BTOB - Soft Hours

For A Long Time // Peniel Shin

Author: @killingmebtob // Sara

Title: For A Long Time

Characters: Peniel and Reader

Summary: It's your birthday but there's no word from Peniel. Why?

Author's Note: Ah~ A cute Peniel fluff for you. This was requested, btw. It was really cute and it reminded me of a piece I did a few years back. Ah... I really want something like this to happen to me. AHAHAHAHA. Enjoy~!

"Why such a long face on your birthday?" My best friend, Chunhee, asked as she poked my cheek. She was seated in front of me at one of the cute coffee shops in Hongdae. I invited her out a few days before to catch up and to celebrate my birthday with me. "You shouldn't be frowning on your birthday. It brings bad luck,"

I heavily sighed. "It's Peniel. We haven't seen each other in a while. I know he's busy and all but... Do you think he forgot my birthday? He's usually the first one to greet me but he hasn't sent me anything at all. Oh no," I gasped dramatically as I propped my chin on my palm. "Maybe he doesn't want me anymore?"

Chunhee laughed. "Don't be so overdramatic. You're being silly (Y/N). I know Peniel wouldn't forget your birthday. Maybe he's just caught up with something,"

"Something more important than me?" I pouted before groaning loudly. "Fine. Whatever. It's my birthday. If he doesn't want to greet me or if he forgot about me, fine. I'll celebrate on my own today,"

//

'So much for celebrating on my own today,' I scolded myself as I entered my dormitory. After Chunhee and I ate lunch, we parted ways because she still has to finish her MBA thesis research. I, on the other hand, tried to look for something to do but nothing was catching my interest.

I plopped down on my bed, defeated and disappointed. I reached for my phone as I continued to hope for Peniel to send me a message.

Nothing.

My heart felt heavy as I lie there. I'm probably being a little too overdramatic about this whole thing but all I wanted was to spend today with him. My whole family is in another country because I wasn't born in Korea. The only reason why I'm here is because my company sent me to work here for who knows how long. My initial contract was 3 years before they bring me back home. However, they renewed that contract indefinitely. The higher ups will be the ones to decide when to call me back home.

That's why I wanted to spend as much time with Peniel as possible. Even he knew that.

We both met when Cube partnered up with our company for one of their music videos. I was part of the production team. I did a little research about the group before I met them so I knew that he was more comfortable using English. So I spoke to him in his preferred language.

Since then, we talked to each other a lot. We became good friends and a year later, he asked if could court me. The rest was history after that.

"Peniel, where are you?" I sighed. "Ugh. I hate this. I'll just sleep for the rest of the day," I mumbled with a heavy heart.

Just as I was about to doze off, my phone beeped. Hurriedly, I checked it. I almost smiled when I saw Peniel's name but I was confused by his message.

7pm at the roof deck of our favorite café.

I sighed. No greeting, just a time and a place. I wonder.

//

I was feeling nervous as I entered the café. It was where we usually hung out in between our work schedules. We both love it here because of the quality coffee and the great pastries they served.

The baristas nodded at me as I headed upstairs to the roof deck. Peniel brought me here once when I was having a terrible day. We just sat on the bench under the stars. He didn't say anything but he held my hand the whole time. I was thankful because he truly did make me feel better by just being there.

I slowly opened the door and I was surprised. The whole area was set up beautifully.

Fairy lights were hanging above the whole place. The bench we sat on before was pushed to the side. In the middle lay a large mat and two beanbags. When I looked around, I noticed that there were pieces of paper clipped on thin wires. Everywhere I looked, there were a lot of those hanging papers. I approached one and my heart almost stopped in surprise.

It was a photo of me. I checked another one. And another.

They were all photos of me from different times and places. Tears were starting to well in my eyes as I browsed each and every photo. There were photos where I was looking at the camera, there were also pictures where I wasn't. Some photos showed that I was laughing my heart out while some showed me in tears.

"Oh my God," I whispered under my breath as I continued to look at the pictures.

There was only one person who could've taken these. He was the only one I was with in the moments these photos were taken. I felt so stupid for whining about him forgetting about me. I don't deserve someone as pure and as loving as him.

"You're here," Peniel's voice came from behind me.

The moment I heard him, tears of joy started streaming from my eyes. He always manages to surprise me with the things he does.

"(Y/N)?" Curiosity and nervousness were laced in his voice. He was probably wondering why I haven't turned around to face him yet. "Are you okay? Did I do something wrong?"

I shook my head as I wiped my tears. "No, no," I smiled as I faced him. "I'm okay. You didn't do anything wrong. In fact," I walked towards him and wrapped my arms around his torso. "You did something so wonderful. Thank you, Peniel,"

"Ah," he shyly laughed before he hugged me back.

We stayed that way for a while. I smiled at the warmth of his embrace.

"This means a lot to me," I mumbled against his chest. "I love it so much,"

Peniel softly chuckled as he rested his chin on top of my head. "I'm glad. I got nervous when Chunhee messaged me that you were feeling down that I haven't greeted you,"

I pulled away a bit as I frowned. "Darn that Chunhee. I thought she was my best friend,"

Peniel laughed as he stepped away before pinching my nose. "I'm sorry I didn't greet you sooner,"

"You haven't yet, actually," I teased him. "I'm kidding. I'm sorry too for thinking that maybe you forgot about me,"

"I could never forget you and anything about you," he grinned cheekily. "That's also why I have all these photos of you-so that I'll never forget a moment that I've spent with you,"

"You're going to make me cry again," I joked. "But... Thank you. This is the most wonderful thing anyone has ever done for me. Thank you,"

He softly smiled at me as he brushed the back of his hand against my cheek. "Thank you, too, for letting me witness all those moments with you. For as long as I'm able to, I hope you'll let me take more photos of you even if you don't know it. You're one of the best things that ever came into my life,"

"You are to me too,"

Peniel nodded, happy at what I've said. "Thank you. I hope to spend more birthdays with you. I hope to spend the rest of my days with you. Happy birthday, (Y/N). I love you,"

My breath was taken away as he said those three words. Never, not once did he ever tell me that he loves me out loud. It was always in his actions that he said those words. Another wave of tears leaked from my eyes as I tightly wrapped my arms around him again.

"Thank you. I love you too. So, so much,"

He chuckled as he brushed his fingers through my hair before kissing the top of my head. "Come on, I'm sure you're hungry,"

We spent the rest of the night lounging on the beanbags as we talked about the photos he hung around. My heart felt light and I felt that I could take on the world. I rested my head on his shoulder, my eyes closed in contentment.

"I love you," he whispered once again as he wrapped his arm around my waist. "Let's stay this way for a long time,"