TRAIN 247 • Park Jongseong

𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝟶𝟹: 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚊𝚝 𝚖𝚎

"Wake up!" Y/N hollered from the kitchen. "You are going to be late, and so am I!"

She was preparing breakfast and was in utter chaos in the kitchen as the metal spoon slipped from her hand, falling to the ground. She cursed, picking it up and tossing it into the sink. She could cook to survive, but when it came to organisation, she was not the finest. Regardless, Jay refused to wake up on the days of his hangover.

Frustrated, she left the kitchen and stomped into the bedroom. "I said to wake up!" She tugged on his sheets. "Jay, please. I'm going to be late! My professor is going to kill me." He did not move in the slightest. Stepping closer to him, she began shaking him. "Can you not hear me!"

He slightly grunted, tossing around in the bed. "Five more minutes, babe." He turned away from her, hugging the sheets closer.

"Are you serious?" She raged. "Wake up. It's already too late." She was running late for university and this was not her first time. Her professor had warned her: another late pass would result in a deduction of marks, which would put her scholarship at stake, and she could not afford that.

Jay slowly opened his eyes, still squinting. He frowned at her, exhaustion sprawled across his face. He was annoyed, and her heart sank at his reaction.

In a swift movement, Jay grabbed her wrist and pulled her onto the bed, wrapping his arms around her from behind. "Now, give me five minutes." He snuggled into her.

She exhaled deeply, her exasperation peaking. "Let me go. We are going to be late." She attempted to break free.

"No." Jay embraced her tighter. "Take a day off or something. Let's go on a date."

"A date?" Y/N scoffed, turning to look at him. "You are kidding, right? We cannot afford day offs."

"Once in a while wouldn't hurt anyone." He tried reasoning with her.

"Are you still drunk?" She gave him a satirical, sweet smile. "Because you're not making any sense."

"Am I not?" He smiled back at her.

Y/N paused as her expression fell and realisation struck her, "Stop trolling and get up."

Chuckling, he let her go as they both sat up straight.

"You know what? Saturday's right around the corner and we are going on a date." He kissed her forehead, getting out of the bed and making his way towards the bathroom. "Cancel any plans you may have on that day." His voice echoed against the bathroom walls as he closed the door behind him.

For the moment when she was left alone on the bed- blushing and smiling to herself- she felt blessed to have such a fun, sweet and loving person in her life. He meant everything to her. He was her everything.

• • •

Ten minutes passed as Jay walked out of the bedroom and helped Y/N set up their breakfast table. Once seated, they began going through their schedule for the day.

"I have classes till 3:30." She stated, scooping a spoonful of rice. "Then I have to work at the department store for the three-hour shift, and later, I'll head over to the store for groceries."

"You're packed for the day." Jay replied with furrowed eyebrows as he picked on the side dishes. "Well, as for me, I got the morning sales, and then I have to run to the shoe store for another shift, and..." he paused for a moment. "I think I can make it for the grocery shopping."

"Really?" Her eyes lightened up. "That would be great. I could use extra help. I mean, carrying all those bags makes me really sick."

"What if I refuse to carry them?" He slightly raised an eyebrow with a mischievous grin.

"You won't. I mean, you love shopping." She exaggerated her words.

"Yeah, shopping for clothes." He poured water into his glass from the water pitcher.

"Remember when you visited the convenience store everyday?" She leaned forward, placing her elbow on the table, smirking. "Back when you were hitting on me."

"I think it was more like the other way around."

"Sure, whatever you want to believe." She saw the look on his face, waving her hand. "Besides, this could be a little date for us."

"You." He pointed at her. "Are taking me." He pointed at himself. "On a date? Is this finally the end of the world?"

She playfully smacked his shoulder. "Then, I guess the date on Saturday is cancelled?" She gave him a little flick of her eyebrow.

"No way!" He shook his head, "That plan is on, no matter what happens."

• • •

After their meal, she cleaned up the table as Jay got ready for work. He worked his morning shift at a luxury clothing store downtown. As the sales manager, he was paid enough to run the household, but she wanted to make things more manageable for him. So, she continued to work part-time after her lessons at the university.

Surprisingly, things were pretty smooth for both of them. It had been almost 2 years since they met, and life was just going on with him by her side every step of the way.

However, there was always an empty feeling within. A desperate one that longed for him to ask her to remain by his side forever.

She broke her chain of thoughts as Jay confusedly wandered out of the bedroom with an undone tie around his neck. "Could you..." He started with an embarrassed smile. "Tie this for me?"

"You're joking." She narrowed her eyes, contemplating his next move.

He shook his head with pursed lips. "I just tightened and loosened the tie that you made last time." He paused, shrugging, "I accidentally untied it as a whole."

She fixated her eyes on him and walked over with a dubious expression. "I taught you how to do it, didn't I?"

"Yeah, well..." He started, his voice low, "I forgot."

She took the tie from his hands and lifted his shirt collar. Wrapping it around, she began tying it together.

Casual, but sensually, he put his hands on her waist and pulled her a step closer to him. She stumbled, blinking a few times at his sudden action as she continued lacing the tie. She tried to dodge his eye contact.

"Hey, look at me." Jay said softly, his voice sending shivers across her body.

Yet, she remained quiet and tried not to smile or blush. Gradually letting go of one hand while the other still held onto her, he clutched both of her wrists firmly and stopped her while she was halfway through.

He walked her towards a wall, her back colliding with it as he lifted her arms above her head, locking them in position. He caressed her cheeks, slightly forcing her to look at him. He continued to stare at her with a smirk, towering over her height. "Didn't I say, 'look at me'?" He raised his eyebrows playfully. "Then, you have to listen."

Still quiet, she finally looked at him with widened eyes. His behaviour always surprised her. It was unbelievable as to how he managed to express a different side of himself every once in a while.

He leaned in closer. "But you didn't. So, what do I do with you?" He whispered into her ear, his breath warm against her neck.

✧──────✧

𝙙𝙤𝙣'𝙩 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙜𝙚𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙫𝙤𝙩𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧 • 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙠 𝙮𝙤𝙪!