Kangbae sighed as she looked down at the work before her. It was almost over. In two weeks, school was over and she could enjoy the winter the way she was supposed to. She tried not to think about relaxing in front of the TV and thinking about nothing but the drama’s storyline or going out to eat, purely to hang out with old friends. It was so close, she could almost taste the cafe’s hot chocolate but she could not let that distract her. What used to be the kitchen floor was now her notes sprawled around like a paper carpet. How could she have learned so much this semester, but still not retain any of the knowledge?

Looking over a section she went through in September, she’s seriously wondering if she even learned anything remotely close to it. But apparently she had and she needed to be an expert on it right that moment. It wasn’t like Kangbae was stressing out; she simply fed up with school. The final project was given at the beginning of school and she was smart enough to work throughout the semester, but it just so happen to delete off her laptop before she could put in the last touches on it. Typing in commands so fast, she was almost certain she was pounding the keys into the laptop. But she had to get it finished--she could not fail this class. She was so focused, she didn’t even notice him standing in front of her.

Hongbin opened his mouth to speak, but then nothing came out. Putting down the groceries on the counter, he stood in front of her waiting for an explanation.

Finally, she notice her boyfriend’s figure beside her. Looking up, she saw a pleasant perplexed look on his face. A wave of relief flooded her lung as she took a deep breath. A bright smile replaced her chewed lips and she greeted him.

“Hongbin-oppa! Hello, I didn’t even notice you over there.” Looking back at the laptop to read over what she had written over, she talked on. “How was grocery shopping? I didn’t think you’d be back so soon.”

Hongbin eyed the notes hazardly surrounding her as if it was eating her, but then he cocked an eyebrow and replied. ‘Um… It was good. But, I was gone for two hours.”

“Oh, really?”

Kangbae didn’t even look up when she responded and only typed away at her computer. This concerned Hongbin a little, he’s seen Kangbae high strung and she’s been stressed out, but she’s never not given Hongbin his time of day. With a furrowed brow, Hongbin bent down and asked,

“Kangbae? Is everthing okay?”

She replied that nothing was wrong.

Hongbin watched from the other side of the notes as Kangbae worked through her project, mumbling things to herself, rereading sections of books that she didn’t understand and flipping through notes he was scared that she was going to rip them. She only got up twice--both times to go to the bathroom. And even as he cooked dinner for the both of them--which was really just an omelet, he handed her the plate, because he knew that she was too busy to grab it herself and would’ve probably forgot. Eating through his dinner, he watched her some more. She bit into it twice and then it was set aside to get cold. The sun drifted to the east and stars started to sprinkle the darkening sky. Looking over the bleeding horizon, Hongbin thought that it was probably an appropriate time to take a break.

Sighing deeply and regrettably, Kangbae turned the pages of her notebook. “It’s not here. But I remember writing this down. Oh my gosh, was it in chapter seven. No, I looked through chapter seven and that’s about sizing. If it’s not in chapter seven, then where is it. Maybe chapter nine? Oh my gosh, where is it?”

He sat there silently for a moment before he reached for her hand. But even then, he didn’t say anything and she didn’t either. While his thumb rubbed circles on her fingers, Kangbae carried on with her work. But then she sighed shakingly. Hongbin moved over toward her and held her back as a way to pull her into a hug. She didn’t look up to him, but grabbed the sides of his black sweater and leaned into his shoulder blade. He smelled like grass. It was always strange to Kangbae, that he always seemed to smell like nature, like grass being blown by a cold spring wind and it always reminded Kangbae of home. She breathed in his essence again and when she exhaled, there was a hiccup and a tear. Then she felt Hongbin move and kiss her head slightly. The hand that was on her back, moved to smooth out her hair and he kissed her head again. He didn’t say anything; he didn’t tell her that it was going to be okay; he didn’t ask if she was alright or if there was anything he could do for her. She didn’t want anything from him--she just wanted him. Rocking her and hoping to calm her, Hongbin pressed his cheek against her head and they shared their warmth, their heartbeats and griefs.

She wet his sweater with tears for a minute and all that was heard was her frustrated crying throughout the apartment. She managed to slip one sentence.

“It’s been a long day.”

And she could feel Hongbin nod at her words and then he quietly replied.

“It’s been a long semester.”

Silence flooded the room again, but it wasn’t awkward as if words were left hanging. Everything was fulfilled and everything had an ending. And he sat her back and she blinked away tears that rolled down her reddened cheeks. There was work to be done. There was always going to be work to be done and Kangbae knew that she was going to work until the day she died, but she always knew that Hongbin was there to help her through it. Clinging onto his sweater, she listened to Hongbin humming low and wonderfully. All that enveloped her was him--his breath, his voice, his arms and what was once restless was finally at peace.