𝐀𝐑𝐂𝐇𝐈𝐕𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐎𝐖𝐍 𝐅𝐈𝐂𝐒 | 𝐊- 𝐏𝐎𝐏

𝖼𝗁𝖺𝗉𝗍𝖾𝗋 𝗈𝗇𝖾 𝗁𝗎𝗇𝖽𝗋𝖾𝖽 𝗌𝗂𝗑𝗍𝗒

Chapter 41: A Revelation

She opens the door to her apartment, returning to find it just as they had left it before going to the live recording, before she met his friends, his family, and before her world was turned upside down. It seems simple enough now, she will invite him inside, she will offer him a drink, she will let him kiss her again, and they will spend the night together, knowing they have a future; both of them knowing their intentions are toward the same end. She can let go of her doubts and her worries when she is with him. She can feel whole again.

He is eager to be alone with her but not just to be with her physically. He wants to lie next to her, holding her close, talking until they fall asleep in each other's arms. He usually doesn't sleep well. He has difficulty getting to sleep and when he does go to sleep, it isn't restful. He is use to making up for lost sleep on planes, in the back of cars rushing between places, sometimes at the company office waiting for meetings or hair and make up. He felt more comfortable when he lived with all of the members, feeling enveloped in the large family and protected. When he moved out, he was comforted by his family living in the same apartment and giving him the same feeling. Since they went back to Daegu, his restlessness had returned and he feels almost as though last Friday night, in this little apartment, was the first real sleep he's had in months. Being held by her, holding her, feels natural and it feels right.

***

They lie beside each other, naked in her small bed, feeling the overwhelming connection, and feeling satisfied. His hand strokes her arm, tracing a line up and down her skin as he thinks about their future, imagining exactly what they can have now that they have found each other. She leans up to kiss his cheek, and whispers,

"I'm starving. I didn't eat anything for dinner." She laughs at herself.

"Well, you should have come by the cafe. Dongwook was offering you cheesecake," he teases.

"That was you?!" He nods. She lifts up and takes a long button down shirt, placing it over her bare skin. "Can I bring you something to eat?" she offers. He jumps up, pulling on his trousers.

"I'll join you." He follows after her to the kitchen. He pulls his shirt around his shoulders as she looks through the refrigerator. She turns to her cupboard and brings out a bag of Goguma Kkang and opens it, sitting down at her table across from him as he continues.

"I went by the cafe to ask if he had seen you, and I asked him to get you there, but you didn't go along with the plan. In the end, he gave me his student ID to get into to library, and it would have worked, if not for his overdue fines." She turns to him and laughs.

"Well, the course of true love never did run smooth," she says offering the bag to him. He takes one of the chips and pops it into his mouth as he smiles, recognizing the quote.

"Midsummer Night's Dream," he says, surprising her. She smiles and he nods, proud of himself. She takes a bite of the chip and looks at the bag.

"I'm sorry this isn't much of a dinner. I usually go to Gwangjang market on Sundays." He smiles, taking another chip.

"As long as I get to sit across the table from you, it's a perfect meal." He flashes a smile at her that makes her blush.

"Well then, would you like some wine with your chips Sir?" she offers, playfully. He nods and she gets up to retrieve the glasses and the bottle of red. She pours for him. "I hope this pairs well with fried sweet potato." He smiles up at her and reaches his arms out to wrap around her waist as she stands beside him. He rests his chin where her belly button is, covered by the fabric of the shirt. He kisses the spot and then looks up at her. She smiles down at him, setting the bottle aside and running her hands through his hair.

"Would you move into my apartment?" he asks, softly. Her eyes grow wide as she considers what he's asked. "It isn't any farther to the preschool, or to your university. You could use the car to get around instead of taking the bus," he rattles off responses to questions she hasn't even thought of yet.

"Isn't it too soon?" she asks, playing the part of logic and reason well. He shakes his head.

"No. It's not too soon when I know how I feel and what I want," he says very directly. He kisses her stomach again. "Think about it, at least." He releases her and she sits down across from him, pouring her own glass. She nods.

"I will, but maybe a better time would be at the end of my term, or at least after I- well, after I say goodbye to my Grandfather." He puts his drink down, remembering the promise and the duty she must undertake in a few weeks time. He nods.

"Do you have any pictures of your Grandfather?" he asks, sipping the wine in his glass. Her face lights up at the question.

"Oh yes, I have a few I could share." She smiles. He looks at her as though he's waiting. "Now?" He nods. She gets up and disappears into her closet in her bedroom. He nibbles on the chips waiting for her to return. She has a few pictures in her hands, old color photographs. She sets them down on the table.

"Here is a picture of him close to the end of his life, he had such beautiful white hair, so thick and full." She points to it as Taehyung holds the picture in his hands.

"He has kind eyes," he tells her as he smiles at the sight of him. She nods. "Here he is when I first came to live with him." She hands the picture over. He gasps and his eyes smile at her.

"Awww! Is this you with him?" She nods, laughing a little, embarrassed. "You're adorable! How old were you?"

"I was 7, I think, in this picture. He was so tall, I always thought of him as larger than life." Taheyung nods.

"I think of my Dad that way, and, also my Grandmother, which is funny because she was tiny. But she had a real presence about her. I wish you could have met her." He looks over the other pictures she brought out. "Do you have any pictures of him when he was young?" he asks. She thinks for a moment, remembering.

"I have one picture of him in Korea actually!" She stands, and Taehyung smiles up excited. He looks through the pictures as he waits for her to return, smiling at the image of her as a child.

"Hello Little Hana," he says softly to the picture, grinning at it as he wonders what their children might look like. She comes back into the room. She holds out the faded black and white image of a young GI, in uniform standing with a young woman. Taehyung takes the picture and studies it.

"He looks very dashing in his uniform," she says, smiling down as she stands next to Taehyung. His expression changes, his brows furrow and his jaw drops open. He looks up at her with a strange sort of puzzled frown; a look she's never seen before.

"Hana, how do you have a picture of my Grandmother?"