[ C H A P T E R   T E N ]

Packing was definitely not his forte, and he knew it was a mistake to literally start packing only two hours before he boards the flight. He tossed whatever he could think of into his luggage then reach for the last piece of hoodie hang safely in his wardrobe, it was the one Yongsun loves wearing the most whenever she stayed over at his apartment back in the days. He smiled almost a bitter kind of smile and decided to bring it with him for this tour as well, just so he could have a little something that could reminded him of her while he’s away from Korea for a long while. 

It has been a few months since they last met, several weeks since they last called but nothing was really changing between them, they were just too busy — Mamamoo with their comeback promotions, and him gearing up for his tour again. He texted her last night just to let her know that he’d be out of the country for a long while in case she couldn’t reach him, but she still had yet to reply back so Eric took it as she was busy. 

He changed into a comfortable hoodie and laid down on his bed, staring at the ceilings blankly. The night before he leaves Korea always feel weird and empty, and he never really managed to figure out why. A blast from his phone snapped him back to reality, and he reached to grab his phone from his pocket. 

Yongsun.

He picked up thinking it was one of those normal calls they would always have, but instead he was greeted by a rather different Yongsun. Her tone a little bit higher than usual, her speeches slurred and the musics in the background was blasting through his ears, he could barely made out what she was saying. His brows furrowed in confusion. Has she been drinking? 

    “Yong, are you drunk?” 

    “D-runk?” She asked, her pronunciation barely making sense amidst the loud music. “Noooo, I’m not drunk — I’m Yongsun, Yongsun Kim. Y—O—N—G—S—” 

If it’s anyone who would drunk dial between the two of them, it would usually be him. In fact, Yongsun barely drinks, and even if she does, it’d be with the companion of her members in the safety of their houses but hell — he ran his fingers through his hairs in exasperation. She’s drunk, somewhere in this huge city and she barely holds onto her own consciousness. 

    Trying to steady his voice, he asked again. “Alright, alright, I know. Can you remember where you’re at right now?”

    “I don’t know, can you?” Her voice dropped into a small whisper he could barely hear. “Are you mad at me? Please don’t be m—“

    He sighed, his fingers still in his hairs and he was slowly starting to panic. He took a deep breath and tried to speak slowly so she could make sense of his words, “No, Yong. I’m not mad at you, but listen to me. Stop drinking anymore, and just stay right where you are. Don’t go anywhere, I’ll be right there.” 

He didn’t know how he was supposed to find where she was at, but Eric grabbed his car key and his hoodie that she loves with him before he made a run for his car. His mind was all over the places as he tried to figure every possible ways to track down her location, and not panicking about her being alone in a club completely drunk while also keeping himself focused on the road so he wouldn’t actually crash into anyone.

When he found her sitting all by herself in the corner of the club, her small body looking smaller than usual in her long black silky sleeveless dress as she slumped down over the table, her blonde hair pulling into a loose low bun under her cap, Eric’s first instinct was to make sure she got out of this place safely without anyone recognizing her. 

    “Oh—” She smiles a giddy kind of smile, her eyes staring straight into his then she blinks confusedly. “You’re not Byul, but I called Byul thou—”

    Eric was half glad that at least she was still conscious enough to know who he is, and who she was actually trying to call. Reaching his hand out to hold hers, he speaks just loud enough for both of them to hear. “Yong, let’s go hom—”

    “Nooo, I have to finish this.” She huffs and gives him a disapproval look. “My mom told me it’s not good to waste food.” 

He sighs, and pushes the glass of alcohol she was going to reach for further away from her grip. Mumbling that she’s had enough for tonight, he helped her up and made sure her cap was hiding her face well before he tried to help themselves out of this overcrowded place without anyone recognizing them. Geez, what was she even thinking coming here with little to almost no disguise. 

Throughout the entire ride home, he wasn’t sure how many topics she was rambling about. In fact, he had no idea half of the time what exactly she was saying, and sometimes she’d forget what she was going to say and just paused before she started on another topic. But, he listened anyway just in case she’d tell him what was bothering her that much. 

Eric would had absolutely no idea where her new apartment was if it wasn’t for Byul picking up her phone almost immediately even though it was two in the morning. The younger woman asked if he was able to stay the night with her since Yonghee was out of town, and as much as he wished he could, he asked her for a favor to look after Yongsun for him tonight instead because he had a tour schedule he couldn’t just cancel — the most he could do was delaying his flight by a few hours, even though it earned him an earful from his brother.

    “You’re supposed to be there very early so we could run things through thoroughly before the concert.”

    “I know, Eddie. But I have something important to deal with right now, I’ll make sure I’ll get everything through thoroughly when I’m there, please.”

    He almost jumped in surprise when she suddenly reached her hand out to cup his cheek. Staring at him confusedly, she asked, “Why are you here?” 

    Eric sighed and took one of his hand off his steering wheel to hold hers. “I’ve been here the entire time, Yong. What are you talking about?”

    She frowns. “You’re supposed to be leaving in 2 hours.”

    “Yeah, I delayed my fligh—”

    “You’re crazy.”

Then, she fell asleep in the seat next to him almost right away. A small laugh escaped his mouth as he took a quick glance at her in disbelief. If there was anything that still hasn’t changed about her, it’s how surprising she’d always be even after all these time. His hoodie was draping over her laps and she’s holding onto one of his hands tightly. 

God, Yongsun. He thought, she really does have a way to pull his heartstrings every single time. 

Byul sent him the passcode to Yongsun’s apartment just in case she arrived later than they do. Her house was completely dark, but it was plausible since no one was home. He reached his hand out to the wall to search for the light switch and managed to touch something that resembled it as they walked further inside. 

Byul was taking a lot longer than any of them expected and she sounded almost frantic on the phone, because why the hell was she even drinking that much in the club. Eric told her he had no idea, and Byul cursed under her breath because the traffic was still so bad even at two in the morning. When she hang up, she sent him several messages asking him if Yongsun was still alive, which was an interesting choice of word for her to use but she wasn’t wrong either. Yongsun had never drank this much before — never alone, and it was ridiculous to him. What was bothering her so much that she tried to drink it all away like that?

Heaving a sigh, he gently her hair as she slept on his shoulder. He felt her stirred in her sleep, and for a few minutes he was so lost in his own thoughts he didn’t notice she was awake and looking at him. Her eyes were hazy, her brows furrowing together and he was sure by now, she was starting to get the after effects of being drunk. 

    He still asked anyway. “Are you okay?” 

    Her answer was completely different when she spoke. “You should go, you’re going to be late.” 

Well, at least she sobered up a little now. Eric thought, and unconsciously moved his hand to her cheek. He was rather surprised that Yongsun wasn’t pulling back, instead she still had her head on his shoulder and was just staring into spaces — trying to gather her thoughts for what, he had no idea but he had a slight feeling she was just trying to work out the uneasy after effects she was feeling from the alcohol she had.

    “I miss you.” 

Her sudden confession took him by surprise, but she wasn’t returning his eye contact when he turned to look at her. 

    “We called every time, but I miss you so bad and I don’t even understand why. It drives me crazy because I just want to love you, but I don’t even know how to properly love without hurting the both of us again. I want to love you, but what if I hurt you again? Would you hate me then? Would you despise me for breaking us apart again if we couldn’t figure something out together in the future?” 

Eric wasn’t sure if it was her words, or the way she tried so hard to swallow her own cry that wrenched his heart more, but he took it that this was mainly one of the reasons that pushed her to drink this much tonight. He wrapped his arms around her tightly, fearing that if he lets go again, he’s going to lose her forever this time. 

    “We’ll make this work, Yong. We’ll love without hurting each other again. We’ll figure everything out, we’ll take it one at a time and we’ll do it together until it works out.”

She finally brings herself to look at him, her eyes glaze with tear and she watches as that same pain she was feeling reflected in his eyes as well. She has no idea when or how exactly, but when their faces were just inches apart, she no longer holds herself back from anything at all — her lips met his, and it felt different. It wasn’t the type of kiss they used to share, there was something more but neither could really made it out. 

There was longing and unspoken apologies, and perhaps even hope and earnest pleading to hold onto whatever they have just a little bit longer, and the longer they kissed, the more they took comfort in each other’s presences that they will work this out together one day. Neither of them knew whose tear they felt on their faces, but neither really gave it much thought anyway — his hand wrapped around the small of her waist, and his other hand gently cupped her face. She felt really safe in his arms, that was the only thing Yongsun could figured out, and she hasn’t feel this way for a long while. 

    Her eyes searched his again when they looked at each other. With her hands still wrapping loosely around his neck, her voice came in a small whisper amidst the silence surrounding them. “Will you wait for me?” 

    It didn’t take him long to give her an answer and this time, Eric made sure she knew how much he wanted this to work out between them. “I’ll wait for you, Yong. I’ll always be here, so take as much time as you need.” 

    She gives him a small smile and places her head against his chest. In a much lighter tone, she said, “You know, you should really go now.”

    “No, you should get some sleep first. I’ll stay until Byul gets here.” 

The next morning, Yongsun had no idea when did Eric leave or when did Byul even arrive. She woke up in her bed, still in the dress she was wearing last night but this time she was wearing his hoodie on top of it and an excruciating headache she had never felt before in her life. She winced, and brought her hand to hold her own head. Byul was completely passed out on the couch across from her bed. 

Her hand trailed over his hoodie she’s wearing and she searched for her phone hidden somewhere on her bed, maybe she’ll leave him a text asking him to text her once he lands just so she would feel less guilty about messing up his schedule last night. 

But when she unlocked her phone, Yongsun found an unread message sent since 5am from him. 

Call me once you wake up, and don’t ever drink like that again while I’m away.

She smiles, and silently gets up to leave her room to her living room instead so she won’t wake Byul up, she had a feeling Byul also didn’t get to sleep much because of her last night. A mischievous smile curves on her face and instead of the call button, her finger hovers over the reply message instead.

For someone who claimed to not be protective, since when were you this protective?

Was never really the protective type before, but it all changed since a certain someone decided it was a good idea to drink all by herself in a club last night. 

She laughed and jokingly sent back a bunch of angry emojis, even though she was nowhere near angry right now. She missed him already, and it hasn’t even been a whole day yet.

So.. can we call now?

Yongsun giggles and presses the call button. She settles on her sofa and curls herself up into a ball so she’s all cozy up in his hoodie. She misses him, but maybe she can holds on just a little more until he finishes his tour. For now, Yongsun decides she’s happy even with just calling him every now and then. 

    “So, how much troubles did you get into with your brother for last night?”

    “Loads.” He closed his eyes, the images of last night's kiss and her confession played through his head. “But, it was worth it though.”