It was not unusual for Hoon to stay with Hoonbi and Soohyun on nights when Serin was away on business trips. In fact, he did so every time because he enjoyed their company, and without her around, he had little reason to go home. Any time he was at home without her there felt strange to him. The place felt lonely and empty without her presence so he tried to avoid it as much as possible.

He was surprised that evening to find her gone when he got home. He’d even checked their bedroom and the guest room to be sure she wasn’t sleeping. She was simply not there. It was fairly late, but not so late that her going to purchase something she really needed seemed out of the realm of possibility. So he waited around for a while, looking for food in the refrigerator and finding a few containers of stuff she’d left for him to heat up. He took his reheated dinner to the table and sat down to eat, playing with his phone for a bit before deciding to give her a call.

The phone rang several times before he was sent to her voice mailbox. He frowned, but decided it was possible that she just hadn’t heard it. When he called her again several minutes later, and she still did not answer, he began to worry. Though it was late, he decided to call his mom, thinking that Serin could have gone to visit her for the evening. “What do you want, Hoonmin?” she asked grouchily. His call had obviously woken her up.

“Eomma, have you seen Serin today?” he asked her cautiously. “She’s not at home, and she’s not answering her phone.”

“I haven't seen her in over a week,” Jungsook answered.

“Oh," he remarked. “So she’s not there with you?”

“She’s not,” Jungsook insisted. “Maybe she got caught up in something at work. She seemed really stressed over something the last time I did see her.”

“I see,” Hoon replied, unsure. “Well thanks anyway. I’ll call one of her brothers. Good night, eomma. Love you.”

“I love to you too, Hoonminnie. Good night,” she said tiredly before hanging up the phone.

Feeling a bit dismayed, he debated which brother would be the best one to call. Certainly Jaehyun would be the easiest to talk to, but he wasn’t the one most likely to know. And calling Seunghyun at this hour likely wouldn’t be all that effective. So with a bit of an apprehensive gulp, he called Hyunsaeng. Surprisingly, his brother-in-law answered in a very good mood, most probably because he was drunk. “Hey, Hoonmin. Why are you calling me this late?” he asked nonchalantly.

“Do you know where Serin is?” Hoon questioned. “She’s not at home. She’s not answering her phone. I’m worried.

“Huh…?” Hyunsaeng mused. “That’s not like her. Especially not to let you know about it. Oh you know what? I think I know where she is.”

“Really?” Hoon asked, excited to finally get an answer.

“Some of the clients she goes to meet with in New York City came over to visit the company this week. I think they go home tomorrow, and she and Dad said something about going to have dinner to celebrate a successful partnership.”

“Oh…” Hoon exclaimed, understanding. “That makes a lot of sense. It went on longer than expected, and it would be rude for her to leave or take a call.”

“I’m surprised that they’re out this late. Dad never likes to stay out drinking and I’m sure Serin would rather be at home with you.”

Hoon shrugged as he said. “Business is business. And night time for us is day time in the States.” The more he thought about it, the more sense it made, and the tense feeling that had been gripping his chest faded.

They talked for a bit longer, but not much. Serin’s terse older brother wasn’t much for idle chitchat. And now that he knew where Serin (most probably) was, he was relaxing and he could feel how desperately his body yearned for sleep. So he washed his face, brushed his teeth, placed himself in bed, and shortly thereafter, went to sleep.

--

When his alarm went off that morning, he was quite surprised to find Serin beside him. He’d have thought that her movements would have woken him up when she joined him in bed. That had not been the case. He looked at the time on his phone. He really needed to get up to exercise, but if he put it off until later, he’d get to spend an extra hour in bed with Serin. After some internal debate, he decided that he hadn’t gotten to see her the previous evening and would take advantage of the opportunity to see her now.

He made sure his alarm was set for 8 am before rolling over and wrapping an arm around her waist. He pressed his body against her back, nuzzling against her neck and savoring the scent that wafted from her hair. He was slightly disappointed when she didn’t wake up, but he assumed she was very tired if she was able to ignore him touching her in the morning like he currently was. She was very sensitive to things like that, and she was usually up before him anyway. With a sigh, he kissed the back of her neck once, before allowing himself to fully relax and just enjoy the feeling of her soft form in his arms.

He had just about drifted back to sleep when she softly called his name. “Hoonie,” she breathed, barely audible.

“Yes, Serin ah?” he quietly asked back.

“I love you.” That was all she said, and was really all that need to be.

“You disappeared on me,” he chided gently. “I was really worried about you.”

“I’m sorry,” she apologized. “I didn’t think we’d be out as late as we were. And by the time we were all eating and drinking, I thought it would be rude to use my cell phone, and then it just slipped my mind that I needed to let you know.”

“It’s okay. Hyunsaeng knew what you were doing. I stopped worrying after I spoke to him.”

“He wasn’t mean to you, was he?” she asked, concern evident in her tone.

He shook his head, though he knew she couldn’t see him do so. “The only times he’s ever mean to me have been the times I deserve it. Don’t worry so much. We get along pretty well.” Not that they didn’t have their moments or that Hoon wasn’t mostly terrified of his brother-in-law save for the occasional time when Hyunsaeng was in a good mood.

Serin dropped the topic. “Well, that’s good. I’m really sorry for not letting you know. I felt bad seeing you in bed by yourself when I got home.”

“It feels strange to be here without you,” he admitted to her. “This apartment… it’s not my home. You are.”

“I think it’s a little of both for me. Maybe because I’m here more than you. But certainly, anywhere I am with you, that’s where I’m happiest.”

He sighed contently, snuggling against her closer, happy to be with her and have a close intimate moment together. “I’m going to have to workout tonight when I get home,” he told her. “I picked staying in bed with you over working out.”

“I feel so special,” she teased.

“Well, I’m just letting you know. In case you had special plans.”

“I can think of a few,” she insinuated, “but they can wait until you’re done.”

“If I’m going to get sweaty either way, I think I’d prefer your plans over mine,” he joked.

His alarm sounded then. With a exasperated sigh, he rolled over to shut it off. Sitting up in bed, he looked over at her, she’d rolled onto her back and was looking to him. She was sensual and beautiful, and he regretted that he had to leave her this morning. But he was a little short on time so he couldn’t linger. “I love you,” he said to her. “Get some more sleep. I know you’re still tired. I’ll see you tonight.”

“Yep,” she said, smiling up at him. “And I think you ought to do both this evening. Your plans and mine. Just really get a nice sweat going.”

“I think that’s a good idea.” He got out of bed then, preparing for the day. As he went to leave the bedroom, he glanced back at Serin, who had fallen asleep once more. With a satisfied smile, he left for the day, cheerfully heading to work knowing that he’d be even more glad to go home.