The Light of Dead Stars | KSJ

13

The days pass by too quickly for your liking.

The morning after your beach trip, you and Jin enjoyed breakfast at the resort and then spent the rest of the morning shopping in the nearby Farmer's Market, finishing with another bag of ingredients to bring home.

Emile drove you around to marvel at different sceneries and stop by a fishing village for lunch and another round of buying specialty food and ingredients you could find. You and Jin were in-charge for dinner that night and had too much fun experimenting in the kitchen, leaving you both another laughing mess before you fell asleep.

The next day, you enjoyed the morning at the pool with the girls before Hyun-a was whisked off to another hotel where she'd spend time with her own family before the wedding, and the afternoon was spent shopping with Sejeong while both your husbands went golfing at a resort. You and your sister-in-law bought different types of soaps and clothes that you got to buy for a cheap price, including a gray sweatshirt that has a whale on it, similar to Jin's favorite blue one that he wears so many times.

You were too shy to give it to him when you arrived that night, as you wondered if it would be weird for him that you got him a gift just because it reminded you of him, but Jimin convinced you over the phone that it's no big deal.

You and your husband have always been honest with each other, your best friend reminded you, and if Jin would feel uncomfortable - "for whatever stupid reason, as if getting a gift from his wife isn't normal," as per Jimin - then he'd tell you, and you'd be okay.

Which is why the first thing you decided to do this morning when you woke up was give him the little gift.

You sit up on your bed and get the paper bag next to the night table, thinking that Jin will be waking up in a little while. It's the day of the wedding, after all, and he has to do the big brother job of calming Taehyung down and wiping his tears because everybody knows that he'd be crying once he sees Hyun-a.

"Why are you staring at the paper bag?" Jin's gruff voice startles you.

You didn't realize that's exactly what you've been doing, as the last-minute nervousness overtakes you.

"Just, uh, convincing myself it's not weird to be giving you a gift," you stammer, looking at him.

This catches his attention, as he wipes his eyes and sits up, too. "You got me a gift?" He says, grabbing the bag from you. "Why would it be weird? I got you a dress."

"For your brother's wedding, yes. It's beautiful but this is different. This is from my hard-earned money and–"

"Yah, I work hard for my money," he says with a straight face.

"You know what I mean," you pout.

"Not really."

"You come from money; that makes all the difference."

"Fine," he gives in. "But then why would getting me something be weird? Spouses give each other gifts, although you never let me, which is unfair, by the way."

"You can, as long as there's a budget that I will impose," you say. "But yeah, so this thing I got is–"

He tears open the bag before you get to finish your sentence, and he squeals in joy when he sees what's inside.

"___, this is so sweet!" He pulls it over his head before you get to stop him because it's not washed yet, and he stands up to check himself in the mirror. "I look good, don't I?"

You've got to admit, it fits him well, and he looks good in gray - as he does in any color, really. But you merely hum in response, and he playfully rolls his eyes before he checks himself in the mirror again.

"I like it," he says. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. It's the least I could do for all that you've done and given me," you smile, feeling a little sentimental. "We've been here for almost a week and I've eaten some of the best dishes of my life and I've seen such amazing sights that I'll never forget. That gift barely even matches up to all that I've received from you but I guess I just wanted you to know that I appreciate you, a lot."

Jin feels that you're saying more than you planned and expected so he walks closer and sits next to you on the bed.

"I know it's not easy to pretend to be into someone who isn't the one you want and the fact that of all the people you had to be arranged with, it had to be me," you continue. "I mean, the fact that you even had to be arranged just because of my family is insane, and you've treated me with nothing but kindness."

You put your hand over his, wanting him to know you mean every single word. "So thanks again, Seokjin. I know it's not even our wedding day for me to be even feeling sentimental but yeah, I just wanted you to know."

"You're cute when you're being sentimental though," he smiles, and if he didn't look adorable, you'd smack his arm. "But thanks, really. You didn't have to but this looks really pretty, way better than my favorite Thom Browne one."

"Gee, I appreciate the comparison," you chuckle.

He takes your hand this time. "This wasn't easy for either of us, okay? And honestly, I'm having so much fun; it's not even hard pretending, actually. I think the fact that we can be comfortable like this means it's natural, and that makes everything better, right? I mean, imagine how hard it would be if we can't stand each other. That would be a disaster."

"It would be," you chuckle. "But yeah, it's a good thing we're comfortable with each other. Otherwise I'd be cursing my existence everyday and that would be terrible."

You feel lighter, being able to express your appreciation for him and sharing your feelings like that, as if the bottled up concerns of the past days have been released, and you'll probably need another one of these 'honesty moments' with him after another week.

"Good. So today is gonna be quite the test," he turns a bit serious. "More people, more socializing, and honestly, I'd want to just be next to you the whole time but I've gotta be close to my brother but either way, we're gonna be fine. I don't want you feeling down on yourself or insecure, okay? I want you to enjoy today."

"I will," you smile, knowing it's one way to make things easier for him, too.

There's a knock on the door and Jin opens to find the breakfast that Emile asked to be prepared. The kitchen is quite busy so he brought it up instead.

The eggs benedict smells amazing, and you can't wait to sink your teeth into it. As you overlook the rolling hills outside the balcony and see how beautiful the weather is this morning, you already have a good feeling; it's gonna be a good day.