Korean Airlines Terminal, LAX

As she sat there and sobbed, Yuri suddenly felt a tap on her shoulder and heard a familiar angelic voice. “This is for you.” She looked up and saw a half eaten chocolate ice cream cone in front of her face. She lifted her head and saw Jessica standing in front of her holding the cone, smiling with tears in eyes. Yuri grabbed the ice cream cone, took a and threw it in the trash.

Yuri then dropped onto one knee in front of Jessica. She reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out the small red box. She looked at the tearful girl standing before her. “This is for you.” She opened the box and revealed a beautiful sparkling engagement ring.

Yuri took Jessica by the hand. “Marry me, Jessica Jung Soo Yeon. Marry me and I promise you that I will love you beyond forever and do whatever it takes to make this work. You are the only one I want to share the rest of my life with and I can’t imagine my life without you in it. Having you by my side is what completes me. When I look into my heart, I see only you. If you can look into your heart and only see me, then we should spend the rest of our lives together. I promise you, no one will work harder to make you happy or cherish you more than me. Will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”

Tears continued to stream down Jessica’s face as tears began to well up in Yuri's eyes. Jessica reached down and caressed the tomboy's cheeks, wiping away the tears. She then softly replied,  "Yes, Yuri Liu. I would be honored to be your wife and spend my life with you.”

Yuri placed the ring on Jessica’s finger. She stood up and the two lovers embraced. Their eyes met as Yuri leaned in and placed a gentle, loving kiss on Jessica’s soft lips which the beautiful bride-to-be gladly returned to her handsome tomboy.

“I wanted to kiss those beautiful lips of yours the very first time I laid eyes on you. I’m so happy that I will be the only one to kiss them for this day on. I love you, Jessica.”

“I love you too. My lips are for you and only you, yeobo. Just like the rest of me.” Jessica looked slyly at Yuri and winked.

Yuri pecked Jessica on the forehead. “Yah, byuntae!”

“And I thought you didn’t know any Korean,” Jessica replied smiling.

“I thought I lost you forever, babe. Thank God you didn’t get on that plane. What happened?” Yuri asked.

“Well, Uncle Goh and I were getting ready to board and he suddenly got a phone call. He said it was important and had to take it, so he got out of line. I wasn’t going anywhere without him, so I got out of line too. I haven’t seen him since. I figured that he'd come back when he was done so I’ve been waiting for him.”

“Jessi, about Gyuri being at my place yesterday…I can explain…”

“You don't have to explain anything. While I was waiting for Uncle Goh I picked up the newspaper he was reading in the waiting area. He left it open to the announcements section. I was browsing the page and saw an announcement for the engagement of Miss Gyuri Park and Dr. Henry Lau. It was then that I realized that you weren’t engaged. I wanted to call you but I didn’t have your new number.”

“Uncle Goh sure is sneaky,” Yuri said and laughed. “Sorry about the number change. I just…”

Jessica interrupted Yuri. “It’s okay, baby. I don’t care about that. What matters is where we are right now…together and engaged to be married,” Jessica said as she smiled and kissed her fiancée softly on the lips.  “Yuri," she said as pulled back from the kiss, "...about Taecyeon…please let me explain…”

It was Yuri's turn to cut Jessica off with a kiss. “It’s okay, Jessi. Tiffany told me everything. I understand why you did the things you did. I’m sorry for ignoring you for so long…I was just hurt. I know you never stopped loving me just like I never stopped loving you.”

Jessica rested her head on Yuri's chest and listened to the tomboy’s heartbeat. “I’m so happy to be back in your arms again, baby.” All of a sudden, her stomach grumbled. She looked up and smiled sheepishly at Yuri.

“I think you’re stomach is happy to see me too, babe. I’m going to go and grab us some sandwiches and juice. I know you haven’t had lunch yet. I have to take care of my future wife,” Yuri said proudly.

Jessica blushed, “Thank you, yeobo.”

“I missed you calling me that,” Yuri said as she caressed her fiancée’s cheek.

As the newly engaged tomboy walked away toward the food stand, Jessica saw Mr. Goh in the distance talking with an old woman. It looked like she was asking for directions as Mr. Goh pointed in Jessica’s direction and went back to his phone call.

The old woman looked at Jessica and smiled as she walked toward her. Jessica smiled back at the woman and then looked at the beautiful ring on her left hand realizing it was the ring from the shop on Melrose. Oh Fany...what would I do without you?

When she looked up to see where Yuri was, she was startled when she saw the old woman standing in directly in front of her.

“You’re very pretty, young lady. If you don’t mind me asking, what is your name?” the old woman asked.

“Hello, halmeoni. My name is Jessica.”

“Nice to meet you Jessica,” replied the old woman. “You’re fiancée is very cute. You guys look so nice together. Congratulations!”

“Thank you. I'm sorry if we've offended you, halmeoni. I know the older generation doesn’t agree with this kind of love,” Jessica said apologetically.

The old lady sat down beside Jessica and held her hand. “It’s okay, my dear. I can see that you are happy and very much in love. Love is never wrong.”

 “Yes, halmeoni, she is my true love…the one I want to spend my life with,” Jessica replied with a smile while she glanced lovingly at Yuri.

The old woman smiled at Jessica. “You know I was in love with a woman once before, when I was very young. I was 19 and she was my best friend. It was impossible for us to be together because we were both arranged to marry men chosen by our families. I miss her still and I am thankful that I knew her. Knowing her taught me how to love unconditionally. At the same time, I do not regret marrying my husband. He was a good man, a very kind man who treated me well. I grew to love him and he gave me a wonderful family. “

“That's so sad and sweet, halmeoni,” Jessica said as she wiped the tears from her eyes.

“Yes, it is. So cherish your love. Be thankful that society is becoming more accepting. God doesn’t make mistakes. As long as you are not hurting anyone, why should it matter who you choose to love,” the old woman said as she gently squeezed Jessica’s hand. “I once gave that advice to my granddaughter and I am happy to see that she listened to me.”

“What do you mean, halmeoni?” Jessica asked confused.

The old woman smiled at Jessica. “The only thing is that she is doing all of this backwards.”

“Backwards? Your granddaughter?” Jessica was puzzled. She thought the kind old woman was having a senior moment. "I don’t understand, halmeoni.”

"I'm supposed to meet you before the proposal and give my approval,” the old woman replied. “It’s okay. Yiyun explained everything to me.”