Morning arrived quietly over Itwatsuki.
Not loudly.
Not dramatically.
Just slowly.
Soft golden sunlight slipped through the massive glass windows of Jin’s private room, stretching across the dark wooden floor in long warm ribbons.
The city outside still felt half asleep, distant skyscrapers blurred beneath pale sunrise haze while the first colors of dawn painted the sky in muted amber and faded blue.
Inside the room, everything remained calm.
Still.
Wrapped in the kind of silence only early Sundays carried.
The digital clock near the bedside read:
6:00 AM.
19th October, 3027.
Sunday.
Beneath the black blanket, Jin slowly opened his eyes.
Only the upper half of his face remained visible outside the blanket while the rest of him stayed buried beneath its warmth.
His head rested against the pillow, dark hair slightly messy from sleep, black eyes still heavy with lingering exhaustion.
For several seconds he simply stared upward at the ceiling.
Breathing slowly.
The room carried traces of warmth from the night before, mixed faintly with Lily’s soft floral scent still lingering across the sheets.
Jin let out a low quiet sigh.
“Hm…”
His gaze drifted lazily toward the morning light spilling across the room.
“…Sunday.”
A pause.
“…free day.”
The realization settled over him gently.
No meetings.
No guards.
No corporations.
No gala.
No fighting.
Just silence.
Then his eyes shifted sideways slightly.
And immediately softened.
Lily was still asleep beside him beneath the same blanket.
Curled close.
Very close.
Her face rested against the side of his neck, warm breaths brushing softly against his skin in tiny rhythmic waves.
Both her arms remained wrapped around one of his arms possessively even in sleep, as if somewhere in her dreams she still feared he might disappear if she loosened her hold.
Silver hair spilled messily across the pillow and partly over his shoulder, glowing faintly gold beneath the sunrise.
She looked peaceful.
Fragile almost.
Jin stared quietly for a moment longer than he intended.
Then— he felt movement.
Tiny.
Soft.
Lily stirred gently against him.
A sleepy little nuzzle followed as she unconsciously buried herself even closer into his neck before her silver eyelashes fluttered slowly open.
For a second she looked disoriented.
Then her silver eyes met his black ones.
And immediately— a sleepy smile bloomed across her face.
Soft.
Warm.
Honest.
“Good morning…” she whispered quietly, her voice still rough with sleep.
Jin looked at her calmly.
Then nodded once beneath the blanket.
“Good morning.”
Lily yawned softly after speaking, turning her face halfway into his shoulder to hide it instinctively.
Her small sleepy sounds vibrated faintly against him before she peeked upward again through messy silver bangs.
“…It’s Sunday?”
Jin nodded once more.
And somehow that tiny confirmation made her entire expression brighten.
The sleepy softness in her eyes melted into quiet happiness.
“You’re all mine today now,” she murmured warmly.
The sentence landed with dangerous softness.
Jin exhaled quietly through his nose.
“…I still need to work a bit on laptop.”
Immediately Lily frowned.
Not an angry pout.
A sleepy one.
The kind that looked more adorable than effective.
She shook her head weakly against his shoulder.
“Hmm… nooo…”
“I need you here…”
Her grip around his arm tightened slightly beneath the blanket.
“I’m still half asleep…”
Jin stared at her for a second.
Then a faint amused smirk tugged weakly at the corner of his lips.
“I swear…”
He sighed.
“Raising a clingy girl like you would’ve been tough for your parents.”
The second the sentence left his mouth— something changed.
Subtly.
But immediately.
Lily’s smile faded.
Not dramatically.
Just quietly.
Like sunlight slipping behind clouds.
“…Mm.”
She gave a small nod against him, trying to brush it off casually.
But her eyes shifted away instantly.
Avoiding his gaze.
Jin noticed at once.
The smirk vanished from his face almost immediately.
His eyes narrowed slightly as he turned his head more toward her.
“What happened?”
Lily shook her head lightly.
“It’s nothing.”
But she still wouldn’t look at him.
And that alone told him enough.
Jin stayed silent for a second before shifting beneath the blanket.
Slowly, he turned fully onto his side to face her directly.
The mattress dipped softly beneath his weight.
Lily’s breath hitched faintly in surprise.
She clearly hadn’t expected him to move closer instead of letting it go.
Now they faced each other completely beneath the blanket, only inches apart in the soft morning light.
Jin’s dark eyes remained fixed on her quietly.
Then softly— using her own words against her— he said:
“I’m your fiancé.”
A small pause.
“I have the right to know.”
Lily froze slightly.
Then her expression slowly weakened.
Not from sadness.
From surrender.
“…Okay,” she whispered softly.
“I will.”
She hesitated again before carefully peeking at him.
“Can I…”
A tiny pause.
“…be a little more closer first?”
Jin went still for a moment.
His mind immediately pulled toward the rules he always kept around himself.
Boundaries.
Distance.
Control.
No excessive clinginess.
No emotional weakness.
But then— he looked into her eyes.
And saw vulnerability sitting there quietly.
Not manipulation.
Not drama.
Just someone asking to feel safe for a moment.
After several silent seconds—
Jin gave a small nod.
Immediately Lily moved closer beneath the blanket.
Not hesitantly.
Instinctively.
She buried her face directly into his chest, wrapping both arms tightly around him while pressing herself fully against his warmth.
Her body curled inward protectively as though finally allowing herself to stop pretending she was okay.
Jin felt her fingers clutch lightly at his shirt beneath the blanket.
Then finally— in a voice barely above a whisper— she said:
“I was… neglected.”
The room became even quieter somehow.
“When I was born…”
“Dad was always busy…”
“Tours…”
“Business meetings…”
Her words came slowly.
Like old wounds reopening one layer at a time.
“Mom handled the house…”
“I didn’t have any siblings…”
A long pause followed.
Then finally— so quietly it almost broke—
“I was lonely…”
Her voice cracked softly at the end.
And tiny tears finally escaped her eyes.
Jin felt them against his chest.
Warm.
Real.
His entire body went completely still.
Not because he didn’t know what to do.
But because hearing her pain directly affected him more than he expected.
For a moment he simply stared downward at the silver top of her head buried against him.
Then something inside him softened sharply.
His arms slowly moved around her.
Both of them.
Carefully.
Firmly.
Jin pulled her closer against his chest until there was almost no space left between them beneath the blanket.
Lily immediately melted further into him with a small shaky inhale.
“I was lonely…” she whispered again weakly.
Jin’s eyes narrowed softly.
Then quietly— very quietly— he answered:
“No, Lily…”
“You’re not.”
One hand rested gently against the back of her head while the other held her securely against his chest.
“You’re here with me.”
“I’m holding you.”
“And you’re not alone.”
Lily slowly looked upward at him.
Her silver eyes shimmered with tears, trembling faintly beneath the morning light.
“…Really?”
Jin nodded immediately.
Not casually.
Sincerely.
“You can lean on me whenever you want.”
Then his jaw tightened slightly.
Something protective settling deeply into his voice.
“I’m gonna keep you safe, Lily.”
The words hit her harder than expected.
Lily blinked once in surprise before suddenly clinging tightly to him again, pressing herself against his chest while the last of her tears finally began fading away.
A tiny watery smile formed against his shirt.
“I’m so lucky to have you…”
Jin immediately looked slightly away with the faintest blush touching his cheeks.
Still not used to hearing things like that.
Still not used to being needed this much.
But quietly— he nodded anyway.
Outside, sunlight continued spilling slowly across the room, warming the sheets, the walls, the quiet morning air.
And beneath the black blanket— two figures remained tangled together.
One slowly healing old wounds.
The other silently learning how to hold someone gently without fear.
Lily rested peacefully against Jin’s chest, arms wrapped around him securely now instead of desperately.
And Jin kept both arms around her protectively while morning settled softly around them.
Sunday had only just begun.
Jin looked down at her quietly.
And then something rare happened.
A genuine smile appeared on his face.
Not smug.
Not teasing.
Not the small amused smirks he usually hid behind.
This one was softer.
Warmer.
The kind of smile that appeared only when his guard lowered without permission.
His fingers brushed slowly through the back of Lily’s hair before he spoke in a low morning voice.
“Lily… you don’t need to think about the past now, okay?”
Lily blinked slowly against his chest, still recovering from crying earlier.
Jin continued quietly.
“Your dad was busy…”
“So he could provide money for you and your mother.”
“And your mother handled the house…”
“So you could grow up in a clean and maintained home.”
His voice stayed calm the entire time, steady like warm water.
“They never meant harm.”
Lily grew still beneath the blanket.
Her fingers loosened slightly where they had been clutching his robe.
“Oh…”
The tiny sound escaped her softly.
Almost fragile.
“I never thought of it that way…”
Jin gave a small nod against the pillow.
“Every parent does love their child.”
Then after a short pause, he added dryly:
“Look at my mom.”
“She still loves me even when I’m cold all the time.”
That finally earned a tiny laugh from Lily.
A watery little giggle.
She rubbed one eye sleepily against his chest before whispering:
“Yeah…”
The sadness inside her expression eased little by little.
Then suddenly, as if noticing it for the first time, she tilted her head slightly upward beneath the blanket and whispered shyly:
“You let me be… closer?”
Jin instantly looked away.
A faint blush climbed across his cheeks.
“Yeah…”
“Because you were a crybaby.”
Lily immediately puffed her cheeks beneath the blanket.
“I’m not…”
The protest came out tiny and sleepy, making her sound even more adorable than before. This chapter was taken from g.com without permission.
Jin almost laughed.
Almost.
Instead he simply exhaled quietly while Lily melted against him again, her body warm beneath the blanket.
“Though…” she murmured softly, eyes half-lidded now, “I’m glad being here with you.”
Jin stared at the ceiling for a moment.
Then nodded once.
“Yeah…”
“Me too.”
Silence returned again after that.
But not an empty silence.
A comfortable one.
The kind shared between two people slowly learning each other’s hidden wounds.
Lily shifted slightly against him.
Then paused.
Her silver eyes narrowed a little in concentration.
“Stay still.”
Jin blinked.
Before he could ask why, Lily slowly lifted herself upward beneath the blanket.
The movement was careful.
Sleepy.
Gentle.
Her hand reached toward his face, fingertips brushing near the corner of his eye.
Jin froze immediately.
Her face was suddenly so close.
Too close.
He could feel the warmth of her breath against his skin.
See every tiny detail in her expression.
The faint pink still lingering on her cheeks.
The way her lashes fluttered nervously.
The slight parting of her soft lips as she concentrated.
“There…” Lily whispered quietly.
She removed a tiny loose blanket thread from beneath his eye.
But neither of them moved afterward.
Neither pulled away.
Morning sunlight glowed softly around them beneath the blanket, turning the entire moment hazy and warm.
Lily slowly realized how close she still was.
Very close.
Close enough that the tips of their noses nearly brushed whenever either breathed too deeply.
Her cheeks turned pink again.
Then redder.
Their eyes locked silently.
Neither looking away this time.
“J… Jin…” she whispered.
Her voice trembled slightly.
Jin’s throat moved subtly.
“L… Lily…”
And suddenly both of them remembered.
The corridor.
The interrupted almost-kiss.
The accidental brush of lips before the clap echoed through the hallway.
The memory returned all at once.
The atmosphere changed instantly.
Quiet tension spread beneath the blanket like rising heat.
Lily’s breathing became softer.
Shallower.
Her fingers slowly curled tighter into the fabric of Jin’s robe near his chest.
Jin noticed it.
And somehow that only made his own heartbeat heavier.
Neither spoke anymore.
Slowly… very slowly… they leaned closer.
Lily tilted her head slightly upward, her silver hair sliding softly across the pillow.
Her lips parted just a little as nervousness flickered across her expression.
A tiny breath escaped her.
Then, unconsciously, she moistened her lips once.
The movement nearly destroyed what remained of Jin’s composure.
His eyes lowered toward her lips for the briefest second before he leaned downward carefully.
Slowly enough that both could still stop.
Slowly enough that every inch felt dangerous.
Lily’s eyelashes fluttered nervously.
Her hands tightened against his robe again.
The blanket shifted softly around them as she moved closer on instinct, her chest lightly pressing against his beneath the warmth of the sheets.
Closer.
Closer.
Their breaths mingled.
Warm against each other’s lips now.
Jin could feel Lily trembling slightly.
Lily could hear his breathing.
Their noses brushed softly first.
Then finally… their lips met.
Just barely.
A tiny kiss.
Soft enough to almost not count.
Warm.
Gentle.
Their lips only lingered together for a fleeting second, hesitant and incomplete, like neither fully knew how to cross the final distance yet.
But it still sent a violent rush of heat through both of them instantly.
Lily’s fingers clenched tightly into Jin’s robe.
Jin’s eyes widened slightly before slowly closing fully.
For one tiny moment… everything else disappeared.
And then fate attacked again.
“Hh…!”
Lily suddenly jerked back.
Covered her mouth.
“Achoo!”
Silence.
Absolute silence.
Lily froze in horror.
Her entire face exploded bright red instantly.
Then with a tiny squeak, she immediately buried herself back into Jin’s chest beneath the blanket.
“S-stupid sneeze…!”
Her muffled embarrassed voice nearly died inside his robe.
Jin blinked twice in complete surprise.
Then slowly looked away.
A deeper blush spread across his own cheeks now too.
But after a few seconds… a smirk appeared.
“What?” he muttered quietly.
“You got it for a second.”
Then after a pause:
“Better than yesterday night’s microsecond.”
“Jin!!”
Lily gripped his robe harder in pure embarrassment.
“Don’t tease me!”
Jin gave the faintest grin.
“Maybe.”
Then his hand slowly lifted again.
And gently rested on top of her head.
Pat.
Soft.
Slow.
Immediately Lily melted against him once more, all tension draining from her body beneath his hand as she hid shyly against his chest.
Morning sunlight continued glowing warmly across the bed.
Outside the world still carried danger, enemies, and unfinished wounds.
But beneath the black blanket— there was only warmth.
Only trust.
And two hearts slowly, awkwardly learning how to move closer to each other.
Lily remained hidden against Jin’s chest in complete embarrassment while Jin quietly smirked above her, one hand still gently patting her head.
Their almost-kiss curse had survived another day.