Struggling a bit, Woohyun managed to get all the bags inside in one trip, as you trailed behind him. 
You scrunched your brows in response to him carrying your bags inside.
You knew that he wouldn't be able to carry everything inside, though he insisted that he'd do it himself. 

“I told you to let me help,” you said, closing the door behind.
“No, I got it,” he panted, dropping the bags on the living room floor. 
He dropped down on the floor, hand on his chest, as he tried catching his breath. 
"Are you okay?" 
He sat up and nodded his head.
"Only if you weren't stubborn," you smiled.

Just as you were about to grab the bags, Woohyun quickly grabbed your hand, stopping you from doing so.
“What are you doing?”
“I'm going to put them in the room."
“No, they’re heavy. I’ll put them away," he stood up, letting your hand go.

Before he could touch the bags again, you grabbed your hand.
“It’s okay. I got them. I'll bring them one at a time," you assured him. 
“Are you sure?” 
You nodded your head. 
He instinctively wrapped his arms around your waist, pulling you into a back hug, snuggling on your shoulder.
Th-thump. Th-thump. Th-thump.
Your heart raced.
“Woohyun,” you called him.
It was an unexpected touch, startling you a bit. 
“Just a second,” as he closed his eyes. 
You wondered why everything felt so right, yet so wrong at the same time.
──── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───​​​​​​
You hugged your pillow, standing next to the bed.
No. It’s too risky.
You thought, slowly shaking your head as you knew the idea was a bad one.
But, we’re married.

He walked past the room.
“Woohyun."
He stopped and took a few steps back, peeking into the room.
“Yea?”
He was drying his hair with a towel.
“Um."
What was the proper way of asking him?
He stood at the door, patiently.
“We…should go to bed together," the line you came up with.
He furrowed his brows in confusion, and you noticed that.
“What…do you… mean?” he asked, holding the towel in his hand.
Your cheeks flushed pink.
“Did you want to go to bed with me?” You shyly asked again, scratching the back of your head.
Woohyun thought for a second, figuring out what you meant.
He chuckled.
“What?” he asked, taking a few steps towards you.
"It's okay. I was just putting it out there," you said, as you avoid eye contact with him.
What a way to be rejected, you thought.
"I'll think on it," he said, before walking out the room.
Truth to be told, he thought it was cute that you asked. 
It even made him a little nervous, though only for him to know. 
──── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───
Hiding under the blankets was the only way you though you could avoid seeing him.
You scooched towards the left edge of the bed, slowly breathing, trying to calm yourself down.
Just sleep. Sleep, ---------.
Before you could close your eyes, the door swung open, sending a slight breeze into the room.

What? He’s already coming into bed?
You panicked, as you heard his footsteps.
Sleep.
Telling yourself once more, you shut your eyes tightly, hoping that it was convincing enough.
You held onto your part of the blanket, trying to keep a steady breathing, though listening to his every move.

Click.
It meant that he had closed the lights.
Your heart began beating faster.
Just sleep.
You kept telling yourself.

The blankets lifted, you remaining as still as possible.
With your eyes still closed, you listened carefully again.
You were ready to do anything if he thought of it.
After a few seconds of silence, you opened your eyes, peeking your head out of the blankets, slowly sighing, relieved that he wasn’t going to do anything.
Silly me. He wouldn’t.
You smiled to yourself.
──── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───​​​​​​
On the other hand, Woohyun looked over his shoulder, peeking over your side.
He smiled upon seeing the back of your head.
Maybe, I should.
He smiled, thinking about teasing you.
He gave you a few seconds to enjoy, before he scooched closer to you.
The sudden movement made you quickly close your eyes again, snuggling close to the blanket.

Woohyun turned to your side, snaking his arm around your waist, pulling you closer to him.
Your eyes shot opened.
What is he doing?
You panicked.

He spooned you, snuggling on your shoulder.
“Woohyun,” you whispered, waiting for his reply.
“Woohyun-ah,” you called again.
This time you tried to wiggle out of his embrace.
He smiled, holding onto you tighter.
You turned to face him, as you tried pushing him.
“I know you’re awake.”
He opened his eyes.
“Why did you pretend you were asleep?” He asked.
“I-I wasn’t,” you stuttered, as you knew he caught onto your lies.

“Can I hug you?” He asked, properly this time.
Truth was you wanted him to feel his touch again, but you were too shy to give him permission.
You slowly nodded, as his lips curved into a smile.
He pulled you back into his arms, snuggling close to you.
Everything felt so right and warm, as if you perfectly fit right into his arms.
──── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───
Everything felt normal again.
Woohyun had become your haven.  
You took note of how affectious Woohyun had become.
You couldn’t blame him for everything though; you had also become too attached to him.
──── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───​​​​​​​
You and Woohyun sat across from each other, quietly eating dinner.
You noticed his exhausting look.
His eyes were heavy.
It meant that the business was doing well, but he was drained from the workload.
“Is everything okay?” you asked, setting your chopsticks down.
Woohyun looked up from his plate.
“Of course. Why?” he chuckled, trying to assure you that he was fine.
“I’m here if you need anything,” you smiled.
He nodded to your help.
“What about you? What did you do today?” he asked, taking a bite of the kimchi.
"I went to work."
"Work? The shop at the mall?" 
You nodded to his question.
He thought for a minute to himself. 
"How was it today? Busy?" 
"No, it's been quite slow," you said.
It was the first time someone had asked you how work was.
"Did you want to work with me? It'll be easier that way," he suggested, taking a sip of water.
"It's okay. This is just temporary."
"If you need anything, let me know," he smiled.
He was the support you needed all along.
──── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───​​​​​​​
“So, how was your trip?” Daehi asked, as you scrubbed the kitchen floor.
She sat on couch, filing her nail.
You looked up.
“It went well,” you told her, keeping it short.
She stood up from her seat and walked towards you, bending down, making eye contact with you.
“What did do you do with him?” She asked.
You knew what she was implying.
“We did nothing. It was a business trip and nothing more."
She stared at your eyes, trying to see if you were telling the truth.
“If you plan on doing ANYTHING with him, don’t say that I didn’t warn you.”
Daehi walked back to her seat as she continued doing her nails.
“Soon, you’ll be out of his life,” she laughed.
You continued scrubbing, ignoring her words though they repeated in your head.
──── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───​​​​​​​
“Oh, where did you go?”
You looked ahead to see Woohyun peeking his head out from the living room.
“I went to visit mom and Daehi,” you smiled as you took off your shoes. 
It was so hard to hide how you truly felt. 
“Why didn’t you invite me? I wanted to come too,” he said as he walked towards you.
Wrapping his arms around your waist, he pulled you closer to him, closing the gaps between you two.
Even if he didn’t know, you needed that so much from him.
You wrapped your arms around his neck, snuggling right on his chest.
“Should we go on a walk?” he asked.
──── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───​​​​​​​
You two walk side-by-side on the sidewalk.
You were too shy to hold his hand.
“Thank you, Woohyun. I needed this,” you looked at him.
“Is everything okay?”
You thought to yourself for a second.
Honestly, everything wasn’t okay.
You knew you were hiding something from him; something no one was supposed to know besides you, your stepmom, and Daehi.
You nodded your head, giving him smile to assure him.
“I don’t know. You’ve looked blue since you came home. Are you sure?”
“I am. I’m just tired,” you laughed.
“Should we go back home then? Maybe it was a bad idea to bring you out.”
“No, I want to walk…with you.” Your cheeks flushed pink.
He smiled.
Without any second thoughts, he grabbed onto your hand, intertwining both of your hands together.
Your heart raced like no other time.
You wondered if he felt it through the touch.
──── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───​​​​​​​
“Are your hands always this warm?” he asked.
You looked at him confused.
“Are they? I think they’re cold,” you arched your brows.
“No, they’re the warmest hands I’ve ever held,” he smiled.
It was that smile that made your heart fluttered.
──── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───​​​​​​​
You two sat on a bench overlooking a field of greens, looking at each parent play with their young ones.
In another life.
You thought.
Your smile slowly faded.
“So…when will we have our own?”
You quickly sat up and looked at him.
“Huh?”
“When can we start our family?”
“Woohyun, I’m…I’m not-----”
He burst out a laugh, holding onto his stomach.
You sat there, puzzled, to why he was laughing.
Was it that you missed a joke in between?
“I’m just joking with you,” he finally explained the reason behind his laugh.
“W-what?”
“I’m just playing with you. Don’t worry. I’m in no rush. It’s only when we’re both ready,” he smiled.
You processed what he said, nodding your head after you understood.
There was that about him too.
He was simply an understanding man, who wanted you to feel comfortable.
You hated that you knew you were betraying his trust.
Even the greatest person would not forgive you.

You slowly rested your head on his shoulder, looking out to the sunset.
Woohyun smiled, feeling your touch.
He searched for your hand to hold.
“Woohyun.”
“Yea?”
“If one day, I leave. Please remember our times together."
He looked down at you, puzzled.
“What do you mean?”
You tried to regain your thoughts together.
If you had to repeat it, you didn’t know if you could control your tears.
You sat up and looked at him, admiring every feature of his face.
“If there’s ever a day that I leave, I want you to know that I cherished every moment we had together.”
He processed your words, then he chuckled.
“Well, I won’t have to worry because that day will never come.”
You chuckled, playing along with him.
──── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───​​​​​​​
“Thank you for breakfast,” Woohyun said, walking over to the full-body mirror.
You looked at him, carrying a laundry basket inside the room.
“You’re welcome."
You took a step back, looking at his tie.
The color simply didn’t look good with his shirt.
“Woohyun-ah.”
He looked at you from the mirror, giving you a “what?” look.
You set the basket down and walked into the closet, picking another tie.
──── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───​​​​​​
You walked over to him, showing him the tie you chose.
It was a baby blue tie with a shade lighter stripes on it.
It would go well with his gray shirt.
“I think this one will look better,” you told him, holding your hand out, gesturing him to hand over the tie he chose.
He smiled, doing as what he was told so by your hand.
With his tie in your other hand, you handed him the tie you chose.
“Can you put it on for me?” he asked, intimately staring at you.
Your cheeks flushed a bright pink.
“H-huh?”
“Put it on for me?” He begged you through his puppy eyes.
You felt the tingles through your arms and down to your fingertips.
You weren’t expecting that from him.
He handed the tie back to you, as he continued to stare at you.
He haven’t noticed that there was a golden tint to your eyes.
Your long lashes that naturally curled.
“Just this time. I know that you’re capable of doing this yourself,” you said, taking the tie from his hand.
“Thank you, Mrs. Nam,” he smiled.
That title simply made your heart fluttered.
Sometimes, you had forgotten that you were married to him.

Avoiding eye contact with him, you draped the cloth around his neck.
His eyes remained on you, making your heart beat quickly.
You weren’t sure if what you were feeling was nervousness or love.
But, what was love? You were still trying to figure that out yourself.
You wrapped the tie around itself a few times before pulling the rest through a loop.
“If you’re going to continue staring at me like that, I fear that the knot may not come out neatly,” you said as you felt the butterflies kicking in.
“And if I continue? What are you going to do?” he asked, making you look up to him.
“This.”
You pushed the knot up, tighten the knot around his neck.
“Y-yah!” Woohyun exaggerated, as if you were really strangling him.
You laughed at his exaggerated reaction, walking back to the laundry basket, picking it up from the ground.
“Were you going to kill me?” he asked, exaggerating the gasp for air.
“Maybe,” you chuckled.
──── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───​​​​​​​
“Wait for me,” he smiled, as you walked him out.
“It depends.”
“Fine. You’ll see what happens then,” he winked, walking out.
You stood at the doorway, processing what he said.
Aish, you ert.
You panicked.
──── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───​​​​​​​
“Woohyun-ah!” You called out, making him stop.
He looked back to see you running towards him.
“Did I forget something?” he asked.
“No.”
Just do it! I can do this. This is totally normal.
You thought.

“I’ll be waiting for you then."
“Don’t sleep!”
“I won’t,” you chuckled.
Just as Woohyun was about to enter his car, you grabbed his hand, gaining his attention again.
“Good luck at work!” you wished.
Before he could say anything back, you lifted your heels off the ground, your lips made contact with his cheek.
Woohyun’s eyes widened. It was a little too surprising for him, as he did not expect that from you.
──── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───​​​​​​​
You flipped the vegetables in the pan to avoid it burning.
“Yah!”
You turned back to see Daehi, holding her phone.
“Yes?”
“Remember that old club you used to work at?”
“Yea.”
“The manager just texted me if you could go in tonight. They’re short staffed.”
You furrowed your brows.
“What do you mean?”
“What do you mean ‘what do you mean’?,” Daehi rolled her eyes, annoyed.
“Daehi, I left that place a while ago already. I’m not going back,” you said, lower the heat.
“Yah, are you talking back?”
“Daehi, I’m not an employee there anymore. They’ll have to find someone else to cover."
“Wait, are you working there now?” you asked her, confused to why how she knew about the situation over there.
“No, I am friends with the manager. Why would I work in a place like that?” She scoffed.
“Well, I can’t go back there,” you said sternly.
Living with Woohyun, you learned that it was okay to say ‘no.’
It was like starting fresh and learning all the potentials of who you could become.
“I don’t care if you don’t want to go. It’s an order.”
“Daehi----”
“I wasn’t finished. It’s either you go and work that shift, or I will reveal Woohyun the contract.”
The document was your weak spot.
“Just tonight and that’ll be all.”
“Just do what you’re told,” Daehi rolled her eyes again, walking out of the kitchen.
──── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───​​​​​​​
You heavily sighed.
It meant that you had to lie to Woohyun, and that was the one thing you knew Woohyun hated.
──── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───​​​​​​​
You stood in front of the club, a place you hated.
You turned your phone on, getting a notification from Woohyun.
You smiled and opened the text message.
──── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───​​​​​​​
Woohyun: I'm sorry. I will be home late tonight. Going out with the guys 9:30PM/21:30.
You: And, you told me to wait for you? Smh. 9:31PM/21:31
Woohyun: I'm sorry! I will make it up! It was last minute. 9:31PM/21:31
You: It's okay! Enjoy the night! 9:32PM/21:32
Woohyun: Thank you! I ordered dinner for you. Check outside in 15. 9:33PM/21:33
──── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───​​​​​​​
You felt a little relieved that he would be going out late.
The only thing you wished was to get home before he did.

“-----------!”
You looked up from your phone, quickly inserting it in your pocket.
He walked down the steps to greet you.
“I’m so glad to see you.”
You gave him a smile.
“I knew I could count on you. Thank you for coming in.”
“No problem.”
“I had someone put the uniform in the locker, so you can change. I know that you know where that is.”
“Yea, thank you!” You smiled.
──── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───​​​​​​​
“--------, you’re back!”
You waved at MinHo.
“Only for tonight,” you chuckled.
“What? Why? We missed you! The place haven’t been the same ever since you left,” he frowned.
“My sister told me that Mr. Sung texted that you guys were low staffed, so I dropped in to give you guys an extra hand.”
“Well, how thoughtful of you to come back for us,” he laughed.
──── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───​​​​​​​
Woohyun and his boys walked upstairs, entering one of the VIP rooms on the second floor.
It had a big window looking out to the dance floor. The bar was hidden below the rooms.
──── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───​​​​​​​
“Cheers!”
Woohyun and his boys raised their shot glasses, clinking together in celebration of a quick reunion.

Sungyeol looked over to Woohyun after taking his shot.
“Woohyun, why didn’t you bring your wife?”
“I don’t think she likes this,” Woohyun laughed.
“You never  know until you take her, right?” Sungyeol laughed along.
“Are you guys planning to start a family soon?” Sungjong asked.
“Not yet. Hopefully soon though. She’s not ready yet.”
“It’s okay. There’s no need to rush,” Sunggyu added.
──── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───​​​​​​​
Woohyun took out his phone, pulling up the text message.
He felt a little disappointed to not see a message from you.
Should I send another text? Maybe she didn’t receive it.
He thought.
Woohyun: I hope dinner was delicious. Good night and sweet dreams. I’ll see you tomorrow morning? 11:41PM/23:41.

He set his phone down, continuing the conversation he had with his friends.
──── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───​​​​​​​
With the music incredibly loud and people talking, you were too focus in making drinks and cleaning people’s mess that you had lost time along the way.
Before you knew it, Mr. Sung had given you a cash pay for the night.
You wished MinHo a good night, before catching a cab to home.
Resting your head on the window, you suddenly remember Woohyun’s text.
You quickly took your phone out from your pocket.
There was another message from him.
You smiled after reading the text.
──── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───​​​​​​
You walked to the front gate, noticing his car parked in the lot.
It meant that he got home before you did.
You had only wished that he went to bed already.

You quietly opened the door, noticing that the house was dark and cold.
You sighed in relief.

Just as you walked past the living room, the room lit up, startling you.
“Woohyun, you scared me,” you held onto your chest.
He sat on the couch.
“Why are you still up?” You asked him, easing down.
“I was waiting for you.”
You felt guilty.
“Where did you go? You didn’t reply to my text.”
You really wished he did not have to ask you that question.
“I saw your message, but I forgot to reply. I was a little busy.”
“Where did you go?”
The sound of your heartbeat could be heard through your ears.
You didn’t know if you were going to lie or tell him the truth.
“I…I was at mom’s place. Daehi cooked, so I stayed for dinner. We got carried away,” you lied.
You didn't know if he was going to catch that lie or not.
“Oh, really?”
You smiled and nodded your head.
“You should have slept over or call me to pick you up.”
“It’s okay. I got home by cab.”
“Next time, call me.”
“I will.”
Woohyun got up from his seat.
“Don’t stay up too late,” he said before walking to the bedroom.
You watched him.
I'm sorry.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Please send lots of love to our Namu.​​​​​​​

[NOTES]:Happy 2024!🥳 I am wishing you all a year full of happiness and love! Thank you for being a part of my 2023. ❤️I can’t wait to see what 2024 have in store for us. Thank you for being so patient and understanding.

Again, from the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU for EVERYTHING!❤️ You guys have no idea how much your support means to me.
Don’t forget to leave me a message on what you guys did for the holiday and your resolution for this year. I would love to hear about them.

(01.12.2024) Special shoutout to:
@ my silent readers
♡Much love♡

This story will be avaliable on Wattpad! You can search up the title of the story Star in the Mist or you can search up my username @alwaysterius.

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-Inspirit_07