❝ chapter thirty-five

e r i c ’ s

[blue text = spoken in english]

    “Good morning, lovebirds.” 

I playfully grimaced at my mom as she grinned at us and motioned us to sit down so she could served us breakfast. Specifically, breads for me and my brothers and hangover soups for the rest of them. We had a party last night for both the ending of my concert and my proposal and we drank a little way too much last night. Yongsun had champagne although I insisted otherwise because god knew how bad this one is with her alcohol. Did I say anything about her getting drunk with her members a while back and sent me a blurry selfie of herself then repeatedly asking me why wasn’t the picture loading? 

I had champagne then wine after that with Yongsun’s members and the rest of my family then later when the elders went to bed and after I put Yongsun to bed because she really got drunk after a glass of champagne and one sip of wine, my brothers suggested having beer and Yongsun’s members were completely in for that so we went for that too until 2 in the morning and now, we’re all experiencing hell.

    “How long did you guys stay last night?” My mom asks and hands me butter and bread. 

    “2 in the morning.” Eddie said. “I’m never gonna drink this much again. I feel like I’m in hell right now.”

    “Are you girls okay, sweethearts? I have some Advil, tell me if you guys need anything.” Mom turns to Yongsun’s members and smiles. “Don’t be shy.” 

They smile back at her politely. I take a glance at Yongsun and I catch her frowning softly. Her headache is probably not getting any better. I mean, well, that was one of the rare time she drank that much. I make a mental note to ask mom for some of her Advil after breakfast, my head is killing me just as much. 

    “I was gonna talk about your wedding plans but I don’t think right now is a good time.” Dad said. “Our heads are probably still recovering from alcohol.” 

Wheein asks me if breads aren’t too heavy for a hangover cure for us. I tell her that soups are a lot more heavier to us for hangover and breakfast, even on a normal sober morning after a sober night. She wants to try some so I give her a slice of my bread spreads with butter and now, she’s having both breads and soup. Hyejin tries it after that but refuses the next bite immediately and almost gulp down the whole bowl of her soup afterward. Yongsun shakes her head at them and I just chuckle. 

    “Where do you guys want to get married though?” Mom asked all of sudden. 

    Yongsun and I looked at each other then we both looked at mom. “Actually, we’ve been wanting to ask you that.” 

    “It doesn’t matter with me.” She laughs. “It’s your wedding, kids. You decide where you want it to be, how you want it to be, who you want to have there.” 

    “We actually thought of doing it in Korea.” I said. “I know this might be hard for all our relatives because they might have to clear their schedules and catch a flight to Korea but we’re both Korean by hearts. And we met in Korea because of our jobs. Atlanta may shaped me to who I am today but I feel like Korea is where my roots really are.” 

Hyejin gives an ooh look along with Byul and I playfully grimace at them. Yongsun smiles at me, she looks touched and I’m not sure why but I’m glad she’s with me on this one. 

    Dad smiles at me fondly and I catch him blinking away the tears in his eyes. “Good job, Eric. I’m proud of you.” 

This sight always makes me feel bad. They say as people get older, they tend to cry even easier, even at the littlest thing and this is exactly what my dad’s doing right now although sometimes, he tries really hard to hide it by dyeing his hair black. But it makes sad to know that they’re aging everyday and I can’t spend time with them much because of my job and impending things are always what makes it even more regretful. Things you can’t do it now but you’re going to regret it in the future. Things you know will make you feel sorry for yourself yet you still can’t do it right away. The fact that they’re so happy since yesterday just because I asked Yongsun to marry me makes me feel so guilty for always prolonging it and even get mad at them for always talking about marriage. 

    “Yongsun, will you help us ask your parents when do they want to meet and discuss about the wedding? We’re fine with any day so whenever your parents are free, we’ll go down to Korea and officially meet them for the first time to greet and discuss the wedding.” Mom asks then she gulps another spoonful of the bean sprout soup. 

    “Yes, I’ll let you know after that.” 

    “Do we need to do anything after breakfast?” I asked. “If not, we’re just gonna go back to sleep.” 

    “You just wanted to spend some time alone with your fiancé, don’t you?” Mom makes a face at me and shakes her head. 

    “No, my head is really killing me right now.” 

For real, though. And, I kinda want to just spend some time alone with Yongsun too. 

    “You should have known when you decided to stayed up and drank until 2am last night.” Yongsun said and my parents laughed at that, giving her thumbs up. 

    “Come on, it isn’t everyday.” I said, tried to find any last ounces of excuses to defended myself. “And, yesterday was such a good day.” 

If it’s anything, Yongsun hates it the most when I drank a little way too much. If I tell her I’m having a drink with my friend, the first text and the last text she sends would be don’t drink too much or I’m going to kill you before alcohol does. Yep, my fiancé. 

After breakfast, Yongsun and the girls offered to help my mom with the dishes but she insisted that we go to rest instead and she told Yongsun to just put me to bed because I didn’t seem too sober enough right now. Geez, this is what they always do when they’re teamed up together. My mom has been wanting a daughter in law just to teamed up against me, something she told me a few time way back then.

Yongsun and I are cuddling on our bed, one of my hand substitutes her pillow and a song is playing softly from my phone. I let her choose the song because my playlist these past weeks are entirely upbeat song and we’re really not that hyped right now. Apparently, she just wants to cuddles and talks. 

I’m not sure what talk she is thinking about right now because we’re both silent for approximately fifteen minutes now given that my phone is already on the fifth song - every times we touch. Once in a while, I kiss the top of her head and sometimes I caress her cheek because that’s what I love to do when we’re cuddling and she doesn’t seem to mind it either. In fact, she actually likes it a lot when I play with her cheek and shower them with kisses. This mochi, my mochi. 

    “I haven’t check the internet at all since last night.” She said after a long silence. 

    “Me too.” I sigh and bury my face into the crook of her neck. “Don’t worry too much about that. There can’t possibly be 100% of blessing, but I know half of them are genuinely happy for us and they’ll understand.” 

My voice comes out muffled against her neck. She doesn’t bring this topic up earlier but I know her headache isn’t just entirely from the alcohol from last night. As much as she’s happy about this, she worries about it just as much. Not for herself, I know Yongsun, but more for her members and where this might lead them too. We all know how marriage affects a girl group. But Mamamoo is different, perhaps the aftermath would be different too and it’ll be a good difference. 

She nods and soon, the silence fills the room again. 

    “Hey.” I mumble and gently pull her face toward me so I could kiss her lip. “If the world ever stands against us for this, remember you have me and the girls and now, you also have another whole family who will also get your back too. We're always here. We’re both in this together, we’ll make this work.”

She nods and blinks away the tears in the brim of her eyes then bury herself inside my arm, her head against my chest and I could feel her eyelashes move as she closes her eyes. 

    “Thank you for staying and listening to me.”  

    “Anytime, baby.”