Ch.302302. The Sun Rises, and Love Rises Too
by fnovelpia
“Husband.”
“Hmm?”
“My, my bottom hurts.”
“……”
Hwa Nabi, who got out of the car after me, mutters a complaint. I personally close the passenger door and pretend I didn’t hear what she just said.
Well, it’s an obvious fact that I got excited and kept touching Nabi’s bottom… There’s nothing I could say here that wouldn’t put me at a disadvantage.
So after straightening my clothes, I walked forward as if nothing had happened. Nabi quickly catches up to walk beside me.
“Husband, why are you pretending you didn’t hear what I said?”
“Huh? What?”
“I said my bottom hurts because you kept spanking it. How are you going to take responsibility?”
“…Well, how about I stroke it to make it feel better?”
“Wow… you’re such a pervert. Husband, have you been studying something? Like ‘how to make what I say sound more perverted’?”
“It’s all you.”
Ah, maybe it’s not her after all. While walking along with such pointless thoughts, she linked her arm with mine. As that incredibly soft sensation touched my forearm, a smile naturally spread across my face.
“You’ll tear your mouth at this rate. Do you like breasts that much?”
“It’s not the breasts, it’s you that I like.”
“Ugh, you’re so cheesy.”
Despite her scolding tone, her actions are quite playful. Since we were already at it, I firmly linked our arms and pulled her close to my side.
When I say something silly, Nabi plays along, and when she makes a joke, I respond in kind. Chatting playfully like this as we walked, we soon arrived at our destination.
It was the perfect spot that a hotel employee had recommended an hour ago—a place where few people come but offers a beautiful view of the sunrise. It’s at the edge of a rock jutting out toward the sea.
“Husband, the tide won’t come in here, right?”
“It should be low tide at this hour, so we’re fine.”
“Oh, really? That’s good then. But how do you know that?”
“I researched everything before we came.”
It would be nice if there were a bench. With rocks and boulders everywhere, there’s no proper place to sit.
Well, if it were a perfect spot, people wouldn’t leave it alone, would they? This is within an acceptable compromise. After looking around briefly, I found a relatively flat spot and sat down. Fortunately, there’s enough room to stretch my legs.
“Nabi, come here.”
“My bottom hurts though.”
“Then, would you like to sit on my thigh?”
“Hmm, is that allowed?”
“Yes, come sit.”
I pat my thigh to show her where to sit, and she scurries over as if she’d been waiting for the invitation, settling between my thighs. To make sure she could watch comfortably, I became a human safety belt, firmly holding her waist.
“You hold me well now without me having to say anything?”
“Of course, naturally.”
“Yes, I’m glad my training has paid off.”
“…There you go saying weird things again.”
She casually mutters things that would cause serious misunderstandings if anyone else heard them—thankfully, we’re the only people around. This habit of hers never seems to improve no matter how much I mention it.
Well, I suppose it’s part of her charm in its own way.
“……”
No, is it? Maybe it’s not charm but just one of her ways to tease me. As I was seriously pondering this, Nabi suddenly placed her hand on top of mine.
I can feel the softness and warmth from her fingertips. Feeling all of that quietly, I cleared away all the random thoughts in my head.
Right, who cares whether it’s teasing or not. What matters now is that Nabi and I are together, and that we love each other so much…
“Don’t you think our compatibility is really good?”
“Huh? Compatibility?”
“Yes, compatibility.”
“…It’s so good it’s almost a problem.”
It might sound obvious, but how well-matched must we be to have suddenly gotten married when we’ve barely been twenty for any time at all?
And that’s not all—the time we spend touching each other is so happy that we put everything else aside and just share our love. This wouldn’t be possible without exceptional compatibility. In my opinion, we’ve gone beyond the concept of mere compatibility.
You know, what do they call it? Soulmates? The relationship between a man and woman that heaven has decreed must be together no matter what, a bond that no human power could possibly break.
“Why are you getting all stiff while we’re talking about compatibility?”
“I’m not stiff at all…”
“Husband, you’re not thinking about that kind of compatibility, are you?”
…That’s not the compatibility she meant? When Nabi mentioned compatibility, I naturally thought she was talking about that sort of thing.
“I was just talking about general compatibility.”
“Ah… no. That’s what I was thinking about too.”
“You’re lying.”
“Why do you think I’m lying?”
“Because whenever you lie, you keep wiggling your left index finger.”
“What…?”
She pointed out a habit I wasn’t even aware of. I quickly stopped moving my finger when I realized it, but in this situation, stopping is as good as admitting it.
…This gives me chills. When did she even observe this? I guess I can’t casually lie in front of Nabi anymore.
“Oh, you stopped moving your finger.”
“…I was going to stop it anyway.”
“It’s moving again though.”
Even though I’m aware that I wiggle my finger when lying, my finger moves on its own without me realizing it. This is why habits are so frightening.
“Since I’m already telling you, should I share one more habit of yours?”
“Yes, I’m curious. What is it?”
“Husband, you always hold your breath and then slowly exhale before kissing.”
“…Oh, do I?”
This is scary in its own way. Not that it’s scary that I have a habit of holding my breath, but that Nabi has thoroughly figured out even such trivial habits of mine.
“Just to make sure, this is the end of the list, right?”
“Husband.”
“Yes?”
“Do you think I’ve told you everything?”
“……”
Is she saying there’s more? I gulped and carefully embraced Nabi.
“…Nabi.”
“Yes, husband?”
“Let’s stay together for a long time.”
“Not just a long time, but forever, right?”
“Yes… let’s be together forever.”
How could I ever leave a woman who knows even the habits I’m not aware of myself? If such a thing were to happen, I suspect something terrible would occur.
…I turned my gaze downward. Rocks, sea. Everything at our feet is dyed in a bluish darkness. It seems dawn is about to break.
The blue horizon in the distance slowly begins to turn crimson. I held Nabi more tightly in my arms and whispered softly.
“Beautiful.”
“Yes, I’m glad we came to see it.”
“No, not the sunrise. You’re beautiful.”
“…Hmm, what are you saying?”
I meant it sincerely, but she chuckles as if I’m joking. I gently tickled Nabi’s chin to make her look at me.
“I’m not joking.”
“…So you’re being sincere?”
“Look at my fingers. Do I look like I’m lying?”
According to Nabi, I wiggle my left index finger when I lie. But my fingers aren’t moving at all. I’m just holding her hand firmly.
“Hmm… yes, I think you are being sincere.”
“Yes, I am.”
“Hmm, but what changes if you’re sincere? You’re not asking for praise just because you meant it, are you?”
“Not praise, but I’d like a reward.”
“Reward? What kind of reward?”
Since we’re not exchanging objects, there’s only one thing that could be a reward between us.
Nabi seems to have realized this too, as she turned her head to look at me quietly before giving me a gentle smile.
“Hmm, surely not here?”
“Yes, there’s nobody around anyway.”
“But we’re outside, what if someone sees?”
“The sunrise is so beautiful that no one would even notice us.”
The sun rising beyond the horizon, the sea beautifully shining yellow and blue in the sunlight. The first sunrise of the new year, which can only be seen once a year, was indescribably beautiful. Anyone taking in this sight wouldn’t even notice us.
But to my eyes, I saw only Nabi, not those trivial things.
…Sunrise? Dawn? What’s the big deal about that? You can see that anytime. But Nabi’s bright smile with the sunrise behind her—that’s something I can only see in this moment.
“Husband, I read a book recently.”
“Yes?”
“On the last page of that book, it said that happiness is something you must seize for yourself.”
“For yourself…?”
“Yes, yourself.”
Bringing this up at this moment, she must be saying it for me to hear, right?
So rather than expecting a reward, if I want something, I should take it myself… that must be what she means.
I carefully held Nabi’s chin and slowly brought my face closer to kiss her lips. She responded as if she had been waiting for it, wrapping her arms around my neck and softly reciprocating.
Affection, warmth, love. After exchanging everything we could give each other through our lips, we both pulled away at the same time.
“Husband, your face is red.”
“…Yours is very red too.”
“No, it’s not. Mine is just because of the sunlight.”
“Mine is because of the sunlight too.”
After chatting, we kissed again. This time it was a little deeper than before. With our chests pressed together without any gap, we held each other tightly and exchanged warm breaths.
Why is it so happy just to have our lips pressed together? I feel a sense of fulfillment rising from deep within my chest. With my heart warming up, I gently stroked her back and whispered.
“Nabi.”
“Yes.”
“I love you.”
“…Yes, I love you too.”
After whispering “I love you” repeatedly, I suddenly felt that words alone weren’t enough. I loosened my arms around Nabi slightly, patted her bottom gently, and asked.
“We agreed to pick up Woohee by lunchtime today, right?”
“Yes, we did.”
“Then we still have some time left, right?”
“…I guess so?”
“Let’s go on a date.”
“A date? I’m fine with that… but where? Nothing will be open at this hour.”
Instead of answering, I gestured with my chin toward a certain direction.
“Hansung… Hotel? Husband, that’s just a hotel. There’s nothing inside.”
“Yes, I know.”
“…You pervert.”
“Don’t you want to?”
“Well… it’s not that I don’t want to.”
“Really? Then let’s go.”
“What? But the sun is still rising… Eek! Hus-husband? Why are you suddenly grabbing my waist. Ah, aah-! Okay. Husband, I’ll walk there myself. I’ll go on my own. Wait, waaait…!”
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