to you.

Jeonghan pads toward you with a freshly washed face, clad in his (and your) favorite hoodie. He must have gotten home not too long ago. Still late, but you suppose those are the demands of corporate life. Yours aren’t much better.

“Hi,” you say, tiredly.

He smiles warmly, allowing you to melt into his embrace. “Long day?”

“The longest.” You take in a deep breath. The scent of his face wash, his thumb brushing against your shoulder — they all hit you at once, and you welcome them. “I love my job, I really do, but…”

Jeonghan waits for you to finish your thought, patient as always. When you don’t, he merely nods and guides you to the sofa.

“It’s okay,” he assures you. “Sometimes things can become a challenge for a while. Even things you know that you love.”

You peer up at him, head resting on his shoulder. “Am I a challenge?”

“No, honey,” he chuckles, before pressing a soft kiss into your hair. “You make it the easiest thing in the world, to love you.”

“Even when I get all difficult and testy because I can’t sketch a warbler’s wing from memory?”

Jeonghan smiles. “Even then.”

You hum softly at this answer, tucking yourself even closer into your husband’s side. He shifts so you can make yourself more comfortable — you should go wash up and change, but you can’t bring yourself to get up just yet.

“What did you do today?”

“Hm?”

“If you talk about it, it might help you feel a bit better,” he reasons.

And he’s right. He only suggests this because he knows you, because you’ve been married seven years and he files away every single thing he’s ever learned about the kind of person you are.

“I taught a class,” you begin softly. “Intro to Ornithology. Just one lecture today, but it felt like it went on forever and ever.”

“Were the kids paying attention?”

“Thankfully.”

He laughs softly. “Do you still check that professor rating website?”

You snort at that. “I’m way past that now. If they hate me, they hate me. I just want them to learn things wholeheartedly and keep the lessons with them, you know.”

Jeonghan kisses the side of your forehead this time. His silent affection makes you feel like all the problems you’ve got in the world are far, far away.

“They’re lucky to have you,” he says truthfully. “Not many educators are so passionate about what they do.”

“I hope they think as highly of me as you do, then.”

You reach up to finally press a gentle kiss to the corner of his mouth. Light, tender, warm. He smiles into it, his palm fanning over your thigh.

“Teach me something you taught them today,” he murmurs, a slightly playful edge to his voice. “Enlighten me, my love.”

You straighten then, facing him. Under the dim lights of your apartment you nearly forget what you were about to say, mind going blank as you take a moment to appreciate your husband’s gorgeous features. The gentlest eyes, the softest voice, the mischievous sparkle that is so uniquely his — a sight for sore eyes.

“We talked about flight and feathers yesterday,” you recount, shifting in your spot. “Different patterns in different species.”

“Mhm.”

“Did you know double-crested cormorants can dive up to thirty feet underwater? Their feathers don’t have the same oils as ducks and gulls. They’re not even waterfowl, actually. They’re more related to gannets and herons and the like.”

You’re straddling him now, knees on either side of his legs and your lips mere inches from his. Jeonghan is staring up at you all starry-eyed and enamored.

“You are so sexy when you talk biology,” he breathes.

This draws a sharp laugh out of your throat, just as your fingers curl into the collar of his hoodie and you pull him impossibly close. His large hands come up to rest on your hips, steadying you as he nips gently at your bottom lip.

“Go on,” he urges when you finally part for air.

His mouth trails down to your jaw, your neck, and finally your exposed collarbone, where he places a reverent kiss that makes your mind go blank.

“Yeah. Um—” A soft whine leaves your throat as Jeonghan’s teeth graze your pulse point, but his firm grasp on your waist is a reminder to stay focused. “There’s protein, in— in feathers. Keratin. The stuff in our hair. And nails.”

He smiles against your neck. “A little distracted, aren’t you, honey?”

“Jeonghan,” you sigh, keening under his gentle touch, “Jeonghan, you… What are you doing?”

He raises an eyebrow. “Must there be a reason for me to dote on my intelligent, beautiful wife?”

You’re done for. You’re helpless, under the weight of his adoring gaze, and all you can do is pull him closer for another searing kiss, letting the tension crackle and settle all around you.

Jeonghan’s fingers toy with the hem of your shirt, before he smooths them against your bare skin underneath the fabric. The warmth of his touch is a welcome burn. It sets your skin alight, makes you want more, more, more.

Suddenly, you pull away. Jeonghan’s lips are parted in confusion — he looks an adorable mess, hair a bit tousled from where you’d run your hands through it and cheeks tinged pink.

“Crows,” you say breathlessly.

“What?”

“Crows see in ultraviolet,” you repeat, keeping your palm where it’s pressed against his chest. You can feel the rhythmic thud of his heartbeat through the fabric. “Like, a bunch of shades of blue and purple instead of black.”

Jeonghan stares at you for two seconds before laughing softly, eyes shining.

“What?” you ask.

“Nothing,” he shakes his head, trailing his fingers up the sides of your waist. “Just thinking about how dearly I adore my wife.”

You melt into his touch, giving him a flustered smile. “Even when she’s spewing bird facts while she’s in your lap?”

“Well, I did ask her to,” he points out, amused, “but yes. Especially then.”

It’s magnetic, what you and Jeonghan have. You crave the taste of coffee that lingers on his tongue, the hint of citrus from the chapstick he uses religiously. He seems to feel the same, savoring the little sounds he’s pulling from your throat as he rubs circles into your skin.

“You are unbelievable,” are the words that leave your mouth when he pulls away to pepper your jaw with the lightest of kisses.

“I love you too,” he says fondly, watching you with all the stars in his eyes. Then that familiar twinkle reappears, and you know he’s up to something again. “How about you tell me more about crows in the comfort of our bedroom, hm?”

“Unbelievable,” you repeat, in mock offense.

“Yours,” he says simply. Truthfully.

You’re shaking your head, but he’s already scooping you up in his arms, and you can’t help but laugh as you wind your arms around his neck. He stops several times along the way to kiss your cheek, your nose — anywhere he can reach, as long as he’s close to you.

Blindly, you fumble for the doorknob to swing it open, and Jeonghan kicks the door shut roughly once you’re through.

The roguish smile on his face is a promise that you’re in for a long night.