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Gyeo-ul punched in the code to Jeong-won’s apartment, opening and closing the door quietly behind her. She exchanged her shoes for slippers at the threshold and walked in, her steps quiet in the silent apartment as she made her way towards the bedroom.
She opened the door and peeked in. The room was shrouded in darkness, the black-out curtains working their magic. As her eyes gradually adjusted to the dark, she could see the lump in the middle of the bed that was her boyfriend, huddled beneath his blankets, dead to the world.
She gazed at his form, not surprised in the least. Jeong-won had texted her earlier that he had only arrived home three hours prior, having spent most of his early morning hours and all of yesterday tending to a patient who was in the PICU after a particularly difficult surgery.
She had suggested that they forgo their brunch reservation so that he could rest at home and be able to rush back to the hospital should the child’s condition worsen. But he had reassured her that the child was doing much better and was adamant that they should proceed with their plans since it was a rare occasion when both of them were free to go out on a Sunday.
He had pleaded via text. Please, let’s not cancel. I have been looking forward to this all week, to celebrate our 200 days together. A day where we can be a normal couple, having brunch, taking a walk, having all the time in the world together.
The vision he painted was impossible to resist. She had been looking forward to it too. Had even bought a new green top, after much styling inputs from Min-ha, for the occasion.
In the end, she had compromised with him that she would meet him at his apartment rather than for him to pick her up, so that he could sleep a little more.
Now, as she stood at the door, she debated their options. She could wake him up now and they might still be able to make their reservation if they hurried. Or she could let him continue to sleep and she could cook whenever he woke up.
The choice was an easy one.
She closed the bedroom door and padded towards the kitchen.
~
Jeong-won surfaced slowly, rubbing the sleep away from his eyes as he wondered what time it was since he hadn’t been woken up by his phone alarm. Had he managed to wake up ahead of it?
Blearily he reached for the phone at the side of his bed and squinted at the glowing numbers of his screen.
He bolted upright. Shit! It was 1pm!
Jeong-won groaned as he hurriedly stumbled towards the door to head to the bathroom. He couldn’t believe he had forgotten to set the alarm before he fell asleep. And now he was terribly late to pick up Gyeo-ul for their date. Their restaurant reservations would probably be invalid by now but perhaps if he could find another place quickly, they could still salvage the rest of the day.
He opened the door and was momentarily blinded by the flood of sunlight that spilled into the darkened room, and curiously the scent of coffee as well.
“Good afternoon, did you sleep well?” He heard Gyeo-ul’s voice greet him.
But how could she be in the apartment? Wasn’t she supposed to be at her home waiting for him? His vision cleared and he saw her sitting and smiling up at him from his living room couch. Was he still asleep and dreaming about her?
“Do you want some coffee? I made a pot earlier and it should still be warm.” He blinked and Gyeo-ul came into sharper focus. She was standing up and walking towards him now. She came to a stop and reached up to give him a peck on the cheek. As always, with any touch of hers, he felt a tingle. She was very real.
But how did she come to be in the apartment, he still didn’t understand that.
His confusion must have been all over his face because she answered, “Don’t you remember? I texted that I would meet you here so that you could sleep a little more.”
He shook his head. “Gyeo-ul, I am sorry,” he croaked out, “I must have fallen asleep by then. I didn’t see it. I am so, so sorry. I ruined our brunch. You should have woken me up and I would have —”
He trailed off as he saw her shaking her head . “No, it’s alright. You have had a tiring few days and I wanted you to rest more than I wanted to go out. I told you that earlier too.”
He tried to protest. “You did, but —”
This time she silenced him with a finger to his lips. “No buts. All I want is to spend my Sunday with you, and we don’t have to go to a restaurant to do that. Since I wasn’t sure what time you would wake up, I thought I would cook instead. And after we eat, we could go out for a walk.”
He nodded and she smiled, dropping her arm and turning towards the kitchen.
“I hope you don’t mind, but I looked into your cabinets earlier to see what I could use. And you have enough for pasta.”
“Not at all, you can make use of anything you find in there. Gyeo-ul —” He followed her into the kitchen, enveloped her in a hug from the back and breathed her in. “Thank you.”
She relaxed against him, snuggling her head into the crook of his arm. “You are welcome,” she said softly. “Why don’t you go take a shower while I start cooking.”
“Okay,” he let her go, but not without kissing her temple first.
~
When Jeong-won came out of the bathroom after his shower, the apartment was already filled with the scents of cooking. His stomach rumbled, reminding him that the last time he ate was lunch the day before.
Gyeo-ul was moving about the kitchen, stirring the pasta and assembling ingredients near the stove.
“Do you need my help?” he asked. “I could chop or stir something.”
“No, I am almost done,” — her hands moved competently, adding garlic to the oil that she had heated up — “but you could set the table, get the salad I made earlier from the fridge and pour yourself some coffee.”
“Sure. Do you want a cup as well? What are we having?”
“Yes, please. Anchovy pasta and a tomato salad. I was just going to make aglio olio but I found some canned anchovy in your pantry and added it.”
“Sounds great! I didn’t know you could add anchovy to the pasta though,” he said as he got out plates, utensils and the salad, setting out their places on the kitchen counter.
“I didn’t know either but the internet says you can, so I did.” She laughed, as she drained the pasta.
He poured out their coffee and sat down to watch her put the finishing touches on the pasta. When she was done, she came around to his side of the kitchen counter and sat down.
“Let’s eat! You must be hungry.”
“You too, I imagine. Thank you again for cooking,” he said as he quickly gave grace before lifting up the first forkful of pasta to his mouth.
~
Gyeo-ul watched as Jeong-won took his first bite of the pasta. “This is delicious!”
“Really? I am so glad. I really wasn’t sure how the anchovy would work.” Relieved, she started to eat as well.
“It’s really, really good,” he reassured her as he took yet another big bite, chewing enthusiastically.
They spent the rest of the meal talking, catching each other up about the past few days, the surgeries each had coming, their friends, and the various things they had read in the course of their week.
After they finished eating, he insisted on being the only one to do the cleaning up since she had cooked. So she remained seated at the counter, drinking her coffee while they continued to talk as he washed.
Talking to Jeong-won was Gyeo-ul’s absolute favourite thing to do. Kissing and cuddling were wonderful but for someone who often got into trouble for what she said, knowing that she could say anything and everything to him and that he would never judge or misunderstand (anymore, at least) was a gift she never thought she would receive.
It also felt like they would never run out of things to say to one another. They could be discussing an academic article in one breath and a silly joke in the next or they could pick up the disrupted threads of conversation from a previous day to continue on another when they had more time.
She adored it. Or perhaps more accurately, she adored him.
After he was done with the clean-up, they decided to head out to spend the rest of the afternoon by the river.
As they strolled hand in hand along the river bank, revelling in the simple joy of each other’s company and being among the many other young couples and families enjoying their Sunday afternoon out, Gyeo-ul thought to herself that the perfect day wasn’t so much about the plans you made but the person you spent it with.
At that moment, she felt Jeong-won squeeze her hand and raise it to his lips for a kiss. She looked up at him with a smile.
"Happy 200 days together, my love," he said tenderly.
Yes, it was definitely the person.