I stirred from my sleep when I heard Ggomo loudly calling. I groaned and shifted on the couch as I pushed myself on the dragon stuffed toy I’m holding. I hugged it tightly and covered my ears from Ggomo’s voice.

I’m currently sleeping on Yong’s couch in the living room. As promised, I slept in her place by the last week of the month to wait for her to come back from work. I was sleeping on the bed earlier, but I couldn’t sleep without her beside me. So I brought the dragon stuffed toy I gave to her with me and moved to the couch to sleep.

“Ggomo… Stop…” I groaned when he’s still making loud noises. I could even hear him scratching his nails now. “Stop…” I muttered once again as I shifted on the couch.

I froze on the couch and slowly lifted my heavy eyelids when I heard noises from outside. I furrowed my eyebrows and stared at the front door when I heard the code being entered on the digital lock of the door. I held my breath when I saw the door being pushed open.

My vision was still unreliable since I couldn’t see that well in the dark, but I could see a figure crouched down before the figure stood up once again, carrying Ggomo with them now. Ggomo allowed whoever it was to carry him for a few seconds before he jumped back on the floor. The figure moved again and brought in two suitcases inside the house before they closed the door.

“Yong?” I croaked out but my voice wouldn’t come out.

I instantly covered my eyes when the living room was suddenly illuminated so brightly. I rubbed my palms on my eyes and slowly let my eyes adjust from the sudden brightness while I cleared my throat.

“Yong?” I tried again as I slowly lifted my eyelids and glanced towards the front door. I pushed myself up on the couch before I rubbed my eyes again to adjust from the brightness some more. “Yong, is that you?”

I stared at the figure by the front door, blinking my eyes as I contemplated if I’m still dreaming or not. I held my breath when I saw Yong standing in front of my eyes.

“Yes” she whispered, answering me.

I placed the dragon on the couch and quickly moved from the couch to her. “Yong.. It is you. You’re back” I whispered, my voice shaking while my lips trembled uncontrollably.

I rushed to her, accidentally hitting my shin on the coffee table that I forgot was there. I stumbled and almost tripped myself but I continued moving and even ignored the pain to go to Yong. She walked to me and opened her arms wide, meeting me halfway. I instantly wrapped my arms around her waist and buried my face on her neck. I immediately smelled her scent that I missed so much. I felt her arms around my shoulders and felt her propped her chin on top of my head.

“Yong…” I mumbled her name while my tears just went out of my eyes. “Yong…” I muttered her name again, my voice shaking so much when I cried in her arms.

I missed her so much. She’s been gone for just two months but it felt like a long time already. I never longed for someone so much that my tears just suddenly fell out of my eyes. Not until I met Yong. Not until this very moment. My heart ached to see her again. My arms and hands itched to hold her so tightly. My lips searched for her skin to kiss it. And my voice just wanted to reach her ears with the hopes of reaching her heart when I say to her how much I missed her, especially how much I love her.

She kissed the top of my head repeatedly while she rubbed her hand on my back. “What’s wrong?” she whispered right into my ear.

I pulled her closer to me while I shook my head vigorously. “Nothing’s wrong. I just missed you so much. You’ve been away for too long” I said in between hiccups and sobs.

I felt her lean her cheek on my head before I heard her sigh in content. I gulped and cleared my throat a couple times, slowly calming myself down and trying to stop myself from crying.

“Baby Wheein, I missed you too” she cooed at me, teasing me again.

“Stop” I muttered while she just laughed at me. If I just didn’t love her, I would have smack her repeatedly right at this very moment. If I just didn’t love her, I would’ve cursed at her, maybe even get mad at her for teasing me repeatedly. But I love her. I love her so much and it felt even more real now that she’s in my arms and I’m in her arms.

She gently pulled my face away from her and cupped my cheeks. She leaned forward and gave me a long kiss on my forehead. I closed my eyes right away the moment I felt her lips on me. “I missed you” she whispered as she wiped the tears on my face. I closed my eyes again when she leaned forward and kissed my forehead again. Then she propped her chin on my shoulder. “I missed you a lot. I missed you so much” she said in between clenched teeth. I could hear the frustration in her voice.

“You should probably rest now. You’ve been working for too long” I said to her before I kissed her cheek.

She suddenly pulled her head so fast, which scared me right away while my body tensed up. I blinked my eyes and frantically searched her face only to see her hurriedly scanning her eyes on me. “The necklace. Did you get it?” she asked as she continued searching my neck and chest for it while she held my waist tightly.

I sighed heavily and relaxed when I finally eased myself from the worry that rushed through my body a second ago. “I thought something was wrong” I whispered, sighing in relief.

I pulled my hair back before I touched the thin metal chain on me. I carefully pulled it out of my pajama top, smiling when she stared at me intently. When the pendant was out, I glanced down and slowly laid it on top of my pajama. I looked at Yong and saw her smiling at the necklace as she held it in her palm.

I received three different boxes last month while I was still in Jeonju. In her busy work, she still found the time to buy us gifts and even wrapped them neatly. She gave Byulyi a kit for her camera. She gave Hyejinie a silver necklace with a letter H on the pendant. She also gave me a silver necklace, but unlike Hyejin’s letter pendant, she gave me a pair of angel wings.

I was speechless when I got her gift. I have referred to her as an angel to Hyejin one time. And out of nowhere, she gave a pair of angel wings necklace. It felt like she gave me her angel wings. I have worn it since I received it and had never removed it at all, so I have my angel with me the whole time.

Hyejin and Byulyi had been teasing me because of the necklace. They’ve been calling Yong my angel. Whenever it’s just the three of us and Yong somehow became a part of our conversation, they never called her name anymore. They would refer to her as Wheein’s angel or her angel. I would tell them to stop but I liked it so much. They both know I liked it too. I have an angel who looks after me and that angel happens to be Kim Yongsun.

“Thank you” I said to her while she’s still staring at the necklace. “I love it so much, Yong. I’ll keep it and take care of it. Hyejin and Byulyi also loved your gifts for them too”

She glanced at me again, directing her smile to me now. “I’m glad you all love my gift” she said, her words slightly distorted when it was accompanied by a loud yawn.

I giggled, finding her adorable, as I held her hand and walked us to her bedroom. I went straight to her closet and gently pushed her inside. “Go change so that you could go to sleep” I said before I headed out of her bedroom.

“We’ll go to sleep together, right?” she said, making me stop by the bedroom door when I heard her.

“Yes. I’ll just grab your suitcase and bring them here” I said before I walked out of her bedroom.

I headed to the front door and saw her shoes laying right by the doorstep. I picked them up and placed them in the shoe cabinet. Then I grabbed her suitcases and rolled them right outside her bedroom. I walked back to the front door to turn off the lights before I blindly walked in the dark, letting the light that was coming below the bedroom door be my guide.

I opened the bedroom door and rolled her suitcases inside. I glanced at the bed when I heard a loud yawn and smiled when I saw Yong impatiently patting the space beside her on the bed. I closed the door behind me and turned off the light before I ran to the bed and jumped, throwing myself on the bed from excitement.

“Why so energetic? You looked so tired just a second ago. Where does all this energy come from?” she asked while I pulled the blanket below me and tucked myself to bed.

“I’m sorry. I’m just excited that you’re back” I said.

I moved closer to Yong while she shook her head and chuckled at me. She wrapped me in her arms right away while I hugged her around her waist and buried my face on her neck.

She kissed the top of my head before she yawned once again while she said, “Good night”

“Good night” I said, my voice muffled by her pajama top. I snuggled closer to her and whispered, “I’m happy that you’re back now”

“I am too, Whee”

I love you is what I wanted to say to her but I haven’t confessed to her yet and I’ve been planning to do it. Hyejin and Byulyi were helping me as well. And right now is not yet the right time to let her know about it. She’s already exhausted from working straight. Also, I liked to be in her arms and sleep beside her. I might not be in this position if I suddenly blurted that out.

“Yong…” I whispered softly, careful not to wake her up in case she has already fallen asleep.

“Hmm…” she lazily hummed in response. She already sounded on the verge of falling asleep but I have to say something first before I could forget about it.

“We’re still going out, right? Just the two of us?” I asked her. I still don’t have the courage to tell her that it’s a date. I’m also scared that she might not go out with me if I phrase it like that. So I followed Hyejin’s advise and let her think that it’s like any other twenty seventh that we shared together.

She kissed my head again before she said, “Of course. Why? You don’t want to?”

“I do” I answer right away, anxious that she might take it back. “It’s just that Hyejin and Byulyi wanted to see you again too. They missed you as well”

It’s not just they wanted to see her, but we planned to treat her out. Since we received gifts from her, it really felt so wrong that we didn’t give her something too. We don’t know what to give her though. Yong has money already and could buy whatever she wants. She has the house and the car. She also has me as what Byulyi said teasingly. The only way we could give her is a fun night, and so we decided on treating her out for dinner.

“I don’t think I will be able to drive you tomorrow” she said while I just furrowed my eyebrows from confusion. “You have an early class, right?” she asked and I nodded my head, still unsure where she’s going with this. “Will you stay here for the whole week?”

“Yes”

I heard her sigh before she said, “Okay. Then when I pick you up tomorrow, we’ll go out for dinner with Hyejin and Byulyi. Then on the twenty seventh, we’ll go out by ourselves. How’s that?”

She literally laid out our plan already.

“Okay. I like that” I said before I pushed away from her neck and tilted my head up. I leaned forward and aimed to kiss her lips. I almost kissed her lips but thankfully I was able to realize what I was doing and stopped myself then kissed her chin last minute. I hurriedly hid my face on her neck before I sighed in relief. “Good night, Yong”

“Good night too, Whee” she whispered while I gulped hard and sighed again, mentally patting myself that I was able to escape a potentially awkward and embarrassing moment before cursing for almost screwing things up.

On the twenty seventh I would finally confess what I feel towards her. Maybe on that day, I got lucky and she’ll return it as well. That she also feels the same way to me. Maybe on that day, I don’t have to restrain myself and be able to kiss her on the lips.

I can’t wait for the twenty seventh to come, at the same time, I’m dreading it because just thinking about confessing to Yong is making me really nervous.

When I said to Yong that I’ll be staying in her house for the whole week, I lied at that time. The night before the twenty seventh, I ditched Yong and told her that I’ll be staying in the dorm because Hyejin has been whining and pouting at me for leaving her by herself. That was a lie. I also told her that we’ll have to meet before dinner because I have some schoolworks to do. That was another lie. I basically lied to her the whole day.

I didn’t sleep in Yong’s house because I dyed my hair back to black again. I also planned not to see Yong on the twenty seventh until it’s time for us to meet. That’s why I used my friends as an excuse. Also, they suggested it to me because I could never lie to Yong. It was hard to even say those things to her and I felt guilty right away for lying, but I have to.

I was lying down on my bed for probably an hour now, zoning out while contemplating whether I should back out or not. I made this so grand and big that it sounded so silly if everything would fail. If Yong would tell me that my love for her is unrequited.

I plan on taking her to this aquarium. Well, she’s driving so she’s technically taking us to the aquarium, but I’m the one initiating and it’s my plan, so I'm taking her to see the aquarium in that sense. I don’t even know why I wanted to take her to the aquarium at all. I thought it would be fun since she’s been up in the air for her work all the time, but right now, it doesn’t make sense anymore. It felt stupid.

Then I’d take her to this fancy restaurant for dinner. I plan on paying, of course, but I know she’ll find a way to pay for our meal. She might argue with me for not letting her pay then we’ll fight. Now, all my plans sounded so stupid already.

I groaned as I closed my eyes and curled on my bed. “I’m backing out” I mumbled. “I can’t do this. Why do I have to confess to her? She might not love me back” I muttered to myself before I groaned and pushed my face on my pillow.

Something soft hit my leg, making me look up and saw Byulyi standing beside my bed to glare at me. I pouted at her then she hit me again with the pillow, but on the face this time. I frowned at her and immediately covered my face with my arms when she raised the pillow again.

“Stop! What’s wrong with you?” I said, my shoulders tensing as I anticipated for her to hit me again but nothing came.

“What’s wrong with you?” Byulyi said before she hit my leg, making me groan and turn away from her. “Get up! You need to shower and change” she scolded. She grabbed my shoulders and forced me to sit up on my bed while I whined and kicked my legs.

“I’m nervous! I don’t think I could do this!” I whined as I pouted at her.

She pointed at her head before she pointed at Hyejin who was sitting on her bed while hugging her legs, looking nervous for me. “We dyed our hair black just to calm you down. I miss my purple hair. Now, get up. Don’t make me waste my money and shower now! It’s almost time for Yong to pick you up”

“Byulyi…” I whined and moved closer to her as I hugged her waist. “I’m nervous. What if I can’t do it? What if she’ll say no?”

I heard her sigh heavily before she patted my back and caressed my hair. “It would be worth it, Whee. Whether she’ll say no or not, it will be worth it. At least you got to tell her what you exactly feel. You have us, so don’t worry” she whispered softly before she patted my back and broke the hug.

“Okay…” I whispered softly.

Byulyi patted my head and pulled me to stand up from the bed. She gently pushed me to the bathroom. I was almost by the bathroom door when my phone suddenly rang. She immediately turned around and grabbed my phone for me while I dragged myself to the bathroom.

“Yong’s calling you,” Byulyi said.

I immediately turned around and rushed to grab my phone from Byulyi’s hand, feeling suddenly nervous when Yong called. She never called beforehand on the days that we met. Something must be wrong.

I answered the call right away before I said, “Yong? Is there something wrong?”

I saw Hyejin sitting straight from the bed as she stared at me while Byulyi stood in front of me, looking at me worriedly. I bit my bottom lip and paced in the middle of our dorm while I waited for Yong to answer me. Hyejin told me to turn the call to loudspeaker, worried for Yong as well.

“Nothing’s wrong. I just want to know what you wanted me to wear. What should I wear later, Whee?” her voice occu