailee bit her lips and stopped drying the plates for a moment. "Baby?" Donghae turned his head to her. "Hailee?"

"Huh?"

"What is it? Is there something wrong?" He sounded worried again and she hated when he sounded worried, it made her sad.

"No, nothing. I'm just thinking."

"About?" Crap, I forgot he always asks reciting questions.

"Nothing in particular," she replied. Donghae gave her a raised eyebrow but nonetheless returned to the dishes. With them done as well, Donghae and Hailee sat down on the couch. Enjoying a glass of wine, the couple began chatting again, causal chatting only. The kind of chat that Hailee most liked.

However, Donghae was an expert at knowing that something wasn't all right and so he asked: "If you weren't thinking of anything in particular then why did you frown?"

"Did I frown?" Hailee wondered, trying to sound oblivious. Of course there was no question that she had frowned and that Donghae noticed this wasn't strange either, but could he never leave things be? Donghae simply nodded his head and let his hand caress her cheek. He lovingly tucked some hair behind her ear, then continued down to cheek again.

"Princess... I mean, Hailee," he began. That he called her by her name was not a good sign, nor was it a what she wanted right now. "How are you? Tell me honestly."

"I'm fine."

"Really? Because you seem...absent." Hailee shrugged and stood up, walking to leave the glass on the sink. "See? You're avoiding me."

"No I'm not." Hailee giggled. "Why would-?" She swung around and met Donghae's chest. She lifted her head and met his eyes, staring at her.

"Tell me the truth now, please. Don't you want to get married to me? Are you having cold feet? Is that it?" She could already see the tears forming in his eyes.

"No, no. Please don't cry, my love. It's not that! I promise. I love you."

"Then what is it?" She felt his hands rest on her waist, he was trembling and shaking. She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him into her embrace. Donghae snuggled his face in the crook of her neck.

"Don't worry about it." Had she told the truth Donghae should've worried, a lot. But for now, he was going to remain calm according to Hailee. "Shall we go to bed? We have a big day ahead of us tomorrow." Her voice was thick. She hated saying these things; they were poisonous to her too, made sore.

"Yeah sure," Donghae responded. Hailee took his hand and led him to the bathroom. They brushed their teeth, took off their clothes – Hailee put on her oversized shirt – and lay down in bed. Donghae wrapped his strong arms around Hailee's waist. "You know, if we followed tradition then we wouldn't be sleeping in the same bed now. I'm glad we don't follow it though, I'd miss you too much. You keep me calm," Donghae mumbled. His eyes were closing on their own and his breathing was heavy.

"Mm." Hailee was rather chipping for air, as though there wasn't enough. Donghae suffocated her, drowned her and burned her all at the same time. The silent tears were unavoidable. The words of tomorrow – the vows – were trapped in a cage inside her head and the key was gone. Hailee wondered if she'd even made an effort to find the key. She pondered over all the things that needed to be done. Donghae was sound asleep next to her. Hailee decided that she this had to be enough, it could no longer go on. She needed to know what she wanted to do and it had to be decided now! She carefully got out of the bed, got dressed and then she wrote a note. She wrote that she needed to prepare a few things and that she'd gone up early, that they would meet in the chapel and that he didn't need to worry. Lastly, she wrote how much she loved him. The note was placed on the night table, next to the alarm clock. "Forgive me," Hailee whispered as she bent down to lightly kiss Donghae's cheek. Luckily, he didn't wake up and she could sneak out in the night. There was only one place where she could go at this time at night. She took a cab and arrived by the house fifteen minutes later. Knocking on the door, the last ligaments that held her heart together burst. The door opened, showing Jae-Hwa in it. Hailee's tears were pooling down her cheeks, there was no strength left inside her to keep them at bay. "I need to get out of here!" she informed Jae-Hwa who looked surprised by seeing her. He immediately grabbed his coat, put on his shoes and then he took Hailee down to his car, driving off at the quickest speed that the law allowed. Out, out, away. Without a destination or goal. They went on for hours until Jae-Hwa pulled over by a motel along the road.

"Mind telling me what happened?" Hailee shook her head roughly and cried in her palms. Jae-Hwa sighed, unintentionally putting a hand on her thigh which caused Hailee to jump.

"Don't touch me!" she yelled. She opened the door and jumped out from the car, tumbling down on the ground. Jae-Hwa ran out to her side, attempting to help her up. "I told you not to touch me! Get off!" Her legs trembled as she stood up, sending death glares at Jae-Hwa.

"I'm just trying to help you. I don't want to kidnap you or anything," he explained. "What happened?" he asked again.

"I do not know!" Hailee yelled. She was definitely hyperventilating and nothing Jae-Hwa said could calm her down. "I'm afraid okay?! I'm afraid that I'll fall out of love with him! I'm afraid that he'll always love me more than I love him! And... I'm afraid I'll betray him."

"Then what the hell aren't you doing now? Running off the night before the wedding? Why are you leaving him if you love him? Don't you think-?"

"WHAT?" Hailee shouted. Now being angered rather than sad. "Jae-Hwa, he could kill for me! Did you hear? Kill! He could easily die for me! I cannot do that for him!"

"So? Does that mean you don't love him?"

"No! Of course I love him! I just..." Hailee breathed heavily, each breath was hurting . "What kind of love will we have if I don't love him as much as he loves me?"

"How should I know? I just know that you'll regret it all your life if you leave him. That's what I know. Do you want to know how much you love him?"

"How?"

"Easy. I kiss you," Jae-Hwa answered. Hailee got wide eyes. Her feet automatically backed away and her hands went up in defence, in case the man in front of her would try anything. "See? You love him. And if you don't believe me then we'll do like this," he said, taking a step closer towards her. Hailee swallowed hard with each step he took closer, she had already emotionally almost cheated on Donghae, really cheating would break her heart into a state where it couldn't possibly mend. Forgive me, Donghae...

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!! ^-^