Translation of Love

13

Confession

Like déjà vu, the slamming of a door jerks me awake again. My eyes open to a dark room, and it takes time for my pupils to dilate. My body feels heavy as lead—alcohol is still coursing through my veins, but less intense than earlier. As my body de-numbs with my consciousness, I feel an arm laying on my waist. Once I can see I notice Taeyoung looking at me.

His open eyes shock me for a moment, causing me to gasp in surprise.

"Oh geez. You scared me."

He lightly snorts with amusement.

"Why are you awake?" I ask.

"I can't sleep."

"Oh..." My heart begins to beat fast, the sober part of me more aware of the situation at hand. All I can look at are his eyes, which are looking at my lips.

His fingers come up to my lips, softly tracing their shape. I'm frozen in shock. What is he doing?

His thumb moves up to my cheek, slowly and agonizingly grazing my skin. I feel hot, the complete opposite of hours earlier. Finally, his thumb traces the outline of my eye, running underneath my eyebrow before stopping at my temple. Now his hand is cupping my face, palm on my cheek, thumb on my temple, and fingers in my hair.

My breathing is ragged as I watch him. Say it. Just say it.

The tipsy part of me tries to convince myself, but I keep swallowing the words. Eventually, they come out, the confidence I had when drunk coming back out.

"I like you."

My words hang in the darkness.

His eyes move to look at my own.

The silence is enough to kill me. Say something asshole, don't make me second guess myself like this. I can feel my insides get itchy, eager to move away from him in embarrassment. My lips part as my breathing gets heavier.

"I like you too."

These words immediately soothe my body, and instead of feeling embarrassed, a wave of nerves washes over my whole being. My heart could probably beat out of my chest at this point.

Now what, I ask myself. We stare at each other way too much.

I can tell it's about 6 in the morning because a soft, dim light slowly makes its way through the thin sheet covering the window above the bed. It's still dark, but soft shadows begin to form.

Do I just... go back to sleep?

All of a sudden Taeyoung holds both sides of my face with his hands, bowing my head before his lips softly press against my forehead. Time seems to go by slowly—my breath hitches in my throat, eyes wide, hands moving to hold onto his shirt. His lips feel soft against my skin, and they linger there before he moves, placing his forehead against mine, nose touching my own.

He looks so cute up close.

His eyes are soft as they look at me, and I realize then that it's because of how he looks at me that I'd trust this boy with my life. It's not lighthearted, it never was. From day one when I dropped those papers, his gaze on me was deep, yet soft. So inviting that I always find myself lost in his brown eyes, struggling to look away.

And with my eyes still lost in his own, his gaze shifts, looking at my lips before lightly placing his full lips on my own. It is so soft that I almost don't feel him, as soft as a butterfly's wings fluttering against my hands.