(no subject)
Moon Star {[email protected]}
to me

Just landed. You’re picking me up, right? You promised you’re picking me up…

(no subject)
Hye Jin {[email protected]}
to Moon Star

I’ve been here for an hour already. Your jet’s late.

(no subject)
Moon Star {[email protected]}
to me

Air traffic, babe. I’m sorry…

(no subject)
Hye Jin {[email protected]}
to Moon Star

It’s fine. I’m just bored already. I’ve been staring at an empty space for the last hour.
I’m glad you arrived safe though.

(no subject)
Moon Star {[email protected]}
to me

You’re just excited to see me, aren’t you? You’re excited about our date, aren’t you? You miss me that much, don’t you? Awe… Babe, I miss you too. I’m really excited to see you too. I’m also excited to take you out. Don’t worry.

(no subject)
Hye Jin {[email protected]}
to Moon Star

I think it will be fun to see you chasing the car from the rearview mirror on our way back to my apartment.

(no subject)
Moon Star {[email protected]}
to me

Jinnie so feisty… We’re almost there now. Can’t wait to see you.

Last night, I slept feeling disappointed and the heartache of being rejected for the second time. The reason why I decided to still see Byul and even agree on this date is because she insisted. With her, it’s just easier to go along than fight against her.

I woke up feeling entirely different though.

I replayed our conversation last night. I recalled everything she said to me. Her words were still ringing in my ears and unknowingly, a smile appeared on my face. I hugged Lion tightly and buried my blushing face on his mane.

I realized my feelings weren’t technically rejected. Maybe we aren’t exactly in a relationship or she didn’t say that she loves me, but she expressed those things differently. She doesn’t want to be in a relationship but she wants to be with me, exclusively. We’re not girlfriends but we’re only for each other. And frankly, it’s not that different. She said that she only wants me and she only cares about me. It’s kind of similar to saying she loves me without using those words.

And that’s ing sweet.

I just don’t know how long I would last in this arrangement, setup, partnership, or whatever Byul wants to call this. There’s no direction. No assurance. No commitment. No goal. No stability. It’s everything I wish for and not at the same time.

When Byul’s private jet showed up, I pulled out my sunglasses but stayed reclining in the driver seat. I parked Byul’s car inside their hangar at the very side to wait for her. The windows are all down to let the fresh air in. Now that Byul has arrived, the hangar is already noisy from the jet’s engine to the staff making sure that the jet would park safely inside the huge hangar. And I could hear all of this even with my earphones on.

I readjusted my seat before closing all the windows inside the car. I took off my earphones and plugged them out of my phone. I rolled it neatly as I waited for everything in the hangar to be settled. Once the jet was finally parked, the door slowly opened and I could see Byul standing right behind it, impatiently tapping her foot on the floor.

I smiled at the sight of her and smiled wider at the pot of cactus in her hands. What’s that for? I shook my head, feeling my face blushing, as I placed my phone and earphones in my bag and glanced towards the jet.

Byul was already climbing down the stairs. She only has a huge backpack and her camera bag with her. She was dressed casually in her gray hoodie and black sweatpants. The black cap hindered me from seeing her eyes but it didn’t hide her huge smile.

I pulled out the car key before getting out of the car.

“Jinnie!” Byul shouted as she started running towards me, her huge backpack bouncing behind her.

“You don’t have to run,” I said, laughing as I walked towards her, meeting her halfway.

She slowed down as she neared me. She placed the pot down and scooped me in her arms. She laughed at me when she heard me yelp while I hurriedly held onto her shoulders. She turned us around once, the hangar filled with our laughter, before she placed my feet down on the floor.

Her eyes landed on the cross right on my chest and smiled at it. “You wore it” she whispered, leaning forward to kiss the cross.

“Everyday”

Her arms pulled me closer to her while her lips landed on mine, kissing me deeply. My arms naturally went around her neck, pulling her closer to me. Soft kisses were exchanged right after. Giggles bubbled up in between, resulting in sloppy kisses. Byul resorted to leaning her forehead to mine. She had her eyes closed while mine remained open as I stared at her.

It was content that glued us on that spot, encased us in our own world.

With her eyes still closed, she leaned forward and kissed me. Our lips weren’t moving and just stayed connected. She kissed my forehead last and finally pulled back to smile at me.

“I’m sorry if you had to wait for an hour,” she whispered softly.

I gave her a soft smile and shook my head as I fixed her cap. “I told you it was fine”

“I missed you, babe”

I softly pinched her cheek as I said, “I missed you too. Did you at least let your family know where you are right now?”

“They know I’m with you”

She bent her head down and dropped kisses on my exposed shoulder up to my neck. She seems to love kissing me there. I love her kisses no matter where she places them. She reached the crook of my neck and a gasp escaped my lips when she softly bit me there. I closed my eyes and forced myself not to release any noise when she eases the bite with her tongue.

“I should let you meet my family next time” she whispered, her open-mouth kisses on my pulse now.

“What?” I whispered breathlessly.

I was so focused on her kisses that I forgot what we were talking about. She mentioned her family? Is that it? She wanted to bring me to her family? They know about me? What was that again?

When her lips slowly went up and headed to my ear, I reluctantly pulled back to get my head straight. I also pushed Byul away because she kept leaning forward. I heard her groan before I laughed at her frown.

“Stop it. People can see us” I reminded, booping her nose with my index finger.

“I own this place. We can do whatever we want here. Also, everyone’s already gone at this point” she said confidently.

I raised an eyebrow at her and cupped her cheek. I turned her face to my left where we could see aviation technicians coming into the hangar. I brought her gaze to me again and gave her a pointed look.

“Everyone’s gone?”

She shook her head, pouting.

I clicked my tongue and shook my head disapprovingly. I brought my hands to her cheeks and squeezed them. “We should go. I know you’re still tired”

“Give me an hour of nap then we can go out. Cuddle with me”

“Okay…”

She gave me a peck before she released me from her arms. She picked up the pot of round cactus and gave it to me. “I was supposed to bring flowers with me but I don’t think it’s a good idea. Also, it’s not difficult to grow a cactus. The shop owner said that you can just place this by the window and it will still survive”

“Thank you” I said as I grabbed the pot from her. I turned it around and touched its thorn over the plastic. “Sharp…” I whispered to myself. I held the pot with both of my hands, still thinking why I need this.

“Do you like it?” Byul asked.

“No”

“No?” Byul asked, her deep voice turning into a high pitched one.

I faced her and shook my head as I said, “No”

She softly laughed at me as she asked, “But you won’t throw it away, right?”

“No”

“Would it have been better if I gave you flowers?”

I stared at the cactus, my eyes narrowing at it. I nodded as I faced Byul again and said, “Yes”

“Cute…” She chuckled softly and cupped my cheeks to kiss me. She laced her arm around my waist and walked us to her car. “I’ll remember that. I’ll bring flowers to you next time.” She looked at the cactus in my hands before she asked, “What will you do with that though?”

“I’ll place this by the kitchen window. I’ll take care of it”

She placed a kiss on my temple before opening the driver seat door for me. She helped me inside first before she went to the backseat to place her backpack. She then jogged around the car to sit beside me.

“Let me hold that for you,” she said, grabbing the cactus from me. “I thought you don’t like this. You’re still keeping this?”

“Of course! You gave that to me. Why would I throw it away?”

I started the car and drove us out of her private hangar to head back to my apartment. I glanced at Byul to check on her when she went awfully quiet. She was looking outside the window with the cactus on her lap. With her cap, I couldn’t see her face clearly but after several glances, I noticed her ears and neck were all red. I laughed silently at the thought of making her blush.

“Your family knows that you’re here, right?” I asked, bringing us back to my earlier question to help her diffuse her blush.

She turned away from the window and finally faced me. Her blush was still there but she’s not as red as before. “Yup. They know that I’m with you right now”

“Do they even know me?” I asked, eyebrows furrowing as I focused my eyes on the road.

“Yup. I told my Mom about you. Dad knows about you too. The little munchkins saw our pictures when I went to Jeonju with you after my birthday.” She tried to reach for my hand but I slapped it away and held the wheel firmly with both of my hands. “Let me hold your hand” she whined.

“I’m not that good at driving yet!”

“Fine…” she grumbled, making me laugh at the frown on her lips.

“You talk a lot about me to your family?”

“Mom kept on prying me, especially when I asked for her help about the gifts. She wants to meet you and I told her that I’ll have to tell you about it first because you’re busy. I forgot to ask you about it. But I told you now… So yeah…”

I briefly glanced at her and when our eyes met, she immediately gave me a huge grin that showed her dimples.

“My family, especially my parents, wants to see you,” she whispered sheepishly. “But don’t worry. If you don’t want to, that’s fine”

“It’s not that I don’t want to…”

“Let me take a picture of you,” Byul suddenly said, changing the subject.

I could see her pulling out her phone from her pocket. I focused on driving, conscious about Byul taking pictures right beside me. It’s really distracting and I’m not that confident in driving yet. I don’t want to endanger myself and this annoying Moon heir on my right.

“About your parents…” I whispered softly. “It’s a bit scary meeting them and I’m nervous at the thought of it, but I can meet them if you want to”

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to. Mom is the one insisting”

“So… you don’t want me to meet them?”

“I didn’t say that. It’s just…” She sighed heavily while turning her body to face me. “Remember when Yong and I were supposed to marry each other?”

“Yes. Wheein told me about it before I started working with Yong

“It was our parents who arranged that. Yong managed to make a deal with his father and we both convinced my parents that I’ll find someone to marry. Yong married Wheein and I still don’t want to marry but we still continued with the partnership”

She held my hand when we reached a red light and placed it on her cheek. I caressed my thumb on her cheek while being mindful at the traffic light in front of us.

“My parents aren’t nagging me about marrying because of the partnership. Not yet. I want you to meet them but I don’t want them to think that I’m marrying you. I don’t want them to harass you with questions about marrying me too”

I instantly sat up when the lights turned green. Byul kissed my palm first before she released my hand. I resumed driving while Byul leaned closer towards me, needing that physical contact once again. She settled by placing her hand on my thigh close to my knee.

“I really want you to meet my sisters though… You can play and sing with Hana, cook with Jihye, and then have adult conversations with Seulgi. I think you can guide her better than me”

I briefly glanced at her when I heard a soft chuckle from her. She had her eyes closed with a huge smile on her face, probably imagining me with her sisters. And yet to her, this is just like an executive partnership.

“I’d like to meet your sisters too”

“Yeah… that would be wonderful. They’ll like you, for sure”

I glanced at her again and saw her already looking at me. She smiled at me when our gazes met while I smiled back at her. She leaned forward and placed a kiss on my shoulder, squeezing my thigh once.

“Sit straight. Behave, Mansaeng, if you want us to go back home safely” I scolded when she wouldn’t stop kissing my shoulder.

She chuckled softly and sat up straight, her hand still on my thigh. “Yes, babe. You look so hot driving, by the way”

I scoffed and rolled my eyes at her while she’s still laughing beside me.

Byul asked for cuddles the moment we reached my apartment. Bear and Lion were once kicked out of my bed. She took a nap for about more than an hour. I wasn’t that sleepy so I let her sleep while I played with my phone to let the time pass.

I knew she was awake by the time my body was pulled towards hers. She asked for kisses, of course she did, the moment she woke up. Always the affectionate one. Always the one who seeks physical contact. Maybe even crave for it. She always stays close and places kisses without meaning to. She just wants to do it.

Byul was the one driving this time while I stayed in the passenger seat. Since she’s a veteran when it comes to driving already, she held the wheel while holding my hand. Always yearning for that physical contact. And a simple touch could easily resolve that desire.

“What’s your ideal date?” she asked just as we got out of the parking lot.

“Ideal date? Hmm… Let’s see…” I raised my legs up on the seat, getting comfortable on the passenger seat, while still holding Byul’s hand. “I don’t like moving a lot”

“I know,” Byul said with a soft laugh.

“But I like walking by the water.” I glanced at Byul and asked, “We were at the beach during Wheein and Yong’s wedding, right?”

She quickly looked towards me to smile at me as she nodded.

“When I couldn’t sleep, I went to the beach and walked barefoot. I love the sound of the ocean. I love the wind. I love that it’s quiet and peaceful. Obviously, there’s no beach near here but we have the Han River. I used to go there back when I was still new here in Seoul”

Byul hummed, listening to what I said, while constantly nodding her head. “What else?”

“Eat”

“Of course…” she whispered, chuckling and smiling wide.

“I want to try new food. Always love to eat the ones that I know that taste good. Me and my friends can spend a whole day doing nothing but eating, talking and drinking. If my date and I share the same humor, then it will be fun to talk to them. Or if they never ran out of topic, like if they’re good at conversing, then they will be fun to talk to”

“So you like talking to your date?”

“Yeah… Get to know them”

She squeezed my hand as she asked, “Anything you want to do today?”

“Today? Hmm…” My lips pout and eyes narrowed as I thought of anything I wanted to do. “I just honestly want to stay at home”

She looked at me with a serious face before she asked, “Will it be too late to turn the car around? Let’s just stay in your apartment then”

I pulled my hand from her hold and gently slapped the brim of her cap, making sure that it wouldn’t cover her eyes since she’s still driving. She fixed her cap before she held my hand again. She raised it to her lips and kissed the back of my hand, chuckling softly.

“I had to change to go out because you insisted on taking me out and all you’d do is bring me back home?” I asked, incredulous, lips parting as I stared at her in disbelief.

“Babe… I’m just kidding. I’m kidding.” She raised my hand to her lips again and showered it with loud kisses. “Don’t be upset. I’m just joking” she whispered, giggling at the pout of my lips.

“So annoying…” I whispered under my breath, which Byul still heard.

“I’m sorry.” She kissed my hand one last time before resting our joined hands on her lap. “Is there anything you want to do today other than staying at home though?”

I sighed heavily as I stared at the road in front of us, thinking. “I’m actually considering doing something but… I might regret it”

“Hmm… What’s that?” she asked, her interest piquing.

I looked at her as I said, “Tattoo”

“Ohh…” she whispered, looking at me with her eyes wide, her lips slowly curling up in an excited smile. “Tattoo? What kind of tattoo?”

“My name…”

“Hyejin?”

I shook my head and said, “My baptismal name”

“You have a baptismal name?” she asked, glancing more at me now than on the road.

I turned her face to the road as I whispered, “Focus, Mansaeng”

“Sorry…” She cleared and grabbed my hand again. “What’s your baptismal name?”

“Maria.” I smiled when I saw the grin on her face. “Suits me, right?”

“It does.” Her thumb started caressing on my hand as her smile turned bigger. “I remember the song you sang to me in Hong Kong. There’s Maria in the lyrics, right? Your baptismal name really suits you so much. Where do you want to have it though?”

“That’s something I don’t know yet. I don’t want to regret it and I heard that it’s painful.” I turned to her as I asked, “Is it?”

“It is but you can use numbing creams if it’s your first time and if you’re nervous. I didn’t apply cream on my arm so it was really painful. I had numbing cream for the one near my ankle. I’m quite sensitive there”

“You have another tattoo?” I asked, leaning over to peek at her ankles.

“Oi! Oi! Oi! Jinnie no!”

She stopped me from looking at her tattoo and pushed my head back. She then pulled the car over and stepped really hard on the brakes.

My body was flailing everywhere from Byul’s push to the sudden change of the car’s direction and the harsh stepping over the brakes. The seatbelt prevented me from bumping my head on the dashboard or on the window