The next morning
Bosam's Point of View
Last night was wonderful. Yunho and I ended up settling on watching Ghost by putting in a bunch of classic movies that neither of us had watched into a randomizer, and it getting picked.
Our eyes were glued to the screen as the iconic pottery scene began. I narrowed my eyes a bit though, as the man began to kiss the woman's neck, getting a feeling that things were about to escalate. American movies are so raunchy after all. And I was absolutely right, not even two minutes later, I was covering Yunho's eyes as the two main characters began to make out and fondle one another.
Yunho laughed as I covered his eyes, saying "don't look!" "Why can't I look?" He asked. "It's dirty, I don't want it to give you ideas" I replied, keeping my eyes on the screen, making him laugh. "Are you watching?" He asked. "No," I lied. "Then how do you know it's dirty?" He asked, his hands reaching up to mine to try and move them away. "Yah, I said you can't watch! You're just a baby. Put your hands away or I'll bite you." I threatened, making Yunho laugh more.
"We should do that," Yunho said as I kept my hands cupped over his eyes, making my eyes widen in shock. "What?!" I asked, seeing as the man was just lying the woman down on the bed to escalate things even further. "Pottery," Yunho clarified. "Ah," I said, relaxing, finally moving my hands away as the scene faded away almost immediately, not about to become a different type of film.
"You think?" I asked, not hating the idea of trying pottery. He nodded with a smile. "I want to try a lot of new things with you." He said, draping his arm over the couch cushions as a sort of invitation for me to scooch closer to him and cuddle into him. I ignored his subtle invitation at first.
"Why?" I asked. He shrugged a little. "I don't know. Maybe because everything we do together is already new for me. A 'first'. It's really kind of magical, it all turns into precious memories. But I know it's not the same for you. Maybe if you try things for the first time by my side, you'll feel the same." He said. My eyes softened a bit. "Everything we do still feels new to me though. I can't explain it. The way I feel around you is just different." I said honestly.
Yunho looked back over to me when I said that. "Really?" He asked, a tiny, hopeful smile on his face. "Yeah." I confirmed, caving in and shuffling closer to him on the couch, so he could wrap his arm around my shoulders. "Different good?" He asked, his thumb gently rubbing my shoulder. I wrapped my arms around his waist and leaned my head against his chest as I answered "different great."
And it did end up being a wonderful night, even if I didn't make it through the whole movie. I fell asleep halfway, and woke up to my alarm, still in Yunho's arms, on the living room couch.
"Yah, why didn't you wake me up? Sleeping on the couch like this is bad for your posture." I scolded Yunho, who was also woken up by my alarm. "Mhm, terrible for posture." Yunho's deep morning voice croaked contently as he stretched before wrapping his arms around my waist, clearly not regretting it. "You are so not sorry," I said, looking down at him. "Mhm," he confirmed, closing his eyes once again.
"Do you have something to do today?" He murmured. "No, I just forgot to turn off my alarm." I said honestly. He pulled me a bit closer and buried his nose to the top of my head, inhaling deeply. "Can we stay here like this then? For just a bit longer?" He spoke against my temple, sending the vibrations against my head, causing a small shiver to descend down my spine. "Just for a bit, though. I should be in bed before Rowoon wakes up. He'll be waking up soon."
And so, I let him cuddle me for a few minutes, against my better judgement.
Love is weird like that, isn't it? I remember John Green said it happens like how you fall asleep: slowly, then all at once. It hadn't happened like that for me.
Falling in love with Yunho felt more like a game of tug of war. It was hard to resist, I had to make an active effort to feel in control, and I could always feel the opposite side pulling me in. If I slipped even for just a little, the change was significant, like the floor was being swept from right under my feet, and the more I moved forward, the harder it was to pull the rope back towards me. It was easier to just give in. Maybe it's because we all experience love differently. Yunho was making me experience it different from even what I thought love was supposed to feel like.
I thought about those things as I lay against Yunho's firm chest. His slow breathing was soothing, and so was his thumb tracing small circles on my hip.
They say women make up problems when things are peaceful by asking questions they don't want to know the answer to, but that isn't it. Women who ask questions to "test" men are just women constantly raising their standard, and making sure their man is keeping up.
"Yunho," I said softly, looking up at the ceiling. "Hm?" He hummed softly, causing his chest to rumble under my ear. "What do you like about me?" I asked, sitting up slightly and placing my hands on either side of his head, looking down into his eyes.
Yunho smiled lazily up at me. At first he didn't respond. He just looked at me lovingly as I lay on top of him. "Everything," he said. Before I could protest, he continued. "I like that you're really honest. Brutally so, but I like it. I don't have to wonder what's on your mind." He started. "I like that you're really soft and caring inside, even if you try to act cold sometimes. You're actually very warm and cute. Really like a baby." He said, making me laugh "I'm not like a baby!" I argued, a soft blush coating my cheeks. "Alright, baby." He said, reaching up to pet my hair affectionately. "Aish- never mind, don't talk anymore." I said, sitting up completely to get off the couch.
He stopped me, grabbing my wrist as I stood up, making me look over to him as he sat up. He pouted his lips at me like a little duck, asking for a kiss without saying anything. After what happened a few weeks ago, I learned to quickly scan the room before leaning down to give him a quick peck, but to my surprise, his hand reached up to hold the back of my head as I went to pull away. He tilted his head slightly, deepening the kiss, leaving me surprised, with butterflies in my stomach, and frozen in place for a few seconds, before allowing myself to relax and move my lips back against his own. I felt his breath fan over my skin as he sighed contently at that.
I let the kiss last a couple seconds longer before finally pulling away. Despite how much I did enjoy it, I needed to get to my son. "Thank you," Yunho said, making me smile and blush. "Yah, why are you thanking me?" I asked, feeling a bit shy. "I've been craving another kiss like that since the first time you kissed me, but you just kept giving me short pecks." He said, pouting slightly at me.
"Jung Yunho you better stop, or so help me, I will kiss that pout off your lips." I thought
"Well what do you expect? We're always at work or at the dorms, I'm not about to kiss you like this when others could see." I said, to which he whined softly. "I wish you would, though... But okay. Let's go on a date then. Away from prying eyes. So I can kiss you to my heart's content." He asked, grabbing my hands and giving me his adorable puppy eyes.
I giggled at his sweet expression. "We just had a date last night." I argued. "I know~ But we'll be busy again soon and we'll be too tired to go out. Please? I'll plan something nice." He begged, lifting our hands up to just under his eyes, as he continued to give me that endearing expression. "Hmm, how about tomorrow night? I really wanted to catch up with Jiho, so I want to go visit him today." I reminded. I could basically see his heart breaking, the way his face fell.
"Yah, that's not fair." I said, taking my hands out of his and placing them on my hips. "Why are you being like this?"
"No, no I'm not distrusting you I just... I'd feel better about you going out and seeing your friends without me if we were you know... boyfriend and girlfriend. Right now, since we aren't there yet, nothing's stopping other guys from trying to sweep you off your feet. You're single after all..." He explained.
I sighed a bit. He had a point. He was a patient guy, but I've known for some time now that he can't wait to just call me his girlfriend. "I know. But please, I promise it's not like that, puppy. This is Jiho, if he wanted to try something with me, he'd have done it by now. Just trust me okay? And... stay patient with me. I don't expect you to just know when I'm ready to commit like that, so just wait. I'll ask you." I reassured him, making a tiny smile return to his face.
"So you'll be the one to ask me to be your boyfriend?" He asked. I nodded, making him chuckle and say "okay. I like that."
And so, even though he wasn't ecstatic about me going to Jiho's place, it also wasn't like I was asking for his permission to do so, and because he's wonderful like that, he offered to drive me and then take Rowoon for hot chocolate after they dropped me off.
"That would be wonderful, baby, thank you." I said, placing my hand on his shoulder to keep myself stable as I leaned down to kiss the corner of his lips. He flopped back down on the couch after that, both of his hands clutching at his chest. I could feel his gaze on me as I walked away and to my room, a smile tugging at my lips. It felt nice to have this effect over a man again, I didn't realize I missed it.
Once in my room, I woke Rowoon up, and got both of us ready for our day, dressing him in cute, bright pastel colors. Something a bit sporty, since I had a feeling that babysitter Yunho would be playing with him a lot. I made sure to put a coat on Rowoon, Yunho made sure I wore a coat, and I also made sure he was wearing his before we went out.
I had texted Jiho before leaving, making sure he was fine with me coming over. "Of course" he texted back with a sad emoji "I've been expecting you since last night".
I felt bad showing up empty handed after that, so I ended up grabbing an item I was planning to give him months later, on his birthday, just as a little something to make up for standing him up last night.
"Ah, I'm such a bad friend. I made plans with him last night but then ditched him for you," I mumbled as I fiddled with the little present bag in my hands. "That's not true. You still think of him and want to see him, plus you weren't trying to ditch him. You're still a good friend." Yunho argued, glancing briefly at me. "I'm not though. Imagine you texted Mingi telling him you wanted to hang out, and Mingi got all excited just for you to ditch him. That's how Jiho must feel. Don't neglect your friends, Yunho-yah. They should come first." I said, making Yunho quiet down. After a few minutes of silence, I realized he must be thinking of how he probably already has neglected his friendship with Mingi.
I was surprised when, once we parked at Jiho's apartment building, Yunho started to unbuckle his seatbelt. "What are you doing?" I asked curiously. "Why? I'm just gonna walk you. Can't I?" He asked innocently. I told him it wasn't necessary, but he did it anyway, carrying a sleepy Rowoon in his arms as he escorted me up to Jiho's place.
Once there, I knocked on the door, and Jiho quickly opened it. His hair was damp and he was wearing a sleeveless shirt, having a lot of his tattoos on show. "Hey nutty," he grinned, going to hug me when he saw Yunho, causing him to pause midway. "Oppa," I said in a scolding tone, giving him a quick hug "we're in the middle of winter and this is what you're wearing? You didn't even dry your hair. It's like you want to get sick." I said as I pulled away, placing my hands on my hips with a small frown.
"Cut me some slack, nutty, I'm hungover. Plus, it's warm inside. Come in," he said, placing his hand on the small if my back to guide me inside, before turning his attention back to Yunho. "Hey, man. Our Bosam didn't say you were coming." He said. Yunho bowed a bit in greeting, holding on to Rowoon's head gently. "Yes, I'm not staying. I was just dropping her off."
"...right. Well she's safe here with me. I might steal her for the day. Don't worry, I'll have her home before dinner. See you later," Jiho said, before closing the door. The last thing I caught was Yunho's tense expression. "That was kind of mean," I said, stuffing my free hand into my pocket.
"Yeah? I don't know. I just think it's kind of unnecessary- it's not like I live in a bad area, you know? It feels like some type of weird power move." Jiho said, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his joggers with a small shrug.
"They don't live in a bad area either but you still walked me to the door last time." I argued back. "That's different. It was snowing," Jiho argued with a small pout, making me chuckle. "Yah, that makes no sense." I said, raising my chin in defiance at him. "Shut up, it's weird when he does it, okay?" He said in an unamused tone, though there was a smile tugging at his lips.
"Yes, Jiho-ssi." I said formally to tease him, knowing he hated when I adressed him like that. He cringed, chuckling as he said "aigoo- stop that. Why are you picking on me when I'm hungover?"
"Fine, I'll stop, but only because you're a big baby. Now put this on before you catch a cold." I said, holding up my arm that was holding the present bag for him to take. He looked down at it and smiled curiously. "What is it?" He asked, taking the bag from me. I didn't respond, and just let him find out instead.
He pulled out the black and pink hoodie, and smiled in confusion at the character in the front. "This is cute, but what is it?" "You used to really like Hello Kitty, right? Well that's Kuromi, she's part of Sanrio too. It's cute, but mischievous and cool. I thought it'd be your style." I said with a small, hopeful smile.
A wide grin spread across Jiho's face as he quickly put it on, realizing it had little ears attached to the top. "It's so cute," he said, chuckling as he reached up to touch the ears on the hood. He then walked up to me and gave me a proper hug, lifting me off my feet like he did last time. "I love it, nutty." He said, making me chuckle. "Alright, now put me down," I said, patting his back lightly as I hugged him back.
"So what's the occasion?" He asked curiously after setting me down. "Nothing really... I just felt bad for ghosting you last night. I'm sorry." I said, fiddling with my fingers. Jiho chuckled and ruffled my hair. "Aish, this kid. It's okay. Now, will you dry my hair for me, like old times? Please?" He asked, leaning down to my height with his palms pressed together. Why was he acting cute?
"Sure," I said, playfully pushing his big face away, "it would bother me seeing it all wet anyway." I said, before taking off my coat, revealing the SSO FANXY pink hoodie I was wearing. Another huge grin plastered itself on Jiho's face as he saw that. "Yahhh, what a nerd, are you wearing my merch?" He teased me, chuckling as he covered his mouth to hide his grin. "Yes. Am I forgiven?" I said stoically. He laughed and nodded enthusiastically. "Hell yeah. You're the best. Wah, I can't believe one of my fangirls just snuck into my place. It's a sasaeng- securityyy!" He said, continuing to tease me.
"Yah!" I said, laughing too. "Did you just call me a sasaeng? Wah. I'm never buying your merch again." I said, throwing an empty threat. In reality, there was no way I'd stop supporting my best friend's career.
"Alright, alright, I'm sorry. Now please do my hair? I can never get it all fluffy and soft like when you do it." Jiho said, grabbing my sleeve. "Yeah. I'll make you some hangover soup too." I said, smiling up at him. He let go of my sleeve and stuck his hands in his pockets, looking to the side with a smile still on his face. "Nah, that's not necessary. It's your day off, you should rest." He said half-heartedly, but I could see right through him. "Oppa, you always take care of me. Let me take care of you this time, okay? You said you were hungover, so I'll make you hangover soup. But first let's go dry your hair."