It was warm when Jinli slowly opened her eyes. The weight of Daehyun’s arm across her waist was noticeable. His full lips were centimeters away from her and it was clear he was still in a deep sleep. She shifted, trying not to wake him but it was too late. As sound asleep as he had looked before, now his eyes were slowly lifting. When he saw that she was looking at him, he tightened his hold on her.

            Jinli closed her eyes, wanting to be taken back into the dream like state. Daehyun’s lips pressed softly against hers for a brief moment and then he was moving. His lips traced a trail down her body and the hold on her waist was gone. Instead, there were gentle caresses, and finally a quiet pleasure. It was the morning, and there was none of the bottled up heat from yesterday. Instead, it was a soft tide, silk touches, slow, languid movements. Her fingers ran across his scalp, occasionally tightening their hold when the knots in her stomach began to unfurl, and her soft moans filled the otherwise silent room.

            When she drifted down from the high, he found his way back to the pillow and once more encased her. Her hands shifted between them, trying to find him but he shook his head and lifted her hand to his lips. His eyes were closed again and he tugged her to his chest, willing her to go back to sleep with him.

            When they woke up again, it was past noon. The beaming sun had already shifted to a lower angle. Daehyun saw the flicker of panic in Jinli’s eyes when she realized how much time had passed. “Can we just stay like this together, today? It’s Sunday.” His grip on her didn’t loosen, afraid that if he let her go, she would slip out of his grasp.

            Daehyun stared at her intently, biting his lip out of worry of rejection. Last night clearly wasn’t a dream and they surely could finally stop guessing each other’s feelings. But the longer she was silent, the less certain he was.

            “Is that what you want?” When he nodded, she finally gave him a small smile. “Then, yes. But don’t you think we should go shower first?”

            Her cheeks were tinged with a hint of pink. The relief that washed over him was more than enough to unlock the inhibitions he had. “Are you suggesting we go together? Was my little gift to you this morning not enough?” He didn’t even protest when she smacked his arm and tried to wiggle away.

            “Ya, Jung Daehyun! Nobody asked for you to-” As cute as she was when she was like this, Daehyun was a little more impatient. He broke off her words with a kiss and, without letting her go, managed to roll them both out of bed and carried her into the bathroom.

            When they emerged, Daehyun glanced out the window. “Do you want to stay in today or do you want to go out?” He was watching Jinli intently as she wrapped a towel around her hair.

            “It’s already two in the afternoon. Where did this Sunday even go?”

            He had an impish grin and an automatic answer. “Well, you did spend a good part of the morning in my arms.” The deadpan look she shot him had him smiling. It was refreshing to see her unwind around him again. He had seen glimpses of her short temper before but had been treated with the media princess demeanor for the most part of their marriage. He pretended to be contrite. “So what does the wifey want to do? Do you want to stay in or do you want to go out?”

            “I wasn’t lying when I said I had work to do,” Jinli began but he could sense the reluctance.

            Daehyun pouted. “Does it have to be done today?” He tried to put his arms around her but she twisted away.

            “I would like to get some work done.”

            “But wouldn’t you like to just spend some more time with me?” He allowed his voice to go up a slight octave, adding a whine at the end. If this didn’t work, he didn’t quite know what to do with her.

            Jinli bit her lip. “Just two hours. Give me two hours and I’ll be all yours after.”

            Childishly, he crossed his arms and flung himself on the bed. “By that time it’ll be dinner time and we wouldn’t have gotten anything done. But suit yourself.”

            She laughed out loud. “And what do you propose we do in these two hours that would be oh-so-productive?”

            He picked himself up and winked at her. “Well, first, you can come back here and join me and we can get to know each other more.”

            She balked. “So you want to just sit around and talk?”

            Daehyun shrugged. “We haven’t done much of that, I feel like.” There was a small hiccup in the air, and then she nodded.

            “You’re right. So what do you want to do? Play twenty questions?”

            He shrugged, instead holding his arms out. “Just come here.”

            It was easy talking to her. She had a sense of humor and even though he could sense her caution, he did everything he could to try and lower her defenses. He has never heard her laugh so hard before and it warmed his heart. Daehyun picked up her hand, and stared at her as she recounted a story about her high school days.

            “So were there any boyfriends?” He asked slyly. She had mentioned Lili, her arch nemesis but never once had she talked about a boyfriend.

            Jinli cast him a look. “They’re all history anyway.”

            “Ah! So there are exes.”

            She rolled her eyes. “I don’t even want to know what you think of me that you’re surprised I’ve dated before.”

            “I didn’t say that. But now I want to know all the details. Who were they and what happened?”    

            “They were all perfect and I would have married them if you didn’t exist.”

            Daehyun pouted. “And where do I fall?”

            “Jung Daehyun, you can’t possibly be fishing for compliments, are you?”

            He tugged at their entwined hands and placed his face a few centimeters away from hers. “If I don’t get a compliment, can I at least get something else?” He loved it. He loved seeing her get nervous and then try to brave it out, as if he had no effect on her. Her eyes widened and her lips pressed thinly together. Her scent was intoxicating.

            “I don’t-” He cut her off. This time her fist was right by his heart and he wanted her to feel his pulse speed up, wanted her to know that what he felt for her was very much real.

            He gave her a sweet smile when he pulled away. “Got it.”

            “Why are you doing this?” She asked the question so quietly he almost missed it.

            The smile faded and he knew that despite the day spent in happiness, she would always come back to this. No matter how much he tried, it seemed that she would find it difficult to find the sincerity in his actions.

            The truth was the way to go. Daehyun stared into her eyes. “Believe it or not, I wasn’t kidding when I said I liked you. I missed you. The past three weeks when you weren’t here felt empty. I had to throw myself into my work to make it bearable. It’s okay if you still doubt me right now. I’m going to work hard to turn that into trust.”

            He didn’t say those words expecting her to cry, nor did he say them to have her fall for him. They were the truth and he only wanted her to understand. Jinli looked away and slowly took back her hand from his. “I still need some time.”

            “Okay.” Suddenly, his throat felt clogged and his voice came out thickly. He watched her but she didn’t move. Her body stilled and she had her face turned away from him. He held his breath, waiting for her.

            It felt like an eternity before she finally seemed to collect her thoughts. He was caught completely unaware when suddenly she leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. There was a fleeting smile on her face as she lowered her eyes to avoid his curious gaze. “Thank you.”

            Daehyun’s heart tightened. He really had to get the company matters resolved now before anything else could force them to become further apart. He knew that the small gesture spoke volumes, and if anything happened to break her trust again, it would be impossible to get it back. He thought of what he had to do in the next few weeks and prayed that everything went according to plan.

            “What would you like for dinner? It’s nearly seven.” They had been talking for over three hours.

            “Do you want me to take you out?” At her shrug, he stood up. “Let me find something for you to wear.” When she hesitated, he smiled. “Don’t worry. We’re not doing anything super fancy. I just enjoy seeing you wear what I pick out for you.”

            Jinli’s face blushed. “You probably know my wardrobe better than I do at this point.”

            “No,” he grinned, teasing her. “I just know where to look for all the outfits you apparently refuse to wear in public.”

            He pulled open the mahogany doors and began to rummage towards the back. His hands brushed past the silk and the soft fabric and he saw the familiar red dress she wore on their first red carpet event. Then he saw the navy dress he had picked out for her for their seven month anniversary.

            A flash of green in the corner caught his eye and he pulled it out. It was a pretty off the shoulder sweater dress, perfect for showcasing her collarbones. “This one.” Jinli seemed relieved that he didn’t choose something over the top. “Hey. First, we’re just going to a more casual restaurant. And second, I don’t particularly enjoy other guys staring at my wife either.”

            “Sure can fool me with the other dresses you’ve chosen,” she muttered.

            Daehyun gave her a cheeky smile. “Well that was more for my own satisfaction.”

***

            The restaurant, despite his insistence that it was a casual one, still gave off a romantic atmosphere. Daehyun kept a hand lightly on the small of her back as they followed the hostess to their table. The events of the past twenty-four hours were slowly catching up to her and Jinli had to mentally remind herself that she still had to keep a distance. She could openly admit now that she wanted this to work, and not just for the sake of revenge. But the memories from before prevented her from falling completely.

            A figure caught her attention from the corner of her eye and suddenly she couldn’t help but grin. Daehyun’s observant eyes caught onto it, despite how quickly she composed herself.

            “What happened?”

            “Oh nothing.”

            But ‘nothing’ never worked on Jung Daehyun. “Tell me.” His eyes swept the restaurant and he turned his head in the direction she had been looking at. When he saw what she saw, however, his lips thinned. “Do you want to go say hello?”        

            “No, of course not.”

            “I think we should.” He straightened his tie and was on the verge of standing up.

            Jinli grabbed his wrist. “Daehyun, please. He’s on a date.”

            “All the more reason to interrupt him. He looks miserable. Besides, I was quite rude the last time so I figured I’d go and apologize.”

            fell open in dismay. Jinli knew exactly why he wanted to go. If she refused, his jealousy would get worse. If she agreed, who knew what he would say in front of the girl?

            Daehyun seemed to realize her conflict. He turned to her with softer eyes. “I’m not going to wreak havoc. I actually genuinely wanted to say hello and be his wingman.”

            It was more than just that. He also wanted to make very clear their relationship. But she couldn’t argue with his reassurances. “Fine,” she conceded. “But no more than two minutes. I actually want to see him married eventually.”

            A corner of his mouth lifted. She knew he was pleased by her response. He once more adjusted his jacket and held out his elbow for her to take. “Give us a minute,” he called to the waiter who had come to set the appetizers on the table. “We’ll be right back.”

            Taewoon was shocked to see the two of them appear at his table. His eyes flickered from Jinli to Daehyun and then at their entwined arms. Jinli bit her lip. If this was what it took for him to move on, then so be it.

            Daehyun was giving his charming smile and held out his hand for Taewoon to shake. After making brief introductions, he patted Taewoon’s shoulder and gave a meaningful look at the girl sitting across from him. “Thank you for bringing Jinli home safely last time. You’re a good friend, and a good man. I wouldn’t let this one go, if I were you.”      

            The woman gave a small smile but Jinli caught her blush. It was clear that the compliment only made Taewoon seem more attractive to her. She glanced at her friend. He was smiling politely but said nothing except gave a curt nod.

            “Enjoy your dinner,” Jinli smiled and waved before pulling Daehyun away.

            As they neared their table, he turned to her. “See? Did you see the way she was looking at him? It was just icing on the cake, what I said for him.”

            She slid into her seat and gave him a playful glare. “Yeah but I think he was doing fine without your input, Mr. Jung. You’d think the whole world would be single if it weren’t for your meddling.”

            “Hey.” He suddenly leaned forward and took her hand. “Are you really angry?” She read worry in his eyes and immediately dropped her tone.

            “Of course not. I just hope you can understand that there’s nothing between us except friendship.”

            It was rare to see him so subdued. There was even a slight redness to the tip of his ears. “I hope so.” But then there was another moment where his childishness rose. “I hope things work out with her because it sure isn’t working out with you.”

            Jinli gave a slightly exasperated sigh and decided to eat to ignore him. Little did she know that Daehyun was watching her and when he saw the bright smile she couldn’t hide even behind her chewing, he sat back and felt a warm glow wash over him. There was only one more obstacle and then he could do everything he could to make up the past year to her.

Hello everyone!

I sort of know how to take the story now and it's going to still be a bumpy ride. But things should speed up a little more. Happy New Year to everyone who has been patiently waiting ♥

Also, many thanks to exoblaq. Happy birthday, my dear~ Thank you for waiting patiently, and thank you for making me update hehe ♥♥♥