Kai in his cheeks and pressed his fists against his eyes, brewing in his own frustration. Meanwhile, you sat cross-legged on the fancy, upholstered sofa and mindlessly flipped through the channels on the hotel’s flat screen TV. The air was thick with tension between the two of you, and Kai groaned. It was supposed to be a relaxing, romantic honeymoon, but one little slip-up on his part ruined everything.

Your new husband sat at the dining table, staring at the back of your head and caught somewhere between disappointment, frustration and despair. Five days ago, when he injured his waist a second time, you generously offered to put off the honeymoon until he healed. Naturally, Kai told you he was perfectly fine and the trip went as planned.

But last night, the first night of your honeymoon, during the more intimate parts of the evening, when a shock of pain surged through his spine, his injury gave him away. So, now you sat at the sofa, refusing to speak to him for lying about his injury and continuing the trip despite how much pain he was in. And mostly, you were angry at him for lying at all. Your first night as newlyweds and the first thing he did was tell you a lie.

Your heart felt like its sinews and arteries were all tangled up in a messy knot of frustrated emotions. If this honeymoon was any indication of what the rest of your years of marriage were to be like, you were worried. How could he lie to you? And about something as serious as a waist and spinal injury. You would have been more than happy to wait for him to heal before embarking on such a trip. And it was humiliating for the both of you to find about it in such a way.

Kai stood up from the dining table and began pacing. He stared at the back of your head and the back of your neck and despite all his anger, he wanted nothing more than to walk up behind you and bury his face in the crook of your neck and drizzle kisses all over it. But he knew that there was no way he’d be able to do it without apologizing first. But something inside him kept him from saying he was sorry.

Deep inside, he felt different. Why should he be sorry? He was only thinking of your happiness, after all. He just didn’t want all your planning to go to waste because of a silly sprain. He wanted you to have the perfect, romantic honeymoon that you wanted for so long. And it was just a little white lie. Why were you letting something like this become such a big deal?

Fed up by all the trapped negative energy, an idea popped into Kai’s head. Slowly, he walked up to the sofa where you sat. In the corner of your eye, you saw him grab one of the couch pillows, but before you could react, he swung it lightly at you and gently hit your shoulder.

“Yah!” you called out when he hit you with the pillow. “What’s the matter with you?”

“Pick up that pillow,” Kai said, gesturing to the other couch pillow next to you. You looked at the pillow and then back at him with a question in your eyes.

“Seriously?” you said. “How old are we?”

“Pick up the other pillow,” he said, and then lightly hit your shoulder again. You scoffed at how childish he was being. You had no idea what he trying to accomplish by instigating a pillow fight.

“These are five-star hotel pillows,” you said. “If you damage them, they’ll make us pay!”

“Well, then it’s a good thing I’ve got cash put away from my EXO days to pay for damaged couch pillows,” Kai said. “Now pick up the pillow. It’s you versus me, right now. Hit me if it’ll make you feel better.”

“Kai, why are – ?” you began to say, but Kai cut you off with a light poke to the face with the couch pillow. In response, you grabbed the couch pillow on your side of the sofa and swung it at him. The plump material made contact with his face. The force of it made him stumble backward, and you laughed at his blunder.

“Yeah! That’s what you get for hitting me with pillows! And for lying to me! You jerk!” you ran to Kai and began hitting him with the pillow again and again. Kai used his couch pillow to block your blows and return a few hits himself. He swung the pillow at your waist, trying to get you to back away. You raised your pillow with your arms and brought it down on his head once or twice.

Violent laughter erupted from your throat. All your anger channeled through your arms and strength and vanished into thin air whenever the pillow made contact with Kai’s body or his pillow. Similarly, Kai’s frustration focused in the pillows and released itself all at once with every swing and hit. What started out as a fight to channel your angry emotions and blow off steam was slowly starting to turn into a good-natured, friendly pillow fight, the kind that preteen girls had at sleepover parties.

Kai, being taller than you, had the upper hand and was able to strike at you from a higher perspective. You, however, being smaller, were able to sneak around him and strike at him from odd angles. A wide smile broke across Kai’s face and his energy spread to you. You smiled as well. Kai stopped a moment and inhaled sharply. There it was, that smile. The smile that captured him and entranced him, made him fall in love. The first smile to make him feel dizzy with emotion. The smile that he’d never forget.

Noticing his inattention, you took the opportunity to swing at his head again. Kai let out a light groan when the pillow hit the side of his face. Before his balance toppled, he reached out and grabbed your pillow, dragging you down to the floor with him. You both hit the carpet with a grunt, he on the floor and you on top of him. You both flinched a little, hoping that the room beneath yours was still vacant and you hadn’t disturbed anyone.

When there wasn’t a sound for three second, you both let out your breaths and then turned to each other. You look down at Kai and narrowed your eyes, lightly hitting his cheek with your pillow again, just for good measure.

“That’s for making me fall,” you said. Kai scoffed and then laughed. Noticing your position, you started to push yourself off of him.

“Wait,” Kai said suddenly. He reached up and intertwined his fingers behind you, pulling you back down to his chest. You blushed a little, and thoughts about why the fight had started in the first place began to rush back. You frowned at him, and Kai’s smile disappeared, replaced by a sad frown of his own.

“Did you start the pillow fight because all the silent treatment?” you asked in a whisper. Kai stared at you, his throat bobbing up and down as he swallowed.

“You know I’m sorry, don’t you?” he asked. You shook your head slowly.

“You never said it aloud,” he said. Kai sighed. He closed his eyes for a minute and you could see his eyes moving beneath the lids. You could feel your heartbeats slowly becoming in tune to one another. Kai let out a slow breath, opened his eyes, and found your gaze once more.

“I’m sorry,” he said slowly. You looked back at him silently and then swallowed a lump in your own throat.

“You’re sorry?” you asked. Kai nodded.

“Yes. So sorry. I was careless, I didn’t think about how you’d feel,” he said. “I just… wanted you to be happy.”

You smiled sadly at him. “Kai, I am happy,” you said. “As long as I’m with you, I’ll always be happy. But… you didn’t have to lie to me.”

“I know,” Kai said. His hands slid slowly down your arms, still holding you firmly against his chest. You took a deep breath and looked down at your new husband. “Will I get a second chance?”

“So,” you said. “Do you promise to be honest with me from now on?”

Kai smiled. And there it was, his gorgeous smile. The smile that was your undoing and your strength. The smile you fell in love with. Kai nodded slowly.

“Always,” he said. You smiled back at him. Taking the initiative, you lowered your face down to his and kissed his lips. Kai responded by moving his hands to cradle your face and to bury his fingers in your hair. Your mouths moved in perfect harmony, his lips enticing yours to return his passion. And just like that, all the bad feelings were gone. It was as if they had never been. All that was left was you and Kai and the love between you two. And couch pillows, forgotten on the sides.

Beneath you, you felt Kai shifting his body a little, trying to wriggle himself from underneath you without breaking the kiss. You could feel shallow breaths escaping his mouth between movements, and you felt him wincing a little. You smiled against the kiss and then parted from him a little bit, momentarily pausing the moment to sit up and get off of him. Obviously this position was putting a strain on his injured waist, and you let out a small laugh.

“You really shouldn’t have lied,” you said amusedly. “Not the ideal condition to be in during a honeymoon.”

Kai blushed a little, and then sat up. “Punishment for not listening to you, I guess,” he said, and then laughed. “How will we ever manage the lovemaking now?”

You blushed back and laughed. “Well,” you said. “We could always have a stay-cation honeymoon when we get home. After your injury heals of course. But, you know, it will be a while.”

Kai sighed. But catching your eyes once more, he smirked. “Well, good things come to those who wait, I suppose.”

“Very good things,” you said, leaning forward and kissing him again. This time it was slower and sweeter. Kai melted into it and lunged for it. But a second later, something soft smacked itself into the side of his head. He let out a low yelp and then looked surprised at you. You smirked and then stood up.

“Grab your pillow,” you said sternly. “It’s time for Round 2.”