[ C H A P T E R   T W E L V E ]

Yongsun woke up to a completely empty house today. When she walked into the kitchen to cook herself brunch, she found the notes both her sister and Byul left saying they’re heading for works. She wasn’t entirely surprised with her sister leaving for work because it was her daily routine, but Yongsun couldn’t remember Byul telling her that she’d have a schedule today. She disregarded it eventually thinking that she might probably just forgot, maybe she’ll just ask her what was it again later today.  

It had been exactly a week since she sent Eric a card, and he called yesterday to tell her that he has received it and that he’ll definitely remember to call her as soon as he’s back in Korea — this time though, it was his turn to complain to her about how tough it is to live with his brothers.

    “Last time you told me that I got along really well with my brothers, right?” He groaned, and Yongsun could almost feel him running his hand through his hairs in complete exasperation. “They’re killing me. I’m so stressed right now, I just wanted to fly to Korea this instant.”

She laughed and told him that it probably wouldn’t be that bad in which she got a displeased grunt from him in return. Truth is, she hoped just as much that he’d coming back to Korea soon but he needed some off time after all the cities he’s been touring in, and she knew that better than anyone else — but still, Yongsun thought, she misses him so badly. 

She guesses maybe she could hold onto another two weeks to finally see him again and to finally addresses their relationship together again, so many times she was just tempted to tell him that she’s ready to give him her entire heart again right through their countless phone calls every other nights. 

    I love you. She swallowed those words away every time it was hanging just around the edge of her lips. I love you loads and I hope you’d know that, again and again she pretended that she didn’t hear her own mind tempting her into saying it out loud. So, instead Yongsun would just resolved to the closest thing she could tell him for now, “Don’t get sick.”  

    “Patience is the key to a greater thing later on.” Byul would always reminded her whenever she’s babbling about how she’s not patient enough to wait for another two weeks. “And, technically, you’ve been waiting for like 3 years ever since you guys broke up that night, 2 more weeks should be a lot easier to handle.” 

Yongsun groaned and turned off her stove. It was almost 12 noon by the time she finished cooking because last night movie marathon with Byul forced her with no choice but to wake up really late today. Brunch was kimchi stew, and she wished she didn’t make this because now she missed him even more. Grabbing her phone, she decided to snap a picture of it and forwarded it to both Eric and Byul, without any caption just to torture them a little — Byul has been tasting her kimchi stew for almost a month straight and Yongsun still couldn’t understand how in the world she still could be absolutely crazy over it, and Eric… Eric just wanted to eat kimchi stew. 

Her phone alerted a short message back from Byul. 

You better save some for me.

There was no response back from Eric, she guessed because it was practically still bedtime in Los Angeles but Yongsun almost jumped in surprise when her phone rang half an hour later and it showed his name on the screen — she knew Eric barely sleep, but why would he still be awake at this hour. 

    “Did you save some for me?” 

    “No.” She giggles. “It tastes best when served hot, so I’ll make sure to cook it boiling hot just for you when you’re here, and with lots of your favorite canned tuna.” 

Her doorbell rang, and she looked up at her door confusedly. Yongsun guessed Byul’s schedule ended really early today, and maybe she really was rushing back home to eat kimchi stew because Byul can be really crazy about anything kimchi in general.  

    “Hold on, I think Byul’s here.”

She ran to the door with her phone in her hand to open the door for the younger woman who has been going back and forth between her house like it was her own, but she wasn’t really complaining because her sister was rarely home and Byul saved her from slowly losing her mind from being alone all the time. 

    “Wha—”

Yongsun gasped, her unruly hair pulling into simplest bun and her straight out of bed appearance were long forgotten because she was too shocked to even worry about she looked like. She almost gauged her eyes out, and it took her a solid few minutes to figure out that she really wasn’t still half-asleep.  

Eric. 

But how? 

His eyes landed on his hoodie she’s wearing, and he smiles as if he hadn’t just flew almost 6000 miles just to see her. He waited for a good one minute for Yongsun to register what was happening, and Eric might have a tiny bit expected at least a big hug from her, but instead she looked at him like he was being absolutely ridiculous and gave him the most Yongsun-like response.

    “You’re crazy.” 

He laughed. Yeah, Eric thought, that’s the right person he fell in love with. 

    “I heard I could get a boiling hot kimchi stew with lots of my favorite canned tuna here.” He gives her a casual grin. “Also, I kinda received this card that said a certain hoodie is missing me loads.” 

    “You’re ridiculous.” 

    “I’m taking that as you also miss me a lot?” 

She laughed and playfully rolled her eyes at him. Inviting him inside, Yongsun asked if he was serious as well about asking her to keep a bowl of kimchi stew for him, which she realized she shouldn’t have asked because if he was serious about taking a flight all the way from Los Angeles to Korea two weeks earlier than she expected, then there was no way he was not serious about a single bowl of kimchi stew. 

    “How did you know I’d be staying home today?” She asked, then turned to give him a pointed look. “Don’t tell me you came here on a hunch.”

    “I asked Byul, and she told me that I can come over since you’ll be alone all days today.” 

She raised her brows confusedly at that, and it took her a few moment to realize that Byul didn’t forget to tell her about her schedules today, she actually didn’t have any in the first place and would probably be chilling somewhere inside her own house playing her game again. She smiled to herself, Byul has helped them way too many times — maybe this time she really owed her a big pot of kimchi stew or maybe some other better kimchi dishes. She made a mental note to make sure she asked the younger woman which one she wanted exactly. 

    “Did you really fly here early because your brothers were stressing you out that much?” 

    He laughs. “That’s one of the reasons, but I honestly didn’t really plan to stay there for two more weeks, I was planning to come here early to surprise you, and it just happened that your card arrived on time and sealed the deal for me.” 

    Yongsun blushes. He leans closer to her, his arms folded on the table and he grins almost a cheeky kind of smile. “I like that hoodie on you, I’ve seen it quite often in Solarsido.” 

    “Yeah?” She tried to offer him what she hoped resembled a nonchalant shrug the most, but Yongsun had a feeling she was just making a fool out of herself at this rate. “A lot of people in the comments asked me where did I get it. I was actually surprised no one caught on with how much I’ve been wearing it.” 

    “Did you tell them where?”

    “No, too comfy to share.” She grins. “You’re done? I’m just gonna pop these in the dishwasher.”

Yongsun almost broke the last plate she was loading into the dishwasher when she suddenly felt a big pair of arms wrapped around her waist from behind, his warm breath hit against her neck and it gave her goosebumps but also a sense of comfort that made her just wanted to nuzzle into his arms for the rest of the day. It was only then that she realized just how much she has been missing him these past few months, and how much she was wishing she could be held like this in his arms again.

    “I miss you, Yong.” 

    She sighed into his arms and brought her own hands to gently hold onto his. Turning her head slightly so she could look at him, she repeated his words back at him. “I miss you too. Loads.”

They both know it was a rare moment for her to say this kind of stuff, she was never really the type of person to easily tell anyone these things right to their faces but when she actually did, they knew she meant it wholeheartedly. Eric gave her a small smile, his hands untangled from around her waist and he gently pulled her closer to him. 

A flock of butterflies swarmed inside her tummy when he reached his hand out to gently caress her cheek.

    “So, what was it that made you decided to send me that card?” He asked, and suddenly the atmosphere was like that of the night she was drunk except this time, she wasn’t sad and lost and this time, there were more hope than unspoken apologies hanging in the air between them. 

    His eyes caught hers, and there was something in his eyes that tucked a string in her heart. “I know you asked me to wait for you, Yong and it’s been 7 months now since that night you asked me to do so. But, I love you so much and I don’t think I’ve ever feel this way for anyone before. Please just let me love you again, I want to do this all over again with you — I don’t care if we ended up hurting each other again — no, I don't care if you hurt me, but I promise I will never let you broke down crying because of me ever again. I wanted to make it all up to to you, I want to love you wholeheartedly.”

She stared at him and there was nothing she could managed out of even though she had a lot to tell him as well. Eric has never told her anything of this sort before, not during all the phone calls they’ve shared nor the cards he has sent, there were subtle hints here and there that he wanted this to work again, and she noticed them all. But, to hear him saying it all out, being completely vulnerable and raw in front of her in the form of a conversation and not through the lyrics of a song, she was just speechless.

    She wanted to say something back, to tell him that she loves him just as much but instead, his voice breaks the short silence between them instead of her own. “If you still need more time, then I completely understand. I know this is not easy, and I don’t want to force y—”

    She gives him a peck on his lips and smiles. In a small whisper, she asked, “You’re sure you want me again? I might be a little bit too difficult to deal with, you know.”

    “If you let me, I'll always be there through your best and your worst.” 

    She giggles, and a little thought crosses her head. She gently tucks on the strings of the hoodie he’s wearing, and in a small voice, she speaks. “You said I can return this hoodie back whenever I’m ready to, but can I just have it instead?” 

    “What?”

    Shrugging a little, she said. “We can share if you also like this hoodie a lot.” 

Eric laughs at a grinning Yongsun looking too adorable for his own sake in his oversized hoodie, her messy low bun hanging loosely against the back of her neck and her straight out of bed face looked ridiculously beautiful to him. 

    Jokingly, he said, “I can’t believe you made me talked a whole paragraph just to ask if you could have my hoodie.”

Yongsun giggled, and then she was lost in his kiss. His lips brushed against hers, softly at first that they could feel the warmth of each other’s skin. He tasted of lip balm and the kimchi stew they just had, and perhaps a little bit of the sweet mango sticky rice he made for her, but that was the least of her worry right now. The bristles of his stubble gently pricked against her skin, and Yongsun was almost bewildered that she’d like how it feels — the heat in her cheeks rose, yet they both could still feel a smile curving on each other’s faces. She likes that none of all the kisses they've shared were the same, they were all different in a crazy way that would always made her heart skipped ten thousand beats faster and sent her straight to cloud nine — she loves kissing him, that was all Yongsun could concluded right now.

When he pulled back a long while later, he gave her a quick peck on the tip of her nose. Her face was burning, and his ears were on fire, and they broke into a fit of giggles somewhere in the corner of her kitchen. 

    “So… can I have the hoodie?” She asked sheepishly, her small waist is still in his hands and her eyes shining so brightly, Eric was almost lost. 

    Returning the mischievous grin she has on her face, he says, “Keep it, it’s all yours.” 

    “Including the owner of this hoodie?”

    “Including the owner.”

Yongsun giggled and this time, she was the one to lean in and captured his lips first — they have passed the end, and now they start chasing forever together.