“...So I’ve decided to stay,” I concluded. I was oddly nervous, I noticed, with my fingers fiddling underneath the table. I was never usually nervous talking to my mother.

She was across from me on the laptop screen while a webcam pointed at either of us. I couldn’t read her facial expression.

“I hope you’re not mad.”

“No of course not, Jinah. Why would I be mad?” She assured quickly. “I’m proud actually. You’re learning things by yourself. You’re growing.”

I smiled in embarrassment. It was such a mom-thing for her to say.

“Korea is treating you good then?” she questioned.

I shifted in my seat. “I love it here. Everything I need is right here.” My mind flashed me an image of Luhan at that reminder and I hoped that my mother didn’t notice through the screen that my face might have lit up bright red. “I’m graduating next week, mom.”

“I wish I could be there. I miss you.”

“I miss you too.” I smiled sadly. “I’ll take pictures.”

“Take a hundred photos! I don’t care. As long as you take them,” she chided. “Where is Hyejung, by the way? I haven’t heard from her in a long time.”

The front door opened and closed at that moment.

I figured that my mother heard. “Oh, is that Hyejung right now?”

I listened as I heard the familiar sound of Luhan dropping his backpack by the door before he yanked his shoes off. “No mom, it’s—”

“Jinah? I’m back!” Apparently hungry, Luhan wandered aimlessly into the kitchen where I was. He rummaged through the pantry behind me at the same time he reached over to leave a kiss on my temple.

I was all too aware of my mother still watching as I automatically froze in my seat. Maybe I should’ve given Luhan a heads-up that I was currently on webcam with my mother because…

“Is that a boy in your apartment? How many times—!”

“Mom! I’m not a kid anymore. I can have a boyfriend.” I buried my face in my palms.

Sensing the commotion behind him, Luhan slowly turned and only then realized our guest. He awkwardly waved at the woman with cup noodles in his hands that he had just retrieved from the pantry. “Umm, hello.” He ducked to fit the little box and then took the seat beside me. “You must be Mrs. Kim.”

I couldn’t dare myself to see my mother’s reaction through the webcam at that moment. However, I peeked at Luhan from between a crack through my fingers. He was endearingly becoming shy and flustered as he folded his hands neatly on his lap even though my mother couldn’t see below his chest.

“It’s nice to finally speak to you. I’ve heard many good things from Jinah. My name is Luhan.”

“Oooh, Jinah this one’s cute,” my mother commented. “Are you her only boyfriend?” she questioned Luhan this time.

“Mom!” I whined, appalled that she’d say that in front of Luhan even if I knew she meant it as a joke.

Luhan stared at me. “I hope so.”

“Oh you’re funny!” The woman surprisingly broke out into laughter. “How long have you been putting up with Jinah?”

I shrunk in my seat.

“For a long time now. She’s stubborn sometimes, but— Ow!”

I hit his shoulder. “Don’t!”

He rubbed where I hit him. “I was about to say something nice about you! You interrupted me.”

Through our little argument, my mother was still laughing over the screen. Luhan was squeezing me to his side in a bone-crushing hug that was meant as punishment and I forgot for a moment that she was still watching until she spoke again. “So Luhan, when are you proposing?”

“I, umm…” Luhan’s face was turning beet red and it was my turn to make fun of him while I laughed in the sidelines. It wasn’t the first time my mother has asked that from a boy I introduced to her. It was her way of scaring them.

“Mom, you’re making him think too much. He’s frying his brain,” I teased, and Luhan backfired by hitting me underneath the table with his knee.

The familiar crinkles around her eyes appeared as she smiled at me. I felt her warmth from her smile even though she was miles away from me. “I understand why you’ve decided to stay now.”

One year later

Eyes shut and still dreaming, I rolled over on the bed and threw a lazy arm around my pillow to hug it closer. Something wet and cool brushed along my cheek. I flinched at the odd sensation. When it wouldn’t stop, I cracked my eyes open and came face-to-face with the little puppy named Dubu crouched on the bed. Still thinking incoherently, I checked for the time by the nightstand.

7:34am.

On a Saturday, the weekend, meaning I still had time to cuddle with a certain someone before hunger over breakfast would force us out of bed. Dubu let out a high yelp and bounced to get my attention. Ignoring him, I turned over between the sheets and automatically reached out for Luhan... But came across empty space instead.

My question was answered as soon as I heard his voice from the kitchen. “Dubu, no barking! You’ll wake up Jinah.” Ironically though, he was the one being loud.

As I stressed so many times, I wasn’t a dog kind of person, but Luhan somehow convinced us to get a small puppy. Not the big ones that shed everywhere or ones that drooled on all the furniture. Dubu was one of Cherry’s puppies. He was “cleverly” named by Luhan for looking like a dumpling while the puppy ran around like a big ball of white fur with legs.

The puppy came with the apartment agreement—something I didn’t take too long to agree to. We rented out the new place a few months after graduating school. Luhan had magically convinced us to move in together. A year after that big event, I found myself working shifts at a Pharmacy until I could find a job that went with my education.

Ignoring Luhan, Dubu barked happily and hopped off the bed to scurry out of the door as I sat up. He must have run into Luhan, because he said, “Careful. If I step on you, I’m sorry.”

Curious at what he was up to so early on a weekend, I dragged myself out of bed. I straightened myself out in front of a mirror before wandering down the hall and into the kitchen. Luhan was in front of the stove in his boxers and a t-shirt and cooking… which was so unlike him. It wasn’t anything big. Just scrambled eggs.

But still. Luhan was cooking. The guy could only handle microwavable food (sometimes) and instant ramen.

Luhan jumped in surprise as I approached. “What are you doing up?”

“Dubu woke me up.”

He glared at the puppy playfully who stood by his foot curiously. “I’ll talk to you about that later. I’m busy right now.”

Dubu tilted his head, confused at his master’s sudden irritation.

I glanced over at the pan. “Why are you cooking? You never cook.”

“I was gonna make you breakfast. Is that so bad?” He pretended to be offended, waving his spatula around.

“No, not at all.” I languidly tied my arms around his middle to peck his cheek. “It’s great.”

He draped an arm over my waist and reached with his other hand to turn off the stove. The eggs were a perfect shade of gold. “But you woke up too early and ruined my whole surprise. I was looking forward to seeing your face when you woke up and saw breakfast ready.”

I grinned. “Did you put salt?”

“Yeah.”

“Good, you remembered.”

Luhan gasped dramatically. “Am I that bad at cooking?”

“You set an oven mitt on fire!” I pointed out. “I thought oven mitts were supposed to be repellent about that stuff, but you came along.”

He dismissed his embarrassing mishap with another topic. “Sit. I made coffee.”

I only took notice now of the freshly brewed coffee with two cups idly standing beside the pot. “Eggs and coffee? What’s the occasion? Is someone dying?”

“I can be thoughtful!”

He evenly divided the eggs over two plates that were already set up on the table with utensils by its side. Retrieving leftovers from last night in the fridge, I arranged them over the table before sitting beside him to eat. Our apartment wasn’t fully equipped with kitchen supplies when we had gotten it months ago and ended up needing to steal the utensils from Luhan’s old dorm room with Sehun. What Sehun used for chopsticks now, we’d never know.

I carefully taste tested Luhan’s cooking and nodded to myself when the thing didn’t make me feel like choking or crying for water. From the ground, Dubu barked at us.

“Your bowl still has food.” I pointed the dog towards his little space by the corner of the living room.

Luhan peered down at him. “I think he just wants attention.”

I laughed as the puppy ran around in hopeless circles. Luhan looked as if he was debating whether it was safe to give him eggs or not. I spun my ring idly with my thumb while I gathered more food on my plate, not realizing I was so hungry.

Luhan seemed to notice. “I’ll get the ring resized soon.”

I smiled down at the engagement ring that hung loosely around my finger. It was silver banded with a diamond that sat dazzlingly on it. About a week ago, Luhan had apparently bought it in a hurry and didn’t take time consider what size I’d be. He proposed at my old apartment’s building rooftop—where we began—after preparing a candlelit picnic during our anniversary. I was completely caught by surprise by the whole event after he had pretended the whole day that he forgot our anniversary, which annoyed me until he dragged me up the rooftop to showcase his surprise.

I said yes before I could even think twice.

“We should go get it resized before next week.” I gulped coffee before speaking again. “Where are we going today?”

“Meeting Junmyeon, remember? He’s bringing Hyejung.”

I turned excited at that. It had been a little over a week since I’ve last seen my old roommate. She graduated with some fancy degree. “But seriously. What’s the occasion? You’re being extra nice and I can’t get used to this.”

He paused to sigh. “I promise to help out from time to time with the chores.”

“Promise?”

“Promise. But...”

I waited for him to finish his sentence, though Luhan only began to chew slowly as if buying himself time. “Did you have a super huge favor to ask me or something?”

“I—”

“We are not getting a bouncy house online!”

“I wanted it like two weeks ago! I’m over it now,” he assured me, surprised I was even still bringing up his I-need-a-bouncy-house phase. “Plus the reviews online were horrible anyway.”

“No way...” I dropped my chopsticks with another thought—another explanation that could answer why he was acting so strangely nice. “Luhan, if you wanted a kid right now, you know we just started out life after school like a year ago. And we hadn’t even unpacked all the boxes with our stuff yet for some reason. I know my mom asked for grandchildren or whatever but the wedding isn’t until the summer—”

Luhan abruptly choked on his food and coughed. Panicking, I reacted by immediately bring his mug of coffee to his lips. Luhan downed half of the drink to save himself.

I patted his back and stared in horror. “Wait, that wasn’t it?”

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