As the night gets darker and the temperature decreases, they move back inside, settling themselves on that comfortable mattress after restarting the fire in the fireplace. The conversation continues for a little while before they fall into comfortable silence as the sound of fire crackling becomes more interesting to hear. No one initiates anything this time, nothing more than a few caresses here and there. They lie there in each other's arms, watching the fire.

"Must be nice having your own fireplace at home," Seulgi mumbles to no one in particular, but Joohyun catches it.

"I bet when you actually have it, you'll only use it once a year," she quips childishly. Annoying each other is their favourite pastime.

"At least it'll get used, unlike some of the things you bought that are still inside the packagings years later." Seulgi counter-attacks, earning herself a smack on her .

She sees Seulgi raising her hand to retaliate before stopping herself and puts her hand back down. It's cute. Seulgi is never violent with her, not even in a playful way. 

They direct their attention back to the fire.

She then watches Seulgi's side profile and ponders, wondering if it's to early to share this information. In the end, she does. "I've been thinking of buying a house here."

Seulgi turns to her, intrigued. "Here? As in in Jeju?"

"Yes."

"Seriously? Do you even come here often?"

"Quite."

The raven looks fascinated. "Why all of a sudden?"

"I want to live a more balanced life. I want to spend more time not working; ideally, 6 months of work, then 6 months of rest. And when I'm not working, I want to spend my time somewhere far from Seoul."

Seulgi seems to be thinking before she questions, unsure. "Won't it be hard for us to meet? I want to see you as often as possible"

She smiles at that. She would like to see Seulgi as often as possible, too. Especially now that they're together. 

"If I end up buying a house here, would you come live with me?" She proposes boldly before explaining further, toning the proposal down. "See it as a vacation home. Whenever you're free, come and stay here. We'll be together in Seoul for the other half of the year anyway."

Seulgi's eyes light up before they narrow in a playful judging way. "Unnie, we're only on our second day dating and you're already asking me to move in with you somewhere across the country?" She still refuses to drop the honorific, saying that it's hard to change such old habit.

She teases, "Is there a problem, Ms. I-don't-want-to-take-things-slow?"

"Nope, not a problem." Seulgi counters. "In fact, I'm flattered, especially knowing that you used to have commitment issues."

She brushes the obvious dig aside. "Take it or leave it, Kang Seulgi. You're not gonna make me beg."

"Ooh, I'm so scared," she mocks.

She grabs Seulgi and squeezes her cheeks to punish her. Screams are heard and seconds later, they are tangled up on that mattress, panting and laughing after their brief fight.

Seulgi kisses her on the forehead before looking at her in the eye "I would love to move in with you."

She has to stop her heart from soaring to make one point clear. "I didn't ask you to move in with me, though. I said a vacation home."

"I don't care. I'm moving myself into your house, invited or not."

She sticks her tongue out. "Colonizer."

Seulgi shrugs, rolling away. "Okay, fine. It's totally your lost. I'm good at cooking and cleaning now. I'm also good at decorating. I'm a great asset to have."

She follows, rolling to where Seulgi is. "Okay, fine. You can live with me," she says in a way that makes it seem that Seulgi was the one begging to live with her from the beginning.

The raven was going to gloat over her win before she realizes how she just turned it around. "Wow, you're so manipulative."

She can only laugh while Seulgi is exhaling in a totally exaggerated way.

The conversation then turns more adultlike as they quickly settle with the idea. When in Seoul, they will be staying mostly at Seulgi's place because according to the younger woman, Joohyun's apartment looks like a show house because of how sterile it is. Seulgi's place, on the other hand, is homey, thus more comfortable to live in.

"It's because when I bought it, I didn't plan to really make it a home," she defends herself. "The one here in Jeju will be different. You'll see."

Seulgi looks at her, suspicious. "Have you already bought a house? You've been talking like you already own it."

She shakes her head, denying. "No, not really. But I only need to make one phone call and agree to their final offer."

"Oh, wow." Seulgi seems impressed by the information. "Where is it? Can we go and see?"

"You've seen it before. Remember that white house up on the hill?"

Seulgi gasps. "Isn't that your dream house? I thought someone lived there?"

She smiles and nods. It's not exactly the house that she's head over heels for, but the location; the house itself definitely needs a major renovation. "It became available recently. The owners are an older couple whose daughter lives in England. They just have a grandson so they moved there to help take care of him. It's fate, really. After you went back to Seoul last month, I went past it and saw the for sale sign. So I made the call and the agent showed me around."

"That's amazing." Excitement is evident in her voice knowing that the idea of them sort of living together is not something that is still far in the future. "Are you really gonna buy it?"

"Are you moving in with me?" she asks back.

Seulgi looks at her; her eyes soft and comforting. "I already said yes, haven't I? Even when I thought we would be living in a swamp." She chuckles at her own joke. "What more now after knowing you're planning to buy that house. It reminds me of that English song you used to listen to often."

"Free Love?" She smiles at the fact that Seulgi still remembers little details about her that happened so many years ago. And her smile grows wider as Seulgi starts singing.

"Imagine a house, way up on a hill."

She feels nothing but gratitude remembering the chorus to that song. 'I can't get you all that stuff, but I can give you all my love.' Because they're luckier than the people in that song. It's not only love that she can give. She can give Seulgi all that stuff too, and more.

"We're not gonna live in a swamp. I'm gonna make it extra pretty and homey for you, no worries," she tells her.

Seulgi smiles sweetly at the promise. "Can you add a fireplace too?"

She chuckles. "Anything for you."

The younger woman's cheeks puff up hearing that as she scoots closer to snuggle up to her.

She puts herself on top of Seulgi, hands cupping her cheeks lovingly, speaking to her softly. "I don't need you to cook, to clean and to decorate." She kisses the tip of her nose before continuing, "All I want is to go back to a place that has you in it so I can call it home."

That shuts Seulgi up. She's certain she sees her eyes moistening.

The raven smiles beautifully and whispers out, repeating her previous statement, now with a total different tone. "Wow, you're so manipulative."

They fall asleep after sharing ideas of what they want the house to be like; paint colours, tile patterns, wall panels, a mini library, an art studio, a giant-sized TV, an oddly-shaped sofa, and a lovely garden at the back for all the plants Joohyun wants to grow.

-

They decide to go out the next morning after spending so much time in that cabin. They have a nice breakfast at a cozy cafe by the sea before heading to a vinyl store; yet another one of her discoveries during her many visits and mindless driving around while in Jeju. She knows Seulgi would love to add a few more vinyls to her already extensive collection and sure enough, the collector couldn't be more excited to browse around.

There are private booths inside, each with a player, where they get to listen before buying. They also get to order drinks and desserts to enhance the experience. By the time they get out of the store, it's already late in the afternoon and Seulgi is carrying a big bag with a satisfied grin on her face. And even with that big bag on one hand and her handbag on the other, Seulgi still manages to hold the door open for her; one of her many small gestures that she really appreciates, things that Seulgi had done almost since the first time they met but feel even more special now.

Seulgi then requests for them to drive around without any destination in particular. Joohyun is used to this and goes to some routes she's already familiar with, showing Seulgi some of the best views the island could offer in that particular season. They listen to old songs and sing along, reminiscing the days where they used to do this same exact thing when they were much younger and much more clueless about the world. If she was already feeling happy back then with Seulgi by her side as a friend, imagine how happy she is right now.

She then drives up the hill, wanting to show Seulgi the house up close. She parks the car near the edge, where they get to enjoy the surrounding landscape from the elevated place. She turns off the engine and rolls the windows down, listening to Seulgi excitedly singing praises.

It will take a bit of time to make her dream house happen, but she can already imagine the two of them sitting at a spacious deck on the roof of the house, looking down at the natural environment surrounding them, feeling the fresh air of Jeju Island, waiting for the sun to set, preferably with warm drinks in their hands and warm bodies stuck to each other. She wants to experience days where she doesn't have to rush from one schedule to another and then go back to an empty apartment. She wants to be here instead, dozing off in Seulgi's arms after the sun sets, waking up way too late for dinner, cook simple dinner in a spacious kitchen with Seulgi, have that late dinner, go to sleep past midnight without worrying of having to wake up early tomorrow. Because the next day, she would wake up late - preferably with Seulgi in her arms, cuddle with her in bed until their stomachs growl, have late breakfast, then late lunch then wait for the sun to set again and repeat.

It might not sound like an overtly ambitious dream for others, but after living the life she's been living for almost two decades, this is exactly what she wants.

-

It's the last night before she has to go back to Seoul and they're once again on the mattress in front of the fireplace. Seulgi is resting half of her body on her lap while she's playing with the younger woman's hair, admiring how healthy they are now up close.

"Seul?" she calls, running her fingers through the long, silky hair.

"Yes?" Seulgi mumbles lazily.

"Is there anything you'd like to know about me?"

Seulgi turns slightly to look up to her with an eyebrow raised. "What kind of a question is that? Feels like we're on a blind date."

She smiles at that, imagining how fun it would be if they really didn't know each other and were introduced through a blind date. How exciting would it be to reset everything and start getting to know this woman named Kang Seulgi from scratch.

"No, I was just wondering if there's anything you'd like to ask me." She explains. "You know how you're always so good at opening up and being real honest with expressing your feelings?"

"Am I?" she asks innocently.

"Yes. I've told you this before."

She shrugs and reacts indifferently. 

"I want to do that too. For you. But it's really hard for me to do that voluntarily and unprompted. So maybe you can help me out?"

Seulgi catches the hand that is still playing with her hair, stopping the movement and clasping it. She brings it down and rests it below her chest. "If I have to ask, wouldn't it just defeat the purpose?"

"Kinda.. but.."

"You didn't realize it but you've been really honest with me since the wedding. You've told me things that I'd never imagined coming out of your mouth. So, just tell me whatever you want, Unnie. At your own pace," she says kindly.

They go back to the comfortable silence, still with Seulgi on her lap. At one point, the raven has her eyes shut, enjoying the light massage she's doing with her head. She then shares, talking slowly. "I don't like to share much about my personal life to the public, but I used to say often that I felt calm around you and that's probably one of the mos