You and your friends had been waiting in line for an hour to get into a popular new club downtown, when a cocky young man in an enormous black fur coat suddenly tried to cut the line completely.

The entire line, minus you, booed at him as he attempted to push past the bouncer. The muscular man held him back and informed him he had to get in line to come in. He insisted that he should be able to cut the line and tried to shove the bouncer away again, this time with more force. The bouncer pushed back with all his strength and the cocky man in the ridiculous coat stumbled backwards. You cringed. He regained his balance and held up his hands in defeat as the line of people jeered at him to go home.

He turned toward the line, and your eyes met before you could turn away. "______?" You shivered at the sound of your name on his lips. "______!" He exclaimed and leaned over the railing separating you two. Your friends shot him disgusted looks and turned away, pretending not to know you.

"Jiyong..." You looked up into his excited face, nonverbally and desperately asking him to go away. He looked gaunt, thinner than he was the last time you saw him four months ago. He had dark circles around his eyes like he hadn't been sleeping, and his breath hinted at recent alcohol abuse. Yet his face lit up brighter than the city night when he realized it was you.

"______! Hi! How have you been?" He smiled dumbly.

"Jiyong, please..." You pleaded and looked away.

His excitement vanished and confusion washed over his face, making him look like a scolded puppy who didn't quite understand why chewing up expensive shoes was bad. "Wh-what's wrong?"

One of your friends leaned over and whispered in your ear, "Make him leave," giving him another dirty look and turning away again.

You sighed and closed your eyes. "Jiyong...you're embarrassing me."

You could almost hear his heart breaking. "_______..."

You sighed again and opened your eyes. You were met with the sight of his eyes wide and broken and his lips quivering. You stepped forward and reached for his arm. "Jiyong." His eyes followed your hand as it approached him, anticipating warm contact with you. "Come on," you said gently, tugging lightly on the sleeve of his fur coat.

He willingly obliged and as you left the line, you heard other patrons muttering things like "Finally," and "What a freak." You glared at them.

You led him by his sleeve to the alley at the edge of the building, lit only by a single streetlight. You ducked into it, pulling him with you. You leaned back and pressed your back against the chilly brick wall of the building, sighing in exasperation. The cold bit through your leather jacket. You rubbed your forehead with one hand and looked down at your feet.

"Jiyong," you sighed.

His face brightened when he heard his name escape your lips with a puff of breath into the night air.

"_______. I'm so happy to see you again! How are you?" He asked cheerfully, as if the scene in front of the club had not just happened.

You sighed again, not looking up. "I'm okay."

"I'm glad to hear that," he said happily. You looked up at him. He smiled that beautiful smile that had made you fall in love with him in the first place. He cutely ran his fingers through his hair. The movement revealed a fresh, bleeding gash near his ear that had been hidden by messy fringe.

"Jiyong, what's this?" You asked, brushing strands of his blond hair out of the way so you could get a better look at it.

"Oh, it's nothing." He pushed his hair back down to cover it and smiled weakly. "I just got in a small scuffle earlier tonight."

"Jiyong, you've got to get that cleaned up. It'll get infected." He didn't answer you, just continued patting hair down to cover it. You sighed. "Come on, Jiyong. I'll get you cleaned up." You reluctantly held out your hand for him to take. He delightfully grasped your hand in his, intertwining your fingers as you led him to your car parked on the street in front of the club.

As you clicked your seatbelt and he settled into the passenger seat and tossed his hideous black coat into the back seat, you glanced up at the club's line. It was longer than before, but your friends were inside already. You sighed for the millionth time that night, and backed out into the street.

•••

Jiyong winced as you dabbed his cut with rubbing alcohol. "It hurts," he whined.

"It'll heal faster this way." Once you cleaned it up the best you could, you carefully placed a large BandAid over it and patted his hair back down the way he wanted it. Touching the strands, you noticed how greasy they were. Your eyes flitted down to streaks of grime on his neck, gray against his pale skin, as you suddenly became aware of a slight sweaty odor about him.

"Jiyong..." you said, running one finger down his neck and tracing a stripe of dirt and city dust.

"Mmm," he closed his eyes and hummed in response.

"When was the last time you showered?"

He opened his eyes suddenly and blushed. "Oh, uh...I'm not exactly sure."

You felt a little chip of your heart break away. You couldn't stop caring about him, no matter how hard you tried, and seeing him at his all-time low upset you.

You rubbed your thumb across his cheek. "Come upstairs."

•••

The steam from the hot bath made the tiny bathroom very warm, so you left your jacket hanging on the doorknob. You rested your chin on your arm on the edge of the bathtub and swirled the surface of the water with the pad of one finger. Your legs were folded underneath you as you sat on the bath mat next to the tub. Your black dress was starting to stick to you uncomfortably as you sat there.

"It's been a long time since I've been here," Jiyong noted as he looked around the room. You mumbled in agreement.

He was soaking in warm water with suds in his hair and tumbling down his shoulders. He poured water over his head to rinse them off, leaving him glistening with droplets all over. He did this several times but each time he missed some soap bubbles, which you pointed out to him. After the third try he glanced up at you sitting completely dry outside the tub.

"_______," he said shyly.

"Hmm?" You answered.

"I could really use someone in here to help me out."

You stared at him blankly. "Jiyong, no."

He shrugged. "It's just a thought."

No way were you taking a bath with him. You didn't want to lead him on or make him think he was going to get you back. But he did need help, and you needed to clean up after a long night. Maybe slipping into the tub wouldn't be such a bad idea.

You slowly stood up, supporting yourself with the edge of the tub. Jiyong looked at you quizzically and tilted his head in confusion when you left the bathroom. You left the door open, so he craned his neck to see into your bedroom.

You ped your dress and let it fall to the floor. Jiyong's eyes widened. You peeled off your pantyhose, unclipped your bra, and slid your down to your ankles. You left all the garments in a pile on your floor. Hesitantly, you turned around and headed back into the bathroom just in time to see Jiyong whipping his head back around in a vain attempt to prevent you from catching him staring. A small smile appeared on your lips.

Once you reached the bathroom, you pulled a towel down from the shelf and set it on the floor next to Jiyong's. "Scootch forward," you said, gesturing to him to move. He did, and you carefully climbed in behind him, settling your legs on either side of him. You placed your hands on his shoulders and gently guided him backwards, letting him settle with his shoulder blades against your chest and his head leaning back to rest on your shoulder.

You picked up a washcloth from the edge of the tub, squirted some soap from the bottle into a small dollop in the middle of it, and began lathering up Jiyong's arms. He hummed in contentment, closed his eyes, and relaxed completely against you. You set the washcloth on the edge of the tub and poured water over the suds on his arms. After he was clear of soap, you picked up the washcloth again, squirted on more soap, and set to work on his dirty neck. He tilted his head to give you more access. He purred happily, the rhythm of your gentle scrubbing lulling him to sleep.

"I love you," Jiyong murmured sleepily. You halted your scrubbing.

"Jiyong," you sighed.

"I love you," he said again, this time with a touch more urgency but still not completely alert. He opened his sleepy eyes.

"Jiyong, don't say that," you scolded, trying to close the subject and going back to scrubbing his neck.

"I love you," he persisted, turning to face you and pulling his neck out of your reach. "Always have, always will."

You sighed, closed your eyes, and rubbed your temples. "Let's talk about this later, okay? Right now we need to get you cleaned up," you said after a pause.

Reluctantly, he returned to his previous position nestled in your arms. He tilted his head again and you resumed washing his neck, taking care to avoid the freshly bandaged gash by his ear. His breathing slowed from frantic to relaxed, and he closed his eyes and allowed himself to get sleepy again.

After you finished washing all the places he couldn't get to by himself, you let yourself revel in the lazy warmth of the bathwater and his body. Your fingers found themselves his damp hair that smelt of your shampoo. Almost instinctively, you nuzzled your nose against the side of his face. You resisted the urge to press tiny, loving kisses where your nose nuzzled. In a moment, you realized Jiyong had fallen asleep. You shook him awake and nudged him out of the tub, handing him a fuzzy, pastel yellow towel. He sleepily took it from you and rubbed the water droplets off his body, then dried his hair and hung the towel up on a hook. You did the same, except you wrapped the towel around youself for more modesty.

"I suppose I should head home," Jiyong reached for his clothes on the floor. He sounded dejected. "I'll call a taxi or something so you can get to sleep."

"Wait," You reached out an arm to stop him, "I-I...it's okay if you stay here tonight. I-It's late a-and do you have any money for a taxi?"

"Oh...no I don't," Jiyong sighed and straightened up.

"I, um, I still have some pajamas of yours that you left here t-that you could wear," You blushed.

"Oh, are they blue plaid pajama pants and a white long sleeve shirt? I've been looking for them."

"Uh, yeah, I think so," You blushed a deeper scarlet. You had hoped he would've forgotten about them. It was embarrassing that you still had them after months and months.

You led him into your room and opened your pajama drawer. After rummaging around, you found some pajamas for yourself and handed him his. You let your towel fall to the floor as you slid into the warm flannel. Jiyong put on his as well and stood, awkwardly shifting his weight from one foot to the other.

"Um, so, where will I sleep?"

"Uh..." your heartbeat picked up speed as you contemplated your answer, "You c-could sleep in my bed. With me." All premonitions about leading him on had flown out the window.

Jiyong's eyebrows raised, but he wasn't going to protest. He pulled back the covers on the left side of the bed, the side he always used to sleep on. You repeated the action on the right and climbed in. You laid on your right side, facing away from him. You felt the bed dip under his weight as he climbed in behind you.

"______," Jiyong murmured.

"Y-yes?" You answered, hesitating.

"Can we talk about what I said earlier?"

You tensed up. He felt the change in your body language and reached out to place a comforting hand on your arm. "We don't have t-"

"No, we can." You rolled over onto your left side to face him. His eyes were warm and he smiled when you made eye contact with him. The reason you left him faded from your memory as you nearly melted into his gaze.

He took a deep breath. "I love you, ______. I know you might not love me anymore, but I love you and I'm never gonna stop loving you and," another deep breath, "I was hoping you would give me another chance."

You closed your eyes. "I don't mean to make you uncomfortable, ______." Jiyong placed a warm hand on your shoulder. When you still didn't answer, he removed his hand and turned to get out of bed.

"Wait, Jiyong," Your eyes shot open and you reached out for him. "Stay."

He slowly pulled the covers back up to his chest and settled in, facing you again. "Yes, ______?"

You relaxed and closed your eyes again, then opened them and gazed into his. "Jiyong, I...I've been trying to get over you, I really have, and I almost did. I was so close. But then I saw you tonight and at first, I was fine. But then we came here and I was taking care of you and holding you and now you're in my bed just like how we used to sleep and you're telling me you love me and I realize that I love you too, Jiyong, I still love you too." Your voice broke as you rambled. "But we broke up, Ji. We broke up for a reason and if we get back together we'll break up again for the same reason. I want to be with you, but neither of us has changed in the last four months. You'll still give me too much and I still won't give you enough. I'm sorry, Ji. I want to be better for you, I do. And I want you to be better for me. But we're not and we'll just break up again and give each other more heartbreak."

Jiyong pulled you close to him and you nuzzled your face into his chest. The warmth from his sleepy body spread throughout you, and for the umpteenth time that night, you fell in love with him a little bit more. You felt something dripping into your hair and realized he was crying.

"Please, please take me back," Jiyong pleaded brokenly into your hair. "Please. I love you."

The sound of his cries shattered your heart. You let a few sobs out and he held you tighter. His pajama shirt absorbed your tears. "I can't," You said between sobs, "I can't."

•••

Your eyes were heavy and your cheeks were damp. Jiyong had stopped crying a while ago. You shifted so you could look up at him. His eyes were closed and there were dried tear tracks down each cheek. He was breathing slowly and deeply, and you realized he was asleep. You nuzzled back down into his chest. This movement woke him, and he shifted to look down at you.

"______."

"Yes, Jiyong?"

"I love you."

"I love you too."

"Please give me another chance. It'll work this time. I'll be better. I promise."

"Jiyong, I-"

"Please." He leaned down and pressed his lips gently to yours. It was barely there, a ghost of a kiss, in stark contrast to the kisses that he used to give you, desperate and needy, always taking and never giving. He leaned back. "Please."

You closed your eyes. You took another deep breath, then tugged on the collar of his shirt and brought his lips back down to yours. He willingly obliged, tangling his fingers in your hair and kissing you deeply and lovingly. You broke apart to catch your breath.

"Okay, Ji. Okay."