Far from home|KTH

Surprise

"Emma, wake up please", Jin plead carefully the next morning.

He was sitting next to her on their bed, stroking her hair softly, watching her pale reflection in the morning light.

It took a while for Emma to gain an understanding of where she was, and why Jin was sitting next to her. She felt confused and certainly looked like it, it was all a haze to her still.

"You slept for a really long time, babe. Wake up please, I made you breakfast, we have somewhere to go after that", he continued softly.

She lift her head from the pillow and looked around her. Jet lag had hit her ruthlessly, all she wanted to do was continue sleeping. It was also an good excuse to escape reality and stay in her dreams.

"Jin...I'm  really tired still...", she replied with a sleepy voice.

Jin pulled the cover off her and pulled her uncooperating body up to sitting.

"Please babe...this is important", he said, gazing at her hopefully.

He normally would let her sleep, let her will be his demand, but not today. That ment it had to be important.

She finally agreed and got up and headed to the shower, letting the water wash away her sleepiness. Where he wanted to take her was still a mystery to her, and she really wasn't feeling up for it. At this point she would rather just escape reality, but there was no way of escaping it. Reality was staring her right in the face ruthlessly. Tae was occupying her thoughts and she wondered if he was okay.

Jin was waiting for her in the kitchen when she was finally done with her morning routine. He watched her curiously, wondering what was going on in her head. She didn't refuse to touch him yesterday, but she didn't kiss him either. Her hug felt friendly, but not passionate. It didn't match the affection of someone who missed her boyfriend for 6 months. He didn't want to push her either, it wasn't the time to do that yet. She had only been home for 24 hours.

"Ready to go?", he asked, flashing her a smile.

"Sure...where are we going?", she asked.

"You will see", he said and walked towards the door with her closely behind.

"Seriously Jin, you are shit at keeping secrets. Is this a welcome home brunch kind of thing?", she asked, gazing at him intensely.

Jin's eyes widened and he had difficulties hiding a slight smile.

"Seriously?! Are you kidding me, I was right? You know I hate surprises!", she yelled surprised.

"Aaaah why did you have to guess exactly that?!", he said frustrated.

"Because you can't lie even if your life depended on it! You have zero game", she said with a laugh.

"You have to act surprised at least, they will be too disappointed otherwise. They made me do it, it wasn't my idea", he plead with a hint of desperation.

"Okay, I will. But I'm really not ready to talk about any of my experiences...", she replied.

"I know. Just act happy", he said.

The drive to the restaurant was another silent story. Her phone was blowing up by messages from a Tae that clearly struggled in his first 24 hours without her. All she wanted right now was to call him and hear his voice again. There just wasn't time right now and her heart ached knowing that.

The car stopped outside of a restaurant in a beautiful garden setting. Laughter and chatter was heard from inside and Emma took a deep breath as Jin led her toward the entrance with a soft hand in her lower back.