I shut my eyes tighter as the sunlight streamed through the window, its rays bathing my face with its warmth. I rolled to my side to avoid it, only to have my forehead bumped into something solid. My eyes slowly cracked open, wanting to see the cause of its' sleeping disturbance, aside from the sun.
Smooth and milky white skin filled my sight, causing my heart to flutter, totally out of my control. With all the trace of sleepiness gone, I leaned away, careful not to wake him. It was only on rare occasions such as this that I'd wake up earlier than him. I couldn't help taking advantage of the moment, watching him sleep.
The blanket had slipped off his lean shoulder, covering him only up to his waist. He lay on his side. His hair, wild and messy, had fallen over his closed eyes. His nose, his lips, his neck, his chest, even the gentle rising and falling of it, I happily noted them all. A smiled couldn't help plastering itself on my lips as I marveled over the beauty before me that was Lu Han.
I sighed contentedly. Sometimes it was still hard for me to believe that he was really mine to keep forever. It had been three years since we said our vows, since I started waking up with him beside me, but every day, every morning, I would still get the same butterflies in my stomach just by looking at him.
How had I been this lucky, to be the one that he had chosen to give his heart to? And to think I almost lost him once upon a time. My heart still ached at the thought, but, it was all in the past now. Lu Han was here in front of me, alive and breathing, handsome and captivating, eternally sweet and always loving. I didn't think anything else mattered.
I raised one hand, reaching out to his face, only to bite back a startled gasp a second later when his hand shot out to grabbed mine. His eyes flew open, amusement and affection in them, and without any warning, he pulled me towards him, his arms slipping around me, hugging me close, completely entrapping me against his bare chest.
"Sneaky Yeonie." I could imagine the smile that went with his voice. "You could have told me if you wanted to stare, I'd have let you do it openly. You didn't have to be so sneaky about it."
My cheeks heated and if there was something I was thankful about our position, it was that I could press myself closer to him, hiding my red face out of his view, away from his teasing. "Jerk," I could only mumble. I couldn't even lie given how accurate his assumptions were.
His chest rumbled as he chuckled. "You know you love this jerk," he said proudly, his chin resting at the top of my head.
"You're lucky I do," I muttered low, hoping he wouldn't hear it. But of course, with our distance, he did.
"Do you now?" he teased, and before I could imagine a grin, he freed me from his hold and pulled away, letting me see the real thing. He wiggled just a bit, his eyes now at my eye level.
I pouted, knowing I was never going to hear the end of his teasing. Then he chuckled, reached out a hand, and caressed my cheek. "My wife is so beautiful," he murmured, nothing but love and fondness in his eyes.
My heart thudded hearing Lu Han's words, and I pouted even more, realizing he would never understand the effect he had on me.
My reaction though seemed to only amuse him further. "Yeon, you have to stop seducing your helpless husband," he said, his tone serious but I didn't miss the playful glint in his eyes.
"Yeah, right. As if I could pull that off–" My voice got cut off when Lu Han suddenly closed the gap between us and kissed me, making me forget about everything else. One hand slid beneath my head, pulling me closer, while his other hand had slipped to the small of my back.
Lu Han kissed me slowly, his taste sweet and lingering. I dissolved into his touch as I closed my eyes happily, our lips fitting perfectly against each other. Then I accidentally bit his lower lip, making him groan. Both his hands now tangled in my hair and the kiss turned into something deeper as he pulled me even closer.
"Lu Han," I finally managed to breathe a few moments later, my heart pounding uncontrollably in my chest as he trailed soft little kisses along my jaw down to my shoulder. I put a hand on his chest, feeling his heart mirroring the wild beating of mine. "We just woke up." I didn't need to say more.
Lu Han smirked after hearing it and placed one last kiss on my neck before he pulled away, his vibrant eyes shining with nothing but affection. "It's not my fault you're so breathtakingly beautiful."
I blushed. "Says the guy who looks like an angel."
He chuckled and then gazed at me adoringly. "I love you."
My heart quivered in response, not only from hearing those words coming from him, but also because he was looking at me as if I was the only person in the world.
I couldn't help remembering a familiar memory.
It was an afternoon back in senior high school. Lu Han and I were lazily lounging in the treehouse, waiting for the sun to set. I was scribbling nonsense doodles at the edge of my notebook when I finally noticed Lu Han, who was sprawled down on the floor, staring up at me.
"What?" I arched an eyebrow, acting nonchalant though my heart had beat rather irregularly when my eyes met his. At this point in time, I still didn't know why.
"From this point of view," he said teasingly, "you actually look pretty."
I threw my notebook down at him without a second thought. Totally ignoring my pointed look, he laughed heartily and took my notebook, examining it upside down. "What were you writing in here?"
I suddenly remembered I had doodled his name on it absentmindedly during class. I immediately lunged for it but he had seen me coming and got it out of the way in time. What was worse, I landed on top of him. And worst of all, all trace of Lu Han's playfulness had disappeared and he was looking at me intensely. I was having trouble getting out my next breath.
Some sort of mixed emotions flashed through Lu Han's eyes and he suddenly closed them, giving out a burst of shaky laughter. "There's a lot of room on the floor, Yeon. You don't have to lie on top of me," he joked, his eyes still closed.
Chiding myself and my stupid erratic heart, I forced myself to look away from him and got up, snatching my notebook out of his hand in the process. I was still confused about why my heart would almost always react that way whenever Lu Han was close. "I'm leaving," I declared and grabbed my bag.
Lu Han got hold of my ankle, stopping me. He was still lying on the floor. "Stay," he mumbled like a kid. "I'll behave and keep my mouth closed." He even pretended to zip his mouth for good measure.
Just like that, my resolve disappeared. How could someone like Lu Han, who I used to hate so much when we were children, easily sway me like that?
Before I could respond, orangey light reflected on the wooden floor, telling us that the sun was finally setting. Lu Han enthusiastically got up and took my wrist, towing me to the wooden railing.
"Now you can't leave," he happily said.
I just sighed. "I won't. We'll go back together."
He grinned, and then looked at me seriously again. "You look pretty with the sun in your hair as well."
I started to swing my backpack at him but he was already moving away, laughing. "Sorry. I'm behaving now. Closing my mouth in t minus 10 seconds."
"Yeon." Lu Han's voice brought me back to the present. "If you don't come back to me in 5 seconds, I'll–"
"I'm back," I immediately announced, remembering what would usually happen when Lu Han started making those kinds of threats.
"What happened? You just spaced out right after I told you I'd pluck out the stars for you," he teased.
I giggled at his exaggeration. "Nothing. I just remembered something from our past."
He raised a brow in genuine curiosity. "Our past?" he echoed, shifting on his elbow, looking at me intently.
"You probably don't remember," I said. "That time when I fell on top of you in the treehouse when we were in senior high. When you were joking how I looked pretty from the floor's angle."
Lu Han suddenly smiled. "That wasn't a joke, you know. I was trying to tell you how beautiful you were without actually telling you. And," he paused, doing a thinking pose, "I think I was trying really hard not to kiss you when you fell on top of me. One-sided love all my life, remember?"
For the nth time that morning, my heart melted at his words. The way he uttered it so casually, as if it didn't bring him any sort of pain, made it sound all the more sweeter.
"It's not one-sided," I murmured. "You just realized it earlier than me."
He chuckled. "Well, I'm glad you did realize your feelings. Better late than never, after all."
"Speaking of late." I flung the covers off me. "I think we're going to be late for work if we don't get up now."
He suddenly burrowed himself deeper into the blanket as a response.
"Lu Han," I chided, kicking the bed. "Just because your best friend runs the company doesn't mean you can slack off."
His head popped back up. "Five more minutes?" He was pouting. Darn this stupid handsome guy.
I threw him the nearest pillow and marched off to the bathroom. If I didn't leave him alone, I wouldn't be able to do any progress. When I got out of the shower a couple of minutes later, Lu Han was gone from the bed.
Out of nowhere, something soft pecked my cheeks and when I turned around, I only caught sight of the bathroom door closing.
I shook my head at Lu Han's childishness and went to the dresser table to dry my hair. On top of it, a cup of coffee with a cute heart on top sat. Beside it was a little note.
Good morning, wifey. <3
Hubby will take a bath now. Try not to miss me. XOXO.
My face slowly broke into a wide smile that threatened to split my cheeks. The guy was so darn cute.
Even now, my smile, my happiness, all of it. It was still all because of him.
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A/n: And that's it. Thank you so much for everything. See you in my next stories!