“Mother, Father, this is Nickhun-sshi. He’s my… my…”

“Hello. I’m Nickhun-sshi. I’m currently dating your daughter.”

“You-what?”, Mr. Park spit out her water.

Mrs.Park, on the other hand, smiled. “Nickhun-sshi, there are five things you have to accept before I can allow this relationship to continue.”

“Umma!”, I protested. I can’t believe she was actually doing this. She had warned me that she had prepared a list of things when I was about ten. I didn’t think she’d actually do it. But she was.

Nickhun smiled and said, “Name your terms.”

“One, she has an unholy love for men in suits, who look like men from Korean dramas.”

“Umma!”, I whined.

“ Two, she eats more Ramen than any fat man can. Three, she falls in love with stuffed animals more deeply than she does with boys.”

“Umma!”, I shouted.

She adamantly ignored me and continued, “Four, she fantasizes about slow-dancing with her boyfriend in a meadow strung with lights.”

“Umma”, I whispered, embarrassed to death. My father was rolling around with laughter on the floor behind my mother.

“Five, when she was younger, she planned to be a full-time princess when she grew up.”

“I can take that”, Nickhun said, grinning from ear to ear. He glanced at me.

I was sulking behind the couch.

He dragged me out and threw an arm around my shoulder.

“I already knew half those things anyways”, he said confidently. 

My parents exchanged looks of surprise.

“You aren’t living with her already, are you?”, my mother asked.

“How… Exactly how far did you go with my daughter?”, my father questioned.

“Huh?”, Nickhun said, shocked.

I groaned and covered my face with my hands.

Nickhun’s POV

I grinned at the memory replaying itself in my head as I watched Hanul spin around and fall, laughing ecstatically, onto a bed of flowers in the meadow.

Tomorrow night, I thought, that’s the night. 

Hanul’s POV

We were planning to leave for Seoul in two days, with Jay hyung.

We planned to spend the last two days sight-seeing Daegu, and living the home life the boys would miss once they went back to Seoul for the Awards Ceremonies.

And I had my life back in Seoul as well… as a dance back-up and teacher. :/

But that would all be faced when the time came.

I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. I pulled it on and checked messages.

It was from Nickhun. Tomorrow night, 9pm, Daegu Meadow Conservation?

Daegu Meadow Conservation? Didn’t we go there today?

Hm…

I texted back, “Okay.”

I had no idea what I was signing up for.

Nickhun’s POV

I had gathered all of the Park family members, except for Hanul.

“Hanul’s not here, right?”, I questioned.

“Not right now, I sent her for groceries in my stead”, Mr.Park answered.  

“Okay, then.”

“What did you gather us for?”, Jay hyung asked.

 I need your help”, I said.

“I knew it”, Mr.Park said.

Mrs. Park whacked him hard on the head, “Be polite. What is it, Nickhun-sshi?”

“I’m going to propose to Hanul. But I need your help because it has to be special…”, I explained the whole plan to them and what I needed them to do.

At the end, three pairs of wide eyes were staring back at me.

“Um… questions?”, I asked, uncomfortable.

“You don’t do things halfway, do you, boy?”, Mr.Park asked. 

I laughed awkwardly. “Guess not…”

“We’ll do it”, Mrs.Park said.

Jay hyung scratched his head.

“What do you think, Jay hyung?”

“I didn’t know you were capable of planning things out ahead of time.I’m kinda shocked here.”

I laughed.

“Okay, then everyone know the plan?”, I asked.

“Yes!”, the Park family answered.

Hanul’s POV

As soon as the groceries were all put away, I flopped onto my bed, groaning.

I had about a minute of peace before my mother entered my room, glowing. She was literally glowing. … How weird, my mother never acts hyper.

“What’s up, Umma?”

“Remember when you were little, you always said you wanted to grow up and be a full-time princess?”

I laughed. “Yeah, that’s when I thought the world revolved around me.”

“And when you believed in Santa.”

“I still believe in Santa”, I said. “Omo, umma, are you telling me Santa’s not real?”

“If Santa were real, you would get coal every year!”, she retorted playfully. She laid down next to me on the bed.

“Anyways, your dream about being a princess…Well, I wanted to make this dream come true before you left for Seoul again”, she said.

“What?”, I said, incredulous. Was my mother drunk?

“Why not?”, my mother asked me, giving me her aegyo face.

“Well, for one thing, I’d have to wear a gorgeous dress and be in a fantasyland and find a Prince Charming, which… isn’t going to happen.”

“You’d be surprised”, my mother said. Before I could register what she had just said, my mother had bounced up from the bed.

“Come on”, she said, pulling me up from the bed and out the door.

“W-wait”, I stuttered.

She pushed me out and shut my bedroom door.

“Umma”, I protested weakly. I never knew my mother had an unstoppable and extravagant fashionista in her. After all, she usually just wore jeans, a white tee, and a too-big button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled up and her hair in a messy ponytail with half of it falling out.

But now, she was having way too much fun dressing me up in the most extravagant outfits.

“Umma…”, I said again. But she blabbering at top speed to the hairdresser to do this and that and…

I took a deep breath, and decided just to close my eyes until the storm was over.

….

…

…

“Hanul, open your eyes and look in the mirror.”

I slowly opened my eyes. When my eyes had adjusted to the light, I looked in the mirror.

The first thing out of my mouth was “Who is that?”

“You, of course”, the stylist said, seeming pleased.

“Are you sure?”, I asked.

“Stop being stupid, and tell us what you think”, my mother said.

Tell me what you think

“Good?”, my mother asked.

I nodded mutely.

“Okay, let’s go.”

“Go where?”, I managed to ask.

“A princess needs a fantasy land.”

I was just so overwhelmed that I didn’t protest when she drove me to a building that said CLOSED.

I read the sign. Daegu Meadow Conservation.

….

Daegu Meadow Conservation?

“Nickhun…?”, I said, shocked.

My mother clasped my hand. “Every princess needs a prince. “

I stared at her with wide eyes. She grinned, “Go.”

I got out of the car and shut the door, taking a deep breath.

This was all just… so… so…unrealistic.

I walked up the pathway to where we had gone the day before.

Just around the corner…

I gasped. Oh….. It was so lovely.

All the trees had been strung with colorful glass butterfly-shaped and star-shaped lights.

The lights fenced in the area of the meadow we had visited today, and in the middle of the meadow was a small white gazebo, the kind of building people pose in front of in wedding photos.

  He was standing there, smiling. He gestured at me to come over.

I could only stare at him. He was in a cream-colored suit. He looked so handsome; I was practically drooling in my head.

This was all for me. He’d done this all for me. Because he wanted me to be happy.

He could see my intoxicated state, unable to do anything just because everything was so wonderful that I would lose it with one step.

So he walked over to me until we were about five feet apart.

“You look lovely”, he told me.

I shyly walked over to him and hid my head behind his back.

“What’s wrong?”, he asked, concerned.

I could feel the emotion welling up inside of me, so I just shook my head.

“Hanul… are you okay?”, he asked, really concerned.

I nodded my head into his back.

“You’re shy!”, he exclaimed, surprised and laughing. “That’s a first.”

He carefully took me by my hand and walked with me to the gazebo.

“Your family was in on it, you know.”

“My mom…”, I tried to say.

He laughed. “She’s wonderfully brilliant at forcing you to do things, huh? I knew I could trust her.” He paused, “Did I tell you look lovely?”

I nodded, blushing.

“You’re so shy”, he laughed again. “Who knew you had this side to you?”

I buried my head in my arms.

“So cute”, he chuckled. He pulled me into his arms.

He took a deep breath. I looked up, curious. He was staring at me with serious eyes. I stared back.

“I…I know you know this already, but I feel like I have to clear this before we move on.” He took another deep breath. “I’m sorry for leaving you all alone. I’m sorry for not being brave enough to withstand things that happened that weren’t even your fault. I’m sorry for not being man enough to trust you when you left without a word. I’m sorry for forgetting my promises to you. I’m sorry for hurting your heart. But I never stopped loving you. I love you, today and now.” 

I felt myself tear up, and I couldn’t hold back a sniffle.

“I knew it”, I heard him say. “I knew you were going to be all girly and cry.”

“Yah!”, I said. He grinned.

“So I prepared things to cheer you up… and to get you on my good side.”

“One”, he said, pointing to himself, “you like men with suits. I’m not exactly Korean stuff, but I think I could be in a drama.” Oh yes he could, I thought to myself. But externally, I just watched him with curious eyes.

“Two, you like Ramen.” He opened up a small bowl to show Ramen, steaming and tasty. “Three, you like stuffed animals more than boys.” He presented a huge teddy bear, also wearing a suit and with hair exactly like his. I received it delightfully. He sat next to me and said, “Well, now I am the bear, so you can’t like it more than me.”  He patted the bear on the head.

He walked over and music.

“This was my parent’s wedding song”, I said, startled.

I started to walk over to the music player, but I tripped on a loose floorboard in the gazebo.

Nickhun caught me easily, and then he pulled me in, hugging me extremely tightly. So tightly I…

“Can’t… breathe…” I choked out.

He let me go, but not before whispering to me, “Four, you like to slow dance with your boyfriend.”

I slipped off my shoes, and he led me out to the meadow, where I wrapped my arms around him and we slowly swayed to the music.

He looked at me, in the eyes, and I didn’t look away.

I could see the lights reflect in his warm brown eyes.

I smiled and laid my head on his shoulder.

“I love you”, I murmured against his shoulder.

Nickhun’s POV

“I love you”, I felt her lips against my shoulder.

I smiled, allowing the happiness to fill me up. I looked up at the heavens as we danced.

The stars were glistening above us, shining ever so brightly.

Unlike the numerous nights where I had spent these nights alone, cold, and silent, I now felt warmth in my arms, in my chest, in my heart. The nights were no longer dead, but vibrant and very much alive and warm, and the stars didn’t seem so unreachable now.

The difference was the girl in my arms.

I stopped swaying. She looked at me, curious.

I stared into his eyes. I couldn’t seem to do this enough today. It felt like I wanted to make up every glance, and look I’d missed in the past years she’d been missing from my life.

“Even you can’t make me a princess”, she told me, smiling.

“Why?”

“Because I need a Prince Charming. You’re Charming, but…” Suddenly, her eyes grew wide. dropped.

“Don’t you know I’m the Thai Prince?”, Nickhun asked me, and winked.

Hanul's POV

“Prince Charming…”, I said, studying him.

“Pffttt”, I started laughing.

“Yah, you know this is all for you, right?”, he said. “This is the freaking cheesiest stuff I’ve ever done in my life.” He sighed deeply. “You can’t imagine the pain this is doing to my manliness. But it’s all to get on your good side… because…”

He turned to face me, suddenly serious. He bit his bottom lip. I could see he was extremely nervous.  I was about to ask him if he was okay when-

He knelt down on one knee, pulling something out of his pocket as he did so.

He looked up at my shocked face.

He opened a box to reveal a ring.

“Park Hanul, will you marry me?”

I cannot possibly describe what I felt at that moment. The shyness I had felt before was completely gone; my sassy self had also disappeared. I was just… pure bliss. I was a girl, in a beautiful dress, surrounded by beautiful lights, with a beautiful family, with a beautiful prince, asking for my hand in marriage. I was a princess.

And at that moment, all I could hear was my heart, whispering, shouting, yelling, pushing, poking, pulling at me to say:

“Yes.”

And then my heart sighed in bliss and whispered to me, “Finally.”

Nickhun smiled his adorable eye smile as he slipped on the ring.

He gently pulled my chin up and kissed me on the lips.

I wrapped my arms around him, aware of every sensation.

I was so into the kiss, and yet my brain registered the lights, the music, the smiling bear, the Ramen, the dress. I felt so beautiful.

So this is what it’s like to be a princess.

I never thought I would know this feeling. This wonderful, blissful, fantastic, feeling

a/n: i'm updating so much lately, huh? ^^ this was a cute chapter. almost too cute, the way nickhun felt was kinda what i felt writing this. :P
mayvin, now you know why i needed gazebo and the link. XD oh, and its okay if you don't remember. hopefully you will when i release that chapter.
hellopanda23: <3! if you go back and read it, i'll always be glad to hear whatever you think about it. :) i'm going to go respond to your messages now!