Minseok stared at his phone in desperation. Kyungsoo had been home for nearly an hour and the urge to vomit was slowly lacing up his spine. He could feel his nervous energy pounding around his body, throwing itself at his lungs, his heart, his ribs. Everywhere was so warm and he couldn’t put his phone down, not even for a second.

‘What if she doesn’t call?’ He threw a furtive glance out the window and then locked his eyes back to his phone, fingers twitching anxiously over the screen.

‘She will.’ Kyungsoo muttered.

‘What if she doesn’t?’ Kyungsoo raised his huge eyes and sighed at Minseok witheringly; if Suzie didn’t call soon it was going to be a pretty long day.

‘She will, Hyung. You didn’t see how angry she was at you.’ Kyungsoo said, his words aiming to comfort but having the opposite effect.

‘What do you mean angry?’ Minseok hedged the question, his eyes finally drawn away from his phone.

‘Like throwing stuff around and stirring her coffee furiously kind of pissed-angry.’ Baekhyun inserted, he was sprawled on the sofa, his head resting on Kyungsoo’s lap. Everyone except Minseok knew every detail of the conversation with Suzie and it didn’t bother him as much as he thought it would. It was weird having everyone know his business, but it meant he wasn’t dealing with it alone.

‘What was she even throwing?’ Minseok muttered, aghast at the thought of Suzie’s face crumpled with anger, her soft voice raised in temper. She was normally so calm. What did Kyungsoo do?

‘I don’t know, letters or notes or something-’ With a muffled thud a fist made contact with Baekhyun’s rib, he stopped speaking instantly and went to whining about how mean Kyungsoo was to him.

Minseok paused and stared down at his phone again. Letters or notes or something, he mused over what Kyungsoo didn’t want him to know. It took him nearly five minutes to realise that Suzie had kept them. Every single note he wrote to her when he left, she’d kept. He hadn’t realised how important they were, the invisible tug of nerves gnawed at his heart. Could he wait any longer? Every second she could be slipping further away. Kyungsoo had told him that she’d call, that he didn’t need to go anywhere. He just needed to wait for her. With an exasperated sigh he’d grabbed his jacket and was out the door to the sound of Baekhyun squealing. It looked like Kyungsoo was not going to forgive him for ruining his master plan.

Suzie’s next visitor was as unexpected as he had been the night before, warm and erratic his breath clouded around him in tiny steamy clouds. He just stared at her, waiting for something. She had nothing to say. The air was cold as it crept into her apartment, crawling past her toes, inching through her thin shirt dress. Every part of her ached to slam the door, but she didn’t. It was as though the chill night air had taken her captive, surrounding her in its frigid embrace.

‘Suzie.’ Minseok whispered his voice desperate, full of some weird animalistic growl that set her teeth on edge.

‘No.’ Her words were a murmur as she redirected her eyes anywhere but his. Those cat-like eyes, so dangerous, full to the brim with mischief and innocence. Minseok was a beautiful contradiction, so perfectly imperfect it hurt. She would never get used to those eyes.

‘Let me in.’

‘No.’ She repeated as he brushed his fingers over her cheekbone. Every inch of her skin burned, she wasn’t sure if it was the cold or his touch, but she was intoxicated.

‘Please, Suzie.’ Begging. He was begging. With a gentle sigh he leant forward, rested his head in her neck and nuzzled her with his soft lips. He trailed his mouth along her jaw, down her neck, anywhere he could reach. He took in a full breath of her smell, all caramel and vanilla, so soft and complimentary. Everything about Suzie was soft. ‘I never answered your question.’

Her body trembled, now she was sure she was too cold. Defeated she swung her door open; he didn’t say a thing as he followed her in shutting the door on his way.

‘Do you want a drink?’

‘No, Suzie, I-’ Determined to ignore his response she continued.

‘You sure? I have coffee, earl grey; I may have some green tea. Give me second and-’

‘Always.’ He cut across her. That singular word hung in the air between them, landing everywhere in-between. It cloaked the kitchen table in its nonsense, burnt holes in his make-shift love letters that were strewn across the counter, decorated the walls with its stupidity.

‘What?’ Her voice cracked gently, she was so surprised she spoke in English.

‘Always.’ He repeated, ‘I will love you now, always and forever. I will never hurt you again. I will never make you hide. I will be proud to tell the world that I am, stupidly and inconceivably, in love with you.’ Tears choked Suzie’s throat as she collapsed backward into the counter edge, her wide eyes fluid with burning tears. In a matter of seconds he was holding her, cradled in his warm arms she realised that he wasn’t lying. For once, she believed what he’d said.

‘I love you.’ I love you too, her heart felt free, like a butterfly had been sprung from a cage.

Always.