Letters to Hae

Chapter 1

Hae's POV  

It had been 7 months since he had been discharged from the military. Since then, he has had a very busy life of recordings, photo shoots, travelling and variety shows. It felt good to be back but he sometimes missed the anonymity that the military gave him.

Donghae's schedule since leaving the army has been gruelling. This week found him promoting for the group's 8th studio album 'PLAY'. The fans hadn't forgotten them during their military hiatus and the group as a whole felt that their main goal now was to reconnect with their ELF's.

Hae had come home late again tonight. Too tired to eat. A quick shower and change of clothes always refreshed him. He could fall asleep easily if he laid his head down but the delivery of this week's fan mail bag was calling his attention. He knew he had a late start the following morning, so he grabbed the mail bag and sat down to open each letter and parcel. The letters were written in different languages but he had his translator app ready and the words he read from his fans made him humble. He truly appreciated the love, effort and time his ELF's took to show their loyalty. He had only a few letters left to read when he spotted the familiar blue envelope. He recognised her writing of the address and the number on the top left-hand corner which indicated to him that this letter was her distinctive letter. He found it odd that she numbered her letters but it did come in handy when one of her letters took a long time to arrive many months back. He decided he would leave it until last to read. He knew that the contents of her letter would keep him awake and he didn't want to be distracted while reading the rest of the mail.

He grabbed some water after disposing of the empty mail cartons and found a comfortable position on his couch. Yes, he knew this letter would occupy his mind for a lot longer than it should. Her writing was easy to understand but some words required him to look up the meaning and pronunciation. But he was certainly getting better at this with each letter he was receiving from her.

Her name was Rachel. From the bits of information, she was giving him in her letters, he knew that she was working as a teacher for adults with a disability. He sensed she was closer to his age, possibly 26. She was single, living in Sydney, and she was currently experiencing summer season. She admitted to him that she still called herself a new ELF as she had only been a fan of Super Junior for less than 12 months.

It was definitely freezing right now in Seoul. It would be nice to feel the warmth of a hot sun, maybe even swim in the ocean. Yes, she lived near many beaches and she liked the water. Her letters always comforted him. She didn't like sand but loved the smell of the ocean. Her weakness was chocolate and she sometimes would write about her fondness for the smell of rain. Today's letter seemed a lot shorter than previous letters. She apologised for the rushed letter but ended the letter with her usual signature farewell of "sending you lots of love, hope and happiness, Rachel".

Each of her letters ended with a movie recommendation written at the bottom of the page. This month's movie was 'P.S I Love You'. She warned of some sadness but overall it was a lovely romance movie. He would organise a movie night with Hyukjae sometime and watch it with him he quickly planned.

.......

Hyukjae had settled on the couch and smiled at Hae. "What movie is it this time?" He asked. Hae had returned to the coach after he slipped the DVD into the back of the tv and pressed play. He didn't know what to expect. The two boys found themselves in this pattern of watching movies on the couch. Out of all the movie recommendations 'Rachel' had given him, he and Hyukjae liked '10 things I hate about you' the Jennifer Love Hewitt movie 'The truth about love'.

"Wow. How deep is their love???" Hyukjae thought out loud. The movie had ended and the boys were now giving the movie their own review. "Your friend knows movies Hae!!" He continued. Yes, he was definitely impressed by the story of the movie. Hae smiled as he tried to gather his own thoughts about the movie and of the person who recommended it. Yes, he would need to thank her for this movie recommendation. The boys talked for a while about different things before heading off to sleep. Yes, he thought as he drifted off to sleep, she chose well.

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