18 months later

“Five more minutes.”

“Babe, no. We have to get up.”

There’s whining, followed by a loud thud. “I can’t believe you just pushed me off the bed!”

“Would you rather I dump water on you?”

He gasps dramatically.

“You’re mean.”

“You love me anyways.”

Chanyeol climbs back onto the mattress and locks his arms around my waist, keeping me in place. His fingers crawl onto the sides of my torso and he begins his torture, leaving me breathless and caught up in fits of soundless laughter. We fall back onto the bed and he quickly pulls the covers back over our bodies.

It’s been a while since my mornings were filled with cold silence. The morning sun seemed so much warmer streaming through the curtains with him around. Chanyeol hadn’t officially moved in, but he might as well have. He was around so often, he’d already invaded my wardrobe with his clothes. I smiled at the thought. He’d invaded my wardrobe, my bathroom, my heart. Instead of a lone toothbrush hanging on the mirror, there were now two. My pillows now held the scent of fresh sandalwood instead of the magnolia smelling detergent I washed my sheets with.

And when I woke up; when my eyes fluttered open as the sun rose over the horizon of skyscrapers and concrete, instead of the stark white silk sheets, I gazed upon the face of an angel. I was probably the luckiest woman on this earth, to have been in the presence of such an ethereal being. To be with him, to touch him, to hear him. To love him, and to be loved by him; that was something I had been granted a chance at. I wanted to say that it was all a fluke, that I had merely been in the right place at the right time. But I knew, deep down, that we were fated. Somewhere up in the heavens, the Fates picked up a string and were somehow confused when they saw that it was tied to another.

My phone began buzzing on the side table, and I rolled my body over Chanyeol’s to get to it, ignoring the slew of groans from underneath me. “What’s up, Baek?” I hear shuffling on the other end, before the familiar voice resonates through the speaker. “Are you up for some shopping today?” I perk up, not because of the topic, but because it was unusually suspicious that Baekhyun would want to participate in such an activity without being dragged out by yours truly. “What are you up to? What’s happening that you’re not telling me about?” I shoot skeptically. He huffs, but I can just imagine the cheeky smile gracing his lips as he paces the living room. “I’ll meet you at the café in an hour, okay? Bye!” Baekhyun quickly blurts, not giving me a chance to decline before he hangs up, and I’m left listening to the droning dial tone.

“Okay now I really have to get up.” Jumping off the bed, I begin padding towards the bathroom, but it’s not until I’m halfway there that Chanyeol scrambles up and drapes himself over me. It’s an awkward position, with Chanyeol bending a good two heads down, his head on my shoulder and his arms around me, but we somehow manage to stumble-walk to the bathroom in one piece and I shut the glass door close behind us.

I pull the black Hermès coat tighter around me before burying my hands into the maroon lined pockets. I trade my sneakers for some burgundy pumps today, mainly because my boss had booked a reservation for a company dinner after, so I had to put some of my better (and more luxurious) outfits to use. It’s winter again in the city, and white tuffs of snow line the concrete pavements as I make my way to the café to meet Baekhyun.

Baekhyun.

As much as I wanted to forget all the things that happened in the past, it was as if the biting winter breeze refused to let it melt away. It was just months ago that he had asked me to accompany him to Lucem’s annual ball as a date. I was so sure that that was all there was to it; just a night with the kind of people I’d known my whole life and the kind of food the maids used to prepare for me and the kind of clothes that filled my mother’s wardrobes. But God, was I wrong. Baekhyun gave me his hand, the spotlight shining from behind him, with that small crooked smile I knew so well, and suddenly everyone at the party had disappeared. The ensemble was playing and the hall was clothed in darkness, and all the light that I could see was him; him in his dark suit and his perfectly mussed hair and his lithe fingers and his warm touch.

And when we danced, I could feel his breath on the skin of my neck as I hummed to the song. Our feet were not clumsy, nor were they practiced. Our feet moved with a silent attraction, as when he stepped back I took a step forward, and when I retreated, he followed right after.

Just as we did.

I didn’t know if the song had ended, or if it were just twenty six seconds into the set, but the moment his gaze fell on my lips, I just remember letting everything go and allowing my whole being to be his. I let my eyes flutter shut, my last breath leaving the slip between my lips, waiting for that one moment that would change everything.

I laugh, and the sound sounded as bitter as the wind that hit my face.

The café comes into sight, but a familiar figure blocks its entrance. It doesn’t take an idiot to recognise the wildly waving man, jumping on his toes. He brings his mitten-ed hands to his lips, blowing as much warmth onto them as he could. I drag my gaze down his outfit and fought the urge to walk right past him.

“Okay so—Hey! Don’t pretend you don’t see me! You !”

Considering my lack of mental strength, I did just that.

He runs after me and loops his arm through mine, pulling me back. Laughter bubbles through my chest as he casually leans his head on my shoulder, leading me away from the café. “Remember what I told you? That day?” I turn to him, raising an eyebrow in question. “Where—“ Baekhyun ignores my question, continuing, “The Haewon thing? Y’know…my plan.”

And suddenly, we’re turning the street and into a jeweler’s. It hits me, the exact thing that Baekhyun was trying to remind me about, and I wonder if it’s too late to stop time and turn away. The lady at the counter set in the middle of the store smiles sweetly as we walk in, and Baekhyun makes a beeline towards her. I couldn’t help but lag behind, scanning the glass cases with a kind of envy. “She’s really special to me,” I hear him say, and somehow I still wish it were me that he was talking about. Roaming around the cases, I pass by the different displays, eyeing the diamonds that seemed to tease me. “I was thinking of a rose gold? Do you think that’ll be nice?” The salesgirl agrees enthusiastically, and leaves to bring out some of the samples.

He leans on the cabinet, tapping his fingers on the glass and the sound is erratic but still somehow calming. Other individuals litter the store, some filtering up the spiral stairs to the second floor while others lingered where we were. I turn, tucking a free tendril behind my ear before watching him. The small smile gracing his lips would be almost invisible to anyone