I am seated at a table to do the accounts for the new cafè, when I hear someone tentatively calling out my name. I look up from the laptop curiously. There is a man standing by my table, staring at me. He looks even more nervous when I lift my eyebrows in question.

“Yes?” I ask politely, though I am internally wondering how he knows my name.

“I’m Jisung! From uni? Remember me?” he wonders excitedly.

I think for a while, actually rack my brain for a memory of Jisung that I might have had. Something faint appears in the forefront of my brain before it escapes. But looking at the anticipated look on the man’s face, I smile back and nod my head.

“Oh, yeah, Jisung! How did you recognise me?”

His face lights up, happy that I remember him. He takes it upon himself to take a seat next to me. I am terrible at controlling my facial expressions, because I actually raise my eyebrows at his bravery. But he doesn’t catch my look.

“You look the same as before! Just as pretty all those years ago!”

I blush. “That’s a lie, and you know it!” I laugh.

He grins and shakes his head. “No! You were single for so long, everyone I knew was into you but you never gave them any chances.” He leans towards me a little and admits in a teasing manner, “Some of us actually thought you might be a lesbian.”

“What?!”

I am guffawing with laughter when the wind chime tinkles and the door is opened to let Baekhyun and Hyuk in. I still haven’t noticed his entrance because I am so busy laughing. Who would have thought that my pickiness in men would mean that I was thought of as a homoual?

“That can’t be true!” I exclaim breathlessly, still laughing.

Jisung chuckles and nods his head. “It’s true! There was just no way someone so pretty could be single for so long!”

“It’s called being too selective, Jisung,” I tell him, still chuckling. “Which isn’t a bad thing.”

“It’s not,” he agrees, shaking his head. He has a smile on his face and that flirty look in his eyes. I quickly look away. “So are you still too selective?”

I turn to him with a polite but happy smile that tells him I am content with my life. “Actually—”

“Who’s this?”

I look up to see Baekhyun walking over, just a few steps away. He slides his hand around my waist and decides to stay standing by my side. I tilt my head slightly to receive his greeting, which is always a kiss on my temple or cheek. Today it’s on my cheek. Then, I turn to Jisung, who is staring at the both of us, his eyes darting back and forth.

“This is my husband, Baekhyun,” I introduce. “And Baekhyun, this is Jisung. We were uni mates!”

Baekhyun’s eyebrows raise as he nods. “Oh. I’ve always been really curious about this but was she as pretty as—”

“Boss!”

Baekhyun and I both turn to Jae who is standing at the door to the kitchen, looking extremely serious as he calls for his boss. My husband turns back to smile courteously at Jisung.

“Sorry. I’ll talk to you again,” he promises. Then he turns to me, his hand rubbing my back. “Get your friend some bites on the house, Darling.”

He walks away then, though his hand on my back is the last part Baekhyun takes away. I am about to stand to get Jisung a croissant, or something, when he stops me. I look at him curiously. He clears his throat and sniffles, looking a little awkward as his eyes dart back and forth between me and a spot behind me. He looks embarrassed over something.

“That’s alright. I’m about to leave.”

“Oh.” I slowly sit back down as I keep my eyes on him. He seems like he wants to say something, what with the way he is fidgeting. But he doesn’t, so I say, “It’s nice seeing you, Jisung.”

He looks at me, then glances back at the kitchen where Baekhyun has walked into. He quickly looks away and stands. He nods. “Yeah. Um, nice seeing you too,” he replies quickly. “See you around.”

And just like that, he leaves. I am a little surprised and disoriented by his sudden departure for a few seconds before shaking it off and going back to work. I am most definitely not close to done when Baekhyun comes out from the kitchen and joins me at the table. He takes the seat next to me, where Jisung sat previously. I look at him and see that he has his fingers clasped on the table in front of him and he is turning his head this way and that.

“Where’s your friend?” he asks distractedly.

“He left.”

Baekhyun stops searching for Jisung then. He turns to me with raised brows. “That’s quick.”

I shrug as I get back to the accounts. “Maybe he felt embarrassed or awkward.”

“About what?”

I put my pen down again to face him. I am excited to tell him, “You know what, Baekhyun, I think he was flirting with me!” His right eyebrow almost instinctively. “He told me that when we were still in uni, everyone he knew liked me. And they all thought I was lesbian because I didn’t give them any mind.”

Baekhyun laughs a little. “Baby, you were the flirtiest person I’ve ever met. There’s just no way.”

I laugh. “Baekhyun, I was only flirty with you.” He is intrigued now as he turns his body to face me, my chair between his legs, his arm resting on the table in front of me with his head on his fist. He is watching me intently, contentedly, like he just enjoys hearing me speak. “I never had a boyfriend in uni.”

“Never?” His eyebrow is raised in surprise.

I nod. “Never. Honestly, I thought I was doing the worst job flirting with you.” I let out an embarrassed laughter, but Baekhyun only smiles adoringly and reaches out to my chin very briefly. I tell him sincerely, “I was so happy that you liked me back, you know, Baekhyun. I thought I’d come off silly and stupid.”

“I like silly and stupid.”

I whine at his reply, especially when he grins at me and stretches his hand out to cover my hand. “You’re supposed to tell me that I’m not silly and stupid, Baekhyun,” I complain.

He chuckles a little. “But why? You really are silly and stupid.” I whine even more and throw his hands to the side. Baekhyun takes my face in his hands and makes a gooey expression as he squishes my cheeks. “But I love that about you. Sooo much.” I let out a softer whine. He coos. “You’re adorable, baby.” I cross my arms and hmph in response to his save. Baekhyun laughs and pulls me in to peck my lips. “You were good at flirting with me though. I was absolutely taken by you,” he confesses.

I am trying to scan the shelves of condiments to look for the exact brand of seasoning I am looking for when I hear my name being called. Jae and I stop in our tracks. I glance at him before turning around.

A male who is holding a child’s hand is grinning brightly at me. As he comes closer, I recognise him to be a friend from high school. I smile and wave, immediately feeling the hostile tension from behind me fade away as Jae sees that he is not a threat. I try my best to remember the guy’s name, but I am not sure of it, which is why his name comes out slowly and carefully. He nods with a chuckle.

“Yeah, I can’t believe you still remember me.”

I shake my head. “I can’t believe you still remember me!” I don’t notice that he is about to respond to that, because I turn to the girl whom he is holding hands with. I glance up at him. “Is she your…?”

He nods. “This is Jaera. Say hi, Jaera.” He squeezes the little girl’s hand. The shy girl shyly greets me. I smile in adoration. Kids are so cute. As I squat down in front of her to smile at her, Taehyun asks, “And I assume this is your…?”

I look up to see him staring at Jae. I smile at the little girl and ruffle her hair as I stand. “No, this is not my husband,” I laugh.

“But you’re…?”

I bob my head. “Happily,” I give him a smile.

“That’s nice to hear.”

I notice how the look on his face is uncomfortable and awkward, like this conversation isn’t going very well. Deciding that maybe I might have taken up too much of his time, I give him a polite smile.

“I don’t want to keep you, and I have to get some groceries. But it’s nice to see you again!” I bend a little to the little girl’s hair. “And you too, Jaera!” I coo.

“Oh, no, it’s okay,” he dismisses easily. “Nice seeing you too. You look really good, by the way.”

I let out an embarrassed chuckle. “Thank you. See you around, Woojin.”

I wave to him and his daughter, before turning to look at Jae. He has an expressionless look on his face as he brandishes the exact brand of condiment I have been looking for. I grin at him and start leading the way to the next aisle, where I have to get pasta. Only when we have entered the new aisle where my high school friend is no longer around, Jae speaks.

“You do know he was flirting with you, Lady Boss?”

I frown up at him. “No. He’s married. And he has a child.”

“So? That doesn’t mean he cannot flirt with a beautiful woman.”

I giggle and hug his arm. “Aww! Jae! You called me beautiful!” I exclaim in a coo as I look up at him, only to see him rolling his eyes.

“I’m serious, by the way,” he says, promptly ignoring me. “He’s probably not in a happy marriage.”

“But he’s married, Jae! There’s just no way—”

“Look, I’m a guy, and I know the inner workings of a man and the rationale behind their actions and words.”

I give him a dubious expression, because seriously. He is married! But I do not want to have an argument, so I simply hum and nod my head. I quickly move on from this topic, which works.

We finish grocery shopping in the next 10 minutes and Jae drives me back to my apartment. He brings the stuff up for me even though I really didn’t need the help, and leaves to meet with Baekhyun now that he has me at home safe. I keep the groceries and busy myself with preparing the ingredients for dinner. My husband returns home three hours later while I am sitting on the couch, hugging a pillow and watching the TV lazily.

“Hey, Miss Popular,” Baekhyun greets softly in his warm voice as he bends over the back of the couch to caress my bum.

I moan sleepily as I hug the pillow tighter. I turn my head slightly so that I can see him. I look up at Baekhyun, who is watching me with a tiny smile on his lips, his eyes holding all the affection in the world as he gazes at his wife. When he sees me looking up at him, his lips curl even more. He leans down and drops a kiss on my head.

“Take a nap. I’ll cook. Everything’s in the fridge, right?”

I nod groggily in response and shut my eyes. Baekhyun gives me one more kiss on my temple before moving away. I fall asleep right away, but the nap is short and refreshing when I awake 15 minutes later.

The first thing I hear is sizzling coming from the kitchen. I sit up and turn my head to the kitchen, where I see Baekhyun’s back to me as he gets busy at the stove. I get up and pad over to him, just hovering by his side silently. I look up when I notice that he has turned his head to me. He is watching me with a soft look of adoration on his face.

“You alright, baby?” he asks, just to make sure that my tiredness is nothing out of the norm. I bob my head. He smiles gently and stretches his neck out in my direction just a little. “Kiss.”

I don’t say anything but tip my toes a little to give him a kiss on his puckered lips. He hums in content and turns back to stir-frying the vegetables.

“Jae told me you bumped into your high school friend at the supermarket.” When I don’t say anything, he glances at me to see me nodding my head. “Heard he tried to hit on you.”

I roll my eyes at nothing as I walk away to go to the fridge. “Is that what Jae said?” I grunt as I open the refrigerator. “He has a child, Baekhyun. How and why would he hit on me with his kid around?”

Baekhyun glances at me. “He’s a man, babe. And from what Jae said, he sounded like he was hitting on you.”

I shut the refrigerator door with a bit too much vigour. I cross my arms and turn to my husband with a frown etched on my face. His eyebrows slightly lift in amusement, especially when I try to give him an annoyed expression.

“Just tell me you don’t trust me, why don’t you?”

Baekhyun sighs as he turns off the fire. He leans his hip against the counter with his body slightly tilted to face me. “It’s not that I don’t trust you, my love. It’s the guys that I don’t trust. We’re disgusting monsters.”

I let out a sigh and drop my strong facade so I could give him a pout. I drop my crossed arms. “Yeah, you are.”

He smiles at the sight of me cooling down. He holds out his hand towards me. “I am,” he nods. I move forward to let him encircle his arm around my waist. “If I saw you in the supermarket, baby, you’re probably going to call the police about a stalker.”

I giggle softly. Baekhyun really knows what to say to make me forget about anything. “Because you’ll be stalking me?”

His eyes are creased into crescents and they sparkle at the sound of my chuckle. He nods. “Mmhmm.” He smiles at the sound of my laughter. He curls my hair behind my ear. “You’re so beautiful and smart, baby. So I am not surprised to find out that you have guys trying to hit on you. But they should really watch their backs if they try any moves on you.”

“Why?”

“Because this beautiful woman’s husband is a mafia leader. And according to hearsay, he might actually do bad things to them if he finds out his wife is being harassed.”

I think there must be something in the air, or maybe the planets have aligned, to make me look more attractive, or something. I am confused, and honestly a little freaked out, by how many guys have approached me just this month. And not to ask for directions.

Even Baekhyun has taken note of this. (Or maybe Jae and Hyuk did, and let Baekhyun know.) And I know that he is conflicted over it. On one hand, he is proud of how beautiful his wife is, yet on the other hand, he is annoyed at all the unwanted attention I am getting. And honestly, there is nothing he can do about it. Sure, he may be South Korea’s biggest mafia leader, but what can he do to innocent men who decided to hit on his wife? He cannot possibly shoot them, or torture them.

Baekhyun snatches my phone out of my hands, shocking me because I had thought that he was sleeping. I turn around in his arms to fix my wide eyes on him, and I see him frowning at my phone, entirely awake.

“Who are all these men?” he questions, scrolling through my Direct Message requests which I had been trying to empty.

I shrug. “Don’t know.” He flickers his eyes over to me. I flip around on the bed where we had been cuddling for our afternoon nap, and face him. “I think they must have found me from our Cafè’s Instagram.”

He groans dramatically and throws himself onto his back, his arm flung to his forehead. I am genuinely worried, until he goes, “God, why did you have to make my wife so beautiful?!” It makes me blush, so I click my tongue, smack his chest, and try to grab my phone back. Baekhyun opens his eyes again to look at me and I notice the love and cheekiness on his countenance. “Maybe I should stop letting you go for all those facials and whatever treatments.”

I frown and pout at him. “No, you can’t. I want to look pretty to you.”

He coos, bumping my cheek with the back of his fingers. “You looked pretty to me already, before you went for all those aesthetic treatments. You were, and still are, the prettiest woman I have ever laid eyes on, and have ever dated.”

I have to nuzzle my red face in his chest to hide the blush that has spread all over my body. Baekhyun chuckles and wraps his arm around my body, holding me to him. He lowers his head and kisses my crown.

“Let’s go out tonight,” he murmurs.

“Where?” I mumble, peeking up at him.

“Let’s have a date night. Let’s go to a bar, flirt like we used to, and come home for some… exercise.” He is giving me a suggestive smile, which only makes me giggle.

“Okay,” I agree. “It’s been awhile since we went on a date night.”

It is a good thing that I decided to have a day off for the café every Wednesday. Baekhyun didn’t do that for Guns & Holsters, but when I suggested the idea, no one fought me on it. Honestly, I think Jae and Hyuk were glad that they have an off day from being part-time baristas too. And Baekhyun, though he doesn’t have to do much barista work, was also satisfied because that meant that I could spend more time with him.

Although most of the time, we waste our Wednesdays at home, just cuddling and being Lazy Bums. Sometimes, Baekhyun has to go out for a short while, but he always comes back with food to apologise for his absence. Today, though, he also has to do something work-related. So I compromise, and decide to go with him.

Ever since that day I met Sehun, however, I have made a promise to myself never to be involved, or even attempt to find out, what Baekhyun’s up to as a mafia leader. I simply let him do his thing, as long as I know the gist of what he is doing. For example, last week he had been complaining about some guy who owes him a favour and had been avoiding him. And yesterday, Baekhyun told me that the guy was found and he had been dealt with. I pretended I didn’t know the meaning behind the term ‘dealt with,’ and simply asked if he redeemed his favour. Apparently he had, but I did not dare to ask him more questions.

And today, Baekhyun has asked for me to follow him to a work-related thing before our date, but I tell him that I would rather wait in the car. So here I am, sitting in the car with one of his other trustworthy men, waiting for Baekhyun to return from his appointment at some dodgy plaza. He comes back about 20 minutes later, his thumb and his middle finger quickly pinching the nearly burnt out cigarette between his lips, throwing it away by the roadside. I pretend not to see it.

When he strides back to the vehicle and the driver for today opens the door for him, he slides into the car, smiling at me. He smells like smoke. But still, when he leans in for a kiss, I give it to him and even move closer to hug his arm. He kisses the top of my head before telling the man who has just slid into the driver’s seat where to go.

“Let’s go to a fine dining restaurant for dinner—” Baekhyun notices the cringe on my face, which makes him laugh. But he continues like he hasn’t seen my face. “And then, we’ll go to a bar where we can order the greasiest, nastiest food to go with our drinks.” Hearing that makes me nod and smile in satisfaction. He chuckles. “You’re so low maintenance, babe.”

“We can skip the fine dining, honestly—”

“It’s for the experience. And I want you to feel fancy and .”

I coo and cup his cheek. He automatically turns his face to mine, like a sunflower following the sun. He is smiling all dazed and adoringly down at me. “You already make me feel like a princess, Oppa. And a princess doesn’t need to feel fancy.”

Baekhyun is always very hard and stiff when it comes to salespeople, or even just anyone who tries to change his mind about something. But if there is one person that can shape and mould his thinking, that would be me. He would change a flight at the last-minute because I want to change our holiday destination. He would buy a set of baking appliances if I just made a passing remark about how nice it would be to have them, totally giving the employee who had been pitching some favourable sales talk to him no credit at all. What I am trying to get at is that Baekhyun always gives into me, and goes out of his way to make me comfortable.

This time, however, he doesn’t get roped into my provocation, so we end up at a fancy restaurant, getting served tiny food and old, expensive wine. The food is nothing like I have ever tasted before, and the wine tastes like fancy grape juice. But I know that it is most definitely not grape juice because by the time Baekhyun has paid the bill for our $400 meal in cash, I am already slightly woozy on my feet. He has to hold me by the waist and let me lean on him.

“I assume you enjoyed the dinner?” he guesses in a teasing manner.

I smile up at him, my face a little warm from the alcohol. “Mmhmm! But…!” I stay still and stare at Baekhyun wordlessly with a serious expression on my face.

He chuckles and nods. He already knows what I mean, without even me saying anything. I swear, if there is such a thing as soulmates, Baekhyun is definitely mine.

He knows exactly what I want, without me actually saying it out loud. Which is why we are now at a bar, with at least five appetisers in front of us. Baekhyun is munching on a truffle fry, but I am stuffing my face with buffalo wings and spam fries. I probably look the opposite of pretty and elegant, but my husband is watching me with the loveliest gaze and the most adoring smile.

“Slow down, baby, you’re going to have indigestion,” he warns me when I whine at my arm touching some sauce while I am stretching my hand out to get some food. He takes a napkin and cleans the sauce from my arm, his hold gentle and his wipes delicate.

“I already have it.”

Baekhyun looks up at me in surprise, to which I only pout and nod my head. My stomach feels bloated and I am uncomfortable. He sighs in defeat and in endearment, like he should have known. He returns my hand to me and wipes his hands. I watch him move to slide out of the booth. He glances at me and sees the pout on my face.

“I’ll buy something for your indigestion. I’ll be back.”

“Soon?”

He quirks a smile. He comes to my side, the back of my head, and leans down to kiss my temple. “Soon,” he promises.

So I let him go. I continue eating, though at a slower rate now, just so I do not upset my tummy further, and that there’s still food for Baekhyun when he returns. A waiter comes by to clear his already empty glass. I clean my hands after a few more fries, and lean back in my seat while I drink the cocktail Baekhyun ordered for me. He even knows what kind of drink I might like.

I sit there, absentmindedly looking around the bar, noticing how there are quite a lot of people for a weekday. My eyes fleet over a group of men, only to snap back to them when I notice one of them staring at me. I am surprised, especially when he smiles and tips his glass in my direction, confirming for me that he is indeed looking in my direction. I take a sip of my drink as I quickly look away. I cannot help myself when I reach for another fry to curb myself from fidgeting.

“You’re here alone?”

I look up with the fry still halfway in my mouth. The guy who had been staring is now standing by the booth with his glass of alcohol. If he had been here for long, I am sure he would have seen Baekhyun with me. I can only assume that he has only just arrived, probably from another bar.

“Uh, no—”

“Can I sit?” Before I even get to answer him, he slides into the booth, taking Baekhyun’s place opposite me. He glances down at all the food, then grins at me. “Someone’s hungry, huh?”

I take a deep breath, about ready to tell him no, and that I would like him to go away. But he doesn’t even give me the opportunity to.

“Do you want to join us?” I glance at where he is pointing with his thumb. It is the group of men at the high table, laughing and making jokes among themselves, some of them staring at us and gossiping. Once again, I am about to politely reject him, but he continues, “You’re alone in a bar. I think it’s better to have some male friends to protect you.”

“Actually—” I stop automatically, somehow already expecting him to cut me off like he always does. This time, he lets me finish my sentence. Not that I am allowed to, again. “Thanks, but—”

“Who’s this?”

I look up and see Baekhyun back, his eyes on the man sitting in his spot, his hand setting down a box of supplements in front of me. I let out a quiet sigh of relief. He always comes and saves me at the right time, like he is my Prince Charming.

“Who is this?” The stranger retorts haughtily, frowning and scoffing at Baekhyun.

My husband ignores him and turns to me. I can clearly see the annoyance on his face. “Baby—”

“Baby?” the guy mocks. “Back off, buddy. She’s not interested.”

“How do you know I’m not interested?” I say, without interruptions and so firm and quick that the stranger is gaping at me, surprised to see me talk.

“I mean, I—”

I cut him off this time. With a sweet, flirty smile playing on my lips, I look up at Baekhyun. “Please, join us.”

He turns to me, confused, until he sees the twinkle in my eyes and the cheeky smile on my lips. The corner of his lips quirks. He hums. I move to the side and he slides in next to me. I am grinning at him, how handsome he is compared to the stranger in front of me, but Baekhyun is only glaring at the man before us.

“What’s your name?”

The stranger scoffs and rolls his eyes. “You’re the intruder. What’s your name?”

“Don’t be rude, young man,” Baekhyun bites out, his entire aura suddenly intimidating.

Even the other guy feels it, because he blinks in surprise and backs down a little. Anyone can see that this guy is definitely younger and more immature than Baekhyun, but what people probably don’t know is that Baekhyun is also a mafia leader. He raises an eyebrow in the other man’s direction and almost immediately gets a reply.

“Jinwoo,” he answers in a mumble. You can tell that he isn’t happy by his tone.

Baekhyun looks at him for a second longer before he turns to me, his eyes soft and a gentle smile flirting on his lips. “And you, my beautiful girl?”

I know that I am his wife, but I still end up with my cheeks in flames. I have to murmur my name so he doesn’t hear how breathless I am, and I have even diverted my gaze to look down. I hear Baekhyun chuckling. He introduces himself this time.

“Go get your own table, Mr. Baekhyun,” Jinwoo grumbles, not quite keen on getting ed.

Baekhyun hums and shakes his head, shamelessly. “Nah.” He looks at the spread of food on the table. “Can I help myself?” Jinwoo bobs his shoulders and glances at me, so Baekhyun turns to me. He knows he can, especially because he is paying for it. But I still play along and nod my head. “Thank you. You’re a sweetheart.” Before he takes any food, he raises his hand to call for a waiter. When one comes, he orders, “One whiskey on the rocks, and one…” He glances at my almost-empty glass. He flickers his eyes up to meet mine, to gauge if I can still take more. Then he turns back to the waiter. “And a strawberry daiquiri for the lady.”

The waiter then looks at Jinwoo, who is gaping at Baekhyun, probably waiting for him to order for him too, but Baekhyun only starts for a truffle fry across the table as he tilts his body to face me, so that he is slightly blocking me from the other guy’s view.

“Eat the indigestion pills, baby,” he reminds me softly. “They can go with alcohol so you’re good.”

I nod my head and secretly take one pill out of the packaging under the table. When Baekhyun returns back to his usual sitting position, Jinwoo is done ordering for himself even though he still has half a bottle of beer left. He is too busy glaring at my husband to notice me popping a pill into my mouth. I can see him wordlessly asking Baekhyun to leave, but Baekhyun simply stares back at him, looking so relaxed as he leans back in his seat, munching away on some bar snacks.

“What do you do, Mr. Baekhyun?” I ask, leaning forward to rest my cheek on my hand, my body turned slightly to face him. I wonder if he will tell me the truth this time.

He hums and glances at me, only to stare at the dreamy look I have on my face. He smiles. “Hmm… Let’s just say that I am a businessman of sorts.”

I nod slowly. He is not wrong. “What kind of business do you do?”

“I sell art pieces, I run a cafè, sometimes I even enter the pharmaceutical side of business.” He means drugs. I roll my eyes, to which he chuckles at. “What about you, sweetheart?”

I shrug. “I work in a café.”

“Oh. Which café is this?”

Feeling completely ignored, Jinwoo quickly steps in and asks, “Yeah, where is it? Maybe we— I mean, I can visit.”

I glance at him, only to turn back to the man next to me. I rather much prefer Baekhyun as my choice of visual subject to anyone else.

“It’s a secret,” I tease coyly. I really just don’t want to see Jinwoo again.

Baekhyun chuckles softly. “If it is a secret, then you’re lying. You actually work for P.W.O.!”

I frown at him. “What is P.W.O.?”

“Pretty Women Organisation.”

I immediately blush as I giggle at his pick up line. God, he still knows how to flirt. He is smiling at me, his eyes twinkling at the sight of my laughter.

“What do you do there? Be pretty, and have men fall at your feet as a simulation?”

I laugh even more, which makes Baekhyun’s smile widen. Jinwoo says something to cut through Baekhyun’s limelight, but it is tough, when I am so entirely enamored by my husband. I just cannot see past him.

The waiter comes back now with our drinks and sets our respective glasses in front of us. Baekhyun lifts his glass in my direction, and I shyly pick up my cocktail to lightly bump our drinks together. I am about to bring my drink to my lips but Jinwoo quickly holds out his bottle of beer. I give him a polite smile and clink our glasses together. I look away the moment I notice the flirty smile on his face. He definitely doesn’t look as good as Baekhyun.

“So tell me, sweetheart,” Baekhyun says as he puts his cup down. I give him my full attention. “Is this what you eat to get so pretty?” He raises his eyebrows at the table of food.

I blush. “Actually, I consume the blood of s to remain this beautiful.”

Baekhyun laughs. It is my turn to watch him with a smile, my heart thumping hard at the sight of him laughing because of me. He turns slightly to me now and rests his arm on the top of the bench behind me, so that he is now only facing me, and almost encasing me in his little bubble.

“Do you bite and on their neck, and leave marks?”

The entire atmosphere between us has shifted from something casual and light to something almost sensual. Maybe it is the way he drops his voice a few octaves, or maybe it is the way he spreads his legs to press his thigh to mine. But whatever it is, I am embracing it.

“Yes. Or…”

I lean in, which makes him drop his head to hear my whisper. It only makes him hold his breath when he hears it, especially when I moan between descriptions of how I might him at another place on his body if he was a . I lean back, grinning at his reaction in satisfaction. I hear someone clearing their throat, which reminds me of Jinwoo. I had totally forgotten about him. I turn to him and give him a courteous smile.

“Thanks for keeping me company, Jinwoo,” I say politely.

He knows he has lost the battle the moment Baekhyun appeared. But I appreciate his tenacity. He knows not to overstay his welcome, or to embarrass himself further. As he moves to slide out of the booth, Baekhyun clears his throat and turns to him.

“That beer is on me. Thanks for keeping my wife company.” Jinwoo frowns at the both of us. In sync, Baekhyun and I lift our left hands to show him our rings. He immediately turns red with embarrassment. I am laughing silently while Baekhyun tells him seriously, “And next time, don’t wait to leave until you’re asked to. Know when to off and save yourself some dignity.”

Jinwoo doesn’t say anything, but anyone can tell just how embarrassed he is, especially when he scuttles back to his group of friends. I turn to Baekhyun, who is already staring at me, his dark eyes gentle and loving.

“Shall we go home so you can my blood out of me?”

“Not blood but something else, Oppa…”

“.” Baekhyun whips his head around and immediately shoots his hand out. “Bill please!”

We’re both panting, the both of us sweaty and exhausted. Baekhyun is always the first to get up from the bed. He goes to get a tissue, and wipes me off. Then he leans down to peck me on the lips.

“Let’s go again?”

Baekhyun raises an eyebrow at my request. “Again?” I nod my head shyly. “You’re going to have to ride me this time, babe. I don’t think I have the energy after the past two rounds.”

“Okay!”

He never says no to , so we end up going for another round. And when we have both come down from our highs, no one asks for another round of . Instead, we take a quick shower together, and return to bed to snuggle under the covers. I am lying on Baekhyun’s arm, my body turned to face him. My leg is slightly resting on his hip, and he has a hand caressing the side of my thigh.

“Next time I should have you walk around with a paper bag over your head,” Baekhyun mutters.

I giggle and look up at him. He glances at me. “But I thought you like showing me off!”

He sighs through his nose and clenches his hand on my thigh, pulling me impossibly closer. “I do, but God, why do you have to be so attractive? Every time I’m not there, I either hear stories about you getting hit on, or I come back to see you getting hit on. And honestly, who are they to think they have a chance with you?”

I laugh at his speech and smack his chest. I flip around and snuggle back against him. Baekhyun now brings his hand to wrap around my waist and pulls me in closer to him. He dips his head and presses his nose in my hair.

“I am so proud of you, my love,” Baekhyun murmurs into my hair.

“For what?” I wonder curiously.

I feel him shrug. “I just feel proud to have you as my wife. You’re beautiful, and smart, and polite, and overall so lovely.” My heart is racing at all that. “You are my pride, baby.”