It's Been a Long, Long Time

Thank God you no longer have to use that public lot five blocks away from her old place.

That lot hardly ever has an open space, forcing you into a parking deck ten blocks down the street.

Now you get the perk of pulling your BMW 5 Series into the private lot of her new place and claiming one of the guest-labeled spots. You pull down the visor and look in the mirror, making sure there isn’t a single hair out of place. This is a huge occasion after all. You need to look the best you’ve looked in a long time for her.

For Woni.

Six months of not seeing her has felt like an eternity. An eternity trapped in a purgatory spent halfway across the world from Seoul, stuck in a chip fabrication plant in Texas. It was a grueling, monotonous, lonely, depressing time.

All because you were away from her.

The past six months for Woni have been the exact opposite. She’s become a star along with the rest of Rescene. They’re arguably now the hottest group in Korea, topping the music charts, signing new endorsement deals left and right, and getting millions of views on anything and everything they release.

And Woni hasn’t changed a bit from her newfound fame. She’s still the same down to earth, warm, and witty person she’s always been since you met almost a year ago. At least, that’s what you gathered from the brief phone calls while you were stuck in the States.

It’s not easy having phone calls with a person on the other side of the planet, especially when the entire group shares a single phone. Somehow in the year 2026, certain agencies don’t trust idols to have a personal cellphone.

Calling Woni has always felt like you were in the 1950s, having to call a dorm hallway phone and ask Minami or Liv if Woni was there to take the call.

There is no texting her or emailing her.

Not unless you want the rest of the group to read it.

YOU AND WONI DEFINITELY DON’T WANT THAT.

It’s an old-fashioned relationship, like the one your grandparents had.

And just like what your grandfather used to do for your grandmother, every time you see Woni, you bring her flowers. Glancing at the bouquet of two dozen red roses sitting on your passenger seat, you take a deep breath.

For some reason, you are super nervous, like you were before your first date with her all those months ago. You guess that’s what six months of being in purgatory does to you.

One more deep breath.

Game time.

You grab the roses and get out of the car, heading to the front door of Woni’s new apartment complex. It’s huge and looks like it was built pretty recently.

This is so much nicer than that decrepit villa they were in. It’s like the Garden of Eden compared to that. Wow.

Woni banned you from watching any variety content featuring their new place. She wants to give you a personal tour of it herself. So aside from her instructions about what button to press at the front door and what floor they’re on, you’re going in completely blind.

After pressing the button to ring their apartment, you look down to make sure your buttoned-up shirt is still tucked in nicely and isn’t a wrinkled mess.

The panel buzzes and the door unlocks. You push it open, walk across the lobby, and head up the stairs to the third floor.

With every step down the hallway, you feel your heart start to pound faster. It feels like you’re almost moving in slow motion as you get closer and closer to her door.

You take one last deep breath and bring your hand up to knock.

A squeal of excitement comes through the door before you can.

It bursts open and Woni, wearing a white dress, jumps onto you, wrapping her legs around your waist and her arms around your neck. The door closes behind her. You instinctively catch her with one arm to keep her from falling, holding the roses out to the side so they don’t get crushed.

Your noses are almost touching as you just scan each other’s faces for a brief moment, making sure this is actually happening after so long apart.

Breaking the silence, you softly say, “Hey, I missed you.”

Those words make Woni’s signature eye smile come across her face, a smile that has always warmed you up on your coldest days.

“I think by how fast you busted through the door, you might’ve missed m—”

In a hungry desperation, her lips devour yours before you can finish your sentence. It stuns you for a second, your eyes wide open, before you kiss her back with just as much intensity.

How much you have needed this.

 How much you have needed her.

Her hands massage their way through your hair as your lips are locked and tongues tangle together. As her dress rides up, you feel the thin fabric of her panties slowly grind against your growing bulge.

It feels like you’re ascending to heaven.

Her thighs are squeezing at your waist more and more.

You love it when she does that.

You love it even more the many times she’s done it with her clothes off. The thought of being able to do it again after all this time makes you melt.

Still deep in the kiss, Woni reaches out and grips your wrist, keeping the bouquet of roses upright. You slowly shuffle your feet and carry her toward the threshold, eager to get behind closed doors before a neighbor spots you. As you press her up against the door, you unfortunately have to pull away from the kiss.

“Hey, my hands are kind of full holding two of the most beautiful things in the world. Mind helping out and opening the door before we get caught?”

“Of course I’ll help,” Woni teases, reaching past you to twist the doorknob.

The door swings inward from your weight. You carry her into the vestibule of the apartment, and she gently slides down onto her bare feet as the door closes. “By the way,” she adds, giving you a quick peck on the lips. “You were right. I did miss you too.”

You notice she’s becoming teary-eyed. She tilts her head down, trying to hide it from you.

“Hey hey hey, what’s wrong? I didn’t accidentally bump you into something, did I?” you ask with concern.

She sniffles and lifts her head to look at you, still teary-eyed. “No, nothing like that.” She sniffles again. “I just really, really missed you. It’s been a crazy six months. It’s been great, don’t get me wrong, but it was always missing you. And now you’re finally here.” Woni squeezes your arms. “In person. I’ve been dreaming about this moment for so long, I just can’t believe it’s actually happening.”

Seeing her tear up is making you want to tear up (okay, maybe you’re actually tearing up). To prevent the waterworks from happening, you hold out the two dozen roses with both hands. “I missed you too, baby. First off, though, these are for you.”

Woni takes them, and you watch her quickly count the flowers. “Two dozen roses? This is too many, babe. You really shouldn’t have,” she kindly says.

“I needed to get you one for each week I wasn’t here with you.”

The line makes her eyes tear up even more. She whimpers, “I love you.”