THANK YOU // DEX ✔️

22.

Jinyoung woke up first. It was half past eight in the morning, and Siyoung still seemed to be in deep sleep. She must have gotten very little sleep in the past few days, Jinyoung thought. With a gentle movement, he brushed a stray strand of hair away from her face and smiled when he saw how peaceful Siyoung looked in her sleep. That girl had been through hell, and he didn't want to know what had been racing through her mind in the last few weeks. His smile faded when he noticed the huge bruise on her forehead, neck and arm – it was impossible to miss, as her whole arm was tinged with a shade of purple. Her forehead was just little purple and the neck looked like one big hickey.

He started to sit up, planning to make breakfast while letting the brunette sleep a bit longer. However, arms wound around him, holding him quite firmly.

"I don't want to be alone," Siyoung mumbled sleepily and rested her head on Jinyoung's thigh. Jinyoung wondered if she was fully aware by now or if she was still in a half-asleep state, and whether she'd apologize once she fully woke up. Either way, she looked adorable.

"Yesterday, you were full of words about being capable of going to the police, and now you're afraid to lie alone in bed?" Jinyoung laughed and placed his hand on her back. Siyoung chuckled at Jinyoung's remark.

"I'm not scared, I just like your presence," she said with a wide smile. Jinyoung felt that yesterday's confrontation with Seojun had helped Siyoung. Maybe he'd beaten her up, which Jinyoung would always blame himself for letting happen, but after yesterday, she seemed a lot calmer. He had never seen her smile so much or appear so relaxed.

"Just my presence?" Jinyoung provocatively asked.

"Okay, maybe you too, but just a little bit," Siyoung mumbled. Jinyoung wanted to give her a tight hug and kiss her, considering how cute she looked when she said that. Most importantly, he was glad that she said it – but she had gone through something absolutely terrible yesterday, so he decided not to ask about relationship. For now, knowing that there was a special place for him in her heart was enough.

"You're blushing," Jinyoung said provocatively and pinched her cheeks, earning a light punch on his shoulder – a weak one, because Siyoung didn't have much strength lying like that.

"Go do whatever you wanted to do," Siyoung let go of Jinyoung and turned to her other side, "I'll sleep for another hour."

"Wow, I didn't know you could be this sassy," Jinyoung laughed. But when Siyoung didn't move, he couldn't help himself. He leaned toward her, rested his chin on her shoulder, and wrapped one arm around her. "Sorry, I didn't mean to offend or embarrass you." That's when Siyoung started laughing.

"And this is exactly how you'd get anyone to hug you," she explained amidst her laughter. Jinyoung wanted to say something, but she looked so incredibly adorable, and he was just glad to finally see her as she was before Seojun changed her.

"If you wanted a hug, you should've said so. My embrace is always open for you," Jinyoung sat back again. Siyoung nodded understandingly and once again laid her head on the ex-soldier's thigh.

"Can't I take a few days off and just stay in bed?" Siyoung suddenly murmured.

"Actually," Jinyoung began, "before I fell asleep, I thought of something, but only if StarShip allows it. A friend of mine has a summer house on Jeju. I thought of asking him if maybe we could be there for about three weeks. After what happened yesterday, you wouldn't be able to appear on any shows anyway. You can cover your arm, but your neck and forehead would still be a bigger issue. You'd take a three-week hiatus for your mental health. We'll enjoy a private beach, silence, the sea, and you could even work there if you'd like. Maybe you could find inspiration and finally finish that album."

"Are you trying to get us somewhere where it'll be just the two of us? Are you up to something, Kim Jinyoung?" Siyoung gazed deeply into his eyes, and when she saw how anxiously Jinyoung looked, she burst into laughter. "I'm kidding. I'd gladly go to Jeju with you. I haven't been there in ages. But I don't know about StarShip. In five weeks, I have KCON LA, and I need to practice. They probably won't allow it."

"You won't know until you try," Jinyoung smiled, "either drop by their office today or tomorrow and ask. Then let me know, so I can arrange it with my friend."

"Deal."

---

Please take this with a grain of salt. In fact, no company would allow this. Equally, it's highly unlikely that two celebrities could take three weeks off - they'd never get time off at the same time. This is fanfiction though. Everything is made up and the world of kpop is much easier in this book.