Embers
Title: Embers
Author: clio323
Pairing: Hong Jonghyun + Yura (We Got Married)
Rating: G
Completed: Y
Length: One-shot
Summary: While on vacation, Yura asks some difficult questions.
Embers
“Who did you think your wife would be?” she asks him out of the blue.
They’ve just finished filming their last scene of the day-a surprise dessert event in one of their hotel rooms, complete with a roaring fire and twinkling wine. Jonghyun shifts in his seat, and from his end of the couch he sees how she’s tucked herself into opposite corner, the glow from the fire bringing out the rich browns of her hair.
After a full day shooting in what has been a vacation right out of their fantasies, they are exhausted and giddy and drunk from all the exhilaration that comes with being in a new place-a new country-and even if there are staff taking down lights and cleaning up around them, the fire and the wine, the proximity, the eye contact and maybe innocent brushes of skin on skin have done their job. The spell has been cast.
Nothing exists beyond the couch where they lay, their little island, and they are wrapped up in the shadows the flames cast across her face and reflect brightly in his eyes.
He clears his throat, uncertain how to answer her question when he sees her shake her head vigorously, a peel of laughter escaping her lips. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it,” she smiles at him with eyes that shine with mischief and apology. “I don’t know why I said that.” She taps her fingertips against her lips in silent punishment.
“We did a really good job, winning that contest,” Yura sighs dreamily and leans her head against the back of the couch.
Maybe the same recklessness that forced that question from her lips also burned in him, or maybe it was the act of her censoring herself with him that made him do it (because the thought suddenly came that he didn’t want her to hold herself back with him), but he doesn’t bite on her attempt to change the subject.
“I had no idea, honestly,” he tells her because it is true.
Surprise and delight flicker across her face, and she can’t stop herself from blurting, “Then, who did you want it to be?”
He smiles, knows even in his limited experience, how carefully he has to tread. His eyes sweep over her face, linger on the twitch of her mouth, takes in how she’s sitting up and leaning toward his direction, eager for the next words to spill from his lips.
But she takes his hesitation as reluctance, as a surefire sign that he definitely had someone in mind. “You can tell me,” she offers and even throws in a laugh. “Who was it? A singer? An actress?”
He just shakes his head, adores how she’s unaware of how stiff she looks when trying to feign an air of nonchalance. “I honestly didn’t have anyone in mind.”
Yura’s voice rings of disbelief. “Really?” She huffs and falls back, deflated, against the couch cushions, something like disappointment singeing her chest.
"Really.” Now he’s the one leaning in, wanting her to believe him--it’s important for her to believe him. “I can’t really-there just wasn’t anyone I could picture myself with. All I hoped for was that, whoever it was, we would get along.”
His words linger in the air between them, until she breathes, “And now?”
She can sense his hesitation-his deep breath for courage-and his next words are so soft, so gentle, so surreal she thinks they could be from a dream. “And now...I would have done the show with anyone, but... I’m glad she was you." And even softer, "This would be so much harder if she wasn’t you, Ah Young.”
Her chest seizes when his gaze meets hers, all smolder and depthless vulnerability, and she has to resist the urge to look away. “I didn’t have any big intentions or grand expectations coming on this show. I wasn’t sure I would even like it,” he confesses. “But I’m having a lot of fun, and that’s largely because of you."
Jonghyun’s whole neck is aflame from embarrassment and he worries he’s said too much, but then he sees how Yura fights a losing battle against the smile that breaks over her face, one that makes the corners of her eyes crinkle. She grins up at him before she ducks her head, shy once more.
“So, who did you want your husband to be?” he asks, suddenly curious.
Feeling her cheeks grow warm, she clutches a pillow, unprepared for this turn of conversation. “No one,” she says adamantly. “I wasn’t hoping for anyone.” Her hands fly about, as if dismissing the topic altogether.
“No one?”
Yura bites her lips together and shakes her head in a way that does little to convince anyone of her words.
“Not even… Lee Seung Gi?” he prods with a tilt of his head.
She gasps. “How did you-” Her eyes widen and she freezes, feeling guilty at being found out even though she’s done nothing wrong. She knows she’s turning bright red, and there’s nothing left for her to do but throw the pillow over her face, her cries and embarrassed laughter mixing and muffling together as she hopes for the world to open up and swallow her whole.
“I’m sorry, I’m not him,” she hears him say uneasily beyond the pillow. “You were probably disappointed.”
Yura shakes her head, throws the pillow off. He has a smile perfectly plastered to his face, and by the dimming of his eyes she can tell he's retreating, going somewhere she can't follow. She sits up, edges a bit closer, almost reaches for his hand. “No, I’m glad it was you,” she blurts. “I’m happy it’s you.”
“Thanks for saying so,” he manages distractedly.
This time she does reach for this hand. “It doesn’t matter who I thought of before,” her voice balmy and sure. “I’m here with you,” she gestures to the room, to the country. “And I get to make these memories with you. I-I don’t want to make them with anyone else.”
They stare at each other for a while, both feeling the weight of their words.
Someone comes and puts out the fire. They pull their hands back, as if caught. The warmth is gone. The spell is broken.
"I should probably go." Jonghyun stands up and she trails behind him as he makes his way to the door, eyebrows knit across her forehead. But before he can say his goodnight, she pushes him through the doorway and into the hotel hallway, pulling the door shut behind her with a resounding click.
“Yura-”
“Oppa,” she cuts him off. “You’re enough.”
She boldly looks him in the eye and hopes he can understand what it is that she’s saying. “You’re more than enough,” she whispers tenderly.
And he decided he believes her.
He has never been a very vocal person, has been more inclined to use action over words, and so it is fitting-but more than that, it feels right-that his response is simply to bring her close, his arms wrapping her in the immensity of a feeling he can’t yet name, and kisses her softly, lingeringly, on the crown of her head.
Their own fire sparks and ignites between them.
When she eventually heads back into her room, she glances at him one last time. He gives her a little wave. “Good night, Ah Young.”
She ducks her head, already melting, and closes gently the door. He stands there for a while, contemplating the specific emotion blooming in his chest. Yura leans against the other side of the door, the lingering warmth of his embrace blistering and branding her skin.
End
A/N: So many times it is the girl in the relationship who needs to be reassured, and I wanted to play with that a little bit as a reversal. HJH always seems to lose out when it comes to the ladies (if you've seen style log s2 you know what I mean ^^) and so I imagined he would need some affirmation of his specialness, especially because Yura hasn't hidden the fact that she's a fan of Lee Seung Gi ;)