The night sky draped across the horizon, overlooking the illuminating city lights below. You stood alone on your apartment balcony, your arms resting  on the barrier. You took a deep breath, feeling the bitter cold breeze pierce your skin as the cold air filled your lungs. You had forgotten to bring a jacket outside, but you didn’t care. You loved the cold. You loved the fresh and bitter feeling of the icy air and often spent hours standing outside, taking everything in. Your apartment overlooked the busy city life; the low drone of public traffic below you, the glowing lights illuminating the night sky. Everything seemed perfect, except one thing. Someone to share it with. You were constantly working and studying all the time that you found yourself in need of someone to admire it with you. However the only thing stopping you was that single chance of getting hurt. Just the thought of the pain you had experienced awhile back make you never want to be with someone else ever again, but nights like this made you second guess it. You suddenly heard the screen door shut behind you, causing you to spin around. It was only Yunhyeong.

“Ya! (Y/N)…What are you doing out here this late? It’s freezing out here”

He took off his thick jacket and wrapped it around you, adjusting it so that you were completely covered. You watched how he carefully made sure you were covered, rubbing your arms to warm you up. You looked up at him and smiled. “Yunhyeong I’m fine, You’re probably going to need it more than me”

“I don’t want you getting sick…and you wouldn’t if you were more careful. I swear you are sometimes so reckless.”

“Yunhyeong…come here” You turned and headed back to your original area, gesturing for him to stand beside you. You had known Yunhyeong for nearly five years, you met him in college and ever since then you had always kept in contact. For some reason, he’s always been protective of you to the point where he’s nagging you constantly to take care of yourself as if you didn’t know how. At first it was extremely annoying, but you grew fond of his cautious and protective behavior.  Sometimes you needed him, and he needed you.

He lingered over to you, trailing your gaze across the city, completely consumed by it. “Just look….” You managed, captivated by the beauty of the night life.

He couldn’t help but chuckle, he could never understand the things that fascinated you, but then again he couldn’t tear his eyes away from you either. Watching your eyes light up made his heart swell with joy, anything that made you happy made him complete. But it drove him crazy whenever you didn’t listen to him, all he cared for was your safety, and whenever you challenged that it nearly drove him mad. His watched you carefully, his heart seeming to beat louder the longer he stared. You looked towards him, rolling your eyes. “Yunhyeong-ah…you’re doing it again”

He shook his head, flustered. “W-what?”

“You keep staring at me”

“Oh…right…” he placed his hand behind his neck, avoiding your gaze.

“I hate that you keep worrying about me, you don’t need to. I can take care of myself, so here” You peeled off his jacket and handed it back to him, drawing your attention back to the night sky. Yunhyeong held his jacket in his hands, staring down at it for a few seconds before breaking out of his sudden trance, directing his attention back to you. He was captivated by your appearance, the way your hair flowed in the breeze, the way your clothes perfectly shaped your perfect body. He stuttered, “I’m not w-worrying about you…i-it’s just”

“I know I know I’m restless, irresponsible and can’t take care of myself. I get it; can we please just not talk about that right now?”

He gulped, dazed by your words. “I wasn’t going to say that…”

“Then what were you going to say? That I’m probably going to get sick from the cold and that I should just go inside and just lie down”

“I wasn’t going to say that either”

You shot a glance toward him, an annoyed expression on your face. “Then what? What were you going to say that you haven’t already told me?”

“You look beautiful”

You blinked, stunned at his response. You couldn’t help but slightly laugh. “Are you being sarcastic? I’m just wearing jeans and a t-shirt”

“I know…”

You didn’t know what was up with him, but it really wasn’t like him. After knowing each other for so long everything just seemed so calm and normal around him. All your sarcastic jokes you both threw back and forth at one another you were used to, but this wasn’t one of them. Your eyes suddenly locked with his and something washed over you. The way he looked at you sent butterflies in your stomach, that’s never happened before. You tore your gaze and shuffled your feet awkwardly, avoiding his stare. “Yunhyeong…why are you acting so weird?”

He bit his lip, “I’m not, just trying to figure out how to say what I’ve been meaning to tell you for years”

“What’re talking about?”

He took a step forward, not tearing his eyes from yours as he took his jacket and wrapped it back over you again, making sure you were covered as his hands adjusting the fabric before resting on your shoulders. “What are you doing? I told you I’m fine…” you said, looking up at him confused.

“I know…”

Suddenly he gently pulled you closer to him and he leaned down and pressed his lips against yours. Your eyes widened as his lips continued to move against yours, softly but passionately. You felt your eyes flutter shut as your lips moved hungrily against his. You had no idea how much you had wanted this until it was finally happening. You felt his hands cup your cheeks, then drift down to your shoulders, then down your sides until firmly planting them on your waist. You felt his fingers dig into your skin as he gripped your waist, pulling you closer to him. You lost yourself in his embrace, heat rising to your cheeks as your lips continued to press against his.

Yunhyeong had to slowly draw away, resting his forehead against yours as you both drifted your eyes shut, trying to regulate your breathing. You opened your eyes and he did the same, staring back into his darkened eyes before finally speaking. “Woah”

He bit his lip, “…Yeah”

“We just…”

“uh-huh,,,”

“Is…is that what you wanted to talk to me about?”

He nodded slightly, his forehead still pressed up against yours. He lifted his hand and cupped it against your cheek, allowing you to nuzzle against his warm touch. He managed a smile, his eyes flickering to yours. “After all these years, I’ve waited to confess my feelings for you, but now my heart is beating so fast I can’t focus on anything else”

You sighed, your breath visible in the cold night, but the amount of heat radiating from your body made you completely forget how cold it really was.

“(Y/N)…from the moment I met you I felt myself completely falling for you to the point where I just wanted to protect you at all costs, but no matter what you never listened to me. But that only made me love you even more.”

“Love?”

“Love. I love you (Y/N)”

“Yunhyeong…”

“What?”

“What if…what if I’m not ready for this. What if I can’t be the person you want me too. I just don’t want to get hurt again…”

“I don’t want you to be anything else but yourself. I love you for you, and I always have. And I promise, nothing bad will ever happen to you as long as you’re by my side”

He smiled and leaned in once more and pressed his soft lips against yours.