Of course, the company was not happy about my little announcement. They wanted to tell me that I was above this, that as an international star, I was too good for someone who was only half a member of Super Junior.

Let's just say that argument got nowhere fast. I was marrying my Mimi, and they were not about to stop me. So they went with it. Then again, I can be very convincing.

I apologized to Tiffany for overreacting, even though she hadn't been the one to receive the brunt of my anger. I realized that I'd been irrational, and that I couldn't believe all of that quiet time while I was in the U.S. was because he was planning how he was going to propose to me, and wanted it to be a surprise. I felt really guilty for ruining his plans, honestly. It must have taken him weeks to figure out, only for me to completely blow up on him. In wondered, honestly, how he would have done it if everything had gone well.

But that was done and over with. I had a beautiful ring on my finger. Honestly, I don't think the ring even mattered. It could have been a piece of string, and I would have turned to mush. I was engaged. I was wearing an engagement ring. It was just an added bonus that it was beautiful. I couldn't stop looking at it.

When I met Min Hee at the radio station, she attacked me with a hug, and told me to tell her everything about winning an Oscar the next day.

Oh yeah... that's right! I won an Oscar! I'd almost forgotten. 

When I showed Min Hee the ring, she completely freaked out. Her British accent exploded out, mixed with random Korean words.

"HEOOOOOOLLLLL!!!!! Are you serious?! Chincha?! OH MY GOD!!!!!!!" She jumped up and down, while the res of the radio staff looked at her like she was insane. "Oh my god. I need to take a breath. You mean... he proposed to you?! I've been dating John for a year longer than you've been dating Zhou Mi, and he proposed to you? I can't even... Congratulations, Mel! Just... completely... wow. Now I'm so excited! I knew he liked you. I told you that, right?!"

She had me by the hands, and was still occassionally jumping up and down. Her manager tapped her on the shoulder, looking a bit shocked. "Um... Min Hee-ah... you have to go practice with the other girls..."

She nodded, squeezing my hands. "Okay, tell me everything when we meet again. Or... call me! After six tonight, alright?!"

After the radio hour, where I spent a good amount of time answering questions before we swtiched over to music, I let the company berate me, but I shot right back that the idea of being too good for Zhou Mi was just ridiculous.

"I admired those men for years before I met them! It was like a dream come true for me! It still is! And all of the time I have been in Korea, and all of this time I have spent, wondering why on Earth any of them would even give me the time of day, because I was just never good enough for them. I will never be good enough to do for them what they have done for me. I will never be that talented, I will never be that powerful! And through these three years of spending time with Zhou Mi, I still found it shocking that he loved me. Of all people, me. And I'm too good for him? Someone has something backwards."

And now I was enjoying my independence. I'd gotten my cat from the Jung family house, and over the past few days, he'd warmed up to me again. I rubbed him, squealing, "KYUUUUUMIIIIIIIIIN!!!!! I'm doing something! I helped Zhang Liyin come out of obscurity! The artists of SM made the soundtrack for an Oscar-winning movie! AND I'M ENGAGED TO THE MOST AMAZING MAN ON THE FACE OF THE PLANET AND ANY OTHER PLANET!!!!!!!"

I let go of my cat's paws and flopped backwards onto the floor, looking up at the stars on the ceiling. Just thinking about it made me all tingly inside.

I brought my hand over my face, looking at the ring, looking at the way it sparkled in the light.

On the windowsill sat my awards from the MAMAs, from Gayo Daejun, and from winning music programs. In a glass case at SM, as promised, sat my Oscar, watching over the company. Yet no prize I had ever won was as beautiful to me as that ring was.

I  wanted to write songs, paint walls, write his name across the sky. Nothing I did would have been enough to express the complete amazement I was feeling. Not messing with my cat, not screaming and squealing and baking and singing and dancing. It was an emotion so wonderful that humanity had never come up with a word for it.

I sat there for a long time, trying to calm down. It didn't work. The thoughts wouldn't leave my mind. Everything would come back to the picture of him descending onto one knee, holding up that ring and asking me, "would you marry me?"

And every time I would remember it, a whole new wave of emotion would come over me, making me giggle and cover my face and want to write a song, but not having the focus to write a song. 

How had it all moved so quickly? It seemed only yesterday I was celebrating my sixteenth birthday with an Asian food party, cooking with my friends and all of my sister's friends. And now I was winning Oscars and getting engaged! Time was never a steady thing. It stretched out, then bounced back like a rubber band, so everything felt like it was coming at me at the speed of light.

Eventually I pulled out my laptop and negan to type out the random collection of words that came into my mind, hoping that when my brain started working again, I would be able to make it into a song.

"Wo de xin... So happy... tu esposa, watashi wa haengbokhaeyooooooo!!!!!!!!"

I fell back from the computer screen, giggling at the nonsense of Spanish, Mandarin, English and Japanese. Since that's essentially how my brain worked. 

My phone buzzed, and I picked it up to look at the text message. "Okay, I'm free again. Tell me everything," Min Hee had sent.

I texted at the speed of light, giggling to myself at some of the messages, laughing as I told her about how much I'd freaked out, and opening the door to find that all of the SuJu members were listening.

"They'd all known about it, and the scandal, but none of them decided to tell me about it because they wanted to see my reaction. The little beasts."

"So what happened when you opened the door?"

"They were excited. Started calling me 'Sister-in-law".

"Lol. Big conversation?"

"Not really. Kangin picked me up and started spinning me in circles. And then he gave me to Siwon, who said we were going to church."

"LOL again! Did you sneak out again?!"

"No. I threatened to punch him in the spine. If he didn't put me down."

"Ouch."

"So did you tell your family yet?"

"Aside from the SuJu members and Tiffany, you're the first person I've told."

"WHAT?! B-but I... your sister, and your parents..."

"Don't worry, I'll tell them soon. You were just the first person I thought of."

"Am I invited?"

"Invited?"

"To the wedding."

"OH MY GOD THERE'S GOING TO BE A WEDDING!!!!"

"Calm down, Mel. Don't melt on me now."

Too late. I was already turning into a puddle.

 Had it been a week? Wow. It took me that long to get up the guts to call my parents? Maybe Ishould just call my sister instead. You know... warm up. 

"Jackie?"

"Hello, brat! Are you too good to call your sister nowadays?!"

"Of course not! I'm just... um... busy."

"What kind of busy?"

"Busy being a radio DJ and trying to control my emotions. Why, what were you thinking?"

"Oh look, you're on the TV! That's weird."

"What's it saying?"

"Let's see... 'Queen Be, South Korean-based singer-songwriter and Oscar-winning actress announced to be in a romantic relationship with Chinese singer, Zhou Mi, a member of the group Super Junior'..." She paused. "So it's public now, huh?"

"That's convenient timing..." I muttered. "So... you know how we always joked that I would get married before you did because you were Aual?"

"You're not pregnant, are you?!"

"Damn it, Jackie, stop stealing my punchlines!"

"Wait, are you really pregnant?!"

"NO! Stupid sister, I'm engaged!"

Silence on the other side. Then: "So he asked you to marry him?"

"No, I blackmailed him into it. Why, do you not think that'd work?"

"Hey, don't get defensive. I was just asking. Have you met his parents?"

"Yes. They seem okay with everything."

"Have you called our parents?"

"Not yet. I was calling you first."

"Ah. Well you let me know how that goes."

"You don't sound very excited..." I remarked, deflating a little bit. 

She sighed, her voice coming through the phone. "I just don't know, Mel. I never met him. I've gone through boyfriend after boyfriend that you don't like, and it's hard for me to be happy for you. I just really don't know."

"O...okay. But you'll come, right?"

"Of course. My little sister's going to get married. How can I not be there?"

I relaxed a little. "Alright, I'm hanging up now. I have to callthe family."

"Good luck."

"Yeah, thanks."

Knock, knock. The door opened of its own accord, letting me know that whoever was opening it had his own key. 

"So how did practice go?" I asked him, not even bothering to look up.

"Terrible. I think we're getting too old for choreography like this," Zhou Mi said, sighing and sitting next to me, leaning heavily.

I laughed. "Old man."

He looked up at me, seeming tired, but smiling. "Did you call your parents?"

I made a face. "Yes."

"How did it go?"

"It was really... awkward. Like... there wasn't any anger, but I don't think my dad knew what to say. I think he was just mad because he's supposed to be, but now I think he's actually happy, so he's confused. I was kind of my parents' last hope."

"Last hope for what?"

I brushed his bangs out of his eyes, tracing the curve of his skull. "For grandchildren. What else do parents hope for?"

He kind of grumbled, looking like he was going to fall asleep there soon. "Maybe you should go to bed, Mimi," I suggested, letting my hand fall away, "instead of coming here."

Nothing.

"Did you fall asleep already?!"

No answer. He looked like a little kid, mouth partially open, completely passed out already. I shook my head, laughing to myself. Being an idol was hard work, especially for him. I only wished I could do something. But I was on hiatus, only running Arirang radio with Min Hee.

"If you're going to sleep here, you might as well have done it in a bed instead of on my kitchen floor..." I teased, waiting for an answer. I sighed, trying to sneak myself out from under him. It wasn't until I started moving that he opened his eyes again, still looking exhausted. "Jung Ah said you won't do any more movies."

"I won't."

"You should. I know you want to."

I swallowed, feeling my fingernails dig into the fabric of my pants. "I-I can't do that again. It was too much time, too far away. It's too hard to be strong all by myself. I can't put myself through that again. Not unless you're coming with me."

He slipped my hand into his, smiling with his eyes closed. "Maybe I can. If I do, will you do another movie?"

I kissed him gently, suddenly feeling tired myself. "If it'll shut you up. Now get up, dork. I'm not sleeping on the floor."

His eyes were wide. "Bed?"

I smiled, feeling the mischief start to come forward in my brain. "Bed. Why, is there something wrong with that?"

He swallowed. "N-no. Nothing."

He scrambled to his feet, holding an arm out to help me up. When I got up, I raised an eyebrow. "You're thinking dirty thoughts."

"I am not!"

"Of course you are. Why wouldn't you be?"

"What makes you say that?"

"Because if I am, you are. But you're about to pass out. Now go. Go to sleep. I have work to do, you dork."

He groaned, but I heard him walk into my bedroom and flop onto the bed, completely comfortable doing so. 

I stayed awake for a long time, typing up song lyrics and doing calculations in my head about the best place to hold a wedding between China and the United States would be, before changing into my pajamas and going to bed. 

 When Zhou Mi finally woke up, I was sitting next to him on my bed, my laptop open, a piece of toast hanging from my mouth. He sat up, trying to read the computer screen.

"Questions I need to ask Mimi when he manages to get up?"

I smiled at him, grabbing a piece of toast and sticking it in his mouth. "There's a whole list."

He put his arm around me and tried to read.

"Traditional vs. Western?"

"I really don't know... I don't care... you know I love Asian culture."

"Western. Because Niuwang would look beautiful in a wedding dress."

I turned pink. "Stop that. You're distracting me! This is important!"

"Niuwang isn't wearing very much."

I turned an even brighter shade of pink. It was true. My spring/summer pajamas consisted of a pair of cloth shorts and a sports bra. I figured it would be silly to change that routine because my fiance was there. (A word that was still ridiculously weird and brain-melting to say).

"It's warm. Does it make you uncomfortable?"

He laughed, wrapping his arms around my bare waist and squeezing. "No. Not at all. It just amazes me how beautiful you are."

"Goddammit, Mimi, stop that!"

He looked down at me with those big brown eyes. "Sorry. I'm listening, I promise."

I tried to give my face a second to cool down. "Where is okay to hold it? I mean, there's your family, and then there's my family, and they don't exactly live in the same place... I was thinking we could meet in the middle. Maybe... Hawaii?"

"I liked Hawaii."

I laughed again. "Of course you did. You are one sneaky man, my dear."

"How else was I supposed to make you start paying attention?! Do you know how long I'd been trying before that?!"

"I... okay, fine, I give you that. I'm not very observant. Call it my hamartia."

"Your what?" he asked, taking a bite of his toast.

"Sorry. Literature reference. Anyway, important question."

"Go!" He cheered, flopping backwards, energetic enough to make me laugh.

"When do you think we should announce this?"

He sat up again, thinking about it. "Do we have to announce it?"

I poked him in the sides, making him jump. "I don't feel like spending the rest of my life getting hit on by random men, so preferrably, yes."

"Oh, you don't?"

"Well, I enjoy it a little, I do admit, but..."

He flicked the laptop closed and then pulled it away, setting it on the bedside table. I looked at him with wide eyes, not knowing what he was going to do, but then he grabbed the blanket and pulled it over my head. 

"Gack! Mimi! What are you doing?!" I squealed, trying to get away, but he'd wrapped his arms around the blanket, trapping me inside.

"No! No one get's to look at Niuwang anymore. Nobody hits on my Niuwang. Never!"

I giggled, struggling to get out, only rolling myself over him and ending up on the floor. When I finally managed to get myself out of the blanket, I punished him by messing up his hair as much as I could, then falling back, laughing. "THERE! You brat! No hiding me in closets!"

He laughed again, fixing his hair. "I'm just saying... stop worrying about it, Niuwang. Everything's going to be fine. You've always figured out how to get through everything. That's why I love you. And that's why I know you can do it again."

He reached over and pulled a lock of my hair out of my face, leaning on his elbow to look at my eyes.

I rolled onto my back, looking at the ceiling. "I know. It's just... I don't even know what to do with myself. We haven't even done anything yet, and my head is filling up with questions like, 'who am I going to make my bridesmaids? Obviously Jackie's got Maid of Honor, but then the Rstory girls were my best friends for a really long time. But Min Hee's my best friend, too... and Tiffany. And that's a lot of people right there, already...' or 'if I marry my Mimi, where are we going to live?' or--"

He cut me off by kissing me, a pretty good method of shutting me up, I have to admit. 

I was pretty sure dirty thoughts were about to form in my mind, but right about then my doorbell rang, and I heard Jung Ah shout.

"Minsung! I know you only put the security code up to lock me out when you're not alone in there! Let me in! I have to talk to you about your next drama offer!"

I pinched Zhou Mi in the nose, then grinned and scrambled away to open the door before he could say anything to protest.

"I think the girls of Rstory just got tired. Can we really blame them for breaking up the group? The idol life can be hard for a lot of people, especially if they're also trying to balance college," I explained into the microphone, reacting to someone asking me what I thought about Rstory's break up.

"They said they'll continue to make videos in their free time if they can, but don't plan on touring again. After all, when they aren't on tour, they live in very different areas, and that can strain group connections. And hey, maybe they want to find themselves some romance? That's hard to do when you're moving around."

I heard commentary from the other side of the room, where the radio staff were. "One of the staff says 'can't be that hard.' They're just teasing. I had a very unique situation that does not happen very often. There are plenty of people much older than me who still don't have the time to really hold relationships together."

I looked at my watch, nodding to the staff. "So with that little bit, it's almost time for DJ Queen Be to sign off. We'll close off with Infinite's new song, 'Evolution.' See you all tomorrow, and thank you for listening to Arirang Radio. I hope you're all enjoying this beautiful April."

I stood up and grabbed my purse, bowing to the staff as I walked out, heading home. I knew I would soon be working on another drama, but for the moment, the relaxation of doing nothing but DJing was nice for me. It gave me time to make plans, to organize everything.

It hadn't been that much time, but I was starting to have everything figured out. Small scale, near Waimea Bay, where my Hawaiian family grew up. Outside, since I didn't find a church very appropriate for me. Min Hee, Tiffany, the three Wisconsin Girls and my sister as bridesmaids. 

My parents'd had a small wedding, one that almost no one had known about. And all of my life, they had a rocky marriage full of unhappiness and dissatisfaction bubbling under the surface. Despite my aversion to making a big deal out of it, I didn't want the new part of my life to start out that way. I wanted my family to know. So I had to handle most of the preparations.

Chief among them was moving to a new, larger apartment, closer to the edge of the city. I no longer lived in glam neighborhood Gangnam, but I didn't really like it there, anyway. 

It also meant that poor, dear Henry was either going to be living by himself or moving into the main SuJu dorm. He was still making a decision.

That day, we had finally finished moving in, although most of our furniture was crammed in one small corner of the living room, because I was thinking of painting the walls. 

But, according to the SuJu members, new apartments meant housewarming parties.

When I arrived at the new apartment, they were all there, greeting me with gifts and teasing, and raiding my newly stocked kitchen. Lots of people arrived, all congratulating the both of us, admitting they'd come on short notice.

I watched it all and laughed, always sticking pretty closely to my fiance (still weird). But by the time I'd sat down at my table to eat, they'd all arranged themselves in such a way that the only spot was across the table from him. 

Still, I got enveloped in the conversation, telling everything, throwing back the jokes and laughing with everyone else. A part of the table was cleared for a game of Apples to Apples, which everyone had developed skills in ever since I had introduced it.

"Okay, okay, my turn," I declared, grabbing a green card from the pile. "Cuddly."

Kangin threw his cards on the table. "I can't play this with couples in the room. I can't. Not that word."

"What, it's better than 'Fuzzy'! That describes you so well, Kangin-oppa!"

He leaned over to flick me in the head, but I dodged away, laughing. "Come on, guys. 'Cuddly'. "

"We all know what Minsung thinks is cuddly!" Amber yelled, and everyone laughed.

Tiffany came up behind me and tapped me on the shoulder. "I think I have to go, honey. The girls and I have to go to Busan tomorrow."

I nodded and gave her a hug. "Thank you for coming, Tiff."

She smiled. "It's just so exciting, isn't it?! I can't wait!"

I blushed. "You have no idea. See you later."

She nodded, smiled, and waved, heading out the door. I turned back to the table.

"Ya! No peeking! That's cheating, Oppa!" I waved Eunhyuk away from the stack of cards and turned them over, one at a time. "Okay, for 'cuddly' we have..."

People trickled out, little by little, until only Henry, Heechul, Sungmin and Kyuhyun were left. I looked down at the dazzling ring on my finger again, starting to get jittery. I'd made extra sure no one had spiked my drink, but I couldn't stop looking across the table at Zhou Mi, trying not to look too amorous. I loved the guys, but I was a bit hopeful they would leave soon.

"We'd better get going," one of them said, and soon enough they were all making their way out, waving goodbye to us. I felt myself exhale when they were finally gone.

Zhou Mi starts cleaning off the table, like the nice guy he was, but I was getting a bit impatient. I walked to the door, turning the security system on, then turned back to him. He straightened up, smiling and walking over to me, wrapping his arms around my shoulders.

"I never got the chance to say, you look beautiful tonight, Mrs. Zhou," he teased, and I felt the name send shivers up my spine, much more than any reference to the summer dress I was wearing. That would be my name, wouldn't it? What an odd thought. I liked it.

I stretched up and kissed him, wrapping my arms around his neck. When I started to feel myself get dizzy, I pulled back, still holding tightly. I knew what I was doing this time.

"Are you sure?" he asked, his eyes still closed, always the gentleman.

I kissed him again. "It takes too much effort to be a good little girl."

He laughed, even when I kissed him again. "You're so lazy."

So the dinner clean up was forgotten, lost in the invitation of a fangirl who'd held back all of those sasaeng-like desires up until that one night. After all, how long would any of us be able to control ourselves? I think waiting for a proposal was long enough for me.