It was a bit weird to sleep with Sungmin in my arms, at first. But I quickly got used to that and, as the night went on, I hugged him tighter, ending up with my nose in his hair, smelling the delicate scent coming from his skin, appreciating it whenever I woke up during the night for some reason, whether because people had talked in the corridor, or because my dad had snored. It didn’t really matter anyway; Sungmin was in my arms, peacefully sleeping, and I just couldn’t help but feel appeased to feel his presence. I felt… complete. Like, as if a part of me had always been missing without me noticing, and that part was now there in my arms, completing me and making me know how incomplete I was before.

I woke up several times during the night, and when I woke up for the last time, it was already eight in the morning. My parents were probably eating already – it was included in the price for this hotel – but Sungmin was still with me, his fingers holding my shirt tight, his face hidden in the piece of clothing. I pressed a kiss on his hair, softly.

“Min… Min, wake up… it’s morning… we have to leave in a few hours… so, we have to get up if we don’t want to have to rush…”

He groaned and held on to my shirt tighter. I chuckled. “Min, we really have to get up.”

“Don’t wanna…”

Morning voice. Morning hair too, when he finally accepted to look at me. Morning cuteness, basically. Strangely enough, no morning breath. I pressed a kiss on his forehead. “Hey. Morning.”

“Morning…”

“It’s 8:06. If you don’t want to get up now, what about we stay in bed until 8:30?”

“Yeah… great idea…”

He hid his face again and I laughed. “Without sleeping! We’ll take this time to wake up completely!”

“Don’t wanna…”

“Min, c’mon. Please?”

“Only if you… if you kiss me. I… I want a morning kiss…”

I smiled and pressed a kiss on his hair this time, since I didn’t have access to his forehead. “Of course, if you don’t care about the morning breath. But you have to look at me. And no sleeping!”

He pouted, but obeyed, and I kissed him softly, enjoying the sweet taste of his lips on mine. When I moved back, I tried saying the words again. “I… I… I’m sorry, I still can’t…”

“I love you, Kangin.”

It felt warm inside. “I know. I’m sorry I still can’t say these words.”

“It’s okay. You feel them, and you show me that you do. It’s better that you can’t say them and feel them, instead of being able to say them, but not feeling them. You know what I mean?”

“Yeah. I know what you mean.”

I hugged him tight. “Say, Min. At school, I hope you’ll let me protect you as usual. More than usual.”

“As long as you don’t hurt anyone by doing so, I’m fine with it. We already decided that you’d protect me. Of course I’ll let you keep on doing it. Why would I not?”

“I don’t know… maybe you’ll get bullied more if I protect you now… because I’m not sure I can do as before, just protecting you and admiring your strength. I’ll probably be hugging you and kissing you… so…”

“If ‘you’ are afraid of getting bullied, you can stop protecting me.”

I frowned. “Wait what?! Where did you get that from?! I’m not afraid!”

He laughed softly. “Then, don’t worry about that. I can handle the hugs, kisses and bullies. Make sure you can too.”

I turned into pouty hamster mode. “Of course I can! I’m a real man, you see? A manly man!”

He kissed me softly. “You are. No matter what. That’s why I love you.”

It made my heart skip a beat. Being in love was so strange. It made me weird and warm. I had often heard girls chatter and talk about love, and I had always thought only girls felt like this when they were in love… only now I was able to understand that, though we didn’t talk about it as much as they did, we men could also be overly happy with just a few words.

“Min… I… erm…”

“Take your time,” he spoke in a soft voice. “Just take your time. Don’t feel pressured. It’s bad for your health. So, just take your time. Think about what you want to say. If you still can’t say it, it’s okay.”

I nodded and closed my eyes for a moment, breathing in deeply, thinking. I love you. I love you so much. I love you. I love you. Min, I love you…

“Min…”

He kissed me. “Yeah?”

“Min, I… I… I l… I love… I love you…”

He smiled and kissed me again, more gently this time. “See. I knew you could do it. Good boy.”

That made me chuckle. “Ha. Yeah. I… I love you. I love you, Min.”

He hid against me. “Yeah, I know. I love you too.”

“I love you.”

“Same here.”

“I really love you.”

“I love you too.”

“I’ll protect you. I’ll keep on protecting you.”

“I know you will.”

“I’ll never abandon you.”

“I’ll never abandon you either.”

“Then, never do anything stressful. Please. If there are bullies, tell me. If you can’t do something, tell me. If you need help for something, tell me. I’ll always be there for you. To protect you.”

“I know. I love you, Kangin.”

I kissed him. “I love you, Min.”