Sleep arrived soundly and well. All calm throughout the night. Squeezed together on Namjoo’s bed made it unbearably hot by morning. Sehun was first to wake but he didn’t want to get up. Just laid there on his side with his arm asleep and still wrapped around Namjoo. Appearing free and calm she looked unhurt in her dreams, whatever it was she may be seeing. Much different from the person he knew that walked the day with sometimes no words to say.

Would it be the same like this when they married? How might things change when they finally became one?

He wished all would be well, but he knew better than that. That was an empty wish. Namjoo budged as if disturbed in her sleep by what was passing through his mind. Cautiously, he adjusted the blanket over her and gently her hair, pushing the loose strands away from her face.

This was so different from the innocent sleepovers they used to have as children. They would lay sprawled together on the ground without a care for how the other slept. Sometimes as kids they threw legs over each other while sleeping. Long ago they even watched super hero movies way into the night, enjoying the same thing and producing joy from something simple.

Now…now it was just different. Becoming older changed so many things or was it that they had changed things? Was it the mind that had developed stranger thoughts or had their hearts just walked away forgetfully?

Sehun couldn’t find an explanation, but even with that he felt at ease in the moment. Namjoo made everything ok even when she was asleep.

§§§§§

No making out, no kisses received, and she fell asleep just like that. It was one of the best, quietest nights Kim Namjoo had ever had. She woke up feeling as if she had the whole world in her hands. Her heart was full and she wanted to smile but she didn’t want Sehun to see how happy she was. It might make him feel awkward.

Breathing in his musky scent made her want to giggle giddily. Namjoo held her joy in and felt her body run hot when her toes ran against his legs. They were prickly with hair but it was a reminder of what a man he was, and knowing that made her heart race. He was handsome. He was hers. They were so close she could barely breathe. Even she didn’t feel this way when he kissed the breath out of her.

The lights had been on the entire night but she could tell it was morning. Now that she was awake there was no more sleeping in. Namjoo wanted to stay in bed longer with Sehun, but she had things to do. And she really, really needed to get out from under the blanket. The heat that their bodies had accumulated overnight made the room scorching hot. Least of all, Namjoo didn’t want her mother coming up to wake her and find them in bed together.

Glancing at Sehun once more she carefully sat up in order not to wake him up. Just when she began throwing the blanket over she heard, “Sleep a little more.”

Surprised, Namjoo turned back to see his eyes still closed and wondered if he was sleep talking. A second later his eyes opened and she asked, “You were awake?”

“I’ve been for a while.”

“Why didn’t you wake me?” Namjoo asked.

“Why? You were sleeping.”

“If you’re up, you should get up.”

“I didn’t want to get up.”

Namjoo’s mind blanked without warning. She found herself staring at him with her heart growing inexplicably warm. How was it that Sehun could make her feel so many varying forms of emotions that morning?

“Still…you shouldn’t be late for work,” Namjoo managed to say. Something changed in his expression but she couldn’t tell what it was. Curious, she asked, “What?”

“I still think you should sleep a while if you can,” Sehun avoided the topic of answering her. Grabbing her arm, he pulled her down with a soft touch. Landing flat on her back Namjoo stared at the ceiling with her heart racing. Did Sehun really want to stay with her longer this morning? She really hoped so and that it wasn’t because he wanted to distract himself from other things… Then she thought about yesterday and how he had come into her room, got on his knees, and hugged her. Why had he done that? That wasn’t like the Oh Sehun she knew.

Suddenly filled with doubt Namjoo pulled herself up again. She was getting uncomfortable. There was something else, but she didn’t want to delve into it. She really wanted to believe that he was being 100% with her right now, but she was only half there. The other half of her…didn’t believe it.

“We should get up,” Namjoo said again.

“I want to stay here longer.”

Namjoo just stared then finally asked, “Why are you being like this? Weird.”

He just blinked as if she’d spoken a foreign language. Sitting up and leaning against the wall he asked, “How am I weird?”

She didn’t want to speak of it because she honestly didn’t want to ruin the moment, but she was too curious. She wanted to know why he’d been like that last night. It was even stranger that he opted to sleep with her. Namjoo understood that they were getting married, they’d already slept together and it wouldn’t make any difference, but it was unusual and she couldn’t manage to toss that thought aside now that she realized it.

Sehun…was being unusual. Not like himself.

It was fact that she liked him more. She would have been first to suggest anything. That’s why she couldn’t get used to this.

I don’t know was the thing she wanted to say but instead Namjoo went for, “Why’d you come here last night?”

He shared the long stare then confessed, “I don’t know. I just…wanted to.”

Wanted to… Was that good enough of a reason for her? Or did she want to hear something like, “I like you, so I came to be with you.”

For a moment Namjoo was urged to slap herself. Sehun marrying her should be about enough to fill her with an entire lifetime’s happiness and here she was yearning for more. What was she doing?

“We should get up,” Namjoo changed the topic and started to rise. She stopped upon his, “Why are you in such a hurry? Can’t you relax a few minutes?”

Looking back at him made her think he looked so carefree. Was he not in a hurry to go down and eat breakfast? Did he not fear her parents coming up to wake them so they’d be in time for work? What was running through his head this morning? She couldn’t read what his eyes were saying.

Namjoo slightly inched back when he leaned forward on his hands. She let out an, “Ow!” when he pinched her cheek and laughed. Namjoo stared at him appalled. Really, she didn’t understand a thing about him this morning. It was as if he’d suddenly transformed into someone she didn’t know. Though she felt this way her heart still hammered hard inside her body, a reminder of how shamelessly she liked him. So when he laughed amused by himself Namjoo gave him a peck on the cheek. Silence grew but Namjoo believed she hadn’t done anything wrong. Then she was on her back and he was kissing her, the blanket messily cooped up over them.

It was blooming, she wanted to think, the chance of romance that could happen between them. That one day soon Sehun would feel the same way she did, that he would like her as much as she liked him from the beginning to now. And in the future, he would need her just as much. Because if that would never happen, why was he, now, taking her distasteful morning breath into his mouth? Why hadn’t he left before she awoke? Why had he wanted her to stay?

His actions had to mean something. They had to…

Namjoo dug her fingers into his shirt. It was morning, bright and fresh. A whole new day was about to start. She had to get up, she had to restrain herself. She didn’t want to lose her job, but she liked him kissing her. She liked feeling like she was his entire world, the only one who could make him feel this way.

It felt like the Sahara Desert again. Namjoo’s toes curled when his mouth landed hard against hers. She could feel every inch of his strong body. It was enticing, alluring in a bad way. Then the knock at the door ceased all thoughts of wanting him.

“Namjoo?” it was her mother. “Wake up.”

Breathing hard she and Sehun glanced at each other. Still trapped under him and her legs bound around him. It wasn’t exactly the kind of position she should be in when talking to her mother. “I…I’ll be right there!” she called out.

“Wake Sehun up before you come down,” she reminded. They listened to her footsteps fade away before their eyes met again. Sehun broke out into a grin that made her heart skip unhealthy beats. She wanted to kiss him again.

As if reading her mind, he asked, “Can we…do that again?”

Blanking, Namjoo asked unable to believe what she’d just heard, “What?”

His hand brushed up into her hair and the room grew warm again. She didn’t really understand him that morning, but just like that he made love to her again.

§§§§§

“Coffee?” Sehun glanced up to find Seona at the corner of his desk. “You look tired this morning.”

His eyes landed on the steaming hot cup of coffee before him. This morning he had really wanted to kiss Namjoo. She looked so pretty after waking up and with her hair all messy over her head. He had just been unexplainably happy, but he hadn’t planned on doing anything uncalled for. This time, he guessed, neither of them were to blame for what had taken place that morning. They both had been accountable for carrying a kiss further than what should have been allowed.

Sehun didn’t regret it either.

Right now, he was still happy about it.

“I’m ok,” he assured. “I’m not tired.”

“Have it anyway,” Seona said. “I got it just for you.”

“Seona,” he began, “I think we should talk.”

Nodding ecstatically, she said, “We can always talk whenever you want, but I should get back to work. I just wanted to see you really quickly. Now that I’ve seen you, I’m happy. Work hard and lets have lunch later.”

Sehun watched her walk away happily then turned around to look at the cup of coffee she’d left behind. He’d forgotten that morning how hard work might become for him. Breathing a sigh, he glanced at his phone sitting beside his keyboard and wondered how Namjoo was doing at work. After washing up really quick she had gone out without the breakfast her mom had prepared or without a cup of coffee, lying that she had slept in. They both shared a cheeky laugh before parting their own ways.

He nearly laughed upon recalling it, but held it back when he glanced about the other office workers. He couldn’t wait to get home later in the afternoon.

§§§§§

“Do you think I smell weird?” Namjoo whispered to Yunyeong by the doorway after walking their customers out.

Yunyeong frowned, “Why? Did you secretly fart?”

Slapping her friend’s arm Namjoo said, “Never mind then.” Grabbing her shirt to sniff herself she wondered, “I didn’t spray too much perfume on, did I?”

“No wonder you smelled different,” Yunyeong commented as they turned to head in. “Why’d you use perfume of all days? I don’t recall you using it before.”

“Just…” Namjoo had to think of an excuse, “I just felt like it. I thought I smelled funny this morning.”

Scoffing, Yunyeong eyed her, “Sehun probably made you smell funny.”

Turning red Namjoo screamed, “No he didn’t!”

Laughing Yunyeong said, “Oh, you’re funny. You’re still so innocent.”

“Whatever,” Namjoo brushed her off.

“Lets head out for lunch later. My sister says she’ll treat,” Yunyeong told.

“I can’t,” Namjoo said. “I’m going home to prepare something for Sehun, so we can eat together.”

“So now I’m no longer important?” Yunyeong teased.

“Just today you’re not important,” Namjoo grinned.

The first thing she did when she got home was prepare ingredients for Sehun’s lunch. It was too bad she had taken after her father, the bad cook, instead of her mother. Even so, she planned to make the perfect meal for Sehun. She had always dreamed of packing her husband’s lunches and going to see him at work, being the energizer for him. That dream was finally coming into shape.

After prepping his food, she turned the stove on. She ended up eating a late breakfast while cooking his meal. Starving for hours made her feel awful. Namjoo wondered how she’d been able to stay alive until now. She’d probably never do that again. She was the type of person who needed breakfast in order to start the day.

Namjoo grew proud of herself when she neatly packed their lunch. If she’d had a boyfriend before she would have done something like this for him. That was, if she had been unable to stop feeling for Sehun then she would have found someone else. Hoping that didn’t matter anymore.

Humming joyfully to herself Namjoo drove off toward Sehun’s workplace. She texted him at the red light, but it didn’t seem like he’d gotten her message. Maybe he was too busy. Namjoo was left wondering if she should just turn back and go have lunch with Yunyeong and her sister. If she knew beforehand that Sehun would be too caught up to read her text she would have told him that morning she would be bringing him lunch, but she hadn’t been able to tell him. Oh well, she decided, it would just have to be done this way.

Namjoo spent literally 10 minutes searching for a place to park after discovering that she wasn’t allowed to park in the parking lot, which was only reserved for employees and VIP visitors. Then she spent the next 5 minutes walking down the street toward the overly large and spacious building. It was a huge workplace that made her feel lost inside with all the elevators ringing and people flying back and forth like there was no tomorrow. Namjoo unexpectedly ended up waiting in line for another 7 minutes just to talk to the receptionist when Sehun, once again, didn’t answer her call.

“Um…could you contact someone for me?” Namjoo started unsure how to word her question.

“Yes,” the receptionist was kind enough to say, “who are you looking for?”

“Oh Sehun,” Namjoo answered.

“Do you know what department he’s in?”

Namjoo felt like shrinking at the question. She didn’t know very well and realizing that made her feel kind of stupid. Sehun was going to be her husband after all. She should at least know about his work.

“I…I don’t know,” Namjoo admitted. The next several minutes was spent apologizing to the others behind her before the receptionist told her about an average of 10 minutes later, “He’ll be right down. Why don’t you go wait over there?”

Thanking her Namjoo skidded away toward the tiny lounge set up by the side windows. Sitting down uncomfortably Namjoo watched people swarm by and wondered what exactly they did here. She just generally knew that it was a company, but what happened inside wasn’t anything she was informed of. Did Sehun do really important work here? Suddenly Namjoo wondered if she should have come. What if she was bothering him with her so-called surprise visit? In the end, her conclusion was that she shouldn’t have come, and in the future she shouldn’t come again. The work here most likely wasn’t lenient like the work she did for Yunyeong’s sister.

Her eyes shot toward the elevator doors when they opened and others closed. There were so many people here, coming and going. Maybe she should just go and leave a message for Sehun. Just as the thought passed another elevator door opened and in the center of the crowd starting for the doors was Sehun. Smiling relieved Namjoo rose to her feet clutching the lunch box.

“Namjoo?” he called out walking toward her.

“I’m sorry,” she apologized. “I should have told you this morning, but I didn’t have time.”

“No, it’s ok,” he assured. Noticing the lunch box he asked, “What’s that?”

“Oh, it’s…lunch,” she held it up hopefully. “I wanted to surprise you.” Then she glanced around at the group going by, “You’re probably busy though.”

“No, not at all,” he smiled and it immediately warmed her heart. Taking her hand he said as he led her toward the elevators, “Lets go up. The cafeteria is on the third floor.”

Her heart beat fast. It jumped and did dangerous flips. She felt important because she was in her husband’s work place and he was taking her up to have lunch. Nothing was better than this.

The door to the elevator opened and they almost stepped inside if not for the voice. “Sehun?” then the woman stepped out and Sehun released her hand. Seconds later Namjoo recognized Hwang Seona.

***well, I didn't plan it this way but it'll fit the timeline for the events I have to come later. And yes, he gets her pregnant with this but oh, there's just so much to come. Their wedding will be happening soon (next chapter I'm pretty sure of this). In the next arc (as I shall call it), Sehun will be losing the most as he learns he can't make everyone happy while Namjoo's pain grows. And Seona...well, love can drive a person mad