(Guide Us to) A Million Stars

37🔥

"I can't believe you're here," Tae said, as I felt him move behind me, the next morning.

I turned to lie on my side and face him. His face was puffy and his hair stuck out in different directions. And I couldn't get over the fact that he was right in front of me. "And I can't believe I'm in your hotel bed."

We shared a smile. The desire to ask him what last night meant was strong, but I held back. I didn't want to ruin the moment. I also didn't want to assume anything about how long I should stay.

"I guess you can tell Han I'm ready..." I started.

Tae squeezed my hand. "Why don't you stay for breakfast? They send it up every morning."

So he's not kicking me out right away? What does that mean? I accepted his invitation and went to the bathroom to freshen up. While I was there, I heard a knock on the door and movement of dishes before the door shut. A minute later, I found Tae sitting on the bed, pillows propped up behind him against the headboard. Two trays of plates full of scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon, croissants and cups of coffee and milk rested on the blanket.

"Breakfast in bed," he singsonged. He gave me a boxy smile and I happily sat next to him.

"It's a good thing I was in the bathroom," I said, taking a greasy piece of bacon from a plate. "No one can know I'm here, right?"

"It's okay," he said nonchalantly, piercing a sausage with his fork. "I ordered for two, so someone knows." Picking up the cup of coffee, I noticed it was a light brown.

"I remembered you like hazelnut creamer in your coffee," he said, while chewing his food.

I paused before enjoying the warm beverage, impressed he remembered that. "Aren't you sweet?" He was being nice and the moment almost felt like we had never broken up. But I couldn't let my thoughts get ahead of me. "So...I should go after we eat. I'm sure you're busy."

"We have the Jingle Ball show later today."

"Then you're going back to Seoul?"

"Actually...I'm going to Hawaii for a week. Then back home."

I peered at him from over the top of the coffee cup. There it was. A definite end to whatever this was. I needed to hear that because I didn't want to get my hopes up. The breakfast helped to shift the attention from the reality that this was it, I would never see him again. I took several bites of the buttery croissant, stuffing my face to avoid talking.

"Suni?"

"Hmm?" I asked, a flaky piece of dough hanging out of my mouth.

"Umm..." He stared at his plate. "How's the food?"

"Delicious," I mumbled. A song from a Korean variety show came to mind. It was something I did know in Korean so I sat on my legs and wiped my hands on my shirt. Then I sang an aegyeo song for Tae, complete with cute hand actions.

"They say I'm the cutest when I eat, nyom nyom!

I'm cuter than everyone, aing aing!

My chubby stomach, hing!

From now on, I'm yours!"

I completed the aegyeo song with a flower pose and smiled at Tae, just like I did when we were dating. He gave me an intense look, the kind that used to make me nervous. Knowing that I would never see him again, I found the confidence to stare back at him. I had no problem flirting with him so I blew him a kiss.

He laughed and covered his face with one hand, the other hand forcefully patting the pillow next to him. He grinned at me and said, "You're cute." Then he sighed contentedly. "Suni?" His eyes lit up. "What if you visited me in Hawaii?"