Jaemi groggily opened her eyes, not quite ready to wake up, but not tired enough to go back to sleep. Hyuk was sound asleep, still mentally and physically exhausted. Jaemi smiled and sighed in content; any morning where she woke up next to him was a good morning. Her heart fluttered from looking at his sleeping face. She wondered if he would ever get tired of looking at her because she didn’t think she would ever get tired of looking at him. She gently brushed his bangs from his eyes; his hair had gotten quite long since she’s last seen him. She lightly pressed her lips against his and gently squeezed his hand to wake him up. He let out a low groan and to his other side.

                “I’m sleeping,” he grumbled.

                She pouted slightly because she was hoping that he would wake up with her. “Fine, I’ll just get ready and have breakfast by myself.” She waited for Hyuk to give a response, but no sign of life came from him. She climbed out of bed and picked up their clothes from the floor and put them in the laundry hamper.

                When she finished getting ready, she came out of the bathroom and saw Hyuk still fast asleep. She laughed quietly, seeing him completely sprawled out on her bed. She closed the curtains and went into the kitchen. She was surprised to see a bag of groceries on the table with a note that read, “You didn’t have food in your apartment so I bought you some food. –Han Sanghyuk aka your loving boyfriend who deserves really really really good food.”

                She laughed to herself and glanced towards her bedroom to see if Hyuk had woken up, but seeing as he hadn’t, she rummaged through the bag of groceries to see what she had to work with. It seemed as if Hyuk had just grabbed whatever he saw at the store. After much thought, she decided to just make kimchi fried rice using whatever she had. She put the unnecessary ingredients into her fridge, and she was shocked to see it full of food. She almost cried at the beautiful sight in front of her; her fridge had never looked like that since she moved out of her parents’ house. She was infinitely thankful that Hyuk had such a big appetite, and wallet.

                Almost as soon as she started cooking, Hyuk materialized behind her. He peered over her shoulder out of curiosity and placed his hands on her hips. He was barely touching her, but she still felt extremely happy that he was there. She was comforted by his presence, even though he was annoying her to death.

                “What are you making? What are you using the onions for? Shouldn’t you use more pepper? Are you sure you’re doing that right?” he inquired endlessly.

                “I’m making kimchi fried rice and yes I’m doing it right,” she answered agitatedly. “Ew, Hyuk. Did you brush your teeth yet? You still have morning breath. Go wash up and it’ll be ready.”

                Hearing that, Hyuk rushed to the bathroom to brush his teeth and take a shower while Jaemi finished preparing breakfast. As if on cue, Hyuk came out of the bathroom just as she set the last plate on the table. The sight of Hyuk with wet hair never failed to make her feel even more attracted to him.

                “Aren’t you going to sit down?” Hyuk asked.

                She shook her head and replied, “No, I have a photoshoot to go to.”

                “What? You’re just going to leave me here, by myself, with nothing to do for hours?” he asked disappointedly with a pout. She giggled at his cuteness and nodded.

                “You don’t have to stay here by yourself. You can leave, you know,” she .

                He pursed his lips and thought of something good to say. Jaemi mistook at for him wanted a kiss, but he didn’t mind. He loved every kiss and every moment they spent together, especially since they didn’t get to have a lot together.

                Jaemi’s phone rang and she broke away from the kiss. She already knew it was Miyoung calling her to tell her to hurry up. She ignored the call and took her time parting with Hyuk anyway. “Let’s go on a date when I get back,” she suggested happily.

                “And when will that be?” he asked, walking slowly with her towards the door so they could spend an extra few seconds together.

                “When I get back,” she answered cheekily. “But really, I don’t know. It might be a couple of hours or it might be like five hours. It depends on how many outfits there are and how the interview goes.”

                “I might have to go out and seduce another beautiful model if you make me wait too long,” he joked.

                Her heart fluttered at the veiled compliment. “Hyuk!” she exclaimed.

                “Fine, ok. I won’t. I’ll just trash your place while you’re gone,” he joked again.

                “Please don’t,” she said with a bright smile on her face.

                He sighed overdramatically. “Ok, fine. I’ll be a good boy while you’re gone.”

                “You better be,” she said, pressing her lips onto his again. He loved the feeling of having her soft lips on his. All too soon, she pulled away from the kiss and left.

                He sat back down to eat, but the food had gotten cold. He was too lazy to heat it up again and just ate it as it was. He let out a long breath; the apartment was so quiet. He wondered if she had to eat every meal alone, in her quiet apartment every day; he felt guilty for making her go through that.

                Jaemi went through her photo shoot as if she was on fire and finished in record time. For once, she was the one telling Miyoung to hurry up.

                “Ah, eonni! You’re taking too long. Hyuk is waiting for me,” Jaemi whined. “You know, I think I’m just going to take a taxi home. I think that would be faster.” She was out the door before Miyoung had a chance to reply. Miyoung smiled and thought of the early stages of her relationship with her now husband where she was always so eager to meet with him. There would be something wrong with the world if Jaemi and Hyuk weren’t meant for each other.

                As soon as she walked out of the building, Jaemi got a call from Shin. Her heart sunk into the deepest depths of her stomach. Not now, please not now. She reluctantly answered the call.

                “Noona, look to your left. Do you see the black van? Get in, I’m waiting for you.” She felt like crying. Hyuk was waiting for her.

                She unwillingly got into the car and sat next to Shin. She tried to sit as far from him as possible, but he insisted on sitting right next to her. He talked to her about how much he missed her while he was overseas and he rubbed her knee with his hand. She couldn’t stop thinking about Hyuk. She hoped that this night would end soon.

                 Unfortunately, Shin forced her to sit through a 6-course dinner with him. Of course the food was absolutely delicious, but she would have rather ate ramen with Hyuk at home. At the end of the night, Shin gave her a very expensive looking pearl necklace. She thanked him for it with a straight face and intended to hide it in her box of shame with all the other gifts he’s given her.

                 When she finally got home, it was almost 10 PM. She found Hyuk mindlessly watching T.V. with his feet propped on the coffee table and dirty plates and food wrappers everywhere. Hyuk was so absorbed in the show that he didn’t even hear her enter. She decided to use this opportunity to get back at him.

                 She stealthily creeped up behind him and placed her hands onto his shoulders and yelled.

                 “Oh!” he yelled. She was highly unsatisfied with his reaction, but she knew Hyuk was pretty hard to scare. “That was more than a few hours, Jaemi,” he chided.

                 “I know, I’m sorry. I had an extra schedule,” she explained while gently wrapping her arms around his neck. He froze for a moment; he never knew what to do when she was being extra affectionate, even after all these years.

                 “D-Do you still want to go out?” he stammered.

                 “Can we?” she asked happily. Hyuk nodded, took her hand, and led her outside.

                 The streets were considerably busy, considering how late it was. The two of them walked hand in hand to their favorite café. With everything going wrong the past few days, just walking and holding hands together seemed even more special. It made Jaemi feel like everything was going to be ok.

                 Once they got to the café, Jaemi ordered drinks for them while Hyuk picked a game for them to play. Jaemi brought the drinks to the booth and saw Hyuk setting up Jenga blocks.

                  “Are you sure you want to play this against me? I’m really good at this,” she bragged.

                  “Ha!” he laughed in response. “If you’re so good then why do you lose like every time we play?”

                  Jaemi scowled at him and sipped on her drink. “I’ll win this time.”

                  “I’d like to see you try,” Hyuk taunted, taking a sip of his own drink.

                  “Do you want to bet?” she offered. “Loser sleeps on the couch tonight—wait—no. Loser sleeps in the bathtub,” she said defiantly.

                  “Oh, digging your own grave, I see. Fine, let’s do it,” he agreed. They shook hands and started the game.

                  After about ten minutes, Jaemi thought she had finally caught Hyuk. He was trying to take out one of the blocks on the side, but the tower was swaying precariously to one side. Hyuk squinted and concentrated on removing the block. It was quite risky, and there were other blocks that would’ve been easier to take out, but he knew that if he could successfully remove this one, then it would be all over for Jaemi. He poked the block and willed it to loosen itself while Jaemi willed the tower to fall over. He gave the block one final poke before it finally dislodged itself, but not before it shifted the rest of the tower.

                   Hyuk laughed maniacally. No matter which block Jaemi wanted to remove, it would fall over. They both knew it. In a last ditch effort to save herself, Jaemi reached across the table and took his hand in hers,

                   “Hyuk oppa, I was thinking—“ she started. Hyuk retracted his hand from hers and laughed,

                    “Nope, you’re not getting out of this.”

                    Jaemi scowled at him and took a deep breath. She scanned the tower for the best block to remove. She decided to remove a block near the top of the tower. She poked it and the tower leaned even more. She held her breath, and continued to gently poke at the block. After a difficult battle, she finally got it out. She stuck her tongue out at him in triumph and placed the block back at the top of the tower. Unfortunately, she placed it on the side that the tower was already leaning towards and caused it to fall over.  

                    The whole way home, she pleaded with Hyuk to nullify the bet, but he refused. When they got back, he sat down on the couch and mocked her, “Wow, this couch is so much less comfortable than the bed. I wouldn’t even want to imagine how uncomfortable the tub would be. It’s probably worse than the floor.”

                    She frowned at him, but then got a genius idea. She went over to him and sat on his lap. She kissed him deeply and he kissed her back, not thinking anything of it. She trailed kisses down his neck, leaving him speechless.

                    “Are you sure you want to spend the night apart, Hyuk?” she whispered into his ear. He realized what she was doing and quickly pushed her off of his lap before she could accomplish it.

                    “Keep it in your pants, woman,” he said. “You’re the one who wanted to make a bet anyway.” He looked over and saw her pouting and staring at him with her puppy eyes. He looked away for a second, and when he looked back, she was still looking at him like that. He finally broke down after a few more seconds. “Fine, ok. If you can beat me in another game, then you won’t have to sleep in the bathtub,” he stated. She smiled happily and kissed him.

                    “Just so you know, I’m not going to go easy on you,” he lied. He kissed her again and let her win the game this time. He couldn’t stand the thought of spending even one more night away from her.