“I guess I never knew what she was talking about…”

 

~ * ~ * ~

 

She wiped her delicate hands against a dish cloth, jumping slightly as a pair of arms s their way around her waist from behind. Feeling a warm chest press up against her back, she relaxed with a smile, leaning into the touch.

“You’re home early,” she breathed out, humming quietly in appreciation as she felt a nose nuzzle into the crook of her neck, the arms tightening their grip around her.

“I rushed home to see my lovely girlfriend, of course.”

 

~ * ~ * ~

 

He sat quietly on the staircase, thumbing the thin, silver chain in his hand. His eyes focused solely on the single, heart-shaped diamond shining proudly despite the darkness around him. The slight glitter through the clear gem sparked a sharp pain in his chest. With a low growl, he squeezed the chain, his knuckles whitening with his tightened grip. But his gaze did not falter as each sparkle from the diamond flooded his mind with another memory of her.

 

~ * ~ * ~

 

“W-what is this?” she stuttered, feeling him move away from her as she kept her eyes closed just as she had promised.

“Trust me,” he whispered lowly into her ear, smiling to himself as he gently moved her light brown hair to curl loosely over her right shoulder.

Her breath hitched at the sound of his voice, nodding slowly, but surely in response. After a few moments of silence, she felt a small, light weight press against her upper chest, and his hands fiddling around at the back of her neck.

“You look beautiful,” he hummed, pulling his hands away to stare at her beautiful face, almost luminous in the soft, spring sunlight. “Open your eyes.”

Without argument, she blinked her eyes open, looking down at the foreign weight around her neck. Her eyes widened slightly as her gaze focused on the small, gleaming gem hanging around the thin chain. The clear jewel, cut neatly and intricately into a simple, small love-heart, sparkled faint rainbow colours against her pale skin. She reached up to run her fingers lightly over the necklace, spinning around to look up at her boyfriend with a soft smile on her face.

“What is this?” she asked quietly, running her thumb gently over the small gem.

“A diamond necklace.”

“I mean, what for? Pabo,” she chuckled, lightly hitting his shoulder as a childish grin spread over his face.

“Think of it as an early birthday present,” he replied, wrapping his arms around his girlfriend’s waist to pull her closer. “Do you like it?”

She nodded quickly, snaking her arms around his shoulders to pull her boyfriend closer as she felt those warm arms pull her rest familiarly above her hips. “I love it. It’s absolutely beautiful. But you know I love you more, right?” she smiled, perching herself on the tips of her toes to peck his cheek.

Quickly, he turned his cheek so his girlfriend pecked his lips instead of his cheek, holding her protectively in his arms. “Then I love you most,” he grinned, nuzzling his nose against hers.

“Hey, that’s not true,” she pouted, blinking with a cute frown.

He groaned quietly, her cute face irresistible to him. “Fine, how about just ‘I love you too’?”

She nodded slightly with a chuckle, leaning up again to press a soft kiss to her boyfriend’s lips. “I love you, Heechul.”

With a light smile, he pressed a soft kiss back onto his girlfriend’s lips. “I love you too, Sooyeon.”

 

~ * ~ * ~

 

Jessica cringed as she heard the front door slam closed. It was one of those nights. She quickly closed her book and put it down on the coffee table, standing up and peeking around the corner to the front door. There Heechul was, leaning against the wall as his fingers clumsily attempted to untie his shoelaces.

“You’ve been drinking again, haven’t you?” she asked quietly, disappointment laced through her voice.

“Get off my case,” Heechul groaned as he managed to kick one shoe off, stumbling to balance on one foot as he attempted to remove the other.

Jessica pouted slightly as she quietly made her way over to help her boyfriend balance, sliding her hands to his foot to remove the shoe. “You need to slow down on the drinks. You know it’s not good for you,” she replied calmly, feeling her voice waver.

“I said ‘get off my case’!”

Before Jessica could even react, Heechul shoved her away from him roughly, her body slamming against the wall. A whimper left as she looked up at her boyfriend; his cheeks tainted a dull pink and dark bags under his eyes.

“Why do you keep doing this to me? Why do you keep doing this to yourself?” she whispered, feeling tears build up quickly in the corners of her eyes.

“If you can’t handle it, then get out of my house,” Heechul growled, before turning around and stumbling his way upstairs.

Closing her eyes and letting the tears fall, Jessica laid limp against the wall. This wasn’t the first time her boyfriend had come home drunk, and she highly doubted it would be the last time either. She let out a shaky breath, reaching up to squeeze the small gem around her neck.

What happened to you?…

 

~ * ~ * ~

 

“What happened to you!?”

Heechul’s eyes widened as his girlfriend walked in through the front door, her hair and clothes completely soaked through. He rushed over to her side, pulling her protectively into his arms.

“I got caught up in the rain without my umbrella,” Jessica chuckled slightly, sighing happily at the warmth Heechul’s arms were giving her.

“I tried calling you almost fifty times! Why didn’t you pick up your phone?!” he exclaimed, pulling away and holding her shoulders, looking into his girlfriend’s eyes with panic and worry still drawn on his face.

Jessica simply chuckled, reaching her hand up to caress her boyfriend’s cheek lightly. “The rain got to my phone, so it won’t turn on. I’ll have to take it to the repair shop tomorrow.”

“This isn’t any time to be laughing, Jess! I was really worried about you,” Heechul frowned, helping his girlfriend to take off her soaked-through jacket.

The younger smiled softly at the gesture, leaning up to press and gentle kiss to her boyfriend’s lips. “I know. I’m sorry. I should’ve found another way to contact you.”

Heechul took a deep breath and quickly bent down to pick Jessica up in his arms.

“What are you doing?” she laughed, hugging around her boyfriend’s neck as she felt her feet leave the ground.

“You’re freezing. I’ll run you a hot bath before you get sick,” he smiled back, tilting his head to leave a quick peck on Jessica’s forehead. “Just don’t ever scare me like that again.”

 

~ * ~ * ~

 

Where are you?

Jessica sat on the staircase facing the front door, squeezing her cellphone tightly in her hand. She was sure it had only been a few minutes since she last checked, but it felt like hours. Caving into the heavy beat of her heart, she checked her phone again.

It was twelve minutes past one in the morning.

Heechul was not home.

Nor had he called or left a message to where he was.

Jessica sat in complete silence, her eyes focused only on that door handle, the tiredness pushed to the back of her mind. Her foot tapped impatiently against the stair below the one she sat on, one hand squeezing her cell phone, while the other fumbled with the small love heart around her neck.

Ten more minutes and I’m calling the police.

It was 1:21am when Jessica heard the sound of fumbling keys from the front door. She quickly jumped up, her heart beating loudly in her ears as she rushed to the door and opened it.

Heechul looked back at her with half-lidded eyes, swaying in attempt to stand straight.

“Dammit, Heechul!” she yelled, letting her built up tears race down her face in both frustration and relief, hitting his shoulder. “Where the hell have you been?!”

“I- I’m sorry,” he replied tiredly, looking down and refusing to meet her gaze as he carefully tried to make his way inside.

Jessica couldn’t stop the tears as