Idol(s): Byun Baek Hyun of EXO / EXO-K

Genre: Fluff, Romance

Inspiration: An episode of The Cosby Show made me realize how the subject of "life imprisonment" can be turned into a cute and fluffy story.

Synopsis: Baek Hyun faces punishment from his girlfriend when he arrives late to their anniversary celebration.

Individual Story Link: Life Imprisonment

Note: This story may contain some Korean terms. If so, their definitions are provided (to the best of my knowledge) when they first appear. You can hover over the hyperlink for a definition if you’re on a desktop computer or click on the link to be directed to a Glossary of Korean Terms if you’re on other devices.

~//~

Waiting for the light to turn green, Byun Baek Hyun impatiently drummed his fingers on the steering wheel of his car. He glanced at the clock on the stereo and cursed to himself: he was late, very late.

It was their anniversary. They had been dating for three years now, and in celebration, they were going to spend a romantic evening together at her apartment. She was going to cook dinner, he was going to sing to her, and they would end the night sitting out on the balcony, cuddling on a lawn chair and watching the fireworks, because as it so happened, their anniversary fell on Liberation Day, the day South Korea gained freedom from Imperial Japan. So every year for the past three years, they would joke that all of Korea was celebrating their love.

Except this year, he had a feeling that she would be in no celebratory mood whatsoever, not when he was nearly two hours late.

The light finally turned green and Baek Hyun stepped on the accelerator, zooming down the highway, almost 20 km (~12 mi) above the speed limit. Luck was not on his side though, because seconds later, he heard the whirring of police sirens and saw the flashing, blue lights in his rear view mirror.

Baek Hyun groaned to himself and pulled over reluctantly, banging his head against the steering wheel in annoyance. This was not what he needed right now.

A police officer tapped on his window and Baek Hyun pressed the button near the door handle to roll down the window. "I need to see your license," the officer demanded. Baek Hyun shuffled through his wallet for the card and handed it over. "Do you know what the speed limit on this road is?" the officer asked him, pulling out his ticket book.

"Um…" Baek Hyun struggled under the pressure, trying to think of a way to get out of being ticketed.

"No, you don't," the police officer answered for him, scribbling on his pad.

"Sir, you don't understand. Today is my anniversary. My girlfriend and I have been dating for three years, and I was running late," he frantically tried to explain.

The police officer stopped writing and tore off the ticket on his pad. His hard expression softened and his lips curved into a smile. "Well why didn't you say so? Congratulations!" he exclaimed, holding his hand out to Baek Hyun for a handshake. Baek Hyun dared to let a smile break out on his face and took the officer's hand. The police officer’s smile immediately fell. "But that's no excuse for breaking the law," he gruffly said, turning Baek Hyun's hand over so that his palm was facing up and slapping the ticket and his license in his hand. Baek Hyun gaped in shock at the ticket. It was a fine for ₩250,000 (~$237).

"The fine is only ₩40,000 (~$38) for speeding!" Baek Hyun protested.

"Ah, so this must not be your first time if you know that. Well, your tag license expired more than a month ago which is another ₩200,000 (~$190)," the officer explained.

"And the other ₩10,000 (~$9)?"

"That's for leaving your girlfriend waiting on your anniversary," he curtly answered. Baek Hyun was about to argue with him for abuse of power but was cut off before he could begin. "If I were you, I would get driving before you're any later than you already are," the police officer reminded him before walking back towards his own car.

Baek Hyun glanced at the clock in his car and gasped. Quickly putting his car in drive, he drove as fast as the speed limit would allow to his girlfriend's apartment.

When Baek Hyun arrived at the door, he quickly entered the pass code on the keypad lock, their anniversary date, and warily stepped inside. The room was dark, save for a small light above the sink in the kitchen, where she stood washing the dishes. Her anger was obvious from the way she aggressively scrubbed the dishes and roughly moved the glassware from one sink to another, making loud, clanking noises.

Baek Hyun took a deep breath in preparation before walking up behind her and snaking his arms around her waist. He rested his chin on her shoulder and pressed his cheek against hers. "Jagiya," he softly cooed.

She dropped the dish in her hands and clenched her jaw tightly. "Do you know what time it is?" she asked in a low voice.

Baek Hyun squeezed her waist tighter in hopes of comforting her. "I know I'm really late and I'm really sorry."

She grabbed the towel nearby and dried her hands before turning in Baek Hyun's embrace to face him, her angry eyes full of displeasure piercing into him. She pushed his arms off and crossed her own in front of her chest. "So tell me, Mr. Byun, what were you doing at exactly 6 PM today that you completely forgot about our plans for this particularly important evening?"

Baek Hyun gulped in fear. His girlfriend was a law student, and whenever she became very angry with him, her cold, lawyer side came out and started interrogating him as if he was on the witness stand.

"U-uh, well…"

Baek Hyun's downcast eyes darted back and forth across the ground as he tried to come up with a reasonable explanation. He couldn't tell her that he was hanging out with his friends and completely forgot about the time. She would never condone such a reason.

"You see, I was on my way here, but then there was this traffic accident that completely blocked off the road, and even after the police came and cleared up the incident, they asked me to come in and be a witness which took forever because the two sides were arguing so much," he said quickly without taking a breath.

She raised a brow at him suspiciously. "Really?"

Baek Hyun frantically nodded before grinning to himself at his ability to come up with a decent explanation on the spot. "If that's the case, then there should be a police report about it online," she deduced, heading over to the living room where her laptop was sitting.

Baek Hyun jerked his head towards her retreating back and he quickly ran after her. She sat down on the couch and pulled her laptop towards her, but Baek Hyun shut the screen down before she could even turn it on. He cautiously took a seat next to her on the couch. "Okay, so maybe that's not what really happened," he reluctantly admitted.

She pressed her lips in a tight line of disapproval. "Lying under oath is a crime punishable by jail time."

"I never took an oath, though," Baek Hyun meekly tried to defend.

"Arguing with the judge?" she countered.

"But you're studying to be a lawyer, not a judge," he protested. She stared at him with an unamused frown on her face. "Okay, okay, I’m sorry. I was with the guys and I lost track of time," he finally admitted. Baek Hyun took her hands in his and put on his most pitiful, puppy-dog expression. "I'm at the mercy of the court."

"This court has no mercy," she answered defiantly. "Byun Baek Hyun, I hereby sentence you to five years with no parole."

Baek Hyun leaned in and gave her a peck on the cheek. She gasped at his audacity when she was clearly upset with him. Did he think he could get away with what he did so easily?

"Trying to influence the judge. Make that ten years," she said authoritatively.

The corners of Baek Hyun's lips tugged into a mischievous smile as he went for , leaving a gentle kiss on her lips. Her resolve was starting to waver, as it always did when he was like this.

"I find you in contempt of court. That's fifteen years," she said with less confidence.

Baek Hyun stared intently into her eyes for a few seconds. This wasn't how he imagined what he was about to do next would go, but plans had a way of going awry, and something in his gut told him that there was no better moment than now. He pulled something out from his pocket that he hid in the grasp of his right hand, then pulled her left hand towards him and firmly but gently held on.

"What are you doing?" she demanded.

Baek Hyun opened his closed hand to reveal a silver ring with a large diamond in the center. Her breath hitched in as she watched him wordlessly slip the sparkling band onto her fourth finger, fitting snugly as if it were made for her.

Her teary eyes looked up to see Baek Hyun giving her his signature cocky, but lovable grin. He cupped her chin and leaned in close to her face. "I'm going for life imprisonment," he murmured against her lips before closing the distance between them for a tender, loving kiss. She smiled into his kiss, her anger and shock having receded by his sweet and unexpected proposal.

In the background, fireworks exploded celebrating the liberation of South Korea. But for Byun Baek Hyun, he had just taken the step to a form of imprisonment that many young men feared and avoided for as long as they could. However, it was one sentence he would gladly serve if it was with her.

~//~

Author's Note

After writing this, I realized neither said "I love you" to each other, especially considering it was their anniversary and Baek Hyun proposed. But I think there are many ways to express the feeling without having to say those exact words. And I actually was going to do a supernatural Su Ho one shot next but I'm stuck in the middle so I'm putting it off until I get more inspiration. But hopefully this happy, fluff story made up for the depressing ending in the last one shot :/

December 10, 2012, 3:41 PM