Work Text:
It was almost dawn when Moon Young got into the car after an autograph session and a "small reception" that some agent had offered her at the hotel.
Giving a long sigh and counting to three, Gang Tae started the car, seeing how her face looked more flushed than usual and her eyes brighter. She had been drinking.
They were supposed to return to Seongjin earlier in the evening, right after the book signing event, but Moon Young insisted that this was part of the business and he was forced to stay following her through a hall full of snobby people who stared at him as if he were some kind of joke. Until he got tired and went to wait in the car.
"Shit, it's hot in here." Moon Young grumbled and turned the air conditioner on the cooler one.
"You wouldn't be so hot if you hadn't been drinking so much." He muttered and turned off the air conditioner again, feeling the temperature rise considerably, knowing she was throwing daggers in his direction.
"What's your problem?"
He hissed. "What's my problem?" Gang Tae stared at her, seeing her face even blusher than before, the pulse in her neck clearly visible. She was extremely pissed off. "How about the fact that I'm being forced to drive in the middle of the dawn, after spending four hours following you in the middle of that bunch of snakes?" In a fit of anger, he sped off, overtaking two cars at once.
This time, it was Moon Young who snorted and crossed her arms. "You didn't have to come, you could have stayed home, studying for your stupid, endless exams, or gone off to do something else with your new friends."
"You asked me to come."
"Because I missed you!" She squalled and looked away from him.
"If you miss me so much, why do you keep accepting these events in another city?" Gang Tae prodded.
They had been at this tango for a few months. Moon Young had returned to her former fame and with that, the promotion and autograph events were back in full swing, which caused her to spend a lot of time away from home, traveling and touring all over the country and abroad at times.
University was taking up most of his time, so Gang Tae was not able to accompany her on trips, and every time he showed up to meet her in the middle of a tour or event, he always felt the same discomfort as always. The feeling that he was entering a world that didn't belong to him.
The life Moon Young led before him was just that. Book signing events, parties, dinners, balls, and anything else that involved promoting her image. And as much as he knew she hated every part of it as much as he did, the way she smiled at the others, the way she greeted them and understood the biased references and jokes they made, made him feel like an intruder in it all. As if her world and his were from completely different galaxies.
"If you were going to keep complaining, you didn't need to come." She mumbled from the other side and Gang Tae noticed that her voice trembled. But he was tired and they hadn't spoken properly for some time.
Giving a long sigh he clenched his hands on the steering wheel. "Maybe I shouldn't come anymore then." He whispered and noticed that Moon Young stared at him, before turning completely toward the window, and Gang Tae saw when her shoulders shook slightly. She was crying, again.
Trying to concentrate on the road, he turned on the radio to break the uncomfortable silence that settled inside the cramped space of the car. A pop song was playing and he drummed his fingers on the steering wheel with the rhythm.
After a while, soft chords of another song filled the car and Gang Tae gave a sad smile, he knew the song, he remembered hearing it as a teenager on the radio. He turned up the volume a little and glanced at Moon Young, who was still facing the other way, he knew she was just pretending to be asleep.
When the singer began to sing the first few lines, he let out a tired sigh. Of all the times he had listened to this song, this was the first time he had really paid attention to the lyrics.
Sometimes late at night
I lie awake and watch her sleeping
She's lost in peaceful dreams
So I turn out the light & lay there in the dark
And the thought crosses my mind
If I never wake in the morning
Would she ever doubt the way I feel about her in my heart?
He stared at Moon Young once again, seeing her small body curled up on the seat, her hair was a little longer now due to the full schedule of the two of them, and something inside him grew warm as he remembered that to this day she refused to have her hair cut by someone else, still claiming that he was the only one who could touch her.
Suddenly he felt his eyes getting moist. He missed her so much. Miss them. The last year had been a hectic hell and Gang Tae just wished he could be together with her again in that camping van, cuddling Moon Young at night without worrying about what time they would have to wake up the next day, snuggling with her in front of a campfire under the starry sky and making love under that same sky.
If tomorrow never comes
Will she know how much I love her?
Did I try in every way to show her every day
She's my only one
And if my time on earth were through
She must faces this world without me
Is the love I gave her in the past
Gonna be enough to last
If tomorrow never comes?
What if tomorrow never comes? It made him choke. When was the last time he really said he loved her? Last week in a mechanical text message? On their last anniversary when she woke him up with kisses? Or was it before that, when the two of them were only concerned with spending their days lost in each other?
The thought made him feel a choking weight in his throat, and Gang Tae stopped the car on the first road shoulder he saw. He stood still for a few seconds, his hands gripping the soft leather of the steering wheel tightly, feeling his fingers go numb at the tips.
Moon Young sniffled, but didn't turn around, he knew she was curious to know why he had stopped, but he also knew she wouldn't turn around and ask. Turning off the car, he reached out his hand to her, gently caressing her back, giving a corner smile as he saw her duck slightly. His always proud Moon Young.
"Moon Young." He whispered and reached out to pull her hand, forcing it a little until she gave in and let him intertwine his fingers in hers. Her hands were cold. "Love." He tried once more. "Look at me."
Reluctantly, Moon Young turned around and Gang Tae felt the weight in his throat increase as he saw her swollen eyes, her red face marked by the trail of tears on her cheeks.
Gang Tae ran his thumb gently over the tears still falling from her eyes. She didn't face him, giving another sniffle and wiping away her own tears with the back of her hand, her other hand firmly entwined in his.
"I love you." He whispered and it made her stare at him with wavering eyes. "I love you Ko Moon Young." He spoke once again and smiled, how he missed saying that.
"I love you too." It was only a whisper and he almost didn't hear it, but his heart warmed.
"I'm sorry for yelling and complaining." Gang Tae tugged on her chin gently, making her face him. "I love that I can be anywhere you are."
That drew a smile from her and another tear. "I'm sorry too." She whispered and squeezed his hand, stroking it with her thumb. "I shouldn't keep making you go to these places, in fact, neither should I keep going." Moon Young gave a long sigh and leaned back against the seatback.
"That's your work." Gang Tae moved closer to her, placing a kiss on her temple. "And I want you to know that I will support you and be by your side in whatever you want to do."
Moon Young smiled softly and faced him. "Thank you."
"I missed so much simply talking to you." He admitted and looked down at their entwined hands. "I missed so much just saying how much I love you." A feeling of anguish overwhelmed him again. "What if I hadn't said I love you today and there wasn't a tomorrow?"
She chuckled. "Are you being influenced by a radio song, Moon Gang Tae?" Moon Young quipped and he smiled.
"No. I'm serious." He stared at her once more, delighted with her bright brown eyes. "I promise I won't go another day without saying how much I love you."
Moon Young widened her smile and nodded. "Me too."
They smiled at each other and came together in a soft, gentle kiss. Light after months of heavy awkwardness between them.
It might have been just some song on a random radio station, but sometimes it's just a song that comes along when you need it. And that can also be called destiny.