"I'm curious." Jongin said sort of sleepily, brushing my hair out of my eyes.

I smiled a little. "About what?"

He retracted his hand, and rested it on my hip, rubbing it lightly with his thumb. "About what you said to when I slept. You talked to me, didn't you?"

"Yeah." I snuggled deeper into his chest, placing a soft kiss on his collarbone. I stayed quiet a minute, trying to remember what I did say to him. "I told you many things. Memories from my childhood." A smile came across my face, my lips brushing against the skin of his chest just slightly. "Like how Baekhyun was the one that comforted me when there was a storm, as a child. Sure I had my mom and dad and my brother, but Baekhyun comforted me in a way nobody else could. He's still able to do that well."

"Am I able to do it better though?"

I snorted, hugging his torso. "Of course, and don't you dare tell Baekhyun that, he'll get sad and have your head."

He laughed, holding me tighter. "I won't." He kissed my head. "What else?"

"Memories from you and me. Like late night cuddling and...driving you to and from classes and...our day to celebrate both our birthdays, just the simple things we did." I couldn't control how my tone of voice was becoming sad, knowing again we would be separated in a few months.

"You're leaving something out."

I tensed, my grip tightening around him. I don't want to tell you what I said...we'd both be a mess after it. "It's nothing, Nini."

He separated from me, cupping my cheeks and looking at me with worried eyes. "I want to know. I won't be mad at you or anything so don't be afraid. Okay?"

I sighed. I nuzzled into the crook of his neck, relaxing to his cinnamon like scent and tears welling up in my eyes. "I told you quite a few times that you were an and an idiot. And that I hated seeing you being in pain, that I was sorry for not being able to hug you and kiss you and comfort you." Then a tear trickled from my eye. I sniffled, wrapping my arms around his neck. "I-I also told you it was okay to let go."

He removed my arms from his neck and gave me a look of surprise and hurt. He began wiping my eyes of the tears falling down my cheeks. "Baby, why would you tell me that?"

"B-Because..." I hiccuped. "Because I love you enough to set you free, if I ever have to. I know you were in so much pain, not just this past year but...with your family and Taemin...I didn't want you to have to suffer anymore. So I told you it was okay. Because it hurts me, more than anything, to see you in pain." 

I saw that he was crying as well. God, this was the last thing I wanted. He continued drying my eyes, kissing both my eyelids softly. He kissed the tip of my nose, then my teary cheeks, and my lips, all gentle and loving. He immediately embraced me again, my hair and crying along with me. He didn't speak. I didn't expect him to. You can't really reply to something like that. Instead, we stayed in each other's warmth, until we had fallen asleep.

|•~•||•~•||•~•|

I woke up to soft kisses being peppered onto the back of my neck and shoulder blades. I smiled sleepily, whimpering just a little bit. "What time is it, Jongin?"

The kisses stopped briefly, and Jongin responded; "Quarter after nine."

I opened my eyes, and rubbed them, as Jongin began to kiss my neck and shoulders again. "We slept that long?"

"You did. I woke up three hours ago."

"."

"Love you too, Soo." A smile was hidden in his voice. I flipped my body over to face him. He was definitely smiling his dazzling smile, and he was dressed in a tee and sweats.

I leaned up and kissed him, also smiling. "I'm gonna go take a shower, seeing you took one without me."

He joined our lips together again, shortly before saying, "I can always take another.," with a smirk.

I blushed and hit his shoulder, knowing exactly what he was thinking. "You ."

"You love this , though."

I pouted. "I do..."

He pecked my pouted lips. "Go shower. I'll set a pair of clothes out for you."

I smiled, nodding. "Okay. Thanks, Nini." I threw the blanket off my bare legs, Jongin also getting off the bed. He gave me a towel, and I made my way to the bathroom. I washed my body from sweat and, well—quite bluntly—, then I lathered shampoo into my hair. When all was clean, I found a pair of boxers, sweatpants, and a long sleeved tee left out for me. I changed into them, rolling the pants up to my mid-calves and the sleeves of the shirt just to my wrist. I walked back out into the living room, looking for Jongin. "Nini?" I called.

"Out here!" He called back. I followed his voice, and found him out on the balcony. He was looking out, just at the small town we lived in. The sky was blue, but filled with fluffy, white clouds. The day was surprisingly cool, especially for late August. A nice breeze swept by. I leaned over the balcony like he was, admiring the scenery. Though our town was small compared to Seoul or Busan, it was big. "Great view, huh?"

"Yeah. It's really nice."

I felt his stare on me. He grabbed my hand, and locked our fingers together. I looked back at him. He was smiling again. I smiled back, squeezing his hand and resting my head in his shoulder. His head proceeded to lay on top of mine. My heart jumped in the moment. It was the type of position where you'd never want to leave. Holding hands and snuggled into each other, while staying in silence and watching the town on a late summer morning. It was a nice feeling.

If time could just stop, I wish we would stay like this.