texted | c.sy

twenty-six

yeoreum breathes in the night air as she admires the beautiful city lights across the still han river. seungyoun, who firmly holds her hand in the pocket of his hoodie, silently smiles upon hearing to his girlfriend's soft sigh of relief.

after the photoshoot session ended, seungyoun and yeoreum decided to spend the rest of the day going on a short night date before going to seungyoun's apartment for another birthday celebration, a small and intimate one with only two of them.

"you are enjoying this so much." seungyoun begins as he turns to yeoreum. he asked, "how long has it been since you went out for a night walk?"

yeoreum scoffs a little. "the real question here is, mr. cho, is that..." she fixes their intertwined fingers before she continued in a sarcastic way, "how long has it been since i went out for a night walk with you?"

seungyoun cracks a laugh, yet deep down feels a bit apologetic to her. he acknowledges the fact that he has less time to spend for a date with yeoreum since the start of their debut preparation, and it is no doubt that he feels regret about it. sure, yeoreum will always offer him reassurances everytime he brings up this matter yet a little bit of guilt will never fail to creep in, especially at times like this.

it becomes quiet at the moment after except the interminable sound of their footsteps hitting the stoned path compiled with their soft breathings. the sky is coal dark with the stars shimmering like hidden little diamonds. the moon is obscured with clouds that turn brownish as they float under its luminosity.

yeoreum feels the thickening silence. and then she notices something. oh my, i shouldn't have said that... she thinks, mentally frowns at herself.

"love," she calls her boyfriend, and seungyoun immediately turns to her with anticipation in his eyes. and yeoreum wants to kiss him so bad. "the reason i am enjoying this so much because we finally get to spend some time together like this, just the two of us after a week without seeing you up close. i finally get to hold your hand, link my arm with you and walk together with you. so, i wanna say sorry—"

yeoreum's sentences get abruptly cut when seungyoun suddenly stops walking, sways his body to face his girlfriend as he disentangled their fingers and then delicately holds yeoreum's hands.

"doll, why are you saying sorry?" seungyoun questioned.

yeoreum is hesitant at first. she looks down to her feet but looks back up when seungyoun gently tilts her chin to meet their eyes again.

"well..." yeoreum wets her lips, trying her best not to stutter. "i shouldn't have rephrase it like that considering how busy you are to make time for me, i mean, for us. i shouldn't have overreacted, i should be more understanding. but please know that i am truly happy that you are here with me, seungyoun. i just couldn't control it. i just miss you so much and i always want to be with you."

contentment tiptoes into seungyoun's heart. without saying anything, he pulls yeoreum into his embrace as his arms softly nestle around the back of her body.

yeoreum is taken aback for a bit as she whispers, "baby, what if someone sees us?"

seungyoun replies before resting his chin on yeoreum's head, breathing in the strawberry scent of the girl's shampoo, his favourite scent. "i don't care. i'm just hugging my girlfriend."

yeoreum inhales deeply as her mood lightens, leaning in to the boy's warm embrace. seungyoun tenderly runs his fingers through yeoreum's brown locks that cascade in loose waves down to her waist. the two stay like that for a moment, sharing warmness as they are engulfed with the chilly air.