009

YOU LOOKED OVER at your boyfriend with a worried look. But you didn’t dare to say anything as he looked like he was deep in his studies and you didn’t want to disturb him. The university’s library was filled as midterms were slowly approaching. Luckily for you, you were able to snatch a study room a week in advance. Hence, the peace and quiet. However, you were starting to regret it a little. You bit your bottom lip as you clicked on your pen, while Sehun was typing an essay on his laptop with earbuds plugged in. 

You sighed and dropped your stuff before taking your wallet out. Sehun noticed you getting up and took out an earbud as he asked, “Hey, where are you going?”

“I’m gonna go get a coffee, do you want anything?”

He stayed silent, his brows furrowed at you, and then shook his head before returning to his laptop. You tried not to sigh again as you left the silent room and back into the chaotic, stressful library. As you exited the library, you passed by your best friend who seemed to also want to catch up on his studies, though you were the one who didn’t notice him, not the opposite.

“Hey!” Kyungsoo said as he grabbed your arm after running after you. “I called your name like, five times, what’s wrong?”

“Oh.” You immediately stopped in your tracks. Worry washed over Kyungsoo’s expression. You tried to give him your best smile, but you weren’t exactly the best actress. He easily saw through you and smiled back.

“Did something happen with Sehun, again?” he asked, to which you shrugged, and he sighed with a small shake of his head. “Why is it that every time I see you down like this, Sehun is always the reason behind it?”

“No!” you exclaimed furiously, startling Kyungsoo. “This time, it’s because of me…” You then checked your watch. “You got time to accompany to Starbucks to get a coffee?”

With a suspicious yet worried look, your best friend followed you to the coffee shop just a floor down from the school library. You two ordered your drinks and then sat down in a corner. You drummed your fingers against your mug, unsure of how to get the conversation going even though you were the one who asked him to talk. But then again, it wasn’t an easy subject, to begin with. 

“Sehun asked me to marry him,” you confessed.

Kyungsoo almost choked on his drink and glared at you as if he was saying ‘you decide to tell me this as I was drinking my coffee?’. And you gave him an apologetic smile.

“And I said no.”

This time, he froze; his hand and cup suspended in mid-air just a few centimetres away from his face. His eyes unblinking, unsure whether he heard you right or not, especially since you were acting as if the news you just told him were no big deal. Kyungsoo peered at your face that was still void of any obvious expression. He knew that if you guys broke up, it would be the first thing you would tell him—not you refusing Sehun’s marriage proposal. But the fact that you seemed so nonchalant about this whole thing made him wonder whether everything was truly fine with you or not, so he had to ask.

“Are you guys still together or...?”

“Yeah, we are, it’s just–” You sighed and bit your bottom lip as you remembered the sullen look that befell Sehun as you refused to get married to him, and your heart constricted at the thought and image of it. You shook your head. “I feel like our relationship has changed.”

“Well yeah, a man bore his heart and soul to you and asked you to marry him, and you said no. Of course, something has changed.”

You threw him a look. “I didn’t want anything to change. We were fine just the way we were.”

Kyungsoo muttered under his breath, “You really have a bad habit of not saying what you think to your boyfriend…” He then looked over your shoulder. “And speaking of your boyfriend…” He coughed in the most unsubtle way possible. “He’s right behind you.”

You immediately swivelled around, a bewildered look on your face that was slightly mirrored by Sehun. That look morphed into one that was indescribable, and you knew that you had hurt him.

Again. 

“And, this is my cue to go,” Kyungsoo said and gave you a peck on your head before patting Sehun on the shoulder.

You sighed as you leaned back a little, retreating yourself in away. “How much did you hear?” You mumbled as you played with your drink’s straw. 

“I heard enough,” Sehun replied in a soft tone as if telling you that he wasn’t that mad. 

“I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you,” you continued. “I- I just didn’t want to hurt you even more and things were finally going so well between us, I didn’t want that to change.” 

He shook his head. “I should be the one apologizing. I got caught up in the moment and asked you to marry me without asking for your opinion.” 

“Baby.” You took his hands into yours. “Of course I want to marry you. Just not now. We are not ready now. We don’t even know what we’re going to do after graduation, don’t even know if we’re going to grad school or not. But as soon as we’re good to settle down, I promise I will be the one dragging you to the City Hall and come out of that place with your last name behind my first name.”

Sehun leaned in close and gave you a small, feathering kiss on your lips. “Can’t wait for that day to come.” 

“So… we’re all good?” you asked shyly. 

“Always.”

YOU COULDN’T REMEMBER WHEN was the last time you went on a date with Sehun.

With everything that happened, you weren’t able to go on a date with him because you felt like things between the two of you were awkward. But with all the misunderstandings cleared up, you asked your boyfriend out on a date and he happily accepted. You had everything planned out: tickets to a baseball match, tickets to a newly-released movie he wanted to see at the theatre and reservations at his favourite Japanese restaurant.

But things… didn’t exactly go as planned.

“I’m so sorry that things ended up this way,” you apologized to Sehun as you two waited in front of the hospital where you volunteered. “I promised them a long time ago that I would bring them out for their birthdays and their parents told me that they were super excited about it.” You shrugged. “I couldn’t let them down.”

“It’s okay,” your boyfriend replied with a small chuckle. “I liked playing with them the last time. And besides,” he then said as he gave you a wink. “It’s partly thanks to them that I was able to get a second date with you.”

“Huh.” You cocked your head to the side. “And here I thought it was thanks to my incredible charms that you wanted to go on a second date with me.”

“Well…”

Your jaw dropped in disbelief. (You knew that he was joking with you but it didn’t hurt going along with his teasing.) You were about to slap your boyfriend’s arm as punishment but you were interrupted by your favourite toddler twins, Kwangmin and Youngmin, who came running to you with their bright yellow matching little backpacks on and clothes.

“Noona!” they shouted in glee as you engulfed them in a huge hug. 

“My favourite boys!” You then motioned Sehun who was standing by your side. “Do you guys remember this hyung?”

The two little boys, still attached around your neck, looked up to your boyfriend and then shook their heads before burying them back into the crook of your neck. You tried not to snort at Sehun’s crestfallen expression; it seemed like he was excited to see the twins again. He even started pouting a little.

“Are you sure?” you then inquired the little ones again. “Because I think he mentioned something about gifts?”

At that word, the twins’ heads immediately turned around and they looked up at him with a gleeful expression, their eyes shining bright and all expectant at whatever Sehun had prepared for them. 

“Oh, yeah, we do remember him!” Kwangmin shouted excitedly before attaching himself to one of Sehun’s legs. “Hyung! How have you been? Why didn’t you visit us?”

Sehun raised a skeptical brow at him, wondering whether Kwangmin was lying to him or not. Youngmin then decided to attach himself to his other leg. “Yeah, hyung! Did noona tell us that we’re getting officially discharged soon?”

“Yeah, yeah!” Kwangmin continued. “We’re officially leukemia-free!”

At the news, it was Sehun’s time to light up. “No way! That’s awesome guys!” he then picked both of them up in his arms. “How about we go eat some pork belly and watch a movie to celebrate, yeah?”

“Yeah!!” the twins replied excitedly. “Noona!” Youngmin then waved you over. “Come on! We’re hungry~” 

Hence, you four ended up at a barbecue restaurant. The twins were so excited that they couldn’t stay still in their seats. It was so heartwarming to see because they probably hadn’t barbecue in so long; they only had hospital food for the past 3 years, which was 3/4 of their lives practically.

Sehun was no better. He liked his meat but you had never seen him this excited and enthusiastic before. He grabbed the menu and asked the twins what they wanted, the two kids practically climbing onto Sehun’s shoulders to either see better or just because they couldn’t sit still. 

“Alright boys, let’s settle down,” you told them with a small chuckle. “We just came from the hospital. Let’s not go back until it is time to go back.” 

“Your husband is so good with the kids,” the old lady cooed and you almost choked on nothing; good thing you weren’t drinking water. Though, you could see Sehun snickering from the corner of your eyes. 

You were about to retort back that you two weren’t married, but Sehun already replied to the grandma, “Ah, ahjumma, thank you so much! I’m very happy to hear that I’m good with our boys.” 

“You two must have married young, huh!” the ahjumma exclaimed happily. “Your two boys are simply adorable.” 

“Thank you so much,” Sehun continued to converse and then turned to the twins. “What do we say to the nice lady, boys?” 

“Thank you very much!” both twins exclaimed happily. “Ahjumma, can we have watery kimchi? The regular kimchi is too spicy for us.” 

“Of course!” she replied before turning back to you and Sehun. “So, what is the happy family getting for lunch today?” 

“We’ll take 4 portions of pork belly with 2 bowls of rice and 1 bowl of naengmyun,” Sehun swiftly ordered. “Do you two want anything to drink?” 

“We want Coke!”

“No,” you sternly said. “You guys are too young for Coke, and it’s not good for your health, either.” The twins pouted as they held their head down in disappointment. You sighed as you made a compromise, “You guys can either have apple juice now or you can have the juice later at the movie theatre along with a snack. So, when will you drink it?”

Youngmin and Kwangmin looked at each other with a nod before turning back to you as they replied in unison, “Later!”

You proudly smiled at them. “Good boys.” You then felt Sehun’s stare on you, making you flustered. “W-what?” you asked him as you busied yourself by giving everybody their utensils and water, and then took a sip of your water.

Sehun shrugged his shoulders and rested his chin on the palm of his hand. “Just thinking about how great of a mother you would be to our children.”

If the ahjumma’s previous comment didn’t make you choke on nothing, your boyfriend’s comment certainly did make you choke on your water. Kwangmin, who sat by your side, turned to you and started patting your back, asking if you were okay and if you needed more water.

“I’m fine,” you answered and ruffled his head. “Thanks for worrying about me.” You then shifted your attention back to your boyfriend who was holding his stomach as he laughed. “And that was not funny, Sehun. Don’t say something like that just to punk me.”

He suddenly turned serious at your words. “I wasn’t joking, though,” he mumbled softly. “I really do think it would be great to start a family with you only because I know you’d be a great mother.”

It took you the whole lunch period for your shyness and redness to disappear completely.

After playing at the parc for a while (Sehun promised them that he would teach them how to play football) and watching the latest Marvel movie (Sehun acted like a child along with the twins and it was a very endearing and adorable sight), you four were on your way back to the hospital where the twins will spend their last night before going back home with their parents. 

With their energy all spent, the twins were too tired to walk so Sehun had to carry Kwangmin while you had to carry Youngmin. 

“They’re so adorable when they’re asleep,” you commented.

“Kids are at their cutest when they’re sleeping,” Sehun agreed with a soft smile. “I think we should have at least two children,” he then added out of nowhere. “Twins like Youngmin and Kwangmin would be perfect. Then a little girl.”

Your jaw dropped at his revelation. “Ever think about asking the woman bearing the future children?” You then gently pushed him away with your hips. “And besides, who said I ever want to have children?”

He scoffed. “You may have not wanted children before, but you would want to have children with me.”

“Confident, aren’t we, Mr. Oh?”

Sehun shook his head as he chuckled silently. And as you two walked back to the hospital with the two children in your arms, you thought to yourself that perhaps, your future life with Sehun was going to be even more exciting.

GRADUATION CAME FASTER THAN YOU THOUGHT. Thankfully for you, the student council didn’t have to lift a single finger concerning the ceremony, this time around. Get this: there was actually a whole committee dedicated to this event. If anything, Johnny, who was the student council’s Treasurer, was the one who had the most work since he was responsible for allocating the budget, which really shouldn’t be a problem since it was practically the same every year.

(You secretly thanked the dean for creating this committee, though you had an inkling that Kyungsoo was the one who complained to the old man about the amount of work he had to do when he replaced you for a little while.)

Sehun’s graduation was a few days before yours, so you were able to see him in all his glory and his cap and gown. The suit he wore under the gown really should have been on the outside, but hey, you weren’t the one making the rules. (Though, you made sure to take plenty of photos because that was how good he looked. He was a whole damn snack.)

Though, you were still careful to not let those thoughts show in front of Sehun’s parents, which would have been embarrassing. You honestly thought that seeing Sehun’s parents again would be an absolutely horrifying experience, given that he probably told his parents about the failed proposal, but they treated you as kindly and lovingly as always. Perhaps Sehun didn’t tell them anything. But you decided not to ponder too much on it and celebrated Sehun’s graduation properly with him and his family later on.

Unfortunately, because he already graduated, it also meant that he couldn’t calm you down right before you had to head upstage not only as the council’s President but also as someone who graduated the second, not first (who decided on that, anyway? It didn’t make any sense) of your cohort.

“I can’t do two speeches.” You almost wheezed. You then grabbed Junmyeon who was simply passing by. “Do me a favour and please give the speech.” 

He almost swatted your hand away. “You’re the one graduating with magna laude. I’m only graduating with honours.” 

“Magna laude, honours, who cares?” You threw your hands up in the air. “Nobody is going to know the difference.”

Kyungsoo hit the back of your head without any notice, which caused you to groan out loud and kick him back in revenge. “What the hell was that for?”

Your best friend rolled his eyes. “Can’t believe you’re smart enough to graduate with magna laude.”

You stuck out a tongue at him. “You’re the one graduating with summa laude, why can’t you also give a speech?”

He scoffed. “You think I want to be the one giving out one of the most important speeches in the whole ceremony in front of a huge crowd? If I wanted to do that, I would have campaigned for your position instead.”

You tried hard not to let him hear you curse him out. 

Right at that moment, your phone vibrated, signalling you that you have received a text message. You let out a groan of frustration and stress and quickly took it out from your dress’s pocket. 

[Sehunnie♡]: You are beautiful.

[Sehunnie♡]: You look gorgeous in that red dress.

[Sehunnie♡]: You look so hot in that gown and cap.

[Sehunnie♡]: I heard that smart is the new y ;)

[Sehunnie♡]: You’ll do great with your speech. Deep breaths and look at me. I be