Baekhyun's POV~

We finally arrived in Busan...just me and Mina. I don't remember the last time we had alone time together, but I was happy to finally be with her the next few days without anyone interrupting us. I could tell she was happy to leave Seoul too; she's been so anxious lately with my father being in the hospital and her mother belittling her. I'm sure she's been feeling lonely with me working every day too.

We unloaded our stuff and entered our private villa. It was Mina's first time coming to my family's villa and also my first in years.

"Good afternoon, Baekhyun-ssi," our maid, Miss Joo, greeted with a bow. She's a middle-aged woman who basically lives here by day to ensure eveything is clean and that there are no intruders; by night she returns to her family and a security guard takes over for the night. 

"Good afternoon," I smiled and bowed back. "How have you been?"

"I've been good, still living," she joked with a soft laugh and I chuckled. "You sure have grown up to be a fine young man."

"I'd say I'm still growing," I said and looked down at Mina, who was still checking out the house from where she was standing. I nudged her arm a bit to get her attention and she looked up at me. I turned back to Miss Joo and introduced her, "By the way, this is my fiancee, Lee Mina."

Miss Joo gave a motherly smile, "It's nice to meet you, Mina-ssi. I am Miss Joo, the Byun family's head maid here in Busan."

"Ah, yes. It's nice to meet you too," Mina bowed and gave a faint smile.

Miss Joo picked up her bag and said, "I'll be taking my leave now. If you need anything then please contact me. I've also informed the guard to not come for the next few nights as you've requested, Baekhyun-ssi."

"Thank you, Miss Joo. I appreciate it," I said and walked her out the door with Mina following behind. We watched her enter her husband's car and we waved her goodbye as they drove off. Once they were out of sight, I looked down at Mina as she looked up at me and I smiled.

"Shall we unpack our stuff and go grocery shopping? There's a store not too far from here and we need food for the rest of our time here," I said and she nodded. We both headed back into the villa and dragged our stuff into our bedroom to unpack.

I will say, it was quiet without Bacon running around us as we hung our clothes in the closet. It really has been a long time since it was just Mina and I that I was actually starting to miss Bacon's presence; although, I didn't mind being with just Mina. I wonder if this is how parents feel when they leave their kids behind on a vacation?

I'm not the type to overpack, so I was done before Mina.

"Do you need help with anything?" I asked, walking up to her.

"No, I'm about done here," she said as she was setting up her cosmetics on the vanity table. "Why don't you go check in the kitchen what we have as far as condiments and make a list of what you want for the next few days. I'll come out once I'm done."

"Yes mother," I teased and she gave me a quick glare before going back to putting up her stuff. I chuckled and walked out of the bedroom towards the kitchen. I opened the fridge first and saw that it was packed with side dishes and various types of kimchi. But that's expected of Miss Joo to make us side dishes; she won't ever leave us hungry.

I did notice that there wasn't any meat, so that's something to write down on the list. I then moved on to the cupboards and as expected, all the condiments we would need was there. There wasn't much we needed from the store, but just being able to grocery shop with Mina was enough itself.

I wrote down the list just as Mina came towards me and looked over the table at what I was writing.

"Wow, that's a small list," she said and sat down across from me. "I'm guessing Miss Joo already gave us food?"

"Just side dishes," I answered and handed her the list. "Anything else you'd like to add?"

She looked at it and shrugged, "This looks fine, but let's get some soju too. I want to eat samgyupsal at least once on our trip and I need soju."

I chuckled and grabbed the list back from her. "Alright, Miss Alcoholic."

"God, you're so annoying," she muttered and stood up. "Well, let's get going. I'm starving and would like to eat as soon as possible."

I nodded and stood up with the list in my hand. We put on our jackets and walked out to the car.

Mina's POV~

Once we got to the store, Baekhyun went straight to the ice cream section. I just stared at him in disbelief from where I was standing. There he goes again puffing his cheeks out when deciding what to get and we haven't gotten to the important stuff yet.

"Baekhyun, I'm gonna go find the things we need," I called out to him and he gave me an 'okay' sign. I shook my head and sighed, "You're such a kid."

But I didn't necessarily hate that side of him...I have to admit, it does bring a warm feeling in my chest to see him act like a child. I gave a faint smile towards his direction before walking off to the meat section. I wasn't familiar with this store though, so I had to walk around to get there; I did grab some stuff along the way.

I grabbed a few packs of meat, but they were basically all pork belly since I only had samgyapsul in my mind. I grabbed a whole chicken too since samgyetang seemed like a good dish to have with the past few days getting colder.

I looked over my list again and made sure I had eveything we needed. The only thing left was...

"I finally found you!" Baekhyun panted like he was running around the whole store. Yep, definitely can't forget Baekhyun, although I don't mind leaving without him.

"Yeah and you got a workout in," I said and pushed the cart towards the register.

"I was searching the whole store for you. I thought you left, so I walked out and searched for you out there," he said and I looked at him in disbelief.

"You seriously thought I left you behind?" I asked and he nodded. "As if I'd leave with all these groceries. I can barely carry half of these stuff here alone."

He blinked his eyes and it finally clicked in his head. Seeing him so clueless made me laugh a little.

"Let's hurry and pay for these stuff and make something. I'm really starting to get hungry," I said and we set out items at the register.

I hadn't noticed it until now, but Baekhyun had his own basket of junk food. It was filled with chips, pudding, ice cream and sweet bread; those are the stuff I'd usually get when I'm on my time of the month. Don't tell me he's got a time of the month too.

"My, you must be a lucky lady to have your bodyfriend buy you comfort food," the register lady said with a smile as she scanned the rest of our stuff.

"Oh no, it's actually for me," he laughed as he pulled out his wallet. "Men need comfort food too."

That only raises my suspicions.

The lady just laughed and she bagged our last item. She told us our total and it was in the three digits. We didn't even have to buy a lot and yet we were in the three digits.

Baekhyun handed her his credit card and I just watched as they had a small conversation while she did her thing. I set the plastic bags into the cart and we bid our goodbyes to the cashier before heading out of the market.

"Don't you think we have too much food for just a few days? I mean, we're eating as if it's for a party of six," I said while we packed the bags into the trunk of his car.

"It's fine, you eat a lot anyways," he grinned and I lightly punched the side of his arm. He whined in pain and I glared at him.

"Right, says the one who needed comfort food," I said and we finished loading the car up. He chuckled and we got into the car and drove back to the villa.

First thing we did when we got back was prep for dinner; Baekhyun helped with rinsing the vegetables while I prepared the sauce for our stir-fry. And, I have to say, it was nice to just have the two of us cooking together; he's been so busy lately that I've been cooking alone for myself. Just his presence here was nice...as odd as it may sound, it really was nice to have Baekhyun with me.

Baekhyun's POV~

I finished rinsing the vegetables and turned around to ask Mina how she wanted me to cut them. When I did, I couldn't help but just watch her concentrate on making the sauce right. She was cute when she did that and I had to chuckle, quietly.

I really did miss seeing her like that...I missed everything about her, but my current situation keeps me from seeing her. Who even knows if we'll be able to spend the next few days in peace...who knows what might happen at the company while I'm gone...or worse yet, my father's health. But, I shouldn't think too much about those things because it'll only ruin the mood. Besides, my mother told me to enjoy myself with Mina and to not worry, so that's what I'll do. Work stays at work. Right now, Mina is my focus for the next few days and I can't make her feel insecure nor anxious.

As I continued to watch her, she turned her head in my direction and looked at me.

"What the hell are you staring at?" she asked, looking at me like I was some creep.

"What? I can't stare at the woman I love?" I questioned and she snorted in disbelief. I walked up to her and held the bowl of vegetables up to her eyes. "So, how do you want these done?"

"Cut them however you like, as long as it's bite size," she said and walked around me to grab a pan.

"I hope you know my cutting skills aren't that great," I said as I walked to the cutting board she had prepared ahead of time.

"As long as you don't cut yourself then your skills are fine," she said over her shoulder. "Just don't cut big chunks."

"Wow, don't you just have faith in me," I chuckled and she didn't give me a reaction. I wasn't expecting one anyways.

I set the bowl down and began with the carrots, but I wasn't really sure how to cut it. I do know that I need to cut away the skin, but how? I looked at the big knife in my hand and wondered if I had to use this knife, but it didn't look right to use a big knife to cut off the skin, so I looked over my shoulder at Mina, who was cooking the pork. But, I didn't want to bother her either cause she's kind of hangry (hungry+angry) and I know not to mess with her when she's in that mood, so I looked back at the carrot in one hand and the knife in the other.

"Where do I even start?" I whispered.

"Why are you whispering to yourself?" Mina asked and I cleared my throat.

"It's nothing," I said over my shoulder and set the carrot down. "I'll just cut the spring onions first."

"Don't tell me you're talking to yourself," she sighed and I realized I was. "Can you do less talking and more cutting? I haven't heard you cut anything and I really need those vegetables soon cause the pork is almost fully cooked."

"Almost done," I lied and started chopping up the spring onions. Those were the easy ones, so I was done in no time. My only problem was the carrots, how do I skin it?

"Seriously, what's taking you so long?" Mina asked and I heard her walking towards me. I wasn't quick enough to give her a reply and she looked at me in disbelief. "Really?"

I shrugged, "I wasn't sure how to skin the carrots."

She sighed and walked to a drawer, pulling out a weird tool. She came back to my side and held the thing in my face.

"This is called a peeler, it peels away the skin much easier than with a knife," she said and took a carrot in her other hand. She began demonstrating the use of it and it easily peeled away the skin of the carrot. "Here, you do the rest while I prepare other things for us. And, try not to cut yourself cause if you're not careful with it, you can get hurt."

Awwh, she was worried about me.

"If I do cut myself by accident, will you take care of me?" I asked with a grin and she rolled her eyes, handing me the carrot and peeler. "I'm being serious."

"Let's not hope for that to happen," she said and started to make kimchi stew. I lightly laughed at her unchanging attitude and began peeling the rest of the carrots. I have to say, it was a lot harder than when she was doing it, but I was proud of what I did and showed her.

"Look how nice they look, Mina!" I exclaimed and held up my carrots. She looked at them, then to me.

"Can you cut them now? The pork is gonna be burnt the more you waste time to just peel carrots," she said, annoyed and continued to stir the stew.

Was I disappointed for not being praised? Yes, but it was expected until Mina came up besides me and patted my back, then pushed me to the side. Now, her pushing me was expected.

"You're taking too long, I'll do it myself," she said and began cutting the carrots like a pro. "Keep an eye on the stew, turn off the stove once it starts to bubble."

"Can't I just keep my eyes on you?" I asked with a mischevious grin, leaning my chest against her back. She held the knife up and I quickly knew that was my signal to leave. In the meantime, I occasionally kept my eyes on the stew while setting up the table and it wasn't long until we finally sat down for dinner.

We dug in like there was no tomorrow because we really were starving. Not a single word was exchanged over dinner, you could only hear our spoons and chopsticks clanging against the bowls. We literally inhaled everything like it was air and finished dinner in no time.

I sighed and leaned back into my seat, stuffed. I looked across the table at Mina and she did the same thing. I held my fist up and said, "Rock, paper, scissor for dishes, but winner does dishes."

"Deal," she sighed and we played rock, paper, scissors. And the lucky, or should I say unlucky, winner was Mina. She groaned and closed her eyes while leaning her head back. "I can't even move right now."

"Too bad, you won," I said and forced myself off the chair. "I'll help you clear the table."

"That's not really helping," she said and took the last bit of her energy to get up. "Let's play again."

"Nope, we had a deal," I chuckled and set the bowls in the sink. "Besides, there's not much to do. You'll finish in ten minutes."

"That's ten minutes taken away from my precious sleep," she whined and I looked at the clock. It wasn't even 7pm yet and she wanted to sleep already? But I guess it is our first night, so we should relax and rest before we have some fun the next few days.

"You'll survive," I said and put in the last dishes in the sink. She sighed, like a whining child, and put on the pink rubber gloves. "I'm going to look for some stuff to do for the next few days on my laptop, so if you're gonna go to bed once you're done then that's fine."

I didn't wait for an answer and grabbed my laptop from the room, then walked out to the patio since the weather wasn't too bad with it being fall.

Mina's POV~

I tried to finish the dishes as quick as possible because I really was exhausted. And just like Baekhyun said, it did take about ten minutes to finish everything. I even wiped down the table and counters.

Once I finished, I took off the rubber gloves and hung it by the sink to let it dry. I walked into the living room and didn't see Baekhyun there, so I went to the bedroom and he wasn't there either. I wondered where he was since he said he was going to be on his laptop.

I searched through the other rooms and he wasn't there either, so I went back out to the living room to look for him.

"Where is he?" I asked myself and walked towards the sliding doors that lead to the patio. I looked out the glass door and there he was with his laptop in his lap as he was doing his stuff. I felt a sense of relief when I saw him out there.

He looked cold...his nose and ears were red and he was in thin layers, even with the fire pit lit. I felt bad for him and wondered why he was out there in the first place. It's the fall season and close to winter, so why stay outside?

I turned around and went back to the bedroom to grab a thick blanket for him. I went back to the glass doors and opened it to have him look up from his laptop.

"Weren't you gonna go to sleep?" he asked and turned back to look at his laptop.

"I was, but then I saw you out here freezing to death," I said and sat next to him. I unfolded the blanket and wrapped it around the both of us. "Why are you even out here? It's so cold."

He chuckled, "It's not that bad, I can endure it."

I placed my hand over his and said, "How are you saying that when your hands are ice cold? Are you stupid?"

He looked at me and smiled, "Are you worried about me?"

Was I worried? I didn't want to admit it, but I was.

"I'll go make you a cup of tea," I said, avoiding his question and tried to get up when he grabbed hold of my wrist.

"Stay here with me," he said. "Your warmth will warm me up in no time compared to a cup of tea."

There he goes again with his cheesiness.

Without much of a reaction, he pulled me back down besides him and set his laptop aside. He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me close to his body.

"Yeah, this is better than a warm cup of tea," he whispered in my ear and I felt my heart race. He rest his chin on my shoulder and pulled the ends of the blanket around us to keep us warm. "Let's stay like this all night."

"As if I'd stay out in the cold all night," I scoffed and tried to leave, but he tightened his grip around me.

"Doesn't mean we can't stay like this in bed," he chuckled and I felt my face heat up.

"Stop saying such gross things," I said and looked at the fire in front of us. "Why are you out here anyways?"

I felt him shrug, "I thought it'd be peaceful to be out here. I didn't think it was that cold out."

"But you were freezing," I said and brushed my hands over his arms, which were just starting to warm up.

"That's true, but I really didn't mind being out here," he said and held my hands in his. "And I like the night scenery out here."

He was right about that, it was beautiful out. You could actually see the stars here and we were close to the mountains too, so it made it even more relaxing, but let's be real...it's cold as hell out here.

"You can go back inside if you want to, I'll finish doing my research here and I'll join you in a bit," he said and let me go. It was weird how quick his warmth disappeared from me and I glanced over my shoulder to look at him and our eyes met. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," I said, not really knowing myself if there was something wrong or not. I turned away and stared back at the fire pit when I felt his warm hands on my cheeks to make me face him again. He leaned forward and placed his forehead against mine.

"You sure? We can talk about it if there's something bothering you," he said, concerned.

"It's really nothing," I assured him and placed my hands over his. "I was just wondering how weird it was...no, nevermind."

Now that I think about it, it was kind of embarrassing to even talk about.

"No, tell me," he said in a low, husky voice that made my heart race.

"I can't," I said and tried to pull away, but he was too strong.

"Hmm, from the look on your face, it looks like it's something embarrassing rather than something to be worried about," he grinned and I widened my eyes, surprised at how quick he caught on. "I hit the mark, didn't I?"

I didn't say anything and averted my eyes cause it was really embarrassing to even think about it.

"What is it?" he asked with eyes bright.

I couldn't tell him I enjoyed the warmth of his body...god that sounds gross. I couldn't tell him that I wanted more of it...just thinking about that made me want to vomit.

Just who am I now?

"I'll kiss you if you don't tell me," he threatened in a teasing manner and I blurted it out without hesitation.

"I didn't want you to let go!" I said and widened my eyes shocked at how I worded it. It came out wrong! I'm done for!

I looked up at him, still in shock, but he was in more shock. It's like he was frozen in time.

"N-No, that's not what I meant," I tried to cover up and I felt my face burn up in embarrasment. "I-I...I mean...oh no, what do I do?"

I scooted away from him for a bit and looked at him as he may have really been frozen.

"Baekhyun?" I said his name.

No response.

"Oh god, I broke him," I said, but this was my chance to escape, so I  stood up and ran back into the villa. I had no intention of going back out there; I don't think I could face him again after what I had just said. And it just had to happen on the first night too!

"I'll just shower and go to bed, that's what I'll do," I told myself as I walked into the bedroom, but ended up flopping onto the bed. "Ahh! I'm so stupid!"

I rolled around in bed and kept asking myself why I said that. He's just going to tease me more now!

Baekhyun's POV~

I didn't want you to let me go!

Those eight words kept repeating itself, over and over again. Who would have thought such a sentence would come out of her lips and she said it rather loud. I should be happy to hear her say that, but I'm in still in so much shock that I couldn't really feel anything else...and it's only the first night. How am I gonna face her tonight? No, how are we going to act around each other for the next few days? I mean, I could , but I don't think I'd be able to . Gosh, it must've been so embarrassing for her to say it out loud, but hearing it is just as embarrassing. But, I don't hate it.

But on a serious note...she must have longed for a person's warmth. It's not like she's cold on the outside, but she's cold on the inside. I could only imagine how cold and empty she feels on the inside ever since her father left and when her mother neglected her.

I sighed and stood up with the blanket she brought out. I grabbed my laptop and headed into the villa, setting the laptop and blanket in the living room. Then, I walked to the bedroom and opened the door to see Mina curled up in bed. I could see that she tensed up cause I had entered the room.

"There's no need for you to tense up," I said as I walked towards her. "And you don't have to feel embarrassed either...I won't tease you about it."

She didn't say anything and I sat on the edge of the bed.

"Mina," I softly said her name and leaned over towards her body with my arm supporting me up. I used my free hand to caress her cheek and that made her look my way. Her face was still as red as a beet. "I won't ever let you go...because I love you."

She slightly widened her eyes and I leaned towards her face.

"And I'll keep reminding you if you want me to, but Mina, I really love you," I sofly said and she's going to hate me for this, but I couldn't hold back anymore.

I kissed her.