The two sat in silence, comfortably settled on Hae Ryung’s old sleeping bag that they laid out on the balcony floor. They had a blanket wrapped around them and a can of beer in their hands. “Hold on…” Baekhyun mumbled, his brows in knit. He tilted his head at the gradient purple sky that was fading into a black before he turned to look at his Nabi.

“Let me get this straight… So, you only agreed to be Sehun’s girlfriend because he asked you publically and you were afraid of what people would say if you reject him and you were afraid to hurt him?” Hae Ryung awkwardly sipped her beer and flinched at how stupid that sounded coming from Baekhyun. She uneasily nodded her head.

“And you wanted to break up with him a long time ago but aside from being scared of hurting the guy, he wouldn’t let you?” Again, she flinched in shame before nodding her head. She nibbled her bottom lip as she glanced at Baekhyun to see his reaction to her stupidity. He only blinked at her before fixing his gaze on the sky.

Hae Ryung pressed the cold beer onto her burning cheeks. She knew that this specific heat wasn’t because of the alcohol. She was just beyond embarrassed when she realized how utterly stupid her reasons were and she felt even more embarrassed that Baekhyun was so silent, probably thinking of how much of an idiot his best friend actually is.

Laughing nervously, she turned to him. “I know what I did was probably really dumb. No, it is dumb. But I really thought of Sehun as a good friend. That until, I got to know how he really is… now I just regret even feeling bad about hurting him.” Baekhyun lightly laughed as well. He turned his head and locked eyes with Hae Ryung.

He shook his head with soft smile gracing his lips. “It’s not dumb. You’re just being… you.” He sighed. “Always so considerate of others that you sometimes forget about yourself. Your heart is just really big, you know? You don’t want to hurt anyone or make them feel bad and as admirable as that is Nabi, please learn that hurting people is normal and doesn’t make you a bad person.”

Hae Ryung automatically felt like the weight on her shoulders floated away and disappeared into thin air. Her heart felt lighter too. She couldn’t help but grin. Baekhyun always knew how to make her feel better. The boy grinned back at her then wrinkled his nose. “There you go. You look more beautiful smiling like that, Nabi,” he said, wiggling his eyebrows at her.

The girl rolled her eyes and nudged his arms with her elbow. “Don’t say that. You’re making my heart flutter.” Baekhyun shook his head at her fondly. He noticed how her eyes widened for a split second as if she was surprised about saying such a thing and how her face seemed to redden but she is drinking alcohol which would explained her red face and he is also drinking so that little surprised look on her face might’ve just been him imagining things.

But to , he mischievously leaned so close to her that only about a centimeter of space was left between their lips. The girl gulped and Baekhyun smirked. From her plump lips, his eyes travel up to meet her orbs. “How about now? What am I making your heart do?” The bastard made sure to puff his hot breath onto her lips and affect her more which effectively worked when she was utterly speechless.

Hae Ryung’s heart was beating so fast and so loud that she was afraid Baekhyun could hear it. She was burning up. It wasn’t even the alcohol anymore. As she stared into his orbs up close, she unconsciously her lips, making Baekhyun look down at them again. It was such a tempting gesture but he knew he can’t take advantage of the moment.

He moved back just as fast as he leaned into her and honestly speaking, it made Hae Ryung disappointed a little. She couldn’t help the sigh that escaped her lips and the frustrated furrow of her brows. Baekhyun didn’t see it though. He was busy chugging down the entire can of beer with the girl staring at his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down.

“Baekhyun?” she suddenly called. The boy turned to her with a hum. “About what I said earlier… at the river, what if I meant it?” Baekhyun tilted his head at her. He looked perplexed. Hae Ryung bit her lip as she searched his eyes. This maybe the alcohol lending her some courage but she felt as though would speak before her brain could think.

“About how I’m in love with you. What if I meant it?” The world stilled for Baekhyun, her words ringing in his ears and the swirls of her orbs slowly drowning him. His steady heart beat was growing more erratic and becoming so loud that he couldn’t think of any rational reason why his best friend would say that. All he could hear is his heart telling him that his Nabi is, indeed, in love with him too.

And here she was, trying to pour her heart but didn’t know how to, hoping that he could somehow read between the lines and realize what she’s trying to tell him. The sincerity of her eyes made him feel even warmer than he’s already feeling and he thought that there was just no way you could fake a look like that, whether you were sober or drunk.

“N-Nabi,” was all he could manage to say with all the overwhelming emotions swirling inside of him. Seeing the uncertainty and hesitation in his eyes, Hae Ryung quickly spoke up. “I mean it, Baekhyun!” His eyes widened once more and he looked away to try and process things. When he turned to look at Hae Ryung again, she suddenly cupped his neck.

Her eyes closed shut as she quickly closed the gap between them. His blinking eyes slowly closed, the can of beer he was unknowingly clutching onto rolled out of his hand and his arms slowly moved to wrap around her slim waist. His lips started to move against hers, molding perfectly together.

Hae Ryung felt her heart ram into her chest in blissful and excited beats. She had always dreamed about how it would feel like to kiss Baekhyun but she had no idea it would be this mind numbing and butterfly inducing. She could feel herself melting into his arms. Her body seemed to move on its own when she found herself climbing onto his lap, their tongues darting into each other’s mouths.

Baekhyun’s warm hands caressed her sides as she circled her arms around his neck, afraid that he would somehow pull away from her if she didn’t. His fingertips found their way into her shirt, leaving sparks at the skin he touched. Hae Ryung pulled away from the breath taking kiss, dizzy from the lack of air and the amount happiness it made her feel.

They were both breathing heavily as they stared at each other, communicating with their loving gazes now that words just weren’t enough anymore. All they knew is that they loved each other, not as best friends but something more than that, something way more.

Baekhyun flashed her a sincere and grateful smile. His Nabi was brave. She did something he has been wanting to do for a long time now and if she didn’t, they would’ve suffered for much longer. He tucked some loose strands of hair behind her ear and tightened his arms around her.

He could feel the beating of her heart against his and he knew right then and there that she loved him just as much as he loved her. “I love you too, Hae Ryung,” he whispered before pressing his lips on the shell of her ear.

A ripple of contentment washed over her body and she smiled, returning his embrace. She felt like crying just hearing him say those words. After all these years and after all the struggles and hurt, that is the best way to heal all the wounds in her heart.

She pulled away from the hug and pressed her lips onto Baekhyun’s. It was an addictive feeling and so is his sweet taste. In the innocence of how the gesture was supposed to mean, they were still intoxicated. It was hard to ignore how affected they were by each other.

Soon, Baekhyun’s lips were latched elsewhere. Hae Ryung’s fingers ran through his hair and gripped on it. There was a clumsy attempt to get up and stumble into her room while they kept their lips busy and moans at bay. They were flush against each other, feeding off of the fire within themselves as they crashed on her bed.

Baekhyun was hovering on top of her, fiddling with the buttons of her blouse as his lips eagerly kissed the exposed skin. There were murmurs of I love you’s and I love you too’s but just when Baekhyun was about to finally take her top off, he stopped and looked up at her as if he has woken up from a spell.

Hae Ryung’s big brown eyes stared back at him lustfully but behind it, he can see that there was more than just lust. Still, they had been drinking and he wasn’t a hundred percent sure that she would want this. He couldn’t take advantage of her like that. He shut his eyes tightly as he started to move away but the girl held onto him.

She leaned forward to on his neck as her dainty fingers tried to undo his jeans. “W-Wait!” he gasped and took her hands of his pants. He swallowed nervously and shook his head at her. “You– You don’t want this,” he said, although he wasn’t sure if it was direct to him or to his Nabi. But whoever that was for, Hae Ryung answered.

“I do, Baekhyun. I do.” There was a firmness in her tone. She has set her mind to this but he still couldn’t give in. This is her first time. He didn’t want her to regret anything. But while he was having a mental debate with himself, the girl below him just had to make this harder by rubbed her leg on his hard tent.

His jaw clenched tightly. “N-Nabi, don’t do this,” he pleaded as he put her leg down. “I won’t be able to control myself.” He gulped, his brows furrowing in worry because he knew that he was going to cave in. It wouldn’t be so hard. She practically has him wrapped around her roaming fingers. “Then don’t.”

And that was all it took. There was no rush but soon, clothes were thrown here and there, burning skin was covered in loving kisses and there was a gentle caress on each other’s supple skin. The murmurs of love were back, a reminder that it wasn’t just hormones driving them into doing this. And as Baekhyun thought that it was finally time, he felt the need to warn her about something.

“Nabi,” he called out breathlessly. Her blissfully closed eyes fluttered open to look at him. “Once we do this, there’s no turning back anymore.” She blinked at him for a moment, confused as to what that would possibly mean. “This is going to belong to you for a very long time,” he said as he pressed her hand onto his rapidly beating heart. “You’ll have to accept it.”

Her heartbeat started to match Baekhyun’s. The more she got lost in the seriousness of his eyes, the more she wanted this. To confirm that she accepts, she pulled him down a little to kiss him. And that was his signal. The moment he entered her, Hae Ryung knew that like Baekhyun, her heart would never belong to anyone else anymore.

I shifted in my bed, reaching out for a source of warmth other than my blanket but I found myself patting down on an empty space beside me. My eyes shot open right away. That couldn’t have been another dream, could it?

I peeked under my blanket and I was still pretty much . I don’t sleep with no clothes on so that couldn’t have been a dream. Sighing, I sat up with the blanket wrapped around me. His clothes were gone, mine were already kept away in the clothes bin and I saw a new set of clothes neatly folded at the end of my bed.

I suddenly found myself in a dile