Namjoon didn’t want to stay out late. He had big plans for tomorrow. It was his birthday, after all. So he looked around the group and yawned before saying, “Breeze and I need to get going. Where are you guys staying?”
Jimin responded as Namjoon hurried everyone off the blanket, so he could fold it. Breeze reached for it, and he picked up their picnic basket. They waved goodbye and walked towards his eomma’s home. Namjoon was silent.
“Are you ok?” Breeze wondered aloud.
His head turned towards her. “Yes. I’m glad the guys came, but I won’t be able to entertain them. We have plans tomorrow.”
“Oh, we do, do we? Care to fill me in?”
He shook his head. “Nope. It’s a surprise.”
She laughed. “But it’s your birthday. Shouldn’t I be the one supplying the surprise?”
He raised his eyebrows. “You did. You walked into my life five days before my birthday. You were definitely my birthday surprise.”
Breeze’s heart flooded with warmth at his kind words. She was beaming now. “And here I thought you were my early Christmas present.”
He flashed his wide grin at her, sending those dimple lines curtseying to her again. “Can you be ready to leave the house at nine tomorrow?”
As she nodded, he responded, “And don’t eat breakfast!”
—
Breeze slept until past eight o’clock. Yesterday had been a long and emotional day for them both. She fervently hoped today was better. She believed it would be. It was Namjoon’s twenty-fifth birthday. He was a quarter of a century old now. Of course, in Korean years, he was twenty-six. But being a Westerner, she thought of his age as being marked by the moment he was born into this world.
She wondered what he had planned for today. Apparently, it involved breakfast. She stretched and yawned and climbed out of bed to get dressed. That’s when she saw it. On the foot of the bed was a paper heart. She bent to retrieve it.
“Good morning, love. When you’re ready, join me in the kitchen.”
She smiled. Joonie was so sweet! He’d been in her room but hadn’t woken her up. He’d given her the gift of sleep while leaving her a little love note. She put it between two pages of her journal. This action caused her to remember their conflict of yesterday, and her stomach soured for a moment. She really didn’t want Joonie to know all her thoughts. She believed he’d think less of her if he did. Yet, reading her private and painful struggles had caused him to try to recreate them in his own life. For love of her. Silly boy! She knew he was perfect. Though, yesterday she hadn’t had that much faith in him. She’d been too ready to believe the worst of him. That scared her a little. Clearly, she didn’t believe the real Namjoon was perfect even if she thought his persona was. If they ever had a real conflict, how would she deal with it? Would she try to run away again?
Namjoon was having no such qualms. He was humming in the kitchen as he put the finishing touches on breakfast. He had just packed everything into the picnic basket when Breeze entered through the doorway.
“Good morning, sleepyhead!” he greeted her.
Breeze pasted on her sweetest smile. “Happy Birthday, Joonie!”
He crossed the room and pulled her into a loving embrace. She put her face into his shoulder and breathed in his cologne. He smelled so good! Being held by Joonie was pure pleasure. She relaxed in his arms.
He’d felt the tension in her muscles when he’d pulled her close. As he held her in his arms, he felt them begin to loosen. What was going on? Had she not slept well, or was she upset about something?
“Is everything ok?” He couldn’t see her face, but he felt her stiffen slightly at his question.
“Mmmhmmm,” she murmured against his heartbeat.
“Breeze…”
She lifted a smiling face to him. “Joonie, it’s your birthday. What are we going to do today? How do you want to celebrate you?”
He didn’t want to celebrate himself. He wanted to celebrate her, so he’d made elaborate plans this week. He smiled at her, placing a bookmark in his brain to revisit their earlier conversation later.
“Come on,” he replied, picking up the picnic basket.
Breeze’s eyes twinkled at him. “Oooh! More cinnamon chips for breakfast?” she teased him.
Namjoon laughed. “You’ll see.”
Breeze picked up the blanket before Namjoon reached for her hand. They made their way to Lake Park. He took her to a beautiful spot overlooking the lake. She spread out the blanket, then they sat down. Joonie put the basket in front of her.
He smiled at her, his darling dimples dancing once more. She had a sudden urge to kiss them, so she bent forward, intending to kiss his cheek, but at the last moment, he turned his head, and their lips met. When the kiss ended – and truly, it was too short! – Namjoon exclaimed, “My first birthday present!”
Breeze rebuked him lightly, “Joonie, you stole that present!”
“Don’t you know stolen kisses are the sweetest?” He riposted, grinning again.
“I was going to kiss your dimple!” His song, Dimple, was flooding both their minds now, making them both smile.
“Ok.” He offered her his cheek. She sighed then stretched forward to kiss it. But once again Namjoon pivoted his head towards her, and this time their lips met a little more awkwardly. She ended up kissing both his dimple and his lips.
He laughed. “Ah! A two-for-one!”
“Joonie!” She punched him lightly on his upper arm.
He rubbed it in mock outrage. “I finally get away from all those little boys beating me up only to discover my girlfriend has the same violent temper!”
Breeze’s heart stopped. Wait. What?! Had Joonie just called her his girlfriend? She stared at him, her bright blue eyes wide.
Namjoon had also heard the word that had slipped unbidden through his lips. He saw the shock on her face.
“What do you say, Breeze?” His heart was doing somersaults and melting all at the same time. Would he survive this moment? “Can I be your boyfriend?”
Tears instantly formed in her eyes. She blinked, and three fat teardrops sprang from her eyes to water her cheeks. Joonie had just asked to be her boyfriend. All the sweet feelings that accompany a true first love flooded her soul and sent her heart flying off into the clouds.
“Breeze! I didn’t mean to make you cry! But I’m not taking my words back. I love you, Breeze. I want you in my life. Whatever that looks like.”
She smiled through her tears, closing her eyes to squeeze out two more crystal drops. Slowly, they slid down her cheeks. Namjoon reached out with just the pad of his thumb and brushed her tears away from her left cheek while his fingers cradled the side of her face. Then he bent towards her and kissed the others away. Breeze sat, frozen, as his lips moved across her left cheek, his right hand still caressing her jawline. She closed her eyes and gave herself up to this extraordinary bliss. Every girl’s dream come true. She wanted to capture this moment and keep it forever. Then she felt his soft lips moving against her own, and she responded with all her heart. When they had finally separated, she blinked at him, and another rebellious tear slid down her cheek.
“If you keep that up, we’ll be kissing all day long,” Namjoon affectionately threatened her. Privately, he reflected that he couldn’t think of a better way to spend his birthday. “On second thought, keep crying.” His face split into a wide grin.
Surprised by his command, she laughed unexpectedly and shook her head. “I cry at everything, Joonie. If you want me, you’ll just have to get used to it.”
“I see a lot of kisses in our future,” and as he spoke those adorable words, her heart sighed as he finished, “because I do want you.”
Ok. Now she was definitely melting into a puddle on the picnic blanket in the middle of Joonie’s favorite spot in all the world. Should I pinch myself? Is this really real? Or will I awake to find that I was only dreaming?
She met his eyes and fell headlong into them. She could stare into those chocolate depths for the rest of her life. Happily.