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“It’s time to wake up, baby.”
“Hmm…?”
The sun shines into your lidded eyes as your brain slowly gains consciousness. Through your groggy state, you can hear the sound of the birds chirping outside and the aircon softly blowing through the vents. You take in a deep breath and attempt to stretch when you notice the weight on top of your stomach. Blindly feeling around, you come in contact with a muscular arm around your torso. You try to wiggle out of their grip, but they just hold on tighter.
A whine escapes you as you continue to struggle. The person seems unaffected by your attempts at escape and begins whispering sweet nothings on your neck. Their breath tickles your skin and they press soft kisses along your neck.
Blinking away your sleep, you finally peek an eye at what’s holding you and come face-to-face with a head of dirty-blonde hair.
All remnants of sleep disappear when you realize that you’re in the embrace of your boyfriend.
“Leon…? Leon!”
For the first time in weeks, you hear Leon laugh—feel it as his chest rumbles against you. He lifts his head from your neck and you're finally able to see his face.
“Good morning, sweetheart.”
He has that dumb smirk on his face and his eyes gaze into yours with so much love. You both take a moment to burn each other’s faces into your memories–which is impossible considering you already know him like the back of your hand. Leon opens his mouth to say something, but the air is knocked out of him when you suddenly wrap your arms around him in a bear hug.
“Looks like someone missed me,” Leon jokes as he returns your embrace. His arms wrap under your waist and bring you in against his chest. You hum and bury yourself in his neck, inhaling his scent. He smells like your body wash.
“When did you get back?”
“Hmm… Probably around 3 in the morning.”
You turn your head to look at the clock on the nightstand. It reads “10:00 am.” The time sours your mood and Leon notices immediately.
“Now, baby, don’t frown—”
“When did you wake up?”
“I slept enough—”
“Leon.”
“...At 7.”
“Leon–!”
“I know, I know—You want me to rest up and sleep in, but I missed you too much. How about I make it up to you, hmm?”
Leon begins to kiss down your jaw, and, despite the protests leaving your lips, you melt into his touch. His arms come undone from your waist and his hands slide under your shirt. He rubs circles on your stomach with his thumbs and uses his legs to split yours apart when suddenly—
(Ding! Ding! Ding!)
An alarm rings in the kitchen.
Leon groans, complaints tumble out of his lips about how “it was just about to get good” and that he was going to “have you for breakfast.” Reluctantly, he separates himself from you and gets up from the bed. The blanket falls away as he moves, but he makes sure to cover you with it before he leaves the room.
With Leon finally off of you, you’re able to properly grasp your bearings. You sit up and take in the surroundings. The curtains are open and you can see the wind blowing on the trees through the window. The closet is open and you can see that the laundry basket is now filled with Leon’s clothes.
(They are his “afterwork” clothes. He never wants you to see his actual work clothes after a mission, so he always cleans them at the office before coming home to you.)
It seems he was in a rush when he got home in the early morning. Most of his clothes made it in the bin, but you notice that his shirt is hanging haphazardly from the edge and a sock is left sadly on the floor, separated from its matching pair. His jacket—a replacement for the one he lost on his mission in Spain—is also missing from its hanger and instead resting on top of the ottoman bench.
A smile finds its place on your face. It’s messy—yes—but it also signifies that Leon is home.
He’s home and he’s safe—
(A cupboard slams in the kitchen and you hear him swear.)
—and probably making a mess in your kitchen.
“You better not be breaking anything in there, Leon—”
You begin to make your way out of the warmth of your bed, when the aforementioned man makes an appearance at the open bedroom door.
“Don’t worry, angel. The kitchen survives another day.”
He’s holding a bed tray and there’s something resting on top of it. Leon carefully sits on his side of the bed, making sure nothing on top of the tray topples over, and places the tray over your lap.
Immediately, the scent of nostalgia fills your nose. In front of you is a ceramic bowl of 미역국 ¹ (miyeokguk), hot from the stove. In front, Leon has filled smaller ceramics with your favorite 반찬 ² (banchan)—김치 ³ (kimchi), 멸치 ⁴ (myeolchi), 오징어채 ⁵ (ojingeochae), 장조림 ⁶ (jangjorim)—all of it has your mouth watering. On the left, there’s a bowl of 흑미밥 ⁷ (heukmibap). On the right, there’s a set of metal utensils and a mug filled with cold 보리차 ⁸ (boricha).
You’re at a loss of words at what’s presented in front of you and your mouth hangs open.
“Any longer and you’ll catch flies, angel.” He chuckles, but you can tell that he’s nervous. You turn to him and stare at his face. He’s trying to look nonchalant but is failing miserably. Leon licks his lips and refuses to meet your gaze, instead patting a mindless beat with his fingers against the bed. You rest a hand on top of his and he finally looks at you.
“Leon… Thank you—I don’t know what to say,” you say with a breathless whisper.
He smiles, “It’s your special day today. I woke up early, so I could call your parents and ask them to help me make something for you. It ended up as me just watching your mom cook and taking notes for next time.”
Leon flips his hand—the one you’re resting yours on—and interlaces his fingers with yours. He brings your conjoined hands to his lips and kisses the back of yours.
“All I did was heat it up,” he admits with an awkward laugh, “Oh and um…”
(He fidgets a little where he sits beside you. Despite the years that have passed, you can still see that 21-year-old rookie cop inside him.)
“생-생일 축하해 ⁹ (saeng-saengil chughahae). 사랑해, 자기 ¹⁰ (saranghae, jagi).”
You grimace a little at his pronunciation and how he says the words with an American accent, but it's overpowered with the love you feel for his efforts. With a laugh you lean over and kiss his cheek, “I love you too, but we need to work on your Korean, babe.”
“What?! Your dad said it was good!”