“Damn it, I love you.” he grunted. “I know that I’m a horrible person but please, don’t ever leave me...”

Pulling away, I used both my hands to cup his face and saw the insecurity in his eyes. If I wanted him to believe me, I needed to be bold for once. I needed to show him that he was still my everything. I brought his face to mine and pressed my lips against his. Feeling him immediately go tense against my touch I continued to kiss him, hoping for a reaction. Slowly, I felt both his hands hold my waist and he unsurely kissed back. I kissed him back roughly and tried to get him out of his unsure state. 

“Babe.” he said, pulling away. “You don’t have to-”

“Are you sorry?” I said quickly. 

“Yes, I am.” he says, bringing a hand to caress my cheek. “I am really sorry.”

“Show me.” I said. 

I knew that I was being bold. I knew that it wasn’t like me, but I couldn’t have him think that I thought differently of him. I needed to give him reassurance. Uncertainly, he pecked me softly on the lips. He continued to peck down my chin then my neck. I gripped slightly on his shoulder, feeling his muscles flex underneath my touch. One of his hands left my waist and scooped under my knee, lifting me into his arms. Then he stood up. My hands instinctively came around his neck for safety. I nuzzled into his chest and felt him peck the top of my head. 

Coming into the bedroom, he gently lay me on the bed, towering over me, devouring my lips in a bruising kiss. My hand threaded through his hair and tugged on it as Yongguk began kissing down my neck. I felt his hand clutch the hem of my shirt, holding it tightly in his fist. The distance between us was barely there, yet I wasn’t satisfied as a layer of fabric was still dividing us. Yongguk drew the sheets over us and we made sure that there was no distance between us at all. 

We had just both come down from our , our breaths both heavy and sweat coated us. We lay next to each other, the blanket covering my body while Yongguk only had it covering his lower body. Suddenly he turned to me,  smiling. I scooted closer and placed a kiss onto his lips. 

“Could you turn around?” I bit my lip. 

Yongguk smiled knowingly and nodded, shifting in bed so that his back was facing me. I brought up my index finger and placed it on his tattoo. I started from the ‘D’ tracing right through the whole phrase, not leaving out the three stars. I felt him occasionally shudder under my touch and I bit back a giggle. 

“Can I turn over now?” he chuckled lowly. 

I leaned in and placed a kiss on the star on his back. 

“Now you can turn around.” I smiled. 

I heard him laugh a bit and he turned back to face me. Sweat still glistened on his forehead as he looked at me. It was about five in the morning so the sun was starting to rise a tiny bit, giving me a somewhat clear view of Yongguk. 

“Do you love me?” I whispered, resting my forehead against his. 

He planted a kiss on my nose. “Of course. Don’t ever think for a second that I don’t.”

“I have a favor to ask you.” I bit my lip. “I’m not making you go through with it but please tell me you’ll consider it.” 

Yongguk frowned at the seriousness and scooted closer, bringing an arm around my waist. 

“What is it?” he asked quietly. 

“Smoke less?” I said shyly, not sure if I was sounding stupid or not. “It’s not good for you.” 

Slowly a gummy smile formed on his lips and he nodded. 

“Sure.” he said. “If that makes you happy then I’ll smoke less.”

With a content nod, I smiled and draped an arm over his waist. Hearing him let out a low chuckle, I closed my eyes and letting the smell of our bedsheets relax me. I pressed my ear into Yongguk’s chest, hearing his heartbeat beat steadily and I finally fell asleep. 

I didn’t know how long I slept for, but when I woke up, the sun was already shining very bright. I squinted and shifted in bed, turning to face Yongguk. But I was greeted with and empty bed. Feeling around Yongguk’s side of the bed, it was cool so I assumed that he had gotten out of bed for a while now.

Throwing the blankets off of myself, I stepped out of bed and opened the closet to get out something to wear. Quickly putting on a tank top and slipping on some shorts, I stumbled sleepily out into the kitchen. Yongguk was walking around the apartment, as if deep in thought. 

“Morning.” I yawned. “You’re up early.”

“Oh, hey.” he said, turning his attention to me. 

Seeing the expression on his face, I knew that he was worried. Something about him seemed fidgety and uneasy. I made my way over to him and put a hand on his shoulder, but within a second his first reaction was to brush me off. 

“Are you okay?” I asked, worried at his sudden change. 

“I’m fine.” he said. “Be safe, okay? I gotta go to work.” 

Quickly, as if avoiding me, he dodged away from me and walked out of the door. I stood there in the middle of the lounge room, still in a daze. Why was he acting so weird? Trying to shake  the matter off, I tried to continue on with the day without too much thought of Yongguk. 

Turning off the stove, I wiped my hands onto the apron that I had on, exhaling a breath. It was about six thirty in evening but the sun had set a lot earlier. Yongguk didn’t have an exact time where he’d get off ‘work’ but he promised that he’d never be home later than seven without and explanation. 

My head whipped to the door when there was a sudden knock. Cautiously, I tip toed to the door, resting my ear cold wood. 

“Who is it?” I said 

“Police.” the voice on the other side said. 

I straightened and my eyes widened. What was I meant to do? My entire body heated up with worry and I felt my heart beat so hard that I could hear it. I took in a breath and opened the door to a rather good looking young man. He was wearing a pair of faded blue jeans and a cream cashmere, looking rather young, maybe Yongguk’s age. 

“Good evening miss.” the man said, reaching into his pocket and bringing out an ID. “I’m officer Jung Daehyun. Could I please ask to see a man by the name of Bang Yongguk?” 

Maybe I was stupid. Or maybe it was just the heat of the moment thing, but I found myself blurting out lies. I didn’t even realize but when I did it was too late to change anything.  

“I’m sorry but I’m the only one that lives here.” I said quietly.

Daehyun’s eyes seemed to have soften and he smiled sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. 

“Well that’s my bad then.” he smiled charmingly. “Sorry for disturbing your night, miss.”

I tried smiling and nodding as he turned his heel to leave. I quickly shut the door and locked it right away and almost immediately, I ran for my phone, dialling Yongguk’s number. I tapped my feet worriedly and and waited as the line was ringing for what seemed like a lifetime. 

“Babe.” I heard Yongguk say, finally picking up the phone. “Is something wrong? I’m just about to reach home.”

“No!” I said loudly into the phone. “Turn back right now. Yongguk, don’t come home yet. The police were just here and they were looking for you.”