Never thought I'd see the sun again,
Resigned, I waited for my dreadful end.
Yet meeting you threw a wrench in fate's plans,
Coz even the rain is weakened by your single glance.
- J
Kang Jihoon.
He was her first conscious thought.
Last night was a dream come true.
No, scratch that. Every dream she ever had of Jihoon before they met paled in comparison to the actual experience of having him in her arms. With his lips, his hands, and his words, Jihoon brought to life every naughty fantasy she had of him and more.
A satisfied smile spread across her face. Yingyue leisurely stretched her arms over her head and slowly blinked the sleep off her eyes. On the bedside table, the digital clock blinked back the time. It was ten minutes past seven in the morning. Weak tendrils of light filtered through the slats of her horizontal blinds, giving the room a hazy, muted glow. At once, the opening notes to a Jay Chou song started playing in her head.
From the day I fell in love with you...
Happiness was so easy.
Giggling, she carefully turned, holding her breath in anticipation of that first sight of him in the morning. When an empty pillow greeted her, instead, she exhaled, disappointment curving her body like a deflated balloon.
Groaning at the soreness of her muscles, Yingyue propped herself up with one hand and scanned the room. A frown settled on her brow. Strewn on the floor were the clothes he hastily peeled from her body last night— used and discarded, but Jihoon's own clothes were nowhere to be found. Dread began to claw at her consciousness, threatening to ward away her newfound joy.
Surely he wouldn't leave without first saying goodbye? She searched for her phone, but remembered she had left it downstairs. Giving her blanket an impatient kick, Yingye got out of bed and grabbed the robe she hanged by her closet. After hastily shoving her hands into the sleeves, she rushed out of the room while securing the ties around her waist.
As she padded down the stairs, thunder rumbled outside. She could hear rain pelting against the windows, mimicking the storm brewing in her heart. By the time Yingyue reached the ground floor, she was out of breath. Inhaling deeply, she tuned her ear to signs of life but was met with dead silence.
He wasn't the type to hit and run, was he?
How would you know? A gleefully sinister voice taunted. Only foolish old you would think you know him when you know nothing at all.
She clenched her hands, acknowledging the thought, but refusing to let herself be swayed by it. Although it's true she and Jihoon hadn't known each other for long, but she was sure what they shared last night went beyond passing lust. It had been too raw, too intimate, too real. Though she didn't dare give what transpired between them a name, it gave her the certainty that he at least felt something for her. It lingered in between his passionate kisses. It was there with his every caress. And, when the fires of passion had burned out and they lay entwined in each others arms, she felt it in the steady rise and fall of his heart beating against her chest.
Closing her eyes, she inhaled deeply, then let her breath go in slow, measured intervals. She repeated the process a couple of times until her mind was clear of negative thoughts.
"I believe he only stepped out for a moment, but he's going to be back soon."
As soon as she uttered those words, she heard the front door open like magic, accompanied by his jolly whistling. She grinned. From the sounds, Yingyue could picture him stopping by the foyer to take his shoes and coat off, before making his way inside. As his familiar footsteps drew closer and closer, Yingyue opened her eyes and caught the silly grin on his face transform into surprise.
"Gosh!" He exclaimed, walking the remaining distance until he stood right in front of her. "You nearly scared me to death. I thought you'd still be in bed!"
"I came to find you. I woke up and you weren't there." She pouted.
He pouted back and held up the plastic bags he was holding. "I wanted to surprise you with breakfast in bed, but guess the surprise is ruined now. Should have been back sooner, but it suddenly started pouring out, and I had to wait for the damn rain to ease a little."
Now that he mentioned it, Yingyue noticed the dark tendrils of his hair clinging damply against his forehead. She reached up and brushed them away from his face. "Well aren't you the sweetest?"
"Aren't I?" He nuzzled his lips against the sensitive skin on her wrist. "Will be rewarded for it?"
Taking advantage of his occupied hands, she tiptoed, wrapped her hands around his neck, and stole a kiss. "Gonna reward you with the other kind of breakfast I had in mind," she said against his lips, then pulled back to look at his face.
Jihoon raised a teasing brow. "Oh? Sounds intriguing. Tell me more?"
"What I'm craving for right now... is a repeat of last night."
"Aha! Still didn't get enough of that, did you?"
She smiled and shook her head.
"What a greedy little thing." He licked his lips, eyes traveling down to her mouth. "Lucky for you, I'm more than happy to give you more of that again and again and again."
"Then what are you waiting for?"
With a low growl, Jihoon dropped the plastic bags on the floor, swept her off her feet, then rushed up the stairs. Clinging to his neck, Yingyue threw her head back and laughed. This was one of those moments she wished could last for a long, long time.
And to be fair, it took quite a while before they both finally mustered the energy to emerge from their warm, dream-like cocoon. In fact, if it wasn't for the insistent, jarring sound of an alarm, they could have easily idled there for the entire day. Forced to get up, Jihoon dug through the pockets of his discarded pants, colorful curses filling the air, until he finally found his phone. When it was quiet again, he turned to Yingyue with a sheepish smile. "Sorry forgot to turn it off."
"Don't worry about it," she said with a yawn, stretching her hands above her head. As if drawn like magnets, Jihoon's eyes inevitably made their way down to her breasts. "Hey, Kang Jihoon," she jokingly protested, "my eyes are up here!"
"I know, Miss Hu. I was... uh, just saying hi to your lovely chest."
"Is that so?" She let her gaze slowly meander from his face all the way down to his groin, where something began to stand at attention. "Wow, is that one saying hi, too?"
"Obviously," he replied, his face all serious as he made his way back to bed. "My friend and I are very friendly, especially with this particular lady." Slipping his arms around her waist, Jihoon drew Yingyue over his lap, but as he started showing her just how friendly he could be, her stomach let out a loud growl.
Jihoon chuckled. "Guess I gotta feed you first, though."
"Guess so."
At Yingyue's insistence, they covered themselves up and made their way down to the kitchen. If it was up to Jihoon, they'd be eating in the nude. The man had no ounce of self-consciousness when it came to his body, which made total sense. If she had his body, she'd flaunt it as much as she could, too. It was tight and lean in all the right places, whereas hers had gone soft after months of no exercise. On top of that, she now had an ugly scar near her waistline. Last night, when she tried to hide it from him, Jihoon claimed it was just as beautiful as every part of her and showered it with kisses, but she wasn't ready to leave it bare especially in the harsh light of day.
While they wolfed down their breakfast, uncaring that it had gone cold in the time it spent abandoned by the staircase, Yingyue happened to glance at the clock mounted on the wall above the fridge. "Oh no!"
"Why? What's wrong?" Jihoon asked, eyes wide with worry at her sudden exclamation.
"Isn't today a Monday?"
"Yes?"
"Then you're late for work! It's already 10!"
Upon hearing the cause of her concern, Jihoon relaxed back into his sit, a smile playing on his lips. "Don't worry about that. I took the day off."
"Really? I thought you, being a workaholic, would hate missing a day of work."
"Me? A workaholic?" His eyebrows shot up to his forehead, feigning offense. "Now who's been talking behind my back?"
"We only have one common acquaintance. You're a smart guy. I'm sure you can figure it out, but that's not the point. The point is are you sure it's okay for the big boss not to show up at work? I won't mind even if you have to leave."
Jihoon's gaze flitted from left to right, picking up his cup of coffee and taking a long sip. "I think I heard a compliment somewhere there. Trying to figure out what I should address first."
"The question!" She sighed in frustration.
Sure, she missed his lighthearted banter in the time they'd spent apart, but sometimes, he was just so frustrating! Then again, the fact she had enough accumulated experience with him to come to that conclusion made her feel a little giddy. This was what relationships were about, wasn't it? Regardless of its nature, whether this was a friendship or something more, just being able to feel strongly about someone, being able to put together bits and pieces of shared memory, was exciting. It was a stark contrast to the past two years of her life when she lived as if she was underwater with everything muted, indistinguishable, a blur of passing figures detached from her groundless self.
"Ah, the question! Yes, yes..." Jihoon was saying. "What was the question again?"
He gave her an expectant stare, eyes twinkling with pure mischief. Yingyue glared, refusing to say more. After a few seconds, he eventually dropped his act, one hand going up to rub the back of his neck while he talked. "Fine, fine. I'll answer properly now. Don't be angry, okay? I don't think I can go through another month of you giving me the cold shoulder, especially since we just made up..." He paused, as if struck by a sudden thought. "Although if fighting and making up will bring a repeat of last night, I suppose even a month of suffering is worth it."
"Kang Jihoon! Why are you always going off tangent?" She cried in defeat. "Forget it. My question's not even that important. I was just asking to be polite. You're the boss. You can take a day off. And your company's big enough to run a day by itself even without you breathing down your employees' necks. In fact, they might even enjoy having a break from you," she finished in a rush of breath.
For a brief instance, Jihoon simply stared at her, mouth agape, then his shoulders began to shake as he let out a loud laugh. "To be honest, I didn't understand half of that coz you spoke too fast, but who cares? You're so cute when you're all heated up like that."
"Hmmph." She folded her arms across her chest. "You're so annoying."
"I know." He reached across the table, took her hand in his, then weaved their fingers together. "And for today, this annoying man is all yours, so what are you gonna do about it?"
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A/N: Don't forget to leave a like and comment after reading ❤️