The retreat is so much better than I expected.
Instead of going to the beach that was planned, we ended up going to the mountains full of thick layers of snow. This mountain is popular for snow boarding, sledding, and there is a small town nearby that we can go to for souvenirs and stuff.
When we all got out of the bus, all I can see was... white. Nothing but pure white surrounding. White snow that kept on falling from the sky. In fact, snow went up to my knees as I got out of the bus, and it was a pain in the ass to walk to the cabins with this much snow on your way.
Yuri has been hanging out a lot with her partner for the project, and I don't know what's her deal with him but I can tell that she always blushes everytime he talks to her. In fact, they were sitting on the bus together, just right across where Yoongi and I was sitting.
"Okay, graduating class!" The teacher shouts at us as everyone got out of the bus, cupping her mouth. "Since the cabins are small and only have two rooms, we can only fit four people with one cabin."
People started talking underneath their scarves and sweaters that are covering half of their faces but was soon hushed by our teacher's growl.
"If you have complaints, sleep on the snow!" She shouts again, making the security guard of the cabins look at us. It's amazing how he still manages to wear the guard cap instead of a hat that can actually protect him from the cold.
"Also," she continues. "It's strictly prohibited for a boy and a girl to share rooms. Two girls will sleep in one room, two boys will sleep in one room."
"Awwww!" Students groan in disbelief, mostly the ones who are in a relationship. I looked at Yoongi who had his hands resting inside his sweater's pockets, just staring at the teacher.
"Okay now, choose your roommates and follow me." She finally says, turning her back at us as she talks to the security guard.
"Yuri, you need to be my room mate." I immediately said to her, grasping her arm at me as we continue to march through the snow.
"Of course, but what about Yoongi?" She asks, looking at him.
"I'm fine, I can go with one of my friends." He looks at them from far away, but they were already looking at him. They also seem to be whispering at each other and immediately stopped as soon as I looked at them.
"No. You'll room with Yuri's friend. I heard he got great music taste." I look at him, enlarging my eyes to signal him. "Right?"
"Ye-yes." He says, flustered as his cheeks show a tint of pink.
"Okay." Yoongi simply replies.
Yoongi and Yuri's friend start to walk ahead of us and as we got left behind, Yuri leaned at me and whisper words that made me as red as a tomato before running away from me, smirking with malice.
"You know I won't let the birthday girl not have a chance to sleep on the same room with her boyfriend tonight."
*
"Yoongi?"
I whisper as I bob my head from the door way. The whole room's walls are made of logs and logs of wood, even the ceiling. Inside was a small bed in the middle of the room enough to fit two people just right. There is also a wooden table and a chair on the side, just right in front of the fire place that was already showing off orange and yellow dancing flames.
The whole aura of the room gives makes me not do anything besides drink a mug if hot chocolate in front of the fire place. The light that the lamp was giving was already pretty faint and yellow, mixing with the light that the fire place gives off.
But of course, the star of the whole room is standing next to the bed.
Yoongi looks at me through his shoulder, his wine red scarf covering his pearl white neck. He's also wearing a plain black sweater and a pair of grey sweatpants.
How interesting it would be to see his wardrobe.
"Hey." He says, turning his bag upside down into the bed, all of his things tumbling down. "What are you doing here?"
"Um," I start. "Yuri insisted that... uh, she wants us to, um... to be together?"
"It's fine." He says, getting my point. "No one will find out if we keep the door shut."
"What do you mean?" I say, crossing my arms. "Are you embarrassed to say that you slept on the same room with your girlfriend?"
"What are you talking about?" He asks, looking up at me. He scrunches his nose as he narrows his eyes at me, making me become even more irritated.
"Does your friends even know we're dating?" I ask.
"Yeah. I told them today." He simply answers.
"Oh." I reply, rubbing my arms together as I felt my muscles calming down. "I'm sorry, i'm just... I want to spend my birthday with you and-"
"Happy Birthday."
He mumbles as he takes a black box from his pocket which is a size of a deck of cards. My body froze at the moment, not sure what I should do next. How did he even... how did he prepare for this? How did he know it was my birthday?
"Yuri told me a week ago. Don't act so surprised and take it." He says in a harsh yet warming tone.
I take the box from his hands and look at him before I open it. He was looking at the box as well, and as I open it into two, I felt my whole body lit up in delightfulness.
It was a necklace.
A necklace with a simple yet elegant moon pendant.
The necklace I saw from Busan.
"How did you... just... how..." I caress the pendant as I shift my gaze every second between Yoongi and the necklace. It's as beautiful as I remember it to be. So plain yet so gorgeous.
"I bought it when we were in Busan." He says as he sits down on the bed. "You fell in love with it when you saw it and so I wanted to get it for you."
"Yoongi..." I whisper as I walk up to him and hug him close to me, pulling his head against me with my arm. "Thank you, it's so pretty."
I pulled back a little and looked down at him, and he looks back up as our eyes meet.
"I wasn't sure what I was feeling back then, but I still got it just in case I came into realization that... my feelings were real." He whispers ever so quietly and softly. "You said it deserves to be owned by someone who's as special as it is, and... you're just as special to me."
A tingle goes up into my spine that sends signal into my whole body to feel as though I was melting by his words. I feel so fired up that it seems like I can do anything I want in this world and nothing can stop me.
Yoongi finds me special.
I am special to him.
I can't even speak. My body is so emotionally overwhelmed that I couldn't make me say how much I appreciate him. Or how lucky I am to be with him.
He stands up slowly and takes the box from me, carefully taking the necklace out of it.
"Turn around." He says, and I willingly do so. He brushes my hair into one side, exposing my bare neck at him. He stretches his arm and begins to put the necklace around my neck, the silver lace feeling cold against my skin. I rub the pendant with my thumb as I feel his fingers brushing into the back of my neck, hooking the lock of the necklace. A clicking sound emerges and I turn around to face him.
"It looks good on you." He says as he sits back down, his eyes not leaving mine.
For a single moment, I am sure of what I feel. I have no hesitations nor regret. The feelings I have for him is more than just liking someone. It was more than just dating and being together. He means so much to me and is the most important person in my life.
I know how I actually feel for him now after countless times of ignoring the fact that Yuri was again right about me.
I have fallen in love with him.
"I love you." I say passionately and out of the blue, feeling a wave of affection going through my body. Yoongi's eyes widen for a split second but immediately soften.
"Eunji..." he whispers back.
"Oh Yoongi." I whimper as my voice breaks, wrapping my arms around him. "You don't have to say it back. Letting me love you is enough for me."
"Eunji." He says again, pulling away from me. But then he pulls my hand down, making me lean down on him as everything happened so quickly that I didn't even have a single second to think.
His soft lips crashed into mine as he tilt his head up, his warm hand cupping my cheek. The moment our lips touched, I felt volts and volts of electricity enter my body, and the longer it stayed and lingered, the more impact I get. His breath smelled of gum and tasted of mint but I was blinded enough by the fact that my own lips are pressing against his.
Both of his eyes were closed while mine are wide open. I couldn't believe what's happening. I feel like finally being fed after years of hunger. It felt like genuine happiness. Nothing before has made me feel like this, I feel so happy that I can see fireworks in my head just by our lips touching.
I begin to close my eyes as well and soon enough, I was kissing him back. His lips are like marshmallow dusted in sugar. So soft and sweet that I don't want to stop doing what i'm doing. He tilts his head from side to side, his lips moving slowly against mine, molding perfectly against my lips like they were made for each other.
But the electricity died down as soon as Yoongi pulls away from me, making me stand back up properly as I stare at his tainted lips. Those lips that soon spoke the best words I have ever heard for my whole entire life.
"I love you too."