The Night Before

                                    

                                          
Haein stared out of his window overlooking the vibrant skyline of Seoul. It's one of those rare, quiet nights when he's got nowhere else to be except home. He usually stays at his parents' house with his brother, but after almost a month of working and being around people, he just wanted to spend some time alone. 
Well.. that's what he told his parents. But the truth is, he wanted to be alone so she could come over.
Jisoo is undeniably independent, fierce, and highly self-sufficient. Those are the qualities that pulled him towards her. She is so strong, sometimes too strong, that it comes off as a little bit too sure of herself. But despite all that, Haein also knows how soft and sensitive she is inside. He likes to think that she chose him to reveal this fact. He likes it, being chosen by her. And he hopes that she continues to choose him, no matter what.
Taking another sip of his drink, he peeked at his phone. Still nothing from her. It's been hours since she last texted and his hope of seeing her slowly starts to diminish as minutes pass by. He just wanted to know how she is, as it was only less than 12 hours before her much awaited solo drops. He knows she's excited about this, and while she appears to be calm and cool about it, he just knows there's more happening underneath the facade. 
Haein opened Jisoo's last message, "It's really happening, isn't it?"
"No timing has ever been more perfect. You got this." He replied.
It was stuck on read, and for almost four hours, he didn't hear anything from her. With a sigh, he decided to let it go, thinking that she might have chosen to confide with the girls. I'll just check on her tomorrow, he thought. 
As he made his way to his kitchen to wash his rock glass, he heard the keypad of his door activate. In a hurry, he left his glass and ran to the doorway just in time to see Jisoo step inside the hallway. 
"This is a surprise." Haein said, smiling wide and wiping his hand on his shirt. Slowly, he walked to where Jisoo is standing. He reached out to cup her face gently in his hands and leaned down to give her a kiss. Once.. twice.. the third time deeper and longer. He felt her arms wrap around his waist as he pulled away, "You left me on read." He murmured against her lips, "But you're here now. You're forgiven."
Jisoo squeezed his waist and giggled softly. " I missed you."
For a while, Haein stared at Jisoo's face, trying to read what's on her mind. But she's far too good at keeping it in. "Let's go inside. Have you eaten?"
In the kitchen, Jisoo settled into one of his bar chairs. She watched as Haein whipped up a quick ramyun treat. First, he sautéed kimchi on sesame oil. When it was a little cooked, he added fish stock and waited for it to boil. In the meantime, he prepared eggs, two to be exact. One fried, the other he cracked on to a bowl and scrambled it. He set it aside and added the noodles to the boiling stock. 
As the noodles boiled away, he started chopping green onions and fishcake. While he set the chopped green onions aside, he added the scrambled egg on the cooked noodles and stirred it, mixing it into the broth to make it extra creamy. After that, he added the fishcake, allowed it to cook for at least two more minutes while he grabbed a bowl - Jisoo's favorite Hello Kitty bowl - from the cupboard before turning off the heat. Finally, he transferred the cooked ramyun in to the bowl, topped it with the fried egg, green onions, and drizzled sesame oil on top.
Carefully, he laid it in front of Jisoo, along with a spoon and a pair of chopsticks. "Like how you like it." He said, proud of his masterpiece. 
Jisoo took a spoonful of soup and tasted it. Then she used the chopsticks to try the noodles. Haein watched as she quietly ate without looking at him. After a while, Jisoo placed the spoon and chopsticks down and looked at him. She tapped her fingers on the table and licked her lips. "Can I... Can I be honest?"
Haein's shoulders drooped a little involuntarily, "You don't like it?"
Without taking her eyes off of him, she slowly opened her mouth and sighed. "The reason why I told you that this is how I like my ramyun is because I like watching you do it."
"Excuse me?"
Obviously enjoying his disbelief, Jisoo giggled and continued eating. "You should see your face. I can't believe I'm in love with a dork." 
"Aishhh!" He exclaimed, massaging his temples. Haein wanted to feign anger but seeing her enjoy his cooking (or his disbelief) just melted this resolve. Instead, he went to the fridge to get her another treat - strawberry milk. 
Her eyes widened with happiness when Haein handed it to her. "You're spoiling me."
"You deserve it." Haein said as he walked over to her to kiss her forehead. "I'm happy that you're here."
Again, he felt her arms wrap around his waist. This time, she hugged him extra tight. Smiling to himself, he just allowed her to pull him close, almost like she's afraid to let him go. He slowly, gently rubbed her back and kissed the side of her head. "You know you can tell me anything."
He felt her heave a sigh, but still she refused to let go. "It's almost out." She whispered, her voice muffled against his chest.
"I know, baby. Everyone's super excited. I'm excited."
"I have worked.. so hard for that."
"I expected no less" 
Finally, Jisoo pulled away. She looked up and rested her chin on Haein's chest. "I'm not.. I'm not scared if people will like it or not. I'm.. I'm just anxious because it's like I'm revealing a whole new different aspect of me."
"I'm suddenly not sure if I'm ready for that."
Looking at Jisoo, he saw the apprehension that's causing her anxiety. This is one of those times he wished Jisoo could see herself the way he sees her. As the strong, self-aware, and intelligent woman that she is. But, even the most brilliant people can second-guess themselves. And unfortunately, Jisoo is no exception.
Haein gently brushed the strands of hair from Jisoo's face before tapping the tip of her nose. "This is a huge step for you, and it can really be scary but, I want you to look back on the past two years of your life. I want you to see how you slowly worked and grew out of your shell to become your own person. It wasn't always a smooth ride but, the bumps only made you stronger. The challenges you overcame only made the people around you, not only accept you, but love you even more."
"You may think that you're not ready for this.. But Jisoo," Again, he gently cupped her face and looked intently in her eyes. "You are made for this."
Tears welled and soon fell from Jisoo's eyes, that Haein had to let her go so he can hug her tight. He kissed the top of her head and chuckled as he felt Jisoo's arm tighten around his waist. "I love you. Please don't cry."
"It's your fault. Your ramyun's so good it made me cry."
--
PS: This song is so simple, like how I feel love should be. It kinda matches the haesoo love -- yknow the kind of love that just falls into place. The kind of love that's meant to be.