When Yurina woke up the next day, she found herself cradled in Ethan's arms. Slightly shifting in her position, afraid to wake the man, she moved over so she could take a better look at his face.

Lifting her fingers, she lightly traced Ethan's facial features. Starting from his brows, she traced down the bridge of his nose to his lips to lightly caressing his cheek. Yurina smiled to herself as she cuddled herself within his embrace once more.

The entire time Yurina did that, Ethan had been awake the entire time as well. He felt her fingers trace his face. With every touch of her fingers, his face burned but she didn't seem to notice, thank the lord. But when Yurina cutely cuddled herself against him, Ethan could no longer fake his sleep and wrapped his arm around her waist, rolling her over so she laid atop him.

Yurina yelped. Upon realizing how awake Ethan was, she blushed. Ethan chuckled and gave her a kiss on the forehead.

“Did I wake you?” Yurina asked.

Ethan shook his head with a pleasant smile. “I was already awake. And just like you, I was admiring your sleeping face.”

Yurina blushed. Was this the kind of person Ethan was?! Flirtatiously adorable?!

Yurina just puckered her lips, as if she was upset, but Ethan knew she wasn’t. He laughed and asked, “What do you want to do today?”

She looked over to the digital clock hooked on the wall; it was a Saturday.

A bright smile stretched across her face. “I want to go on a date.”

“Alright. I’ll go wherever you go.”

***

Although it was kind of last minute, Yurina and Ethan were able to whip up a plan for their date.

After washing up, they got dressed and went on their way.

The first thing they did was kayaking. Although the drive was almost an hour drive, it was worth it. The river water was so clear and pristine that as they were kayaking, they could see down into the water. They saw the rocks and green grass at the bottom as schools of fish swam by. The sun glistened across the surface as they both paddled side by side. On this river trail, there was a section in which they could kayak through a cave tunnel.

The temperature dropped the further they ventured into the tunnel, however, as soon as they reached the darkest part of the tunnel, on the ceiling they saw a faint glistening glow.

Yurina let out an excited yelp.

"It almost looks like the galaxy night sky. It's beautiful."

What they saw were the rocks and crystals that had tiny minerals embedded in them that gave off a faint light. There was a mix of blue, purple and pink colored crystals on the tunnel ceiling. Yurina did not forget to take pictures.

Ethan paddled to Yurina’s side and reached over to grab her hand. Yurina also tightened her hand around his. She remained smiling, staring at the ceiling.

"Mhm. Very beautiful," Ethan added as his eyes remained locked on Yurina, who was completely oblivious to him.

"Oo~, next time, let's go stargazing too, okay?" Yurina smiled as she finally turned over and locked eyes with Ethan.

"Mhm. Let's do that."

Yurina just smiled and let out a soft chuckle. "Let's go."

When they finished their kayaking trip, the next stop was a hiking trail. In Yurina’s past life, one of her clients took her out hiking and she found it to be quite enjoyable. This hiking trail took them to the top, well, almost the top, to see a large and beautiful cascading waterfall. The final destination was a wooden balcony that sat at the summit of the trail, right where water droplets from the falling waterfall would be carried by the wind to refresh all of those who have exalted their energy.

Once they reached the summit, Yurina rushed to the edge and extended her hand out towards the waterfall, feeling the water particles cover her entire arm and face.

Laughing and sighing contentedly with the refreshing water and breeze, she laughed and turned around to wave Ethan over.

"Ethan! Hurry over! This feels so nice!"

Turning back to face the waterfall, Yurina just laughed to herself as the water droplets continued hitting her face.

Suddenly, she felt the presence of another body press up close behind her. Tilting her head back, she looked into the eyes of her husband. They stared deeply into hers, filled with all kinds of emotions. Not sure of what to say, Yurina lifted her left hand to pat the side of his head, flashing him a sweet smile.

Ethan returned her smile and leaned down to give her a light kiss on the lips. Yurina chuckled, quite surprised at how bold Ethan was at PDA.

***

After their hike, they had to replenish their strength, thus they went out to a carnival that was happening that night in the city. They had a blast! They tried all the kinds of food that could fill their stomachs, went on the rides, played the carnival games - they even went to a caricature booth to have their portrait drawn. It was an amazing way to end their date.

On the ride back home, Yurina was scrolling through the pictures she had taken. There were a variety of photos she had taken; silly pictures, lovey-dovey pictures and random pictures. She did not realize it but a bright smile had been on her face the entire time she was going through the photos.

“When we get back, I want to get these pictures printed,” Yurina said to Ethan. “I want to hang them around our place.”

“Mhm. Let’s do that tomorrow,” Ethan smiled as he reached over with his free hand and intertwined his fingers with Yurina, kissing her fingers.

Yurina turned off her phone and brought his fingers over to her lips and gave them a kiss as well. When she glanced over to Ethan from the corner of her eyes, despite being nighttime, she could clearly see the heat crawling up Ethan’s neck, coloring his cheeks and ears.

Yurina let out a melodious chuckled, tightening her grip around his hand. This moment… this life… she wanted to savor it all.

When they finally returned to their penthouse, they went straight to bed, exhausted. Entangled in each other’s arms, they fell asleep.

***

They lived the next few months together in harmony. Although they had mini disputes here and there, they both were able to communicate and work things out properly.

Their sexual activity has also increased quite a bit; good thing the OG Yurina had an IUD, otherwise Yurina would have gotten pregnant many times… Ethan was always so careful in bed but at times, he ravished her like a beast, which often resulted in her having to call off work the next day because of her aching hips. But it didn’t bother Yurina too much. She loved the affection Ethan was giving her and she loved giving him just as much affection.

Today was Christmas eve, and her husband was working… but Yurina knew he was going to be coming back earlier Christmas day and have the rest of that day off. So, Yurina decided to prep her ‘special’ gift for her husband.

***

Midnight was rolled around… then 1 am, then 2 am. Yurina waited and waited.

Suddenly, she received a phone call from her husband.

“Hello?” It was not Ethan's voice.

“Is this Mrs. Serene? Ethan’s wife?” the voice on the other line asked.

“This is. Who’s this?”

“Ah, it’s Bryan. Ethan’s lieutenant. We actually had a call around midnight about a fire incident and your husband actually got hurt-.”

As soon as Yurina heard the words, “got hurt”, she stood up so fast from the bed. “WHAT?! HE’S HURT?!”

“Yes, he’s on his way to the Bellflower Hospital-”

Before Bryan could even finish his sentence, Yurina hung up the phone, threw on her trench coat, got into her car and drove off to the hospital.

Arriving within 20 minutes, she rushed to the front desk, frantic but tried to keep her cool.

“I’m here to see my husband, Ethan Serene.”

“He’s in room 209.”

“Thank you.”

When she found the room, she sped walked her way into the room. Inside, her husband was surrounded by a group of people, however, she paid them no mind, seeing only her husband, who was leaning against the bed with his leg hung up. There were some scratches on his face and neck.

As soon as she opened the door, the group of people stopped talking and turned to look at this new visitor.

“Yurina… sorry. I didn’t get home on time,” Ethan smiled sadly.

Yurina walked over to him and embraced him warmly. “I’m glad you’re safe,” her voice shook as she buried her face into the crook of his neck. Ethan hugged her back.

Reading the mood, Bryan, ushered everyone out of the room, pulled the curtain and closed the door.

Only a few moments after the group left, did Yurina and Ethan part. Ethan saw that the rims of Yurina’s eyes were red, yet she refused to let the tears fall. Ethan sighed softly and lifted up his hand, placing it on her cheek as he used his thumb to stroke her skin tenderly.

“I’m sorry. I should’ve been more careful. Otherwise, I’d be home now.”

Yurina said nothing, brushing her face up against his large palm. This action made Ethan’s heart itch.

“So, what did the doctors say?”

“That I got lucky that I only ended up with a stable fracture. I should be able to leave in the next few days with physical therapy and crutches. Should be healed within a couple of weeks.

Yurina made a gloomy face after hearing that.

“Don’t look so sad. Seeing you with that expression makes me sad too.”

“Then be careful next time,” she said quietly.

“Alright. I’ll keep that in mind,” Ethan chuckled softly. He then examined what Yurina was wearing. All he could see was that her hair had a nice beachy wave look to them, and that she was wearing her trench coat and that she had this pair of sheer, sleek black socks that came up past her knees. Curious, Ethan leaned forward and whispered in her ear, “Honey, what are you wearing?”

Yurina’s eyes widened but then she looked over to him with a playful scowl. “It’s not my fault that I couldn’t change into something more presentable at the last minute.”

Ethan moaned happily as he shifted Yurina closer to him, wrapping his large and long arms behind her waist. “I’m glad that I’m the only thing on your mind.”

“Yes, you better be. It was going to be your Christmas gift, but I guess you’ll have to wait now.”

Ethan pulled Yurina close and buried his face into her chest, taking a whiff of her scent. Oh, his beloved’s scent was his favorite. He then lifted his head, putting on his best puppy eyes, he looked at her. “Can I at least get a peek?”

Yurina was baffled. “Are you crazy? We’re at a hospital, and you’re injured!” Seriously, after coming though as a true, married couple for the past few months, Ethan has gotten more and more brave when it came to perverted stuff… not that Yurina disliked it, but she did like to keep things professional in professional settings… However, there were many times when she could not resist Ethan’s puppy eyes. And right now was one of them.

Ethan seductively pulled one of the collars out of the way and gave her a light kiss on her collarbone. He sent an electrifying sensation throughout her body. Yurina’s lips trembled. Damn. Has she always been weak to such pleasure?

“... Fine. I’ll show you. BUT! You cannot touch me. Not until we get home and your leg is fully healed. Only then will I let you do whatever you want…”

Yurina was certain she could see the raging fire in Ethan’s eyes. Oh, how he wanted to tear that trench coat apart and push her down onto the bed… but he wanted to respect her choice, so he could only grip the blanket tightly to resist his urge. After what felt like an eternity to him, Ethan finally agreed.

Yurina smirked softly. She could see how much Ethan was willing to restrain himself for her. Yurina was also holding back herself. She did not want to accidentally hurt him and cause the injury to worsen. So, for the two of them, they can only wait.