Yuri POV

May 1st, 2011

It’s nice to forget the past, and just be for a while.

“Where are you taking me Yul?”

Her laugh is the best in the world.

I hold Taeyeon’s eyes closed as we crunch over the dirt road at the edge of a cornfield.

Her hands wrap around my wrists softly, and I peek around her to make sure I’m not going to walk us into anything. “Just wait, you’ll see.”

Even as she leans back into my guiding embrace I can tell she is trying not to ask again.

It lasts all of 30 seconds because she is phenomenally impatient. “Are we going someplace public or private?”

“Both.”

“How is that possible?”

I know it is driving her crazy.

And to be honest, she was very good about keeping her eyes closed in the car, so I feel a little guilty keeping her in suspense for so long.

We are in Effingham, for the fireworks, ’cause it’s something she always wanted to see.

And I’ll give her every wish she could hope for, for the

rest of her life.

“Hey Yul?”

I glance up from studying, to eye my fiancée.

“Yeah?” She has an oversized red and black book behind her and I smile quickly before going back to my microbiology.

“You won’t believe what I found.”

It clicks when I remembered those colors.

“Your yearbook.” I say without looking up.

“Yeah, I thought it was packed away in storage.” She sits across the dining room table from me.

When she drops the book I glance up at her.

She’s flipping the pages as her eyes trace the images.

At least she is being quiet.

I try to read again.

“Hey Yul?”

“Yeah?” I narrow my eyes at the text, ‘RNA dependent polymerase’ and reference my notes.

I add more information to the novel forming in my notebook.

Why the I decided to become a doctor is beyond me.

It is so much work and it doesn’t help that my needy fiancée is breaking my concentration.

“Do you ever feel like you missed out on things in high school?”

My mind whirls, as I focus on the words ‘dsRNA is a replicative form of virus and specifically serves as template for genome synthesis.’

“Yul?”

I sigh, super irritated over the interruption. “What the , Tae?”

I think she winces, because for 2 ing seconds she is ing quiet. “You’ve been going for hours.”

“I’m finally getting this .”

“Can you take a break?”

I scribble a few notes about mutations, specialized proteins and viral mRNA molecules.

“Guess not.”

I glance up at Taeyeon’s frown. “Huh?”

I shake my head. “Look, I’m sorry. I’m just stressed about this class.”

I set the book aside and stretch out the kink in my neck, and when I shift I realize my is completely numb. “Wow, we need fluffier seats.”

“Why?”

“My is numb from sitting.”

“You’ve been sitting for 3 hours. I don’t think better seats will help.”

I glance over at the clock as an icy tingle races down my spine. “We were supposed to go out on our dinner date. . Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I tried. You were a little too focused.”

My stomach growls. “Well, we can go now if you want.”

Taeyeon waves me off as she directs her gaze to the book again. “I’ve already started spaghetti. It will be ready in 10 minutes.”

“Sorry,” I whisper.

“Don’t be sorry.” She smiles easily, and all is forgiven.

I stand slowly, finding more aches and pains as I uncoil.

When I finally make it over beside Taeyeon I stare down at the image of me in a cheer uniform.

I’m winking at the camera.

It is a gut check to see it, to see myself so young and athletic.

I twirl a strand of Taeyeon’s hair around my finger as she flips the page. “I’m sorry I’m not in good shape like that anymore.”

She snorts a laugh. “Stop it.” She looks up at me briefly. “Do you miss it?”

I blink at her. “High school?”

“Yes.”

“Not really.” I tap the image of my cheer coach yelling through a bullhorn. “She kinda killed the fun for me.”

Taeyeon grins. “But she got you in such good shape.”

“Shut it,” I warn teasingly.

“Do you regret not doing things? You know, when you had all the time in the world?”

I puzzle at the idea of it, running through all the things I did, all the fun times I had.

Those thoughts always bring me back to my epic mistake of getting pregnant my junior year. “I think there is more I regret doing, than not doing.”

Taeyeon doesn’t really look at me then.

I know she knows what I’m talking about.

She flips another page. “I regret not doing things. I wish I would have had more fun and not been quite so driven toward my goals.”

I arch my brow at her down turned head. “I’m pretty sure what you just said is against your religion, Miss Kim.”

“It has nothing to do with me being Religious belief.” She laughs at her own joke. “I just wish I would have done more. Enjoyed myself more and really felt the thrill of being young and invincible somewhere other than on a stage.”

I sit down in the chair beside her, pulling the yearbook closer to me so I can see it.

I stare at the pictures of my friends, letting hazy happy memories drift over me. “What do you wish you would have done?” I smirk. “Steal a car or jump out of a plane?”

“No, nothing like that. I just wish I would have done other things. Little things.”

“Like what?” I ask.

“Like watch the town fireworks in Effingham. You know, out by the fields where the cool kids always were.”

I uncover her eyes as we reach the edge of the lot.

Right here the cornfields split and the row between them goes all the way to the horizon.

“Where are we?” Taeyeon asks softly.

“On the town line.”

“Why?”

I shrug playfully as I grab for my phone and stare down at the clock on the lock screen. “You’ll see.”

The crunch of gravel behind me draws our attention as a few other people join us slowly, materializing out of the darkness.

Taeyeon shifts closer to me, because out of context it must feel pretty creepy, and I circle her waist as we stand together.

She turns to whisper in my ear. “What am I out of the loop about?”

A shock of lightening actually makes me jump.

I stare at the sky in the distance, waiting as Taeyeon presses her cheek to mine.

The rumble of thunder tumbles over us and I pull her closer.

“I feel really safe here in your arms.” Taeyeon murmurs over the slow warm wind that pulls her hair over my skin in a caress.

“I like you standing in them, angel.”

Taeyeon is half turning to kiss me when the first whistle of the fireworks cuts the night air, and then she stops.

The sky explodes in a blaze of red and though I know people are gasping around us, all I hear is her surprised yelp.

Another puff of light and another, paint the sky in a tempest of color that whirls like a vortex and shimmers like her eyes.

And then something happens that I never could have expected.

The lightning comes in shocking sharp lines to warp across the sky.

It back lights the smoke clouds leftover from the fireworks as they drift in the wind and gives me a more spectacular view than I’ve ever seen.

A view that is so surreal and amazing that I don’t know whether to look to our right and watch the firework display, or look left and watch Mother Nature.

I settle instead on staring at my wife.

And at the honest joy in her face, I have the best view there is.

2. I kinda wish I would have snuck into a movie.