valko

The rain tapped outside the cabin window and against the endless pine trees in a familiar pitter-patter rhythm. You were curled up on the couch, bundled in a comfy blanket, and holding a mug of hot chocolate with one hand.

Everything felt great. You had your boyfriend’s hoodie on, he had made the hot choco himself—except that the very movie you had been looking forward to watching that afternoon wasn’t available on the streaming platform you were currently subscribed to.

“Oh man,” you pouted and slumped further into the couch, as if you wanted to become one with it. “I just want one place to watch my movies with.”

Valko, who had been minding his business in the corner with his laptop, noticed the disappointment in your voice.

“What is it, babe?” his voice came husky.

“Why can’t movies just gather in one place? And why do we have to subscribe to five different platforms? Argh—I can’t do this anymore!” you whined continuously and thrashed around in your blankets like a fish caught in a net.

“Baby, you can try to watch them on—” he started.

“No, don’t say it! I’m not going to watch on an illegal site and risk getting my precious laptop infected with virus again!” you cried out.

He chuckled. “I’m the one who fixed it anyway. I can do it again.”

Then he grinned, and you wanted to punch that smug little face if it wasn’t so handsome.

“Tss. Show-off.” You rolled your eyes in his direction and let out a hmph.

You watched him stand and walk toward you on the couch. He sat down beside you, and you were immediately enveloped by his familiar scent.

Pine, gentle musk, a little bit of cedar—and of course, his own unique scent. He smelled like running through an earth-dampened forest path at dawn.

“Come here,” he said.

And suddenly your problem became so small, and all you wanted to do was melt into his arms. He hauled your blanket-burrito-covered self onto his lap and pulled you closer. Impossibly closer.

“What’s got you so sad, hm?” He started caressing the back of your hair in a comforting way—so good that you could practically feel yourself purring.

“I’d been looking forward to this day, Val. You know that. It’s been a hell of a week at work, and now I can’t even watch my show.”

“Call me dramatic, but I’m really, really sad…” you trailed.

You hated how weak your voice sounded, and the fact that you were in his arms right then only pushed your frustration into spilling out through your eyes. Uncontrollably.

“Hey, hey, don’t start crying now.” He repositioned you so he could wipe your tears away.

You tried to suppress your emotions because you didn’t want to appear weak in front of him, all because of some stupid movie.

“I’m sorry, I don’t even know why I’m crying…” you replied, trying to explain why a situation as small as this had turned you into a crying mess.

“Everything’s just so stressful lately, and I wanted some time where I could think about anything else but work, and now I can’t even watch my show.”

You joined him in wiping away your tears. He leaned over and kissed your damp lashes. “Hey, look at me. Eyes on me, baby.”

“You don’t have to explain yourself to me, pup. It’s okay to be sad, and it’s okay if the emotions feel bigger than you’d want them to right now.” your tears had reduced to little sniffles now. “I understand how you feel, and you shouldn’t be ashamed for expressing yourself to me.”

His voice was like a warm embrace for your soul, and it helped soothe the stress that had been wearing you down for the past week.

“So just because you’re struggling with how you feel doesn’t mean you’re doing anything wrong.”

He kissed your nose one last time.

“I see you, and I love you either way. How’s that?” he continued.

You giggled at the little effort he made to make you smile.

“Okay…”

Then you snuggled closer to him and sighed at the overwhelming comfort he naturally gave.

“That’s my girl. Now let’s watch Howl’s Moving Castle,” he said as he pulled you closer again before busying himself with the remote control.

Two weeks had passed, and everything seemed to have gone back to normal. Work was still very much the same—it left you worn out, but it helped when you had someone you looked forward to seeing on the way home.

Valko, on the other hand, seemed to have gotten busier. When he wasn’t at work, he was buried in his laptop and sometimes his computer for endless hours.

Sometimes you even caught him at his desk at 2 a.m. in your bedroom, staring intently at the screen and muttering a quiet, “Why isn’t it working?” before pausing for another minute and typing again.

One time, you woke up in the middle of the night, missing the familiar warmth at your side that had been there when you first fell asleep.

“Val?” you called, and you heard a low-pitched hum from the other side of the room where his desk sat.

And there he was, focused on the monitor.

“You’re still up? Come back to bed, babe…” you asked.

“Mhm, I’ll wrap this up soon. Go back to sleep, baby,” he said.

You groaned.

“Baaabe, bed, please?” You tried to sound cute because he was always weak when it came to that.

Eventually, Valko left his computer and went to bed with you that night. While he was adjusting the comforters around both of you, you leaned against his chest and asked, “What are you busy with anyway? Got deadlines this time? That serious?”

Your voice was muffled against his sweater. Your eyelids grew heavier with every passing second.

“Nothing serious. But I do have to finish it as soon as I can so someone doesn’t have to be so sad anymore,” he said.

You were too sleepy to understand what his last sentence meant and thought he was just doing another tech job that you have no clue about.

“Oh, really… Well, I hope they won’t… get sad… anymore…” you barely finished your last words before sleep completely engulfed you.

Unbeknownst to you, a kiss was pressed to your forehead, followed by a quiet whisper.

“Goodnight, baby. Sweet dreams.”

The day finally came when you got that rare long weekend off. You excitedly padded into the living room with all the stuff you had bought from the store.

Today was the day that you and Valko had agreed to simply spend time together—maybe with some hot ramen, milk tea and boba, and a bunch of other snacks—while the two of you rotted together on the couch, overlooking the view of the forest through the massive glass window and talking about literally anything.

Valko followed after you and helped you arrange your cozy little nest.

“Hey, baby, I got us some good-quality chocolate milk yesterday that I forgot to tell you about. You know that brand that only produces limited stocks? I somehow grabbed a bundle!” he said enthusiastically with the biggest puppy smile.

“No way! The Awooo Milk? Let me see!”

He led you to the refrigerator, and there sat a bundle of the said chocolate milk.

You couldn’t have been happier that day.

A few minutes later, you both found yourselves in the middle of the living room, the couch turned to face the massive glass window overlooking the forest. You were on his lap, cuddled together like a two-person wolf pile.

“Should we buy a ticket in advance? My next day off will be on Thursday, and you’ll be off that day too, right? I heard they put quite the budget into the animation this time, so I badly want to watch it already!” you suggested, your mouth half-full because he’d been feeding you chocolate puffs.

“Oh, and the last showing will be this week. I hope we can go,” you continued.

He didn’t reply right away, but he reached for his laptop on the table beside him and placed it across both your laps.

Instead of asking him, you quietly observed him navigating through his laptop until he opened an unfamiliar website.

Before you realized it, a bunch of movies—the newly released and popular ones—started flooding the screen. And it didn’t escape your notice that the top-left corner of the website displayed your name and his name combined into one.

[ valkomc.site ]

It didn’t even register to you that your mouth had been hanging open this whole time, and he started laughing behind you. Then he started peppering kisses along the side of your head.

“Babe??? What’s this? And why is my name—OUR name—on the screen?? WHAT—”

You turned to him in complete disbelief.

“I love you,” he said before pulling you closer and kissing you deeply.

The kiss was familiar. His lips felt like the embers in the fireplace during a winter afternoon, meeting your own in a gentle, warm, and comforting way.

You tried to pull away and ask him if he was the one behind the site.

“Babe—” kiss “were you—” kiss “the one—” kiss “who—” kiss “made this—?!”

Eventually, you started giggling and laughing when he set the laptop aside and pulled you completely on top of him because he wasn’t letting your lips go.

“Baaabe, c’mon, answer meee—”

One last kiss, then he gave you the biggest grin and finally allowed you to catch your breath.

“Mhm. I made it for you. I don’t like seeing you sad whenever you don’t get to watch your favorite shows. And although we could subscribe to all the legal streaming platforms, I know you’d like a little thrill. And I made sure it wouldn’t plant viruses on your laptop this time because I made it. And only you can use it.”

He kissed you again.

You ended up as a melted puddle against him.

“I don’t know what to say, babe, but… thank you…” you said.

“I love you too. So much. Like—God knows how much you mean to me. Thank you, baby… thank you.” you couldn’t put to words of how much your chest is filled with so much joy and love at that moment. But you know that he was the reason for it.

You hugged him one more time.

“Anything for you, pup.”

He started caressing your hair, and it helped calm you down from the overwhelming rush of oxytocin flooding your body.

“So all this time you were staying up and buried to your monitor, you were actually building a whole new site for me?” you asked in disbelief.

“Worth it.” he replied smugly.

“Won’t we get arrested, though?” you trailed off.

“…we’ll see about that.”