Sleepless in Seoul

Episode 12b

A/N: It's the closest he ever gets to a proposal. They actually begin dreaming of a life together. Who knew that telling someone, "I want to see you with gray hair and wrinkles" would be so romantic? Surely, something happened afterwards...?

"You'll only drink at home, okay? Promise me."

They make their pinky promise (stamped, copied and laminated) and continue drinking. Another one or two bottles in, Seri calls it a night since she still has to work tomorrow. She tries to stand up to go to bed and sways mightily on her feet.

"Careful!" he warns and catches her. She laughs at her own tipsiness.

Jeong Hyeok remembers the night of the clam bulgogi, when she was so wasted from her first taste of soju and clams flambé that he had to carry her to his bed and tuck her in for the night. She'd laughed and played drinking games with his men, after a day of apparently trying to secure a promotion for him by buttering up the village ajummas. He was amazed by her spirit, bouncing back so quickly after the disappointing failure to leave via boat-to-boat transfer. He had sat for a while watching her — fast asleep in his bed, cheeks flushed red from the alcohol —  peaceful, relaxed, and so very beautiful.

He props her up tonight as she tries to walk to her bedroom. She seems as drunk as that night in his house and moments away from passing out. He worries that she might fall and hurt herself, so he puts her arms on his shoulders and scoops her up. The motion seems to catch her by surprise and make her dizzy, so she tucks her head into his neck and closes her eyes, her arms tightening around his neck.

He resists the temptation to look at her curled up in his arms. He wants to make sure he doesn't lose his own footing since he had a considerable amount of soju in his system too. 

Finally, he sets her down gently on the edge of her bed and, still holding her, pulls the covers off. He lifts her up to move her and she sags against him like a rag doll, practically asleep. With a bit of difficulty, he picks her up again and tries to lay her down properly, but the alcohol catches up with him and he slips.

Landing clumsily on the bed, he falls on top of her and jolts her awake. She looks at him with bleary eyes, arms still around his neck, and smiles.

"This is a good dream," she murmurs. And pulls him into a kiss.

She had not initiated a kiss before (which is not to say that she had not wanted to, many times). She kisses him now with all the hunger and passion she had held in check before. So much for trying not to cross the lines they had drawn around a relationship that could not be, and yet continued to exist.

His surprise lasts only an instant and then he is kissing her back, tasting the soju on her lips and tongue. They kiss like they'd just drawn their first breath of air after nearly drowning.

Dimly, he realizes she is probably getting crushed under him and he rolls onto his back, managing somehow to keep their lips fused. Her body sinks into his, molding into all the right places.

She sighs as the kiss deepens, her hands tangled in his hair, his arms on her back, her leg settling between his legs... both of them craving a closeness that neither could allow before their inhibitions were loosened tonight.

It's not clear who makes the sound that cuts through the haze of lust for Ri Jeong Hyeok. He realizes with a start that one of his hands had slipped under her top, relishing the feel of her skin, and the other one was on her butt, apparently pulling their hips closer.

"Wait," he mumbles against her lips. "We can't..."

She is still kissing him, oblivious.

"Yoon Seri...!"

He somehow manages to pull their lips apart.

They stare at each other, breathing hard.

He could tell the exact moment when the alcohol buzz clears and it dawns on her just what is going on. Her eyes, ever expressive, widen as she registers where she is, the intense heat between their bodies, and where his hands are.

She gasps in surprise. At the same moment that he pulls his hands away, she rolls off him... and nearly falls off the bed.

He manages to grab her and pull her back just in time, which meant she ended up right back in his arms.

"Are you okay?" he asks.

She nods. Then they both start to laugh.

"What just happened?" she asks.

"You were so drunk. I tried to put you in bed but then I slipped and fell on you. Then you... we..."

They look at each other, remembering. Their laughter dies and the temperature in the room seems to go up again.

He starts to move away but freezes when she lays a hand on his arm.

Blushing furiously, she says without looking directly at him, "We're both adults, you know."

Noticing how adorable she looks when her cheeks are flushed, he decides, is not helpful to their situation. Her lips look really full too, probably from all the kissing. Nope, not helpful either, he thinks.

She finally raises her eyes to meet his and says, "If not now..."

She leaves the rest of it unsaid. Indeed, when else were they going to get a chance like this? Is it wrong to hope that he never catches that bastard Cho Cheol Gang and therefore never have a reason to leave?

Neither of them move for what feels like a really long time.

"If we cross this line," he finally says, and his voice cracks over the next words. "How will we ever be able to let go of each other?"

And there it is, their infernal Catch 22.

Not for the first time, Ri Jeong Hyeok feels vaguely envious of Pyo Chi Su, an orphan with no parents nor a family to protect, who did not have way too much to lose if he walked out of his life in North Korea.

Yoon Se Ri closes her eyes as tears threaten to pool in them. He watches the pain flicker across her face and hates himself for being the cause of it.

She wrestles with the fact that he just told her how to keep him by her side. If she seduces him tonight (and chances are good that she will succeed), could he really turn his back on his life in North Korea? And if he did, is their love strong enough to survive the knowledge of what it cost him?

No, he actually has a family that cares about him. She cannot — will not — take that from anyone.

She feels a kiss on her forehead, so light that she wonders if she imagined it. Before she could open her eyes, another one lands softly on her right eyelid, then her left, followed by her nose, her lips, her chin. He follows her jawline up to her temple and begins again.

The butterfly kisses travel from her forehead to her chin and back... over and over again. As the seconds tick by, their breathing calms and their pounding hearts slow down. The knot of pain inside also seemed to loosen, bit by tiny bit, with every touch of his lips on her skin.

Finally, he stops. She opens her eyes just as a tear rolls down, betraying her efforts to keep it together. He wipes it away and fixes her with a look that is somehow both fierce and tender.

"Don't cry, Yoon Seri," he says. "I'm not going anywhere."

He kisses her on the lips and this time, he lingers. It is a soft, gentle kiss that goes on for a while —  unhurried, undemanding — sealing a lifetime of unspoken promises.

Later, he pulls the blankets over them. They will sleep in each other's arms tonight.

For now, they are safe.

For now, there is only the two of them.

For now, it is enough.

(Photo Source: https://www.soompi.com/article/1380647wpp/son-ye-jin-and-hyun-bin-make-a-promise-over-drinks-in-crash-landing-on-you)