Chapter 87. Down Time

“Then I could tick this off the list.”

“List?” Raising her brow, she asked when his grin widened “What list?”

“Well,” he started but not without running a gentle finger on her lower lip, “The places-I’ll-have -with-you list, of course, silly…”

“Oh…”

Yonghwa chuckled finally seeing that blush he wanted. Planting a kiss on her shoulder, he grinned, “Next agenda? That Jacuzzi out in the deck—”

“No way…” she said flatly.

That deadpan expression told him she thought he was joking but he could feel the bumps on her legs as he ran his hands on them. Stretching, he kissed her on the shoulder again and murmured, “You think I’m just teasing…”

“Ahh, you think you’re a mind reader,” Seohyun retorted resting her hands on his shoulders. She moaned when he gave her skin a tiny bite. But as his arms s behind her, allowing her legs to wrap around his hips once more, Seohyun tilted her head and with a skeptical look, “You’re not joking?”

He laughed out loud, pulling her on his body and off the counter. She shrieked and started squirming telling him that he was crazy and she wasn’t trying to dare him on doing it as he walked them out of the kitchen. “Too late now, Seohyun-ssi, and I’m very, very serious,” he replied amused by her trying to negotiate.

“Are you crazy?!” Seohyun fought off his grip but he only held tighter, however, he could no longer walk, “There are people on the golf course!”

“They won’t see us,” he chuckled trying so hard to maintain his hold on her.

“You’re crazy!” She argued in a voice tighter and louder, “Put me down, Oppa! I’m not doing it with you out there!”

Yonghwa laughed finally setting her on her feet, pushing her hair back on the sides of her face and kissed her forehead, “Arasso, Seohyun-ssi. Can I make a counter offer then? We can do it at night?”

She took a step back then frowned crossing her arms on her chest, “No…”

But before he could make another offer, the phone in the living room rang. He gave her a tight smile and spoke softly, “Are you mad?”

Seohyun sighed shaking her head realizing that look of uncertainty in his face, “Answer the phone, Oppa.”

“Tell me you’re not mad,” he said after a deep breath. He should be worried because he could no longer afford to do another misstep. But Seohyun finally smiled, leaned close and brushed her lips on his. And that definitely gave him a different reason to sigh, he grinned and nodded, “I’ll take that as a positive response.”

Seohyun chuckled, “Do you want me to answer the phone?”

“On it,” he gave her a little salute and turned towards the living room where he knew the ringing was about to stop. After answering the phone, Yonghwa followed her upstairs and found her making the bed.

“Was that the office?” She asked just as he was about to step inside.

“No,” he replied watching her bent over the bed pulling the sheets, “Delivery guys. They were calling my phone. Unfortunately, I was preoccupied.”

Seohyun laughed without looking at him then asked coolly, “Delivery?”

Watching her was not doing any good to his— to his system, so Yonghwa decided to go to the other room to change. He grabbed the first T-shirt he could get his hand on and replied as he put it on, “Yeah, I forgot that I placed an order for a gazebo last week. You wanna know what’s good about this gazebo?”

“A gazebo?” Seohyun asked again from the other room.

“It has a swing in it!” He piped in pulling his pants rushing since he was told that the truck was on its way. With everything that had happened, a lot seemed to have slipped away from his mind. It was a compulsive purchase when he saw it listed in one of their suppliers’ brochures and it was no surprise that his mind easily painted a picture for him.

The dark brown wooden gazebo would make a good contrast with the greens and patches of colors in the garden of the lake house. But it was not that— what he remembered was coming home early from work seeing Seohyun and Euna sitting in a blanket spread in the green grass of his garden. Seohyun looked up to him with a smile while Euna was yelping and waving her little arms too excited for him to get close and hug her—

“Oppa…”

Yonghwa was startled and turned to see her standing by the doorway with that still quizzical look on her face. He chuckled realizing that he had left her hanging for an answer, “Yeah, I ordered it last Wednesday? I forgot that they would deliver it today.”

She was quiet for a moment, mindlessly watching him get properly dressed, “Where are you putting it?”

“At the garden across the pool,” he replied walking past her and into the bedroom to get his phone. When he turned back to her, Seohyun was leaning by the doorjamb, arms still crossed on her chest looking at him curiously, “What?”

She sighed, closing her eyes for a minute as if in exasperation then asked, “Why?”

Yonghwa couldn’t help but smile as he walked to her and cupped his hands on the sides of her face as he answered with all honesty, “It would be a good place for you and Euna to hang out in. There’s really no shade in the garden.”

He knew what she was thinking and he knew too that he shouldn’t think, especially do anything that could suggest that this wasn’t temporary— as per their agreement. But he couldn’t bring himself to do things that would suggest otherwise. To his defense, Seohyun assured him that he was already a permanent part of her baby’s life and technically in hers.

Tilting his head, he kissed her cheek softly and spoke, “Don’t think too much about it, okay?”

Seohyun shook her head, “I can’t just not think too much about it, Oppa.”

“All right,” he smiled as he buried his face on the side of her neck then murmured, “This house is a work-in-progress. I get to add or refurnish anything in here….”

He felt her take a deep breath before replying softly, “I’m sorry. This is your house, of course. You can do anything…”

Yonghwa decided that there was no point in arguing with her on that so he just decided to ignore it as he straightened smiling at her, “Okay, get dressed too. I’d need your help in assembling it.”

“Assembling?”

Finally, he laughed out loud, “Do you have to repeat everything I say in a question?”

Lucky for him, this obviously amused her that she giggled, “I’m sorry, It’s just that you keep giving me surprises today…”

He chuckled giving her a playful wink, “I only aim to please, Seohyun-ssi…”

~~~~

The truck arrived about a moment afterwards and they unloaded the parts for the fixture. Seohyun could no longer argue with it because of the way he looked at her. She smiled walking towards the garden with a pitcher of juice and a few glasses for the men. When she reached them, Yonghwa looked up to her from the brochure he was reading with a smile and she nodded. It gave her this warm fuzzy feel every time he would look at her that way whenever they would be around other people. She bit her lip trying not to smile as she placed the pitcher on the picnic table.

“Come here…” he mouthed at her when their gazes met again. Seohyun only walked to him once the man was done explaining to him what he needed to do. “What do you think?” Yonghwa asked as she inspected the paper.

“It’s really beautiful, Oppa,” she smiled while looking at the image in the brochure. She didn’t want to tell him but a structure that could provide shade was the missing piece in the garden. It would really be a perfect spot on a cool sunny day. Considering that Euna was growing ever more curious each day and she seemed to enjoy he