It was almost 1am. Yet she was still awake working on her legal documents and examining past judicial decisions needed for her boss’s next trial proceedings. She would admit that no matter how she tried to preoccupy her mind with work, her thoughts would float to him. It’s almost 1am. Where is he now? Is he okay? Does he have dinner already? Why didn’t he bother calling me?

She was still deep in her own thoughts when she heard the twisting of the doorknob. She knew who it was but she did not bother glancing at the person who entered. She felt him walking slowly to their bedroom. No words were spoken. Not even a  greeting was uttered between them.

For two years, it has always been like that. For two years, she tried reaching out to her so-called “husband” but it seems like her efforts were always lacking. Either that, or he just did not entertain every bit of care and love she offered him. What she could not decipher though is the fact that he married her when he could just say no. He could file a divorce because obviously he wasn’t happy with this marriage, but he didn’t do so. Why?

She knew that when they were married, it was only her who was jubilant. Everyday, she tried making him happy. And everyday she would pray that he would change and somehow make her feel the way she wanted to. It didn’t come. Two years passed, but the moment she was waiting for did not come. And so she realized that maybe, it never will. Maybe, it’s time for her to give up on a love that is unrequited and on a marriage that was just written on a piece of paper. Yes, they are married and they live in the same house, sleep in the same bedroom, but they live in two separate worlds of their own.

She got up from where she was sitting. Papers cluttered the dining table and beside her laptop were piles of folders. She forgot how long she was working in front of the computer that when she suddenly stood up, dizziness engulfed her. She had to hold on her chair to not stumble. When she regained her balance, she slowly walked to the bedroom. Just when she was about to enter the room, Donghae got out of the bathroom. The towel was gripping his waist tightly while his hair was still wet. Beads of water dripped down to his shoulder and chest. He looked up to her.

She was caught mildly surprised by what she was seeing but she still tried to talk. “Yeobo...”

Donghae winced at the word. He wondered when she will ever get tired of calling him that when the closest he can call her is “wife”. Of course, he would only call her that when they were in front of their parents. They would both visit their parents every now and then and for some reason they mastered the act of a happy and satisfied couple. When asked about their plans of having children, they’d reply with almost the same old reason. We are still young and surely we still have a lot of time for that. For now, we will concentrate on preparing for the child’s future by focusing on our careers.

Donghae was snapped from her reverie when she spoke again. “Are you okay? Have you eaten dinner yet?”

Donghae just nodded.

She looked at him with a sad smile. She heaved a sigh before saying, “Okay.”

She turned her back on him and was about to leave when she quickly spun back to face him. “Uhm...I just want to say thank you.”

Donghae tilted his head and stared at her carefully. He walked slowly towards her, his glare not leaving his eyes. He chuckled. “For what?”, he said raising his left brow.

“I-... I know that our marriage was plainly for business.” The truth leaves a bitter taste on . “And I know that because of me, you lost the woman you really love-”

“Enough”, Donghae said softly. It gave her shivers and even though it was said ever gently, it scared the hell out of her. But she plucked up the courage to go on. If she won’t say it now, she probably might never be able to.

“Come on. Don’t you think it’s time for us to talk? I never talked about things like these for two years, can I at least say the things I wanted to say? Just this once.”

They both never wanted to lose their staring contest. Although, sometimes the drops of water trickling down Donghae’s body surely distracted her.

Donghae was clenching his jaw. As afraid as she might be, she never let him notice.

“I would understand if you hated me or shouted at me. But you didn’t. We may have never shared the marriage that we were supposed to have, but I thank you for being nice to me despite everything that happened. You have no idea how much I appreciate that.”, she suddenly stopped to control the emotion that is starting to flood her entire system. She does not want to cry in front of him.

“I wished that I was the woman that can make you happy. Apparently, not all things in life can be achieved by mere hardwork. Because if that was true, then I wouldn’t be standing here saying these things, right?,” she gave him a smile.

He saw how sad her smile was. He also saw pain in her eyes. The thing that struck him most was that the pain he was seeing in her eyes has actually come from him. He was not surprised when a pair of arms cling to his neck and a face was buried in his bare chest. He felt her whisper “Thank you.” and then he was left alone in the room again. How long she walked out of the room, he did not know.

================

Two days passed after their real conversation and they were back to normal again. Normal for them means not talking and not seeing each other as often as normal married couples do. They were both busy with each others career. Donghae was preparing a lot of things with his Entertainment Agency which he established along with some members of Super Junior. His wife, on the other hand, was slumped with paperworks and attended a lot of court proceedings.

By the time Donghae woke up one morning,  she was long gone. It was already 10am. He went to the kitchen and as usual, found the breakfast she would always prepare for him. For two years, she relentlessly do that. He shook his head and chuckled. What a woman. At least, I can make it up to her now. A small smile appeared on his face. That night, he realized a lot of things. What she said was the truth. But he did not understand where her “thank you” was coming from when all he did for two years was ignore her and be unfair to her.

After eating, he went back to the master’s bedroom and took a shower. When he finished, he went out with his towel tightly worn around his waist as he was towelling-dry his hair when he noticed a folder on top of a drawer. There was a note for him- Donghae-sshi.

He raised his left brow at the name. Huh. Donghae-sshi? What happened to “Yeobo” now?  He smirked.

He opened the folded note and read through the message, which quite frankly puzzled him a bit.

You gave me the happiness I always dreamed of

when you married me. It might not be the perfect one but still

you made me happy. And so now, it’s time for me to give

that happiness back to you. The happiness you always deserve.

I love you. Be happy.

Donghae opened the folder unhurriedly. There were several pieces of papers on it. He skimmed through all of the papers and it took him a while to comprehend the details.

Divorce papers. Divorce forms. Uncontested divorce. Everything was fixed and all details were well-prepared. In fact, all he needed to do was sign the papers and he will soon be out of their marriage.

His head was spinning and he was not sure why he reacted this way when in fact, he should have seen this coming. He rushed to her closet and haphazardly opened it to see an empty shelf. His breathing was labored and the emotion he was feeling suddenly made him feel nauseated.

I guess I am too late.

====================

She accepted the offer to work in Busan. Maybe that’s all she needed after the divorce. Surely, he’d sign those papers that will technically void their marriage. There will be lots of explaining to do to their parents but since the petition has now been filed, that will hasten the process of lengthy explanation to both sides of their family. Simply put, there's nothing else their parents could do but to accept their decision.

“Miss, there’s a mail for you here. You forgot to check your mailbox.”, said the assistant as she handed in a white envelope. It was sent to her but there was no return address.

“Okay, thank you.” It was hard for her to leave the office she’s grown to love. She left some of her office stuff to her assistant and only brought the important ones.

The drive to the airport was quick. After a few minutes, her plane left the terminal and she was now heading to Busan. She remembered the letter sent to her just now. She opened it to see two plane tickets to Caneel Bay in US Islands. He checked the names on the plane tickets. It was for her and for Donghae. She couldn’t control her hands from shaking and she had to inhale deeply since she could no longer breathe properly.

A small piece of paper flew down to her lap. She read the message written on it:

Remember how you always wanted to go to Caneel Bay?

I’m sorry it took me two years to do this. But I hope you give me this

chance to make it up to you. Give me this chance to be the husband

you always wanted. Let’s take a break from everything. Spend this two

weeks with me, away from everything and from everyone.

It’s not too late to start over, right?

Love,

Yeobo

Her eyes were filled with tears and they were trickling down her cheeks uncontrollably. He had to bring her hands to to suppress the sobbing.

It’s not too late to start over, right?

It’s not too late to start over, right?

It’s not too late to start over, right?

The question was echoing on her mind as she continued to cry.

It’s not too late to start over, right?

She looked out the window as their plane went above the gray clouds. It must be raining down there.

When you’re now miles apart and several feet away from the person you love, probably the answer to that question is quite obvious.

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A/N: I've always wanted to write something about/for Lee Donghae. Comments and suggestions are highly appreciated. Thanks for reading! :)