Eileen had gone to the hill early that Saturday morning. It was a cold, winter day, but it was clear. The sky was a pale blue, like a baby robin’s egg. Not a cloud marred the azure dome. She set up her easel, wondering who would brave the chill air to have their portraits painted today. But she was hopeful. After all, it was the weekend. There were sure to be some tourists.
Since no one was yet waiting for her to sketch their picture, she began to paint upon a canvas the things she’d hidden in her heart. She worked quickly, with efficient movements, yet she poured a lifetime of love into this masterpiece. Jimin’s face began to materialize, bit by lovely bit. His eyes were the last thing she perfected. Those stunning eyes. Would she ever see them, overflowing with love, looking at her again?
She stepped back to examine her work.
“What do you think? Do I still look like that?” A wonderful voice asked from right behind her ear, his breath teasing her skin.
Shocked, she spun around and brushed his shirt with white paint. Neither of them noticed. Eileen stared, flabbergasted, into the very eyes she’d been yearning to see a moment before.
“Jimin,” she whispered.
He hadn’t known what he was going to say when he saw her. But the instant she turned around he knew exactly what he wanted to do.
He took one more step forward, slipped his right arm around her waist, and drew her to him. Instantly, his head descended, and his lips found her own. As though no time or distance had passed between them.
Eileen sighed against his mouth, caught up in the bliss of Jimin’s kiss. How many times had she imagined this?
But it was even better than the imagining had been. She could feel the tendrils of that sweet love curling throughout her nerves, all the way down to her toes.
Against her lips, Jimin murmured, “Eireen.”
Oh! How good it sounded to hear him mispronounce her name again! She had missed that. So much. She hadn’t realized how much until he had spoken.
His sweet voice was rough as he whispered, “Can you ever forgive me for my silence?”
He pulled back slightly and lifted his left hand to touch her cheek tenderly. His eyes traveled to that glistening spot right before his fingertip captured the tear that she hadn’t realized her eye had released.
This was what she had missed. Jimin’s gentleness.
“I forgave you long ago,” she responded quietly. “I know you’re busy. I know you have millions of adoring fans. What need have you of me? I’m just—” Jimin’s finger came to rest over her lips, effectively silencing her.
“Everything. You’re everything to me, Eireen. I didn’t text you because I didn’t want to break your heart. But I think I managed to anyway. And I know I broke my own heart. I thought if I left you alone that you’d forget me. I came here today to put my fears to rest. But I discovered my own face staring back at me. Clearly, you didn’t forget me.”
“Jimin,” she whispered against his fingertip, “your eyes are the last thing I see every night before I go to sleep. How could I possibly forget you?”
“My eyes?” His fingertip moved to her cheek where he absentmindedly began to caress her skin in a way that was driving her wild.
“Your portrait – it hangs over my bed.” She tried to focus on her words, but the ecstatic touch of his finger on her face kept distracting her.
Suddenly, his face lit up like the noonday sun had just risen within it, his dark eyes brightening. “I keep your face over my bed too! Your emerald eyes have comforted me many a night when I couldn’t sleep for missing you.”
She just stared at him. Jimin hadn’t forgotten her. In fact, he had been pining for her as she had been yearning for him. Her heart bursting with joy and passion for him, she stood on her tiptoes and leaned forward excitedly to plant her mouth against his own. His hand was still cradling her left cheek. As they kissed, he slid his fingers along her jawline, sending tingles into her skin even while his gentle mouth sent little darts into the nerve endings in her lips. She was completely surrounded by his sweet presence. And she reveled in it.
