NORTHHOWMUCHISYOURLOVE, Chapter 32 part 2
“Thank you for being everything.”
“Oh…It’s nothing, North is happy to be there for you.” I smiled shyly, but since I had my back to Phii Joe, he didn’t see it, which was probably for the best. My face must have been very red by now. “Thank you too Phii, you’re everything to me as well.”
“Were you looking at me?”
“…No, not at all.”
“Why? Are you blushing?”
“Not at all, I am just cooking.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“Wow, there’s even a fireplace.” I explored around the house, which I didn’t pay much attention to at first because I was eager to go outside. This was my first time seeing an actual fireplace, I’ve only seen them in movies, “Let’s light it up.” “We’ll light it after you take a shower.” “Yay, sure, I’ll go shower then.” I came out to sit on the sofa in front of the fireplace with Phii Joe after we both had showered, and it was really warm once the fire was lit. I leaned towards him and hugged.
I really like this…
“Even after just a few hours, I already love it here. Should we move here?” I said jokingly.
“Hmm, want to live here?”
“Just kidding, but if it were possible, it would be nice.”
“Let’s visit more places before deciding.”
“Is that okay? Like, moving abroad?”
“Sure, it’s up to you anyway.” Phii Joe said, pulling me into a tighter hug and pressing his nose against my cheek. I still felt shy whenever he did things like this; I guess I’ll never get used to it.
“Phii, you spoil me too much.”
“Is that bad?”
“Not at all. It’s just that no one has ever spoiled me as much as you do.” I said, before turning to kiss his cheek back, “What if I change and become spoiled?”
“It’s okay.”
“How do you know?”
“North, you haven’t changed at all. From the first time I met you, did you realize that?”
“Is it really true?”
“Uh-huh.”
“And is it good?”
“It’s great, being with you, it’s the best.” “…” I fell silent for a moment because of the words I heard, letting the sound of my heartbeat rise louder instead. I like it when he says that being me is great; it makes me realize that being here is the best.
This is where I belong…
“Being with you is good for me too.” I said in return, “You know, why haven’t you ever asked why I like you?”
“Hmm, so why is that?”
“Because you’re kind.”
“Just that?”
“It’s not just that at all. You’re very kind to me. Even though when we first met, I puked all over you and caused a mess.”
“I was angry back then.”
“Yes, as I am, I was angry too.” I said while pouting, thinking back on it was really embarrassing, North, oh, I completely ruined Phii Joe’s shirt, T^T, “And then at the bar. If it wasn’t for you…I might have…”
“Don’t talk about it.”
“Why?”
“It’s irritating.”
“Huh.” I slightly frowned, “But did you know from the beginning that North was lying about going to work?”
“Uh-huh.”
“And why didn’t you say anything from the start?”
“I saw that you wanted to do it, didn’t I?”
“Oh…” I fell silent, reflecting back. He didn’t want me to work there, but since I wanted to, he didn’t say anything. Just had someone watch over me like this, huh?
“Whatever you want to do, I’ll be there to support you…”
The words Phii Joe had once told me popped up in my head. “Now that North thinks about it…” “What?” “How great it is that you were at the game shop that day, and North was there too. Even if it wasn’t great for you at first, North is still happy that you waited.”
“I told you, it’s just that I couldn’t go anywhere, that’s all.”
“Exactly, if you can’t go anywhere, then there’s no need to go anywhere, just stay with me forever.”
“I wouldn’t go anywhere even if you didn’t say so.” Phii Joe said, resting his chin on my shoulder, “And neither would you, North.”
“What?”
“I’m not that kind-hearted to let you go anywhere.”
“…”
“It might be a bit selfish, but if you wanted to leave, I definitely wouldn’t be kind then.”
“…”
“Does that make you uncomfortable?”
“Not at all.” I replied, “That day will never come, so you’ll always be kind to North, because North is a good kid.”
“Really?”
“Yes, North is only a good kid for Phii Joe alone.”
The other didn’t say anything more. Just gently lifted my chin, then pressed his lips to mine, a warm touch invading, and I responded to every touch. His hot tongue explored everywhere as if to claim everything, the rhythm, the familiar taste of the kiss, the warm breath, and my heart beating faster, his thick hand started to wander, caressing under my shirt.
“Be a good kid for me tonight too.” The deep voice whispering in my ear made my heart beat even harder before I buried my face into the chest of the person in front of me.
“Uh, North is a good kid, so be gentle with North.”
“Khrap.”
…
It’s five in the morning…
I glanced outside while my hands were busy making coffee. Phii Joe wasn’t awake yet, but he’d probably get up soon. Thinking back to last night, my heart…
Oh…when Phii Joe was gentle like that with me, it…
I absentmindedly touched the red mark on my neck that still stung a bit as evidence of what happened yesterday. We’ve been dating for a month now. There hasn’t been more than two days in a row without us doing it.
Phii Joe once said that my body would get more used to it over time, and it’s true. After waking up in the morning, I’m no longer in too much pain or discomfort to get up. Except when he’s rough with me, which usually happens on days I don’t need to go outside, and I end up staying in bed almost all day.
Getting used to that kind of thing is probably impossible. Every time I look at him, my heart flutters like crazy because of him. Recently, Phii Joe has been getting even more fit, his muscles and six-pack becoming more defined because he’s had more time for exercise.
There are plenty of embarrassing things, I guess.
Ter is the same. I’ve noticed the red marks on his neck often.
Why do these doctors…
Oh, damn.
“You can wake up now.” I placed the coffee cup on the bedside table and went to wake the still-sleeping person, “Let’s go hiking.”
“Uh-huh.” “Phii Joe.” “A morning kiss.” I couldn’t help but smile at his words. Is this what they call being sweet? This word might not fit him well, but it’s still cute. I leaned down to give him a soft kiss.
“Good morning.”
“Morning.” Phii Joe said as he slowly opened his eyes.
“Go wash your face. North has made coffee. We’ll go hiking soon.”
“Now?”
“Yes, now. There won’t be many people, we might see the sunrise, the view will be beautiful, and after we come down, we’ll check out from the cottage and go sightseeing elsewhere.”
“You planned this out really well, guide.”
“Of course.”
We walked up the mountain path, or rather, the cliff path, as it was the highest cliff in Norway, a very popular tourist spot. Initially, the path was easy, but as we continued, it started to get rockier.
“Ah!” I exclaimed in surprise when I suddenly stumbled. Luckily, Phii Joe caught me in time, “Thank you.”
“Want to take a break?”
“A break sounds good.” I said, before we took a rest on the path. My legs were so tired, it was killing me.
“I told you to exercise more, but you wouldn’t listen.” Phii Joe complained. He often nagged me about my lack of exercise because I’m quite lazy when it comes to working out, so he forced me to go running with him every morning. Lately, I’ve been getting more and more reluctant to get up, but I still go because I’m forced to. “I do run.”
“More like you go for a stroll.”
“Not at all, you run too fast, you don’t wait for me.”
“I did wait. You just didn’t want to run.”
“Hmph.” I said sulkily because he does run fast. I can’t keep up, “I’m tired though.”
“Guess you couldn’t keep up last night either.”
“Phii!” I protested a bit, glad there was no one else around to hear. It wasn’t that I couldn’t handle it, it was that he went overboard. Almost an hour, seriously! “That was enough already.”
“Next time, I won’t let you fall asleep first then.”
“Phii Joe!” I lightly hit his arm in annoyance. I always pass out first, “You’re so mean.”
“Didn’t you say I’m kind-hearted?”
“Except for this.”
“But you weren’t hurt yesterday, right?” Phii Joe said, lifting his hand to gently pat my head. I immediately made a pouting face.
“Let’s change the subject, please.” I said, feeling embarrassed, before lifting my camera to take a picture of the person sitting next to me. Why does he look so good on camera? No matter the angle, he looks great. Even if the photos aren’t beautiful, a good-looking model is more than enough.
I’m really good at praising, aren’t I…
Along the way, we took in the atmosphere. The path wasn’t too hard to walk because there were well-laid stones. Midway, there was a flat path with a bridge, surrounded by fields. Since it wasn’t fully bright yet, the scenery was breathtaking for me. As we reached the end of our climb, we could see the view below, and it was quite high. I didn’t dare to look much because I started to feel scared of heights.
“Are you okay?” Phii Joe asked.
“I’m fine.”
When we got to the part where we had to climb up, I almost entirely relied on Phii Joe to pull me up by the hand. If I were here alone, there’s no way I would have made it, and when we finally reached our destination,
it was so beautiful I could hardly breathe…
A gentle breeze blew in. We stood at an elevation of over six hundred meters above the water level. Looking ahead, you could see a long chain of mountains against an orange sky because the sun was about to rise. Below was a wide river separating this cliff from the mountain range.
“Come over here.” Phii Joe said. I took my eyes off the view in front of me and looked at him.
“No, not there, it’s too close.” I said fearfully. That spot was too close to the cliff’s edge. I was scared of falling.
“It’s okay.”
“…”
“I’m here.”
“Okay.” I carefully moved closer and sat down next to Phii Joe. It wasn’t as scary as I had thought. We sat together, watching the sky slowly change colors.
“Let’s take a photo.” I said, lifting the camera to take a picture of us together. After thoroughly enjoying the view, other people started to come up. So, I asked someone else to take a photo of us.
“Thank you.” I thanked the person who took our photo. He smiled back and walked away. “You’re quite good.” Phii Joe remarked, probably referring to when I spoke English to ask for the photo.
“Do you mean my English?”
“Uh-huh.”
“I like speaking English. Otherwise, how would I have gotten the scholarship to go to America?”
“Very good.” The other complimented. I smiled shyly, acknowledging that I’m not as proficient as Phii Joe, who could score 900 on the TOEIC, but I’m okay. Among all the subjects I studied, I liked English the best. “If you like it, why don’t you study language?”
“I also like engineering. Language can help with work. Or I can think about it again in the future.”
“…”
“Also, I want to work with you, to be an engineer for your company.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes, please consider this engineer.”
“Already passed.”
“What?”
“You’ve already captured my heart completely, my dear engineer.”
“…”
I pressed my lips together, trying to hide my embarrassment, feeling my face heat up again even though it’s so cold outside.
“Then this doctor has also completely captured the heart of this engineer.”
We headed back down. I waited for a signal for a moment before posting our couple’s photo on Instagram, with the view of the cliff behind us, captioning it, “The doctor’s engineer, :)”
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