August 15th, 2013

"Are you awake?" Sunggyu suddenly spoke, making Seul-ki jumped terribly. She was sniffing in the scent of his hair silently, being at loss of what to do with Sunggyu's face buried in her chest.

"Hm-hm..." She answered, clearing . She heard Sunggyu sighing but he wasn't moving. His arm was still wrapping over her torso and their legs were still intertwined.

"Did you sleep well?" She nodded, hitting her chin on Sunggyu's head. She whimpered silently and he wanted to laugh but he held it in, clearing his throat. "Lee Seul-ki."

"Yes?"

"I hope you have reflected well on what you did last night."

"Hm."

"Are you going to lie to me again?"

"No."

"Good. Are you going to the clubs again?"

"No, I'm not."

"Good." He said, puffing a deep sigh. He moved his arm and pulled away his face, and looked up at Seul-ki who was also looking down on him. "Did you cry a lot last night? You eyes are swollen."

"I'm fine."

Sunggyu went on looking at her worriedly, with another sigh. He was then facing her chest again. "Ah, my head hurts."

"Did you drink a lot?" Seul-ki asked, looking down on his hair. Sunggyu nodded, pouting a bit to himself. "Um." Seul-ki pulled up her arm from over her stomach and touched Sunggyu's head. Then, she started massaging his head, much to his surprise but he kept silent since it felt good. She sat up and made Sunggyu lay on his back and she used both of her hands to massage his temples.

"That feels good." Sunggyu commented, with a smile sprawled on his face and his eyes closed. "Aren't you tired?"

"No. I'm always doing this for Halmeoni." She explained, slowly rubbing him behind his ears.

"Ahh..." Sunggyu cooed, feeling blood travelling to his body and it was making him feeling strange and warm that he got up suddenly, startling his wife. He eyed her conspicuously, and Seul-ki was blinking at him, feeling confused. "I'm okay now... Thank you." He said, pretending to cough.

"Oh, oh..." Seul-ki looked down on the futon, fiddling with her fingers.

"Have you... been contacting Halmeoni?" Sunggyu asked, after a moment of silence.

"Um." She nodded.

"How is she?"

"Mr. and Mrs. Kim are taking good care of her, she said." Seul-ki smiled a bit.

"What Mr. and Mrs. Kim? They are also your mother and father now. Call them abeonim and eomeonim." Sunggyu said, as if scolding her.

"I'm sorry." She said, and dropped her head.

"Why are you apologizing?" Sunggyu asked, looking at her questioningly.

"I'm sorry." She repeated, closing her eyes. She was too afraid that Sunggyu was going to get mad again. She didn't like how he looked at her when he's mad, and how his voice sounded like. Sunggyu ruffled his hair in frustration and looked at Seul-ki who was still having her head down.

"Look here." Sunggyu ordered, and Seul-ki immediately looked up. "Listen here carefully. I don't like it. I don't like to see my wife is always hanging her head low and apologizing all the time. Although I don't want you to keep on fighting me back but you have to have your own standing and opinion. You got that?" She nodded enthusiastically, her lips forming a straight tight line. "Come closer." Seul-ki widened her eyes before she dragged herself over to Sunggyu, walking on her knees. When her knees touched Sunggyu's feet, she stopped breathing. Sunggyu reached out for her, pulling her into his embrace, and Seul-ki was still widening her eyes, at loss of what to do. She put her chin on Sunggyu's shoulder, feeling Sunggyu's hand patting her back slowly. "I got a bit too mad last night. You must have been crying a lot."

Seul-ki shook her head and gulped down, sniffing in the horrible stench of alcohol on him. Sunggyu pushed her away but she felt dreaded because although he stinks, the embrace felt so nice. But she said nothing as Sunggyu stood up.

"How could you sleep with me smelling like this?" Sunggyu asked, bewildered, sniffing in his shirt and made a face. Seul-ki only smiled as she looked up at Sunggyu furrowing.

"I don't mind." She said, scratching her head.

"You don't mind?" Sunggyu asked, wanting to laugh.

She nodded. "Um!" She looked down and whispered, "...because Sunggyu-sshi is my husband after all..."

"What? What did you say?" Sunggyu asked, sitting down on his heels.

"I didn't say anything." Seul-ki denied, shaking her head again.

"What did I tell you? Don't lie, right? Are you trying to lie again now?" Sunggyu threatened playfully. "Tell me what you said."

"I don't want to!" She replied, smiling uncontrollably and tried to look away but Sunggyu followed her gaze, following her face around.

"What did you say? I thought I heard 'husband'." Sunggyu said, not able to contain his smile any longer.

"I didn't!" She erupted into a laugh and Sunggyu held her arm when she tried to get up and instantly pulled her into an embrace again.

"Say it again." He said, softly, smiling to himself. Seul-ki could feel her face flushing as she gulped.

"Because Sunggyu-sshi... is my husband after all..." She said, with a shy tone and her face flushed even more when Sunggyu was tightening his embrace.

"Ah, that's better." He said, smiling and sniffing. Then they went quiet, not knowing of what to do. "Ah, I better um, go and shower now."

"Um, um." Seul-ki pulled away, and caught Sunggyu's eyes. Then they went quiet again, looking into each other's eyes. She was waiting for Sunggyu to stand up but he was still sitting there, staring at her. "Um, shower..."

"Ah! Yeah, right." Sunggyu stood up immediately, and left the room. He cupped his mouth, scolding himself for all the thoughts he was having when he was staring at Seul-ki earlier. He kept on shaking his head while showering, asking what was wrong with himself.

After an awkward breakfast, Sunggyu was standing in front of the mirror in the living room, wanting to fix his tie. Seul-ki was watching contemplatively, standing near him. It made Sunggyu felt totally uncomfortable, but he tried to keep calm and took a peek at Seul-ki who caught his gaze. She smiled nervously, still looking at him.

"Why are you looking at me like that? Do I still smell bad?" Sunggyu asked, eyeing her with the end of his eyes. Seul-ki shook her head quickly. "Then?"

"Can I..." She bit her bottom lip and went on watching Sunggyu's reflection in the mirror.

"What is it?"

"Tie it for Sunggyu-sshi..." She said, quietly but he could hear her clearly. He looked down on his necktie, "But I can tie it myself." Her face changed as she was slightly pouting. Sunggyu watched her expression for a moment and then finally he caught what she was trying to do. "Ah. But today I feel a bit lazy so Lee Seul-ki can do it for me." He said, with a pretentious tone. Seul-ki jumped happily towards him and staring into his eyes nervously, she took hold of the tie hanging around his collar.

With flimsy movement, she began to turn his collar up, avoiding his gaze. She hung the tie around the collar, adjusting the length with a really serious face that Sunggyu felt like cracking up. When her hand went behind his neck, Sunggyu froze at the proximity of her face, though Seul-ki had not really noticed it since she was making sure the necktie wasn't twisted at the back. He regained his composure when she pulled away, and began crossing the necktie. She was doing it carefully, turning and flipping the tie around.

Sunggyu was only watching her keen eyes which were fixed on his necktie. Somehow her determination to tie it for him made his heart skipped a beat. He was watching how Seul-ki was biting her bottom lip and occasionally it when she was crossing the necktie and when she was about to slip the wide end down through the knot, he felt like he was about to do funny things. So, he decided to open his mouth, though he was quite sure he was about to spout some nonsense again. "You're so slow."

Seul-ki looked up and glared at him, feeling annoyed. "I just learned this. That's why..."

"You didn't know how to tie it before?" She shook her head, adjusting the size of the knot. "When did you learn it then?"

"Well... I asked Woohyun-sshi to teach me." Sunggyu rolled his eyes, and it went unnoticed by Seul-ki who couldn't decide the correct size.

"Why did you ask Woohyun to teach you?"

"Because... I want to..." She looked up at Sunggyu for a glance and added quietly. "Tie it for Sunggyu-sshi..."

Sunggyu felt his face flushing when he saw her cheeks turning pink. "For me?"

"Um." She nodded, stopping her hands for a moment. "Because I used to have this thought; that if I can't marry Kim Jaejoong-sshi or Yunho-sshi, then I'll find a husband whom I can tie his necktie for him."

Sunggyu erupted into a laugh, and feeling annoyed, Seul-ki pushed the knot up to his neck, choking him a bit. "Yah! That's too tight!" He cried. She glared up at him and loosened it again, and slipped the narrow end of the tie through the tag behind it. She pulled a step back, to look at her work. Without saying anything, she smiled to herself and then when she looked at Sunggyu's face, she stopped smiling, waiting for his comment nervously. Sunggyu turned to the mirror and looked at the knot Seul-ki took forever to adjust. It was done perfectly, much to his surprise, even much better than his own. Cupping his face, he hung his head low to hide the smile on his face. Then, he turned to face her. "It's okay." Seul-ki smiled instantly. "But it took too long." She pouted and looked at him, dissatisfied.

"But I guess with practice every day, you'll get better." He added, and watched as Seul-ki turned pink again. He took his coat and bag and walked to the entrance to put on his shoes. "No class today?"

"Only one in the evening." She replied, smiling nervously.

"I see. Well, I'll be going now."

"Be safe."

"I