AN: So I realized that I never ended Everlasting Pea for Surong. So, I decided to put them out of misery and make their marriage a little happier. This is it. The Finale. Thanks guys.

For leenaeun + kakmutia + Kyuwonhae + vale0994 + LuRong_ship + thescarletfox

Moonflower (Everlasting Pea Finale)

Chorong and Joonmyun were at Jeju on their birthday. She had planned this as a getaway from the pressure of their family and the company. After their wedding, the two companies made a public announcement that they would be merging, and it made headlines, as stock prices went up significantly. Chorong had mostly stayed in their home, but her father and his father were grooming Joonmyun to take hold of the company, once they had retired, even sending him to the States for a week to see how their Western division was being handled.

Chorong could see that her husband was stressed, so she tried to help him by being a good wife to him, to repay him for all his kindness that he had shown her. When Chorong had woken up the morning after her wedding, he had cooked her breakfast and taken it to her in bed. Like he promised, he protected her, and didn’t do anything that made her uncomfortable, even asking for permission when he held her hand the one time they had free time and decided to go out. When he had slipped his hand into hers, Chorong felt a new and strange feeling, but she liked it. However, when she tried to hold his hand, she couldn’t muster up enough courage and just kept her hands in her pocket.

When others commented on how she had met a gentleman of a husband, it made her proud. She especially liked his smile, and the way that he looked at her. Chorong thought that no one had ever looked at her like that, and the strange feeling returned again. But, the one thing that Chorong was eternally grateful for was the family dinner that they held six weeks after the wedding. Both their families had come over for a catch up session and Chorong prepared a meal wonderfully. However, when the night got deeper, and conversation became more frank, the alcohol came out, and unwanted topics cropped up.

Mr Kim poured everyone a shot of soju, but stopped at Chorong, and let out a laugh, before saying, “mianhae, I forgot that you shouldn’t be drinking…”

It suddenly all made sense to Joonmyun. His father was talking about the family tradition. To add more heat to the flame, Mrs Park commented that “oh yes, it’s not good for the baby if you drink…”

Joonmyun took Chorong’s hand under the table and looked at her. She had a confused expression on her face, so he took the initiative to speak up.

“Appa…”

“Ne?”

“Chorong is not pregnant…”

The adults all looked at each other with an exasperated expression.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, that we haven’t done anything that could get her pregnant…”

Mr Kim stood up from his seat and pointed a finger at his son, face red from a dangerous concoction of anger and alcohol.

“And why not? I told you specificially that you had duty to uphold the family tradition!”

Joonmyun let go of Chorong’s hand and stood up from the table.

“Appa! We’re still kids! That tradition ends with me! If we can’t have a civil conversation about this, then with all due respect, I want all of you to leave this house!”

He grabbed Chorong’s hand and then lead her upstairs to their bedroom where he began to pace back and forth. Chorong tried to pacify him by putting her hand on his arm. She had never seen him so riled up before, and it was a scary sight. His eyes softened when he saw her and he sat next to her on their bed.

“Mianhae…it’s just that I couldn’t handle any more of the pressure that they’re trying to put on us. It’s unfair for the both of us to have to do everything they say, especially when it comes to marriage and family…”

“You should have told me…that night…I would have…we have to obey our parents…”

The fire ignited in Joonmyun again.

“You would have what? Let me touch you? We have to obey our parents? We don’t! We’re both adults! It’s unfair for us to bring a child into this world in an arranged marriage that we didn’t want! It’s unfair for the child if they grow up with parents who don’t love each other! Isn’t that what you said? There’s no love in an arranged marriage!”

Joonmyun walked out the door and into the guest bedroom he needed to calm down. He knew that his words had hurt her, and he felt immediately guilty afterwards.

After that night, it became awkward for the two of them. Chorong knew that part of it was because she was submissive and wanted to please other people, mainly her parents. When Joonmyun became distant from her, she became sad. She missed his attention, and she missed his subtle skinships, and she missed everything about him, which she had gotten used to, in general.

So, when it was nearing their birthday, she planned a trip to make it up to him, and to rebuild the relationship that they had forged before that dinner. Joonmyun was reluctant, but Chorong was persistent, and eventually, he agreed. They flew early in the early morning of their birthday and arrived an hour later. When they had checked in to their hotel and got ready, Chorong hired a car and they drove to the beach. They sat down on the rocks.

“Joonmyun?”

“Eung…”

“Are you mad at me?”

Joonmyun finally turned to look at Chorong, and saw the worry in her eyes, and he felt guilty again.

“I was never mad at you…”

“Then, why have you been distant?”

“I was mad at myself and I didn’t want to pressure you anymore.”

“What do you mean?”

“I feel guilty for not being able to stop the marriage. I feel guilty for not protecting you from the demands of our parents. I feel guilty for yelling at you that night. I just feel guilty that you’re married to me when you don’t love me…”

Chorong took all his words in before deciding on doing something. She put her hands on either side of his face and leaned in for a kiss but he turned his head, then grabbed her wrists.

“Chorong-ah…please don’t…”

“Don’t what?”

“Kiss me…”

“Why?”

“Don’t do anything that you don’t mean. I told you, I’m not going to pressure you into acting out this whole marriage thing. We can just be friends, like you want…”

“I do mean it…”

“You don’t…”

“How do you know?”

“Because you don’t look at me the same way that I look at you…”

Chorong didn’t have any words to say.

“I can tell, from your eyes…that’s how I fell for you, when we met. It was your eyes. You don’t love me, and I love you…so much…”

“How do you know that I don’t love you? You don’t know how I feel!”

She got up to walk on the beach and Joonmyun mentally slapped himself for making her even more hurt. He ran after her and it didn’t take long before he caught up to her. He grabbed her hand and then turned her around so that he was hugging her. Eventually, her arms wrapped around him as well and she mumbled into his chest.

“When you hold my hand I get this strange feeling, but I like it. I get tingly when you look at me. I like it when I see you first thing when I wake up in the morning. I really like your smile. I like how you stand up for me and protect me. I like it when we’re like this. Right now. My heart’s beating so fast, can’t you feel it?”

Joonmyun pulled her in closer, and then they began to silently walk along the beach while holding hands. They sat down on the sand, a few metres away from where their feet would touch the waves.

“So…are we going to make this work? As husband and wife?”

“I would like that. And I want you to touch me whenever you want, and I can touch you whenever I want…”

“Deal…”

“And I want you to keep on loving me…and I will love you…”

“I think I can do that…”

“And now, I want you to kiss me, because I mean it…”

“Okay…”