Eve of warm embraces and brown paper packages tied up with string.
Our love can be our heaven.
Chapter three.
Eve of warm embraces and brown paper packages tied up with string.
Your itchy fingers had latched into the arm of my sweater the moment I migrated from the bed to our sofa, pout on your thin lips and begging glimmer in your chocolate eyes. Being frozen, I did everything I could to resist your techniques (from feeding you cookies to snuggling and to watching cheesy Christmas specials), only to discover that nothing could hold you down. You had a burning determination to drag me out into the tundra that we call Seoul, and I should've known that you would get nothing but what you wanted (me being the softy I am).
So I soon found myself stuck on your leash, bundled up in a peacoat and thick scarf as you tugged me along behind you, our bodies weaving through the joyous and bustling crowd. There was something ethereal about the way that hundreds of people moved like clockwork through the traffic and snowy sidewalks. And soon I found my feet switching to autopilot once I had fallen into a trance.
Christmas is such a universal thing, isn't it? At the mere mention of Christmas, children's eyes light up in delight, slightly garbled stories of Santa Claus falling from their lips immediately before they clasp their tiny hands together and list off all the presents they want. Teenagers pretend to not care, but they honestly appreciate the season just as much as any other. Adults never fail to be amazed by the immense amount of money spent for the annual shopping, yet they keep on buying because they know just how happy the gifts make others. Elders are on par with the children- absolutely ecstatic over the chance to enchant their grandchildren and the fact that they get to spend time with their family. I found that I hung somewhere with the adults while you were forever stuck in a child's point of view.
"Ooh ooh! Jongin! Look at that!" you gasped, tugging on my arm erratically. I blinked hard to clear several hostile snowflakes from my line of vision, squinted eyes following your gaze to what appeared to be a giant mass of green, red, and gold. But as my eyes grew accustomed to the sharp glare, the gasp that jumped down my throat was inevitable.
A tree stood tall as one of the skyscrapers, deep green foliage dusted in snow and strung with baubles of scarlet and warm yellow lights that blurred in the flurry of white flakes that rained down on us. The base was surrounded with a safety fence, a single woman a year or so our senior standing by the sole gate as she rung the silver bell in her gloved hand, loud voice carrying over the crowd with an undying determination. Presents were visibly piling up within the premises of the fence, tucked away towards the trunk of the oversized tree. And lastly, placed upon the top of the tree was a huge, gilded star that sparkled through the flurry of white like the glow of a lighthouse spotlight.
"Waa, lets go donate! C'mon Jongin, c'mon!" you gasped, mitten-clad hand clamping down on my scarf before you set off like a roadrunner scared by a predator, nearly choking me from your death-grip that tightly pulled my scarf around my neck. It was pointless to struggle, so my weakly flailing body was tugged along behind you as you nearly plowed over the bell-carrier with a high-pitched squeal.
"TAEYEON NOONAAAAAAA!" your bird-like screech echoed throughout the whole sky, making dogs in Mexico cry and shattering windows in Australia. Okay not really, but from the piercing pain in my ear, it felt like it. I tumbled forwards with arms spinning like pinwheels, crashing right into your back, which resulted in a domino effect that left us and your prey in a heap on the snow-dusted cement. A groan rumbled up from the bottom of the pile- the helpless whimper of a puppy with a hurt paw. And with that, I was flung back with a burst of power I hadn't even realized you were capable of (I should've known you could do that though- I had let you top once upon a time and learned my lesson to never underestimate the power of your lean muscles), colliding directly with the frozen ground in a way that made me bite my tongue in pain. I was well aware that I'd have a bruise there for days to come.
"OMG NOONA ARE YOU OK noona noona you're alive right OMG JONGIN'S FAT DIDN'T KILL YOU RIIIIIIGHT?!" your voice invaded my brain like a very persistent parasite, and immediately my defensive barrier went up.
"Excuse me? Fat? It's called muscle, mister! You're probably the one that killed Taeyeon with all your chub!" I quickly swatted you away from the shell-shocked blonde who was sprawled out on the ground like road kill, her silver bell knocked out of her hand as it rolled away slowly.
And so we threw insults at each other as we babied Taeyeon, all caution flung into the wind and whisked away by the chill of winter gusts. But each profanity was hollow and backed up by nothing but air, we both knew without a doubt. Teasing each other was a normal thing for us, and never would it blemish our near-perfect relationship, even when we were in our worst moods. I guess that was a quirk for us, wasn't it? Sehun?
Running (and I mean literally like clotheslining sort of collision) into Jongdae, Luhan, and Yoona wasn't part of the plan, but I couldn't deny them an invitation to tag along last-minute shopping with us, and your reaction made it all worth it. I honestly knew that letting my 'thoughtful' older brother come with us (who 'thoughtfully' gave you a giant value pack of condoms for christmas last year) was going to result in hell, but hey, it was christmas. And his pout was enough to give all of us diabetes from the overdose of sweetness (along with the doe-duo of Yoona and Luhan giving us their Bambi eyes), so they latched onto us like viruses. Loud, boisterous viruses.
"Ah, my little bro is just growing up without me, aren't you?" Jongdae crooned as he took a lengthy sip of his salted caramel mocha, head lifting up from Luhan's shoulder as he gazed intently at me. You and Yoona ran off together to look at a jewelry store while me and the two trolls got Starbucks, me mostly staring at my phone while the two lovebirds gushed their cuteness all over each other.
"I believe that time forces us all to grow even when our obnoxious older siblings aren't around." I quipped, pushing my glasses back up to the bridge of my nose as Jongdae feigned a look of heartbreak.
"Ouch, bro! Right in the kokoro! You're so meeeaaaan!" he whined. Luhan pet his boyfriend's messy hair before shooting me a coy grin that I knew was a compliment for my comeback.
"Not mean. Just honest."
"Well since we're all being honest here, how does my look in these jeans?" I facepalmed. And I'm reminded of why Luhan is the man in that relationship. I saw Jongdae beginning to lift his off the stool, all the alarms in my head sounding once I realized that he was about to stick his up IN PUBLIC.
"It looks beautiful, baby. As always." Luhan reacted by slamming the younger Korean back into his seat, smiling fondly before shifting his gaze to me. "So on a subject other than Jongdae's-"
"Fabulous!"
A heavy sigh.
"Jongdae's fabulous , out of curiosity, are you more of a silver or gold person, Jongin?" I raised a brow in question. Although Luhan is sly and quick-thinking, I could see him scrambling for an answer. "Well because y'know Sooyeon couldn't join us today and jewelry yeah she likes jewelry and she wants to get you something for christmas! Courtesy of the generous elder Jung sister." I could tell that my eyebrow was retreating into my hairline at this point, and then Jongdae joined in.
"And her phone just broke so she couldn't ask herself and yeah me and Jonghyun are pretty tight so he texted me to ask you about your metal preference. In fact, Sehun and Yoona are really just trying to carry out Sooyeon's request right now and-"
"Sooyeon is right over there. With Chanyeol, Kyungsoo, and Yuri."
Both Luhan and Jongdae snapped their heads in the direction of my index finger, which was pointed directly at the quartet that was leaving a store not to far away. I could practically hear their mental chorus of ohohoh upon seeing Sooyeon and her group, and just to make matters worse, they noticed that Chanyeol's large eyes had zeroed in on us, that stupid twitching grin of his spreading across his face.
"Jongin! Lulu! Jongdae!" he bellowed in his rumbling timbre, and my company knew they were screwed.
Our newly-formed group of seven traipsed through the streets like a circus performance, ranging from Chanyeol's mental patient grins to Sooyeon's English profanities to Jongdae's -eating smiles to Yoona's disgusting pickup lines that all gained us a bit too much attention for my liking. I didn't fail to notice the occasional wink you would send in Yoona's direction whenever your hand would find it's way into your pocket, but I hadn't made much of it when I happened to catch you doing it ever so often. You were a quirky kid. And by quirky I mean weird.
"Omg is that a baby bird?!"
"Oh oh lemme see!"
"Eww, get away from it, Chanyeol! You'll scare it half to death!"
"Wait stop! I'LL NAME IT FLUFF."
And with that, our five companions detached from our sides, all flocking about ten feet or so away from us. I glanced at them in question as I tried to see what baby bird they were all freaking out over, but you suddenly grasped onto my wrist to halt my movement. Our eyes met for one moment that felt like eternity before you dropped your gaze, pink cheeks flushing a bright red as you stared at the ground.
"What's up, Sehunnie?" I cooed with curiosity. Your Adam's apple visibly bobbed as you swallowed hard, mousy fringe hiding your eyes before you slowly raised your head, a tiny smile pulling at your thin lips. A soft rosy tone, I had to refrain from claiming those appetizing lips as you tried to speak, pink tongue darting out to wet them every few seconds.
"I... I need to tell you something, Jongin." your dewy eyes found mine, the intensity of your stare tinting my cheeks rogue as sparks skipped up my spine with long strides. I nodded weakly, urging you to continue. "Umm, well..." you took a deep breath as your eyes squeezed shut, shoulders raising from the air you inhaled. "We've been dating for seven years now and umm I... I really want to spend the rest of my life with you, Jongin."
The breath that once filled my lungs was squeezed out by an iron fist of butterflies that upset my whole posture as I looked at you with rapidly blinking eyes.
"And, umm... God I should've practiced this more." you chuckled sheepishly before drawing your hand out of your pocket. A small black box sat in your clothed palm, catching small snowflakes as the heavens continued to shower the city in white. "I love you, Kim Jongin. I love you so damn much. I can't even imagine spending my life with anyone besides you. You- my lazy, dark-skinned y puppy who can dance like a machine but can't compose any sort of literature even if your life depended on it. You- my best friend since secondary school. My neighbor who annoyed my mother more than my own older brother, but was there for me no matter what. My friend who downloaded onto my laptop just so any girls would shy away from me because I was 'a ert'. And I may have hated you for that at first, but now I'm more than thankful. It's because of that meddling that I'm with you right now."
"And, I... I really just wanted to ask..." you sank to your knees, one leg propping up your hand that held the box. "If it isn't too much of a problem, of course," the hand that gripped my wrist tugged my glove off before letting it fall to the ground. "Which it better not be a problems because if it is, I'll wash all your white boxers with your red boxers so they turn a very unmanly shade of pink." the box's lid popped open to reveal a band of silver tucked between two cushions of maroon velvet, the box sliding off your leg once your slender fingers plucked the piece of metal from its case. You raised it to my ring finger with a slightly shaky hand, the jewelry sliding on without a problem before it sat above my knuckle. Grinning like a shy schoolgirl, you brought your eyes to meet mine again before you opened your mouth.
"Will you marry me, Kim Jongin?"
I couldn't breathe. It felt like my heart exploded with streamers of warmth that clogged my air pipe, chest constricting in shock as my stomach flipped with an unease that nearly made me sink to the ground. My legs felt like jelly and my knees smacked into each other as I tried to regain my balance, but the world was tipping around me as it exploded with firecrackers of blinding light.
"Y-yes." I gasped quietly, my voice cracking from tears that I hadn't noticed were rolling down my cheeks. "Yes. Yes! Yes I will marry you, Oh Sehun!" I had fallen prey to girlish hysterics, the only thing preventing my blubbering and sobbing self from hitting the ground being the thin but strong arms that wrapped around my shaking frame. Before I could process anything, a pair of warm lips pressed against my own, and I immediately knew it was you. You, who smelled of almonds and vanilla. You, who tastes like homemade candy. You, who was my fiancé.
A whooping and hooting explosion of voices ranging from baritone to a high-pitched squeal attempted to ruin our moment (thank you, Chanyeol and Yoona. And everyone else. You guys are asses.), but your lips simply curved up into a grin as they were still fit against mine. I couldn't help but smile at the herd of idiots that we called our friends as well, but made sure to slip in a middle finger pointed at them, hoping to shut them up. That only resulted in an uncontrollable burst of laughter from Yuri though, and that was quickly followed up by the loud chime of the bell tower striking 6:00pm.
I chuckled, pulling away to really take in the beauty that was you. Your eyeliner was smudged by tears that trickled out from the brim of your eyelids, watery eyes reflecting the golden lights covering the storefronts as you gazed up at me with a smile that simply melted my heart. You drew away, closer to the edge of the road as you motioned for everyone to follow you.
"C'mon, you asses! Last one across the street has to wash Kyungsoo's boxers!" and you about-faced, already sprinting across the street before any of us could warn you that the traffic light had just turned green.
My whole world fell apart.
The grey blur plowed you over like you were a flimsy flower being struck by a strong gust of wind and I felt my blood run over ice before drying up like a puddle in the scorching summer sun.
"SEHUN!"
Comments