Idol(s): Kim Jong In / Kai (EXO)

Genre: Comedy, Romance

Inspiration: I’ve had a number of people express their desire for the main characters Kwon Ji Won and Kai from my friendship-focused genie stories Three Wishes and Genie get together romantically. I’ve written a romantic comedy one shot set in a realistic alternate universe for them before called The Big Question and this is just another one that you could say is sort of a part two to it. It was intended to be a one shot but it ended up being longer than I’d anticipated so will be a “three-shot” instead. Additionally, this story is a standalone. You do NOT have to read any of my other stories to read and understand this one.

Synopsis: It’s the day before Kai’s birthday and Kwon Ji Won has no plans and no gift for her boyfriend. Luckily he’s willing to pardon her neglect on one condition: she plays his servant for twenty-four hours.

Individual Story Link: King’s Play

Posted: 17 August 2016, 20:00 EDT

Word Count: 6,469

~//~

Dinner took place at a reasonably-priced Korean restaurant. On a cold day like this, the two had decided on hot and filling dumpling soup at an establishment the two frequented often for selling some of the best in the area.

“Welcome back,” the friendly owner greeted when the two entered. He and his wife ran the business together and many a time had given them extra servings or side dishes whenever they’d visited. He led them to a free table. “You two look especially nice today,” he remarked as Kai and Ji Won sat cross-legged on the cushions opposite each other. “Any special occasion?”

“Actually today is Jong In’s birthday,” Ji Won happily replied.

“Is that so? Well then thank you for coming to our humble restaurant to celebrate. Dinner is on the house!” He looked over his shoulder towards the kitchen and yelled, “Honey, two orders of dumpling soup and the side dish platter!” He turned back to them with an ecstatic grin. “And just for you, I’ll whip up my special seaweed soup.” He left before either could get a word in.

“What’s wrong?” Kai asked after noticing the pensive look on Ji Won’s face. “I thought you’d be ecstatic about not having to pay after all.”

Ji Won feigned a smug smile. “Of course, I’m doing as you commanded and covering your dinner without having to pay a penny. Things couldn’t have worked out better for me.”

Kai studied her for an uncertain second and then shook his head with a smile. Ji Won let out a subtle sigh of relief. Normally she’d be grinning from ear-to-ear at this fortuitous turn of events, but she’d come in with the full intention of paying for dinner as Kai had wanted, and she would have done so without his command not just because it was his birthday, but also because she knew Kai had been extremely patient and understanding with her for the past week when she’d had little time for him because of work so treating him to dinner was going to be just the start of rewarding him for that.

But more importantly, Ji Won was well aware that this couple had a son in college and in order to pay for his tuition and fees, they’d had to relocate to a smaller affordable home as well as cut back on the number of employees at the restaurant and even keep open for longer hours. Their meal didn’t even amount to $20 but to the married couple, each dollar mattered and Ji Won had the means and intentions to pay for the food that was worth that amount and more. Seriously, she’d never come across a restaurant that made dumpling soup as good as this one.

In the meantime though, Ji Won savored the food that came some minutes later and conversed with Kai in their usual manner. He had a blast bringing up the memorable moments from the day so far. All had to do with something funny or stupid she’d done. But Ji Won knew his jabs were never meant with ill intent. Kai just enjoyed teasing her. She didn’t understand why, but it wasn’t as if she took it lying down. She had her own comebacks that made him grin or laugh. And it was such a thrilling feeling making Kai happy.

“Hey I think I left something inside,” Ji Won said when they’d finished and were now outside, “You grab a cab and I’ll be out in a minute.”

She dashed back into the restaurant. When she was sure the owner was too preoccupied with the other customers to notice, she pulled out a couple of twenties and slipped them under the framed photo of their son on the front counter.

When she returned by Kai’s side, a cab had just pulled up along the curb. He opened the door and let her in before him, speaking their address to the driver as he did.

During the ride, he grabbed Ji Won’s hand and rubbed it between his. She gave him a questioning look but he didn’t seem to notice. He simply stared out the window with a small smile in the corner of his lips while his hands continued to massage hers.

They were a block away from their apartment when Kai suddenly said, “You can just drop us off here, Sir.”

The driver tipped his brow through the rear-view mirror and shrugged as he pulled over at the corner.

“Wait, why are we stopping here?” Ji Won wondered.

Kai exited the car without answering and waited with the door open for a confused Ji Won to slide out. Through the front passenger window, he handed the cab owner a large bill and said, “Keep the change.”

Ji Won watched the yellow vehicle disappear into the night around the corner. She turned to Kai with her arms wrapped around herself to shield her body from the cold. “So what now, Your Highness?”

“Now, my humble servant, you’re going to give me a piggy-back ride to our apartment.”

“What?!” she shrieked. “Why?”

“I told you there would be consequences to your abusive nature from the rink earlier.”

Abusive? She’d hit him once in the chest and he’d deserved it too. “And this is what you had in mind?” She’d understood something completely different.

“What did you think I had in mind?” he cheekily replied. The smirk on his face showed he obviously knew and it had been his intention to mislead her this whole time.

Ji Won refused to engage with an answer. Sometimes she thought Kai to be a reincarnation of the Devil on Earth. This was reason number 51 for that belief.

With a grumble, she placed herself in front of him and bent her knees slightly. Kai jumped on, causing her to stumble for a moment before she found her footing.

“Mush!” he commanded. Ji Won had to grit her teeth to keep from replying in an unladylike manner.

She placed her hands under his thighs and with a grunt, took a shaky step forward. It wasn’t that she was too weak to carry him, but her multiple layers restricted her movement. After fifteen minutes when they finally reached the front door of their apartment building and she was allowed to release him, she was huffing and puffing and had actually developed a sheen of sweat on her forehead despite the cold winter weather.

Thankfully the elevator doors opened the moment Kai pressed the “Up” button. She leaned against the back wall as soon as she entered and tried to even her breathing. “Just you wait until my birthday,” she gasped. “You’re going to regret every one of your orders.”

The elevator dinged open on the third floor. Kai leaned in close and said, “I look forward to it.” Then he swiftly picked her up bridal style in his arms and exited the elevator.

“What are you doing?” Ji Won asked. She looked around them to make sure none of their neighbors were around. Thankfully the hall was completely empty.

“Just rewarding you for being the most amazing girlfriend ever.”

Sometimes she thought Kai an Angel sent from Heaven. This was reason number 221 for that belief.”

Ji Won smiled and encircled her arms around his neck. He dipped his head forward, silently asking for a kiss which she readily obliged him with. She could feel his tongue begging for entrance and with great effort, she forced herself to retreat. “Not here,” she whispered.

They were only a few feet away from their apartment. An urgent Kai closed the distance between them and the front door in a matter of seconds and Ji Won quickly tapped the code into the keypad to let them in. Her body was already burning in anticipation of what would happen as soon as they were on the other side of the door.

Once inside, Kai shut the door with his foot and then abruptly dropped her on her feet.

He stretched out his arms and yawned. “Man, I’m exhausted. Today has been a long day.” He walked towards the bathroom in their bedroom. “I’m going to take a shower first.”

Ji Won stared at his retreating back until it disappeared behind the closed bathroom door. Then she looked to the clock on the microwave. It was only 9. Absolutely frustrated with his capricious push and pull tactic, Ji Won marched towards the bedroom, muttering, “Reason number 52,” under her breath.

***

After a hot shower, Ji Won came out of the bathroom in her pajama shorts and oversized t-shirt feeling clean and relaxed. She immediately found Kai waiting on the bed with his back against the headboard and his phone in his hand. His hair was still a little damp and water droplets had darkened his t-shirt around the collar. He looked up at the sound of her approaching feet with a twinkle in his eye and a mischievous smirk on his face.

“It’s currently 9:49 which means there’s still 2 hours and 11 minutes left to my birthday.”

Ji Won crossed her arms from where she stood a few feet away and tiredly replied, “What do you want me to do now?”

“Two things actually. The first, I want you to put on a cute performance for me.”

“You expect me to give you a performance on the spot?”

“Yes,” he said without hesitation.

Ji Won pursed her lips. Through the corner of her eye she read the time – 9:50. Deep breaths, Ji Won. You can get through 2 hours and 10 minutes more of this. She exaggerated a big smile and asked through gritted teeth, “Well then, do you have any requests?”

“Surprise me,” Kai said with an indulging smile of his own.

With a roll of her eyes, Ji Won thought on it for a second. Then, swallowing her pride, she began singing and dancing to a song from her childhood: “The Tadpole Song”.

She bounced on the balls of her heels with her hips on her hand. When she began singing the first verse, she made the waving motion of water with her hands and held up one finger, “In the stream, there’s one tadpole.”

Kai was already erupting into a big grin as she continued her song and dance with arm rolls and kicks that looked cute when a kid did them but felt stupid when she, an adult, attempted the same. Clearly Kai thought so too because his smile had evolved into roaring laughter.

As she concluded the humiliating display, Ji Won fell to the ground in a crouch with her face buried in her palms.

“When I asked for cute, I wasn’t expecting hilarious.”

“Shut up,” Ji Won growled.

“Okay you passed my first request,” Kai said, “Now for my second…”

There was an impish tone to his words that made Ji Won nervously look up. He was leaning over the other side of the bed to grab something she couldn’t see. When he came up, the pink shopping bag in his hands made her eyes bulge and her pulse accelerate. Ji Won lunged for it but Kai reacted quickly and jumped out of the bed, holding the bag high above her reach.

“How did you find that?” she demanded

“I was looking for something in the closet when I saw this in a corner hidden behind a box. According to the receipt, you bought it in December. So either you did have something planned for my birthday or this was a Christmas gift you forgot to give me.”

Ji Won’s face was redder now than at any point throughout the trialing day. “It doesn’t matter why I got it because I plan on returning it.”

Kai smiled devilishly. “Too late for that. Returns are allowed within 30 days of purchase and today is day 31.”

Oh , Ji Won begrudgingly thought, there’s fifty bucks down the drain.

“And since it’s not going anywhere, I want you to wear it.”

“What if I delete the birthday video from earlier, can I use my free pass for this instead then?” Ji Won pitifully asked.

Surprisingly, Kai put the shopping bag down and pulled her into his arms by the waist. He buried his nose into her hair and sighed defeatedly. Ji Won’s hopes rose. He was going to give in. “No, you still have to wear it,” he answered as he nuzzled her ear.

Ji Won immediately stepped back with a glare that made him chuckle. It transformed into a dismal pout as she said, “But you’re going to laugh at me.”

“I promise, I won’t laugh.”

Still reluctant, but much more assured than before, Ji Won took the bag and went into the bathroom. She placed it on the sink counter and pulled out what was inside, a red satin lingerie set that included side tie and a bow-tie bra.

Ji Won had never worn lingerie before and that had been perfectly fine in her relationship with Kai because he didn’t need much of a stimulus to get himself in the mood. In fact, there were times she wished she had an anti-stimulus for him because of how often he had “needs”. So thinking back to that day at the mall when she’d been doing Christmas shopping for friends and family and had noticed a huge banner advertising a sale at the intimates store she’d passed, she still had no idea what had spurred her to take a peek inside.

She’d scanned the space with a superficial eye, secretly thinking to herself how she could never pull any of the outfits off. But when she’d been about to leave, one of the store employees had come up to her and asked if she’d wanted to try anything on. And somehow, despite her attempts to do otherwise, she’d ended up in a fitting room with some amazing lighting that made the outfit currently in her hands look almost y on her.

At the time, Ji Won and Kai had finalized most of the details for their upcoming trip to the cabin. They’d agreed that that would be their gift to each other and no other gifts would be exchanged. But the thought of surprising him at their private getaway with the person she saw in the store’s mirror felt exhilarating. So on impulse, Ji Won had ended up purchasing lingerie for the first time.

Then she had arrived home, tried it on again, and realized what a horrible mistake she’d made. The mirrors at the store must have been enchanted because she’d looked absolutely horrendous in every one of hers. She’d meant to return it as soon as possible, but Ji Won had always had a bad habit of procrastinating since high school, and that was how she’d ended up locked up in the bathroom, trying to fasten the darn wrap of the bra around her chest and tie it into a pretty bow.

When she finally had a decent looking bow, she stared for a long minute at the person in the mirror. She sighed heavily. This was not going to go well. She didn’t have anything to tell time on her at the moment, but she knew there was at least an hour more of this madness and who knew what Kai would come up with next. Never had she thought 24 hours could pass by more slowly. Not even the slow hours she used to count down till the music video releases of her favorite boy bands as a teenager could compare to this.

Taking one more deep breath, Ji Won finally reached for the bathroom doorknob and slowly turned. She gulped as she took a step into the now dimly lit bedroom. Kai had turned off the main lights and only flipped the lamp on his side of the bed on. He stood only a few feet away. As his eyes travelled all over her body, she saw a smile overtake him. It was only a matter of seconds before he erupted into laughter.

“I knew it, I look stupid,” Ji Won cried. She turned around and was about to march back into the bathroom but the strong arms of her boyfriend were already tightening around her bare stomach.

Her back to him, Kai pulled her close to his chest. He rested his head on her shoulder and let his lips graze her ears. “No, you look hot and y as hell,” he nearly growled. He kissed her along her jaw line. “I know I said I wouldn’t like any present you got me for my birthday, but damn did you prove me wrong.”

Then, the hand that had been creeping up her abdomen reached for the loose end of the bow and pulled.

***

Ji Won had no idea how long they’d been lying in their current position – , wrapped in the sheets, her head resting on Kai’s chest, his fingers massaging circles on the small of her back. But when she finally did lift her head enough to read the clock on the nightstand, she broke the peaceful silence with, “Only twelve minutes left. Any last requests, Your Highness?”

Kai held her gaze for a minute and then smiled. Not a smirk, but a sweet, gentle smile. “Actually, I do have one thing. However, it requires that you put some clothes on.” He lifted himself to a sit, forcing Ji Won to peel herself off him and watch curiously as he leaned over the bed for his boxer briefs.

“Are we going out?” she asked as she found her just under the bed and slipped them on. She had to retie one of the side bows and only belatedly realized this wasn’t the best underwear to put clothes over.

Kai pulled his pajama pants on and returned to the bed. “No, but I can’t have you distracting me.”

Ji Won smiled to herself. It made her heart race to know she had such an effect on him. She was currently leaning over the bed looking for the bra, which was going to be a pain to put back on with the bow tie, when she felt a piece of cloth land on her . She straightened to find Kai’s t-shirt.

“Just wear that. That bow-tie bra is just going to make me want to rip it off you again.”

With a blush, Ji Won giggled and slipped his shirt over her head. She loved wearing his clothes when at home. It felt like she was constantly in his arms. The oversized t-shirt she wore to sleep was actually his.

Kai sat shirtless at the headboard while Ji Won sat opposite near the foot. He’d been looking into her eyes for a long while before she playfully said, “You’d better hurry because you now only have eight minutes.” She crawled to his lap and straddled his legs. His arms immediately went around her lower waist. Ji Won placed soft kisses along his jawline, “Once the clock strikes midnight, you can no longer order me to do what you want,” then moved to his ear where she sensually whispered, “So use that time wisely.”

Kai moaned underneath her teasing kisses and bites. Ji Won could feel his biceps tense through the fingers she’d curled around them until finally, one hand shot up to grab her by the chin and bring her lips to his in a crushing, hungry kiss that caught her by surprise only for a second before she was returning it to him with equal fervor.

When he pulled away, they were both breathing hard and ragged. “Damn it, you make it hard to think clearly even with clothes on,” he said with a single laugh. “But I’m serious when I say I have one more thing I need to do before today ends.” He took her face in his palms, laid a delicate kiss on her lips, and whispered, “In some ways, I hope that was our last.”

Ji Won’s heart dropped to her stomach. “Last?” she breathed.

What does he mean by that? Last what? Last kiss? Last night together? He couldn’t possibly be breaking up with me, could he? Is that going to be his last command and that’s why he has to do it before the night ends? Because I’ve already used my free pass and I would have to do as he ordered?

“Kai,” Ji Won tried to say, her voice croaking with hurt and confusion.

“Shh,” he softly interjected, rubbing circles on her cheeks with the pads of his thumbs. “I promise you, you’ll have your say, just let me get through this before I run out of time.” He took a deep breath and pulled his face away just enough so he could look her in the eye. “Do you remember when I asked you to move in with me?”

Ji Won numbly nodded though she couldn’t actually recall the memory at the moment because her thoughts were on the serious look on Kai’s face and the finality in his tone, like he was going to deliver the end to something. She didn’t want to believe he was breaking up with her. As he’d said earlier that day, why would he want to spend the whole day with her if he didn’t want to be with her? But Ji Won also understood that relationships could be complicated and there was a difference between loving someone and being in love with them. She knew she was in love with Kai. But could the same be said of him with her?

“And do you remember what I promised you that day?”

She stuttered incoherent words trying to refrain from crying while also racking her brain for the promise he’d made that day.

Kai noticed her struggle and answered for her. “I promised you that the stunt I pulled to ask you to move in with me, making it look like I was going to propose to you, I would only pull it again when it was the real deal.”

That’s right, Ji Won thought. When they’d still been in college, he’d alluded to how sure he was they would get married one day. So what reason did she have to be so paranoid now?

“The thing is I can’t exactly keep that promise.”

This was the reason. Ji Won wanted to run away, to crawl into a deep hole and cry. She didn’t want to hear any more. She bit her lip hard trying not to let the tears escape until she was alone. She tried to tug herself free of Kai’s hold on her in his lap but he refused to release her. He was going to make her listen to every harsh word out of his mouth.

Deep breaths, Ji Won, and don’t you dare cry in front of him. He may have been the best thing to have happened to you, but breaking up with you like this is cruel and selfish and he doesn’t deserve to see you weak in tears because of him.

“Ji Won, let me finish what I’m saying,” Kai urgently pleaded. “I wish you wouldn’t always think the worst when I try to be serious with you. When I say I can’t keep that promise, I mean that in the literal sense, the way I’d phrased it back then, I don’t want to keep it because I think that being straight and honest with you is the best way to do this.”

His hand reached under the pillow on his side and pulled out a small jewelry box. Ji Won’s eyes widened.

“No jokes, no stunts, I’m just going to ask you directly.” He flipped the box open to reveal a beautiful, intricately patterned diamond ring set in white gold.

Throughout their relationship, Kai had rarely been one to use words to express his emotions. Ji Won used to think it was because he didn’t like her as much as she liked him, but she later understood that his feelings always came through in his actions and the subtle nuances of his expressions and body gestures. Sometimes it was hard to see through his jokes and pranks, but Kai never let them end the day with her angry at him if ever he went too far with his teasing, and in those moments when he would hold her in his arms and whisper reassuring words of apology to her, Ji Won would again be reminded that he cared for her more than he let on, if only it required raising her blood pressure in the process.

And now, recognizing how monumental this moment was for the both of them, Kai sat beneath her without his usual facetious antics. Like he’d said, no jokes, no stunts, and no grand, showy proposal like in the viral videos on YouTube. Just his unguarded self with piercing eyes conveying his deep and steadfast love for her. “Kwon Ji Won, will you marry me?”

Silence.

“Ji Won?” Kai worriedly voiced. “Are you okay?”

Ji Won shook away her daze. “Yeah, I’m sorry, I just…” She couldn’t look him in the eye so her gaze landed on the digital clock – 12:01. “If your plan was to make this your last command, I’m afraid you failed. Your birthday is over, which means I get to answer however I want.” She dragged her eyes to him. She could feel the aching stab even before she’d opened . “I’m sorry, but I can’t.”

Ji Won again attempted to free herself from his grasp, but Kai – her beautiful, precious, loving Kai – would not let go. “Why not?”

How could she say no to the perfect man, a man that to this day, she still wondered what she’d done in her past life that he’d chosen to be with her? A man she loved so much that she would dare go against the stars to be with him. A man whose character was as virtuous as it was exasperating. A man who could make her feel confident about herself in ways no one else could. A man who’d given more to her than he’d ever received.

Ji Won had imagined a life with Kai many times. Now, he was taking the step to give that life to her. So how could she still refuse him?

“Because…because I’m not good enough for you,” she replied, breaking out in tears. “You…” she closed her stinging eyes for a moment. They were still wet and red when she reopened them. “You could have anyone you want, someone way more beautiful, smarter, more appreciative, more graceful, with a much better body than mine, and you’re asking the girl who forgot your birthday to marry you?”

“Ji Won, there’s so many things wrong with what you just said.”

“No,” she quickly interjected. “It’s true. I don’t know how many times I’ve had to depend on you and you’ve come through for me every time, and I know that you’ll continue to come through for me. But I haven’t done the same for you and I don’t know if I can or will in the future. You deserve to marry a girl who can match you in every way.”

Frustration blared in his eyes, but Kai inhaled deeply like he was trying to keep his cool. When he spoke, his voice was quiet and even but with a dangerous undertone. “Ji Won, I would have accepted a number of reasons for you rejecting my proposal, like maybe you’re not sure you love me, or maybe you do but you’re just not ready to make such a big commitment yet, or even that you wanted some movie-level proposal before you’d say yes. But to say no because you don’t think you’re deserving?” He closed his eyes for a brief second. When he reopened them, his dark brown eyes reflected immense pain and sadness. “Sometimes I hate that I know you so well, but a part of me had actually considered this scenario when I thought about how I would propose to you. That’s why I am going to give you undeniable hard evidence to prove just how wrong you are.”

It scared Ji Won to see him so threatening and assertive like this when she was already in a state of confusion. She was unsure how they’d gotten to this emotional and serious state when only a few hours ago she’d been dancing to a children’s song in her pajamas while he laughed so hard he almost couldn’t breathe. “Kai…”

“No,” he said forcefully. “I don’t care that it’s not my birthday anymore. I am going to say this and you are going to listen to me.”

Ji Won gulped and nodded.

Kai’s features softened as he took her hands in his. “I’m sorry for being so aggressive but baby, I really need you to understand and believe everything I’m about to say.”

Oftentimes when Ji Won got into avoidable trouble of her own making and needed Kai’s help, he didn’t sugarcoat his castigation as he came in to save the day. But there were a few cases where he understood that tough words weren’t what she needed to hear, and in those times he would call her baby. With that one word, Ji Won could feel his enveloping protection like a warm, thick blanket around her body after nearly drowning in frigid waters.

“I actually hoped that you would forget my birthday so that I could get you to easily agree to my 24-hour servitude. And how could you not forget when you had such a demanding week of work? I can’t imagine how stressful it probably was for you to come home at eleven or even later every night and to be so exhausted that you barely have the energy to eat. And if you had remembered my birthday, I would have had to make up some excuse to get you to drop your original plans and agree to mine and I’m not sure I would have been able to come up with a good one on the spot.”

“Do you get that much enjoyment in ordering me around?” Ji Won sulked.

Kai smiled. He curled a strand of loose hair around his finger and tucked it behind her ear. His hand continued down her jawline, behind her neck, and rested at the nape. “I know you’re going to find this hard to believe, but making you do all those crazy things yesterday wasn’t just for my own personal amusement. It’s actually proof of how perfect you are for me.”

Kai elaborated when Ji Won gave him a confused eyebrow raise. “If you marry me, I’ll have someone who will give me massages when my muscles are sore, who will do the simple everyday things for me like brush my teeth and shave me if ever I break an arm or two, who will cook for me if I’m in the mood for a warm meal at home, who can be so adorably possessive that she wants to match what I’m wearing when we go out together.

“I’ll have someone who respects my parents and who my parents absolutely adore, who’s willing to go against ‘destiny’ to be with me, who will keep me on my toes with fun revenge antics like that birthday surprise at the café, who will still do activities with me that she doesn’t like because I like to do them, who doesn’t expect me, just because I’m a guy, to pay every time we go out and will treat me to dinner without complaint.

“I have someone who will carry me home if I’m too drunk to even walk, who’s willing to embarrass herself with funny dance and song if ever I need cheering up,” Kai leaned in close with half-lidded eyes and whispered, “who looks y and beautiful with or without lingerie. So you see, I don’t want or need a girl that the world deems perfect. I want and need a girl that I deem perfect and you are perfect to me.”

Inundated with so many raw emotions, Ji Won nearly trembled in his arms. He’d never told her in so many words how much she meant to him before, yet still she was hesitant to completely trust that his feelings for her were as wholehearted as he’d claimed and instead she focused on the thorn that embedded itself deeper as he told her why he’d given her every one of his strange commands. “So yesterday was a test for me? To see if I would live up to your standards?” If he’d had any doubts before his birthday, what was to say he wouldn’t have them again after they got married and he realized a criterion he hadn’t tested but that she failed to meet?

“No,” Kai immediately answered, “a test implies I didn’t know how it would turn out. I knew that you would do everything I asked. Yesterday was a snippet into the life I envision with you if you would just say yes to me.”

“But all those things, I did them because I had to, because that was the deal for forgetting your birthday. How can you base the rest of our lives on that one day?”

“Ji Won, I’m basing the rest of our lives on the more than six years I’ve known you, and I know for a fact that you always come through for the people you love when it matters. And not just for the people you love, but for anyone you think is in need of a helping hand. Don’t think I didn’t see you sneaking that money in after dinner when you thought no one was looking. You didn’t do that expecting gratitude or acknowledgement or else you would have made a big deal about it.

“But you didn’t, you did it because that’s just who you are. When you think the world is unjust towards undeserving people, you do what you can to make things fair. And yesterday, I get that you were under the impression that you had to do what I asked, but if it came down to it, wouldn’t you do them for me if that was what I really needed?”

Ji Won didn’t answer. She wasn’t sure.

“You said you trust me. Is that still true?”

Ji Won immediately nodded.

“Then there’s your answer. I trust that you will come through for me when I need it and if you trust me like you say you do, then it means you trust yourself to do so as well.”

If Kai continued to use this infuriating circular logic every time they had a disagreement, she’d never win a fight again.

“So I’m going to ask you again.” Kai pulled out the ring and held her gaze. “Kwon Ji Won, will you do me the honor of spending the rest of your life by my side?”

Silence. Never had Ji Won seen Kai look as anxious and nervous as he did now waiting for her to answer.

“Yes,” she finally whispered.

“Yes?” Kai repeated with a growing, relieved smile.

Happy tears in her eyes, Ji Won nodded and allowed Kai to slip the ring snugly onto her left hand. He interlocked their fingers and pulled her in for a searing, passionate kiss.

Foreheads resting against each other, Kai confessed, “I guess the birthday gods really were looking down on me. You are no longer my girlfriend. We’re engaged which makes you my fiancé and soon-to-be wife.”

“Is that what you meant by ‘last’?”

Kai chuckled. “Yes, I was really hoping that after that moment, you were going to become something more to me.”

Ji Won playfully narrowed her eyes, “And you thought you’d make marrying you your last order to achieve that?”

He shook his head. “I would never do that to you. My birthday was filled with doing things I want. I proposed to you before midnight so that there’s no doubt in your mind that marrying you is something I absolutely want. Waiting till the clock strikes 12 for your answer is my way of making sure you know this is a choice for you if you think you can tolerate me for the rest of your life or not.”

“Tolerate?” It was an odd choice of word coming from the Master of Arrogance himself.

Kai smiled indulgingly. “Yes, tolerate. I’m well aware of how much and how often I frustrate you. And unfortunately, I don’t think that’s going to change any time soon. I hope that’s not a deal breaker.” 

Ji Won pursed her lips and pretended to contemplate. “Well I suppose the pros outweigh the cons, but only just.” She demonstrated the small amount with her thumb and forefinger, leaving barely a gap between them.

Kai laughed and pecked her nose.

“But as much as your parents like me, do you think your mom will be okay with our fortune together being so bad? She sounded like she really trusts and relies on Madame Cho’s predictions.”

“Ji Won, my parents gifted me $10,000 towards our future together before we’d even gone to the fortune teller. In fact, my mom almost gave away that I would be proposing to you when she congratulated you before even wishing me happy birthday at lunch yesterday because she thought I’d already asked and you’d already agreed.”

So that was why Kai’s parents had acted so strangely the day before. Everything was starting to make more sense now.   

“They want you as a daughter-in-law and some stupid fortune isn’t going to change their minds on that front.”

Ji Won smiled, but nevertheless added, “Still, it would have been nice if our fortune wasn’t so bad.”

“Alright, I’ll come clean. I paid Madame Cho to deliberately give us a bad fortune.”

“What?!”

“You’re naively superstitious and I just wanted to show you that some mass-produced cards shouldn’t tell you how to live your life,” Kai defended.

Lips pressed into a thin, white line, Ji Won breathed hard through her nose. “You really know how to press my buttons sometimes.”

Kai grinned puckishly. “Hey, you’ve already agreed to take me as I am, so no complaints.” He proceeded to pepper her face with kisses until her anger diffused. Then he pressed a kiss against her lips and breathed, “I know I don’t say it enough, but I love you, Kwon Ji Won.”

“I love you even more, Kim Jong In,” Ji Won whispered.

“Yeah?” he said with a naughty look in his eye. His hand already undoing the side tie of her , he pushed her body backwards onto the bed. “Well then how about you show me just how much more…”

~//~

Author's Note