AFTERGLOW |CYJ

48

Yeonjun walked around the car to inspect the wheel on the side she was previously seated. He crouched as she scanned the wheel under the faint light emerging from the motel's board signs. She stood behind him, her hand falling on his back as she leant forward and looked at the inflated wheel. He stood up calmly turning to her as he slid his hand around her waist. "Is it bad?", she asked, panicking, refusing to leave her side.

"I don't think we can get a mechanic till the morning", he says, glancing back and forth their sriracha coloured SUV and her worried features.

"I heard something on the way and knew something was wrong. The car has never made noises like that", she says, adding to his observation.

"I know. It would have been worse if it were in the middle of the highway", he added.

"There's a spare wheel in the back, we'll see if I can fix it in the morning", he assured, leaning in to kiss her. She melted into his affection for a moment, the tension leaving her shoulders briefly. When he pulled back, he absently turned to the motel's entrance without realising that he had kissed her. It was an unconscious habit that he hadn't left, her tension combined left them both clueless at the small moment of intimacy they shared.

"Leave it. We'll look at it tomorrow morning.", he called her from a distance he had already gone and seeked her presence. She turned and followed him to the entrance, while adjusting the strap of her vanity on her shoulder. The bag swayed as she hurried inside and united with him in a queue at the receptionist desk. She looked around the reception area briefly noting down the ambience it covered.

It looked like an entrance to an office, formal with posh chairs laid behind to relax. She slid her hand around his arm as he crossed his. She pulled her hand away to adjust the length of her dress beyond her thighs. But no matter how much she stretched her dress, it shrunk to its original length. He notices her struggling with her dress, and without speaking a word, he extended his hand on her bottom protectively. He moved her close to him as she stepped forward, awkwardly yet obediently.

And if that wasn't enough, the sleeveless cut of the dress exposed her arms. The air in the reception area was cold, inducing shivers. She brought her hands up her elbows and rubbed her palms over her arms.

Without a word, he stepped behind her, wrapping his arms around her belly. His warmth enveloped her instantly, melting the icy barrier between them. She leaned back into him, feeling his steady breath against her neck, the comfort of his presence radiating through the cold. The tension in her shoulders eased, but it wasn't just the warmth, it was the closeness. She lifted her hand up his cheek, moving her cheek closer to his lips. The two sway slowly in soft steady movements back and forth. His arms locked her in his embrace and her back rested against his chest.

"Tell me something I don't know about you", he murmured, his deep voice brushing against her neck like a warm gust of wind, sending shivers down her spine. It seemed as though he had read her mind, targeting the one thing she was not confident at. She gulped before answering, the feel of which his lips experienced as he lay them close to her neck. The midnight had brought out the bold, unfiltered side of him. He wasn't even sure about what he was doing, but his mind stood by it calling it pass time until they hit the bed.

"I..cling to the past more often than you think", she murmured back, slowly bobbing her head behind for him to make space for his head in the crook of her neck. She rested her hand over his, her fingers vehemently slipping in between his fingers. She told herself that she was just responding to him but it was so passionate, that she started questioning it. Had he made her feel like this all this while? 

"Tell me something I don't know about you", she whispered next, her voice reaching him, his eyelids drooped as he closed the distance between them with a intimate kiss on her neck.