Quarter of a Century – Chapter 28: A Good Night’s Sleep

Breeze turned her head to the other side, attempting to flee from the light that bent to rouse her from a peaceful slumber.  Her eyes were closed, but she could still tell that a bright light had begun to invade the atmosphere around her.  She slowly raised her eyelids to let the new day in, millimeter by glaring millimeter.  Where was she?  It wasn’t the most comfortable position, although her head was pillowed against something firm yet slightly yielding.  

She opened her eyes fully to discover that she was about to fall off a couch.  She was lying, her whole body straightened out, on the very edge of the couch, her left leg slightly bent and resting across a tight waist, the tips of her toes a few inches from the back of the couch.  She was held firmly by an arm that had laced itself around her shoulder, the long fingers of a slender hand resting on her upper arm.  And she was snuggled up against Namjoon’s body, her head resting on his chest.  She could hear the steady drum of his heart beating in her ear.  She closed her eyes to listen to that comforting tattoo for a few moments before she suddenly came to with a start.

What was she doing lying in Namjoon’s arms?  She needed to get up before his parents appeared in the living room.  How had she ended up here?  Had anything happened between them?  She looked down the length of her body.  All her clothes seemed to still be in the right place.  Phew.  She began to carefully sit up.  She was trying not to wake Joonie.  She was unsuccessful.  He roused and opened his eyes to stare up at her.  

“Breeze?” he whispered, questioningly, sliding his right hand through his hair as he glanced around the room before catching her eye again.  His left hand instinctively tightened around her.

She was bent over him now, his arm still around her.  She had leaned forward slightly when she’d attempted to rise from the couch.  Her face was a scant six inches from his own.  His eyes left hers to meet her mouth.  He was drawn towards those parted, pink lips.  Nervously, she moistened them with her tongue.  Which didn’t help Namjoon’s concentration one bit.  Now he was mesmerized by those tantalizing lips.  His head began to move slowly towards her face.  She froze, like a deer caught in the headlights.  Was Joonie going to kiss her?

“Good morning, lovebirds!”  His sister breezed into the room.

Startled, Breeze fell off the couch.  Or she would have if Namjoon’s arm hadn’t tightened around her.

Kyungmin smiled at them before whispering, “Did you two sleep on the couch together all night?  Really, Namjoon, your bed would have been more comfortable!”

Breeze unwrapped herself from his embrace and stood up.  “We didn’t mean to!  We were watching a movie, and we must have fallen asleep.”  She was at a loss.  She didn’t remember too much about last night.  Breeze looked at Namjoon, hoping for clarification.

He smiled at her.  She was beautiful even ruffled by sleep.

“Breeze fell asleep early, almost as soon as I turned on the movie.  I stayed up reading most of the night.”

Breeze’s eyes flew to meet his own.  “You did?”  

She simply knew he was talking about her book.  Then she glanced down at the floor and saw it lying at her feet.  She bent to pick it up.  Namjoon’s slender fingers reached out to touch her hand as she began to lift the book from the floor.

“I finished it,” he responded quietly.

She couldn’t take her eyes off his.  There was something penetrating hidden in his gaze.  What had he thought?  Did he enjoy her book?

“I loved it,” he whispered.  “Is there more?  It stopped a month ago.”

She smiled.  “That was right before I came to South Korea.  I had to get it bound before I left the United States.”

“Yes, but have you written me any more since then?”

She nodded.  It was in her backpack.  It was just a small journal.  Only handwritten entries.  Nothing typed.  Yet.

His eyes followed hers towards his bedroom.  

“Is there more in your backpack?”

She looked at him.  How had he guessed that?  She nodded.  “But it’s handwritten.  Much harder to read.”

“Can I see it?”

She sighed as she looked at him.  Perhaps.  She wasn’t sure she was ready for him to read the second book yet.

“Maybe.  Later.  I need to do some shopping this morning.”  

It was a lie.  She instantly felt sorry she had just lied to Joonie!  She just hadn’t been sure what to say, and she was becoming quite uncomfortable here around his family.  Around him.  Giving him the first book had been hard enough.  But the second?  She hadn’t been as careful in what she’d written in the second book.  It hadn’t been edited since she hadn’t typed it yet.  Her pulse racing, she turned to head for the kitchen.

Namjoon tilted his head to the side and called after her, “Will you walk with me this morning?”

She turned towards him, surprise in her eyes for a moment as she considered what that question might have implied had it been spoken in Korean.  She was thinking of another of his songs.

“You think I’m your Miss Right?” She meant it jokingly, only belatedly realizing what she had just implied.  She could feel her face growing red.  She spun on her heel and nearly ran to the kitchen.

Namjoon smiled to himself.  Now he was thinking about that adorable pair of baby shoes he hadn’t been able to stop himself from buying for a ridiculous amount of money.  He could see wee feet in those tiny shoes.  Followed by squat, little legs.  And he could see that baby’s adoring parents standing on either side of his cute, little shoes.  That darling, small boy was grinning up at Breeze as she clung to his hand, Namjoon squatting next to their child, his strong hands around the little boy’s waist ensuring that he didn’t fall.

Yes.  Namjoon was pretty certain he had met his Miss Right.

Namjoon walked along the path he intended to bring Breeze down later today.  He was on a mission.  Once it was completed, he headed back home to pick her up.

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