Returning home from school one afternoon, Donghae lay down on his bed and sighed with relief. “You okay?” Eunhyuk asked as he lay down next to his boyfriend and wrapped an arm around his waist.
“Yeah, just glad to be home,” Donghae replied before turning on face Eunhyuk and lean his head against the blonde’s chest as he closed his eyes.
“Me too,” Eunhyuk agreed, running a hand up and down Donghae’s back. The couple lay there silently for a few moments before they heard a ding sound. “What was that?” Eunhyuk wondered.
Donghae sat up quickly and retrieved his laptop from the desk across the room. “It was my computer, I got some kind of notification,” Donghae informed before sitting back down on the bed.
“What is it?” Eunhyuk inquired as he lay his head on Donghae’s shoulder. The brunette found that he had a new email, and opened it up to read what the sender had written:
Dear Donghae,
Hello, I am responding to the video message you sent out through Facebook about a year ago, saying that you are looking for your birth parents. My name is Lee Noel and I am your biological mother. I too live in Seoul and would really like to meet you. I will your original birth certificate to confirm who I am. I hope you will agree to see me.
Sincerely, Noel
“Wow,” Donghae muttered under his breath as he read the email.
“What, what does it say?” Eunhyuk wondered.
“Remember last year when I put up that video on Facebook of me asking people to help me find my biological parents?” Donghae asked.
“Yeah,” Eunhyuk recalled.
“Well this lady just emailed me and claims that she is my biological mother, and says that she even has my birth certificate to prove it,” Donghae explained. “She said she really wants to meet me.”
“Oh my god that’s wonderful,” Eunhyuk said before kissing Donghae’s cheek. “You should have her come here and meet Kangin and Leeteuk and the others.”
“Yeah, that sounds like a good idea,” Donghae agreed as he emailed the woman back. “Alright, I asked her to come here Friday evening after school, and to bring me proof that she is in fact my mother.”
“Good, now you can finally see your biological family for the first time,” Eunhyuk replied, wrapping his arms around Donghae’s torso as he leaned their heads together.
“Yeah,” Donghae muttered with a small smile across his lips. “After all this time.”
Friday, after school let out, Donghae sat with his boyfriend and adoptive parents in the kitchen; his heart was pounding fast and his body was shaking with nervousness. Eunhyuk took his hand and squeezed it reassuringly. The brunette looked over at Eunhyuk and smiled before they heard a knock on the door. Donghae and Eunhyuk looked at one another before Donghae looked over at Kangin and Leeteuk. “Go ahead honey,” Leeteuk encouraged with a grin, before Donghae stood up and slowly walked to the front door and opened it up.
The brunette felt his heart drop into his stomach when he saw a middle aged woman standing at the door. Donghae could tell instantly that this woman was in fact his mother; how could she not be, he looked so similar to her. “Lee Donghae?” she asked. Donghae slowly nodded as tears welled in his eyes. “I’m Lee Noel; I’m your biological mother.”
Immediately, Donghae lunged forward and hugged the woman as tears spilled down his cheeks. “I finally found you,” he cried quietly as he kept his arms wrapped tightly around the woman. Noel gently patted Donghae’s back before Donghae pulled away. “Please, come inside and meet my parents,” he requested.
Noel followed Donghae inside and watched as Kangin, Leeteuk, and Eunhyuk stood up as they entered the kitchen. “Hello everyone, I’m Lee Noel,” she introduced.
“I’m Kangin and this is my husband Leeteuk; we’re the ones who adopted your son,” Kangin responded as he and Leeteuk shook Noel’s hand.
“And this is my wonderful boyfriend Eunhyuk,” Donghae added as the blonde wrapped and arm around Donghae’s waist.
“It’s nice to meet you Eunhyuk,” Noel muttered.
“Would you like something to drink?” Leeteuk offered before pulling out a chair for Noel.
“No thank you, I’m fine,” the woman replied as they all sat down. “Well, like I promised, I brought this as proof that I am your mother.” Noel reached in the pull out Donghae’s birth certificate, before Donghae stopped her.
“It’s alright, I believe you, I can see the resemblance between us,” Donghae said.
“So I’m going to assume that you have questions?” Noel wondered.
“Yes, there have been many things that I’ve wanted to ask, but my main question is why; why did you give me up?” Donghae asked. “Why couldn’t you take care of me?”
Noel closed her eyes and looked down before explaining “Donghae, your father died unexpectedly before you were born, and I just couldn’t take on the responsibility by myself. I couldn’t support the both of us financially, and with the death of your father, it sent me into a depression and I wasn’t emotionally stable. I knew that if I sent you to the Boys Home, that you would hopefully find a family that would take care of you and give you everything I couldn’t.”
“Wow, I never knew that,” Donghae said.
“But now I see that you have wonderful parents who take care of you,” Noel responded as she smiled at Kangin and Leeteuk. “And I’m happy to see that you’re healthy and have grown into a nice young man.”
“I’m happy to see you too,” Donghae replied.
“I’d like to talk to your adoptive parents alone for a moment please, if that’s alright,” Noel requested.
“Yeah that’s fine,” Donghae agreed as he and Eunhyuk stood up. He hugged his mother again before walking with Eunhyuk upstairs to their room.
“How do you feel?” Eunhyuk asked as they lay down on the bed together.
“I feel so happy and complete,” Donghae said with a large smile on his face.
Eunhyuk smiled too and leaned down to place a kiss on Donghae’s lips before saying “I’m glad you’re happy. I left my drink downstairs; I’m gonna go get it.”
The blonde climbed off the bed and headed downstairs. He was about to enter the kitchen when he heard Noel say to Kangin and Leeteuk “There’s something I need to tell you two that Donghae can never know.”
Eunhyuk stopped abruptly and listened to Kangin reply “Yes, what is it?”
“What I told Donghae is not all entirely the truth,” Noel informed.
“What are you talking about?” Leeteuk questioned. “What could you not tell him?”
Noel sighed and slowly stated “That he is the product of rape.”
Silence fell over the kitchen as Leeteuk gasped and covered his mouth. From outside the kitchen, Eunhyuk dropped his jaw and widened his eyes. “What?” Kangin asked.
“When I was in college, I was raped by a classmate, and soon found that I was pregnant. My family encouraged me to abort the baby, since I couldn’t take care of it, but even though I was ashamed of what happened, I couldn’t bring myself to have the abortion and kill a living thing inside me, so I went ahead with the birth, but gave him up for adoption, because I couldn’t spend every day looking at a rapist baby, looking at a daily reminder of a horrible tragedy,” Noel explained.
“But it’s not Donghae’s fault,” Leeteuk cried.
“I know it’s not, but I just couldn’t raise him, I wouldn’t have looked at him as a son, more like an emotional burden,” Noel responded.
Eunhyuk pressed his back against the wall and slid down to the floor, with his hands covering his mouth. Tears threatened to fall from the blonde’s eyes as he listened to what Noel said. He couldn’t believe that she had lied to Donghae, and knew that if Donghae found out then he would be crushed at the news. Eunhyuk gripped his head as he cried quietly for a few moments before hearing Leeteuk ask “When were you planning to tell him the truth?”
“Never, it’s better he doesn’t know. And it’s better that we never see each other again,” Noel replied before standing up and reaching into her purse. She pulled out a photo and laid it on the table, sliding it over to Kangin and Leeteuk. “This is the only picture I have of Donghae, and I think it’s better that he have it. Tell Donghae that this is the life he deserves, not a life with me.” Noel then walked out of the house, closing the door behind her gently.
Leeteuk and Kangin looked down at the photo that Noel had given them, and saw that it was a picture of Noel holding Donghae while they were still in the hospital. “The only memory she had of her son,” Leeteuk muttered before crying into Kangin’s shoulder.
“It’s okay sweetie, maybe it’s better he doesn’t know the truth,” Kangin responded, rubbing Leeteuk’s arm affectionately.
Eunhyuk stood up and rushed upstairs back to his and Donghae’s room. He opened the door and looked over at Donghae. “Babe, what’s wrong, why are you crying?” Donghae asked.
The blonde walked over to the bed and lay down next to his boyfriend. Eunhyuk wrapped his arms around Donghae and kissed his lips gently. “It’s nothing, I promise,” Eunhyuk whispered. “I love you Donghae, you know that right? You know I love you more than anything in the world, no matter what.”
“Of course Eunhyuk, and I love you too,” Donghae echoed.
More tears spilled out of Eunhyuk’s eyes as he pulled Donghae closer and kissed him once more. “I love you so much, no matter what anyone says or does to you, I love you.” Eunhyuk kissed at Donghae’s neck as he ran a hand through his brunette hair. He nudged his face against Donghae’s and moved over on top of his boyfriend. “No matter what Donghae,” Eunhyuk whispered, kissing his lips again.