It was just 10 minutes shy of midnight when Adreanne arrived home. She reached the house area earlier than that but chose to do a U-turn to get a double cheeseburger and a strawberry sundae from the McDonald’s drive-thru before stopping on the roadside of a random neighborhood to eat, then returning to her supposed destination. Her muddy feet were washed with the tap water from the garden before she gave up the high heels entirely after that. A bubbling tantrum made her kick the shoes away carelessly to the side, frustrated that it was making her lose her balance when she was taking her luggage out of the car trunk. She could yell at their security guard to come and help her with it but she didn’t think she has enough energy for that too.

She looked at the occupied parking spots to her left. Both of Taemin’s cars were there. Only her parking spot was previously vacant. Taemin was home- and it could potentially cause all hell to break loose for them that night. She would never have thought that she would grunt at the thought of him being home when it was the only thing that she had wished for many nights before, but she did. She knew that she will have to confront him, and she had zero nice assumptions about how their meeting will go down. He might be angry. He might be distant. He might interrogate her. It was fairly early into the night, considering how Taemin has built a reputation to come home late nowadays; but he might also be tipsy. All possibilities will drain and hurt her emotionally, though. The conversation she had with Minho earlier didn’t help a lot to ease her fears, and the fact that she completely ignored all of Taemin’s texts and calls - and e-mails for god’s sake, contributed to why her anxiousness has doubled tenfold.

She stood there in her barefooted glory, eyes shut tightly to gather enough courage to both enter the door and carry her luggage inside. Her parents brought her shopping for new clothes a few days ago, so the luggage was much heavier compared to the day she left a few weeks ago. She has been washing whatever she brought with her and recycled the same outfit to go through her unplanned long getaway with her parents. She turned around, suddenly alert when she heard the voice of the security guard who was now standing out of the guard house.

“You okay, Ma’am? You need any help with your stuff?” The youthful, deep voice was something Adreanne hadn’t expected. She squinted to see who it was.

“Taehyung? Is that you?” She asked. She saw Taehyung nodding before yelling an unnecessarily loud “Yes, it’s me Taehyung”. She showed a thumbs up at him, and yelled “I can manage this! Where’s Mr. Seo?”

“Mr. Seo is down with a fever so my father asked me to help out because I am on my semester break and I do nothing at home anyway,” Taehyung yelled the full sentence into the air. Adreanne laughed, amused at the boy’s character. He seems fun to be around, she thought. Whatever nervousness she had moments before dissipated completely into the thin air. “I met Mr. Lee just now, and he gave me money and snacks! He's very cool when he's not drunk!”

“Oh god,” She managed to say between her breathy chuckles, cheeks warm due to the secondhand embarrassment she was experiencing. Ever since their first meeting, the boy wasn’t shy to tell her the pointless information he had at his disposal, the ones she never knew she needed to hear. “Okay then! Do well okay?” She said finally, hoping that he could hear her. After yelling out a loud “Okay, Good night Ma’am!”, Taehyung entered the guard house again.

Adreanne continued her journey to the front door, jolting backward when she heard the front door being unlocked. Here we go again, she thought, as nervousness entered her bloodstream again in the blink of an eye.

“Yeobo?” His gentle voice called out softly, but it did nothing to calm her nerves. He pushed the door open wider and stepped out, soundlessly taking the luggage from her before easily carrying it in. She locked the front door behind her and stared at her reflection in the large mirror they had in their foyer. After breathing in and out to relax, she walked further into the foyer and stepped up a few stairs to enter their spacious living room. Taemin was turning off the television and had placed her luggage at the foot of the stairs. She wanted to run upstairs so badly and hide from him, unwilling to go through whatever it was that he will say to her. A thousand thoughts were going through her mind.

She stood at the entrance of the living room and watched as he strode in his usual graceful ways towards her. His white dress shirt was ed halfway, showing a chiseled torso worthy of reverence in an art museum. His sleeves were folded up to his elbow, just in the way he knew her sight would appreciate. It was truly a delicious sight to behold if she hadn’t felt so scared of how he will react next. Adreanne was aware of her mistake. She left home without any notice for weeks and completely cut off any contact with him. As hurt she was with the cold shoulder that he was giving her for months now, it was unfair to leave him that way. She should have at least told him that she will be spending some time away from him.

But in a way, maybe all she wanted was for him to look for her.

“I’m sorry,” She hung her head down when he was close enough for him to hear her. "I didn't mean to go for that long. I am sorry I didn't pick up your calls. It was wrong for me to have done that. I know you are disappointed in me and I am so sorry," All agitation escaped her body along with the apology she rambled shakily, leaving behind guilt, shame and the inability to look him in the eye. She felt tears burning her eyes, but held herself back from crying. She needed to own up to her mistake, no matter how terrified she was. Taemin stood in front of her, leaving only a very intimate amount of space between them. She could smell the faded scent of his perfume, and it intensified in a very comforting way when he placed a hand gently on her right cheek. The clean scent of his skin mixed with the disappearing green tea and citrus notes of the perfume on his wrist wafted into her nose, pleasuring her olfactory senses. Her only innate response was to lean in ever so slightly into the touch.

The same hand sneaked gently behind her neck and she found herself getting pulled tenderly into a hug. His hand made its way up slightly, now buried in the silky strands of her fragrant hair. Both of his arms then circled her waist to embrace her tighter. She could physically feel his rigid shoulders relaxing the moment the palms of her hand made their way past the trapezius on either side of his neck, their bodies fitting together like puzzle pieces as she placed her arms around his neck and melted into the hug.

“I would have attended it if I knew,” He murmured, his voice muffled when he buried his face in her voluminous black hair. She opened her eyes before slowly closing them again, holding back the desire to say “I tried. I would have told you if you gave me the chance to,” and chose to say nothing as she waited for an appropriate answer to come to mind.

“I’m sorry,” She knew she sounded like a broken record, but that was the only thing that she could muster for now. She was so tired and conflicted, her emotions a tempestuous mess. It took everything in her to not lean all of her body weight against Taemin’s strong one.

“Congratulations,” He said as he pulled away from the hug, letting his hand linger on her hip for a few seconds. She looked up at him and smiled shyly, her blushed cheeks turning pinker even under the dim orange lighting. Her skin remembered the places where he touched it, it almost felt like they left a burning sensation- and she reasoned that she was being sensitive due to her exhaustion. She watched as he lifted her luggage and started ascending the stairs to their bedroom, not before telling her “Don’t leave the house without my permission ever again.”

He said that in an awfully monotone voice, but she knew it was a strict reprimand of her actions, and a stern reminder- a law taking place effectively after he disappeared from her sight.

She could only respond with a defeated “Alright” that he will never get the chance to hear, as she lifted her tired feet to trail his steps upstairs.

She still hasn't forgotten her wish to sleep alone that night. She left their shared bathroom after she was done showering and didn't comment on anything when she saw that Taemin was done unpacking her luggage for her. Everything has been placed in their shared walk-in wardrobe neatly when she entered the space to pick out her pajama for the night. Adreanne disliked bringing dirty clothes home, so all her clothes in the luggage has already been washed and dried before she went home. She was surprised that Taemin still remembered that quirk of hers when they haven't been on a trip together in almost two years.

Taemin went to shower when she was putting on her moisturizer, skipping all other products altogether that night. She then sprayed a random perfume from her collection on her bare shoulders and neck, as per her usual routine; barely choosing which one to use or looking at the bottle like she usually does. The guest room she chose to sleep in was now dark, void of any lights aside from the occasional light emitting from her charging phone whenever a new notification enters. She felt every muscle in her body starting to relax when she laid on her back and started breathing in and out evenly. Even after doing that rhythmically for a good 10 minutes like what the Youtube video she watched before has suggested, sleep still didn't find her.

Her eyes opened wide when she realized what was happening. This was just like other nights that she had to spend alone without Taemin by her side. She dreaded the feeling that would unfailingly creep up on her the second she turns drowsy. They consist of her impulsive thoughts, her what-ifs of what she could have done better, her inner monologue saying unkind things towards herself, and the many questions that she has about what was happening in her life. It was her mind's time to replay that phone call that she wished she hadn't picked up, her gut twisting when she recalled the sounds, it was her heart reenacting the feelings she experienced when she has to eat alone for all three meals of her day, and it was the perfect time for her to be overwhelmed by everything at once. She hated feeling like this. It felt like a nightmare that she has to go through before she could sleep properly.

As always, the only thing she could do was cry it out. When she felt drowsiness entering her senses, her sobs were already starting to die down, thankfully. She had no intention of staying awake any longer until the area suddenly started brightening up as the light from outside filtered into the room through the opened door. She had her back behind the door and did not turn around to see the culprit who stole her sleep. She closed her eyes tightly and wished that he would politely close the door and leave, but he didn't. She heard his footsteps entering the room, and the soft sound of the door clicking close when he closed it behind him.

She felt him lifting up the blanket, before the mattress dip dangerously close behind her. Taemin was so close to the point that she could feel the warmth emitting from him. He smelled clean, like his body shampoo, and it took him a good minute of hesitancy- she felt his stare boring into her back, before he finally closed all gaps between their bodies and hugged her close to him. He then buried his face on the back of her neck, pressing a chaste kiss onto the skin before exhaling what sounded like a breath of relief. The sudden contact made her shudder and suddenly very awake- her body turning tense in his embrace. She hoped he wouldn't feel it, although she thinks that he knew that she was awake.

It took literally seconds before Taemin's breathing finally evened out, his soft puff of breaths fanning her skin lightly. 

Unfortunately for her, another wave of intense emotions overcame her, so she had to cry it out again- clasping her lips tightly to suppress her hiccups in fear of waking him up. Sleep only came back to her afterward.

She fell asleep thinking how it was unfair to her in so many ways.

PHEW finally I am done writing this chapter!
I feel like this one is a bit harder to write because it is filled with a lot of emotions. I learned many new words in the process of writing this, so yeay me!
As always thank you for reading, and feel free to leave your comments as I will be reading them with love and appreciation always.
Also, welcome to new subscribers! Thank you so much for dropping by to read this story. I will try my best to do well~

Thank you again and please have a phenomenal day, wherever you are. Stay safe! xoxo