56-1

"Noona." My eyes shift over to look at him beside me on my bed. It's our last day together before he leaves. Just a week ago money was transferred to his bank account by his father. He didn't know what to think for a while, but before he denied the transfer I sat him down and convinced him to take it, to use it for school. I couldn't convince him to see his father, who is now back in the apartment and going to AA meetings and seeing a psychiatrist weekly. But I didn't really try to begin with. Once his father has cleaned up his act, has forgiven himself for all that he's done and not done, only then will I push Jaewook to go see him. His mother is still staying at a friend's house, but she told me that she goes over at times to make sure her husband is eating well. I don't know if they'll ever heal their relationship but I do know they won't divorce—there's no helping it. She even picked up a job at a bakery, something she always wanted to do but was scared to. And it's revived her, given her the sense of power and independence she lost and so needed. Now she is stronger, to the extent of even apologizing to me for all she had said to me in the past. While I still don't particularly like the woman, I can't refuse her honest apology when I know just how broken she was back then. Jaewook's still wary of her—that sense of trust was lost because of her reliance on him during his father's abuse—but he makes more of an effort to see her, and even offers her help with anything she needs. His family may be nowhere near the perfect image of home life, but the improvement is obvious and transformative. Jaewook's anxiety over my own safety has finally ceased and we've been doing all we can in the little time we have left before school begins. "I'm going to miss this so much," he whispers as his sparkling eyes shift between my own, hand now holding onto the side of my face, thumb tracing over my features. "Me too," I reply. "But you're coming down for Chuseok, that's not that far away." "I guess," he mumbles. "But I'm used to seeing you every day." He leans his head forward on the pillow, an innocent smile painting his lips. "Every hour, every minute, every second," his nose touches mine now as he purposely widens his eyes at me. The playfulness behind his ridiculous stare causes me to chuckle. "Okay stalker, that's enough. Every month or so won't be too bad." The pout is imminent at the mention of months, his wide eyes back to normal size. "I already miss you." I softly laugh. "You're so cute. Stop being so cute it'll make it harder for me." The mischevious grin is instantaneous. "If I act cute enough will you come with me?" He raises the tone of his voice and cocks his head to the side. Then he turns on his stomach and holds his chin in his hands, eyelashes fluttering and teeth poking the skin of his lower lip endearingly. "Hmm?" He perks his head again and I clench my eyelids shut, groaning in mock pain. "If any other man, hell if any other woman did what you just did I'd puke on the spot. Why, Im Jaewook, are you both the sexiest and goddamn cutest human I have ever seen?" "It's a gift," he says with a pointed chin. I make an effort to raise up onto my elbows and climb over his body. He turns over on his back to look up at me. "Don't show any of those female students that gift okay? I know there aren't many and their dorm is separate and much smaller but that also means they'll be more aggressive in their search to find a hunky student to pursue. Don't pay them any attention, got it Jae?" I wag my finger down at him. He smirks. "Noona," he says in a loose way, a hint of his satoori intonation shining through—a rare occurrence. "No one compares to you. No. One." He leans up to kiss my lips. "I'll call you anytime I see one approaching." He pretends to pick up a call with his hand. "Noona, did you get the package I bought online? Won't you send me a photo with it on," he says lowly and I snort. "Oh come on, haven't I been a good boy, don't I deserve a little—" "I swear to god if you talk like that in front of ANYONE I will find you and kill you myself." "Oh," His eyebrows raise a bit. "Good to know," he says in a playful tone, nodding his head as if I told him something useful. "Hey," I laugh. He mirrors my expression and reaches up to peck my lips again. Then he sits up, causing me to sit onto his lap. He kisses me again as the sheets leave his torso bare. I take advantage of this, trying to implant the feeling of my arms around his neck, of his soft lips on mine, his tongue tantalizing as it tickles my mouth, the smell of him around me, the comfort of his love and companionship. . . . Similar to a night months ago after Jaewook graduated from high school, we find ourselves sitting at a table, meat sizzling in the middle of a grill, with Hansoo accompanying us. Unlike that night, we do not drink and I do not hate Hansoo nearly as much, or really at all. The mood is bittersweet as we spend the night out together pigging out at Jaewook's restaurant of choice. "Have you been preparing? Working out and stuff? They're going to work you hard," Hansoo says as he momentarily takes a break from eating. "Yeah I've been stepping it up at the gym, more weight training." "Make sure you take care of your body. You're going to be sore a lot so ice your muscles and remember to stretch."