Yuhu, I finally managed to finish the next chapter~ I dedicate it to cjnicole (because I love you too <3) and anechanlovesGTOP (your kind comments gave me energy to write, thank you so much!) :3 

I hope you'll like this chapter and I promise not to torment Ji and Hyunnie from the following one on XD

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Catch up on you

(Jiyong's P.O.V)

“It’s gone. It’s gone forever…,” I whispered to myself, feeling horribly hopeless.

It was slowly getting dark and even colder than it had been in the morning, but I couldn’t force myself to come back to the Chois house. Because Seunghyun was there. And he would quickly find out that I had lost it. That I had lost the ring.

I had no idea how it had happened. I had had it on my finger the whole day, but then I had suddenly realised it was no longer there. I was sure I hadn’t taken it off, so the only conclusion was that it had slid off with the glove. We had had a great snowball fight today and I had been wearing thick woolly gloves Seunghyun’s grandma had given me. The problem was that I had taken off the gloves in the snow a few times and the ring must have got off by accident and disappeared in a snowdrift. Probably it was stupid of me to look for it for more than three hours, but I couldn’t stop thinking about it. Immediately after the dinner, I had gone out once more and searched for my precious loss in every part of the yard where I had possibly found myself during the play with all Seunghyun’s relatives who were under twenty or felt immature enough and not too sleepy to spend the whole New Year’s forenoon on playing with kids. I knew that the possibility of finding the ring in the snow was equal to zero, but I still couldn’t give up that easily.

Hours of bending down and touching the frozen ground with my bare hands were finally taking their toll on me. I was not only physically drained, but also on a verge of crying, but I did everything not to let the tears spill over my lids. I couldn’t really feel if it worked, because my cheeks were swollen and numb from the frost.

Slowly, I made my way to the house, still afraid that I would hurt Seunghyun just a few hours after we had reconciled. My chilled body felt warmer at the recollection of this night, when finally after two weeks of separation I was able to feel Seunghyun’s strong arms around me and melt in his loving embrace that I had missed so much. After the kiss we had shared at midnight and the overwhelming sensation of long-awaited closeness that blanketed tight around me, I was sure everything was going to be alright. Now I only wished that it wouldn’t change because of my carelessness. I had to do everything not to let Seunghyun know that I had lost the ring. Avoiding him wasn’t an option, so I would have to behave as naturally as possible to make it seem that everything was normal.

I considered myself a master of lying, but with Seunghyun it wasn’t that easy. My good imagination and ability to invent plausible scenarios quickly without even blinking had always been my biggest advantage, however, this time my strategy needed more planning.

But first - a hot bath.

My clothes were soaking wet, the same was with hair and shoes. I dreamt about taking off all of the layers and relax in an enormous bathtub in one of the bathrooms on the second floor. I heard that the guest bathrooms were smaller than those on the third floor, where Choi family members had their apartments, but I didn’t want to risk bumping into Seunghyun before rethinking everything. The bathtub for guests was still twice bigger than the one we had at home, so it didn’t really matter.

I was lucky - the bathroom that was closest to the guest room I stayed in was empty. It seemed that everyone had gone to sleep after dinner and dessert, so I didn’t have to worry that someone would interrupt me. I locked the bathroom door from the inside and the water to fill the tub. When it was pouring down, I got undressed without needless rush and looked at myself in the mirror that was slowly getting steamy. My face was red and puffy, wet strands of hair covered my forehead, my lips were dry and pale. So many hours in the snow didn’t do me good. After the bath I should go eat something and later-

Thinking about eating suddenly made me feel sick. I watched my wincing expression in the mirror, but didn’t manage to keep my head up too long. I had to squat and pressed my forehead to the cool washbasin to suppress the unexpected wave of nausea. A few deep breaths later I felt a bit better and stood up slowly to turn off the running water. My head was still dizzy, but despite it I decided to get in the bath. The water was a bit too hot, but it was what my chilled body needed. Or so I thought.

I submerged up to my neck and then took a deep breath to dunk my head. A few seconds under water didn’t bring the expected effect. Instead of feeling refreshed and warmed up, the skin on my face started itching and I felt too warm. My head demanded some cool air, so I let it come forth. It didn’t really help. I leaned over the tub wall with my hands touching the ground and remained in such position for a while.

I felt awful. Probably, I had eaten something bad at the party or for dinner. I started thinking what it could be and it turned out to be a very bad idea. A wave of nausea hit me one more time, making my insides squeeze. Whatever I had eaten, it refused to stay in my stomach. I jumped out of the tub, preventing myself from vomiting and slipping on the wet floor, and reached the toilet just in time.

Oh God, what’s going on?

I flushed the toilet and approached the basin. Splashing my face with cold water and rinsing my mouth didn’t make me feel better. Chilly shivers were running down my body and I felt hot and cold at the same time. I needed to leave the bathroom immediately,, so I drained the bath and collected the wet clothes that were scattered on the floor. Fortunately, I didn’t have to wear them again as there were some clean white robes for guests hanging on the wall. I put one of them on quickly, feeling so dizzy from the hot steam that I barely managed to stand it.

The door lock decided to have a little fight with me and hinder my life, but eventually it gave in and I almost celebrated success. Almost, because when I finally opened the door and cool air hit my warmed up body I saw black spots in front of my eyes. I shook my head, trying to drive off this unpleasant sensation, and managed to take a few steps forward.

“Jiyong!” husky voice called my name. “I’ve been looking for you!”

Seunghyun found himself next to me in a second. Or maybe it was much longer, I didn’t really now. I was concentrated on trying to keep my body in standing position.

“Ji, what’s wrong?” Seunghyun sounded worried. I felt his cold hand on my cheek and it ignited another wave of shivers. “You have a fever-!”

“Oh- I guess, you’re right,” I mumbled. That seemed like a reasonable explanation of my shivering.

“What have you been doing the whole day? I mean, I couldn’t find you in your room, so I checked…,” Seunghyun kept talking, but each word seemed to be spoken quieter and quiter, as if Seunghyun was slowly disappearing behind a glass wall. When I couldn’t hear anything at all, my body refused obedience and decided to switch off all of my senses.

Hyunnie, catch me, I managed to think and then my mind turned off, too.

I didn’t feel anything, when I fell into Seunghyun’s arms.

~~~~~~

“Jiyong Oppa! Are you going with us?” Dokmi pulled the sleeve of my jacket.

I looked at her cheerful face and couldn’t stop a smile from forming on my lips.

“Wait for me outside, okay?” I said. “I’ll join you in a couple of minutes.”

It was a lie, but I didn’t have time for explanations. I didn’t want to make the girl upset, either. She wouldn’t like to hear that I had different plans than going outside with everyone to watch the fireworks display. I was going to see it anyway, but not in the garden with all the guests.

“You want to find Seunghyun, right?” Dokmi snickered, making me blush a bit.

“Y-yeah,” I admitted, scratching the back of my neck. I wasn’t sure what the girls knew about me and Seunghyun or what they thought they knew. CL had told them not to tell Seunghyun about my arrival in Busan and they eagerly kept this secret, but it hadn’t stopped them from making their own assumptions and treating me like a runaway princess. They had even made me try on a dress that had been sewn for one of Seunghyun’s aunts, but she had eventually decided to wear her hanbok to the ball. It was totally embarrassing to discover that I had actually looked good in a dress, but I only thanked heavens that I hadn’t gone to the other part of dressing room to see myself in the bigger mirror. Of course, no one had told me that Seunghyun would be there, so he must have heard me laughing. When he had come to the room, I almost got a heart attack. Fortunately, the girls managed to cover me just in time.

Otherwise I would die from embarrassment, I swear.

“I’d better go now,” I said, patting Dokmi’s head.

Finally, someone is shorter than me, I thought and sent her last bright smile.

“Hurry up, Oppa! You have only five minutes!” Dokmi chuckled.

It was a useful reminder. I ran to my room on the second floor to take my coat and put it on quickly, before going to the rooftop, where Seunghyun and I had agreed to meet.

It was so exciting. We would finally have some time only for each other without other people around us. Their presence meant we couldn’t go as far as we wanted - kissing in front of Seunghyun’s relatives didn’t seem like a good idea, so we had to wait till the right moment. And this moment was about to come.

Surprisingly, I didn’t get lost on my way, but instead I got short of breath after running up the stairs. I took last deep breath of warm air, before pushing the rooftop door. The rooftop turned out to be a vast terrace that could be used for sunbathing or organising parties in summer. I could imagine watching stars from here on warm July night, listening to the sound of sea waves hitting the shore and cicadas dancing in the high grass three floors below. I looked up to see, if there were any stars visible tonight, but the sky was dark and cloudy. When I came closer to the rooftop railing, the beautiful view of Busan by night made me breathless  The house was located in the outskirts, so you could see the whole harbour that was now emanating a glow of yellow and orange.

“Amazing, isn’t it?” Seunghyun appeared out of nowhere and leant on the railing next to me.

“Yeah,” I whispered back, but my weak sigh was muffled by a wind blow.

Seunghyun turned his gaze away from the breathtaking view to look at me. His eyes glittered oddly in the warm light of the city. I shivered under this piercing glance and folded arms across my chest, hugging myself.

“Are you cold?” Seunghyun straightened with that question and eyed my ed coat. “You should have put on something warmer.”

Before I could protest and say that in fact I wasn’t cold at all, Seunghyun was already standing in front of me, wrapping his own scarf around my neck.

“Better?” he asked in a low voice, looking into my eyes and I smiled bashfully, suddenly intimidated by his closeness.

“Um-,” I started, biting my lower lip. “I guess, it could be better?”

Seunghyun chuckled and pulled me closer, embracing me tight and making my heart grow in my chest.

“And now?” Our noses touched, breaths mingling between our mouths.

“Still there is something more,” I said quietly and then our lips met. 

The kiss was slow and sweet, nothing was rushed and I loved it this way. My eyes were closing slowly, but I kept looking at Seunghyun from under my eyelashes till the moment my lids were too heavy from overwhelming warmth that reached every cell in my body and they fell shut.

A first firework exploded on the night sky, its sound making me jump. We pulled away, still smiling at each other.

“You have no idea how I missed this,” I said, unable to control my wildly beating heart.

“Oh believe me, I do,” Seunghyun chuckled. “Happy New Year, Jiyong-ah.”

“Happy New Year, Hyunnie.”

Seunghyun covered my lips with his in another, more passionate, kiss and my poor heart was pounding so fast that I was sure the butterflies, which used to dwell in my stomach, decided to move up and settle in my chest, almost making it burst from the warm flutters of joy that shook it stronger and stronger with every more second of astounding connection of our lips.

Colorful rain was lighting up the midnight sky, fireworks kept exploding really close to us, but all I could say about them was that they… sounded nice. Because I hadn’t caught a single glimpse of the display.

“Jiyong?” Seunghyun said suddenly.

I looked up to meet his gaze and his eyes seemed to be darker for an unknown reason.

“Yes?”

“Why have you done it?” he growled. “How could you let it happen?”

I had no idea what was going on. Was it wrong to kiss him? I didn’t understand.

“What? W-What do you mean?” I stuttered.

“I know you’ve lost the ring.”

My hear froze, so did my tongue. 

‘It’s not my fault! I’ll do everything to find it!’ I wanted to exclaim, but any sound didn’t come out of my mouth. I looked down, trying to swallow and then I discovered a pair of hands that was clamped on my neck.

“How could you?” The question was repeated, but this time it was Dongwook who said it. I started shaking, overwhelmed by the familiar feeling of oncoming suffocation.

Dongwook, who had taken Seunghyun’s place, was slowly tightening his deadly grasp. It was the moment when I realised that it all was just a dream. Just a terrible nightmare that I knew far too well…

~~~~~~

I took a sharp deep breath and sat up abruptly.

It was just a dream. Just a dream, Jiyong, I told myself as I had done every night for last two weeks. I hoped that the nightmares would finally end, but it seemed they wouldn’t go away, if there was something bothering me. Everything I had dreamt about since the damned Monday had the same ending. It didn’t matter, if it was a dream about my childhood, a normal day at school or Dami’s wedding with Tablo and Siwon (or whatever the leader of Super Junior was called) at the same time… No. Every time Dongwook appeared out of nowhere to clench his fingers around my neck and I would wake up out of breath and all sweaty, as if he had been garroting me for real.

I had really hoped that it would be over. I had done everything - found out the truth about Minhun, told Dongwook about and even reached some kind of friendly state with him, because he really wanted to make it up to me. But still it didn’t work.

I really hated my subconsciousness.

With a sigh I laid back on the pillow and finally realised that I didn’t remember going to bed.

What has happened? I asked myself, staring blankly at the bed canopy.

Last thing I could recall was taking a bath and feeling awfully bad, both physically and mentally. I knew what had led me to this miserable state, but I didn’t dare to look at my hand to see that the ring wasn’t there. I wished losing it had been a nightmare I woke up from, but unfortunately, I was aware that this part was real.

Suddenly, the door cracked open, making my stomach turn icy. I closed my eyes quickly, pretending that I was still asleep, but my breath was still uneasy and a bit too fast to feign being in a deep sleep.

“Jiyong-ah, are you awake?” melodious female voice asked me and I expelled a relieved breath.

“Y-yeah,” I answered in a weak voice that sounded rusty, so I cleared my throat and repeated, “Yes, I am, Mrs. Choi.”

Seunghyun’s mother smiled at me and came into the room, closing the door behind herself.

“How are you feeling?” she asked in a concerned tone.

“A bit better than a few hours ago, I guess,” I sighed, pushing myself onto my elbows to sit up again.

“You don’t have to sit, lie down please,” the woman smiled at me and approached the bed. “And actually it’s been more than just a few hours. You slept the whole night and it’s 11 o’clock now.”

“Oh,” I gasped in response, making Mrs. Choi chuckle in similar way to Seunghyun.

“You must have been really tired,” she stated and sat on the bed next to me.

“I didn’t get a good sleep for… quite a long time,” I confessed.

Mrs. Choi nodded in understanding. “The doctor said that you fainted because of overall exhaustion and dehydration. Too much stress isn’t a good thing for a teenage boy.”

I took the glass of water she handed me and drank the half of cold liquid that was a salvation for my dry throat.

“I’m so sorry,” I mumbled, feeling ashamed.

“For what, sweetie?” her eyes widened in surprise.

“You didn’t have to fetch a doctor… I would be fine anyway…”

“Oh, don’t worry about that! My brother is a doctor, so we didn’t bother any stranger,” she explained. “But you can probably imagine how crazy Seunghyun and my mother-in-law went. They wanted to take you to the hospital, but I managed to prevent them from doing so.”

“Thank you,” I said with a nod. My face turned warmer at the thought what a chaos my fainting had caused. “I’m a really troublesome person.”

Mrs. Choi burst into sweet-sounding laughter. “You know my sons, don’t you? They’re troublesome kids, not you, sweetheart,” she pinched my cheek, her eyes still shining in amusement. Her hand moved from my cheek to forehead and she frowned. “The fever still hasn’t worn off,” she stated. “Or is it the blush that makes your face so hot?”

I lowered my gaze, feeling even more blood reaching my head, “I don’t know,” I murmured.

“You’re such a cutie. I can see why Seunghyun has fallen for you,” she said with a giggle and took an underarm thermometer from the nightstand. “Put it in your armpit,” she ordered and I obeyed without saying a word.

I knew Seunghyun’s mom was fine with his relationship with me. After my arrival and first dinner that we had eaten together, she confessed that she was happy that her son finally had found a soulmate. It was something new and I had difficulties with defying it - one thing was for sure, my mom would never behave like that. As an artist, Mrs. Choi was very open-minded and it was visible that she was above the tradition and socially accepted patterns. It was something that I admired and wanted to follow in the future.

The thermometer beeped, so I took it out and handed it to the gently smiling woman.

“37,6°C (A/N: about 99°F). Not so bad as I thought,” she said and put the thermometer back on the nightstand. She patted her lap and sighed. “I’ll bring you some pills to lower the temperature. Do you want a painkiller, too?”

I nodded, suddenly reminding myself of dull pain in my head that I had got used to in past few days. It would be nice, if it could disappear.

Mrs. Choi stood up and opened the curtains, letting the daylight fill the room, “Oh, it has been snowing tonight,” she said and my good mood sank towards a darker place.

Bye, bye, the ring. Farewell, Seunghyun.

I guessed I would have to come back to Busan in spring with a metal detector.

Seunghyun’s mother approached the door and when she was about to leave, she turned around and slapped her forehead. “I would forget! Are you hungry, Jiyong-ah?”

My tummy rumbled, when I only thought about food. And luckily, this time I didn’t feel sick because of it. Now I was normally, simply hungry.

“I take it as a ‘yes’,” Mrs. Choi chuckled. “Rest for a while and I’ll check, what Eunsun has prepared for you.”

“Thank you,” I smiled at her and closed my eyes with a sigh, when she left the room.

So I had been sleeping for so long, huh? Despite that fact, I still felt tired and enjoyed the darkness beneath my lids. It seemed that I really needed to catch up on my sleep. That night was probably one of the few ones, when I didn’t drift in and out of slumber.

Listening to my own breathing was slowly lulling me and I was about to drift off, when suddenly I felt a gentle touch on my cheek. And I knew it wasn’t Mrs. Choi. I would recognize the touch of these hands everywhere.

“Seunghyun,” I said quietly, opening my sleepy eyes to look at him.

“Ji,” he said, smiling softly and my heart skipped a beat at the sight of his handsome face so close too mine. I couldn’t get enough of him after such a long time we had been part.

If only it wasn’t for the lost ring…

“I’ve brought some pills and a bowl of my grandma’s specialty soup,” he announced and nodded at the nightstand which was now occupied by the tray. “Would you like to eat it now?”

I agreed with a nod and sat up slowly, rubbing my eyes to wipe sleep away. All of sudden, I found myself being embraced tightly and my breath hitched in surprise, when Seunghyun rested his chin on my shoulder and murmured against my neck, “You really made me worried.”

The skin on my neck covered with goosebumps and started buzzing under Seunghyun’s hot breath that tickled it without mercy. I wrapped my arms around Seunghyun’s frame and inhaled his characteristic scent of cologne, vanilla and cinnamon.

“I know. I’m sorry,” I whispered, clutching my hand on the back of his shirt.

“Don’t be sorry, it was my fault,” Seunghyun said and I fidgeted in confusion, unable to understand what he meant. “I shouldn’t have left you. You must have suffered, because of such a coward like me. I was too afraid to face you and see abhorrence in your eyes, after what I had done to you... Please, forgive me. I wouldn’t stand it, if you began to hate me.”

“I could never hate you, Hyunnie,” I pulled away to face him. I felt tears of emotion gathering in the corners of my eyes, but it didn’t stop a smile from bending itself on my lips. “I promised you never to leave your side and always love you. That’s why I came here, to Busan. I needed to fight for what we have.”

“And I’m so glad you did,” he said and began kissing off the tears from my cheeks. “I don’t want to see you cry ever again.”

“You’ll have to tell me what you feel. Always. I need to know, otherwise… I would make wrong assumptions,” I stated, loads of pent-up courage activating in me and encouraging me to go on speaking. “The first week after your leaving… I was sure you didn’t want to see me anymore, because I had been kissed by your brother and I kept blaming myself for that. Then I got a letter from your Grandma and Dongwook and they tried to convince me that it was your pride that was hurt the most and you were simply ashamed to face me.” Seunghyun wanted to interrupt me, but I placed my finger on his lips to prevent him from speaking. It was my only chance to get it off my chest. “It made me furious, really. I almost tore the letters apart. I had no idea you could be so egoistic and… careless. It was me who suffered the most, Seunghyun. Not you and your inflated ego.”

My cold words hurt him, I could see it. But it was all truth and he was well aware of that. He kept his eyes downcast, not looking me in the eye. I bit the inside of me lip and hesitated for a short while, but then finally cupped his face in my hands and made him look at me.

“Don’t get me wrong, Hyunnie. I don’t want to make you feel upset or guilty now. I just needed to tell you about me feelings. It was a fair thing to do, if I want you to tell me about yours.”

Seunghyun nodded slowly, “You’re right, Jiyong,” he admitted quietly. “I was telling myself that I run away without saying a word, because I didn’t want to hurt you. But in fact, it was too hard for me to admit that I was afraid that you would reject my apologies. I had disappointed myself, and you at the first place. I was too weak to face this situation.”

His gaze escaped mine and I could feel that he really regretted his cowardice.

“No one is perfect, Hyunnie. Even you, my own Prince. Life is not a fairytale,” I smiled a bit bitterly and the kissed the tip of his nose. “But fortunately, we have each other. We’ll come through everything together and make our little world as dreamy as it could be. Am I right?”

“Yes, Ji. I totally agree,” he said and a smile formed on his lips. “I will be telling you about everything from now on. And please, do the same.”

Something stung my heart - a recollection of the ring.

Should I tell him now?

I was sure it would ruin the moment, but we had just promised each other to be completely sincere.

“Seunghyunnie,” I started biting my lower lip.

“What is it?”

 “Well, I-,” I looked down at my clasped hands and Seunghyun’s gaze followed mine. I covered my left hand immediately, and prayed that Seunghyun hadn’t noticed that there was no ring on it. ”I guess the soup is getting cold,” I blurted out.

Who is a coward now, Jiyong?

Seunghyun  raised a brow and smirked. “Oh, really? Tell me, Ji.”

He started tickling my sides unexpectedly making me jump at a spot.

“H-Hyunnie, stop!” I begged between the gales of laughter. “I’ll tell you later, I promise! I’m hungry and still tired-”

“Okay,” Seunghyun stopped his teasing action all of sudden and placed a chaste kiss on my lips, making me blush. “So eat your soup now and go back to sleep. We’ll talk about it later,” he said and patted my head. He placed the tray on my lap and stood up.

“Are you leaving now? Can’t you stay with me?” I asked sheepishly, what caused him to smile wide.

“I’ll be back in an hour. I promised Halmoni to help her with cleaning the kitchen. My cousins were baking muffins in the morning, so you can imagine what a mess they left.”

“Yeah,” I giggled. “Bring me a muffin then.”

“Are you sure you want to eat a chocolate flavoured burned sponge?”

“Oh. A bowl of soup is enough, thank you.”

Seunghyun chuckled and kissed my forehead, “Don’t forget about the pills.”

He went out of the room, leaving me alone with my soup, painkillers and comfy pillows that were about to welcome me back and embrace me in my sleep.

~~~~~~

However, when I woke up, I didn’t find Seunghyun in the room. It was already dark outside the window, so I assumed I had been sleeping for another few hours. I reached for my phone that was lying on the nightstand and noticed that the tray with empty bowl had disappeared. Instead, there was a small piece of paper covered with neat handwriting that was obviously Seunghyun’s.

‘Meet me upstairs in my family apartment, when you wake up. I don’t want to wake you - you look so cute in your sleep that I don’t have a heart to disturb you. I’m waiting for you, your Seunghyun,’ the note said.

I jumped out of the bed and started dancing crazily, kissing the note and thanking heavens that everything was coming back to the previous state.

Maybe Seunghyun will forgive me for losing the ring…

I decided to find something nice to wear in my travel suitcase, because now I had my pajamas on. I only wondered who had dressed me in it, after my fainting. I hoped it hadn’t been Seunghyun as it would be even more embarrassing than being seen wearing a dress. I chose a pair of skinny jeans and beige shirt and headed to bathroom to get refreshed before joining Seunghyun upstairs.

While taking a shower, I began rethinking what Seunghyun had told me and suddenly realised that I wasn’t sincere with myself, either. Seunghyun couldn’t admit being selfish and I had problems with realising that it was actually me who was angry, because of the lost ring. I was the one who needed it and would miss it. I had been looking for it for myself, not for Seunghyun.

When I finally managed to agree with that fact, it suddenly felt easier to bear and I was sure, I would no longer avoid telling Seunghyun about the whole case.

With my improved attitude I went to the Chois’ apartments. It was the first time I found myself here. Seunghyun’s family had insisted that my presence in their house should be kept secret, so I hadn’t been allowed to go there, because there had been a high possibility of meeting Seunghyun. My meetings with his grandma and mother had taken place in one of the rooms on the first floor or in my guestroom on the second, while Dongwook and I had practiced the song in the piano room that was located far from the library, where Seunghyun would spend most of his day.

I was surprised to discover that the apartments were kept in the same style as the rooms downstairs. Considering Seunghyun’s mother avant-garde interests and penchant for modern interiors, I was almost sure that her mother-in-law was the one to choose the old-fashioned furnishing and design the cosy spaces.

I wandered through many connected rooms that were suspiciously empty. I was wondering where Seunghyun’s family had disappeared, but then I found myself in sort of a living room. It had a fireplace with wood burning in it and two vast bookshelves on the both sides. In front of the fireplace there stood a coffee table, two armchairs and a big sofa. The last one was occupied by a person, whose sight made my heart beat faster.

Seunghyun didn’t notice my presence as he sat still, looking at the burning woods. It was a mesmerising picture. I bit my lip, regretting that I didn’t have a camera with me to take a photo and later redraw it in my sketchbook. I stared at Seunghyun for a while to capture as many details as I could to later draw him from my memory.

When the mental picture was finally taken, I slowly approached Seunghyun from behind, being careful not to make any sound, and wrapped my arms around his neck, kissing his earlobe.

It seemed that Seunghyun had been waiting for it, because in an instant he turned to me with a mischievous smile and pulled me down over the backrest.

“Hyunnie!” I gasped surprised, as I landed on top of him with my face pressed to the crook of his neck.

“You thought you could surprise me, huh?” he chuckled and I couldn’t help but laugh too.

“It’s unfair,” I pouted. “I wanted to see you jump like a scared cat.”

“Impossible,” he laughed. “Besides, you made me a surprise on New Year’s Eve, so today it’s my turn. It’s nowhere as creative and moving as your song, but I still hope you’ll like it.”

“I’m sure I will, but you have to tell me what it is,” I told him, grinning like crazy.

“Well, I baked you a cake.”

“A cake?” I repeated in shock.

“Yeah. An apple pie,” he confirmed, smiling sheepishly. “It was my first time baking one, but I asked my grandma for guidance, so I can guarantee it isn’t poisonous.”

“I’m sure it tastes great, Hyunnie!”

“At least better than sponge muffins.”

We both laughed and Seunghyun cupped my face to kiss me gently.

“But before I eat it, I have to tell you something,” I said and bit my lip. “I hope you won’t get angry, but-“

Seunghyun prevented me from continuing, closing my mouth with another sweet kiss. “Try the cake first,” he insisted.

I sighed and we both sat up. I tried not to look disappointed that I had lost another chance of telling him about the ring, but I made a decision not to waste the next one.

“Fine, if it makes you happy, Hyunnie, then I’ll eat it first.”

I took the plate from the coffee table and admired the tasty looking dessert and-

“Oh my God,” I whispered, feeling my heart growing in my chest. “Oh my God!”

On the plate next to the apple pie there laid my ring. I couldn’t believe my own eyes, so I had to take it in my fingers to check, if it wasn’t an illusion. I put the plate back on the table and quickly placed the ring on my finger.

“Hyunnie!” I exclaimed, circling my arms around his neck. “Where have you found it? I was sure it was gone forever!”

“It was in the bathroom. I found it yesterday after dinner, that was why I was looking for you then,” Seunghyun said, rubbing my back. “I thought you left it there on purpose and simply forgot about it.”

“Oh my... Yes, I did! Now I remember taking it off before the snowball fight. God, I’m such a fool,” I buried my face in his chest.

“You’re not a fool, Ji,” Seunghyun said with a chuckle vibrating in his chest.

I looked up bashfully, feeling my cheeks burning. “Thank you so much, Hyunnie. Thank you for finding it.”

My lips found their way up to Seunghyun’s and I kissed him passionately to show all of my affection and gratitude.

“I missed you so much, Ji,” Seunghyun whispered in my ear, when we pulled away. “I have to catch up on you, you know,” he added with a chuckle and began kissing my temple. “Fortunately, we’ll have plenty of time to make it up for those two weeks.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure about it,” I said with a mischievous smile, suddenly reminding myself about something.

“Why?” Seunghyun asked, raising a brow in surprise.

“It is going to be a very hard time for both of us,” I stated. “Because in a month we’re going to Tokyo. We made it to the final stage of the competition!”