And Then You Came... [Eunhae] |✔

02.Moving Forward

"There are far better things ahead,
than any we leave behind..."

                                  -C.S Lewis

There were a lot of things that had been said about children. Lee Donghae had always been a child who had glowed, as if he had been gifted a part of some private moon.

He was often described as 'gentle, kind and caring' by the people who had seen him and talked with him.His eyes were soft and they owned the colour of clear liquid chocolate which sometimes held little flecks of amber when he was extremely happy.

His father, who was exceedingly fond of his first child, had often given him advices and pieces of general wisdom which Donghae was to remember for the rest of his life. The amber flecks in his eyes had only increased when he was 10 years; for the prospect of having a baby brother to play with; but after another two years Donghae had found himself at his father's funeral, clutching his two year old brother desperately while trying to console his stricken mother. Then infront of everyone present, he lost those amber light in his eyes forever as he too; sobbed his heart out.

In a desperate need to comfort himself from drowning in the feeling of helplessness, he turned his misery into a form of art. Dancing became his passion and he put his heart and soul into it like never before until his teachers felt that he was good enough to try for the entrance exam of Prestigious Dancing University.

This being his goal, Donghae had practiced until he was perfect in every move. After another 7 years of dedicated practicing, the 19 year-old had participated in the exam last August and was awaiting results until one morning in September, he had seen his 9 year old brother running towards him with an envelope clutched in his small hand.

Donghae knew it was the results and he was attacked with a sense of growing despair, what if he hadn't passed?! all those years would be wasted!.

So he had wordlessly taken the envelope from Donghwa and had gone to find his mother. Before opening it she looked at him,

"Donghae darling, why didn't you open it?", she asked.

"What if I haven't passed mom? All those years-" Donghae couldn't continue as he felt his legs slowly turning to water.

"Nonsense dear! I know you did your best", she said and ripped the top off the envelope.
For Donghae, it had sounded like someone was clawing out his insides. His mother read the letter; read it twice, and there spread a look of sheer happiness and proudness that she felt for her son.

"Oh Donghae!",she breathed and had hugged her shivering son. "I'm so happy for you! You've got A grades for all!"

"I told you mommy!!!" yelled his little brother, "I told you Donghae was the best!!"

Soon everyone came to know that Donghae had passed the most difficult dancing exam in the country. His teachers had patted him on the back and congratulated him.

"you wont forget us would you brat? when you go to Seoul?", asked his friends.

"No, I won't." said Donghae sincerely.

                       *******

The day before they were to leave for Seoul, Donghae said goodbye to everyone; and had come home to find his mother packing their suitcases while Donghwa squealed and ran around the house in his pyjamas.

"Mom! I could have done it on my own!", he whined while trying to help his mother.

"You simply won't know what to pack Donghae",said his mother laughing."you are such a messy person and I know exactly how your packing would be" she said and Donghae gave up. Let her enjoy it if she likes it so much.

Donghae left her to stop his little brother from turning the house upside down.

"Donghwa!", he yelled. "Go to bed! you have to wake up early tomorrow!"

"Shan't!", said the little boy.

Donghae sighed and gave his brother a fake pained look.

"You are still a little boy Donghwa, only grown up boys go to bed early", he said and his brother took the bait as expected.

"Donghwa is BIG!", he yelled at the top of his voice while pointing a pudgy finger at himself. Donghae shook his head sadly, and the little kid at once jumped on to his bed and pretended to fall asleep.

Donghae smiled affectionately at his brother as he switched to lights off in his room.

"I got Donghwa to sleep", he said when he returned to his mother.

"Well that's a blessing for all of us", she said laughing. Then she suddenly turned to her son who was already quite taller than herself, and held his hands.

"Donghae, I want you to know how much I'm proud of you and love you. Your father would've felt the same if he was here. So what I just wanted to say was", she took a deep breath;
"if anything or anyone ever hurt you, don't try to stab them back. Remember that there is always a reason for someone to act like that, I'm not asking you to stay silent all the time, but just try to forgive and forget and do your best. that's all I ask.", she said while her eyes held him.

Donghae gathered his mom in his arms and hugged her tightly.

"I will mom", he promised and kissed her hand.

Next day after getting up early, Donghae spent half and hour to get ready for the long journey on train, and when he entered his mother's room, he found her trying to get an extremely sleepy Donghwa into his clothes. She looked up and smiled at him affectionately.

When they finally got on to the train, Donghae was suddenly hit by a feeling of deep nostalgia. He was going to miss this place. But in his heart he knew he couldn't wait to start off with his new life in Seoul.
He surrendered to this new feeling and a happy smile blossomed across his face making it glow like it once did long ago.

A/N: chapter 2!! went like that! how did ya'll like it?