On the Doorstep

   It’s time to get out of bed and I’m still exhausted. I hardly gotten in an hour of sleep. I tried, but had no luck whatsoever. I sigh, rolling onto my face and running my fingers through my thick and ridiculously tangled hair. I flop out of bed and stumble tiredly out of my bedroom and into the bathroom, where I peel off my clothes and lazily throw them on the floor before stepping into the shower and turning it on. The initial blast of ice-cold water wakes me up.

    When I get out, I still have a half hour before I needed to be at work so I call my friend to see if she wants to meet up later that day. We met at work and have been close ever since. "Hey, GiGi," she says when she picks up.

    "Hey, you sound tired," I say, concerned.

    "Oh yeah, well, I had to get up early for work."

    "I thought you were off today!"

    "Well yeah, but Mark said you weren't coming in so I have to take your shift."

    "What? I am coming though. I didn't take the day off."

    "Well, I guess it's a happy coincidence," she says, laughing. "Why'd you call?"

    "Well, I wondered if you wanted to hang out later."

    “Actually, I’m going to be busy this afternoon; sorry.”

    “Oh okay, too bad,” I say. “I’m going to call Mark and tell him I’m coming instead of you.”

    "No, it's fine," she says quickly. "You need to take a break anyway. You've been working yourself to death."

    “If you’re sure!” I say doubtfully.

    “I’m sure,” she replies.

    "Okay," I say. "Thanks, Sophia."

    "No problem. Have a good day!"

    "You too. You're the best."

    She laughs. "Why thank you. Talk to you later!"

    "Bye!" I say, and hang up. I sit down at the kitchen table, wondering about why I’m off today. I guess it really was just an accident. It’s still strange though… Suddenly there's a knock on the door. I stand up and walk over, but I hesitate to open it. Who’d be here this early? It’s probably just a solicitor. But we don’t get solicitors around here often… I wish there was a peephole in my door. Screw it, I think to myself, and then I open it and my mouth falls open and someone’s hugging me so I hard I can hardly breathe but I don't care because I know immediately who it is. "GiGi," he murmurs in my ear, his deep voice making me shiver. "I missed you so much."

    "You too, Guk," I reply, choking on my words. I shake my head and press my face into his shoulder. My heart is pounding and having his arms around me, his body pressed to mine, feels so perfect. When at last he draws back and holds me at arms' length, he looks me up and down and says,

    "You're even more beautiful than I remembered."

    I smile, "And you're even more handsome."

    I still can't believe he's here and when he pulls me in for a kiss it feels surreal. It's been since the morning after our wedding that I've seen him and that's been a whole two months. I don't hesitate to reciprocate his kiss. He nibbles on my lower lip and a sharp breath escapes me; he takes the chance to press his tongue into my mouth. My body is heating up as he explores my mouth, our tongues gently clashing. When at last I pull back, we're both out of breath.

    "Come inside," I say, taking his hand and leading him through the door. My place isn't fancy, but it's extremely clean, and I think Guk will like it even though I decorated it to my own preferences. See, we figured I wouldn't be here long before I could move to Korea with him but with all the clamor surrounding their comeback, it just hasn't worked out yet. So I made the place comfortable.

    "GiGi, this is really cool," he says, looking around.

    "Thanks!" I say. "So… how and why are you here?"

    "Well, I came on a plane to see you."

    I raise an eyebrow. "You know that's not what I mean."

    "Yeah," he concedes. "I came because they gave us the weekend off and I miss you like crazy. So I called your boss and asked for the day off for you, explained what was going on and he was happy to oblige. He says you talk about me like I'm the best person alive." He smirks at me confidently.

    "Keep your ego in check, mister," I say. " I don’t talk about you that much. He said that because he knows you're a k-pop star. That's it."

    "That's it, really?" he says.

    "Yes," I say, knowing full well he knows I'm lying. I brag about him too much and I know it. I turn to walk into the kitchen but he grabs me around the waist and whispers in my ear.

    "You can't fool me, babe."

    "Good thing I wasn't trying to, then," I joke. I would wink but he wouldn’t see it so I just jog him lightly with my elbow.

    "Ooh, you're good," he says, and I can hear his smile in his voice.

    "I know," I say, turning in his arms to plant a kiss on his lips before I break away and lead the way into the kitchen. I show him the rest of the small house and then ask, "So what do you want to do?"

    "Why don't you show me around town?" he asks.

    "Sure," I say. "You're gonna like it, I know it."

    "I'll like anywhere I go with you," he says sweetly and I can't help grinning.

    "You're such a big softie."

    He laughs. "You love it."

    "That I do," I say. "Lemme just put on something nicer and we can go."

    "Sure," he says. "I'll get my luggage. Sorta dropped it when I saw you."

    "Okay," I say, smiling. Several minutes later I'm dressed in a skirt, T-shirt, and a pair of Converse and Yongguk's suitcase is on the couch, and we head out. I live about forty minutes from downtown Palo Alto (that's the closest I could affordably live, and it's still pricey). We walk hand in hand to the nearest Caltrain station and wait among the crowd after getting ou