The months passed more quickly than I expected.
At first, I counted the days, then the weeks, then I stopped counting altogether. Our lives began to follow their own rhythm; sometimes I saw him every day, and sometimes several days would pass with only a few text messages or a late-night call. My work consumed a lot of my time, and he, in turn, was overwhelmed by his endless responsibilities.
Yet, I never felt we were drifting apart.
On the contrary.
Every day added something new between us, something small that others might not notice, but it meant the world to me. The cup of coffee he'd leave for me when he had to leave early, the text messages I'd receive during my long shifts, or even the comforting silence when we sat together without needing to speak.
And yet, a small question lingered deep inside me.
A question I never dared to ask.
Will we ever live together?
It wasn't about the house itself, but about the feeling of stability. Sometimes I'd return to my apartment after spending a whole day with him, and the emptiness would be even more pronounced than before. I wasn't as accustomed to solitude as I used to be.
But I never asked him to.
I noticed the tension that crept into his face whenever the conversation turned to the future or the idea of living together. He didn't refuse, but he wasn't comfortable either.
So I let it happen naturally.
If he ever wanted to, he would say so himself.
One quiet evening, as we were spending time together after a long, tiring day, the conversation began quite casually.
We chatted about work and the little things that had happened during the week, until a short silence fell between us.
The kind of silence that isn't unpleasant.
Then he looked at me suddenly.
"I want to ask you something."
I raised my eyebrows in surprise.
"What?"
He remained silent for a moment, as if gathering his thoughts, then said quietly,
"Move in with me."
For a moment, it felt as if time stood still.
I stared at him in disbelief.
"What?"
He smiled slightly.
"You heard me."
I couldn't stop laughing.
I'd been waiting for those words for months, and when he finally said them, my heart felt a thousand times lighter.
"Are you serious?"
"Absolutely."
I couldn't hide my happiness.
All those months of waiting were finally over.
But right before I agreed, there was one thing on my mind.
"I have a condition," I said cautiously.
An instant look of suspicion crossed his face.
"This doesn't bode well."
I laughed.
"Do-hyun."
He closed his eyes immediately, as if he knew the trouble before he even heard it.
"No."
"But you didn't even hear the condition."
"I don't need it."
"Michael."
"No."
I started laughing even harder.
"I want him to stay."
He opened his eyes and looked at me with obvious resignation.
"Why?"
"Because I love him."
"I regret asking."
"I mean, as a family."
"That doesn't help."
I gave him a light nudge.
"I'm serious."
He sighed deeply.
"I was planning for us to live on our own."
"And we'll be living on our own most of the time anyway. He works harder than anyone I know."
"That's not the point."
"Then what is the point?"
He looked at me for a moment before shaking his head.
"You're impossible."
I smiled triumphantly.
"That's not a rejection."
"It is."
"Then I reject your rejection."
"That doesn't make sense."
"But he works."
The discussion went on for a long time, until we were laughing at ourselves more than at the seriousness of the matter.
And finally, he gave up.
Just as I expected.
When Do-hyun told us, he sounded like he'd won a major prize.
"I know I'm the favorite."
He said it with such confidence that Michael gave him a cold stare.
"Don't even start."
I couldn't stop laughing.
The days leading up to the move were a delightfully chaotic mess.
Boxes everywhere.
Clothes.
Books.
Things I'd forgotten about.
And amidst all this, Do-hyun was trying to help in a way that slowed things down instead of speeding them up.
"Why is there a whole box of books?"
"Because they're books."
"But they're heavy."
"That's just how books are."
"I feel like that's a personal attack."
And finally, the day of the move arrived.
The day I'd been waiting for.
When I walked into the house after everything was arranged for the first time, it felt like I was entering a completely new place.
It wasn't just Michael's anymore.
It was our house.
Our room was more beautiful than I had ever imagined.
The calming colors.
The warm lighting.
The large window that let in the morning sunlight.
And the small details he had carefully chosen without telling me.
I stood there, admiring the place for a long time.
Then I turned to him.
"It's beautiful."
He smiled for the thousandth time that day.
"I wanted you to like it."
"I like it even more than you can imagine."
And from that day on, a new chapter of our lives began.
The days became calmer.
And simpler.
And warmer.
Surprisingly, Do-hyun understood boundaries better than I had expected. He gave us our own space without us even asking, disappearing for hours between work and meetings, then suddenly reappearing to fill the house with noise and laughter once more.
Sometimes we would have dinner together.
And sometimes we would all sit in the living room talking about trivial things.
And sometimes we'd end up having a long argument about a movie, a book, or a recipe.
It was an ordinary life.
Surprisingly.
And an ordinary life was all I ever wanted.
Some nights I'd sit in silence and contemplate the scene before me.
Michael reading something on the couch.
And Do-hyun talking passionately about a topic no one else understood.
And that's when I realized how much my life had changed.
Years ago, I would come home to an empty, silent house.
Now, there were people waiting for me.
People who cared about me.
People who had become a part of my day and my future.
And for the first time in a very long time, I wasn't thinking about what I lacked.
I was looking at what I already had.
And when I woke up each morning and saw my life as it was, I felt something simple but incredibly precious.
Happiness.
A quiet happiness that doesn't need grand words or extraordinary moments.
Just a warm feeling that tells me I've finally arrived where I belong.