Chapter 21 - Distance

I give you everything I am

All my broken heartbeats

Until I know you'll understand

And I will make sure to keep my distance

Say I love you when you're not listening

How long can we keep this up?

LEE DONGHAE

Knock! Knock!

"Wait a minute!" I heard Althea's voice behind the door. A few minutes later, the door swung open and Althea came out.

I was shocked to see her. She was wearing a floral dress and sandals. She was wearing the necklace that I gave her and it was perfect for her look. I couldn't stop looking at her. I was STARING at her.

"What?" she asked when she realized I was frozen in front of her. "I've already planned this from the start of the trip. I should wear a dress on the last day at the ship."

"You're beautiful," I told her. She smiled and locked her cabin. 

"Shall we?" I said and offered my arm for her to hold on to. She smiled and held my arm. We headed to deck 11 to have breakfast at the Portofino. It's an intimate Italian specialty restaurant on board.

This was our first date so I tried so hard to be a gentleman to her. I pulled the chair for her and made sure she was comfortable. She kept giggling at my actions. The waiter got our orders and left.

"Lee Donghae, seriously?" she said once the waiter was gone.

"Huh?"

"What's with all these gestures and being so gentlemanly?" she chuckled.

"Well, I'm with the most beautiful girl in the ship. It feels like I'm Jack in Titanic."

She laughed at my statement. "Oh, your favorite movie. So we will sink later?"

"No... no! Hey, don't joke like that! I still want to live a life with you!"

She stopped laughing. She looked at me in the eyes as if she wanted to say something. However, she kept silent.

"What is it?" I asked her. I caressed her hand.

"Nothing," she said and held my hand. 

Our food was served and we started eating. It was a sumptuous breakfast. I felt glad to share this with her. 

After our meal, we went to the outer deck and had a great view at the ocean. The sky was so clear and the ocean looked beautiful. Althea was enjoying the view. I took some pictures of her and we also took pictures of us together. 

Althea took out her digital camera and started taking a video of me.

"Lee Donghae, please tell me something about yourself," she said, focusing her camera on me. At first, it was embarrassing but then I looked straight into the lens.

"Annyeong haseyo! Super Junior Donghae-imnida," I started talking. She kept on giving me the signal to continue talking. "What should I say? Hmm... I'm here taking a break from work and I've met the most wonderful person. I love her and I want to spend the rest of my life with her."

I saw Althea blushed. I took the camera and focused it on her. 

"So Althea-ssi... What can you say about me?"

"Hmm... Super Junior Lee Donghae? Well, he's an amazing person. He's handsome, sweet, cute and very caring. I think all Super Junior members like him."

"Do you love him?"

"What are you saying?" Althea was starting to get embarrassed.

"Answer the question please."

"Fine. I love Donghae," she said while avoiding eye contact with the camera. She looked so cute.

"Why do you love him?"

She was shocked by the follow up question.

"I love him because..." I was excited for her answer. "Because I love him!" 

I was disappointed by that. "Can't you be more specific?"

"Well, I don't really know. I love you and that's all that matters, right?"

I stopped the recording and moved closer to her. I hugged her tight and whispered to her ear.

"You're right. We love each other and that's all that matters."

Then, I looked into her eyes and kissed her lips...

^__^

ALTHEA RYZ FAJARDO

"Hey, I wanna do something," I told Donghae after breaking the kiss.

"What is it?"

I smiled and grabbed his arm. I didn't answer his question and we started walking. He just followed me eventhough he had no idea where we were heading to. The elevator stopped at deck 12 and we entered the video arcade.

"Is this what you wanted to do?" he asked.

"Yes. I wanna play video arcade!"

"You're so unpredictable Althea," he said, looking defeated. "You're wearing a dress yet you wanna play video arcade. Sounds interesting."

"Let's go!" I grabbed his hand and we bought our tokens.

We played various games. There were war games and some were puzzle games. We also played basketball shooting game and other sports-themed games.

"I want to win this!" I shouted as we stopped by the toy claw machine.

"Just how old are you lady?" he asked, amused by my behavior.

"Haven't I told you that I love pandas?"

He smirked and inserted the token. He concentrated in capturing one toy and he almost got it but failed. He looked frustrated. I placed my hand on his shoulder to reassure him that it's alright. When it was my turn, I really wished to get one and I got it! I won a cute panda toy. He looked at me as if he got lost in a game.

"Here," I said and handed him the toy.

"Huh?"

"I really wanted to give something to you. I know this is worthless compared to the necklace but I really hope you would like it."

He held the toy and smiled happily.

How could this guy look so cute???

"I love it," he said. "Thank you."

It was already lunch time so we decided to have lunch at the Island Grill which is at deck 11. While we were eating, Donghae excused himself for the washroom. He left his phone on the table and it seemed that he was reading a text message. The message was clear to my sight. It was from Leeteuk.

Donghae-ah, I've read your tweets about how happy you are there. I just want to remind you that everything in that trip is temporary. Don't get too attached easily so that you won't be hurt again. Come back safely tomorrow.

I felt a sting on my chest. Leeteuk was right. I shouldn't be doing all of this. I don't deserve this much. Donghae should return to Seoul tomorrow and forget about me. I could ruin his career and I don't want that to happen.

Donghae came back and I pretended not to have read the message. He smiled at me and continued eating. He realized that I was just staring at him and not eating my food.

"Any problem?" he asked.

I shook my head. "Nothing."

Just give me this day. Let me show you how much I love you. Please just this day and promise, I'll keep my distance...