Whatever you do, don’t fall asleep.

                That’s your repeated thought as you drive home from work.  All you want to feel is the warmth of your pajamas after a nice shower and the comfort of your bed.

                Your day had started off badly, and it only got worse.  First, it was getting stuck in traffic for half an hour and getting your chewed by your boss.  Then it was the copy machine and its decision to be difficult and break down while you were making copies of documents that were due at the end of the day.  After that, you spilled tea all over yourself after a co-worker bumped into you.  And to top it off, you got soaked in the rain as you ran to your car, which was parked in the farthest corner from the entrance of your workplace. 

                Just one more stop light and you’ll be home.

                You can see your house from where you are and you become giddy at the prospect of finally relaxing after a ridiculous day of work.  You park your car next to your boyfriend’s, go in and shower quickly, and enter your bedroom.  You notice the TV’s on, and Sunggyu’s head turns at your entrance.  He smiles and gets up to give you a bear hug.  “Ah, I missed you today,” he says, his voice somewhat deep and gravelly.  You look at him.  His face was a bit puffy.  “Did you just wake up or something?” 

                “Yeah…I kind of fell asleep after showering here… Practice was tiring today.”

                He leads you back to bed and you cuddle with him under the sheets.  “I missed you all week,” you mumble against his neck.  You can smell the scent of the shampoo lingering in his hair.  He shudders and pulls you close.  “Mm, so did I…I guess our schedules don’t work together, huh?”

                “Yeah…”

                “And I’ll have to leave tomorrow for those two concerts in Japan.”

                You remember that he’ll be gone for at least a week and your heart falls at the thought.  Though saddened, you move as close as you can to him, relishing the last night you have together before he would have to go.  You can feel him lace his fingers with yours and bring them to his lips. 

“I’ll miss you.”

                Those words are enough to make your heart flutter and send the blood right to your cheeks.  “I’ll miss you, too,” you breathe, at a loss for words.  Smiling, he wraps his arms around you and begins to sing softly.  “Don’t,” you protest.  “I still want to talk to you…”  He pauses momentarily to say, “Shush and listen, okay?  I know you’re tired and you need sleep.”

                “But—.”

                “No buts.  And besides, I’ll call you every day while I’m in Japan, and when I come back, you can monopolize me as much as you want.”

                With that, he begins to sing again, and your eyelids start to feel like ten pound weights.  Your pout disappears and you begin to doze off.  The last thing you hear before slipping into a warm slumber is:

                “잘자, 자기야.”