Wishes

A/N: This is my first cloy fanfic (and my first time posting on Wattpad) so I hope you guys will be nice to me, hahaha! I fell in love with this couple and this was supposed to be just a little one shot and it turned out... super long. Hope the length won't be a problem but I felt it would be too weird to divide the fic in two parts. Hope you guys like it!

I.

Their hands intertwine automatically as if it's something so natural, something that's been craved inside their hearts. Muscle memory, only it's a recent one — Se-ri can hardly believe four months ago she didn't know Jeong-Hyeok. She feels as if she's known him forever.

Their fingers move silently, the weight of their rings heavy yet right on their hands. It feels weird for Se-ri but completely right at the same time. They don't have to talk about what the rings represent because it's simply there, right between them, no matter how distant they are from each other. Their hearts are always close.

Finally, the fingers still and settle with their palms pressed close together. His hands are gentle, even if they're much bigger than hers, and she chances a smile at him, one that she hopes will show him just how happy she is. Everything with him is fleeting — everything feels as if it'll disappear any moment now, but they're here together, in her bedroom, in Seoul, and she can pretend this is just what their future looks like, even if it's just for one evening.

He gives her a small smile and his eyes crinkle a little, just enough to let her know he means it. He tugs lightly at her hands and she finds herself closer to him, hands pressed against both their chests. It's a weird hug, but she breathes in his scent, snuggling into where his shoulder meets his neck, and she's never felt safer. She feels his warmth spread through her when his cheek meets her hairline and she thinks, well, it's like they are meant to fit together like this.

"Thank you," she whispers into his neck. Their left hands are still huddled together, but she feels his right arm sneak around her back, bringing her closer.

"What for?" Ri Jeong-hyeok asks quietly.

"This evening," Se-ri replies. "This is the happiest I've ever felt on my birthday."

She feels him shaking his head. "I'm supposed to thank you instead."

She nods slowly because she knows what he means. Their talk outside her apartment building is still in her head, just the way she knows he hopes it will always be. The remaining of the evening as well — making a wish as she blew the candles on the adorable old fashioned cake Ri Jeong-hyeok chose, sharing the cake with the boys, sitting next to Jeong-hyeok as they all enjoyed the rest of the day together.

Now, in his arms... she wishes her birthday would never end.

"Will you stay?" Her voice is quiet but steady.

She feels a little flustered because she's not usually this forward, but then again Ri Jeong-hyeok makes her feel like no one else ever has. It would not be their first time sharing a bed — there was the hospital, the night at the school during that awful blizzard, and recently the few nights he's been staying at her place. But they always had a reason — she was scared after the encounter with Cho Cheol Gang, she had drunk too much soju that other evening and he had to carry her (she was barely drunk but he did not have to know that)... tonight is different though. She doesn't have a proper reason.

She feels she doesn't need one anyway.

He's hesitant, she can feel it.

"I want to remember next year," she continues, "that I spent every last second of this birthday with you."