It’s late and almost morning and two people lay on opposite sides of a bed with pillows stacked in the middle splitting them apart.  Both wide awake with hearts racing, pretending to be asleep as the night grew deeper.  It was dead silent with only the sound of the ticking clock and their own heartbeats in their ears.

You turn around to look at Taecyeon’s direction with his back turned towards you, trying to get a feel if he was still awake.  You sat up as you kept your eyes on him, but he never moved making you believe he was already in deep slumber.  You slowly get up, careful not to make any noise or much movement and then tiptoed towards the closet where you kept your bag.  Taking the necklace from your purse you walk back in to the bed in the same manner you got out of it.

You fidget with your necklace finding a way to open it, but you couldn’t seem to reveal what’s inside.  You’ve seen this for years, had it on for more than a decade and yet you never once found out or even thought that it could have something hidden inside.

“Do I have to break this open?” you whispered with frustration as your patience wears out.

“It’s not a piggy bank.” Taecyeon said as he turned towards you.

“You’re awake again?” you said feeling fooled for a second time.

“How am I supposed to get any sleep when you keep moving in bed like that.” he said as he sat up.

“I’m sorry.” you muttered.  “I can’t get it open.  I think it doesn’t even open.” you said with a pout, scrunching your nose up in dissatisfaction.

“Give me that.” Taecyeon said with a snicker as he looks at you.  “I see you still make that face when you’re mad.”

“I’m not mad, I’m just…” you said with a deep exhale escaping from between your lips as you handed him the necklace.

“Running out of patience?” he said with a smile as he raised his brows.  “Like you always do.”

“So can you open it or not?” you said annoyed.

“You open it like this.” he said shifting himself closer to you as he leans on the pillows that separate your side of the bed from his.  “This little thing here is a latch.” he said pointing to a tiny latch beneath the pendant.  “If you press on this, you could slide this back off and ta-da!” he said showing you the open pendant.

“That’s it?” you asked surprised.

“Uhm.” he nods.  “I’m actually surprised you never noticed it.”

You looked at the back carefully, reading the inscription from inside that says,

“For Taecyeon’s Wife, Snuggles.  I…always. – Dumbo”

“So now you know.” Taecyeon said as he leaned back with a smile that showed his dimples as he blushed.

“Always?” you said as you kept reading the words over and over in your head.  “Always what?”

“Love you.” he said without looking at you.  “I would always tell you that…haven’t you figured that out by now?”

“That was when we were kids.” you said trying to sound unaffected, while your heart races and your anxiety rises.

“Do you remember how we used to sleep on the same bed when we were kids?  You couldn’t sleep if you don’t hug anything, so it’s either a pillow, Mr. Gordo (you’re gorilla stuffed toy) or me.” he said.  “Me being the best choice.”

“Uhm.” you nodded.  “I think that’s the reason you called me Snuggles.”

“And you called me Dumbo because of my big ears.” he said as you both laughed.

“So, when I left I guess the best choice became Mr. Gordo huh?” he said.  “Lucky monkey.”

“He’s not a monkey.  He’s a gorilla.” you corrected him.  “Well, Chansung oppa hated it.  He would always complain that it’s too stuffy or too hot, but he lets me hug him anyway.”

“Chansung?” Taecyeon asked with furrowed brows as he felt a little pinch in his chest at the mention of his cousin’s name.

“Uhm.  He sort of became you to me when you left.” you said sadly.

“He’s not me.” Taecyeon said.

“Well, he’s the closest.” you said closing the back of the pendant.

“But you won’t be doing that anymore, now would you?” Taecyeon said.

“Sleeping with Chansung oppa?” you asked.

“Try to remember that being married to me means you belong to me and I belong to you.  That’s all you need to remember.” he said clenching his teeth.  “So even if you want to be with him now, you can’t.  Do you understand?”

“Of course.  I know that at least.” you said as you rolled your eyes at him setting the necklace down on the side table.  “I don’t need to be reminded all the time.”

“I’m sorry.” Taecyeon said as he moved closer to you.  “I was just…I don’t know.  Let’s just say I was feeling threatened with the relationship between you and Chansung.”

“I understand.” you said with a sigh.  “It’s just that he became my best friend when you suddenly chose to disappear in my life.  And now that you’re back, I just can’t disappear from his life.”

“I didn’t choose to disappear.” he said.  “Well, if you just read through what I gave you then you’d understand.  But I get it, you and Chansung are friends and I can’t just ask you to stop being friends because we’re married.  But I hope it won’t go beyond being friends.”

“I get that.” you said.  “And I’ll read it, someday.”

An awkward silence wraps you both as you sit on the bed side by side leaning on the headboard.

“Hey, do you remember my cousin, Lin?” Taecyeon said in hopes to break the awkwardness.  “She’s married too.”

“Really?” you said.  “I wonder if she still remembers me.”

“Uhm.  She does.  She’d ask about you often.” Taecyeon said happily.  “She’s got three kids now.”

“I hope I could see her and her family one of these days.” you said with a yawn as your eyes begin to feel heavy.  “I bet her kids look just like her.”

“We could go visit her sometime when we’re both not too busy.” he said.  “You’ll love the kids.  They’re all really cute, although they seem too energetic.  I think Lin is feeding them some energy booster or something like that.  They just won’t stop moving. I always come over to take care of them for her and they just feel like attacking me all the time.  And the eldest, she’s into…” he said as he looked at you, only to see you with your eyes closed and your head tilted to the side.  “Just like old times…you still fall asleep with the sound of my voice.”

Taecyeon moved you, making you lie down on your pillow before he covered you with the blanket.

“Good night Snuggles.” he said kissing you on the forehead making you wince and turn in bed facing his direction.  Taecyeon smiles as he sees you fast asleep.  He lies down beside you with a sigh as he looks up at the ceiling.  “Sleep may not come so easily for me tonight.” he whispered to himself.

As you sleep, you naturally and unconsciously move your hand to hug the thing next to you, this time it’s Taecyeon, who froze in shock as your arm lands on his chest.  He smiles as he looks at your sleeping face and shifts himself even closer to you.

“It will be a long night.” Taecyeon muttered as he puts his hand on yours.