Jongin noticed that his apartment’s cabinet and fridge had been running low on stock so he decided to go for a night shopping. Not being satisfied with what a convenience store can offer, he went to the nearest mall. He fully filled two big plastic bags with his groceries- ranging from his toiletries to his food. Contented with what he bought, he paid the cashier and was about to head home until he heard a familiar voice.

“Teacher K!” Hana waved at him cheerfully.

Jongin waved back and returned the smile without hesitation and he noticed that Hana has company. As she was holding Hana, Suzy was then started to get dragged away by her daughter into Jongin’s direction. Jongin chuckled at Hana’s enthusiasm but the chuckle also slowly faded when he saw that on the other hand of Suzy, she was clasping Sehun’s hand. Unconsciously, his eyes slowly travelled from their faces into their hands that were intertwined.

“Good evening,” Suzy greeted him.

“Neh,” Jongin suddenly snapped out of his trance. “Good evening.”

“Have you eaten dinner?” Sehun asked him. “Do you want to eat with us?”

Uncomfortable that he would only be a third party to the family’s dinner, Jongin answered, “Thank you but I ate already.”

“I insist,” Sehun said sincerely.

Jongin smiled and replied, “I’m really full, I don’t think I can eat-“

His words were disrupted with the loud grumble of his own stomach. With the unexpected noise, the four stared at each other, lost with words. However, Hana gave out a snort at her teacher’s failed lie, making everyone engage in a comfortable laughter.

“I understand,” Suzy teased. “You’re not hungry.”

Sehun sighed and added, “It’s a pity. We thought that freshly cooked noodles would warm up this cold night.”

Jongin sighed and chuckled, having his smile hang on for seconds before he replied, “Fine. I’ll take the offer.”

“You can leave your groceries at the car and then we’ll just take you home,” Sehun said.

“Thank you,” Jongin mumbled, knowing that he can’t win a conversation with Sehun for now, especially when he just finished embarrassing himself in front of him.

“You went in a restaurant to eat ramen?” Jongin asked, raising his eyebrows.

“Wae?” Suzy faked a glare at him. “Is there something wrong with it?”

“This is your plan, right?” Jongin asked back.

“This celebration is for me,” Suzy answered. “That’s why it’s natural for it to be my pick.”

“Celebration?” Jongin asked again.

“Suzy already got her grades,” Sehun answered while Suzy got her phone and browsed through it.

“And look,” Suzy showed her phone to Jongin.

Jongin’s mouth formed an “o” as he saw that it was a screen capture of the Dean’s List. He got the phone and zoomed in the picture only to see Suzy’s name on the Dean’s List.

“Oh! You got good grades!” Jongin exclaimed and smiled.

However, when Jongin was about to exit from Suzy’s phone gallery, he accidentally found a picture of a leaf. For others, it might just be a good photograph of a preserved leaf, but Jongin was very familiar with the leaf on the picture. He stared on it before looking back at Suzy who was busy and happily serving Sehun with a bowl of ramen. With trembling fingers, he pressed exit numerous times until it showed Suzy’s home screen which has the picture of her family as the wallpaper. He sighed slowly before managing to flash another smile as he returned the phone to Suzy.

“Congratulations,” Jongin greeted her.

Suzy beamed at him once more as she answered, “Thank you.”

“Eat more Hana,” Suzy turned to the girl between her and Jongin.

“Thank you omma but I’m not really hungry,” Hana replied with a small smile.

“Really?” Suzy asked. “Then I’ll eat your share. You already know that omma loves ramen, don’t you?”

“Neh,” Hana answered cheerfully. “This is your night omma!”

Suzy and Hana both giggled together and Sehun watched them in awe as he also flashed a big smile of his own. Jongin averted his gaze from what seemed like a perfectly happy family in front of him. He found himself staring at his own bowl of ramen as his fork played with the noodles and the smoke came to his face.

He stopped everything he was doing as his eyes stared at Suzy once more and a question was playing in his head,

Why? Why do you have to keep a picture of that?

Suzy then met his gaze and comfortably smiled at him. He smiled back but his grip on the fork tightened. The leaf on the picture was the same leaf Suzy pasted on the scrapbook she was supposed to give to him for his twentieth birthday. It was not just a leaf for the two of them- it was a symbol of their everlasting love for each other.

“D-Does this mean t-that we a-are a c-c-couple now?” Jongin asked Suzy with wide eyes and Suzy nodded at him with a sweet smile.

“This better be real because I think I’m about to have a heart attack now,” Jongin mumbled.

Suzy then lightly slapped his cheeks before cupping his face in her hands, “This is real.”

Jongin’s face softened as a blush crept into his face and he saw that Suzy’s facial expression mirrored his. Their lips curved into bright smiles and their eyes twinkled as they stared at each other.

“And you better have not a heart attack,” Suzy added. “You can’t die right now. Not when I want to start a forever with you.”

Jongin’s eyes started b with tears as he also took Suzy’s face in his hands.

“I’ll live for you,” he whispered. “You will be the first and last woman that I will ever love like this.”

Both of them giggled and closed their eyes as Jongin brushed his nose with Suzy’s. When he opened his eyes, he looked right into Suzy’s eyes once more.

“I want to hear it Suzy, please,” Jongin pleaded and he watched as Suzy’s lips formed the words he always wanted to hear.

“I,” Suzy started. “…love you, Kim Jongin.”

Jongin chuckled before asking, “M-May I kiss you right now?”

S