The next morning, Youngjae woke up in his wrinkled clothes from the rainy night before to the sound of his office phone ringing. He picked up and murmured sleepily, “Hello?”

His secretary answered, “Your wife is here to see you.”

“What?!” Youngjae shot up. “Er, okay, tell her to come up.”

“Sure thing. By the way, she looks kind of angry.”

Youngjae let out a harsh laugh. “I’m not surprised. Anyway, thanks.” He hung up and tried his best to fix his appearance but gave up after a minute. It didn’t matter anyway. She wasn’t here to look at him.

There was a knock. He looked up and saw her fuming right outside his door. Exhaling deeply, he walked over and opened the door. “Eun Ae.”

“Youngjae--”

“Sorry, I haven’t finished everything yet,” he interrupted, turning and walking back to his desk. “There are still a few more people to call, but I should be done by noon today. Did you go see the lawyer yet?”

“Youngjae, if you would just listen to me--”

“Eun Ae, to be honest, I’m not in the mood for this right now. Yesterday was pretty much the worst day of my life and I can’t--”

“I don’t want a divorce.”

“--deal with--” Youngjae stopped talking. Slowly, he looked at her. “What?”

“I said,” she enunciated, “I don’t want a divorce.”

“You don’t?”

“No!” She gritted her teeth angrily. Youngjae thought she looked adorable, then mentally slapped himself for thinking such a thing in this situation. “And if you had just listened to me, you would’ve known this last night.”

“I--”

“No, be quiet, Yoo Youngjae. I’m going to talk now and you’re going to listen, got it? No interruptions.” She glared at him.

He nodded meekly.

“Good. Now. Let me just repeat: I don’t want a divorce. I don’t know why you just assumed that I did despite the fact that I never said so myself--”

“But you--”

“No interruptions!” she said fiercely. “As I was saying, I never said I wanted a divorce and if I really did, do you think I’d wait this long? I know we married for our families and the business and stuff, but there’s no way I’d let myself be tied to someone I don’t like.”

“And you like Jongup.”

“As a friend!” she yelled, exasperated. “Only as a friend, Youngjae! How many times do I have to tell you?”

“That hug in the flower shop yesterday didn’t look just friendly,” Youngjae quipped.

“That was--was--just--” She turned red.

“Hm? Was just what?”

“That was just Jongup comforting me because I was crying!” she confessed.

“Crying? Why--”

“Because lately, it seems like you don’t like being with me anymore! You’re still nice and everything, but it always seems like you can’t wait to get away from me and,” she hesitated but forged on, “and I was afraid...that you had fallen in love.”

“Really?”

“Yes!” she insisted. “Because sometimes, when I look at you, you’re like smiling into space and, I guess, thinking about someone and I...I..was just...scared.”

“So you ran to Jongup for comfort.” He shook his head.

“I--”

“Eun Ae, you’re right. I admit it. I’m in love.”

She gasped. “You are?”

“Yes,” he said solemnly, “I am. But this girl, see, she always seems happier with someone else, and so I thought, if she wants to be with him, then I should let her be with him. Who am I to stop her from being happy, right? But suddenly, she acts like she might like me, but I don’t want to get my hopes up. So tell me, Eun Ae, why are you scared?”

She was silent.

Youngjae sighed. “Never mind. Sorry. Forget I--”

“I was jealous. No, I am jealous. I’m jealous of whoever you’re in love with because I...I...I love you, Youngjae.” She looked at him with tears in her eyes. “I love you. And that girl, whoever it is, is so lucky to be loved by you and so silly for not seeing how amazing you are.”

He stared at her. “But you like Jongup.”

She shook her head vigorously. “No, he’s really just a friend. But he agreed to help me try to...make you jealous. But I guess that would only work if you had any feelings for me.” She tried to laugh.

“Dammit, Eun Ae,” Youngjae cursed, making her jump. “Why do you do this to me?”

“I’m sorry,” she whispered looking down and wiping her tears.

Youngjae got up and stood in front of her. Carefully, his hands moved to cradle her head and his thumbs gently wiped her tears away. He looked her in the eyes and said in a tone so sincere and full of awe that she couldn’t doubt him, “You’re so beautiful. I love you.”

“Really?” she sniffled, happiness slowly filling her eyes.

“Really really.”

“You’re not doing this to cheer me up?”

“Do you think I’d play with emotions like that?” He frowned at her as his face got even closer to hers.

She swallowed. “No.”

“Why didn’t you just tell me?” he asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

Her eyes flicked to his lips, which were a breath away from hers. “I was scared of rejection and I didn’t want to destroy our relationship. Even if you didn’t love me, I wanted to be with you.”

“What if I fell in love with someone else?”

“Then I would let you go.”

“You silly girl,” he breathed. “I guess you’re lucky it’s you then.”

And finally, finally, the distance between their lips shrank to nothing. They kissed, and it was the first kiss, the last kiss, and the only kiss they would each experience in their lifetimes. It was the culmination of the pain and longing and jealousy and love that had built-up during the prelude to their real marriage.

Now, their life together would truly begin.

That night, the sun set on their first time sleeping together in the same room, on the same bed.

When the sun rose the next morning, streaming light into their room, he was still there with his arms draped over her body, snoring peacefully, and she was snuggled warmly in his arms with a happy smile on her face.

They both woke up naturally, yawning and stretching. They grinned and kissed each other, savoring the new feelings they had and the new experiences they were bound to have together, and greeted each other good morning with “I love you.”

That was the beginning of their happily ever after.

A/N: Hey guys! There’s the end! I really enjoyed writing this and I hope you all enjoy reading it as well! :D

I feel like I may have rushed their relationship a little bit...that’s something I really have to work on. But then again, I was trying to make this a oneshot but still trying to keep their relationship in perspective so I guess the timeline is a little vague.

Anyways, questions, comments, concerns? Let me know your thoughts on this! Thanks!

© Copyright 2013 by skyblaze208