It was late afternoon on a Saturday when I heard a knock on my apartment door and woke me up from my nap. I groaned and covered my ears to hopefully mute the knock because I was still too sleepy. I had to wake up early on my day off because an emergency meeting was held in the company. I was back here after lunch, too tired and too sleepy so I took a nap.

“No…” I groaned when the knocking continued and now Ggomo decided to join in with the noise. “Ggomo! Shh! Mommy’s still sleeping” I said irritatedly as I pushed my face on my pillow.

The knocking pursued and had turned louder and harsher this time. Accepting that I won’t be able to sleep anymore, I slowly opened my eyes and rolled on my back. I stared at my ceiling, my eyelids still heavy and was about to close when another set of knocking met the silence in my apartment. Ggomo chorused with the knocking, making it even more irritating.

“Coming!” I mumbled and finally pushed myself off my makeshift bed on the floor.

I brushed back my very messy hair out of my face as I stomped on my way to the door. “Coming!” I said before I cursed under my breath when there was still knocking. “Hyejin, if this is you, I’m going to kill you”

Ggomo was by the door, mewling loudly as he scratched his claws on the wooden door. He was blocking the door so I told him to move aside first. He only looked at me like I was such a slow poke and mewled loudly again like he was demanding me to open the door right away.

I pouted at him and unhooked the bolt before I unlocked the door. I turned the doorknob and gently pushed Ggomo aside. “Step aside first…” I mumbled, my voice still hoarse before I pulled the door open.

Light from the hallway entered my dark apartment while Ggomo dashed out without warning. I was alerted when he got out of the apartment but relieved when he stopped and brushed his body on someone’s legs. My eyes travelled from the leg and slowly went up until I met Yong’s pair of brown eyes.

She gave me a small smile before she said, “Hi”

“Ah!” I screamed out of panic and shut the door right on her face. I leaned my back on the door as I breathed deeply when the short encounter made me panic and awakened my body. “Ah!” I screamed again when there was a sudden knock on my door, making me jump away from it as I stared at the door with wide eyes.

“Wheein… I didn’t mean to scare you—”

“No!” I answered right away, shaking my head and accidentally raising my voice. I cleared my throat a couple of times and said, “You didn’t scare me. Give me a second”

I ran to the bathroom while brushing my hair with my fingers. I washed my face, making sure that there’s no reminder of a drool on my chin. She might’ve seen it already but I might as well wash it away. I gargled water to wash away lingering bad breath. I dried my face with a towel before I walked out of the bathroom. I ran to grab a tie and tied my hair in a bun as I walked back to the front door.

I patted my pajama top and pants, which seemed presentable because I didn’t have the time to change already. I breathed deeply a couple of times, feeling nervous about Yong's sudden visit. I’m really nervous. This is the first time that Yong and I would be seeing each other after we said goodbye in California. We texted occasionally and she’d call me so we could check on each other. But it’s different if we’d be seeing each other. And now, she’s in my empty apartment that’s still filled with boxes, baskets, and suitcases.

I reached for the doorknob and pulled it open. I hurriedly walked outside and closed the door behind me so she wouldn’t see my apartment. I found her crouched down while tickling Ggomo’s tummy. The same tummy that she touched, which earned her a scratch from Ggomo. But my cat loves it now and was even rolling on his back to give Yong access to his tummy. He was purring loudly and has been tilting his head to the side to act cute.

Treachery.

I rolled my eyes before I smiled when I heard Yong’s small voice that she would always use when she talks to Ggomo. “Yong?” I said, hoping not to disturb their fun time. I smiled when she looked up to me and gave me a wide smile. “You came? How did you know my address?”

“Hyejin and Byulyi. I texted both of them and they responded back.” She lifted Ggomo in her arms and kissed the top of his head. She softly laughed at Ggomo when he shook his head before she faced me. “I texted you a while ago that I was coming. Judging from your pajamas, you were asleep and you weren’t able to read it”

“Yeah… That’s basically why. I’m sorry”

“It’s okay. Can we get inside?”

My eyes widened and I instantly shook my head as I raised my hands and frantically waved it around.

Her eyebrows slightly furrowed as she asked, “No?”

“No… It’s not that I don’t want you inside. It’s just that… it’s not”—I narrowed my eyes as I searched for a word to explain the state of my apartment—“ready?” I glanced at her and saw her raising her eyebrows now, confused about what I was saying. “It’s not ready. We can go out though. Give me a minute to change and we can go out”

She passed Ggomo to me and picked up a plastic bag on the floor. “It’s not clean? Is that what you mean? It’s okay, Wheein. I don’t mind.” Then she reached for the doorknob behind me while I blocked her and shook my head again. She slightly frowned at me while I pouted and used my eyes as I begged her not to open the door.

“No…”

“I cooked dinner for us. We can eat it in your apartment”

“Yong… Please, no…”

“What’s wrong with your apartment? Are you hiding a dead body there?”

I shook my head immediately and denied it.

Her eyes narrowed before she whispered, “How about a living body?”

“What?” My eyes widened as I shook my head even more forcefully. “No. No. Living or dead. No other bodies in my apartment”

“Then let me see so we’ll know.” She pushed the door without warning before she gently pushed me to the side so she could get in.

I could only sigh heavily knowing that I couldn’t fight her. Ggomo jumped out of my arms and went inside my apartment with Yong.

“Why is it so dark here? Where’s the—Ah… there you are.” She flicked the switches on revealing my very empty apartment. Storage is more of like an accurate word to describe my place though. “Why is it so empty? Do you sleep on that mattress on the floor?”

I sighed heavily once again and followed her in, closing the door behind me. I headed to my mattress and sat in the middle of the bed as I watched her scan my place.

“You have no refrigerator or dispenser?” she asked as she headed to the bedroom. “Why is your place empty?” She walked back to the kitchen and opened a small plastic container that housed a few plates, bowls, mugs, and utensils. There’s also an electric thermos for my hot water and this mini espresso maker that’s just the size of a tumbler for my coffee before going to work. She headed to the bathroom and turned the lights in there. “How’s your water here?” she asked, her voice echoing before I heard a splash of water and was immediately turned off.

The lights went off before she emerged back in the kitchen. She closed the door and stood in the middle of my apartment, her hands on her hips as she scanned her eyes around. There’s really not much to see because I don’t have much here.

“What do you use for drinking?”

I pointed at the plastic bottles lined on the wall that are an arm’s reach from my bed.

“What about your food?”

“I eat outside.” I pointed at the sack of cat food and said, “Only Ggomo has his food here”

“Huh…” Her eyebrows furrowed as she scanned her eyes all over my place once again.

I sighed heavily when I felt like she’s disappointed in me and my place. “Let’s just head out—”

“No. We’ll stay. I’m just overwhelmed by how empty your place is.” She walked to the plastic bag she placed at the foot of my mattress and said, “Let’s eat. Are you hungry? And uhmm… ” She lifted the bag and asked, “How are we going to set this up?”

“Wait. Let me just…” I stood up and folded my blanket. I piled my pillows and placed my blanket on top before I folded the mattress. “I have a small table here…”

Right beside my makeshift bed were the various boxes that contained my shoes and other things. On top of it, I placed a folding table that I used when I work or when I eat here. I lifted the table and unfolded it before I placed it on the floor.

I glanced at Yong and asked, “Are you okay sitting on the floor? I cleaned it yesterday… Haven’t had time today because I was called for work”

She brushed my worries away and immediately sat by the table. “No worries. We can just use the containers as plates but we needed some utensils”

“Got you.” I jogged to the kitchen and carried the plastic container of utensils. I brought it with me back to Yong, who’s already unpacking containers from the plastic bag she brought with her. I placed it beside the table before I sat across from Yong.

My stomach instantly grumbled when I looked at the food she prepared. She had kimchi, samgyeopsal, shrimp stew, and most importantly, chicken. I unconsciously gulped and ran my tongue on my lips when the amount of food she prepared was already making me salivate. I heard a soft chuckle from her and I immediately bent my head low to cover my blush.

“Hungry?” she asked, with an amused smile and a glint in her eyes.

“Yeah…” I could only whisper my response. Then I pouted when I saw Ggomo was lying on her lap and sleeping peacefully. “Ggomo, I hate you”

“The cat didn’t do anything wrong”

“But he didn’t love me anymore like he used to…”

She handed me chopsticks and a spoon from my plastic container. “Let’s just eat, yeah?”

“Okay.” I nodded right away. “Thanks for the food” I said and that was probably the last thing I said before I dived in. I started eating the chicken, of course.

“Slow down… No one’s competing against you, love”

I slowed down like what she said and tried to cover my blush by lifting a bowl of stew. I drank the stew straight from my bowl while I mentally squealed because she called me love. We agreed to take things slow and we are taking it to our hearts. We really meant it. But hearing this from her after three weeks that we were apart is enough for my heart to jump out of pure joy. She always called me Wheein or Whee in her texts and calls. I missed hearing this straight from her lips. I couldn’t practically stop myself from smiling and just mask it as a joy from eating her food.

The food she brought was all delicious so the smile wasn’t for pretending at all even though it also meant something else.

“I thought you don’t drink alcohol anymore” Yong said some time in the middle of dinner.

I paused in chewing and shook my head at her before I mumbled, “I don’t”

She smiled at me before she pointed at something from behind me. “What do you call that?”

I looked behind me and saw a bottle of Penfolds’ Chardonnay. I finished my food and swallowed it as I faced Yong again. “I bought it last month for you. I was supposed to give it to you but we flew together to visit your family so I wasn’t able to. Do you still want it?” I grabbed the bottle of wine and handed it to her. “It’s been sitting here since. I don’t know if it’s still good though”

She grabbed the bottle from me and placed it beside the plastic she brought with her. “I’ll bring it to Sujeong’s place. Maybe it’s still good once it’s cold. It’s a waste if no one drinks it.” She smiled at me as she said, “Thank you”

“No problem” I said as I smiled back at her.

When we were done, I passed her an unopened bottle of water. “I’m sorry I could only have this”

“It’s okay”

I gathered all the empty containers together with the used utensils and brought them to the sink. I started washing them, briefly glancing at Yong behind me and saw her playing with Ggomo. I went back to my dishes with a huge stupid smile on my face.

“So you sleep on the floor with your mattress and Ggomo sleeps in his comfortable bed?” Yong asked from behind me.

“Yup. That’s pretty much it”

“Why didn’t you buy a bed?”

“I’m okay with my makeshift bed”

I dried my hands when I was done before I turned around and saw her looking at our pictures. I crossed my arms in front of me and leaned back on the kitchen sink as I watched her. When she kicked me out of her house, I took almost all of our framed pictures. I left some for her in hopes that she wouldn’t throw it and that it would remind her of us. Those frames were the only ones I pulled out from my boxes. I displayed them on top of the boxes right beside where I lay down at night.

Her body sighed when a huge yawn came out of her while she slowly closed her wide open mouth. She didn’t make any move to head out or go back and just stayed sitting on the floor. She’d have to drive for more than an hour, depending on the traffic, back to Sujeong’s place.

“Should I drive you back to Sujeong? You looked tired already?” I asked while she only shook her head. I pushed myself off the counter and walked towards her. “What time did you arrive from work?”

“Ten-ish. Eleven” she answered before opened when she yawned once again. “Taejoon picked me up. Ate lunch with Aera before I prepared our dinner” she lazily responded before she yawned again.

I crouched down beside her as I pouted at her. “Come on. Let me drive you back to Sujeong. You’re tired already. I don’t want to hold you longer”

She turned to face me, her eyes blinking constantly to fight off sleep. “Can I sleep here?”

“On the floor? No!” I exclaimed as I shook my head vigorously. “Let me change then I’ll drive you back to Sujeong”

“Do you have a spare toothbrush?”

“Do you really want to sleep here?”

“I want to sleep beside you”

I opened my mouth to argue but I shut it right away because that wasn’t a bad idea. I love to sleep beside her. “But the floor—”

“I don’t mind.” She stood up and headed to my bathroom. “Spare toothbrush?”

“I don’t have one. There’s a convenience store beside the building. I could buy you one. Do you want to shower first?”

She headed inside the bathroom and closed the door. “I’m borrowing your towel!” Splashing of water could be heard right after, making me chuckle.

I grabbed my wallet and ran outside to buy her a spare toothbrush. I even forgot that I was still wearing my pajamas and only remembered when I was already outside the building. I headed to the convenience store and bought her a toothbrush. I also bought some disposable underwear for her before I rushed back to my apartment.

Yong stepped out of the bathroom with only a towel wrapped around her when I got back. I handed her the things I bought then led her to the bedroom. I opened one of my suitcases and grabbed a pair of pajamas for her. I closed my suitcase and turned around to give her my clothes.

“You can wear th—Oh, . Sorry!” I instantly turned around and literally froze on where I was standing with my eyes shut tightly while my body heated up from embarrassment.

Yong had already removed the towel around her and was putting on the underwear I bought for her. To say that I didn’t see a lot of her skin would be a lie. Her side was to me so everything that could be seen from that side view was imprinted in my mind. I caught a glimpse of her cheek and her ies. I’m currently working on erasing that image in my head.

A loud laugh could be heard from her, which made me pout and groan from embarrassment. She snatched the pajamas that I was tightly gripping while I remained standing and closed my eyes even tighter.

“You’ve seen me plenty of times. Why are you suddenly shy now?” she asked teasingly.

“I promised that we’re taking things slow…” I whined as I clenched my hands into fists. “There’s a huge jump if we suddenly get in front of each other”

She giggled behind me while I could only groan. “Okay… I’m sorry.” She rubbed her hand on my back. I flinched at first but slowly relaxed when it felt so soothing. “Aren’t you going to take a shower?”

I shook my head as I sighed heavily. “Are you done?”

“Yup”

I opened my eyes and slowly turned around, hesitating to look at her in case she’s still . I sighed in relief when she’s already dressed while she smiled teasingly at me. I led us to the bathroom so we could now brush our teeth. Then we headed back to the living room where my mattress is.

I laid the mattress again. I passed her the blanket and a pillow before we both laid down; a few inches away while facing each other. “Have I told you that your short hair suits you so much?”

She shook her head in response.

“Well, you are. You’re really beautiful with your short hair”

She lazily smiled at me while she kept blinking her eyes, obviously tired already. “Thank you”

“You can use the blanket. It’s going to be cold in here later at night”

“I saw a thermostat. Can’t you use that?”

“The thermostat is broken and I’m too tired to transfer rooms. There’s a heater in the bedroom but I don’t want to sleep there. It feels so empty so I sleep close to my boxes. Ggomo doesn’t want to sleep there either.” I wrapped my arms around myself when it started to get cold while she softly laughed at me. “Are you okay? I could've just driven you back. You don’t have to sleep on the floor with me”

“Turn around”

I pouted because I wanted to look at her face more but I turned around nonetheless. I heard grunting from her before I felt the blanket being laid down on me. Then I felt her move closer to me and flushed her front to my back as she wrapped her arms around me.

“We’ll just sleep like this” she whispered, her voice sounding drowsy already. “Night, love”

I smiled and placed my arms on top of hers. “Good night too, my angel.” I closed my eyes and just savored the moment. I’m so glad that we’re taking things slow. I feel content more than ever.

I was woken up when I felt how the arms around me tightened. I felt Yong snuggling closer to my neck, making my shoulders tense because it tickles. I heard soft giggles from her while I groaned to loosen her arms around me and to stop tickling me.

“Yong…” I groaned as I softly patted her arms. I sighed heavily when she loosened her arms. Then I turned around to look at her. I placed my hand on her cheek while she lazily smiled at me. “Good morning. How’s your sleep?” I whispered, my voice still a little bit hoarse.

“Better. You?”

I smiled as I whispered, “Same”

“I was meant to ask you something last night” she said while I started caressing my thumb on her cheek. “You’ve been living here for two months. Almost three months already, right?” she asked while I nodded at her. “How come you haven’t unpacked yet or at least bought a bed?”

“Ggomo loves the huge space. He plays a lot when he could run around”

“Speaking of, he’s sleeping by my leg,” Yong said, chuckling softly.

“Traitor” I whispered, sighing heavily as I closed my eyes while Yong giggled louder.

“Tell me more. I know Ggomo’s not the only reason”

I slowly opened my eyes and saw her smiling eyes. “I refused to accept that I should settle here when you kicked me out. I didn’t have the energy to unpack when we broke up. That’s the last thing in my mind at that time. Then you sold your house and you told me that you’re living with Sujeong. I wanted to ask you to move in with me but I didn’t want it here. I’m looking for a place while we’re still taking this slow.” Then I smiled at her as I said, “I just didn’t know that you would show up here and sleep here”

“Where would you want it then? What kind of place are you looking for?”

“Byulyi and Irene, they have this huge backyard like the one in your parents’ house. I thought we could have something like that. The kids would love it if they get to play and run around”

Her eyebrows furrowed as she asked, “Whose kids?”

“Ours.” I laughed at how dumbfounded she was before I closed my eyes and sighed heavily. “I want one or two or how many you like with you”

“I thought we’re just taking things slow. Why are you already thinking about having children?”

“Because my goal is to settle down with you and live with you and our family forever.” I slowly opened my eyes and smiled when I saw the light blush on her cheeks. “I want to buy a house where we could be ready by the time we’re going to start our family. I’m not letting you go anymore”

She just stared at me intently while I just smiled at her. I could also see her face turning red but I’m not commenting on it. It might ruin the moment and she might break eye contact. She sighed heavily before she leaned forward and snuggled her face on my neck, hugging me tightly.

I smiled as I ran my fingers on her now short hair while hugging her back. “Are you hungry? I know a good breakfast place”

“Give me five minutes then we’ll head out to that breakfast place”

“Okay…” I closed my eyes and leaned my lips on her head, touching it but not kissing her. “How’s Aera?”

“Mumbles a lot just like how her Mommy talks a lot. Sujeong said you visit her all the time”

“When I don’t work overtime, which is almost every night. Byulyi and Hyejin sometimes invited me out so I wasn’t able to visit her every chance I got. Ggomo comes with me when I visit Aera”

“Speaking of Byulyi, she invited me over dinner next weekend.” She pulled back so she could look at me and asked, “Are you going there too?”

“Yes. Why?”

“Should we go together?”

“Do you want to?” I asked while she nodded. “Okay. Let’s go together. We’ll bring your favorite wine there. Irene loves it. You can drink together”

“Okay…” She rolled on her back and groaned as she stretched her arms and legs. She closed her eyes and sighed before she looked at me. “Breakfast?”

I pushed myself up first and stood up. Then I reached my hands to her and helped her up. She folded the blanket while I folded the mattress and stacked them by the wall. She headed to the bathroom first to brush her teeth while I fed Ggomo and filled his bowl. When she was done, she went to the bedroom to change while I headed to the bathroom to brush my teeth.

We were working so smoothly like we’ve been living in this apartment for a long time. There’s no verbal communication needed. Even after we broke up, we’re still not together now, but even after our break up, we could still clearly read each other.

Yong wore my hoodie and sweatpants, which she claimed to be hers already. I didn’t mind. I have a lot of her clothes that I claimed as mine even before we were in a relationship. I wore my cargo pants and another one of my hoodies. We bid goodbye to Ggomo before we walked beside each other as we headed downstairs.

“Isn’t this the place where you sang the song that you wrote for Hyoyeon?” Yong asked when we arrived at the bar.

I immediately tensed as I opened the door for her when she mentioned her name. “Yeah…” I whispered cautiously as I watched her reaction closely. “Why?”

She smiled at me as she said, “This is where I first met you.” She pointed outside and said, “The ice cream shop where I bought the ice cream I gave you that time, is it still here?”

She seemed to have forgotten about Hyoyeon so I relaxed and smiled back at her. “I don’t know. Should we check it out after breakfast?”

She smiled wider as she nodded at me.

We sat across from each other when we found a vacant table while a waiter approached right away to take our order. We ordered mugs of coffee, eggs, bacon, pancakes, and sausages. We dived in right away when our order arrived.

The thing that I loved about this place is how their food fits to nurse my hangover, if ever I had one. Working overtime consecutive times felt like having a hangover the next morning because of the little sleep I got. The grease wakes me up and knocks my headache out. Perfect for my breakfast.

Yong suddenly giggled in front of me, making me look at her with curious eyes while still chewing my pancakes. She grabbed some tissue and leaned forward as she held my chin in place. She wiped my chin and around my mouth while I looked away, slightly embarrassed that I got too carried away with eating.

“Why is my baby so messy?” she asked teasingly as she pouted at me.

I used to get irritated when they teased me like this. Surprisingly, I don't mind it now. I’m not embarrassed about being called a baby, especially when Yong said that I’m hers. Maybe I was really immature back then and now, hopefully, I grew up to deserve Yong.

I swallowed my food before I smiled at Yong when she was done wiping. “Thank you”

Her eyes widened in disbelief when I didn’t complain about her treating me like a kid. Then she smiled wider and nodded at me before she went back to eating her food.

We went out and headed to the ice cream shop. Yong was ecstatic when it was still there. We were supposed to buy ice cream together but she got a call from Sujeong. I volunteered to buy for u