Maliha woke up the next day and remembering last night’s fight, she immediately pulled the covers over her head. She had been so mean to him. He was right. All she ever did was push him away and now that he was back, she was busy getting mad at him. She bit her lips, swallowed her pride and called him.

                The phone rang, and rang, and rang. “Hi, you’ve reached Donghae! If you’re my mommy, I’ll call you back later. If you’re Eunhyukkie, I’ll see you later. If you’re Super Junior, guys I see you too much. If you’re Maliha, I love you! Please leave a message.”

                Her lower lip trembled and she pressed end only to call back, knowing that it would go straight through to voicemail once more. “Hi, you’ve reached Donghae! If you’re my mommy, I’ll call you back later. If you’re Eunhyukkie, I’ll see you later. If you’re Super Junior, guys I see you too much. If you’re Maliha, I love you! Please leave a message.” If you’re Maliha, I love you. It was as if he wanted to make her feel guilty. And it did. Every happy word he spoke twisted a knife in her gut and she wanted to cry. She was horrible.

                She dropped her phone on the bed and curled up to cry. She wanted to kick herself. If only she hadn’t said that last jibe, he may have dropped the whole thing. She ran downstairs and took out the drawing she was making of him and nearly cried.

                He was so beautiful. And for a second, she almost believed he was tangible, alive and breathing, next to her. But of course he wasn’t. She had chased him away, and the little clownfish would have no idea how to get back home. Maliha knew she was speaking gibberish and once more decided to call him. This time, she decided, she would leave a message.

                After the beep, she took a deep breath. “Donghae, I is sorries. Do you mind coming home more often? I promise, school’s almost over and you can help me study for finals anyway. I’m sorry for yelling at you. I- I know I did wrong, and I know I’ve been te-terri,” she ended the call and once more started crying.

                Donghae stared at his phone, the blinking message box hurting his vision. “Please redial to hear the message again,” the woman’s sharp voice commanded him. He closed his voicemail and put his head in his hands.

                He was so so cruel. He really wasn’t as mat at Maliha as he pretends to be. Yet, for the sake of making sure things got done, he had to. If he wanted to cut down her worry, he would have everything prepared by tonight.

                He turned off his phone and tried to push out the sound of her crying from his head. He didn’t need that as a distraction. Donghae drove his car to the nearby jewelry shop and stepped inside.

                “Mr. Lee! Your order is here. You came just in time. We were about to call you and notify you.” The cashier was kind and presented the blue velvet box to him.

                Donghae took it and went off to finish the other preparations.

                Maliha pulled herself together and decided that enough was enough. She was going to do something to show him that she was sorry. She took out all the ingredients to make a cake and proceeded to make something that wasn’t too sweet because she knows that Donghae didn’t like sweets that much.

                She then took out strawberry icing and carefully wrote his name and entwined hers with it. When she was satisfied with her work, she sat down and forced herself to finish the drawing. She cramped her hands and fingers trying to perfect it and when she was done, she swore she could see the mischievous glint in his eye look at him.

                She rolled it up and straightened up. All was done. The only thing left was to find that Fish. She contacted Hyuk. Because who else would know where that child was?

                “Hey, Hyukkie. I has a question for you. Do you know where Donghae is?”

                He coughed nervously. “I have no idea. But just stay at home. I’m sure he’ll come home eventually. Don’t worry about him. He’s a big boy.”

                Maliha pouted. That wasn’t enough. Sighing, she decided, she was going to have to use her fish radar and just go out and find him. She took the cake and carefully carried it with her and opened the doors. Just when she was stepping out, a figure came streaking up the steps and she nearly dropped the box.

                “Hey you! Watch it you idiot! That was for my-”

                “Whoa, where are you going?” The voice. Maliha snapped her head up and nearly dropped the cake once more. It was Donghae and he was smiling. He was smiling. At her. That prompted her to smile back and he came forward with his arms held wide.

                “Maliha, I’m sorry.”

                “No, I’m sorry, Donghae.”

                He chuckled and wiped away the baby tears that sprung up again. “Come inside,” he pushed her gently in and she shoved the cake at him.

                “I made this for you. I drew you too.” He looked down at the cake and this time it was his turn to not cry.

                “Do I really look this good?” he whispered.

                She giggled and smacked his head. “Ya, pabo. Yes, yes.”

                He knelt down on one knee and smoothly reached into his pocket, bringing up the velvet box and popping it open in one swift motion. “Maliha, will you marry me? This way, at least you can no longer push me away.”

                She sat there shocked. “Why did you think I was away all this time? I wanted to have a bigger party, but I suppose the two of us here is enough.”

                She wiped her eyes and hugged him. “Of course, Donghae. Yes.”

                He smiled and slipped the ring on her finger. “If you ever get tired of me, the only thing I can tell you is; Baby, I’m sorry but I love you. So you’re stuck forever and ever.” 

This was meant to be published January 5 as a gift from Lia and me. But of course, it never happened.

So here you go.

I tried to show you how much I love you and I hope you know how much Donghae loves you too.

♥