Letters to Hae

Chapter 3

 Hae's POV

The days are now rolling into weeks and he finds that he has only time to catch his breath. He seems to see the inside of a plane more than his own home. Yes, he is definitely tired. But his living his dream. That's the sacrifice he has made. Super Junior are busy as ever and their fans can't seem to get enough of them.

For months he has been meaning to look up and attempt to find the author of those blue letters by checking for an online profile. But when he goes to check on his phone, there always seem to be some reminder or message from his agency or manager. He is in the van on the way home tonight and his mind has starting to shut down for the night. He longs for his warm bed now. Nothing else matters. Front door locked behind him, and not bothering with lights, he heads to his room. With his head on the pillow and his eyes heavy with sleep, he remembers that It's now been three weeks since the last letter was received. "Goodnight my girl..." he says subconsciously.

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Days seem to be moving very fast lately but today he has been given half a day's rest. Lounging on his couch, his body aches from feeling tired but his mind is fully awake. Today he finds himself determined to start the online search that life seems to keep distracting him from. Hyukjae has arrived and is happy to help with the search. Hyukjae knows this situation very well. With every visit to this house he would notice the blue envelope pile increase in height. He was a little impressed and a lot jealous. He wouldn't mind having a secret admirer for himself. "What do we know about her?" He started to ask his friend. "Well, look..." as Hae points to the last letter "her letter, if you turn it over, on the back has her full name and address. Let's start with that." He stated. They started with the Facebook app but without a picture for reference, they were lost. The only profile that came close to Rachel's details was a private account.

They decided to split the search between them. Hyukjae searched the Twitter app and Hae searched the Instagram app. Both were spending considerable time trying out different search criteria. What they knew of her, is what they used to search for her. Her name was Rachel, she lived in Sydney and she was an ELF. The address on the back of each letter was her full address but there was no way to fly to Sydney right now for their schedules didn't allow it. A private investigator was out of the question. No Hae thought. "He wouldn't impede on her privacy like that". Not yet anyways he thought.

After spending hours to find 'his girl' Hae finally discovered a page on Instagram that felt like it was the right one. Hyukjae and Has stared at screen for a long while. Her bio was simple. Hae seemed to read it slowly over and over. "Proud teacher. Sydney is home. Lover of the ocean and rain. Romance movie addict. Hope to be a blue ELF for ever." "There's no pictures. Only 6-7 posts about nothing really" said Hyukjae. "It has to be her Hyukjae" Hae said with little confidence, as he bit his lower lip." Let me follow her from my alias profile..." Hae stated as he logged into his Instagram and pressed the 'follow' button on her profile. "Let's wait and see..."

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The owner of the blue letters now was checking his phone regularly throughout each day. It was becoming a habit and the whole Super Junior team were noticing this distraction. They didn't want to say anything just yet, but they sensed a serious family matter and resolved to ask him about it at dinner later that night.

Hae was beginning to become a little more secretive. He thought that each time he sneaked a look at his phone, that the action went unnoticed. Little did he know that his actions kept the members curious.

He loved how private this girl was. Not sharing her life with the world. He was curious of what she looked like, what perfume lingered around her, what her favourite foods were. They were in the recording studio, the members lounging about. Hae went to check his phone and turned his head quickly back to work, as he got used to seeing no updates on Rachel's profile. As he quickly pressed the home button on his phone, and turned back to his work, the corner of right eye caught a glimpse of a picture that he hadn't seen before.

He hadn't noticed but now his left foot seemed to be tapping the floor underneath the sounding mixer. He began to sweat a little with anxiousness and he was biting the lower corner of his lip with pressure. A crease in his smile was beginning to form and he was trying very hard to subdue his excitement. He needed to check that phone but now he was feeling super self-conscious. The other Super Junior boys smiled as they noticed the change in their friend's behaviour and Heechul decided to grab Hae's phone off the desk. This little action brought Hae to his feet and he began to act defensive over his phone. 'Yah, YAH.' he shouted. His quick jump up made Heechul even more curious and the phone was passed to another member. The group was now passing the phone to each other to avoid Hae from grabbing it. He wasn't ready to share this situation with his group. Not when he hadn't seen the latest update yet. He subconsciously started slapping the boys on their shoulders in his desperation to get his phone back.

After a small wrestle for the phone, the item was returned to its owner with the condition that Hae share whatever what was happening in his personal life. Hae had reluctantly agreed. He eyed Hyukjae and Hyukjae licked his lower lip. Hyukjae knew that the whole situation was getting a little ridiculous but he didn't want Hae to be upset with the truth. Hyukjae didn't have a good feeling about what was unfolding and decided he would leave Hae alone for now, but he would step in when he felt things were getting out of hand. Right now, it seemed to Hyukjae that what Hae was doing, was not going to lead to anything serious.

When Hyukjae and Hae were alone in the van on the way to dinner, Hae shared the girl's Instagram update with his friend. Hae was smiling as he stared at the update post. All Hyukjae could see was a candid picture of a girl at the beach. The girl in the picture was standing to the right and the ocean took two thirds of the shot. It was labelled "life-long friend always in my view". The boys also noticed a peace sign, made by the photographer, which was caught in the bottom left hand corner of the shot. Hyukjae made a funny face with a peace sign to Hae who was quick to slap Hyukjae across his shoulder... yes, he was a little embarrassed about chasing a girl from a bunch of letters.

Dinner was what he expected. He was bombarded with questions and he tried to dodge the questions for the most part. In the end, he told them that there was a girl that he noticed on SNS and he was only just admiring her pictures. Leeteuk was quick to look at the girl's profile and took a photo with his own phone. He would investigate this matter further when he got home, before the agency got wind of things. First thing he would do is check each individual post on her Instagram and make sure Hae didn't leave any comments or 'likes'. He wanted the whole group to remain cautious, after what happened to a previous, precious member. So, while the boys enjoyed their dinner and relentlessly teased Hae, Leeteuk observed Hae's behaviour and looked for any signs that would raise red flags but he couldn't see any. He, for the moment, let the issue go and enjoyed the dinner with the boys.