Ice: Thaw the Frozen Heart [EDITING]

Chapter 55

With her head resting on his chest, she tipped her head back and gulped down her worries. "Happy new year, Kris." She squeezed her eyes shut as she pulled away a little, tiptoed, then planted a chaste kiss on his cheek. She saw his eyes growing wide before they settled on her. Trying to muster a smile but only feeling heat creeping up her cheeks, she said, "I love you-" she hugged him and buried her face on his chest to hide her blush- "Yifan oppa."

She hugged him tighter when nothing but silence grew between them. She could only hear the fast beating of her heart before she finally heard Kris clear his throat.

"Ya- you- that was- I thought you said-"

"I remembered," Yeojin confessed. "I know what I said that night. I remembered my confession, but I was just too embarrassed to admit it when you asked. And-" she gulped "- I was afraid. Of what we will become. Of losing you." She lightly chuckled. "Just about everything."

Kris gently pushed her at an arm's length and stared into her eyes. He brought a hand to cup the side of her face caressing it with his thumb. Yeojin's heart drummed in her chest when his face came closer to hers; his head tilting to the side.

"Hyung! Noona!" Jinho came running out from the house.

Yeojin bit the insides of her cheeks as she closed her eyes while Kris chuckled and turned towards the boy embracing her only with an arm.

"Come, come! We're going to light up the sparklers!" He ran to them and grabbed their hands to get them moving.

While Jinho ran ahead, Kris grabbed Yeojin's hand and intertwined their fingers. She flinched looking at her hand in his blinked up at the smiling Kris. They followed the boy and arrived at the earlier barbecue spot. The other family members were already there. Lin, in particular, noticed their intertwined hands.

Lin smirked and rolled her eyes. "Hear that? I think it's the sound of a wedding bell! Congratulations, guys!" She joked and Yeojin felt her cheeks getting warmer.

"Shut up!" Kris ruffled her hair then turned to Yeojin with a smile.

Everyone then grabbed a stick or two of the sparklers. Lighting them up, they played with them with laughters. Jinho was obviously the happiest out of everyone. They then took turns taking pictures. First the Kwon's then the Wu's. The four younger ones took several pictures too. Most with Jinho posing here and there while the other three laughed at him.

"Why don't you two take a picture? Just the two of you," suggested Grandpa pushing Kris to Yeojin.

"Aish! Stop staring at each other and just take a picture already!" Lin complained when they just stood facing each other bashfully.

Kris scoffed at his sister before putting an arm around Yeojin's shoulder. Lin held the camera and counted. Yeojin smiled holding up her sparkler just like Kris. The moment Lin counted to three, Kris pressed his lips on her cheek and her heart immediately skipped a beat.

"Aish!" Lin clicked her tongue. "Go get a room guys!"

Kris gave out a smug grin. "Do you want to exchange rooms then?"

Lin only hissed and narrowed her eyes at her brother. The moms and Grandpa laughed at them. Only Yeojin wasn't really paying attention to them. Her attention were solely on her smirking husband. She pursed her lips trying to hide her own growing grin.

It was way past midnight, but Yeojin still couldn't sleep. She had stared at the ceiling for the longest time, and looking at that plain surface strangely reminded her of the confession she made just earlier. Yeojin shut her eyes and sighed before glancing at the already sleeping Lin beside her.