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Chapter 12: The Home Star – June 29, 2019

She couldn’t take his broken heart.  She reached for him.  She slid her arms around his neck; her body then followed her forward movement.  Her head leaned towards his.  Suddenly, the boat jerked, and she was thrown against his chest.  He lost his balance again, but this time he went flying backwards, taking her with him.  He ended up sprawled on the floor.  With her on top of him.

But to his surprise, she didn’t try to scramble to her feet.  She did not, in fact, move one muscle.  Her arms still around his neck, she lay staring down into his eyes.  For several long and satisfying moments.  Then…he felt something wet hit his cheek.  He reached up to touch it and realized it was her tear.  She was crying.  Streams flowing down her cheeks.

“You love me?” she finally breathed.  Her voice was full of awe.  “Why?”

No guy had ever loved her.  If Tae did, he had kept it hidden from her.  No other guy had ever looked her way.  No one had ever asked her out or admitted to a secret crush.  Not once.  

Her eyes probed the depths of Namjoon’s.  He could feel her heart pounding against his chest.  His own shifted violently at the expression in her gaze.

“I will always love you, Eunji.  Always.”  

His eyes swept across her lips.  He wanted another taste of their tenderness.  So much.  But, as always, he held himself in check.

“You’re beautiful,” he murmured as he locked eyes with her again.  “You’re sweet.”

He lost her there.  No one had ever called her sweet before.  But he wasn’t done.

“You’re brilliant.”

That, at least, no one could argue with.  She’d consistently earned top marks in school.  

The next thing he said surprised her the most.

“You’ve always made me laugh.”

Awed, she whispered, “I have?” 

Her breath traveled across his lips, making him crave her more.

He nodded.

“But I’ve rarely heard you laugh.”  Even as she said it, though, she could see that sweet smile he had often bent on her when she’d cracked some joke in response to Tae’s goofiness.  Her face was suddenly brightened by an instant enlightenment.  “You rarely laughed, but you smiled at me often.  I remember now.”

“That’s because you’re amusing,” he murmured, now distracted by her scent.  He inhaled deeply.

What was that?  Was it lavender?

He was also captivated by her breath passing into his mouth.  She was so close to him now that it would require nothing to kiss her.  Just a slight movement of his head, and he could capture her lips with his own.  Much like that night in the pool.  But would today end the same way that evening had?

She gazed down at his mouth.  “Why do you always hold yourself back?” she whispered.

“What?” His eyes collided with hers, making them both cross-eyed.

“You always hold yourself back.  You don’t allow yourself to feel emotion.  Or to act upon it.  You don’t laugh.  You never instigate any touch between us…”

“Just because I don’t act upon it doesn’t mean I don’t feel it,” he murmured huskily.

Stealing her breath again.  So was the expression in his eyes.  She leaned closer to him.  She bent her head and kissed his cheek.  Just to see what he would do.

His arms tightened around her.  And a tick appeared in the side of his face.  Where his dimple usually surfaced.  

“React,” she murmured.  

Then she bent her head and kissed his neck.  Amazed by her own boldness.

She heard his shocked inhalation of breath.  But nothing else happened.  She bent her head and whispered into his ear.  

“Now that our engagement is off, I would like a proper wedding proposal, please.”

His heart exploded like a rocket taking off.  “What?” he gasped.

“Joon,” she whispered, gazing down at him with tears in her eyes.  “How could you think that I wouldn’t want you?”

“Tae,” he murmured.

“Isn’t in this picture anymore,” she mumbled.  Right before she brushed her lips across his.

This time he did react.  With an intensity that both startled her and drew her closer to him.  After several breathless moments, she pulled back and beamed down at him.

“I guess I didn’t need to wait for nightfall after all.”

“What?”

“To find my star.  It’s already lighting my way home.”  She smiled at him.  Then she brushed her lips across his soft ones again.  “It’s you, Joon.  You’re my star.  And you’re my home too.  Always and forever.”