The noise of books and other things crashing the floor, rang across the room as Dayun dropped everything she was holding in her hands.
But that didn’t seem to reach her ears as all of her focus was on Insoo, who pulled her close, kissing her.
His fingers ran over her cheek while his other hand further pulled her towards him.
Initially, Dayun was startled by his act, but it didn’t take her more than a moment to naturally give in. And his kiss was too fervent to ignore while also managing to be too gentle at the same time making her weak on her knees, almost immediately.
The kiss matched the intensity of the anger and annoyance that she held inside her before her words got not-so-rudely cut off by him, that it melted her and froze her, on repeat. And at some point she found her legs giving up on her, right when Insoo's arm quickly found its way around her waist to hold her still, as she clutched onto his shirt, not breaking the kiss.
Every other thing she was capable of feeling, quickly started to fade away as at that moment, every inch of hers got filled with the taste of his lips on hers and the touch of his fingers that held her cheek almost like a feather.
...
It took a while for them to part when,
“Insoo- You-”
Dayun mumbled, out of breath.
“I love you too…………… I love you so hella much.” Insoo spoke, equally breathless, not letting her continue.
The next couple of moments passed with Dayun and Insoo trying to regain their composure as both their hearts raced really fast and really loud.
Insoo was the first one to do so and once he was able to steady himself, he spoke again, now more slowly and clearly,
“I love you, Dayun. I really really love you. I love you more than anything.” He said those words again, catching her eyes.
She took a moment to register his words but failed as her brain was still very much busy processing the prior event. “What did you say?” She muttered, slowly.
“Don’t you hear me? I f*cking love you, woman! I love you so freaking much that the thought of losing you, kills me.” He said, his voice raising with his raising heart rate.
After a moment, his voice lowered as, “I’m so sorry.” He began. “I’m sorry that I made you feel otherwise.” He took a moment to continue, “I know I should have manned up and found the courage in me to tell you how I feel. But… I was just too afraid to lose you, Dayun. You are very important to me. You and Iseul. You both have become a really important part of my life, which I don’t want to lose no matter what. And if my feelings for you, will take that away from me, I'd decide to rather just ignore them. I thought, I could work out things then, but I was so wrong because my feelings for you only started growing even stronger when I ignored them. And you too already had a lot on your plate, having just met your father yesterday and other things. I was afraid I might do something wrong and pressurize you.”
He paused again to read her and all she did was give him a small serious nod indicating that she was getting what he was saying.
After a moment, he remembered to add, “Ahh… And about that you asked… In the afternoon…” He mentioned and the next second Dayun diverted her gaze to the side, suddenly embarrassed at how he didn’t forget to talk about it. And even more embarrassed that she even brought that up in the first place.
“I would have told you just then at that moment but little one came in between, I even tried to tell you after you left the room. But things came up. Remember the thing I wanted to tell you so badly?”
He asked making Dayun turn to face him again as she tried to recall what he told her after that.
‘Dayun… Look. The thing I wanted to tell you. Let me tell that.’
‘I don’t think I can hold it inside any longer. It’s been driving me nuts… Really.’
Oh. That’s what it was all about? She wondered, as she replayed even more things he said.
‘Let me tell you this, first. Because, not going to lie but I’m really afraid of how you’d react to it and I’m not sure when I’d be able to tell you this again.’
That made sense. That made so much sense. But why didn’t she-
“This is what you have been wanting to tell me? That you- love me?” She asked not sure if she was asking him a question or telling herself the thing she just found out.
Insoo nodded. “And I failed miserably, didn’t I?” He said smiling a wistful smile, at his failed attempt as he brought his hands forward to hold her, connecting their foreheads. Dayun let him do that.
As she took her time to think about his words again.
Insoo loved her. And that’s what he was trying to tell her all along.
The man she loved, loved her back and she had no idea.
It still felt vague and like a dream. But one look at his eyes and she immediately knew how true his words were. The concealed feelings that she saw in his eyes before were not concealed anymore. She could clearly see love in his eyes. Love for her.
Too deep to mistake it for something else. And too pure than anything she has ever seen before.
If that was not enough, “I love you Dayun.” He let it out once more, as he mumbled the words under his breath and she heard him clearly as he lifted his head to place the gentlest of kisses on her forehead. And that was when she found her face relax as a soft smile spread across her face, unknowingly.
And after a long moment, she caught herself letting out a small embarrassed chuckle as she muttered,
“Damn. This is ridiculous. This situation.” While her head found its place on his chest where she buried her face pulling him closer and also in an attempt to hide the embarrassment on her face.
Insoo laughed at that, saying, “It is. Isn’t it?” with his arms embracing her.
They stayed like that for a long moment. Each of them thinking about how ridiculous this turned out to be for both of them.
And all the while, Dayun couldn’t help but notice how this felt so right. Like every other time in his arms, this time too felt just right. Everything about this moment felt right except one thing which she suddenly remembered.
“What about that woman?” She asked quickly pulling away, and looking up at him. “What woman?” He asked her in return, instantly missing her against his chest.
“That woman. You told her, ‘I’m happy about our wedding’.” She tried to remember his exact words.
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Insoo looked at her for a moment before letting out a little laugh, making Dayun annoyed at that.
“What? Why? Why are you laughing?”
“That wasn’t ‘Our wedding’ but just ‘The wedding'. I was happy about the wedding.” He stated.
“What?” She asked confused as she tried to recall his words again, making Insoo smile at her expression. After looking at her for some time, he spoke again,
“There is no other woman, Dayun... There never was. If that’s what you’re asking.” He made it clear before taking a moment to add, “Sophia is- Well… She’s like my sister.”
That word gave Dayun even more of a shock. “Sister?” Her eyes grew wide.
She was jealous of Insoo's sister?
Insoo nodded. “Hmmm… More like sister-in-law?”
“Sister-in-law?” Her eyes grew even wider. “You have a brother?”
“No but a cousin. He’s my aunt’s son. You wouldn’t have seen him, though. It’s been years since I saw him myself.” He answered and continued, “Sophia is a model. Chul-ho introduced me to her. She was his friend from the industry. On some occasion, she happened to fall in love with my cousin. And they’re getting married soon. The wedding preparations… Well, I personally took the responsibility for that since both of them are very close to me.”
He gave her yet another explanation that she didn’t ask for but wanted to know, “Ohhh…” Dayun went, as she realised how she had misunderstood the entire thing. She felt stupid for acting the way she did. “So, you were just making her wedding arrangements. But I thought-” She paused, her cheeks heating up in embarrassment.
Embarrassment.
She had feeling that a lot lately.
“You were mistaken.” He mentioned and the next moment his entire demeanor changed as he added, “But, I must say my girlfriend looks really cute when she’s jealous”, softly pinching her cheek, squinting his eyes, with a playful smile playing on his lips.
It didn’t take Dayun more than a moment to reply to that with a similar change of demeanor, “Oh………………... But……… I don’t think I remember agreeing to be your girlfriend and…..” She said crossing her arms, annoyed, as her eyes grew sharp, “I’m not jealous..!”
Of course, she was jealous. She knew she was. But do women ever admit that?
“You look even cuter when you don’t admit it.” Insoo laughed. “And about you being my girlfriend, well………. That’s how I interpreted you saying that you love me to,…… that… you’re my girlfriend and that you’re mine……………….....” He said slowly pulling her closer again and added, “But……….. That’s fine, since, I became yours and only yours when you claimed me last night.” Looking straight into her eyes with a sly smile.
That sentence of his made Dayun grow confused.
Last night?
What happened last night?
She tried to remember it when things started coming to her mind, sequentially.
She got drunk. Then, Insoo came to make her stop drinking. After that, everything is a little blue but she remembered them on the terrace.
The next thing she remembers is her on top of him.
And then-
Her eyes grew wide with every memory, as even the little details of last night flooded into her mind.
Oh damn-
Embarrassment.
She felt it again. For the umpth time
And she was pretty sure that it was clearly visible in her face, which is… even more embarrassing.
Why did she act like that? Why did she decide to even drink so much in the first place?
She regretted it.
And she couldn't find a better way to avoid it than changing the topic,
“I- I’m sleepy. Move. I need to first arrange this before going to bed.” She said avoiding his eyes at all costs as she pushed him away slightly, reaching down to arrange the spilled things and books, trying to play it cool while exactly doing the opposite.
Insoo too joined her after taking a moment to laugh at her act.
…
~
~
Dayun’s POV,
I don’t remember how we came here.
But now I’m sitting on the edge of the veranda with Insoo sitting right next to me.
The cool early winter breeze that is blowing through the backyard should make me feel cold but that’s the exact opposite of what I’m feeling right now as Insoo has snuggled up to me making me feel warm and cozy. We’re looking up, towards the night sky, our fingers intertwined.
There have been times when I couldn’t help but let my imaginations run on how it would be if I actually get to date Insoo somehow. But none of those imaginations came close to this. This moment is just so beautiful that I wanna trap this in a butterfly net and keep it with me forever.
And with Insoo, this is a lot more easier. And lot more comfortable. Like, we just started off not even an hour ago but I already feel like I've been doing this for a very long time.
That’s how everything with him feels. It feels like I’ve known him forever.
I swayed my legs slowly and gently as I watched Insoo speak whatever that came to his mind. I love this. I love watching him talk about things that interest him. And I also love watching him smile while doing so. I love it so much that this has instantly become my new favourite thing.
If I allow myself to think about all the events that happened today that lead us to this, I don’t think I can handle the effects that would have on my heart. So for now, I’m saving it for the moment when I’d be alone.
“So, you’re telling me Chul-ho set you and Sophia up for a blind date? No way.” I giggled thinking about how it must have went.
“I know right! That was about 7 or 8 years back, when I was so much busy learning how to set up the foundations for MoonTalks from whoever that can help me with that. Not that I liked going on blind dates but those were the times when I didn’t even have the time to think about it…………………. But… You know Chul-ho…….. And Sophia was the only female friend of him that was actually a female friend………. So he……” He paused looking at me as I nodded understandably.
I could already picture various ways by which Chul-ho would have blackmailed Insoo. They’re hilarious actually.
“But the date didn’t go as bad as I thought it would. It was wonderful, to be honest……..., except we found out that we’d be a perfect sibling pair than a couple.”
“What..?” That made me laugh.
“Yeah… That’s how it was.” He shrugged.
That’s when I remembered something. Something I wanted to know since the afternoon.
Even though my brain begged me to not ask it, the words ended up rolling out of my mouth, somehow.
“Well Insoo… Did you actually- kiss her..?............. On the cheeks, I mean?”
I immediately regretted it as soon as I said that, it sounded childish and pathetic. At that, Insoo looked up at me with surprised eyes for a moment before saying,
“Oh my… How long were you there?” He asked me. It didn’t feel like he asked me that because he didn’t like the fact that I was there for a long time. But it felt more like, he was curious on how long I was there and how come he failed to notice me there.
“I left right at that moment.” I replied as a matter of fact.
Silence fell between us again as he watched me. He then gave a quick reply, “No Dayun.” Gently rubbing my hand that he was holding.
“I couldn’t stop it when she kissed me because I wasn’t expecting it. But it was just a normal gesture to greet or thank from where she grew up. She lived most of her life outside of Korea, you see.” He stopped before adding, “But I did not do that. I did not kiss her back.”
I nodded at that. I really wasn’t going to throw a fit or anything if he actually did kiss her. That would be unnecessary. But it just felt nice knowing what happened.
I was about to change the topic when, “That won’t happen again. You can have my word on that.” He said which made me quickly say,
“No. No. It’s not like that. I just- I was just curious, that’s all.” I let out immediately.
“Oh, it’s fine.” He said kissing the tip of my nose before slowly moving his mouth to my ear whispering, “That right is something I've reserved only for you, after the moment you kissed me there last night.” And I could already feel his smirk against my skin.
I slightly hit him on the shoulder pushing him away, “C’mon, can you just stop mentioning last night..? It’s embarrassing. I don’t even know why I drunk too much. Don’t talk about it!” I said covering my face with my hands.
“Well. That… is not possible. I don’t think I’d ever be able to take the violent and aggressive drunk Dayun and the unholy things she did, out of my head. Sorry.” He joked, dramatically.
“Stop it! It was just a kiss on the cheek, you’re acting as if I tried to-” I paused not knowing what I was about to say.
“Tried to..?” He asked with a sly smile.
“Tried to…-”
Nope. Still no words out of my damn mouth.
“Tried to seduce me by getting me drunk?”, He let out carefully. “You did that too.” He said and by then I had already turned my head to face the other side, even though, I know pretty well that wasn’t going to prevent him from noticing my deep red face.
To make it more worse, he decided to add, “But I must say, it took every muscle in me to turn you down.” And now those words were low and deep that I felt shivers run down my spine.
I shook my head, quickly standing up at that. “Okay. It’s getting pretty late. You should go now.” I said ignoring his words.
“Oh, fine. Fine. I was just kidding. I won’t mention it again. Don’t get mad.” He quickly said.
“No. It’s really getting late and I’ve to pack.” I informed him.
And that’s when Insoo stood up surprised, “You’re still going?” He asked sad, with the saddest expression I had ever seen him wear that I almost decided against leaving but then, collected myself.
“Yes. What I told wasn’t completely false. I do want to move to my own place. I can’t keep on living with you like this, on the excuse of wanting a safe place after I have found one.”
He sighed. “But Dayun-”
“No. Don’t. Don’t try to talk me out of it. I already paid the advance. And it’s not like we’re leaving to the other side of the Earth. We’re moving to a place just a couple of kilometers from here.”
“Still…………”
I laughed. You should see the look on his eyes. When did I get myself a puppy?
“Ow… Stop that. You should go get some sleep. I’ve just got a couple of stuff to pack. I should do that too.”
“Already..?” His face broke into a small pout as he held my fingers loosely.
I laughed even harder. “It’s 1 a.m. It’s not ‘already’. It's pretty late actually.”
“But tomorrow’s just a Sunday. Can I leave at 2, please..?” He suggested with a promising eyes, holding his hand up with the middle finger and index finger pointing out.
That’s it, I couldn’t bring myself to say another 'no'. Especially since I know for sure, that I’m going to miss him the moment he’d walk through that door.
“1:30…” I said sitting down.
He didn’t complain and quickly sat down beside me.
Damn. When did my life turn this sweet?
“You’re clingy, you know.” I mentioned leaning my head against him. “Well, what can I say? I warned you about that already.” His defense came almost instantaneously that it made me chuckle.
“I can’t complain, though.” I said and added, “I love it……………………… Just like how I love the rest of the things about you.”
I don’t know where inside me I got the courage to speak my heart out like this, though. I’m probably gonna regret saying things that feel rather too cheesy and cringe, in the morning. To have swooned so much.
But that’s the issue of morning. It’s still night. And being near Insoo right now makes me feel so drugged that I want to say everything I feel about him right at this moment.
Also, I love how every time I say something like this, his body stiffens and I could hear his heart rate increase. I like this effect I have on him. And I wanna enjoy it while I can. It feels rather nice.
I was playing with his fingers when I suddenly noticed something new around his wrist.
He was wearing a bracelet.
I had noticed it the first time he held my hand back when I was packing, but it is only now that I pay closer attention to it. And when I did, I couldn’t help but wonder,
How did I even miss it?
It was not just any bracelet, it was a star bracelet. Basically, it was just a woolen tread with two star-shaped beads on it. And it looked like it was probably made by a kid.
A star bracelet made by a kid around his wrist is normal. Really.
It’s very normal until I realise…………….
I was the kid that made it,
And I had given it to-
“Oppa?”
To be continued…
Note-
If you're reading this, then, i wanna let you know that, I feel really thankful and glad to share this story with you. I know it's been a really long time since i last updated the story, it's been almost a month... If any of you were waiting for the update, I'm really sorry about the long wait. A lot of things came up and I had serious writer's block.
And in the mean time, I also got to re-read my previous chapters and I must say I wasn't very much pleased with my work. That's also one of the reason for the delay since I always try to provide you with the best I can offer. So, I'm spending even more time to edit the chapters than I did before. And I hope, I'd be able to improve, starting from the next chapter. Also, this is my first book, so, I'm facing a few bumps here and there. But I'll keep trying to make your experience better.
By the way, I think you can feel this story coming to a closure. I'm planning to finish it by 10 more chapters. And once I finish it, I'll edit it again as a whole to make it better.
If you've read this till the end, I'd like to thank you again for choosing my book to read. Your support means a lot. ❣️
Have a great day ahead! 💕