The Red String of Fate

9. "So Keep Me Up"

3:00 am was the time read on the clock on top of Jungil's drawer. For the past couple of weeks, Ryeon had recently taken a preference for sleeping in his room. He had just had a nightmare for the first time in a while and was now sitting up, body adjacent to his bed, while trying his best to catch his breath.

He reached over to drink from his prepared glass of water but due to his anxious state, the glass fell from his hand, shattering when it made contact with his hardwood floor. Ryeon, who was still asleep beside him, woke up with a jolt.

"Huh? Huh?"

Jungil's head swerved back as he heard Ryeon's awakening. "Did I wake you? I'm sorry, I dropped my glass of water." Jungil stuttered while trying his best to not disturb her any more than he already did.

"..mmm...Are you okay?"

"Yes-yes, I'm fine. Go back to sleep."

"...You're lying"

Though there was no light in the room, Ryeon knew Jungil better than anyone. She could tell something was up by the way he was stuttering and how his voice lacked any keenness. "What's wrong?" She pushed herself back to rest on the headboard of the bed and looked over her shoulder to Jungil. His back was turned and his shoulders were slumped. He didn't seem like he was going to give her an answer.

"...."

With a deep sigh, Ryeon pulled the sheets back and clumsily found her way to the light switch. Rubbing her eyes, she slowly found her way to him. "First, let's clean this up".  She reached to grab a piece of the broken glass, but her hand was intercepted by Jungil.

"Stop....I'll do it."

He was on edge, not irritated, but bothered. Ryeon was standing in front of him, still as a statute. Looking up, he saw the eyes of hesitation written on Ryeon's face. "hmm?" With a yawn, Ryeon replied with a shake of her, expressing that nothing was wrong.

Jungil focused his attention back on the piece of glass when Ryeon asked whether or not he had a nightmare. Halting midway through picking up a shard, he unconsciously tensed his hand, accidentally cutting himself on the glass. "Hss-"

"Ya-"

"No- I'm okay. Here, let me go throw these shards away." Jungil gently pushed himself through Ryeon, leaving her to wonder whether he did have a nightmare. Filled with fatigue, Ryeon plopped down at Jungil's side of the bed. In her view, a man could be seen with slouched shoulders and exhaustion written all over their face. As she was gazing at him, he asked her an interesting question.

"Is it easy for you?" Still focused on washing his cut, Jungil vocalized out loud the thought that was running around his head. Ryeon leaned her head to her side, curious as to what he meant. Jungil spoke again, "Starting over again, us starting over again..."

"...Of course not" Is what she said which was met with a Jungil turning the tap off to relax his body against the sink. "We both know that even recognizing each other is an abnormality in it itself,  but here we are." She steadied herself to begin towards Jungil, finding herself bent over the sink to try and find his face. "..right?"

He agreed with a simple hum but it seemed like she interpreted his question wrong. "I mean... us. Like how we're supposed to act and what we're supposed to do." Still face to face with the metal of the sink, he elaborated. "At times it feels like I'm not properly loving you...Like I don't know how to. Maybe I can blame it on our distance of centuries but...I don't know if I'm doing this right."

With a light chuckle, Ryeon moved behind him to hold him in an embrace, letting out a sigh of relief. "Hmm~ You're doing just fine, I promise. I know we come from a time of less affection and the situations around us made it difficult to honestly get to know each other but, we have another chance" Jungil picked his head up and turned to face Ryeon, taking in her words through the look of her eyes.

"Let's make use of it." Rising on her toes, she connected a deep kiss with Jungil's lips, giving reassurance to his troubles. "I know it hurts to say but, we have to rediscover ourselves, we're not the same people we were back then but one thing for sure is that I belong to you Jungil, I know it."

Without hesitation though gently, Jungil held the sides of Ryeon's face and placed his lips flat upon hers. While their lips danced passionately, Ryeon's hands stayed plastered around his waist, seeking balance. Without their knowledge, their bodies hurriedly moved towards their sleeping quarters, causing them to trip over wood met carpet. "Oh-" Ryeon let out as she fell on the bed.

This didn't stop them from continuing to "dance". Jungil hunched over to reach Ryeon's lips while caressing her nape while Ryeon had her fist balled up on his sweatshirt. "Ryeon-ah", with a soft hum Ryeon responded, still passionately locked onto his lips. With the last remaining pecks, Jungil pulled away, face flushed and hair disoriented.

Pant, pant

With an inch of distance put between their faces, "Let's go back to sleep, it's still really early". Ryeon whined in disagreement and reached for his lips again. "Ryeon-ah~," He said while stretching his back straight, hands still holding Ryeon's face, "You need sleep. If we keep going, I'll keep you up for too long".

"...So keep me up." Jungil chuckled and dropped his hands to his sides and went around his bed to tuck himself in from the other side, closing the light on his way there. "Come." Though reluctant, Ryeon slid close to Jungil, resting her body against his. "I'll take care of you later but right now, you need sleep. Sleep Ryeon"

Ryeon turned to face him and lifted her hand to caress his cheek, resulting in a soft smile on both their faces. Responding with a hum, they both closed their eyes and rested for the remainder of the night- early morning. Either way, they were not prepared for the knock that would come to  Jungil's door only an hour before he was to wake up.

KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!
SUNBAE!! SUNBAE!!
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I'm back!! I know you guys are tired of me going on hiatus but I'm here to stay! I'll be uploading weekly, and if I don't, don't be shy to ask for an update! Commenting really helps me feel motivated to write so make sure you comment^^ Thank You for reading! If you enjoyed, don't forget to ⭐️, See you in the next chapter<3