Radiant Short Story Collection

Picnic Surprise

The morning sunlight, softly seeping through the window curtains, was tinting the bedroom a warm golden hue. The moment I slowly opened my eyes, I felt a pleasant heaviness pressing me down heavily on the mattress. Chanyeon was fast asleep right beside me. He had his big arms wrapped tightly around me, pulling me close into his broad embrace. As I carefully tried to slip out of his hold and sneak out of bed, Chanyeon let out a soft groan in his sleep. I saw his lips pout as his arms fumbled through the air, searching for the empty space.

I smiled and gently pulled back the curtain to look outside. The weather was as clear and sunny as could be. It seemed like there could be no more perfect day for a picnic by the river.

After deciding to let Chanyeon sleep a little longer, I quietly slipped out of the room. For an hour, I busied myself in the kitchen, preparing our favorite foods and packing them neatly into the picnic basket along with the supplies we needed.

Once everything was perfectly ready, a satisfied sigh escaped me on its own, and I put both hands on my hips.

At last, I turned to wake my favorite passionate guy, but the moment I stepped over the threshold, I met Chanyeon's eyes—already awake and sitting up in bed. The instant our eyes met, his trademark bright, sunshine smile spread across his face.

"Oppa, did I wake you up because of me?" I asked.

"No, well, I woke up because I heard your footsteps clunking around in the kitchen," Chanyeon answered with a low, teasing voice and a giggle. At that sweet, melt-in-your-mouth voice, my heart sank dangerously with a thud. Stretching out wide, he went on. "But it's okay. What were you doing?"

"I was thinking we could go have a picnic by the river." I smiled brightly, tilting my head a little. "The weather today is seriously amazing. What do you think?"

"Honestly, I wanted to keep holding you tighter in the blankets and roll around with you." Chanyeon murmured softly. So much deep tenderness spilled from his gaze as he looked at me that I nearly lost control of my expression. Chanyeon, who had gotten out of bed, came right up to me as if invading my personal space. "But seeing that you've already packed everything and are this excited... I guess we should go. Let's go!"

Fortunately, there was no traffic at all on the way out of the city, and before long we found a quiet, perfect spot near the river with soft grass laid out all around and spread a large picnic mat. The picnic was truly fantastic. Warm sunlight, a gentle summer breeze, and above all, the most perfect love of my life right beside me—everything was perfect.

Looking at the calm ripples of the river, I quietly rested my head on Chanyeon's shoulder. Without even a second of hesitation, Chanyeon turned his body and firmly wrapped both his big, warm arms around my waist, pulling me close to him.

But our perfect sunshine didn't last long. Massive dark clouds swept across the valley in an instant, swallowing the entire blue sky. Just as I was about to look up at the horizon, now turned gray, and say, "Oppa, it looks like it's going to rain," an enormous downpour began pouring mercilessly over the park.

We screamed and burst out laughing, scrambling around in chaos as we hurriedly packed up the picnic basket and sprinted across the grass toward the car. By the time we slammed the car door shut, raindrops were already hammering the windshield. Looking at our hair and clothes, completely soaked, we soon broke into breathless, happy laughter.

"The weather is one spectacle after another." I panted, wiping away the raindrops running down my forehead.

"We should hurry home and shower before we catch a cold," Chanyeon said worriedly in a low, sweet voice as he started the engine.

After washing up cleanly and changing into soft, warm clothes, a cozy, comfortable air drifted through the apartment. Standing by the large floor-to-ceiling window in the living room and watching the heavy rain streak down the glass, I suddenly felt a pair of strong arms wrap around me from behind.

Chanyeon hugged my whole body from behind and gently buried his face at the nape of my neck. After leaving a warm, deep kiss on my hair, he rested his chin lightly on my shoulder. Chanyeon's large hands held my waist securely, and the palms against my hips were warm. Then, in time with the steady sound of the rain, Chanyeon began to sway my body gently, rhythmically from side to side. Protected perfectly from the storm outside the window, we stood together in a moment that felt like an instant and an eternity at once.

"Can we lie down now? My soles hurt because I ran too much earlier." Chanyeon whispered in my ear. His puppy-like, spoiled little complaint made me laugh before I could stop myself.

"Okay, let's go." I replied playfully.

We crawled to the center of the bed and lay facing each other on the soft mattress. For several minutes, we simply smiled at each other in sweet silence. A laugh I couldn't hold back slipped from between my lips, and Chanyeon's smile deepened too, with deep tenderness in his eyes, as if honey were dripping from the corners.

With a gentle touch, Chanyeon wrapped his arms around the back of my waist and lightly pulled my body against his broad chest. He hooked his long legs around mine, and beneath the thick blanket our bodies tangled together perfectly without even a single gap. A happy, satisfied sigh rumbled deep in his chest and passed straight through my ribs, and then a soft kiss lingered on the top of my head for a long while.

As I breathed in the subtle, clean scent of Chanyeon's perfume and felt his warm body temperature melting into the softness of the bed, my eyelids gradually grew heavy. Drifting off to the steady, calm rhythm of his breathing, with the sound of his heartbeat as the perfect lullaby, was sheer bliss. Even while Chanyeon sank into peaceful sleep, the hand around my waist never loosened for even one second. Held in his sturdy, safe embrace, I too quickly drifted into a beautiful dreamland.