I Gotta Say:

Abra Kadabra...kazam! 12th Chapter for you guys :) I'm going out of the country for 2 weeks, so I won't be able to update until I get back. So I just finished a chapter, hopefully something to leave you all happy!

Twelfth, Love's Duet

"Or maybe, it's how he pulls you closer to him and wraps his arms around you because it's the only thing left to do to show you how much you mean to him and how much he needs you in his life."

Sweeter than the first love of a lilac, more passionate than the love of a red rose, and a lifetime remembrance of a white carnation was the story of Yi Jung and Ga Eul's first kiss, even more.

Yi Jung deepened the kiss one last time then slowly parted his lips from hers. He leaned his forehead on hers, keeping their faces close to each other. They opened their eyes, staring at each other for a second, allowing everything to sink in. Soon, smiles grew on their faces and they started chuckling, still keeping their position; her arm around his neck and her other hand on his heart, and his arm around her waist and his other arm around her back. After all the giggles, he looked at her with an adoring expression with a tinge of sadness. He laid his hand on her cheek and parted his forehead from hers.

"I can't believe we wasted all this time… we could've had this moment a long time ago." Yi Jung said while stroking her cheek and putting a strand of her hair behind her ear.

"Mmm," Ga Eul put her hand on top of his hand on her cheek and closed her eyes, feeling his touch. "At least it happened."

He smiled at her for a while then gave her a quick kiss. When he parted his lips from hers, she gave him a puzzled look.

"What was that for?" she innocently asked.

"I just needed proof that this was all real." He chuckled and pulled her into another hug. "Now how could I ever let you go?"

She hugged back. "What do you mean?"

"You know…dropping you off home and being away from you. Now that we're together, I don't think I'll be able to resist hugging you when we're not at the same place. Before, I always wanted to hold you in my arms, but I couldn't because we weren't a thing. But now that I know I have you, not having you near me just seems so hard. See? We haven't even parted and I'm already thinking of this stuff…you must think I'm an obsessed freak."

Ga Eul giggled. "You really wanna be with me that much?" she into his eyes with a smile on her face. She was finally able to feel that he really meant what he said. No more confused feelings, and she couldn't ask for anything else in the world.

"Well, yes."

She hugged him tighter. "Me too. Is there any way we could spend time together tonight and tomorrow?"

"Hhmmm…" Yi Jung swayed from side to side, not letting go of her. "Woo Bin can help." He chuckled and she looked up at him. "Don't you think it's time we got back inside? You're soaking wet. Ga Eul-yang! I really disapprove of you standing out in the rain like that. Do you know you could get really sick??"

She punched him on the shoulder. "Yah! If I didn't come out here, you'd be moping the whole night and you would get sick. If I ever get confined in the hospital, you'll be paying the hospital bill because it's your fault in the first place for picking the roof top as your place of depression! Especially while it's raining."

Yi Jung laughed and got the dry towel from the bench and put it around Ga Eul. He held her hand and led her back to the stairs where it was dry.

"You do know that I'll never leave your side if you're sick in the hospital." He winked and kissed her forehead, leaving her speechless. They went downstairs hand in hand. By the time they reached the F4 lounge, Woo Bin was sitting on the couch waiting for them.

"Ahh, so it's a happy ending?" Woo Bin clapped.

"Woo Bin, is there any way you can convince Ga Eul's parents that she won't be home and that she's in a safe place?" Yi Jung asked. Woo Bin raised his eyebrow and smirked.

"Sure. Wait a sec." Woo Bin got his cell phone out of his pocket and left the room. Yi Jung looked at Ga Eul and shrugged. He sat her down on the couch, got a bunch of towels, and started wrapping them around her.

"Sunbae, you do know that wrapping all these towels around me isn't gonna make me dry." Ga Eul said.

"I know. I just want to make sure you're warm… are you?" he asked while unfolding another towel and laying it around her. She nodded and put her head on his shoulder. Yi Jung, stunned by her sudden action, stared at her for a while before putting his arm around her, sitting closer to her, and finally resting his head on top of hers. What can they say? Once they're officially a couple, it's hard to resist not doing things that couples can do. Woo Bin entered the room, opened his arms and raised his head up.

"Pack your bags, baby! We're going on a trip!" he exclaimed. Yi Jung smiled while watching Ga Eul's jaw drop.

"For how long?" she uttered.

"2 weeks, baby! We're leaving first thing tomorrow. Tell me, am I genius, or what?"

"2 WEEKS?! But I have to start working in the porridge shop next week!" Ga Eul exclaimed.

"Taken care of. What can I say? I'm a fast worker." Woo Bin shrugged proudly.

"Impressive, Woo Bin sunbae. That's very…" Ga Eul lifted her eyebrow. "attractive."

Woo Bin raised his eyebrow in return. "Anything for you, Ga Eul-yang."

Yi Jung couldn't believe what he was seeing. "What in the world?! You guys are still teasing and trying to make me jealous even when we're together?!"

Woo Bin cracked up and pat his shoulder. "Some things never change, bro. Anyway, you two have a lot of time together since we're leaving tomorrow. So I'm gonna leave now and call the rest and inform them about our 2 week vacation. See ya!" he waved and left the room. Ga Eul, on the other hand, jumped on Yi Jung and hugged him, making all the towels fall over the floor. He pouted at her and she pouted back.

"What? It's not like all those towels were gonna dry my clothes anyway. Even if I was warm, my clothes would still be soaking wet, so it's no use." She assured him that she was going to be fine. "I didn't know you'd be the worried 24/7 type of boyfriend."

"Hey, I worry about you all the time!" Yi Jung exclaimed and started laughing. "How bout head back to my house and get dried up, you're worrying the sea shells out of me." Ga Eul giggled, ran to him, and grabbed his hand.

The moment Ga Eul entered Yi Jung's house, she was in awe. Everything seemed so…quiet.

"Yi Jung?"

"Mmm?"

"How come I don't hear rustling noises and people scurrying from one place to another?" she asked as she scanned around the whole living room.

"Have you gone to Ji Hoo's house?" Yi Jung knew that was a stupid question since he already knew she hasn't been there.

"Yes, what about it?" she replied, which in turn, surprised Yi Jung.

"You have?! When?! Why don't I know about this???"

"Yes, I have. When…3 months ago. Why don't you now about it? Because you rejected me that day, I was crying in the park, and Ji Hoo sunbae saw me and comforted me. He invited me to his house for tea." She explained, now looking at the shiny vases on display.

"The information in my dream was true?!" Yi Jung thought, trying to deny it, but not being successful in doing so.

"Did anything…happen?"

Ga Eul stared at him. "Um, no. Why would you ask that kind of question?"

"Nothing, nothing. Anyway, my house is like Ji Hoo's. The maids work when I'm gone and when I'm at home, they leave. Now come on, you should take a shower and get dried up. I'll lend you a pair of my pajamas." He took her hand and led her to his bedroom, opening his huge closet filled with pajamas. Ga Eul decided not to looked as shocked as she really was because she had a feeling that's what she was gonna be doing the whole time she's there. Yi Jung let her pick what she wanted. Ga Eul looked around and saw a pair that looked familiar.

"I think I've seen these pajamas before…" Ga Eul said while trying to remember. Yi Jung chuckled and took out the pajamas.

"I believe I was wearing these when we had that video call." He grinned.

Ga Eul blushed and a faint "Ooh," came out of her. "Can you…wear that tonight?" she asked quietly and looked away. He went closer to her and kissed her temple lightly.

"Here you go," he handed her a pair of light blue pajamas. "Blue could be our color tonight. The bathroom's over there." He pat her head and told her he was going to the bathroom in the other room.

After Ga Eul finished, she walked to the living room to find Yi Jung laying down a comforter at the bottom of the couch and putting down large, soft pillows on it. Fire was burning in the fireplace, which made the living room a lot warmer. When Yi Jung finished, he looked up to see Ga Eul staring at him with a smile on her face. He smiled back, remembering that same look on her months ago when she entered his studio. When he sat down, she snuggled down beside him. Yi Jung reached for the blanket and spread it on top of both of them. They stared at the fireplace for a while, talking at the same time and having little thumb fights with their hands intertwined.

"Yah! That's not fair! You're tough and everything, kicking people in Macau to save Jan Di, so there's no way I can beat you." Ga Eul whined after losing the thumb fight for the 11th time now.

"Aww, that's too bad then." Yi Jung teased.

"Hmph!" Ga Eul stood up and started walking away.

"Hey, where are you going?" Yi Jung shouted.

"Away from you." She stuck her tongue out and walked towards the dining room. Yi Jung got up and followed her, but she kept running away from him.

"So you wanna play like that, huh?" he smirked and started running after her. Ga Eul was one swift bunny, jumping from one place to another. When she was at the opposite side of the table from Yi Jung, she'd dive underneath the table while Yi Jung jumped on top. She ran to the door until she felt two strong arms wrap around her waist.

"Gotcha!" Yi Jung shouted in glory. By the time they halted to a stop, Ga Eul held on to the door to keep herself and Yi Jung from falling down. Ga Eul leaned on the door, trying to catch her breathe, while Yi Jung let go of her waist. When he figured that Ga Eul calmed down, he reached out for her and pulled her into a tight embrace.

"Don't ever run away from me…please?" he whispered. She hugged him back and leaned her head on the door.

"I'm not going anywhere." She whispered back with a smile. And if that wasn't enough, she closed her eyes and pulled his face closer. The instant Yi Jung's lips met Ga Eul's, he reached her face with his hand and pulled her closer to him. He needed to prove to her that he never wanted to lose her…ever. At that moment, he finally found the other half of his heart. She had it all along. He parted their lips for a second and kissed her forehead. As he slowly brought his lips back down to hers, he gave her a tiny peck, then deepened the kiss.

Ga Eul was at a point where she couldn't feel her legs anymore. Her heart was beating so fast, but she couldn't careless; he was there with her and he made her feel that waiting for him was worthwhile. She knew they weren't falling anymore; they were probably flying to a place so much better. When the kiss ended, she felt him create a little bit of space between them. She also felt his eyes on her. The only source of light there was the fireplace, which was a few feet away from them. When she finally opened her eyes, she saw him, smiling one very gentle smile. He put his forehead on hers once more, but this time, he didn't close his eyes. She ran her fingers through his hair and inhaled a bit.

"Ga Eul…" he whispered softly, not letting his eyes off of her.

"Mmm?"

Yi Jung removed the hair on her face and stroked her cheek with his thumb. "I love you."

As soon as he saw Ga Eul's smile grow wider, he couldn't help but smile too. "I did it. I said it. And the most important part is… I meant it."

They walked back to the comforter near the fire place hand in hand. They leaned back on the sofa and just stared at the fire. One minute later, Yi Jung turned to Ga Eul.

"My turn in the truth game." He stated. Ga Eul nodded in agreement and turned to face him.

"Do you love me?"

Ga Eul tilted her head at his question and moved closer to him. She covered his eyes with her hands and kissed him. In that situation, Yi Jung didn't know what that meant. She wasn't shy to kiss him anymore because they were a couple now. But…a kiss means that she doesn't want to answer him, meaning she didn't love him yet or she wasn't sure.

Ga Eul removed her hands from his eyes. "I love you," she smiled. "Sorry if I made you worried." She put her hand on his face and watched as he closed his eyes again, savoring the moment.

Yi Jung put his arm around her, moving closer to her. She leaned her head on his chest, got the blanket and laid it on top of them.

"You know what?" Ga Eul asked and looked up at him.

"What?"

"This is so much better than the video call."

"Yeah?" he grinned and kissed the top of her head.

"Yeah. See, we get to snuggle and it doesn't cost anything." He chuckled at her reply and they both stayed in the most beautiful silence until they eventually fell asleep. No need for video calls, though, because they had each other right beside them.