espresso shot ; njm ✔️

27

donghyuck's car rolled to a stop, and to aera's surprise, it was right in front of her workplace. 

"why are we at the cafe?" she half said, half laughed. she'd be lying if she said she wasn't eagerly anticipating whatever donghyuck had up his sleeve. with him, anything was possible, in the best way of course. and everything he did was always delightfully unexpected.

"close your eyes," he told her.

she did as she was told and held her hand out for donghyuck to guide her. little did she know was that he was heading somewhere different.

aera received a gust of wind in her face and she nearly lost her balance. "are we outside, are we on the roof?"

"open your eyes."

she blinked a few times, letting her eyes adjust to the sight before her. it was beyond anything she had imagined.

the rooftop was illuminated by a myriad of candles, their flickering flames casting a warm, magical glow against the night sky. in the center, a cozy blanket was spread out, adorned with an assortment of plush pillows and fluffy blankets.

but it wasn't the romantic setting that captured her attention.

it was the telescope set up near the edge of the balcony. she was over the moon about it.

"this is what i've been wanting for so long, how did you know?" she exclaimed, running her hand over the smooth exterior and examining every little thing about it.

but donghyuck didn't actually know. he wasn't even the one that bought it. so the only thing he could do then was to awkwardly chuckle and scratch the back of his neck as he tried to find a way to answer her.

"well, it was actually jaemin that bought it," he admitted slowly before quickly adding, "but uh, i hoped to have you to myself for tonight while we stargazed."

aera pulled donghyuck into a hug as she couldn't hold her tears back anymore from all of the joy she was feeling. no one had ever thought of doing such a thing for her.

suddenly, donghyuck remembered what else he was supposed to say. "oh yeah, apparently during this week, venus would slide past uranus, and a full moon will swing through the satellite's closest point on earth. not completely sure what that means, but i think you do."

"i know exactly what that means," she murmured into his hoodie, tightening her grip.

he melted into her embrace, grateful that she loved his gift to her.

"how did jaemin know?" she asked him as she peered through the telescope.

donghyuck shrugged. "i don't actually know."

"i have to thank him because this is awesome," she said in a giddy voice, jumping up and down.

he couldn't help but to smile as how adorable she looked. her long hair was curled at the ends and would boing whenever she made the slightest movement. she hadn't stopped smiling that entire time, which meant that her dimple was on show that entire time.

"i will," he replied with a faint and loving smile. 

when i was writing this chapter, i wrote like 2-3 paragraphs then played a round of candy crush and went back to writing, all while listening to 'my everything' on repeat and half crying 😃