Yeoreum awakens with a jolt from her deep slumber at the sound of the incessant vibration coming from her phone on the table next to her bed. Rolling over to the left side, she reaches out her right hand for the smartphone, and slides to answer without even checking the caller ID.

“Hello,” she mumbles groggily and stirs from her sleeping position. Unintentionally, she lets out a loud yawn, earning an amused chuckle from the person at the other end.

“Did I wake you up? Should I let you go back to sleep?”

Her eyes squint in the room’s dim light to check the time on the digital watch. 2330 hours. She must’ve fallen asleep way earlier than she had planned, seeing how she’s usually more of a night person. Nonetheless, she immediately recognises the voice on the line as she tries to stifle yet another yawn.

“Taehyung…” she murmurs and sits up straighter in bed. “What – where are you?” She vaguely remembers him telling her that they had an event in another country, but she can’t exactly recall the date and place. It’s hard to keep track of his busy schedules as of late.

“Somewhere,” he replies coyly and she can practically hear the smile in his voice. “I’ve just came back couple of hours ago and I really miss you, that’s why I decided to call.”

“That’s good,” she answers while rubbing her eyes sleepily. “And I miss you too.” She hears some noises coming from the background and Taehyung telling her to hold on for a moment. She closes her eyes briefly while waiting, and after a few passing seconds, he comes back on the line, sounding a little out of breath.

“Sorry about that. Jimin was looking for his underwear and he thought I had it in my bag,” he starts to laugh again as he explains the story to her. “But then it turns out, Jungkook had hid it in his instead and now those idiots are about to rip that red piece into shreds.” She hears one of the boys shouting and another voice yelling out a quick “Hey Yeoreum!”

She snorts in disbelief at the boys’ childish antics. “Tell Jungkook I said Hi too,” she replies, shifting in her position so that she is now looking outside the window, where the snow is falling continuously. “It’s snowing,” she tells him in a dazed voice.

“I know,” he says softly and Yeoreum realises she can’t hear anything else in the background. He must’ve moved to somewhere quieter to get some privacy. “Yeoreum-ah, let’s go play in the snow.”

Her eyes widen in surprise. “Now?”

“Yeah,” he laughs, his throaty chuckle eliciting a warm smile on her face. His voice then turns into a quieter, serious one. “I have another schedule tomorrow so I’m hoping to see you tonight. It’s really been awhile, don’t you think?”

Yeoreum checks the time again. It now reads 2345 hours and there seems to be no signs of any human movement coming from the living room – which means all her other members must have already gone to bed too. Even the sleeping figure next to her on the bed has been curled up in the same position since the last time she noticed.

“Yeah,” she finally says, smiling to herself. “It’s been awhile.”

She is safe in his embrace shortly twenty minutes later. The first thing she does is to inhale the familiar scent of his cologne – something she had missed dearly during his absence. He smells like home, being in his arms feels like home and she can’t ask for another perfect reason to get her out of bed at midnight.

“I’ve missed you,” he breathes as he kisses the top of her head softly, before pulling away so he could take a better look at her. “I’ve really missed you,” he repeats the words as though his life depends on them. “How have you been?”

She shrugs, grinning nonchalantly as he wraps one arm around her waist and they start walking down the street, sticking close to each other. “I’m okay. Aren’t you tired?”

He lets out a small sigh. “I’d be lying if I said no – but seeing your face makes it all worth it though,” he pinches her small button nose, to which she reacts by crinkling it.

"How was - wait, where did you go again?"

Taehyung shakes his head as he flashes her a toothy smile. "Vietnam, my dear. Are you starting to get old now?" He slings an arm across her shoulder now while she holds him by the waist instead.

"It's not my fault that BTS has too many schedules for me to remember," Yeoreum jokes lightly. "Just remember to take care of yourself."

Taehyung taps on his chin thoughtfully. "Now why would I do that when I have you to take care of me?"

Instead of answering him, she lets go of his hand and runs forward towards where clumps of snow had been gathered together and starts to ball them up in her fists. A mischievous glint could be seen in her brown orbs as she shoots him a smirk, preparing an attack on him.

Taehyung laughs nervously as he holds up his hands in defense. “Ahn Chaeyoung,” he calls out her real name instead. “You’re going to regret it if you decide to throw that at me.”

Her lips are still taunting him coyly when she says, “Yah Kim Taehyung, are you scared now?” Without waiting for a reply, she hurls the solid snowball at his direction, hitting him just slightly above the chest.

Taehyung pretends to be wounded as he falls flat on his back, clutching his chest in despair and even feigning the tears to lure her towards him. Yeoreum marches over, laughing and tells him to get up because she knows him all too well.

He waits until she is standing directly above him, extending out her arm to pull him up – before he takes the opportunity to grab her hand and tackles her down to the ground too. He bursts out in laughter at her surprised look, silently cursing herself for letting down her guard when she should’ve known he was also capable of stealthy attacks.

Unwilling to accept defeat, Yeoreum grabs a clump of snow and throws it directly on his face while he is still busy laughing at her demise, unable to avoid her counterattack. She giggles at his shocked expression as he wipes away the coldness from his face.

“Yeoreum-ah,” he growls in a low voice as she gets up on her two feet hurriedly and starts to back away. “I’m going to get you for this.”

She lets out a shriek of delight as he gives chase and catches up to her, pulling them both to the ground and rolling in the snow together. They have fun teasing each other with snowballs for awhile more, before Yeoreum calls for a truce and Taehyung pecking her softly on the tip of her nose.

She brings up her hands to either side of his face and caresses his cheeks tenderly, appreciating the silent moment between them that she knows is hard to come by. Even though they are practically lying on the ground in the middle of nowhere, bodies shivering as the gust of wind blows coldly against them, there is nowhere else she’d rather be right at that moment.

Taehyung gazes softly into her warm eyes, trying to remember every inch of her beautiful flushed face as she lays down there under him, holding his face in her hands lovingly – a memory that will help sustain him during hard times, especially when she is far away from him.

“Taehyung-ah,” she murmurs breathlessly. “Why do you always call me out late at night?”

He smiles sadly at her, before leaning in closer and gently pressing his lips against hers. His kisses have always been soft and careful, never forceful and never demanding. Every time they kiss, Yeoreum finds herself magically lost in a world where she can only see Kim Taehyung in her eyes.

“Because,” he says as he slowly pulls away. “That’s when the world is quiet & it’s like only you and I exist.”