Promises unkept
When you thought I speak MandarinThis is me trying to get closure. The fic ended weirldly because of the sequel that never happend. Some of you found it okay and you might say that it is unnecessary. But I wasn't satisfied with the sudden three promises thing. I just had to finish it. And here I am, after four years, ending my the loose end.
It was 5:30 in the morning, far too early for any real activity. With the coffee shop not opening till 7:00, I half expected that half the staff would be late and the other half would be silently preparing for opening. As soon as I went through the doors however, I was greeted, in a much louder volume than I would prefer, by the newest part-timer.
"Ms. Hwang. Good morning!" The shorter and younger girl greeted.
"Good morning Hye Ju."
Hye Ju has only been working for a month and a half. She's youthful nineteen year old who is earning some extra pocket money to pay for her college fees. She looks fairly ordinary, not too tall but not too short and with hair never been touched by hair coloring products, leaving it in a beautiful shade of black and brown. However, her bright smile and energetic personality makes her stand out to the customers. Currently, there are here-says that a few male customers specifically ask for her when they get the regular morning coffee.
Her radiant smile is exactly what the coffee shop needs. She kind of reminded me of me four years ago, when I first started working under Kai.
Kai, who has expanded the branch to other parts of the city, has left this one under my care. It was scary at first, to run the coffee shop on my own, but his reassuring "You can do this" and the staff's encouraging outlooks at work helped me get through the ups and the many downs of running a coffee shop.
I retreated to my office, pausing for a moment to read the golden sign on the door that read "Hwang Bo Mi. Branch Manager.", only to find the door unlocked. I was sure I locked it last night unless...
"Hello beautiful." A tall male greeted as I walked inside.
"Cheesy." I scoffed, unable to hide the smile that was slowly surfacing.
The room was large enough, complete with a two seater couch and a revolving large chair, yet Kris chose to sit on my desk like he has always done every time he visited. I always told him that he'd have to pay for everything when the desk finally breaks. But of course that's just me hinting to him that he's gaining weight. (Which he does NOT like)
He followed me with an unknown look as I hung my bag on the hook under my desk. He then raised a brow when I opened the log book which was part of my morning routine.
When he refused to shift his gaze, I gave him a confused glare. "What?"
Kris shifted to my side of the desk so he faced me. Seated, he towered me easily and four years of being a couple told me that he's plotting something behind that cheeky grin of his. Instinctively, I pushed away from the desk which he responded to by pulling my chair even closer.
"I've just come back from a three months trip and this is the welcome that I get from my girlfriend?" He said, his face suspiciously drawing nearer.
I chuckled nervously and looked away, shuffling idly through the book. "You called almost everyday. I hardly noticed you were gone."
"Most girlfriends would be glad that their boyfriend calls when he's on a business trip to Vegas." The tone of his voice was slowly flattening. "Weren't you worried? I mean...Las Vegas."
I closed my book, he gulped. "Should I be worried?"
He crossed his arms. "No that's not what I meant."
"Then I wasn't. I trust you."
Kris shook his head as he chuckled. "You're unbelievable."
A sigh escaped my lips. What was I supposed to do? Mope around when he's away? Kris was always away on business trips. One week he's in Japan then the next he's flying to Canada. He's rarely in one place in the span of a month and, honestly, I've gotten used to him coming and going all the time. Sure I missed him but he was busy with work and I too was occupied with my own. He had invited me countless times to drop my work in Korea and work for him. However, the preposition "for" didn't appeal to me as much, even if the job he offered me paid more. I wanted me own job which I worked hard for to get. We weren't two young lovebirds who believed that everything was courtship and romance anymore.
However, he does look a bit cast down. Maybe I was too cold on him. I mean I really did want to see him.
I took both of his hands, catching him off guard, and pulled myself closer to him. His signature musk was stronger now that I closed the distance between us and I dare say, all those months of not seeing him was slowly catching up to me. All I could think about was snuggling up beside him.
"Are you free later?" I linked my fingers with his, laughing at his confused expression.
"You are so bi-polar." Kris said.
"Are you free or not?"
"I—" He was cut off when Hye Ju bursted through the door. She too had gotten used to not knocking, knowing that it was just going to be me on the other side of the door. The sudden presence of another human being , however, caused her to stumble back, face in an adorable shade of red.
"I—I'm so sorry. I d—didn't...It's just that." Hye Ju was about to close the door when I assured her that there was no harm done and that I'd be out in a while.
She gave me a bow and Kris a shy smile before leaving. A few silent seconds after the door shut, I could hear a deep laugh, that could only belong to Sehun, a full timer at the shop, and Hye Ju's agitated grunt from outside.
I shook my head, knowing that the two are at it again. Something everyone in the shop recognized as the playful bickering of two young people who secretly like each other.
"I better get out there to see what's up." I stood up from my chair only to be pulled by the waist in a tight embrace.
Kris grinned triumphantly, finally having me in his arms which he had endlessly said that he yearned to do so every time he called. "Does eight sound good to you?"
"I finish at nine. You know that." I flattened my eyes.
"I'll pick you up at eight then." He said innocently.
For that, he deserved the light punch on the shoulder. He was as stubborn as he was patient. We both were and we knew that. He knows how to work with my hard headedness while I know how to work with his.
I also know that he's not letting go until he gets what he wants and I really needed to go out. I let him win, closing the distance between us till we finally kiss. It wasn't our first kiss, nor was it more extraordinary than our usual kisses. It was no more than a kiss but nothing short of breathtaking.
I pry his arms from my waist when I felt him slyly tug on the hem of my shirt and break away from his lips, honoring the sanctity of work place ethics.
"See you at nine." I said, a little short of breath. He caught this and chuckled, probably proud of himself.
"See you at eight."
I punched his arm again, this time he flinched.
True to his word, his black Chevy was parked in front of the shop at 8:00 PM sharp. One of the things I admired from him was his punctuality. An aspect I sometimes lack.
I didn't make any noticeable change to my appearance. It was too much of an effort to go change into something that wasn't a pair of jeans and a crips white button down; my work clothes. Kris said he liked the change in fashion taste; it made me more mature looking. I also tamed my newly acquired pixie cut, a change Kris hasn't fully accepted yet. It was as if he had a choice. I was bored of my long flat hair and would cut it anyway.
The low hum of the aircon and the radio were background noises to our otherwise silent car ride. We talked about his trip, the time difference and Las Vegas. Kris constantly remarking that we should go there sometime. I talked about work, my trip with Suho, and how I third-wheeled Sun Mi and Chanyeol. I also remarked how I kind of missed him whenever I see my best friend and her boyfriend together. To that, Kris laughed.
"So you did miss me?"
I rolled my eyes. "I never said I didn't. Now where do you want to eat?"
"You made it seem like you didn't miss me." He said matter-of-factly.
"Well I did." I paused. "And it's not like you were gone that long. I mean, we talked all the time." I added.
Thinking that it was the end of that, I turned my head to the window. I thought he would drop the conversation but him turning down the volume of the radio deemed otherwise.
"Bo Mi I was gone for three months. Two weeks before that I was gone for two months." I wasn't liking the tone of his voice. "For the past few weeks, we've been together for only two weeks—"
"Two and a half." I muttered. Always exaggerating things.
"Two weeks. And we've been apart for almost five months! The least you could've done was notice my presence when I was there." He said. Half joking and obviously half annoyed.
I laughed in disbelief. "Are we seriously going to argue over the fact that I didn't jump into your arms?"
Kris' grip on the steering wheel tightened. "That's not what I meant. Why do you keep exaggerating everything?"
"I exaggerate everything?" This time, I snapped my head towards him. "Let's talk about how during the staff party, right after you called, Suho suddenly shows up by my apartment to see," I did quotation marks in the air "'what's up'."
"So what...now I can't be worried anymore?" Kris wasn't even driving to a destination anymore. We just kept driving and driving straight.
"You called my brother to check up on me!" I don't understand why he can't get the point through that thick skull of his.
"I don't get why you're so mad." He sounded exasperated.
We were practically shouting inside the car now.
"You asked him to see if it was more than just me and Kai there!" My hands were in fists and truthfully, I was more than ready to hit his face with it if only he wasn't driving.
"Well if you just told me that Kai was there just like how you failed to tell me that you were chopping your hair off then we'd all be happy now wouldn't we?"
In frustration, I pushed my fingers through my hair which was, not surprisingly, the new topic of this petty feud. "Why are you so mad that I cut my hair? It's.just.hair."
Kris turned sharply on a curb. Through gritted teeth, he said "I'm not mad at your hair. I'm mad at the fact that you didn't even tell me about it beforehand. What else didn't you tell me beforehand? Oh that's right. That Kai was going to be at your party."
My hands pushed hard against my temples. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Ever since Kai became my boss, he's been immature about it like a jealous teenager. "What do you have against Kai? How many timed do I have to tell you that we're just friends!"
"Then why do you have to go to him when you have problems?" His voice so loud that it stung. "What do you need me for then?
"That was once, Kris. Once! And stop making it seem like we have a thing because we don't!" My eyes were hot and my lips were bruised from all my biting.
"He gave you a job, you turned down mine. You practically spend more time together than we do and you're not even excited to see me." Kris took a sharp turn. "I have an idea, to save you the trouble of cheating on me with your boss, why don't we just end this?"
I choked on my tears. "What?"
Kris rolled his eyes. "You know what? I'm done."
I was more than done. "Take me home." I didn't know what got into me. What I do know is that I wanted to be anywhere except in this car. "Wu Fan take me home."
No questions asked, he took the next U-turn and drove straight to my apartment. We didn't speak all the way there and none bothered to turn the volume of the radio up. It was just the muffled noise of the city, the hum of his engine and the sound of me trying to hold my tears back.
When we got there, he pried the keys out of the socket and slammed the door behind him, leaving the sound echoing inside the car. I watched his back as he walked away, not even bothering to look over his shoulders. The night was dark yet the air was particularly gloomy. I sat there in the passenger seat, taking in everything that had happened. This was the first time that no one backed down. In our heated arguments, usually someone raises the white flag. Tonight was different. Remembering the tears that brimmed both my eyes and his and the reverb of Kris' voice as he said the words "I'm done.", I burst into a crying mess. Realizing that Kris hadn't gone back to see if I was still here made the tears flow harder.
I climbed to the back seat and curled up near the window, crying and coughing.
Just then, I heard the sound of the door on the other side open. I could've checked who it was but the familiar scent of Kris' cologne filled the closed space.
Then there was dead silence.
I was ready to walk out when Kris said my name, this time in a tone that only signifies that he's calmed down. At a time like this, my silence was the best reply.
Cautiously he moved towards my end of the seat and with even more care, he took me in his arms. His deep voice hummed in his chest. "You remember the three promises I told you?"
I nodded against him.
He sighed. "I'm an —"
"I know." I said.
Kris chuckled. "And I'm sorry for calling you a..." He trailed off. "But I'm still a man. I feel jealousy especially if my girlfriend is close to a guy. " He ran his hands through my hair in a comforting manner. "But that is no excuse to call you what I did and I'm really sorry, Bo Mi."
As the anger died down, reason surfaced. Hearing his words, I realized I was wrong to keep things from him. No matter how petty it may seem to me, as a couple, we had to be open to one another. Realizing this, I wanted to cry at how immature I was too.
"I'm sorry." I mumbled, buried in his scent.
In the darkness of the car and the silence of the night, we sat there in each other's arms.
This time, his lips were against the crown of my head. "It's just. Sometimes I'm scared that I'm not enough and that, y'know. You're just so difficult sometimes."
I snapped my head up. For the first time in a while, I locked eyes with him. It was dark under the shadows but I could see them. I could feel them on me.
"Don't get ahead of yourself. You're not that easy to be with too you know." I said. We both laughed and before I knew it, he pulled me against him and we were kissing. It was cautious, for a while sweet, then, in seconds, deep with longing. I could feel his smile against my lips then his breath against my neck as he kissed me like it was the first time. My blouse had been fully untucked as Kris' hands trailed under my shirt and against my . I took his face in my hands and made him feel how much he shouldn't worry, how he shouldn't even think for a second that I'm bored of him. Yes, we weren't children anymore but the moment inside the car was the one moment when I wanted to be young and infatuated with the thought of love.
The three months that, before, seemed so short suddenly felt like a long time. I missed him. I wanted to see him, kiss him and touch him like this. It came rushing to me like the tide. I shouldn't be afraid to tell him how I feel anymore.
I don't know if it was in the heat of the moment, but Kris broke off from the kiss, then reached for something in the glove compartment. In the darkness, I couldn't tell what it was that he had taken but his next words gave me a clue.
"I was supposed to do this during dinner," he said, a little out of breath "But romance."
Still a bit confused, he removed me from his lap and shifted to what seemed to be a constrained kneeling down position. He took the mystery box from his back and bared to me a beautiful diamond ring.
"Bo Mi, will you marry me?"
There was no other answer.
"Oh god. Y—yes!" I didn't even give him time to slip the ring in my finger. Out of pure happiness, I threw myself against Kris and kissed him again and again
So there we were, in the parking lot of my apartment, hair in a mess and shirts half buttoned, out of breath and in the most un-romantic of situations, we found ourselves engaged. I have imagined this moment a hundred times when I was a child, but never in a million years did I think that I'd say yes to a man who proposed to me while taking my shirt off at the back of his car. But here I was. And it was perfect.
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