Yearning, n.

-deep longing, especially when accompanied by tenderness or sadness

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PRESENT DAY

“Sir? Sir?”

The shop assistant waved a hand in front of Taemin’s face.

“Ah…ne?”

She motioned to the item in front of him.

“Are you going to buy this?”

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Taemin and Naeun were woken up by someone bouncing up and down at the foot of their bed.

“Omma! Appa! Get up! Get up! Get up!”

Taemin side-eyed Naeun, and winked at her, signalling that they should continue to pretend to be asleep. They wanted to see how their son would wake them up, since Naeun overheard Minho and Jonghyun samchons telling him that he should dump some cold water on his parents to get them out of bed, during one of the days when they had babysat him. The little boy padded over to the gap between his parents and started to pat their heads, gently shaking them, his own way of telling them to wake up. Taemin and Naeun took a peek and saw that he had a confused and very concentrated expression, then quickly shut their eyes, and stifled their laughter. The boy leaned down and gave his parents a kiss, to which Taemin and Naeun shot out of bed, and launched into a tickle war with their son.

“Omma! Appa! It tickles!”

They continued to tickle him for a few more moments before Naeun settle him in between her arms.

“Uri Jaemin-ie is the best son in the world. He gives his mommy and daddy a kiss to wake them up. Appa? Aren’t we lucky?”

“Of course. My son is the best!”

Taemin gave Jaemin a thumbs up and the boy reciprocated.

“What do you want for breakfast, buddy?”

The little boy pondered over the question with a serious expression, while Naeun couldn’t resist his adorableness and kissed him on the forehead, then transferred him to Taemin, as she got out of bed. Taemin and Jaemin followed her into the kitchen. Suddenly, the boy exclaimed.

“Pancakes!”

“Pancakes it is then!”

Taemin got out some flour and other necessary ingredients and placed them on the kitchen counter. Naeun got out some plates and took out the pan. They turned around for one moment, and when they went to start making pancakes, Jaemin had managed to spill most of the flour on the counter and on his face. Jaemin didn’t start crying, but had the biggest smile on his face. He grabbed a fistful in his hands and threw it at his parents. The small action turned into a little game for the family, where no one ended up winning, just flour all over the floor, the counter, and on the clothes and faces of the family.

“Appa? Pancake?”

“Wahh...you spilled all the flour and still expect pancakes?”

Jaemin just grinned at his father and nodded.

With the left over flour, they were able to make two medium sized pancakes, which they shared, feeding each other, and dying from the sweetness of the maple syrup since Jaemin also poured half of the bottle onto the plate. The family heard the doorbell ring. Jaemin dropped down from his seat and ran to the door, his parents closely following behind. It was Eunji.

“Imo!”

“Jaemin-ie! Are you excited to spend the day with me?”

“Ne!”

“Jaemin-ah…go with Omma so that you can get ready.”

“Ahrasso, Appa.”

Naeun picked him up and headed into his room to get him dressed. Eunji sat on the couch opposite to Taemin.

“What are your plans today?”

“I don’t know yet. I haven’t planned anything…”

“Jinjja? The great Lee Taemin hasn’t planned any romantic thing for Naeun? This is going to make headlines!”

“I think we’ll just see what happens today…”

“Are you sure it’s not because you’ve run out of ideas?”

“Ani. Everyday’s romantic if I spend it with her…”

“Aigoo…married with a kid and still as cheesy as ever…”

“Of course!”

“Anyway…when you have time, let’s have a family dinner. We haven’t had one in a long time. Apparently, Hayoung’s got some news to share, and so do Kibum and I…”

“Oh yeah…where is Hyung?”

“I left him sleeping. I was hoping to get Jaemin to wake him up by dumping cold water on him…”

Taemin and Eunji laughed as Jaemin ran into the room into Eunji’s arms.

“Ready to go?”

Jaemin nodded enthusiastically. Eunji grabbed his hand and started to walk to the door. Jaemin gave his mother and father a hug and kiss before leaving with Eunji. When they left, Taemin wrapped his arms around his wife and leaned in to give her a kiss. When they pulled back, they both said simultaneously,

“Happy Anniversary!”

“What does my wife want to do today?”

“Oppa should pick since I picked last year…”

Taemin winked at her playfully and cocked his head to the bedroom. Naeun hit his shoulder.

“Eyyy…Oppa is being a byuntae again?”

“Ani! I was wondering if you just wanted to sleep for the rest of the day…”

This earned him another hit on the shoulder.

“Andwae! We should go out!”

Taemin and Naeun went into their bedroom to start getting ready. As per usual, they turned the television on so that they could listen to the news. However, the channel was showing reruns of ‘We Got Married’. What was more surprising was that it was focused on their couple. Naeun had already gone to have a shower so Taemin sat on the edge of the bed watching the program. When she came out, she sat next to him.

“A lot of memories…”

“Sometimes I want to go back and relive them again…with you.”

“Wae?”

“Maybe I could’ve had more courage to become closer to you…”

“You don’t need to change anything. It was fine how we progressed…look at us now…”

“You’re right…”

Taemin and Naeun discarded all their plans of going out, and opted to stay and watch ‘We Got Married: Best’ for the rest of the day, or how Taemin calls it: “our marathon of memories.” They laughed and cried at how awkward they were…and somehow, got to relive those special feelings that were attached to each of those memories at the same time.

“Happy Anniversary again, Oppa…”

“Happy Anniversary, buin…”

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PRESENT DAY

“Sir? Sir?”

The shop assistant waved a hand in front of Taemin’s face.

“Ah…ne?”

She motioned to the item in front of him.

“Are you going to buy this?”

“Yes.”

“Sorry if this seems too personal, but, what were you thinking about?”

“I was having a flash forward.”

“About the girl you’re going to give this ring to?”

“Ne.”

“She’s the one…”

“Ne?”

“If you can picture your future with her so clearly, and so happily, I think you’re ready for marriage.”

“Gamsahamnida.”

The shop assistant gave him the ring and he left to go and pick up Naeun. She was already waiting for him when he got there. During the drive, Taemin was silent, and this did not go unnoticed by Naeun. Usually he’d be rattling off about his surprise for her.

“Oppa?”

“Wae?”

“You’re too quiet today…”

“Am I?”

“Eung…”

“Mianhae. I was just thinking…”

“Care to share?”

“Remember when you were sick and you said you thought about our future?”

“Eo…”

“That’s what I was thinking about…”

“What did you see?”

“I saw what you saw. I think we’ll be the same as we are now…”

“Like how?”

“Like, we’d still be slightly awkward around people, you’d still be a little shy and get embarrassed easily and me…well…I’d still be straightforward and always trying to initiate some skinship with you…”

“That seems about right to me…”

They continued to talk some more in the car. It was noisy again, filled with life.

In movies, getting engaged was a big deal. The man would sweat just thinking about proposing, but Taemin was different. It felt right to him, and the ring in his pocket didn’t weigh down on his mind. Instead, it eased him even more, and he felt like weight had been lifted off from his shoulder. Everything was as clear as the bright blue skies that were leading him into another beautiful date with the girl that made his heart beat; the girl that made him smile; the girl that he would make his wife.