“I, just like you live in my heart. If your face, your voice, your way of speaking didn’t match, no one else could ever enter. So my heart always felt like it was wide open. Cold, lonely, it was always like that. Because it was always you. The person my heart wanted was…”

Embarrassed, I couldn’t lift my head while speaking. Gradually, Jun’s shoe-tip appeared in my sight as I fumbled around the floor. It felt like I could faintly hear Jun’s laughter.

“I’m a bit confused. Just now, it felt like I was being proposed to.”

“What? Oh, no, it’s not like that. A proposal!?”
Like a child encountering a large puddle, I waved my hands widely, telling him not to misunderstand. Suddenly, Jun wrapped his arm around my waist. As soon as his hand tightened, I leaned into Jun’s chest.

My heart, unprepared, began to race.

“Why do you keep doing this, hugging me suddenly like this?”

“Why, do you dislike being hugged?”

Although I clearly asked if he disliked being hugged just now, contrary to those words, Jun began to exert more force with his arms around my body. As if he wanted to contain all the warmth of my body from escaping.

Like someone who wants to keep me only in their heart.

As I tried to push him away, saying I couldn’t breathe, only then did he slightly loosen his arms. Of course, even with the arms loosened, Jun’s embrace wouldn’t allow me to slip out.

“Just hugging without saying anything beforehand.”

“It wouldn’t be cool if I said it in advance.”

“It’s not like doing this looks cool either.”

Upon saying that, Jun rested his chin on my head and lightly tapped it.

“This isn’t how you treat the person living in your heart.”

“You say that, and you claim I live in your heart.”

“That’s why I’m hugging you like this. Now, let’s go in. To your home.”

“Huh?”

“In my heart.”

I laughed softly against Jun’s chest. That way, we stood together a little longer, sharing each other’s warmth.

Under the moonlight, the sole spectator watching us.

???? ???? ????

Morning rush hour. The rhythmic swaying of the subway felt like the comforting touch of a grandmother, coaxing one to sleep. I closed my eyes briefly and, when I opened them again, several stations had already passed by in an instant. I must have dozed off for a moment, and when I tried to push through the crowd, I didn’t know when they had arrived.

If I didn’t get myself together, it felt like my eyelids would droop down in no time. Even though I might not know it, I must have yawned at least a hundred times.

This was undoubtedly the aftermath of the happy night yesterday.

After repeatedly saying goodbye to Jun in front of the entrance for quite a while, just before the date changed, when Jun said, “If it’s going to be like this, come into my place,” I finally managed to step inside.

Although it was late, I had thought about lying down on the bed to quickly get some sleep.

Indeed, I did. Even lying down on the bed, I couldn’t fall asleep due to the overwhelming excitement, recalling every moment from when you came to me last night to bringing me to the entrance of our house.

Looking at it once, twice, repeatedly recalling each scene like a stretched tape, overwhelmed by the excitement.

Thinking about your words, the comforting words you said, I started creating a collection of Jun’s famous lines. Gradually, I ended up creating a photo album, capturing your gaze in the deep night, your hair fluttering in the spring breeze, and your cheeks tinged with a gentle pink.
Moreover, my heart floated away as if it was reminded of the fact that all my senses were directed towards you—your warm embrace, the subtle fragrance like a baby blanket, the depth of the moonlight from that day, the pleasantly cool night air. With memories enhanced by touch and scent, I quietly lay on the bed, retracing the night we spent together multiple times.

The subway, which had a bit of space and leisure just a moment ago, was now filled with people intertwined like waffles. Oh, did I doze off again? Right. Where am I now?

My anxious head turned backward. As I looked through the window of the subway that had just started moving, the familiar station name caught my eye. There were still about three stations left until my stop.

I might pass my stop if I doze off again like this. Worried about this, I took out my phone from my pocket. I opened the piled-up messages by swiping the screen, and suddenly, I was wide awake. Jun’s message, which had arrived early in the morning.

In an instant, as if Jun was standing in front of me, embarrassment spread across my face.

When I pressed the message, a short sentence floated up like a balloon.

[Did you sleep well?]

My heart floated up to the sky along with these three letters.

It became natural to exchange such messages in the morning. The feeling of my heart rising to meet the clouds after these words seemed to encounter the clouds and become warm.

I hesitated for a long time over what to say, and the time my hand touched the phone on the screen became prolonged.

Still, I didn’t want to make him worry. With eyes still heavy from lack of sleep until late last night, I tapped the keypad.

[Yeah, probably. So-so.]

Even so, I became curious about whether you had a deep sleep last night.

[You? Did you sleep well?]

About one station passed, and the answer came quickly. It seemed like he had just checked the two messages I sent.

[Didn’t sleep well, you.] [I’m going to sleep now. Turned off the urgent light.]

Oh no, did he keep working after returning to the hotel last night? Somehow, it all seemed to be my fault. With a frowning eyebrow, I was about to write the sentence, “Go to sleep, now I won’t send any more messages.”

[But still, maybe because I received a kiss from you yesterday, I’m not that tired.]

It was a sweet remark that lifted the heavy heart a little. However.

[If a kiss can do this much, what will happen when we go further? Ah, I’m really curious about this.]

Sigh… Kim Jun.

Despite the affectionate words that slightly lifted my heavy heart, I suddenly didn’t want to reply immediately. I purposefully turned off the phone screen. Surely, there would be an indication that I read it, so it was better this way.

Not long after, a message popped up urgently on the screen. I deliberately took a moment before pressing Jun’s message. With a faint smile.