It took me fourteen excruciatingly long minutes to figure out what to do.  Even then, it was only a half fix; it wasn't really solving anything, just involving another person.  It took another ten minutes to actually pluck up the courage to dial the phone.

I honestly thought that my life might be in jeopardy if I hit the dial button.  Baekhyun told me that I could only call in case of emergency.  Did he include personal emergencies as a reason to call during his honeymoon?  Where is a best friend supposed to draw the line?

As I pressed the string of digits that represented Baekhyun's phone number, I hoped that he wouldn't chew my head off for this.  I listened to the dial tone, fidgeting in place.  I resisted the urge to bite my thumb nail.  At least I didn't have to resort to hiding in the bathroom, Jongin was having brunch with his parents (who I should mention I still have not met.)

The line connected; a long groan was my greeting.  "Baek?"  I asked, praying that Chaneyol hadn't answered his cellphone for him.  I could not talk about this with Chanyeol; he probably knew.

"Is someone dead or dying?" Baekhyun's grumpy voice rang in my ear.  A smile cracked across my face.

"No.  It's a personal best friend emergency. Otherwise you know I wouldn't call." I gushed, bringing my hand to mouth, miming the action of biting my nails.

"What?" Baekhyun whined over the phone.

"Are you alone?" I looked out the window, making sure that I would be alone for a while as well.

"I am laying in a bed with my sleeping husband." Baekhyun whispered, "Who, by the way, is the only person I really wanted to be talking to on my honeymoon."

"Chanyeol can't hear." I asserted, nearly stomping my foot.  Baekhyun was nowhere near understanding the gravity of the situation.

Baekhyun's groan was audible.  I could hear him moving around, rolling off of the bed and walking into a different room  "What?"

"I found a ring." I told him immediately.  I found a ring, a really nice ring.  The kind of ring that implied a whole lot more than committed boyfriends.  A ring that looked beyond expensive, like Jongin would've spent an entire year's worth of his salary on this ring.

"You found a ring?  Like a 'be my spouse forever' type ring?" Baekhyun's voice showed his engrossment with the topic I'd presented.

"Yes." I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror that hung in the living room.  I was a mess, hair sticking out in every direction, wearing my boyfriend's t-shirt.

"What's the problem with that?" Baekhyun was not seeing the point.

"What's the problem?  WHAT IS THE PROBLEM?" My voice was unnaturally high, "We haven't even been dating for two years.  I haven't met his parents.  He hasn't met anyone from my family.  I don't even know if I want that!"  My heart dropped, "Oh no."

"Soo, do you know what you're saying?" Baekhyun's voice was full of concern.

"I'm going to hang up.  Sorry for interrupting your honeymoon, and burdening you I guess." I apologized as the weight of my realization.  I pulled the phone away from my ear, hitting the red end call button.  I sat down on the couch, looking down at the shirt.

This was probably going to be my last time wearing it.  I frowned, sticking my thumb through a hole at the hem.

I smoothed my shirt out again, glancing at the clock.  I'd managed to pack up all of my clothes and most of my belongings in an hour.  Everything was neatly stacked on top of one another.  Lady sat in front of me, her head its side.

"Don't look at me like that." I whispered.

She whined, laying down but maintaining eye contact.  "You lived for a big chunk of time without me.  You'll move on." I said sternly, avoiding looking at her puppy dog eyes.

The front door opened, and Jongin walked through the door with a smile on his face.  "Hi." He muttered, turning around to lock the door.  He had yet to notice all of my things.

He faced me once more with a smile on his face.  He was about to say something when he noticed my suitcase.  He chuckled lightheartedly, "Going somewhere?"

"Yes." I answered.  I had decided beforehand that I would use the least amount of words possible.  I was kind of hoping that it would minimize any pain between us.

Jongin's face scrunched with confusion, "Why?  I don't remember you mentioning a business trip."  He frowned, "Did you mention it while I was tuned out?"

"Jongin." His name felt heavy on my tongue, like my body was trying to keep my from saying it. "I'm moving out."

Jongin stared at me blankly, uncomprehending and frozen.  "We aren't going to work out.  I'll come back for the rest of my things later." I stood up, grabbing my suitcase. Jongin seemed too shocked to do anything  I managed to leave without actually hearing his response.

For someone who realized that they didn't want to spend the rest of their life with Kim Jongin, it hurt a lot more than it should have.

Junmyeon handed me a spoon then a tub of ice cream.  He brought his knees up to his chest, looking at me with keen eyes.  He was in his flannel pajamas.  I was lucky that he agreed to let me crash on his couch for the time being.  "Why did you break up with him again?"

"I didn't want to get married." I forced the spoon to dig a small dent into the top surface of the ice cream.

Junmyeon knitted his brows together, "Did he ask you to marry him?"

"No.  I did find an engagement ring." I shoveled some more ice cream into my mouth.

"Do you still love him?"

I glared at Junmyeon, "I am working on falling out of love with him."

Junmyeon extended his legs, pressing the soles of his feet against my thigh.  "What if that doesn't work and you realize what a mistake it was to end things, only to find out that he's moved on?"

"That won't happen." I said with an unfounded amount of confidence.  Junmyeon had always had a knack for figuring out my deepest fears.

"Well that's complete and total crap." Junmyeon sighed.  My face expressed the confusion that I felt inside.  "You're just scared.  Tell him you're sorry while he'll still accept your apology you idiot."

I scoffed, setting down the ice cream and spoon.  "Even if I'm regretting hasty decisions about my lack of confidence in my former relationship, my phone has been silent."

"Who gets cold feet before there's even a proposal?" Junmyeon snorted, nudging my thigh.

I groaned. "I abhor you."

"But you love Jongin." Junmyeon sang.  "Call him though.  Apologize for snooping around his things and being insecure little old you."

"I'll wait for him to call." I nodded to myself.

I pushed my glasses up, reading the back of package.  I didn't know what to do.  In hindsight, I was very much an idiot.  Junmyeon had been of very little help, and I was trying my hardest not to call Baekhyun.  As much as I wanted to blame Jongin for not calling me once in the past four days, I realized I was the one that ended things.

In my defense, it showed very little commitment to our relationship if he was just going to let me go without asking.  He was just proving me right; he had been waiting for me to end things so that he could move on to greener pastures.  I was betting that the ring I'd found probably wasn't even for me.

I threw to box of cupcake mix into my basket; I had so much stress baking to do.  I sighed, walking forward with my eyes glued to the shelves.  I ran into a body in my absent-mindedness.

"Oh, I'm so sorr-" I stopped midway through my sentence upon seeing who I'd hit.  Jongin looked terrible, like he hadn't slept for days or something.  "What happened to your face?"

Somehow my temporary resentment melted away into worry.  I completely forgot about the fact that I broke up with him.   I almost touched his cheek but managed to catch myself before I moved my hand.

"You." Jongin stated bitterly.  "You happened to my face.  I have slept like a total of 3 hours in the past four days. In my off time, I've been crying and trying to figure what I did wrong.  Would you mind telling me?  When I left for brunch with my parents, nothing was wrong."  Jongin breathed heavily, finishing with his hands on his hips.

"I found a ring in your dresser." If I was going to do this, I might as well be honest about it.

Jongin took a sharp breath, "The one with the diamonds on it?"  I nodded.  Jongin seemed flustered.  "That's not really how I wanted you to find out about that.  How does that equate to moving out and breaking up with me?"

I hit him on the shoulder, "Why did it take you four days and zero calls to ask me? How committed to this thing are you?  Four entire d--"

Jongin kissed me to interrupt me.  I leaned back, "You still failed the test."

"Marry me." Jongin rushed to say the words.

I ignored the way my stomach butterflies fluttered, "Are you ignoring the fact that I ran out because I found a ring that implied marriage?"

"Marry me." Jongin repeated.

"We have issues to work out.  I have issues I need to work out." I cried.

"Marry me." Jongin took my hand.

I sighed deeply.  "Fine.  But there better be a better proposal than this because I am not telling people that I got engaged on the baked goods aisle of a grocery store."

a/n:

you probably thought you'd heard the last from me. ha.
please.
idk comment or upvote or unsubscribe or subscribe or... i dunno.

(if you can keep a super secret, I am toying with the idea of a sequel.  I trust you guys not to tell anyone.)