A/N: short chapter but I think you guys will enjoy it :)

Chapter 16: Awakening

It was late when Yonghwa and Seohyun returned home from playing with the Doomaekpaem. Yonghwa’s mother was the only one left awake to greet them before she turned in for the night, and soon after, Yonghwa and Seohyun followed after her holding hands.

They stopped in to Yunji’s room and kissed her goodnight although she was already sound asleep. She was wearing a grin on her face as if she were dreaming a sweet dream, and both Yonghwa and Seohyun marveled at how pure a child could truly be. It was their DNA wrapped into a living, breathing person. She reflected them, and although neither of them knew how to be parents or knew what it had been like to watch her grow up to this point, they both felt a strong connection to her. 

Seohyun kissed Yunji on the forehead and her hair back out of her face. Yonghwa planted a kiss there too, whispering something into the little girl’s good ear. Seohyun and Yonghwa made eye contact for a moment, and both of them felt another tug at their hearts, another connection forming stronger.

Seohyun wanted to ask Yonghwa what he had whispered in Yunji’s ear, but she forgot it when he reached for her hand and led her quietly out of the girl’s room and down the hall into their own.

Yonghwa showered first. As the hot water ran down his chest, he pictured Seohyun sitting on the edge of the bed in the other room. She had looked so pretty all day, especially amongst all of his friends and on the beach. Many of the women he came across in his world of entertainment were all pretty, but they had altered much of their face or body, and no matter what they looked like on the outside, he was never quite sure of who the true person was on the inside. But with Seohyun, he remembered the girl she was. She was a natural beauty not only on the outside but in the inside. Sure, she could be uptight at times, but it made the times where she loosened up all the more special. Her laugh on the beach and the way her hair blew with the wind as she walked alongside of him made, these memories made Yonghwa gulp water in the shower.

His male desires took over. He now pictured her in the other room, trying on one of those y lace things he had packed as a practical joke. He imagined that he would emerge from the shower, walk into their bedroom, and she would invite him to make love to her. There’d be no pretending anymore. The husband and wife thing would absolutely be real.

But he knew better.

In the other room, Seohyun shifted uncomfortably on the bed. Her thoughts were alarming, but she pursued them anyway. All day while they were out, she had longed to be close to Yonghwa. Yejie hadn’t been too far off on the beach. What she craved from Yonghwa was more than a handhold or a kiss, although she strongly wanted those things. She craved to be close to him, experiencing all of him. She missed a touch that she had never received from him. Her body ached with it, and it was a feeling she had dismissed over the years, attaching it to no guy in particular. But now there was Yonghwa, and she had fallen for him at some point in the midst of all of this. She imagined herself being brave and walking into the shower, stepping in with him, and allowing him to consume her. She could almost feel it, until she heard the shower shut off. Minutes later, Yonghwa stepped into the room. He was already wearing his pajamas with wet hair, and she felt embarrassed by her disappointment.    

“Your turn,” he told her emotionless, which annoyed her. This was stupid. While she was having dirty thoughts, he was so unattached from her. She gathered her pajamas and went into the bathroom to take her own shower.

………………

That night, both Seohyun and Yonghwa lied awake in bed, Yonghwa on the left and Seohyun on the right, backs to each other. Both of them couldn’t stop their thoughts.

Seohyun broke first. “Oppa, are you awake?” she asked quietly. Surprisingly, Yonghwa answered her back.

“Nae. What? Do you want me to sleep on the floor?”

“Annio,” she sighed. “I just can’t sleep.”

“Me either,” he admitted.

They sat in silence for a few moments again. The house was quiet and still, and the clock read an absurd time for both of them to still be awake.

“What are you thinking about?” Seohyun asked.

“Can I really say it?” Yonghwa sounded tired, but his words were gentle.

“Please do.”

He sighed and waiting a moment before responding. “I was thinking what it would feel like, to hold you while we sleep. I’ve always wanted to hold my wife like that.”

Seohyun’s heart began pounding. If she was awake before, she certainly was awake now. Maybe he wasn't as indifferent and disconnected as she thought. “I was thinking the same thing,” she confessed.

“Chinchayo?” Now, he sounded surprised. He turned from his side to lie flat on his back. She did the same.

“Nae.”

“So…” Yonghwa trailed off until he gained the confidence. “Maybe we should try it. It might help us fall asleep.”

“Ok,” Seohyun agreed timidly.

At first, no one made a move. Then, Yonghwa slid his arm around her, pulling her in, and she moved closer to him. They could feel heat flowing off of each other’s skin as they cuddled. Seohyun’s hair tickled his arm. Seohyun could smell the detergent of Yonghwa’s bed shirt.

“It’s a bit awkward.” Seohyun laughed eventually.

“A bit,” he agreed

“But I like it so far.”

“Me too.” Yonghwa his side and swung his other arm around her waist. He pulled her even closer until their bodies pressed against each other’s. Both of them no longer felt discomfort but completeness. It felt perfect and natural. 

Now Yonghwa laughed. “You know what’s funny? I used to imagine this all the time, when we were filming ‘We Got Married’. So many times before bed, I thought about it. Did you?”

Seohyun grinned. “I can’t remember. Probably. Honestly, Oppa, how disappointed were you when you woke up to me?”

“Not as disappointed as you,” he joked, and she swatted him with her hand, letting it rest on his muscular bare arm. 

“Honestly.”

“I wasn’t disappointed. I was just shocked,” said Yonghwa. “You were like a distant memory by then. If I had time to think, I would’ve thought ‘Not bad, Yonghwa. You managed to marry a girl like this’.”

“I was shocked too. I don’t want you to misunderstand though. You made a comment on that first day—“

“Just forget what I said.”

“I can’t,” admitted Seohyun. “You thought I was thinking you weren’t good enough, but that’s not true. Like you said, you were a distant memory.”

“And somehow, two distant memories met each other in the future and had a daughter,” he smiled at her.

“A pretty one,” she added.

“Beautiful. Like her omma,” Yonghwa said quietly, looking into her eyes and reaching to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear.

“Clever, like her Appa,” Seohyun said, closing her eyes at his touch.

Before he could stop himself, he planted a kiss on her forehand. It had beckoned to him and he had unapologetically answered the call.

Her eyes shot open, and she stared at him.

“Mianne. That comes with the territory of resting in my arms.”

“Like I said, ‘clever’,” she replied.

“I’ll give you clever,” he whispered, then leaned in to place another kiss on her forehead, then her cheek, and then the corner of , but not her lips.

Seohyun wanted to question him, wanted to beg him to just do it, just kiss her on the lips, but maybe this was enough for the night. As long as she could finally be this close to him and be held in his arms, her heart could feel at rest.

 She turned her back to him and snuggled into his chest as a perfectly fitting puzzle piece. He rested his chin on her head, held her close, and together, they fell asleep.

On the nightstand, in the quiet of the night, Seohyun and Yonghwa’s phones again morphed into a shape of a diamond and glowed purple for just a moment.

A/N: It was pretty short, but did you enjoy it? I’ve written bits and pieces of the next chapter, and I want it to have a good, fun feeling. Things will progress more and then will shoot off like a rocket. Maybe? Hopefully. Until next time, readers :D