“Have you been here before?” Baekhyun asked as they pulled off the car in the parking lot. The girl looked so excited. Earlier she suddenly turned silent after their bickering, surrendered at the fact that Baekhyun wouldn’t spill even just a bit about what they were going to do. She took out her phone and started browsing to see what places they could possibly visit in the area. And of course, the smart girl could mention a number of places that might be interesting to them. Still, Baekhyun could only shook his head playfully, and remained silent about their real destination.

“No, I haven’t been here. I heard about this place a lot, but never actually have time to go.” She said as she delightedly unfastened her seatbelt before grabbing her handbag.

“Then I hope you will enjoy this little getaway from the busy town?” Baekhyun offered with a smile, earning a small smile and nod from the girl before they went out of the car.

Aerin couldn’t help but gasp in awe as they walked past the gateway. The couple walked side by side, welcomed by a bed of orange hues in every direction they looked. Yes, the autumn was already here so every piece of green was slowly replaced by brownish colour. They still could see a tinge of green here and there, but almost everywhere they looked, the leaves were already coloured in scarlet red, some of them looked like it was dipped into a golden yellow paint, and the dark hues of maroon splattered in some part far away from the place they were standing at the moment. It was a thirty-three hectare of garden full of flowers and trees at the foot of a mountain in the countryside, away from the hustles and bustles of the city, named The Garden of Morning Calm.

Baekhyun pulled his lips up into a small smile as he saw the girl ran through the small alley, looking around while taking a deep breath of the calming air. Her light ivory dress was dancing through the breeze, contrasting with the all the brown in his eyes. Her hair bounced as she took some more steps towards the wider space full of foliage.

Pretty.

She looked like a painting with the beautiful garden in the background.

Baekhyun felt his heart ached at the pretty sight before his eyes. He’s been around the girl longer than he thought he would. And the more time he spent with her, the more he realised that he had fallen even deeper. He loved her. Baekhyun loved her more than he thought he could. And at times like this, where he could only saw her from afar, looking at the lithe body danced with the pretty smile plastered on her face, watching her being happy, and listening to her melodious giggles and laugh, Baekhyun just couldn’t stop his heart from clenching in pain.

Because thinking about being the one who could make her happy was something too good to be true.

Because Baekhyun still didn’t know how long he would need more to endure this unrequited love.

“Baekhyun!”

The man saw her waving with a big smile still latching on her lips, calling him to get closer as she realised that she strayed too far from him. He shook his head vaguely, trying to get the bitter feeling out of his heart and head. He let out a long sigh and smiled.

It’s okay, it’s okay.

As long as she was happy, then everything else didn’t matter to him.

Even his own heart.

“I should’ve brought you here back in July.” Baekhyun said when they were walking in the middle of chrysanthemum field. The girl turned her head at him, her face showing unspoken question, “They have peonies on its peak of blooming in summer. I’m sure you’ll like it.”

Aerin smiled at him and tilted her head, “We can always come back next time, no?” and the man just smiled in return. His heart felt kind of warm at the thought of having a ‘next time’ with the girl he’s so fond of. “This place is really pretty. I can’t believe I missed something as beautiful as this. Thank you for bringing me here.”

“No problem. You obviously love flowers, so instead of turning your room into a garden, I think it’s better to bring you here.” Baekhyun smiled mischievously, earning a small laugh from the girl.

“Then that means you’re going to hear me asking you to bring me here often.”

Baekhyun laughed. He brought his hand to his chest and playfully answering her, “That would be such an honour for me, Your Majesty.” He said, making the girl’s cheek bloom in pinkish hues.

Both of them fell into a comfortable silence after that, savouring the rare time they have with the nature. Aerin felt happy. She really did. She’s been noticing some skips of beat in her heart every time Baekhyun made a sweet gesture. They were only walking side by side, sometimes they talked about the flowers, sometimes talking about random memories they had when they saw some things in the garden, some other times they only walked in silence looking around as they moved from a garden theme to another one.

Aerin noticed that sometimes their hand brushed with each other, but neither of them made the effort to hold the others. Baekhyun wanted to. Hell, he felt how his heart made a small jump every time their hand brushed gently. But he just couldn’t bring himself to hold hers, afraid that it would only make her feel uncomfortable. Aerin too, in the midst of their silence finally acknowledging the weird change of rhythm in her heart as they went deeper into the garden. And it was her who finally mustered up the courage to slip her hand between his.

Baekhyun felt the sudden somersault in his stomach at the soft contact of their skin. He turned his head to look at her, but she was looking at the other direction, obviously trying to hide her blushing face. The man only smiled and held her hand tighter, silently promising himself to never let this hand go.

The man was still trying to calm the fluttering butterflies inside his tummy when suddenly Aerin spoke softly. “Tell me more about yourself, Baekhyun.” She tugged their connected hand, trying to get rid of the sudden awkward silence because of the sudden handholding initiation.

She felt another skip of heartbeat when his thumb gently brushed a circle on the back of her hand before he answered, “What do you want to know more about me?”

“Anything. It’s… It was always you who asked about me. I want to know more about you too.”

“Then let’s play a game.” The man grinned. “For every question you asked, I am going to ask you for a truth or dare.”

“What? That’s not fair!” She rolled her eyes and whined on his challenge, making him laughed again. “And truth or dare won’t be fun if it’s only the two of us playing, no?”

“No, I still want to do it; for every question you ask, I deserve to ask you question or to ask you to do something.”

She puffed her cheeks and only sighed at his request, “Alright, fine, but don’t ask for anything ridiculous, okay?”

Baekhyun giggled. “No promises.” He answered playfully, earning a light