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He wasn’t entirely sure what time it was when it happened, but Ren awakened to the feeling of something stirring beside him. Had he really gotten so used to sleeping alone that sharing a bed was something that kept him up at night? Maybe it was the way her blond hair spilled over her shoulder and onto his chest when she cozied up to him. Yeah. That’s probably it.
Either way, Ren knew that he was all but helpless to accept his fate: he wasn’t going to leave this bed. Not while his girlfriend – internationally renowned model Ann Takamaki – had chosen to use him as a pillow. Instead, he settled for kissing her hair and absent-mindedly tracing lines along her shoulder with his fingertips.
“That tickles,” Ann whispered dreamily.
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you.”
“It’s okay,” Ann shifted again, this time to reach out for Ren’s free hand. She always loved marveling at how much shorter her fingers were compared to his. “I’ve been awake for a while and can’t go back to sleep.”
Ren hummed, welcoming a comfortable silence between the two. On most nights, she’d reach for her phone and tell him what was on her mind. Tonight wasn’t most nights. At long last, they were finally together. How anyone can handle long distance was always beyond Ann’s imagination in high school, but now that she was living it, she now understood why her parents always traveled together for work.
“I have a silly question for you,” Ann said, finally breaking the silence.
Ann felt Ren’s deep chuckle reverberate in his chest. “I have a silly answer for you,” he replied.
“Promise not to make fun of me for asking,” she said, lifting her head to meet his gaze.
Ren paused for a moment, his dark gray eyes searching the depths of Ann’s bright blue. Even in the dark of his bedroom, her eyes seemed to catch whatever light happened to spill in from behind his curtains.
Pulling their joined hands to his heart, he offered a single nod. “I promise,” he whispered.
Ann felt a slight thrill in her chest, and soon butterflies began to dance in her stomach. “Do you believe in love at first sight?” She never shied away from a good love story. She’d lost count of how many times she felt like she was in the middle of one with Ren. Part of her wanted to believe that he did, but part of her felt like it was too good to be true.
“I do,” Ren smiled, pressing a kiss into the back of her hand, “All thanks to you.”
With a single kiss, Ann’s insides turned to mush. Any other thoughts in her mind simply evaporated at the tender warmth of his touch. All she could do was sigh and rest her head on his shoulder.
Ren pecked a kiss onto her forehead. His breath tickled at Ann’s skin when he whispered, “Now it’s your turn to answer a question.”
“Hmm?”
“Do you believe in soulmates?”
It was an honest question, but one that Ann never expected to hear from her boyfriend. Of course she believed in soulmates. She only ever spent every bedtime story as a child wishing she could find true love. Even before they started dating, the two of them saw plenty of romantic comedies and romantic dramas together at the movie theater. Some of her fondest memories from high school consisted of the passing moments between classes where Ann would gush about her favorite shoujo manga while Ren patiently listened. Why would he field a question like that now?
“I do,” Ann cooed, “but I’m pretty sure you already knew that,” she giggled before floating a kiss to his cheek. “How about you?”
A charged silence began to fill the space between them. Not the kind that you dread, but one filled with slow and deliberate thought. The kind that you knew preceded an honest, meaningful answer.
“I didn’t before I met you,” he mused. “But now… I think I’m starting to.”
It’s just like one of her favorite songs:
Time, wondrous time
Gave me the blues and then purple pink skies
And it's cool, baby, with me
And isn't it just so pretty to think
All along there was some
Invisible string
Tying you to me?
To Ann, he might as well have confessed his love for her all over again. Ren was never really one to express himself through words and something about his earnestness tugged at Ann’s heartstrings until they ached.
Ann was the one that convinced Ren that love at first sight isn’t just for fairytales. Ann was the one that convinced him to believe in soulmates. It was nearly impossible to think about what his life was before her, but a world of endless possibilities for their future lay ahead on the horizon.