Somewhere between hello and goodbye…

“Now I know why my son could never forget you after all these years, Krystal-ssi.”

Krystal blushed and laughed awkwardly.

“Yah, appa, you’re embarrassing her,” Minho scolded, but he was grinning.

“What am I doing wrong? I was just telling her the truth. We have similar tastes, my son and I,” the elder man winked at Krystal and she giggled.

“Yah, stop flirting with my girlfriend!” Minho protested as he took Krystal’s hand and pulled her away. “Aish, come on, don’t mind my old man.”

“He just complimented me!” Krystal teased, looking back at Minho’s father and waving as Minho led her up the stairs.

“Minho-yah, I know you’re both adults and I’m not complaining, but you have to marry her soon, son!” Chang Hee called out as the couple ascended the stairs.

Krystal turned redder but she couldn’t help another giggle from escaping her.

“Of course, I will,” Minho shouted from the stairs down to his father.

“Really?” Krystal asked.

“Really. What are you thinking? That we’ll just run away but we won’t marry?”

“I don’t know. I’m not thinking when I’m with you,” she told him, hooking her arm with his as they made their way down a brightly lit hallway.

He grinned like an idiot.

They stopped before a door at the right side of the hallway. Minho opened it and they both stepped inside.

“This isn’t your room, is it?” Krystal asked, looking around. The room was decorated with pastel colors. The wallpapers and curtains were beige and ivory as well as the carpet, while the bedcovers and the plush pillows on the loveseat were pale pink. The room was fitting for a girl.

“Um, no,” he answered. “My room is across. This would be your room for tonight.”

She turned to him and raised an eyebrow. “So what’s the point?”

“What do you mean what’s the point?”

She blushed. “Never mind.” Aish, how can he be so dense?

His mouth hung open. “Are you trying to tell me that you’re thinking I brought you here because…”

She glared at him. “I said never mind that!”

He stepped closer to her and held her. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to embarrass you but I just don’t want you to think that I’m taking advantage of you.”

She sighed and turned away from him. “Well, I want you to take advantage of me,” she mumbled.

But he heard it. “What?” he asked, teasing her, as he grinned from ear to ear.

“Nothing.”

“Do you know how…much I want you right now?” he said, turning serious and looking intently at her.

She swallowed. “Then why aren’t you doing anything about it?” Shameless is what I am.

Minho laughed.

“Just don’t run away the morning after,” he said as he pulled her out of the room.

………………………..

Joo Hyun watched as Yoogeun slept peacefully on his little bed. She planted a soft kiss on the boy’s forehead and her eyes began to tear up again.

She took a deep breath, trying to stop the sobs that were threatening to rise from . She knew that this day would come, she just never expected it to be so soon. She had loved Yoogeun like her own. She was the one who spent sleepless nights attending to his needs when he was a baby, and she was the one who took care of him as he grew. But she knew he could never be completely hers. She wasn’t the one who carried him for nine months in her womb; it wasn’t she who spent painful hours in labor, giving birth to him.

“Hyun, let’s go to sleep,” Yonghwa whispered from behind her, holding her shoulders.

She frantically wiped the tears from her cheeks and turned to her husband.

“I feel so guilty, Yong. Is it wrong for me to wish Krystal hadn’t found us?” she leaned her head on his shoulder as Yonghwa embraced her.

He smoothed her long hair. “I can feel your pain, Hyun. And it hurts me to see you cry. I wish I could just give you everything that you want.”

She shook her head. “But it’s not how it works. I’m so sorry, yeobo, for bothering you with this.”

“Don’t say that, Hyun. You’re not the only one who is hurting now. I love him like my own, too.”

“But we have to let him go.”

“Yes.”

“Then I’ll talk to Krystal tomorrow. I’ll tell her the truth,” Joo Hyun said as bravely as she could.

Yonghwa took her hand and led her out of the room. “Aish, does an idea of a baby boy make you feel better? Come on and let’s make one of our own.”

Joo Hyun let out an embarrassed wail and laughter as she wiped her tears and followed Yonghwa out of the nursery.

…………………………

Krystal traced the outline of Minho’s collarbone with her fingertip.  A drop of sweat from his brow landed on her cheek as they moved together, slowly at first, then gradually picking up speed. She looked at him, staring into his eyes as he stared back at her, his eyes full of need, passion and desire, mirroring her own.

She bit her lip, arching her back as he moved deep within her. She clutched at his back, her fingernails digging into his skin as she called his name over and over again. She felt his body shook and she felt her own body tremble as they both found the release they sought.

Minho looked at Krystal. With her hair spread like a black fan on his pillow, her eyes closed and her lips slightly parted, she looked so much like an enchanting seductress. He collapsed on top of her, sweaty and panting.

“I love you, Krystal,” he whispered in her ear. He burrowed his face in the crook of her neck, closing his eyes.

………………………………….

Minho woke up. G