Lose Ourselves in Sunsets and Moonlights

You and I, Across the Universe

Three soft knocks on her front door wouldn't usually wake her up. Heck, her mom can bang pots while making breakfast and her dad can start up the vacuum and she wouldn't be able to hear a thing in her deep slumber. She slept often and she slept well. Which is code for "I'm so tired so no one better wake me up."

This time though, she heard the knocks with each soft beat in her chest. Stretching languidly on the large couch she fell asleep on the night before while they were on FaceTime, she didn't even notice the slight upturn of the corner of her lips.

He's here early.

Now the smile was full force before she could stop herself. Did she care though? Not at all. She knew he loved her smile so she did it as often as she could around him. She didn't even bother changing out of her sleeping tank top and fluffy pajamas. As she got up from the couch, she debated whether a quick refresher would do her good, half a minute of toothbrush and mouth rinse then another half minute for a face wash.

Nah, she can do that after she lets him in. So she went to the front door and opened it halfway, revealing the 6"2 dashing man on the other side.

God, did he have to look so good at — she glanced back at the watch above the kitchen counter — 5:22 in the morning? The pterodactyls in her stomach started waking up right then.

"Hey," he started with a boyish grin. Before she could respond he'd already pushed his way in, closed the door, and bent down in one sweeping motion to carry her bridal style.

"Ya," her tinkling laugh filled every corner of her one-bedroom condominium, "put me down." She was only teasing and he knew this because even as she reprimanded him, both her arms had already snaked up his shoulders and neck to pull them both closer as he walks over to the couch she just vacated.

When he sat down, she ended up sitting on his lap sideways with her side plastered to his chest. Then like gravity, they both pulled back to look at each other. A beat, then two, then three. Those deep-set eyes conveyed all the emotions they were both feeling without those luscious lips saying a word.

One hand came up to cradle her cheek, "Happy birthday, beautiful," he murmured. The first touch of their lips was feather-light, almost a whisper. The second was firmer and just as he was about to nudge her lips open with that talented tongue, she remembered she hadn't brushed her teeth yet and abruptly pulled back.

At his confused face, she put a hand over her mouth, "I haven't brushed yet," she let out a tiny giggle. He snorted.

"Ya," he replied, "How many times have we woken up in the same bed or backseat of a car or my couch or the floor or —" She put her other hand over his mouth to stop his embarrassing checklists of places they've... woken up in together.

He playfully shoved her hand away. She was preparing for another attack of those drugging kisses, not that she was complaining, but to her surprise, he laid a gentle kiss on her forehead instead.

"Thank you," he murmured against her skin.

"For what?"

"For being born thirty years ago today," he replied solemnly. She pulled back to tease him but the serious look in those brown orbs stopped both her words and her heart.

They looked at each other for a moment longer then she buried her head in his neck, inhaling deeply, as if memorizing his scent and trying to imprint it in her mind. Not that she's not already all to familiar to that clean, ocean smell that's combined with something purely him — sandalwood and sun-laved honey and a warm cup of coffee on the first morning of winter as the snow falls outside.

"Let's go somewhere," she murmured against his throat, "My favorite secret place." She laid a sweet kiss on a spot by the side of his neck before getting up and talking his hand to pull him up too.

"Aren't you going to change first?" He asked as he looked at her from head to toe in her simple black tank and pink bunny pajamas. His right dimple appeared as he finished his inspection of her usual bed wear.

"Oh yeah, give me three minutes," she called back as she rushed to her bedroom, grabbed the nearest oversized shirt and pulled it over her head. Then she changed into comfortable lounge pants and pulled her new favorite sneakers on, a gift from her fans on her birthday. She quickly ran a brush over her now-short locks and ran to the bathroom to freshen up.

"Okay, I'm ready," she looked up to see him carrying a small cupcake about the size of her palm with an even smaller candle on top.

"Wait, blow your cake first," he offered her the round dessert.

Upon closer inspection, she saw that that icing was uneven but someone tried to draw a smiley face with the words saranghae underneath in wriggly strokes.

"I thought of buying you a small cake from that bakery you like near my apartment, but noona said you'd like it better if I made it myself," he explained as his cheeks started to turn pink, "I had no idea what I was doing but it shouldn't taste awful because I followed the recipe down to the last grain of sugar."

Tears formed in her eyes as she looked at this thoughtful, beautiful man in front of her, loved by so many not just for his physical appearance but for his kind heart and sensitive soul. Without words she blew the lit candle, took the cupcake and put it on top of the coffee table, then she reached up and placed the most tender kiss on his lips.

Nado, nomu nomu saranghaeyo.

They both smiled as they kissed once, twice, then a third time for good measure.

"Huh, minty," he teased again as he pulled back, "I don't really mind morning breath, you know."

She just laughed, hit him playfully, then laced their fingers as she lead them outside to see the sunrise together.