HYUKJAE

There will never be a time I will not stop questioning what good thing I did in my past life to deserve this. Maybe I saved a royalty, or helped the poor or maybe I saved a country. No matter what it was, it still baffled me how lucky I am to have this angel in my arms. I was never one to believe in miracles, or pointless concepts like soulmates, but I will not deny that it did cross my mind that maybe this is it; that Donghae is my miracle and my soulmate. I shook my head, chuckling to myself.

"You're turning me into a sap," I whispered gently to my lover's ear.

Donghae is soundly asleep in my arms, his head perfectly positioned on my chest and his left arm was draped acrossed me, while the right hand was on my chest as well, my other hand holding his hand and my arm surrounding him protectively. I watched as his eyelids flutter, signalling that he was having a dream, his even breathing was in synced with mine. It was always been a wonder what benefit I get from watching this person sleep, but even if I told myself it was useless, I can't stop it. Because Donghae is just purely beautiful when he is soundly asleep, and trusting as he allows me to see him in his most vulnerable state. And I trust him too, with all my heart. And if there is one person in this world I would share everything I have, be it mind and body, I will not hesitate for it to be Donghae. 

But then, this situation with Ji Eun. I'm scared. So scared that if I tell him that he'd leave me. That if he hear the wrong thing I did, he'd just outright disappear. And then he'd hate me. I can't...I can't live with that; I can't live without him. Not anymore. Not that I knew how blissful life could be beside him. Not know that I had a taste of what perfection is like; what happiness is like. I can't bear for it to be stripped away from me. I can't take it if Donghae left me.

*

“Are we there yet?”

“No.”

“Are we there yet?”

“Not yet.”

“Are we---”

“Donghae, you’ve been asking the same question for the last five minutes and the answer is still the same,” I sighed exasperatedly, and sighed in relief as silence ensued. At least for the next five seconds.

“So, are we there yet?”

Chuckling at the childish person sitting at the passenger seat, I reached out with the my left hand, as my right was busy controlling the steering wheel, and held Donghae’s gloved hands; it was my gloves since this lovely, lovely idiot forgot that one item of clothing that is necessary when you go to a cold country like Switzerland. I gave his hand a squeeze, and I felt the pair of brown orbs looking at me and I glanced at him briefly before returning my gaze at the road, “Go to sleep, love. I’ll wake you when we get there,” I suggested.

And five minutes later, the sweet angel is softly snoring, still holding my hand.

*

“Oh wow.”

I let a smile graze my lips as I hear Donghae’s awestruck voice, while I went ahead to get our luggage. Closing the trunk, I rejoined my lover who was still looking up before dropping one suitcase to wrap my arm around his waist. We kept quiet for a second, looking at the beauty before us.

“Do you like it?” I asked, turning my head to watch his expression, and it was such a sight to see those brown orbs brighten a ton, and feeling proud that I caused that. Damn it, I’m so whipped.

“I love it,” Donghae whispered, before he returned my gaze with that soft features, a sudden shy expression and he’s just so so precious. “I love you.”

Letting my forehead rest against his, I close my eyes and whispered back, “I love you too.”

*

After exploring the marvellous cabin together, I would admit I am impressed. It is a three floor cabin, the first floor being the entire kitchen and dining room; the second level is the living room and the attic which was turned into a cozy bedroom. I also happily discovered the wine cellar, which was already equipped with bottles of wine (as per request to the owner, of course; and it did cost a fortune, but who cares? Wine is definitely a must-have if you are spending time with the love of your life). Donghae had already made plans for us to fill the, sadly, empty kitchen cabinets and after changing clothes, we’re driving off looking for a grocery store.

Fortunately, a lot of the citizens speak English, and Donghae is fluent with it so we got directions to where the nearest grocery store is. After parking the car, I went out to rush at the passenger door, opening it and making a bit of bowing which resulted to a chuckling, and blushing Donghae. I took his gloved (still mine) hand with my gloved one and walked towards the store.

Once inside, we easily reverted back to our roles like back in Korea when we grocery shop; with me pushing the cart and Donghae putting things in, and once in a while, asking me what I wanted. I just follow him, amused at watching him scrunch his nose as he try to pick which brand of cereal he should get, or if what type of meat is better, and I would smile lovingly everytime he puts ten boxes of strawberry milk in the cart, adding ten more of chocolate ones. We were in the vegetable and fruit section, when one kind lady told us that we’d get more fresh vegetables and fruits just at the corner of the said store. After thanking her and paying for our purchase, we placed the paper bags inside the car and walked to where the lady had told them. And sure enough, there were many stalls filled with fruits and vegetables lined up on the street. I took Donghae’s hand again, so as not to lose him, and made our way to buy. I just stay back and listen as he converse with the sellers, hand still on mine, and I would just move to get the bag of fruits or vegetables he’d purchase, giving me a grateful smile before walking around to look for more. We had stopped on some stalls to try their free sample. Donghae would feed me, and I’d bite half of what he’s offering, then him eating the other half of it, and when we both liked the taste we’d buy it.

After Donghae finally deemed it a day, we got to the car and drived back to our cabin where Doghae made a home cooked dinner, and us lounging on the cozy sofa then sleeping in each other’s arms.

*

Deeming my bag packed with every necessity we will need, I left the bedroom to join an excited Donghae at the door. I chuckled as he motioned for me to make it fast before I stood before him and planted a peck on his lips; that made him still as he smiled serenely. 

"Where to?" He asked, as we walked hand in hand out the cabin.

"I was planning we go look at museums to get that out of the way. I've read that there are quite a number of nice museums around here so I thought we'd visit them and get ourselves cultured. What do you say?" I informed him.

"You've planned this out, didn't you?" He suddenly asked, and I just gave him a proud smile before we stopped infront of a red car I rented ahead of time. I opened the door to the passenger seat to usher Donghae in before going to the other side and mounting the driver seat. After securing both our seatbelts I turned to smile at my lover before saying, "Of course. I planned this trip for the both of us."

*

"So, what do you think? Are you cultured up yet?"

"After almost 10 museums, I think I could actually re-tell Switzerland's history. What do you say if I teach here? About history?" The brunet answered as they walked out of their 9th (not quite the tenth) museum. "But it was, amazingly, fun. I'm not that quite a fan of museums, but I guess it had something to do with the person I'm with," came a sudden revelation. I smiled. Donghae's been utterly sweet this trip; to the consistent interlocking of our fingers, the surprise hugs and kisses, and confessions of love. 

This makes me all the more excited and at the same time, nervous, for our last day. My surprise....

"Did I ever tell you that you're such a sap?"

*

The first sense that kicked in was my sense of feel. Butterfly kisses were littering my face; my forehead, my cheek, the tip of my nose... and I can feel hair tickling my neck. I felt my heart fill with so much love as I muttered, "I wouldn't mind waking up to this eveyday."

The lips invading my space paused, before it softly landed a kiss on my lips.

"How long have you been up?" I grumbled, opening my eyes and directly staring into a pair of lovely shade of brown eyes. Donghae's half body was lying on top of me, his fingers tracing light patterns on my clothed chest and his face a few inches from mine. The light coming from the drawn curtains was making his eyes sparkle, and I lean up to place a soft kiss on his nose.

"Not that long. What do you want for breakfast?" he asked, resting his head down and nuzzling on my neck.

"Hmm," I murmured, feeling utterly relaxed this early as I tightened my hold on the supple body beside me. "Maybe later. Let's stay like this for a while." Donghae relaxed with half of his body lying on top of me and I can feel small puffs of his breathing hitting my neck that sent a good shiver down my spine. My thumb is lightly grazing Hae's bicep, letting run up and down as our breaths sync and allowing the silence wrap us both. Then I was dozing off again.

The next few days of our vacation was spent hopping in and out of the train to get around the famous sites of Switzerland. We’ve been to The Jungfrau Region, Chateau de Chillon, Geneva, St. Gallen and the Rhine Falls. Donghae and I have both been mountain climbing and trekking in the day, then roaming the busy streets of Switzerland in the night. We went and tried different cuisines that the country offers as well, and I would say that the food here is definitely in my top five.

We have been into doing snow sports as well, if by sports meaning Donghae gliding on his ice skates while I fall on my bum consistently, then yeah, we have done some sports. Every after a day filled with laughs and smiles, we would retreat in our cabin, Donghae making our dinner then sleeping together.

It was our second to the last night together when I was taken by surprise by what Donghae said.

“Wh—what?” I stuttered, halting from where I was about to switch off the lights.

I watched as Donghae hung his head low. He is biting his lower lip, fingers nervously playing with each other on his lap as he sat at the center of our bed. “What did you say, Donghae?” I asked again, this time not bothering to flick the lights off and returning to the bed.

“I, um---I said, I---” the brunet spluttered, looking everywhere else but me. A light smile was on my lips as I took his chin on my hand and lifted it for him to finally look at me. His brown orbs are still as lovely as ever, and there is a look of hesitance in them so I kissed his lips lightly then rested my forehead on his. Silence ensued as I felt him relax, and after he took in a deep breath, he spoke

“Make love to me, Hyukkie.”