008

YOUR SUMMER INTERNSHIP at the United Nations headquarters was finally over, and you were now headed back home. Kyungsoo was supposed to come and pick you up at the airport, at least, that was what you guys said to each other the previous night. You sighed irritably, and you sent him another angry text message, demanding where he was, as you walked past the arrival gates.

But then, what you saw next surprised you the most; because the one welcoming you back to the country wasn’t your best friend.

But your boyfriend instead.

You didn’t know what to feel.

At first, you were embarrassed because you were not dressed like you usually were whenever you met up with Sehun. Your hair was a mess like a bird’s nest from the 14 hour-long flight, you didn’t have any makeup on, and your outfit consisted of Roots sweatpants and your cheerleading team’s black hoodie.

But when you saw how Sehun’s face glowed up at the sight of you, despite how dreadful you seemed, and looked at you as if you were the only girl in the world, you forgot about all your insecurities and ran into his arms with an excited squeal.

“Oh, my God! What are you doing here?” you asked, almost breathless, as you squeezed him tight. You then leaned back a little, but still kept your arms and legs wrapped around him. “I thought you had football training?” 

He kissed the tip of your nose. “Well, I can’t possibly go train when I knew my girl was finally coming back, can’t I?” He then let you down and took something he had hidden behind him and gave it to you with a sheepish smile. “Here, for you.”

You instantly smiled at the sight of the bouquet and saw sunflowers and baby’s breath, your two favourite flowers. “Awn,” you cooed. “You really shouldn’t have to, but I love them. Thank you so much, Sehun.”

Sehun then grabbed your suitcase (that you abandoned the second you saw him and jumped into his arms) and held your hand as you two walked to his car. “How was your flight back?” he asked. 

“Surprisingly, not that bad,” you replied. “It was definitely better than my flight to New York.” 

“Ah, yeah, I remember, you had a child behind your seat, right?”

You shuddered about the flight where you had to deal with a child crying and kicking your seat for the whole 12-hour flight. You expected to get some shut-eye because it was early in the morning and you didn’t want to be jetlagged when you land, but that obviously didn’t happen. “Ugh, don’t even talk about it. Just mentioning it gives me some PTSD.” 

“I don’t think that’s how PTSD works,” Sehun replied, chuckling. 

“Well, do I look like I major in Psychology?”

After your little banter, you guys finally got to Sehun’s car. He drove you back to your flat because you were too tired from your flight to go anywhere else (Sehun wanted to bring you out to eat for supper because he knew you probably didn’t eat much from the in-flight meal), but he could see that your eyes were drooping, so he suggested going home. It was a suggestion you were profoundly grateful for, and your heart just felt so warm from the consideration that you kissed him.

A kiss that soon turned into a full-blown makeout session as soon as you two entered your flat.

When you woke up in your bed, you frowned because Sehun wasn’t next to you anymore and his side of the bed wasn’t warm, meaning he got up a while ago. You got up from the bed and grabbed the shirt he had thrown off earlier and wore it as you went out, to only see your boyfriend in only his sweatpants cooking supper for the both of you. You instantly crept behind him and wrapped your arms around his torso before dropping a small kiss on his shoulder (which required you to go on your tippy toes because of how tall he was). 

“Hey,” he said with a sandy, hoarse voice. You almost melted at the sound of it because you just loved how deep it sounded, especially after he wakes up. 

“Hi,” you mumbled back. “Whatcha cooking?” 

“Your favourite,” he said. “Filet mignon.”

You pinched his side jokingly. “Isn’t that your favourite?” 

“Is it?” he replied cheekily.

You bit him in the shoulder before heading to your fridge to grab ingredients for a simple salad to complement your meal. You two ended up chatting about the remaining of your internship and what he did during summer as you two were separated. Eventually, when you finally sat down to eat finally, your conversation topic spun to the one thing you guys had been avoiding for a while: your future.

Truth to be told, ever since Sehun had visited you in the States, the question of your future had weighed heavily on your mind. It wasn’t an easy subject to think or talk about either. You realized just how much Sehun meant to you or meant to you more than ever, and how important it was for you to have him being there for every part of your life. Hence, you wanted to include him in your future endeavours, in whatever you were planning in the future. He meant a lot to you, and the least you could do for him was to address this lingering issue finally. And knowing your boyfriend, he probably didn’t want to talk about it with you in fear that it would give you an anxiety attack or perhaps even a fight, which might be true if it were you from before. But both of you have matured, and it was about time that you guys have this conversation.

“Have you done your schedule yet for the fall semester?” you asked, slowly touching the subject. 

He hummed. “What about you?”

“Yup…” you said, almost wanting to slap yourself as you answered. Although you were the one who started the conversation, you had no clue on how to continue it. 

As if sensing your dilemma, he set his cutlery down and gave you his full attention with a frown evident on his face. “Hey…”

“Hm?” you said, not really wanting to look at him directly. 

Sehun then called your name, but you still refused to look up. He repeated your name, this time, more sternly, and you forced yourself to look up. “What?”

“Everything is going to be okay, alright?” he reassured you as he held your hand tightly. “Whatever that is going to happen, we’re going to figure it together. Let’s not overwhelm ourselves with thinking too ahead in the future. Let’s just take baby steps together and see how it goes, okay?”

“But–” You were about to retort and ask him to think back about what happened the last time you two didn’t communicate with each other. But there was a peaceful look that settled in Sehun’s eyes that wasn’t there a year ago, and somehow, that also set you at ease, as well. You breathed out sharply and nodded with a tight smile on your face. Although the future was uncertain to you, you knew that you could handle it as long as Sehun was with you.

And that’s all it really mattered to you at this point.

NEXT THING YOU KNOW, a week later, and it was already the beginning of your fall semester in uni. Despite three years of doing this, you never really got over how chaotic things could get, especially during the first week of the year. Most people would take it easy, from skipping the first few classes because they all thought that it would just be information sessions about the semester to come, but it was more than that for you. You loved going to the first week of classes because it gives you a glimpse of how your upcoming semester was going to be. If there was a professor whose teaching you know you wouldn't be able to stand for four months straight, you needed to know ASAP so that you could switch to another class. And since it was your last year, you didn’t have room for mistakes. 

But one thing you had never done in your past three years though, was sitting in the chair in front of your department’s academic advisor. The last time you did was in your first year, and you never went back because you thought you knew what you wanted.

“I don’t even understand why you’re sitting in front of me at the moment,” your advisor muttered while rubbing her temples as she looked at your transcript on her computer’s monitor. “You have a perfect 4.0 GPA, you’ve been student body President for the past three years, captain of the cheerleading team, not to mention extracurricular activities and volunteering under the belt, and your latest internship at the United Nations headquarters… No matter what you’re choosing, you’re bound to get accepted. Your options lay elsewhere in the world, not here in South Korea… I admit that our universities are good, but there are better schools out there. Mainly in the States or the UK or even Canada.”

“I know, I just–” You sighed tiredly. “I want to consider all of my options, you know? Even the ones here.”

“I didn’t even know you wanted to stay here,” she replied back, worried about your sudden change of thought. “You seemed to know what you wanted from your first year and I knew from the moment I set my eyes on you that you were a determined girl with a clear and concrete goal set in motion. What happened to that?”

You bit your bottom lip. “A lot of things.”

Like Jongdae breaking up with you. Like you having a mental breakdown for a couple of months. Like you basing off your future because of a man. Which was kind of what you were doing at the moment. But you told yourself that it was different with Sehun. 

Was it?

You shook your head at the thoughts. You just needed to have more time, and perhaps, even talk with Sehun. That would definitely clear things up. Or at least, clear things up a little for you. 

Your advisor sighed. “Fine, I’ll print out a list of universities you can check out. But remember what I told you.”

“Yes ma’am, that’s all I need.”

With a small bow, you exited the office before letting out a big sigh. You felt as if there was a huge weight that was lifted off your shoulders but there was still this nagging feeling in the back of your head that you couldn’t quite shake off. Right at that moment, your cell phone rang and you smile at the sight of your boyfriend’s name appearing on the screen. You accepted the call.

“Hey, stranger,” you said.

“Hey, there,” he replied back in the same teasing tone you used. “Are you done with your appointment?”

You hummed before sighing inwardly. You just really wanted to see your boyfriend right now and spend the rest of the day with him without anyone disturbing you two. But unfortunately, you both have classes for the rest of the day. “Why?”

“Turn around,” he told you.

Your brows furrowed at his weird request but you did as he asked. You did turn around and you saw Sehun standing in front of you, just a couple of meters away. He then waved at you with a cheerful smile, immediately making you do the same before he got told off for blocking the hallway. You chortled as he apologized for causing traffic in the middle of the hall and you hung up your phone before you quickly joined him so that you guys can leave the busy hallway.

“What are you doing?” you asked as he immediately held your hand as he led you out to the school’s parking lot.

“Let’s go on a date,” he said, not exactly answering your question.

You gave him a look. “Don’t we both have classes later on in the day?”

“You can skip one day, babe,” he replied cheekily. “You’re not going to die from skipping classes.”

“I might die from anxiety,” you said, though you didn’t exactly complain as you went into his car obediently. Although you might not actually die from anxiety, you had never been one to skip classes unless it was for an important meeting or appointment. The only time you skipped for personal reasons was when you and Sehun were on a break, and you couldn’t stand being in the same room as him, especially since you knew he was flirting with other girls on purpose.

“Trust me, you’re going to love what I have prepared for you!” he said excitedly as he started up the car and drove out from the parking lot.

“Oh?” You tilted your head in curiosity at him. “So, this is not a spontaneous date? And here I thought you wanted to lift my spirits up a little because you knew I had an appointment with the academic advisor.”

“That, but also because this is long overdue and since we’re never too busy during the first two weeks of school, I thought it would be a nice opportunity for us to do this.” He then shot you a smile. “And besides, it’s the thoughts that count.”

You narrowed your eyes at him. “Do what, exactly? Oh Sehun, you’re not going to prank me or something, are you?”

He grimaced. “Why would I prank my girlfriend?” 

“You’re asking me?” 

“Huh, good point.”

You were about to reach and pinch his arm, but he caught your hand in time and brought it to his lips before giving it a small kiss. Your heart melted at his actions and you inwardly sighed to yourself—it was impossible for you to stay mad at him, or even pretend to stay mad at him.

You guys then pulled up in front of a beautiful, modern yet victorian-like building, and you turned to Sehun with many questions swirling in your head. But he didn’t even give a single hit as he expertly avoided your questioning gaze and went out of the car. You then followed suit, still confused and dazed as ever, but followed him nonetheless because you trusted him. 

“What are we doing here?” you asked as he grabbed hold of your hand and interlocked your fingers together. 

“You’ll see!” 

He then brought you inside the building, leading you to a completely white reception with a white marble floor. A man stood near the shiny black desk with the word “reception” written in the front, and he came up to you guys with a professional smile. 

“Mr. Oh, I have been waiting for you,” the man said before introducing himself to you. “Hello, my name is Lee Kikwang and I am your real estate agent.” 

You stuttered out your name while ignoring the snickering on Sehun’s par