Sehun, 22 years old, is a choreographer for a local dance studio in New York. Luhan, 27 years old, is a music teacher at an elementary school. They have been together happily for two years now. They had their ups and downs like everyone does in a long-term relationship, but their love for each other was as strong as in the beginning. Today, the 11^th of January is their anniversary.

Sehun had prepared for this day for the past month, thinking about how to create the perfect anniversary. Truth-be-told, Sehun had a sole purpose for this day: to finally ask Luhan to marry him. Yes, he is young, but he doesn’t actually care about age. Love, as Luhan always says, has no age, and if two people are crazily in love with each other, nothing else matters. Sehun knew that a simple proposal would be a cliché, down on one knee and all that. He wanted this day to be the best Luhan had in all his life, therefore he planned the day to the second.

First, he would make Luhan’s favourite breakfast – sunny-side-up eggs and chocolate pancakes, followed by a large cup of dark chocolate with marshmallows. Then, they would go on a stroll in the park near their apartment. Lunch was to take place in the park, on the grass, like a picnic for which Sehun asked his mom to prepare the dishes.

After lunch, Sehun will tell Luhan to go home and prepare for their evening reservations at a fancy restaurant across Central Park, while Sehun would go pick up the specially designed ring for his cute deer. Finally, dinner is followed by a walk through the city and a special stop, at the Empire State Building. Yes, Sehun wanted to ask Luhan to marry him on the top floor of the skyscraper. He really wanted this day to be special.

Everything started off amazing. The breakfast Sehun made was delicious and they were both really pleased with how his day began. After breakfast, Sehun went to take a shower, while Luhan was still sitting on their bed with the pancakes plate in his hands. The day seemed to be a good one. Until Sehun’s phone rang.

As Luhan made his way across their apartment to the phone, he couldn’t help but feel uneasy. He doesn’t usually answer his lover’s cell phone, but as it was an unknown number he just assumed it was a salesman. He picked up the phone and a lady asked for his boyfriend, Sehun. Luhan respectfully asked who the lady was – she sounded like she was in her 30s, Luhan accounted – She then answered that her name was Natalie and that Sehun had left his scarf at her place. Luhan’s hands were shaking and before Natalie had a chance to say another word he dropped the phone.

All he could think about was that Sehun was cheating on him. With a Natalie. Tears formed at the corner of his eyes and and as Sehun got out of the bathroom, he wouldn’t want to believe that Sehun is capable of doing this sort of thing to him. Sehun saw that his boyfriend was about to start crying. He tried to ask what’s wrong, but Luhan just dozed off, unable to form a single word. Suddenly snapping out of his daydream – more like day-nightmare- he began to ask Sehun all sorts of questions, like who was this Natalie, why did she have his number, why had Sehun been to her place.

Startled that Luhan knew about Natalie, he just said that it’s not what Luhan is thinking, stuttering. As Luhan noticed his stutter he was certain that Sehun cheated on him. He passed by Sehun, running, and got out of the apartment slamming the door. Sehun stood in his place for a couple of seconds, uncapable of moving his feet.

He couldn’t believe that the day has changed from paradise to hell. Thinking that he had to catch Luhan and explain everything to him, he ran after his beloved. He took the elevator, as their apartment was on the 15^th floor, and he kept cursing the speed – better said, the lack of it – of the machine. He was now on the pavement in front of the apartment building, looking left and right for Luhan. He spotted the older at the taxi station, getting on in one of the yellow cars.

He shouted after Luhan, but his lover did not respond. Sehun knew that Luhan had heard him and he kept shouting saying that he is sorry, that Luhan got it all wrong, that he loves him. As he watched the taxi drive away, Sehun decided to run after the taxi as it stops at a traffic light.

Before he got there, the lights changed and the taxi began driving again. As it speeds up, the taxi was struck violently by another car and came to a stop on the middle of the street. Sehun screamed from the bottom of his lungs and fell on his knees in shock. Ambulances arrived almost instantly and he took the one in which Luhan was.

At a nearby hospital, Luhan is being taken into the ER and Sehun is just standing outside the room, crying. Through a window he saw his lover wounded and surrounded by medical personnel. Luhan looked over to the window towards Sehun, a blank expression on his face. Sehun began to cry harder and before the doctors could help him, Luhan succumbed to his injuries and died. Sehun fell on the floor in disbelief.

This could not be happening to him. His brain stopped functioning as he entered the ER. He looked as his deer’s angelic face – he seemed so peaceful. Sehun took his lover’s hands – they were cold as ice. As he looked down at Luhan hands he saw that the watch he was wearing was broken. It was stopped at 12:00. The same time he first asked Luhan on a date. He remembered this, because this was the hour Luhan finished his work at the elementary school.

Sehun arrived home at the wee hours of the 12^th of January. It was cold in the apartment. As he looked around the empty space, everything around him started to disappear. The table, the chairs, the couch, the TV, the photos on their walls which were portraying their happiest moments.

All that was left was a notebook standing in the middle of the apartment, with a rose on top of it. Roses were Luhan’s favourite flowers. Now that Sehun thought about it, he hadn’t given Luhan flowers in a long time. Nowadays, he only did it for special occasions, but when they first started dating, he would bring Luhan roses every day. Sehun opened the notebook and the pages were blank, except that on each page, right in the middle, was a word. Page 1 – roses; page 2 – eggs; page 3- walks; page 4- stars; page 5 – cuddling; at a first glance, the words had nothing in common with each other.

Sehun opened the notebook at the last page. There was a name – LUHAN. Looking again at the other words he realized that every word meant a thing that Luhan liked. Sehun started crying again. His mind and heart could only think about Luhan and how he should have treated the older better. So much better. Sehun remembered all their dates and how he would always be fascinated by Luhan’s angelic beauty and his way of being, sometimes acting more innocent than the elementary students he had.

He closed his eyes, seeing Luhan’s face. He didn’t want to open his eyes as the face would disappear. Sehun couldn’t help feeling that he should have continued to bring Luhan roses, and that they should have gone on dates more often and do a bunch of stuff together. Now, he couldn’t do that anymore.

Eyes still closed, his ears picked up a familiar sound - Luhan’s voice- and he tried focusing on it, feeling like he was under a spell.

Opening his eyes, he was welcomed by Luhan’s smiling face. The older was his hair and singing something that sounded like a lullaby. Noticing that his lover had woken up, Luhan brightly said Good Morning and hugged Sehun. The younger sighed and a tear fell on his cheek. It has all been a dream. Looking at the clock on the wall, he noticed that it was 8 in the morning. 11^th of January has just started.

He tightly hugged Luhan, never wanting to let go of him. He decided to not wait until evening and as he looked in Luhan’s eyes, he whispered “Marry me” and then kissed Luhan like there was no tomorrow, trying to make the other understand how in love he was. Luhan broke the kiss, gasping for air. He asked Sehun if he was being serious and as the other simply nodded his head, Luhan started crying and excitedly shouted “Yes! Of course I want to marry you” making Sehun’s heart beat faster. This was exactly how he wanted it to be. He realized he doesn’t need fancy restaurants and the Empire State Building. He just needed Luhan, forever.

For the next couple of hours they just cuddled and at some point Sehun informed Luhan that if a woman named Natalie calls saying that he left something at her place, it is actually the woman who specially made the engagement ring and the last time he was at her shop – her place – he forgot his scarf. Luhan laughed, not understanding why Sehun was suddenly saying something like that, and then kissed his lover’s forehead, whispering “Ï love you”.

„I had a nightmare
Before I could hug you, who was crying
I woke up

With a sad heart, I opened the curtains
With my moonlight-stained tears, I send you a letter

Remember, when things were hard
I always turned your tears into smiles
Don’t cry in places without me, don’t cry
Because you always had a lot of tears

No, it’s my turn to cry, I’ll cry now”

-My Turn to Cry, EXO-