Honeymoon

By the time he saw the guests out to the front gate and returned, it was past eleven at night. It had been quite a while since Yeehyeon had stayed up this late.

As soon as he closed the front door and they were alone, Liu gently wrapped his arms around Yeehyeon's back and stroked his hair. Yeehyeon looked a little tired.

"Aren't you tired?"

"A little."

"Go wash up first."

"What about Kun?"

"I'll just bring the plates to the kitchen and come in. Seo Yeehyeon should lie down quickly."

Even though the cleaning lady would handle the dishes and tidying up the next day, it was Liu's habit to at least move the plates himself.

"I'll help you too."

"We agreed not to feel bad about things like this."

Yeehyeon, who had been stroking Liu's arm, nodded after a brief pause.

"Then, I'll leave it to you."

Liu watched Yeehyeon walk down the hallway toward the bedroom, let out a soft "Hmm," and then headed to the dining room.

The dining table where seven people, including Leo, had eaten and drunk was quite messy. After moving the dishes and roughly sweeping up the confetti that had fallen on the floor and table, quite a bit of time had passed.

He turned off the lights in the dining room and kitchen and secured the front door one last time. After drawing the curtains on the living room window completely, he turned off the living room light just before stepping into the hallway.

As everything went dark, the faint light seeping from the end of the hallway felt incredibly bright.

Warm light spilled out from the gap in the bedroom door, which was open about a hand's width. Liu smiled at that light, as if it were a signal that Yeehyeon was waiting for him.

Just as Liu expected, Yeehyeon was asleep.

He was propped up against the headboard with a pillow, sitting that way.

He had fallen asleep waiting for Liu.

Liu first adjusted the light until it was dimmer. Then, sitting in the armchair next to the bed, he gazed at Yeehyeon's sleeping figure for a moment.

The room was utterly quiet, making the boisterousness from just a moment ago feel like a distant memory. Only Yeehyeon's regular breathing could be heard comfortingly.

Whether consciously or not, Yeehyeon had his left hand resting gently on his stomach — as if protecting the belly that had just started to show a gentle curve. Liu carefully placed his own left hand over that one.

Beneath their joined hands, their baby was breathing healthily.

Liu sometimes couldn't believe that one human being could bestow this much happiness upon another. Was I making Seo Yeehyeon this happy? As happy as Seo Yeehyeon makes me?

Probably not. It couldn't be. It felt like it couldn't possibly be this much happiness.

However, he was certain that he would bet everything — his entire body, heart, and life — on loving Yeehyeon. Just as he had once promised, he would protect Yeehyeon's choices and hopes with everything he had. And now, not just for Yeehyeon, but for Yeehyeon and the baby. For this miraculous being that Yeehyeon was nurturing within his own body through sacrifice and endurance.

Yeehan had been right when he said that having a baby didn't mean the honeymoon was over.

Because life with Yeehyeon would be a honeymoon every day.

The matching rings on their joined hands shone softly, like moonlight.

As Liu himself had once sharply observed, even diamonds weren't forever. But he knew this light — the light emitted by his own Diamond Dust — would never fade.

It was a light that would illuminate the two of them as one, forever, or at least for a very long time, close to forever.