“Happy birthday.”

All of a sudden, I felt that my tiredness and sleepiness left me as he embraced me tightly from my back. He held my hands which were kept warm under the blanket as he put his chin over my shoulder. I kept my eyes closed and intertwined my fingers with him. “Thank you.”

“I wasn’t able to give you my gift, since we’re busy,” he said, slowly turning me facing him. “I am sorry.”

“It’s okay,” I said as I raised my chin to meet his loving stare. His hands were still holding mine, and no space was left between us, just how it usually was. Every night, we always made sure that we would lock each other in our arms, cuddle while we give each other a comforting hug and light kisses. “I understand.”

He smiled and bumped our foreheads, then our noses. For a brief moment, I started to remember the smell of his breath with a hint of mint, mixed with his strawberry scented perfume, lavender scented soap and his natural scent. It was enough to keep me in a trance. After a while, I put my arms around his waist, intertwining my fingers behind him as I pulled him closer. He did the same; he pulled me closer to him as well, except that he used his right hand to cup my face as he stared at me. He used his thumb to caress my cheek, creating circles around it. “You’re beautiful, Lee Jaehwan.”

I smiled and kissed him sweetly like we have never kissed before. I whispered under my breath when I temporarily cut the kiss. “I love you so much, J