Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

Romans 12:12

When Minhyuk entered his girlfriend’s flat on the morning of August 5th, he was taken aback to see the normally tidy place to be an utter disaster. And he was further surprised to spot his girlfriend peering under the sofa, her arm stretched out into the darkness. She was in a position where she couldn’t see Minhyuk entering, and judging by how she didn’t respond to the door opening, she clearly did not hear him enter either.

“Krys, what are you looking for?”

At the sound of his voice, Krystal twisted around to see her boyfriend curiously looking down at her. She scrambled up to face him, a distraught look on her face.

“I can’t find my charm bracelet anywhere.”

Her upset look and tone caused Minhyuk’s heart to twinge, but he couldn’t ruin the surprise. So, though he felt guilty, he asked, “Where have you looked for it?”

“Everywhere!” she cried, beginning to pace. “I searched my jewelry boxes, my bathroom, my bed, my drawers, my closet, my living room, my kitchen, all my purses, and I can’t find it anywhere!”

Startled by the formation of tears in her eyes, Minhyuk hurriedly tried to comfort her. “Hey, Krys, it’s okay-”

“No, it’s not!” she suddenly shouted, almost hysterical. “That bracelet means a lot to me. You know it does.”

He put his hands on her shoulders to force her to stop and look at him. “Krys,” he began firmly but gently, “I know you’re upset, but this won’t solve anything, okay? Now, take a deep breath in, and let’s--” He did a quick scan of the room. “Let’s clean up, alright? And then, we’ll go on our date.”

It seemed as though she was going to refuse, but she suddenly relaxed and took a deep breath. “You’re right,” she said. “I’m sorry, I was being rude to you.” She looked up at him with apologetic eyes.

“It’s alright,” he consoled. “Now, let’s clean up, okay?”

She nodded like a young child being told to do something, and they began to tidy up the room. When Minhyuk fluffed the last pillow, he straightened up to see Krystal staring at him, a small smile on her face.

“What?”

“Nothing,” she said, still smiling. When he continued to eye her suspiciously, she said brightly, “Let’s go on our date now!”

Bouncing over to him, she took his hand and began to run out the door, dragging him out with her. They rode down the elevator, chatting about the details of their lives that texting wouldn’t cover and where they wanted to go on their date.

“Do you have a favorite place that we go on dates?” Minhyuk asked.

“Hmm, I’m not sure. I have so many,” Krystal admitted. “Do you?”

“Yeah, but it’s somewhere we haven’t gone to in a really long time.”

Her brows knitting together, she inquired, “What? Where would that be?”

Grinning, he simply said, “You’ll see.”

Krystal knew something was up. Her boyfriend wasn’t the type to give indirect answers. He was usually very straightforward and honest, which was a quality she adored about him. But she knew from experience that he was also the type to give indirect answers only when he was keeping a secret, usually in the form of a surprise he was going to share with her.

“Minhyuk, what are you hiding?” she asked suspiciously.

“Nothing.” But the large grin on his face betrayed him.

“I know it’s not nothing-”

“Hey, Krys, look where we are now,” he interrupted her. She looked around and was taken aback by what she saw. She was standing in front of her old university. It had been a little more than eight months since she graduated, but it felt much longer, strangely enough.

Instead of feeling like the 23 year old young woman she was going onto 24, she felt 26 or something, going onto 27. She wasn’t quite sure what the cause of the feeling was, either.

“Minhyuk, why are we here?”

“Follow me.” Taking her by the hand, he led her to the place he wanted to go, stopping exactly in front of the doors of-

“The library,” she said aloud, recognizing the building immediately. “Is this-”

“My favorite place to date?” he finished for her. “Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because this was where we got really close. And this is where we had what I like to think of as our first date.”