"Ji Yong, let me bring her golfing next weekend to meet the guys,” Ji Yong’s dad whined.

“No way,” Ji Yong said for the umpteenth time. There was only one word for the man that raised my fiancé; adorable. His dad was rather short but I had never met someone so animated and lively, clearly a jokester by nature as well.

“Why? My daughter-in-law wants to go, don’t you?” he asked me. It was such a loaded question and I hated picking sides but I really wanted to spend more time with the old man.

“I do,” I said.

“Ri Ah, he’s going to feed you soju like its water, you know,” Ji Yong explained. “And meeting his buddies is a fifteen hour event. I don’t even know how my dad’s liver has survived through it all.”

“Is it that bad?”

“I went once and I couldn’t even remember what I did.” The whole table laughed at that, only because it clearly seemed like nothing short of the current truth.

“He woke up the next morning never realizing he went out with dad the night before, then asked dad what time they were leaving home to meet up with his friends,” Dami unni added.

“No way…”  I muttered. “Father how do you do it?”

“How do I not to do it? I feel more energized the next day after a good drink the night before,” Ji Yong’s dad said.

“Crazy…” I regretted saying it as soon as I said it. It was just an automatic response, but I ended up calling my father-in-law a bad name because of it. The table was silent for a little while before Dami unni burst out laughing and started choking on her food.

“Dami-ya! Control yourself,” Ji Yong’s mum said, passing her a cup of water.

“Father, I am so sorry…” I began, but Ji Yong’s dad had already started chuckling as well.

“Well at least now I know you’re not the type to hold back. Ji Yong I’m definitely taking her out next weekend whether you like it or not,” he said.

“I knew it,” Ji Yong groaned. “We’re going to lose an entire weekend because of you dad.”

We stayed longer than we had planned at Ji Yong’s house, the sky was already dark and the full moon was radiantly glowing as one big, orange sphere on the horizon. I loved it when it was like that, it made the moon look ten times larger and more beautiful than if it was perched up far away in the sky. Ji Yong’s mom sent us off with a bunch of food and a promise from us to visit often and then we were off, heading towards the inner reaches of Seoul.

“Do you miss me?” I asked him. We’ve been stuck in a traffic jam for well over half an hour now. The question must’ve caught him off guard because he looked at me completely confused.

“What do you mean Ri Ah?”

“When you don’t see me for a while, do you miss me?” I asked again.

“Of course I do. Why are you asking that all of a sudden?”

“Even if you did, it wouldn’t even compare to how much I missed you this past week.” Ji Yong didn’t reply for a while, quite possibly trying to decipher my ambiguous questions and statements, and trying to churn out an appropriate response.

“Am I doing something wrong here Ri Ah?” he finally asked.

“Nothing wrong, you’re just being who you are. I guess I’m just trying to get used to it.” Ji Yong furrowed his eyebrows, and then suddenly turned right at an exit that we clearly weren’t supposed to take. We weren’t even close to reaching Hongdae, let alone my house. I blankly stared at the road in front of us, now much emptier, and lit with fewer street lights. The small stores which lined the road all had their rolling doors tightly shut, with only a few half empty snack stands perched on the pavement being open. Ji Yong stopped in front of one of them, one which was isolated and had no customers whatsoever.

“Let’s have a snack,” he said. We weren’t in the drinking mood, so with a plate of ddeokbokki* and some innards Ji Yong and I sat on their plastic stools and ate. Halfway through our meal, I stopped and put down by fork.

“Ji Yong, I don’t want to fight…”

“We’re not fighting… I just want to know what you want Ri Ah.” I bit my lip, and started to stab at a ddeok to occupy my static hands.

“You’re a busy person. I get that and I respect that part of you so I don’t want you to change a thing,” I began. “I don’t know, I guess I’m just trying to get a grip on this new you and new me.”

“Have I changed in your eyes?”

“Ji Yong, do you realize that whenever we’re together I’m always shut away as a separate compartment in your life? I’ve never been with you when you’re just you. In LA that was the ‘you’ that was running away, in London that was the ‘you’ that waned to escape celebrity life. But now that I’m getting Ji Yong as the composer and person he naturally is… it’s different.”

“And you don’t like it.”

“I do. I love you even more because you’ve let me in to all the things in your life. But it makes me nervous.”

“Why?”

“Because you’re out there living your life and I’m the one doing all the loving and missing and worrying… and waiting. I don’t want to do that anymore, which is why I took the job I didn’t like. Then when that didn’t help this chance as a model came to me. I want to do it.” Ji Yong let out a heavy sigh and rested his head on his hands.

“Is it so wrong to be the person waiting?”

“I know I’m being selfish here, on so many levels.”

“You are.” I looked straight into his eyes, and despite his words I knew he was on the brink of giving in. Ji Yong couldn’t win against me; or rather he didn’t want to.

“Maybe we’re making too big a deal out of this, it’s just a deal or two purely out of interest; to see what your world is like. I’m not making a career out of this Ji Yong.”

“No, you will. If you did this seriously you could do great things Ri Ah and that’s what I’m scared of. We’ve lost so much time with each other and if you get thrown around by this industry the distance will just keep getting larger.”

“I won’t let it. I promise.” I was so sure of it.

As soon as we reached the front of my house, I got ready to open the car door only to have Ji Yong tug my hand, and suddenly place his lips on mine, gradually making the kiss deeper and deeper until I just couldn’t take it anymore. I pushed him back before I passed out from forgetting to breathe. We sat there, the both of us out of breath and staring at each other trying to register what just happened. That whole thing felt… strange. The feel of his lips, the taste of his tongue suddenly seemed so unnatural. I panicked, what in the world was happening?

“It’s cold**,” I murmured. “Your touch.”

“It’s because our hearts aren’t settled yet,” Ji Yong said. “It’s because the both of us are unhappy right now.”

“I’m… I’m going to go.” I quickly got out of the car and entered my house before the situation got any worse. He was right, we both had a lot on our minds.

It was about one in the morning when I suddenly heard a knock on my bedroom door. I hadn’t fallen asleep yet, there was something suffocating about the air tonight.

“I’m coming in,” the voice said. It was Ji Yong without a doubt, but why he was here was the better question.

“Where you outside the whole time?” I asked.

“I was standing near the car just thinking.” I reached up and touched his hand, which had completely frozen over like ice.

“Are you kidding me!? Do you have a death wish or something!?” I exclaimed. We were in the middle of autumn but the temperatures were in disarray. Quickly I got up, helped him out of his coat and we laid down on my bed together, the quilt wrapped tightly around the both of us. I pressed myself closely to him, and I wondered how long it had been since we’ve lain together like this, just warmly in each other’s arms.

“It worked though,” he said.

“What did?”

“It helped me realize that all I want for you is your happiness. That’s what I promised you when I got down on one knee.”

“Are you still talking about that? I don’t need to do it Ji Yong. You were right, I want you to be able to come home to me, and I want to be there for you whenever you need me. That won’t happen if I take this job.”

“It makes no difference. Things might be a little more difficult but it just means we have to work harder. And what's life without a challenge?” I stared up at him, purely out of words. Every time, every single time he always goes out of his way for me and I’m left reeling at his actions.

“Why are you so patient with me?” I asked.

“I’m just a generous man I guess. What, you never knew that?” he kidded.

“Shut up, I’m serious.” He shifted his body to face me than started to lovingly my hair.

“It’s not that I’m patient, it’s that I want only the best things for you, and if this is what you want, I respect that. Most importantly, I realized that I’m the last person that would want to hold you back.”

“Thank you. You’re amazing you know that?” 

“I know, but a little reminder every once in a while wouldn’t hurt.” I smirked at his comment. Nah, I wasn’t going to let him have the pleasure of that. You know, to keep him humble and all. Finally in each other’s warmth I started to drift off to sleep. This house just seemed a whole lot cosier with Ji Yong around. 

*ddeokbokki is a Korean snack which consists of rice cake (ddeok), in a kind of spicy sauce.

**It's Cold, is a little reference to Epik High's new song featuring Lee Hi. Check it out if you haven't already!

AN: Whoot! Triple update as promised!! Enjoy everyone, and once again thanks so much! I love reading your comments, so don't forget to drop one below =D.