"Do you still love me?" I dare to ask, needing her answer. I cannot wait anymore, I do not want to. I want her to be mine, and I do not want to waste time for longer.

A smile curves her lips up in a quick second, our eyes dived in each other's soul, and I feel the same expression grow on my face. "I do. A lot," she becomes shy now that the topic is more important and serious, but I step forth and cup her face with one hand to join our lips in a delicate manner, not holding back anymore, not even thinking twice. At this point, I just want to hold her in my arms, tell her I love her, tell her that I am hers and that I will never hurt her again.

I do not retreat after this mere physical contact full of sensations and craziness, I just separate our lips for a short second then pass my fingers through her hair, on the side of her head to hold it and kiss her more passionately. Feeling all the butterflies that I even forgot was possible to feel inside, and the rush of blood burning through my veins, I make it slow to not forget this, to not ruin it. Her shy hands touch my torso, and she kisses me back in a tender manner, sending insane feelings through me. This feels so good and thrilling. She makes my heart race so hard.

To not make it last too long, I caress her lips with the tip of mine, and I slightly pull away, my hand holding her jawline, I open my eyes and smile at her as she still seems overwhelmed by it and ready to feel my lips against hers again.

"I love you too, y/n," I stroke her cheek with my thumb, and I press one more kiss on her lips before pulling her in a hug, keeping one hand on the back of her head. She wraps her arms around my waist and squeezes me with her poor strength. "I do not want to see you go ever again, I need you, I'm ready to be there for you and make you as happy as I can, give all the love, care, and attention as I can..." I let some words that need to be gotten off of my chest. "I don't ever want this to happen again either. I thought...we would never be together. You can't even imagine how I'm feeling right now."

I regret causing her so much pain, but this was for a good reason, if I did not do it, we would maybe not be holding each other right now. We would have had to go through hard times because of me, that would have ruined us, and that would have made me feel even worse.

"You have no idea how I'm feeling either," I cannot help but beam, and I give a gentle squeeze to her waist and press a kiss on her neck. "And I don't want you to be scared or worried anymore," I caress her cheek and look down into her eyes. "I'm yours. All yours."

An expression full of soft delight brightens her features, and she bear hugs me. "I'm yours too."

I take a few more seconds to hold her and embrace her, both reveling in this precious moment. I know we just created a memory right now, and that is the most significant thing ever.

"I should go," I speak in a calm voice to not pressure her, and we both gaze at each other. "Yeah. See you tomorrow, and be careful on the road."

I lean forth to press one last kiss on her lips and smile at her. "I will. See you tomorrow," I give one more look at her and leave the house against my will.

I cannot wait to be tomorrow and see her again.

•••

7 pm.

I open the door of the house and come back home, but no time to take my shoes and jacket off, Hyejoon is already here to greet me with his adorable smile. "Daddy!" he hurries towards me, holding his teddy bear against him and wearing his onesie pajamas.

I smile and take him in my arms. "My baby boy, I missed you," I kiss his chubby cheek and hold him tight. He beams at me and puts his arms around my neck to hug me, so I make my way to the living room where my other son is, this one still eating pizza, shirtless with only a pair of sweatpants. "What is happening here?"

He shoots his eyes up, taking his attention away from the TV. "What?" he pushes his wet hair back, and I chuckle. "Forget it. How was your day?" I sit down on the sofa, holding my little one close to me, and he snuggles his head up in the crook of my neck. "It was fine. Easier than I thought. And you?"

"Good," I do not explain how everything went since my days at work are pretty similar. "Did Hyuk leave once you came home?" I notice that he is not here anymore. "He left only a few minutes ago."

"All right," I do not ask any more questions but pay attention to the drama that he is watching, feeling Hyejoon toy with the neck of my shirt. I rub my hand over his back and press a kiss on the tip of his nose.

"Have you eaten at y/n's house?" Hajoon asks, mentioning her. "Just some snacks because she didn't cook yet."

"Oh, and what did you both talk about?" he moves forth to put his unfinished slice of pizza down, and he grabs the can of Coke. "Nothing special. She told me that she won't be able to work here, so we'll both look for a job for her."

"Oh...that means we won't see her all the time..." he shows his disappointment, and I relate. "I have a question though, I've been thinking about it since yesterday," he clears his throat and leaves his drink on the table. "Why does she still call you Mister Jeon?"

I restrain myself from grinning, knowing the reason why I have not told her she can call me by my name. "We're just used to it..." I shrug, hiding the fact I like to hear her call me in a formal manner. "Hm. Okay."

"Do you have to go to that place tomorrow again?" I talk about something else, and he shakes his head. "No. I stay home tomorrow. I forgot to tell you though, there's a pizza in the oven for you. I put it there to keep it as warm as possible."

"Oh, you thought about your annoying dad?" I smile and keep my happiness inside, but he agrees. "I did. I even ordered your favorite one, with my money. Can you believe that?"

"Wow. I'm grateful to have such a son," I emphasize but mean my words, and I stand up with my baby in my arms to head to the kitchen. "I know, I would be too."

— Next day —

Tuesday, March 8th, 2022.

5:40 pm.

"Hey," I step inside of y/n's house but get greeted by a hug, and I give it back to her with as much affection. "Hey, how was your day?" she steps back, brightening my day up with her joyful mood. "It was fine, what about yours?" I close the door behind me and take my shoes off, keeping my eyes on her. "It was good. I had a long night and nap."

"Good to hear, but did you eat well?" I peek down at her red pajamas set, with a crop top and shorts, being discreet to not seem like I am ogling her. I have not forgotten that I told her this might be one of my favorites among all the clothes she showed me until now. "I did, and you?"

"I did too," I tell her the truth, feeling relieved. "I cooked dinner..." she lifts one hand up to the right to point at the kitchen side. "I don't know when you'll leave, but we can eat together if you want."

I uncontrollably smile, feeling soft because of her and all the things she does, the way she does them, and why she does them. This is heart-melting, I would give her the world if I could.

"I'll eat here with pleasure," I do not even think about refusing, willing to spend like a candlelit dinner with her. "Unless you cooked for you only in the first place," I make sure she does not have to split portions, but she shakes her head. "No. Actually...I cooked because I hoped that we'd eat together," her cuteness never disappears or fades.

I move forward and press a gentle kiss on her lips, my left hand holding her jawline. "You're adorable," I gaze into her eyes, and my fingers slide to her chin. This look she gives me when she smiles, with sparkling eyes, it is to die for.

"I just love you..." she says, having no idea how significant this sentence is. She maintains eye contact with me for only a few seconds, before dropping her attention to my lips. "I love you too, you're precious."

She becomes bashful and glances away. The fact that I make her so nervous triggers some fondness inside of me, and I love it way too much to not tease her a little.  "Let's drink something," she heads to the fridge, but my eyes do not leave her, loving the effect she has when my brain reacts to the sight of her. "I bought some wine..." she closes the fridge after grabbing a can of Milkis, and she opens a cabinet to get a bottle out of it as I got closer. "It's for you, it's the brand that you used to have at your house..." she shows it to me, but some pain controls my reaction. This is so expensive, she must have spent so much on it.

"Sweetheart...Thank you, but..." a smile full of affliction draws some discomfort on my face, and I grab the bottle. "You shouldn't have bought this. That's way too expensive."

"It's fine, don't worry. I mean...I hope you still like this one," she hides her arms behind her back, and I regret my answer. "Yes," I lie. "But don't buy such things for me again, even a cheap bottle of wine from you would make me happy."

I cannot tell her that since that day, I stopped drinking wine and any type of strong alcohol. I am afraid that the taste could bring back the bad memories of the old me.

"I thought that would make you happy, and I wanted to buy this one in particular," she expresses her relief with a relaxed body language, and my heart clenches. This hurts me to lie to her, but I do not want to do the opposite and tell her I will not drink this wine into which she spent around four hundred dollars for me only.

"This makes me happy, but trust me, I don't need you to buy expensive stuff again, this makes me feel bad that you put all your money into something for me," I slide my hand under the bottom of her crop top to put my hand on her waist, and I kiss her. "Thank you though, I appreciate it a lot."

She smiles without saying a word, her soft features deepening the pain I feel. "Let me serve you a glass," she moves and gets a ballon glass out, so I put the bottle down and open it before she could try to do it. I am trying my best to not let my anxiousness appear.

I let her pour the wine, and I take it once she hands it to me. She is so sweet and considerate, she makes it hard for me to control my emotions.

I take a sip without saying anything, my brain messing up with me and the memories this brings back. I put the glass down as she opened the can of strawberry Milkis to put it in a glass, and I back hug her. I slightly lean forth to have my cheek against the side of her face, and I enjoy this moment.

"Do you consider two thousand dollars a month enough?" I bring this topic up again, and she gulps some of the drink down. "More than enough, you know it. Why?" she turns around, my arms still around her, I keep my eyes on her soft ones. "I checked my expenses and all, and I realized that I can pay you that much even if you just do some simple work at my house and live with us..."

She does not answer right away but leaves the drink on the counter. "Would that make you happy if I live with you?"

"More than happy, y/n," I nod, rubbing my fingers over her lower back. "But..." her eyes go down to my lips, then my neck. "What about Hajoon...? How will he feel about this? About our relationship?" she asks the question I was planning to ask him at some point, and I feel relieved to see that she thought about this. "I'm glad you bring this up. I wanted to talk about it with him then tell you about his stance. This is important to me too because I don't want him to be uncomfortable around us."

"Yeah...that's what I thought too. I wouldn't want to cause any issues," she fears his reaction, getting me to feel the need to reassure her. "No, don't say that. You'll never be at fault or anything."

"I should have a talk with him too...this must be weird for him to have...me as a stepmother...I'm scared," she comes closer to hug me and rest her head on my chest. "Don't be, I'm pretty sure he'll be more than understanding," I tighten my clasp around her.

•••

6:20 pm.

'YOUR P.O.V'

My eyes never remaining on the TV for more than a few seconds, I cross my legs but see and feel Mister Jeon move forth next to me, he grabs the bottle of wine that I bought him, and he serves himself another glass of it. I do not glance away but stay focused on him, having a lot of attention over his veiny arms and hands, the tattoos inked on his tan skin, that makes me feel undeniably weak. I still cannot believe how tougher he became in a bit more than one year.

He takes the glass between his fingers, and he goes back in his previous position. He drinks with his left hand, and the right one close to me slides over his thick thigh, this one pressing hard onto his tight trousers to expose how fit he is.

I still cannot realize that he is not just a man anymore, he is my man. He loves me, he cares about me, and we both are each other's significant one. That is something I thought would remain a fantasy for the rest of my life. He is way too perfect to be mine, and seeing him like this, close to me, only heightens the want to be in his arms and never leave them.

"What is it?" his warm hand touches my thigh, and he brushes it up and down my skin, making me look into his eyes but understand he caught me. I curl my toes at the feeling of his fingers going down the side of my thigh, and I tell a lie. "Nothing."

He smiles but spreads his legs to hold his glass between them, and he rubs his thumb over one spot, my calf staying against his. "It doesn't look like it."

I bite my inner lip and glance away, and I lay my hand over his. The urge to trace his veins is too strong for me to hold back, so I do not let a doubt stop me, I do it. I pass my thumb over his soft veins, but his thumb does the same over my thigh, and he kneads it, sharpening the sight of his blood vessels.

"Do you want anything?" he does not let it go, but I insist on not saying the truth. "No. Why? Does it look like I do?" I peek at him, and he grins. "It does."

His answer tickles my brain with tease, and I give up. I lean towards him and rest my face on his biceps, but he gives a squeeze to my thigh, before bending over to leave his drink on the table and then remove his hand from me. He lifts his arm up and places it behind me, on the back of the sofa, forcing me to retreat, and his hand lands on the nape of my neck.

We both gaze into each other's eyes, his sharp and deep ones intimidating me with a mere look, I glance down at his swollen lips but go forth to end with my head on his chest, and my arms over his lap.

I do not even know what I am doing, I just want some physical contact with him. He does not seem to agree with this though. He cups my neck to make me pull away from him, and he drifts his hand to my chin to hold it up and lock eyes with me. "Tell me right now."

"I don't have anything to say," I giggle, nervously and lean in to kiss his lips, but he bends his head back and smirk, dodging it. "You're lying. I can see it."

"Hey..." I complain about this mean move and climb up on his lap to try again, but he turns his head to the side and does not stop playing this game. "You're not being a good girl, you won't get it," he stares at my lips to be ready in case he might need to move again, and I smile but sigh. "I'm offended," I pretend to not have lost a brain cell at the sound of his 'good girl', and he directs his body towards me to lay one of his legs over the sofa but hold me by the hips. "No, you're not."

"Yes," I cup his face with both of my hands. "I am," I hurry towards him to attempt to make our lips touch, but he still manages to avoid me, giggling and getting me to start a fight to win. "You-" I pinch his cheeks and put all my weight onto his body to cause him to lean back, and since he does not want to give me access to his lips, I aim his neck, and I press a kiss on this alluring one.

I check on his reaction and glide my hands down to his broad shoulders, but he smiles and gives me a certain, daunting stare. "Don't do that, this is dangerous."

"Dangerous?"