She was standing there in front of the clock, watching as each second ticks by, second upon second, turning in one minute, two minute, three minute, and so forth.

"Noona, are you nervous?" Kyungsan asked, he grabbed his noona's hand and held on tightly to it, it was reassuring for her.

"Yes." She admitted bluntly.

How could she not, it would be completely unreasonable if she wasn't. The fact that her heart was pounding out of her chest, her hands were sweaty, and her whole body seemed to be on a super sugar high was completely reasonable.

In JiAh's mind it was like welcoming back a soldier from war. But it wasn't. There would be no grand entry, no welcoming parade, nothing of that sorts. Just her, Kyungsan, and the guys.

The guys were all at one of the airport's vending machines trying to decide what to get. Kyungsan's eyes were glued on his noona. JiAh's eyes however were glued on that clock that never missed a beat.

Hoya was returning. Today. His flight was schedule to arrive in less than 15 minutes. It wasn't a secret that out of everyone there, JiAh was the most nervous, the most anxious, the most alarmed.

"Why are you nervous noona?" Kyungsan asked. That was a good question. One she couldn't answer fully.

"I don't know. I guess I'm kind of waiting to see what will happen." She answered. Kyungsan nodded, though JiAh didn't notice.

"Noona, you should get a drink, there's a water fountain over there." He suggested pointing towards one of the rest room areas where water fountains would be found.

She gave him a questioning look, "I'll be fine, the hyungs are right there." He stated assuming that she was worried he would get lost in all the airport chaos.

"Okay." She replied walking over to the water fountain. Kyungsan knew her well, she really did need a drink. She didn't realize how dehydrated she was until she found herself basically stuffing her face into the fountain as cool water filled .

After a good drink she stepped back to where the rest of the guys and Kyungsan were, only to be side track when she noticed something across the lobby. Diverting her direction she walked towards it.

Her eyes were locked with a mural painted on one of the walls. It was an endless blue sky that looked like it stretched for miles. Below it was a green valley of flowers that grew until the sun's touch. Her eyes were glued to it. She didn't know why. It wasn't like she hadn't seen art before. She had. But something about this was different.

The mural went perfectly along with her mood right now, ironic because the mural was of calmness and peace while her mind was anything but that.

JiAh tilted her head, examining it with the deepest thoughts as questions arose in her mind. The questions ranged from the smallest of things like, did she wash the dishes this morning, to questions that swallowed her whole.

She sighed deeply, her mind was so complicated and complex, it was unraveling in a sea inside that thick skull of hers.

JiAh was to deep inside her head, too far from reality, to enchanted by time to realized that someone had stepped beside her.

His eyes scrutinized her down to the last details, putting her under a microscope of his own. He put his sole focus on her. He smiled, she was so lost within herself to realized he was standing beside her.

He didn't have any complaints though, this gave him the chance to be close to her, to stand next to her. He tried to figure out what was different about her, yes, she looked healthier, she wasn't as tired, and the deep bags under her eyes were gone. But it wasn't something physical that changed about her. It was deeper than that. It was the light in her eyes, even she when she was so far away. It was the glow she carried. It was more welcoming, kinder, softer, lighter.

"Did you want me to take you to a meadow one day?" He asked breaking her deep train of thoughts. JiAh's eyes flickered, her head spun and her eyes widen.

There standing beside her was the man who had contaminated her thoughts. There, next to her, was her husband.

"Hoya." She choked up his name. She didn't realized his plane had arrived, or that he was there, beside her. She spun her head back to find Kyungsan and the guys staring at the two. Once they realized JiAh was looking at them, they not so casually flickered their attention somewhere else and pretended to interact with each other.

"My plane was early." He commented reading her thoughts. She flickered her attention back to him.

Their eyes locked and a smile appeared on Hoya's face. "So, did you still want me to take you to a meadow?" He repeated his question from before. She shifted her eyes back to the mural that had caught her attention and brought her attention back to Hoya.

"Welcome back." She retorted, she didn't answer his question, but her response was better than excepted. JiAh huffed up a breath of air before adding the last part softly, "I missed you."

Hoya couldn't hide the smile that lifted onto his face. "I missed you more." He retorted eyeing her carefully to see her reaction.

And for the first time he saw her do something he never expected. If it was anymore else he wouldn't think twice about it and just let go. But she wasn't just anymore else. She was JiAh, and right now, she was blushing. Her cheeks were a mild shade of pink. She knew she was blushing, which only made her blush more. Her flustered appearance is very appealing as it is new to his eyes.

"Come on. Let's go." He stated interlocking his hand with hers and walking back towards the others. JiAh didn't know it then, but Hoya felt like his heart was going to burst out of his chest.

--

She watched from the kitchen as Kyungsan questioned Hoya. New York City was such an interesting subject for Kyungsan, and he wanted Hoya to tell him everything he saw, heard, felt. He wanted to know every last detail.

JiAh smiled to herself. Kyungsan was brighter with Hoya around. He was louder and more cheerful. Hoya brought out a light in Kyungsan, one JiAh desperately missed when Hoya was gone. JiAh was happy now, because Kyungsan was happy. They all knew Kyungsan was happy because Hoya was back.

"Hey." He called towards her, she blinked and realized that Kyungsan was gone. He was probably in his room. Once again, more the nth time, her thoughts her broke her away from reality.

She stepped towards him and sat down across from her, his eyes never leaving hers. "Here." She mumbled reaching up towards her neck and taking the chain off. She held up the necklace, the one with the red pendant, the one he had given her when he found her.

"I don't need it anymore." She stated. This was her welcoming back present for him. She knew it wasn't much, but it was enough for comfort Hoya's heart. The necklace was a reminder of her fears, of the things that drowned her in red. Now that she broke off those fears, she no longer needed that reminder. She could start fresh.

She dropped it in his hand along with a satisfied smile.

"Do you think we can get Dongwoo or Sungyeol to watch Kyungsan?" She asked.

"Why?"

"I wanted to show you something."

--

He shouldn't be surprise that was he surprise. When she said she wanted to show him something it had come as a shocker. But here they were, standing in the middle of a cemetery.

"I met your parents. I want you to meet mine." She commented as she stepped out of the car and gently closed the door.

Slowly he followed her as she made her way inside. He didn't understand why, but his heart felt like it would explode. Yes, he had already figured that her parents were no longer with them, but to stand before their graves was another story. They were her parents after all, dead or alive.

"Come on." She spoke, slowing down to wait for him. When she saw the hesitation in his eyes she reached her hand out, grabbing his and lacing their fingers together.

"Hi appa, Hi umma." She mumbled softly when they reached the tombstones. Three of tome stones stood side by side. One was her fathers, the second was her mother, and the last one was her little brother. This was her family.

She gave him a small reassuring smile. Hoya felt awkward, he didn't know what to do, what to say, and he wasn't even talking to someone who was alive.

"This is Hoya," She stated holding onto his arm, "He's a very special person. This man...he saved me from myself." She acknowledged giving him a warm smile.

"That's a lie." Hoya interjected. "I didn't save her, she saved herself, with some help from a certain nine year old." Hoya noted.

"Don't worry about her, nothing is going to happen to her. She's in safe arms." He confirmed looking to the tome stones. He wasn't going to let anything happen to her.

--

The two walked back to the car, hand in hand. Hoya had a content smile on his face the whole way.

"Can I ask you something?" The words left his lips unconsciously. JiAh stopped in her tracks and shifted her attention on to him.

"Before I left, you looked like you didn't even care. Then out of no where, I get this phone call and-"

"I avoided you because I knew you were going to leave me." She cut in. "I'm just so tired of people leaving, and I guess when you were leaving, I thought if I distanced myself from you, the impact wouldn't hit as hard or hurt as much. Of course I was just setting myself up for self sabotage. But I guess I needed that, sabotage, to remind myself I still care."

He didn't reply after that, he was busy letting her words soak in.

"Can I ask you something then?" She interjected. He nodded giving an 'okay'.

"Before you left, why didn't you just tell me how you felt?"

"Because I knew that when I come face to face with you I lose all my courage. So the only way I could get to you was to write it down. I know you and writing go hand-in-hand together. I just thought, you write all your thoughts down, why not write mine down as well."

"That makes sense." She whispered softly as she began walking again. Writing was a way of expressing oneself when the mouths were unable to form tangible words.

They two made it to the side of the road where Hoya's car was parked, and that's when he stopped her.

"What?" She questioned looking at him curiously.

"Don't move." He strictly ordered causing her to tense up in her spot.

"Is something wrong?" JiAh questioned looking around to see if anything was out of place.

He smirked, she didn't realize it, but she looked so adorable right now. She looked paranoid as she checked their surroundings to see if there was anything funny going on. He smiled, contented to seeing another new side to her.

She looked back to him, and that's when she felt him lean in closer towards her and brushed his soft lips against her. His lips were as soft as butterflies wings and lit her up in a bubble of air. He leaned in more, pressing his lips deeper against hers. It was an innocent kiss, it was precious.

"What was that for?" She murmured softly when he leaned away, his lips disconnecting from hers.

"I just felt like kissing my wife." He responded with a boyish shrug of the shoulder. She smiled at his remark.