I woke up the next morning to discover my face pressed into my boyfriend’s bare chest. A startling realization, to say the least. I hadn’t had much contact with his bare chest or his toned arms. Hadn’t even realized he was so ripped, to be honest.

Namjoon shifted so his arm lay draped across my back. I wrinkled my nose as I caught a whiff of his body odor. He hadn’t showered the night before and he always stepped off the stage drenched in sweat, so it was no wonder to me that he stunk. Still, it was a little less romantic than I’d wished.

I didn’t sleep over his apartment that often. Sometimes, if it was a Saturday night and we stayed up too late talking, I would fall asleep next to him on the couch and he’d move us to the bedroom, but the intentional, planned occasion of staying at my boyfriend’s apartment was a rare occurrence.

As the early morning sunlight filtered in through the blinds and shone on my boyfriend’s skin in golden slats, I decided I wanted to wake up like this more often. I took a moment to kiss his exposed chest. Namjoon was long and thin and gorgeous. I fell in love with his dimples more with each passing day.

I daydreamed about what we would do on a lazy Sunday morning. Maybe we’d go to brunch. There was a nice place down the street that sold really delicious tacos. Maybe I’d get the tacos and he’d get the Nutella French toast and we’d split it. And then get burritos for lunch from the place next to the fancy popsicle store. And then maybe go to the fancy popsicle store.

Maybe we could just eat all day and maybe we could make out, too.

“Making out sounds fun.” I traced his thick lips with the pad of my thumb. “Wish I could kiss you awake right now, but you stayed up late last night.”

My phone dinged and I rolled out of Namjoon’s arms to check it. I had a text message from a number identified only by a “<3” mark.

“Hey, I never got to meet Rapmonster. You promised!!!!” The text read.

I furrowed my brow in confusion. I knew it had to be Kai texting me, since he was the only new contact I had and I did promise to introduce him to Rapmonster. But didn’t he sense the vibe from the night before? My boyfriend definitely didn’t want to meet Kai, even if he was a fan.

“Sorry.” I texted back. “I’m sure he appreciates the support for his music, but he’s not your biggest fan, you know.”

“Let’s get breakfast, you and me.” Kai persisted. “I know this great place. You down?”

“I’ve got a boyfriend.” I typed.

“So, you don’t eat?”

I scoffed and spoke out loud to myself. “Boy, what the hell are you thinking?”

“Who are you texting?” Namjoon’s sharp voice asked in my ear. “Why the is there a heart mark and why are you calling him ‘boy’ like you call me ‘boy?’”

I blinked in surprise and consternation and placed my phone in my lap, silently turning off the screen. Three more texts from Kai came in, dinging and lighting up the screen with the “<3 (3)” notification.

Namjoon clicked his tongue and threw the blankets off with such force that they smacked the blinds. The sharp clack of the vinyl slats rubbing together, along with Namjoon’s attitude shattered my peaceful morning.

“Good morning.” I mumbled to myself as he stumbled out of bed, sheet catching around his ankles.

He ignored me in favor of stomping off to the bathroom. I heard him cursing in there as he did his business and brushed his teeth. I smiled nervously as he padded back into the room, boxers slinging low on his hips. God, we were about to fight and I didn’t want to.

“Delete his number.” Namjoon ordered flatly. “Delete his number and then let me see that you deleted it.”

I tensed and shook my head, a nervous smile on my face. “Listen, I’m just gonna be straight with you. I think Kai’s hot, but I’m not about to get brunch with him. You don’t need to talk to me like that.”

“How can you tell me you think another guy’s hot to my face?” His mouth hung open in disbelief. “Diane, what the ? Delete his number! Unless you wanna keep talking to him?”

“Please don’t talk to me like that.” I met his eyes for a moment, then directed my gaze down to my thighs, where the fabric of his duck-covered boxer briefs peeked out from underneath his undershirt.

“You’re texting other guys! ing heart marks and brunch plans. He was all over you yesterday and you didn’t do a damn thing about it. So, what, a good-looking guy pays you some attention and suddenly you’re going to play me? Fine. Whatever.” He furiously rubbed the back of his neck.

“Ahh…” I didn’t know where to begin, but I could feel the tears pressing against my eyes. “Baby, it’s not like that -”

“No, don’t call me baby.” Namjoon crossed his arms and shook his head at me. “You know, I was gonna let last night slide, because you told me you love me and you look hella cute in my lame- underwear, but if you’re gonna keep texting this guy, then I don’t feel like I can trust you.”

I didn’t say anything. I wasn’t sure what to say.

He sighed and rubbed his face. “Can you…can you go?” He asked me through his hands.

“Joonie, seriously?”

“Yeah, I want you to leave.”

“Okay.” I said in a small voice.

When I came out of the bathroom dressed in my own clothes, Namjoon was back in bed, a shirt hanging loose over his lanky frame. I wanted to jump back in bed with him and snuggle for the entire morning. And then maybe go out to brunch. Or maybe not, since brunch seemed to be a hot button issue this morning. I could make us eggs or something. Or spaghetti. I loved spaghetti.

I loved Namjoon. I wanted to spend the day listening to him talk about whatever book he’d been reading recently or get in the bath in my underwear while he sat on the toilet and worked on his raps. I liked to keep the shower curtain closed, but sometimes he’d swing it back and scare the out of me.

Namjoon looked over at me as I laid the clothes on the bed.

“Why haven’t you said anything? You’re not a quiet person.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Do you…really wanna hook up with him or something? I mean, I know we’ve been together for a while. Are you bored of me? Do you wanna break up?”

I laughed, a shaky laugh that made his gaze change to one of concern. “I wanna eat brunch with you.”

“Are you crying?”

“I’m not ing crying.” I denied while tears streamed down my face. “You’re crying.”

Namjoon opened his arms and I crawled into bed next to him. He pulled me up against his chest and kissed my hair.

“Don’t cry.” He whispered. “Don’t cry, baby.”

“I love you.” I sobbed into his shirt. “I don’t wanna be with someone else. I wanna eat brunch with you and I wanna hear you talk about philosophy and I want to hear you tell me that you don’t feel so lonely anymore since we met, because I love that and it always makes me cry.”

“I’m not so lonely anymore since I fell in love with you.” Namjoon murmured into my hair.

He tilted my chin up and kissed me quietly.

“He put himself in my phone.” I explained a bit desperately. “And I told him I had a boyfriend and I didn’t want to eat brunch with him. He was just really, really pretty and I got a little lost.”

“It’s okay.” He kissed my cheeks, my forehead, my eyelids.

“Why are you so forgiving? Did you hook up with a hot fan or something?” I looked up at him tearfully and he took my chin in his hand and laughed.

“No.” He breathed, kissing me. “I just love you and want to be with you.”

We didn’t go out for brunch, but Namjoon asked me to change back into his clothes and we watching Keeping Up with the Kardashians all afternoon. He made brownies at one point and brought the tray into the living room with two spoons. I think I ate half a pan of brownies in an hour, but it was worth it when Namjoon laid next to me on the couch, his hand trailing lightly along my stomach.

“What are we gonna do when Jimin moves in?” He whispered into my ear.

“You’re the who decided to get a roommate.”

“I’m trying to save money.” He said defensively.

“For what? You have enough. What do you need to save money for?”

Namjoon traced the inside of my palm with a lazy finger. I repeated my question when he ignored me and pressed warm kisses along my neck.

“It’s a secret.” He answered.

“Alright, .” I grumbled. “Why you gotta have secrets? You the ing CIA or something?”

“It’s a surprise.” He amended. “So just shut up.”

“Shh, shh.” I shushed him. “I like this part.”

“You’ve seen this episode before?” Namjoon asked incredulously.

“I’ve seen them all before.”

“You have terrible taste in television.”

“Your rapping is corny as sometimes.” I snapped.

He tickled me and I screamed and kicked at him. We fell off the couch and landed in a tangled heap on the floor. Namjoon laughed huskily and pinned my arms above my head so he could kiss me deeply. I lost myself a little in his kisses, smiling as he smiled and whispered that he loved me.

Pretty Kai and his “<3” messages went unnoticed by me, though my phone kept dinging.