“It’s been a while since we’ve been able to enjoy time together like this.”

Hearing Sehun’s voice, you look up from your phone and smile at him. Sehun joins you on the couch and wraps his arm around your waist. Settling your body next to him, you set your phone aside and rest your head on his shoulder.

“Everything will be mostly back to normal again. That’ll be nice,” you comment. Sehun fidgets and draws patterns on your thigh.

“Actually, I’ll be going on a business trip on Wednesday night,” he tells you. You move your body off him to take a look at your boyfriend.

“What? Wednesday? How come I don’t know about this?”

Sehun shifts on the couch to face his body towards you. “I added it into the schedule so it doesn’t overlap with anything, I promise. It’s just I’ve noticed how much busy you’ve been and I wanted to help out so recently I managed a few appointments myself.”

You don’t really know what to say or how to feel. It’s obvious that Sehun’s intentions are good, but overlooking your capacity to do you job…

“How long is the trip?” you ask instead.

“I should be back Friday morning,” Sehun answers. You nod and stare at the coffee table in front of you.

“Honestly, I don’t know how I feel about this. I know your actions are only done with good intentions but it’s my work, Sehun. I’m extremely territorial about my work and the tasks that are assigned to me, especially this whole thing that’s been going on recently with the attempt to replace me.”

Sehun nods in understanding. “Well, I’m sorry for handling it without mentioning it to you,” he says, reaching for your hand and grazing his fingers along your arm. “How about we go out for dinner when I return?”

You think about it and nod with a smile on your face, already looking forward to it.

Only, Friday comes around and you don’t hear from Sehun at all. He had mentioned the day before that they had encountered some issues with getting the client to sign the papers but assured you that it would be over very soon. The both of you had managed to squeeze in a quick goodnight before going to sleep. Now, you haven’t been able to contact each other because you were both busy with work. You were currently on your break so you send a few messages to Sehun asking if everything was ok by the end of your lunch break, you still had no reply and you were growing worries.

Just as you were about to head down to bombard Junmyeon with questions regarding your boss, you get a message from your phone. Seeing that it’s from Sehun, you open in immediately.

> Things have really messy at the moment. I don’t think I’ll make it back today. I’m sorry, love

You sigh in relief after reading his message. At least nothing’s happened to him. You frown when you realise how difficult the client must be. They’re notorious for being difficult but you never knew how much of an extent it was. Sending Sehun a quick supportive message, you decide to go back to work, briefly wondering what you should have for dinner tonight.

As you think that, you get a message from Chanyeol, asking if you wanted to join him for dinner since you haven’t seen each other in a while. You smile and immediately respond, agreeing to go with him. You quickly exchange information as to where you should go and leave it at that.

Well, that was easy.

¤

“Look who’s here!” Chanyeol announces when you approach the table. “I’m glad you didn’t turn me down, I was already preparing myself for a rejection since you might be working late.”

You shake your head. “Sehun’s on a business trip so there’s not as much for me to do compared to the usual,” you reply. Chanyeol lets out an ‘ahh’ and nods.

“Well, let’s order food first. I’m starving.” Chanyeol calls for a waiter and collects two menus for the both of you. Ordering food takes little time, since you’re both regulars of the restaurant so you already know what you want.

“Always the pasta, huh?”

You glance up from your glass and raise an eyebrow at him. Setting down your drink, you respond, “Always the steak, huh?”

Chanyeol laughs and shrugs. “So how have you been? I know there’s been some problem with a certain client. Is that what Sehun’s off to settle?” You nod.

“The last few tries haven’t been so successful. Sehun was meant to be back today but his trip’s been extended.” You purse your lips together. Chanyeol leans over and flicks your forehead. “No problem, I’m here for you to focus on. Let your mind wander and I’ll get jealous.” You roll your eyes and laugh at him.

“So, how’s it been between the two of you? I know it’s been a while but are you still on edge?” asks Chanyeol. You remember the last time you had talked to Chanyeol about your relationship, when everything was still delicate. Fast forward to now, you find yourself smiling.

“Everything’s great,” you answer confidently.

“So you…?”

“I love him. The idea of having something more doesn’t freak me out as much as it initially did.”

Chanyeol smiles at that, genuinely happy that you’ve said that. “I’m happy to know how much you’ve progressed. With your own self-improvement with the help of your job now, your boss and boyfriend, and others around you. You were already good, but now you’re brilliant. With your personal life sorted out, your professional life will only continue to be more successful.”

You grin and grab your glass of wine and hold it up. Chanyeol grabs his and clinks it with yours. Taking a drink from the glass, you both resume to catching up and exchanging stories you haven’t been able to share since the last time you’ve seen each other.

¤

“I really need to clean up the place,” you mutter to yourself when you step into your place after coming home from dinner with Chanyeol. Glancing at the clock, you sigh and roll up the sleeves of your button up. Might as well get it done now before you head into the shower.

It’s about 11 by the time you almost finish cleaning, and you decide to treat yourself to a bath as well. Making your way to the bathroom, you begin to fill up the tub with water and other lotions and scents (and of course bubbles) and quickly finish off the rest of the cleaning. When you return, there’s enough water in the tub so you turn off the faucet. You jump into the shower to clean yourself first. Once you’re done showering, you get out and slowly submerge yourself into the hot water. Leaning back against the tub, you faintly hear your phone go off outside. You contemplate whether you should pick it up but eventually decide to ignore it, since it’s outside work hours. Whoever it is, they can wait.

With the water at the perfect temperature, you allow yourself to fully relax, enjoying the sting of the hot water against your skin. With your eyes closed, arms resting on the sides of the tub, you let your mind wander.

-click-

You almost jump out of your skin when the bathroom door opens.

“It’s me,” the intruder announces and you almost fling one of the shampoo bottles at him.

“Oh my god, Sehun. You scared the crap out of me,” you exasperate as you sink back into the tub. Sehun laughs and quickly closes the bathroom door again so not to let the heat escape. He stays by the door, leaning against it with his arms crossed.

“I tried contacting you through the phone but, well, I think you might have already been comfortable,” he chuckles.

Peeking an eye ope, you ask, “Enjoying the view?”

“Very pretty. Too bad the bubbles are kind of in the way of the full view.” Sehun grins when you roll your eyes at him.

“Well, if you want to join, then quickly shower and come in with me,” you tell him as you close your eyes and go back to relaxing.

Sehun doesn’t say anything but you can hear him stripping himself of his clothes and enter the shower. Soon enough, Sehun is out of the shower and he taps the back of the shoulder for you to move forward a little so he sit behind you. Once he’s in the water, he wraps his arms around your waist and pulls you back against his chest.

“You always have such scalding hot water when you shower or take a bath,” he murmurs as his hand plays with the loose strands of hair that couldn’t be tied up in your bun.

“Do you want to cool it down a little?” you ask, already leaning forward, ready to turn on the faucet to let some cold water out. Sehun pulls you back and squeezes you with the arm he has around you, silently telling you that there was no need.

“So how did it go with the client?” you ask when you remember. Sehun reaches for one of your hands and entwines your fingers.

“We managed to get them to sign it. Finally. There were some adjustments we needed to make with the papers but nothing that majorly impacts our benefits,” he tells you. So you tell him about your day and he tells you about his trip for a while. Eventually, you decide to get out of the bath since it’s been a while.

“Stay a little longer if you want,” you say, but Sehun shakes his head and gets up as well. You pass him a towel as you start to dry yourself off. Sehun reaches down to unplug the bath before stepping out and drying himself off too. Sehun then reaches forward and pinches your cheek, causing you to yelp in surprise. You turn around and playfully glare at him before exiting the bathroom to head to your bedroom. Sehun follows behind you with the towel wrapped around his waist. You grab some pyjamas to wear and make way for Sehun to grab some of his clothes to wear that he has in your closet.

Making your way back into the bathroom, you grab the hair dryer and quickly dry your hair. Sehun later enters and sits on the edge of the bathtub to wait. When you’re done, you start drying his hair as well, not even bothering to offer the appliance to him. Sehun glances up and smiles at you. You smile back at him and lean down to kiss his forehead. Once his hair is all dry, you run your hair through it once last time before putting the appliance away.

It might have been the face that you hadn’t seen each other in a while, but it seems like the both of you are attached to the hip the entire evening. The both of you stand in front of the sink and brush your teeth, both leaning against each other. Once done, you head out to collect your phone, unlocking it to see that Sehun had indeed not only called you, but also sent messages to you about wanting to stay over.

Heading back into your bedroom, you see Sehun already sitting on the bed, waiting for you to join him. Pulling up the blankets, you get into bed and pat the spot next to you so that sehun will get in as well. Under the blankets, the both of you immediately shift closer together. Sehun reaches out and wraps his arms around you, pulling you even closer. You wrap your arms around him as well and tuck your head underneath his chin.

“So about dinner…” you start. Sehun groans and tightens his hold on you. “I’m sorry I had to cancel it,” he apologises. You shake your head and move your head so he can see your face.

“No, it’s fine. You got them to sign in the end, didn’t you?” Sehun nods. “Then it’s fine. Even if you didn’t, it’s completely understandable,” you reassure him. “What I wanted to say was, since dinner didn’t happen, how about we do on a little date instead? A full day one? It’s the weekend anyway,” you suggest, grinning at the excitement on Sehun’s face.

“I’d love that,” he agrees. Now, settled, you both fall silent, ready to sleep. Well, you are. You’re on the verge of falling asleep when Sehun suddenly moves, pulling away slightly from your body.

“What’s wrong?” you ask. You open your eyes and look up at your boyfriend to see him gazing at you. You wait patiently for him to talk, knowing that he’s contemplating on something.

Sehun sighs and wraps his arms around you again to pull you closer. He buries his nose in your hair and takes a deep breath.

“Move in with me?” he whispers.

“What?” You try to move your head away to get a better look at Sehun’s face, but he refuses to budge.

“We’re together most of the time anyway, with you staying over at mine or me staying over at yours. I was hoping we could… finally have a place we could call… ours?” Sehun’s voice trails off slightly at the last word but you hear it loud and clear.

You attempt to shuffle out of his hold a little more until he relents and you finally get to see his face. His expression is shy, eyes darting around your face, trying to take in as much as possible to read your response from your face. You bring your hands up to cup his face. Pressing your lips against his to share a deep kiss, a kiss that causes your stomach to turn, as if butterflies are flying into one another. Only now, it feels wonderful. Thrilling. Full of happiness. Pulling away, you smile at him and nod.

“I’d love to.”

A/N: Is this the end? I'm not sure. I might change it later but for now I don't think i want to add anything. I know it's a super short chapter compared to some others but i quite like the abruptness of it. Thank you so much for reading, all of you who subscribed, all of you who upvoted, and all of you who comment. Hope you enjoy it! I may post some extra chapters so be on the look out for them! I'll be working on my other stories now, so check those out too, if you'd like!

Until next time!

Much love, aekcso.