As promised, Hera is still there the following morning when Baekhyun wakes up to find her curled up next to him with his arm as her pillow. It’s eerily similar to their last morning together as Eun and Soondeok but Baekhyun can assure that this time, it’ll be the first to many of their mornings together that is still to come. A smile naturally comes to his face as he gazes over her soft delicate features before leaning in to gently kiss her forehead. The tender touch is small but enough to stir Hera awake. He chuckles when she finally notices that he’s already awake and gazing down softly at her and curls in to hide her pink face in his broad chest. Oh how similar this entire moment is, if only she knew.

“Good morning,” he chimes in his raspy morning voice with Hera closing her eyes at the way he’s gently running his fingers through her hair. “Did you sleep well?”

She nods with her warm cheek rubbing against his t-shirt. “Did you?”

“Yeah.” He shifts himself so he can be leveled with her. “Did you have any dreams of me?”

She shakes her head. “No. It’s odd because I can’t recall the last time I went to sleep and didn’t dream.”

Baekhyun’s lips are pursed as he gently her cheek with his knuckles. The more he looks at her, the more in disbelief he falls into. His mind can’t seem to wrap around their present reality yet but at the same time, he can already feel the time slipping away. He hates how much time affects them.

“You’re beautiful,” he breathes and watches the shy smile sweep across her face. The last time he told her that, he took it back and tried to use his small eyes as a lame excuse to cover up the fact that he was absolutely enamoured with her. Wang Eun was totally lame.

While Hera showered, Baekhyun began fixing them a hearty breakfast in the kitchen with a little music playing in the background to accompany him until she’s done. He’s so absorbed in cooking that he doesn’t even notice when Hera slips in wearing one of his t-shirts with an amused smile on her face. While he hums quietly to every tune, she observes him from the entry way and hopes he doesn’t notice her soon because her heart is beating so fast at how perfect everything currently is and she needs just a little time to calm herself down.

Baekhyun finally notices Hera two songs later and that’s only because he was turning around to grab something from the fridge.

“How long have you been there?” He gasps with a hand pressed against his chest.

Chuckling, Hera finally enters the kitchen and pulls up a seat at the kitchen island. “Since “Like Music, Like Rain.” So… awhile.”

He scoffs and shakes his head as he grabs a carton of milk from the fridge to pour into two cups. “Take a seat, I made pancakes.”

“I didn’t know you could cook,” Hera teases as he slides a plate towards her. “It looks super good!”

Baekhyun grins as he rounds the island to the seat next to her with his own pancakes. “Learning how to cook comes naturally when you live alone. So I was thinking,” he scrunches his nose cutely when she turns to him with her cheeks filled with food. “We should go on a date, like a proper actual date.”

“Ooo, you wanna take me on a date?” Hera does a little taunting dance. “Where to?”

There’s a content smile on his face as he watches Hera enjoy her breakfast. “I was thinking something simple, some quality alone time.”

She turns back to him and matches his cute little smile. “Alright, your call.”

Following breakfast the two make their way to a nearby park for a little stroll. The lovebirds are hand in hands as they skip through the paths with blinding smiles on their faces. They take turns mimicking the elders who are regular speedwalkers at the park and even join the neighborhood kids for a game of soccer before finding a resting spot underneath a large tree.

The sun is high in the sky as the two sit in silence with Hera leaning in to rest her head on Baekhyun’s broad shoulder. For a while they say nothing as they watch people passing by. There are couples, there are families, there are people walking their dogs and then there are some who are alone and searching for some tranquility from the river.

This moment reminds Hera of the time they fell asleep under the peach tree in their courtyard. Although that was nearly a thousand years ago, her feelings are still the same. As much as she fought it, her heart still beats for Baekhyun and Baekhyun only. Nothing has ever felt so effortless but deep down, Hera still feels like something is missing and by missing she doesn’t mean him but she’s missing something. There’s still a missing piece of the puzzle, except she has no idea how big or small that actual piece is and why it feels so important.

After taking a quick nap at the park, their date continues at a nearby food tent with a table filled with a variety of delicious street food along with a side of beer and soju. There’s a gentle smile of amazement as Baekhyun watches Hera. He’s in awe that such a beautiful person exists and even more in awe that she’s meant for him. She’s so vivacious and filled with life, he can’t help but fall more and more into her.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Hera asks after finally catching his gaze once she’s finished telling him an embarrassing story from studying abroad.

Baekhyun chuckles and takes a bite of his fish cake. “You’re fascinating, you know that?”

She bites down on her bottom lip with a smirk peeking out at the corners. “How so?”

He picks up a piece of sundae and feeds it to her after dipping it in the tteokbokki sauce. “You’ve got a good head on your shoulders. People spend years—lifetimes even—learning to be authentic to themselves but you, you’ve seem to have gotten it all down. You know what you like and you know where your passion lies.”

She tilts her head tauntingly at him. “Are you intimidated by it?”

He shakes his head. “No. I know lots of men are intimidated by an educated and intelligent woman, but I find it y.”

“y…” Hera snickers. “Well, it’s not like you can’t just not like me. I mean—you can but you also can’t given our circumstances.”

Baekhyun laughs and feeds her another sundae. “After you graduate, what do you want to do most?”

Hera props her head up in her chin and purses her lips. “Well, I really want to move back home with my parents. I haven’t lived with them since I was a child. I want to give back and repay them for providing me all these amazing opportunities.” She smiles. “I want to wake up to the smell of my mom’s cooking, to the sound of my dad’s laughter and in the comfort of the home I grew up in. I miss it a lot. All of the success I’ve achieved so far is great but what I really yearn for is time with my family.” She looks down on her hand that is picking at the swollen tteokbokki on the plate. “I owe it to my dad, especially.”

Baekhyun swallows and his lip as he lowers his eyes in guilt. “I’m forever in debt to him.” Hera slightly looks up at him. “I failed to give you a happy life.”

“Don’t be foolish,” Hera argues. “It was my decision. I was the reason behind our marriage. I was the one who requested for it. It was a decision I made knowing all the possible consequences that could come. I have no regrets so don’t blame yourself.”

She reaches across the table to give his hand a small comforting squeeze and for some unknown reason, Baekhyun begins to feel uneasy again. Although they’ve somewhat established their relationship, he still feels like everything is slipping away and hanging onto to the tip of his fingers.

They return to Hera’s apartment after their little date so she could finish packing. They’re greeted with a loud drill when the walk in through the door to find Sehun fixing up a kitchen cabinet which nearly blows both of their minds.

“You know how to be useful?” Baekhyun teases as Sehun shoots him a mean look over his shoulder.

“EXO’s Sehun is fixing my kitchen cabinet,” Hera scoffs in disbelief on her way to her room with Baekhyun following closely behind. “Who would’ve ever thought that I’d one day have a kpop idol fixing my cabinet let alone meet one.”

“It’s weird how the world works isn’t it?” Seulgi smirks from Hera to Sehun. “I think you’re super hot right now by the way. You don’t happen to have a girlfriend do you?”

Sehun bites down on his lip as he fights back the biggest grin on his face with his ears burning  bright red from her teasing. “How unfortunate, I do. She’s the greatest girl to walk this earth although she’s a bit hardheaded.”

Seulgi shoots him a sharp look but when he leans in for a kiss, she’s all smiles again. Just then, Wendy walks in and makes sure to take super loud steps to make her presence known.

“Please don’t makeout in my kitchen.” Wendy opens the fridge to grab herself a water bottle before turning to the lovebirds. “That’s what bedrooms are for.”

“Thanks for the tip,” Sehun shoots her a nod and she gives him a wink before slinking away back to her room.

There’s not much left to Hera’s room since most of it has been sent back with her dad. As Baekhyun looks around the nearly bare room, his heart sinks more and more into the pit of his stomach because she’s really leaving and although it’s not a permanent leave, he can’t help but feel like he’s losing her in a way deeper way.

While Hera is rummaging through some boxes, Baekhyun notices a glass bottle on Hera’s night stand. When he picks it up to examine the ship inside, it’s only natural for him to think of Damiwon. Their laughters are fresh in his ears and her smile is so clear in his mind.

“You know what I think of when I see this?” Baekhyun asks as he turns around to take a seat on the edge of her bed.

Hera pops her head out of the closet with wide eyes before noticing the bottle in his hands. She sets down whatever item she has in her hands and takes a step out of her closet towards him. “Damiwon,” she replies and his eyes jolt up to her. “I exactly don’t know why but it reminds me