One year later…

     Her fingers lightly the new mahogany table that sat in the middle of the dining room. The man behind her cleared his throat and she turned her attention back to him. “Sorry,” she said, “Just taking it all in.”

     He handed her the clipboard and she promptly put her signature on the line. With a tilt of his hat, the delivery man exited her new apartment. It had taken a while to find this place, but she knew that this was exactly what she needed. New furniture, new environment, new everything for a new start in life. The members had slowly moved out, saying that without Namjoon, they should not be allowed to stay there. They all left, until she was the only one there. However, she couldn’t stay in the place. It held too many painful memories so she had sought out a fresh apartment once she had the chance and with luck, she stumbled upon the place she was standing at currently.

     It wasn’t the most extravagant place to live, but it was in a quiet neighbourhood. She felt safe here. With the delivery man also gone, Daeun felt the emptiness of the atmosphere press onto her even more. She sighed and proceeded to carry the moving boxes from the doorway into the kitchen. They were the final touches to the place with the larger furniture already put into place.

     From the box, she first took out the photo frames. Jungkook had lovingly gifted them to her when he heard that she was moving. They consisted of pictures he had captured in the past year and seeing their familiar faces made her smile. It had been a while since she last saw them – the majority had parted to pursue their independent dreams. The last picture she put up on the shelf was one of the two of them. She his face through the picture tenderly. Something soft brushed by her leg. She looked down.

     “You miss him too, don’t you, Jinnie?” she cooed and picked up her puppy from the ground. He squirmed in her arms and she planted a kiss on his button nose before setting it down on the ground again.

     Jinnie ran around the largely empty area, yipping and exploring all the corners. A soft chuckle escaped her lips as she watched him jump onto the sofa and close his eyes, exhausted after his burst of energy. She knew that he would be up and running around her soon enough.

     Satisfied with the placement of the photos, she moved onto the next box in the kitchen. One box had already been opened and all its contents placed accordingly. As she was sorting through the second box, a sudden pang of yearning hit her when she remembered who this second set of silverware was for. Taken by surprise, she blinked away the sudden tears and collapsed onto a chair.

     “Oh, who am I kidding,” she said into the hollow, “I miss him too.”

     With that statement, all the tiredness that had been accumulating on her body through moving alone crashed onto her at once. She buried her head in her palms. A small whine came from the sofa and the quick brush against her leg before Jinnie settled down by her leg.

     She missed him – the yearning for him nearly choking her. Everything from his smile to his annoying habit of being unable to quit smoking. She would do anything right now to feel his embrace around her; to hear his voice in her ear; to see him once again.

     She must have fallen asleep as the next thing she knew, she awoke with the sorest neck. Jinnie was no longer by her side but scratching its empty food bowl. With a quick glance at the clock, she confirmed that she had fallen asleep for an hour or so. Rolling her neck once, she relieved it of its tension and then trudged to her doorway again.

     She vaguely remembered packing extra dog food somewhere in one of the boxes. Upon reaching the door, she realized that all the boxes were no longer there. All of them had been unpacked and their empty shells neatly folded and propped against the wall.

     At first, her mind could not comprehend where she may have misplaced the item. But once the possibility hit her, her heart skipped a beat.

     She ran past the kitchen and missed the puppy eyes that Jinnie gave her. Passing the dining room, she sped towards the one place that she had yet to enter. She saw that the door had been opened and a briefcase along with a jacket had been thrown on the bed.

     A click of the bathroom door caused her to spin towards it. He walked out and she charged right at him. She didn’t care that he was still wet from his shower or that his face had stubble. All she cared about was that he was home.

     She smothered him in kisses and then allows him to hold her smaller hands in his.

     “Do you remember what I said to you a year ago?”

     He can feel her stiffen in his embrace. His eyes follow every detail of her face, gazing lovingly at her. “I told you that I liked you. And then I said that I was dying.”

     She wants to break away, the emotions from that memory suddenly crushing her.

     He doesn’t let go. “On my flight back home, I was thinking about that day. I was thinking what if that doctor never switched my file with the other patient’s. What if they never made me believe I had that incurable disease?”

     He places her hands down by her side and gently holds her face.

     “The answer came when I envisioned your face. I would have never realized what you meant to me. And I really would have died, knowing that you would not be by my side.”

     Their hands brushed by each other and she quickly retracted it away.

     “Are you really avoiding holding hands with me after hugging me earlier on?” he .

     “I did not hug you ,” she stuck her tongue out at him, “You had a towel around your waist. Also, don’t ever speak of that again. Just a moment of weakness.”

     He laughed, quickly reached out and grabbed her hand in his. He didn’t need to look at her to feel her glare, but she didn’t pull away. “I was only gone for two weeks,” he again. They were out at the park taking a stroll after dinner.

     She had suggested that they go for ice cream as her treat that he was finally back.

     “Did you really miss me that much?” He bent down and unhooked Jinnie from its leash. It ran around in circles around its parents’ legs before bounding away into the field with newfound freedom.

     She knew his words had been meant to taunt her and they met their target. “Yah, Jung Hoseok,” she hit him on the arm.

     Hoseok walked up to her and kissed her lightly on the lips. It caused her to flush with his public display of affection. “I missed you too,” he grinned and his usual boyish smirk danced on his lips.

     When he had returned home, he had found her sleeping at the kitchen table. He knew how tiring it must have been for her to move into their new home by herself so despite how fatigued he was from his business trip, he had unpacked everything else.

     “Shut up,” she whispered back. Her legs were unsteady and he took her hands in his as they continued to walk along the park.

     “Hey, I have a crazy suggestion,” Hoseok says out of the blue.

     “Crazier than your normal suggestions?” she teases him.

     “Maybe,” he says.

     “Okay, I’ll bite. Tell me this crazy suggestion of yours.”

     He stops walking, hand still in hers. “Before I tell you, can you do something for me first?”

     She studies him. He was acting strange. She doesn’t question him and nods.

     “Stand on that rock over there and tell me what you see.”

     She does as he asks and after momentarily pausing, she tells him, “Grass. Lots of it.”

     “Tell me more.”

     She regards him quizzically but continues on, “A family over there with their dog playing Frisbee. Jinnie trying to play with them too.” They both laughed.

     “How ‘bout over there?” he asks, pointing away from them.

     She turns her back towards him and squints.

     “The street we were just walking on. There are people walking on it like we were. There are more dogs. Gosh, I think that kid is walking at least three of ‘em. And… the corner boutique where they make vegetarian or paleo or organic – whatever that trend is called – desserts.” She was running out of things to say. “You’re being extremely ambiguous right now. How about – ”

     “Do you want to know what I see?” he interrupted her.

     She tried to turn to face him, but was found to be stuck in place as he held her firmly there. The curiosity that itches within her nearly makes her want to break out of his hold, but she knows enough to not turn around.

     “That street you see, to me it’s a simple pathway. I’m walking down it. There are flowers in the field beside me. There are a lot of people just watching me. But I’m not alone. I’m walking towards you, dressed in the most beautiful white gown.”

     Her heart is pounding in her chest.

     “That child you saw, it’s not simply the kid next door. It’s our child. He has the most beautiful eyes and the cutest smile, things that he has inherited from his equally attractive parents.”

     She chuckles.

     “You know I’ve never been the best with words – I’m more of an action guy. I only have one request for you: let me prove to you that I can take care of you for the rest of my life.”

     Now she turned to face Hoseok. He had his head down, rummaging into the pocket of his gray sweatpants, hair swept back by the black snapback he had stuck on before they left the house. She couldn’t help but laugh in the heart of the moment.

     “Jung Hoseok, are you going to propose to me, in sweatpants, a t-shirt and a snapback?” was the thing she heard herself stutter.

     He produced from the pocket a red velvet box and opened it. He got down on one knee as she stood on the rock, looking down at him.

     “I promise that I’ll never let you get hurt; you’ll never have to spend a moment alone and I’ll never leave your side. So here’s my crazy suggestion: Chae Daeun, will you marry me?”

     She met his eyes; her heart filled to the brim with love she knew could only be for this man. “I promise,” the words she hated the most; the two words that were always filled with lies. However at that moment, she didn’t need any buzzing feeling to ensure that this man was not lying to her. She could see it in his eyes that he had meant every single word he had just said.

     She smiled.

     “Yes, you idiot. I’ll marry you.”