Night

Joohyun, are you sleeping?

No, why?

Look outside the window.

There’s Seungwan, all clad in her usual Romantic Crown hoodie, and her short hair bouncing up in midnight air.

Joohyun frowned, glancing at the clock she had always kept on her bedside table.

“Hey! What are you doing out there? For the love of God, it’s 11 PM!”, Joohyun exclaimed. While she finds it amusing that Seungwan is outside, she can’t help but scold the younger woman. This is not new to Joohyun. The younger one is quirky. Seungwan seems to always have something under her sleeves.

“Hi to you, too, my love. Will you grace this yard with your presence, please?”, Seungwan said, her crispy chuckle filling out the night. Joohyun shook her head and laughed. Indeed, there’s never a dull moment with Seungwan. Retreating to her room, she took her robe and started making her way down to meet the other woman.

Joohyun shuddered when the cold wind hit her body. She wasn’t particularly fond of the cold; however, she won’t mind being placed in one if she has her own personal heater with her. The said personal heater is standing in the middle of the lawn, grinning widely as she saw the older woman walk towards her.

Seungwan chuckled, seeing the frown on Joohyun’s face. She opened her arms, waiting for the woman to throw herself into her, which Joohyun did, but of course with childish grumbles.

“The bed is cold without you. Why are you home so late?”, Joohyun asked, inhaling the scent on Wendy’s shirt. Hmmm. Lavender. Her favorite fabric conditioner.

“A great wave of ideas hit me. I had to write it down for the next song I’ll be making. The artist under the company lacks one song, so they contacted me and asked if I could do it for them,” she replied, hugging the woman.

Joohyun hummed. “Alright. Let’s get inside now”. She was about to walk away when Seungwan pulled her back. “Say, how about we drive to somewhere else?”

The short-haired woman tapped her fingers on the steering wheel, looking at the sleeping figure beside her from time to time. She laughed, seeing a tiny frown.

“What’s so funny, Seungwan?” Joohyun whined. She had no idea how Seungwan was able to make her say yes. She remembers seeing puppy eyes and the younger’s cute smile. She couldn’t resist that.

“Chill, love. I actually have no idea where to take you, but I’ll think of something”. Joohyun’s jaw slacked. Did she trade her excellent sleep and a warm bed for this? She is about to say something, but Seungwan cuts her off. “I know, I know. You’re about to say something,” she said, laughing. “Relax, love. I’ll think of something you love.”

Actually, Seungwan already has something in mind. It’s not also true that she got home late because she was busy with work. Indeed, she’s writing something, but that’s not for her job. It’s something personal. She just needs to buy more time to calm her nerves down. After all, she doesn’t know how Joohyun would take what she’s about to say in a while.

She drove off to their favorite spot. They are not fond of having dates in public places as a couple. The duo would always choose library dates, museum dates, picnic dates, and beach dates. Both love the calmness of each spot they choose. It has always been like that, from the moment they got together until now that they have reached their 5^th year as a couple.

Seungwan stopped the car, and Joohyun looked around. It’s the place where they first met. It’s an area of the beach in their neighborhood that seldom gets crowded with people. Both smiled as they remembered the first time their eyes landed on each other.

Seungwan is a senior in college, studying music as she feels like it’s the path she should pursue. The college senior had a bad day at school, with her classmate ‘accidentally’ ripping her music sheet. It would have been fine if she won’t be using that for the day, but she would be in the class of their terrifying professor at that. Good thing that she’s got good friends in class, or else she’d be doomed.

To calm herself, she decided to take a stroll on the beach. She always loves hearing the waves crash down the shore. It’s some therapy, she claims. Her friend, an art major, would sometimes go with her, but this day, the said friend won’t be able to do so because she’s tied up with projects.

Seungwan sat under the shade of the tree. Wanting to rest for a bit, she took her phone and earphones out, plugging it as she played one of her favorite songs. She hummed, closing her eyes, not noticing the presence of another person just behind her.

Joohyun is a new girl in town. Her parents owned a house in this area, but they couldn't stay since they were transferred to another city because of work. After graduating, Joohyun insisted that she go back, claiming that the house was too good to leave. After several attempts of convincing, her parents finally gave up.

She was walking by the beach when she heard a voice. Joohyun isn’t very particular with music, but she enjoys listening. The singer, Joohyun claimed, is too calming to listen to. It’s not every day that she gets to listen to this kind of music, so she followed the voice, which led her to the figure with its back slumped against the tree.

Joohyun wanted to have a better place to hear the song. She slowly approached the woman, not knowing that she was awake even though Seungwan had her eyes closed. She silently sat a little far from the woman, but she was taken aback when the woman turned her head towards her and looked at her surprisingly.

The couple laughed. “You looked like a child caught stealing cookies, Hyun,” Seungwan commented as they strolled near the shore with hands clasped together. “Hey! In my defense, I did not know that you were awake! Plus, when I chose a spot to sit, you still had your eyes closed, but when I turned back, you looked at me! How am I supposed to act after that?”’ Joohyun laughed.

After that faithful meeting, the duo had been on the same spot almost all the time. It’s not as if they decided about it. Noticing the pattern, Seungwan formally introduced herself, knowing that meeting the other woman would highly be probable since they seem to love the same spot. Joohyun shyly introduced herself, and from then on, their friendship blossomed.

When Seungwan graduated from college, they were already inseparable. They clicked, and they find it funny how they seem to have a lot of similarities. Seungwan cannot deny that she likes Joohyun, but she doesn’t have the guts to admit it to the older woman. Besides, Joohyun has been the center of attraction in town, all thanks to her beauty that no one could seem to get over with. She’s hiding it well, not until that drunken night when she confessed to Joohyun. The next thing she knew was that she woke up with an equally blushing Joohyun.

“Hyun? Wanna hear the new song I made?” Seungwan said, breaking the silence.

Joohyun hummed. Seungwan has been a brilliant songwriter. She knows for a fact that all of her songs will surely be a hit. Being Seungwan’s girlfriend gives her the privilege to hear it first before anyone else.

Seungwan cleared , unexplainably nervous. Okay. Here goes nothing.

Let's drive out to the desert at midnight

To dance in the dust of our headlights

And score some good seats for the sunrise

And dress up in clothes we don’t mind getting messed up

Where no one will know how to get us

We don’t need a map we'll just drive, drive, drive

I wanna get lost with you

And hide out out under the light of the moon

I wanna get lost with you

And see what it's like

To spend the whole night with you, just you

You, just you

Seungwan looks at Joohyun, feeling her heart skip a beat with how she looked at her with so much attention. The stars cannot compare with the way Joohyun’s eyes twinkle, and Seungwan swore she fell in love even more.

We can head north over the oceans of turquoise

Where after awhile there'll be no noise

Except for the sound of our heartbeats beating on

And we'll stand in a canyon alone

Singing our favorite songs

And wait for the words to return

In the echo echo echo echo echo echo

Joohyun’s favorite music will always be Seungwan’s voice. The rawness of Seungwan’s emotion, whenever she sings, makes her better than those she hears from others. Seungwan doesn’t merely sing; she narrates. Whenever she sings, Joohyun can feel everything—the warmth, anger, sadness—all of that. If she is to choose from what she would like to hear the most, she would answer Seungwan’s voice in a heartbeat.

I wanna get lost with you

And hide out out under the light of the moon

I wanna get lost with you

And see what it's like to spend the whole night with you, just you

With you, just you

And I wanna get lost

Let's see what the night can do

I wanna get lost you

“Wow,” Joohyun said in awe. Seungwan laughed. Joohyun has always been her number one supporter. Heck, there wasn’t even a single song from her that Joohyun disliked. From day one until now, Joohyun is always at her back, supporting her on whatever she does. She took a deep breath and looked at Joohyun straight in the eyes.

This is it.

“That song is not the one I wrote,” she said sheepishly, making Joohyun frown. “I made that song for one certain person.”

“I’m actually looking for the perfect timing to do this, but I find it hard to find one. Now, I understand why,” Seungwan said, chuckling. “There’s no such thing as perfect timing. Every now and then, there’s always this thing that would up everything. I mean, it’s just like a person. You know how people would say that nobody’s perfect? I think that would also apply to timing.” Joohyun looked at Seungwan, confused. What is she rambling about? Seungwan is the type of person who rambles too much, but Joohyun cannot quite understand where she is going into.

Seungwan took a deep breath. She’s been waiting to do this for a long, but she cannot find the courage to do so. However, with how Joohyun looked tonight, with how she looked at her, Seungwan knows it is the best time to say it.

“I don’t want to get lost with you tonight, Hyun.”

Joohyun frowned. “Huh? What are you trying to say, Wan?”

“I don’t want to get lost with you just for tonight. I want to get lost with you all the time. I want to be the one who you can call yours forever. I want to be the one to share all your pains, your confusions, your everything. I want to be able to do everything with you, Joohyun.” Seungwan took something out of her pocket and opened the small box that contained a ring inside. Joohyun gasped, finally understanding what was happening. Her lips quivered as she looked at Seungwan, whose eyes were equally twinkling in tears like her.

“I don’t want to spend just the whole night with you, Hyun. I want to spend my whole life with you,” Seungwan smiled. “Bae Joohyun, are you a fool enough to marry this idiot in front of you?”

Joohyun laughed. She smiled, cupping Seungwan’s face before leaning in for a kiss. She poured out her emotion, and from there, Seungwan already knew the response.

The older woman leaned out, and Seungwan glued their foreheads together.

“Of course, it’s a yes. I’d love to spend my whole life with you, Son Seungwan.”