Haru “Oh my God! Oh my God! I can’t believe my dream came true. I just can’t believe it,” Jess shrieked loudly from the other side of the line. “My best friend is finally getting together with the man he loves.” I chuckled. “Jess, can you please just calm down?” “How the hell can I just calm down when this is the news of the century?” she snapped. “So, have you guys done it yet? The bedroom stuff.” I blushed, remembering what had happened only a few hours ago. “Yeah.” I paused and then said, “Wait! Why do I have to tell you this type of stuff?” “Of course you don’t have to tell me any more. It’ll be weird despite that I kept nagging you to.” She chuckled. “I’m so happy for you, Haru.” “Thanks, Jess,” I said. “For what?” I shrugged. “I don’t know. For always being there for me and stuff.” “That’s what a best friend is for,” she said. The door opened, and Aiden, hair wet and now wearing another pair of jeans and a T-shirt, walked in. He saw me in bed and on my cell phone and a

Haru Done and dressed in pajamas about ten minutes later, now feeling fresh and clean, I returned to my room, only to see Isaac there. He was taking out my clothes from the drawers and leaving them on the bed. I asked, “What are you doing?” Isaac looked at me for a moment and then said, “Exam period is over, isn’t it?” I raised a brow. “Yeah. But what does that have to do with you doing that?” I pointed to my clothes on the bed. “Or are you so pumped for the trip that you decided to help me pack? But seriously, I don’t need that many clothes for the trip. We’re only going for three weeks.” Isaac laughed as he waved my reasoning aside. “That’s not it, Haru. I’m helping you move.” He grinned cheekily. “Aren’t I a great bro?” I still didn’t understand what he meant and asked, “Move?” “To Aiden’s room,” he said. “You guys are practically husband and wife now, so it’s strange for you two to sleep in separate rooms.” Heat rushed to my face, and I stammered, “It’s not strange. We’re

Haru I hadn’t a clue why I felt so hot and stuffy, my body being squeezed like a pancake against the wall, until I opened my eyes and saw the gorgeous face of Aiden inches from mine, his arms wrapped tight around me. I simply stared, dumbfounded. When did he come into my room and climb into my bed? Did he even realize I was still pissed with him from yesterday? I shifted, since my body felt numb, but Aiden only tightened his hold on me in response. “Aiden,” I said, tapping my hand on his shoulder. “Aiden. I can’t move.” Aiden opened his eyes, and the moment he saw me, he gave me a warm smile, which made my heart skip. “Good morning, Haru.” I pushed on his broad chest as I muttered, “Don’t you ‘good morning’ me. Move. My body is numb.” “Sorry,” he said, releasing me from his tight embrace. “Your bed is small.” “It’s a single bed,” I said, stretching my arms out. “What do you expect?” I sat up and then turned to look at Aiden, who now had one arm propped on the pillow as he laz

Haru We landed in Narita International Airport, Tokyo, without a hitch, and after going through customs and immigration, we gathered our luggage and headed out, taking the shuttle to our hotel right in the heart of Shinjuku, where we’d be staying for two days before taking a bullet train to Kyoto, where we’d spend another two days. After that, it’d be a domestic flight over to Sapporo in Hokkaido, where we’d then take a train to a remote little town called Aoi, where we’d stay with Uncle Jin for seven days. After that, we’d fly over to Jeju Island and then Seoul in South Korea, where we’d spend the remaining days exploring the cities and what they had to offer before heading back home. “Seriously, why do I have to share a room with Noah and Connor?” Isaac muttered as we headed into the elevator after checking into the five-star hotel. “Haru, you wanna swap?” I wondered if Isaac was going to complain nonstop about being around Connor during the whole trip. I thought the two got alon

Haru Aiden said to me, “Your turn.” I nodded and then headed into the bathroom where I spent the next ten minutes enjoying the shower. Boy, was I glad Aiden had booked us a Western-style hotel for our first few nights. I wasn’t fully prepared for a public bathroom yet, as Japanese accommodations seemed to offer. Even though I was born in Japan, I was raised in the United States, so an open public bathroom with strangers was definitely foreign to me. After dressing in a pair of jeans and a sweater, I headed out the door, seeing not only Mason and Reo in our room, but Noah and Connor as well. All of them had showered and changed. What was this? Was our room a gathering hall or something? When Isaac finally showed up, recently showered and changed as well, we headed out and explored Shinjuku to our heart’s content. Luckily, we didn’t need an interpreter or a tour guide, since me, Reo, and surprisingly enough, Connor, were fluent in Japanese. On our way to one of the ramen shops, I n