“Jinki!”

The brunet looked up from the cake he was icing at the sound of his mother calling. It had been really busy at the shop lately, and Jinki had decided to help his parents out. Though, at this particular moment, he was starting to regret it a little. He didn’t expect to be so busy that he wouldn’t have much time for his friends. It wouldn’t have been as bad if he weren’t missing out on time with Aerin. They were getting closer and he didn’t want to backtrack in their relationship. Things were going so well that he had even been considering finally asking her on a real date. Unfortunately if he did that now, he wouldn’t know if or when it would actually happen. Jinki sighed. Sometimes he hated that he was such a good son.

“Lee Jinki!”

He snapped out of his thoughts when his mother called him again. It must be important if she called him twice. He took off his apron and went to the front counter. His mother stood there tapping her foot impatiently “What took you so long?”

“Sorry, I was working on one of the cakes.”

“Ah such a good boy,” Mrs.Lee pinched her son’s cheek. “Well I thought you might want to say hello to an old friend.”

An old friend?

Suddenly, Jinki became all too aware of the other person standing there. All the blood drained from his face. What was she doing here? Where had she been all this time? Why was she back in his life? Why now, when he was finally moving on?

She spoke first “Jinki-oppa, it’s rude not to greet someone you haven’t seen in a long time.”

Rude? He was the rude one? She was the one who had left him all those years ago claiming she wanted to experience other things. She was the one who said she needed time and didn’t even bother to contact him for four years! Jinki shook his head “I’m sorry, but I find it hard to greet people who have hurt me.” He turned away from her and went back to his work. He had let Park Sunyoung into his life once and he refused to do it again.

Aerin stares at Jinki from across the room. He seemed so out of it lately. He always looked tired and he barely pays attention during lectures. She’s never seen him like this before and it worries her. She wants to ask what’s bothering him, but she doesn’t want to pry. She leans her head in her hand and sighs. She had talked to Taeyeon and Gwiboon, but they didn’t seem to know what was bothering him either. It would be less concerning if he was only like this for a day or two, but he’d been like this for a little over a week. Aerin doesn’t know what to do, considering she’s never been in this situation before.

“Just talk to him.” Aerin looked over at Onew who was hanging around her less and less these days. She wanted to know what was going on with him too. All of sudden, he only started showing up every now and then. He rarely showed when she was with Gwiboon and Taeyeon, and didn’t show at all when she was with Jinki. It was weird and mildly unsettling.

“What do I say to him? I don’t want him to think that I’m being nosy or anything like that.”

Onew rolled his eyes “He is not going to think that. He’ll probably just tell you what’s wrong. Just talk to him.”

“Fine.”

When class was over, Aerin packed her things and prepared to talk to Jinki about what was going on. Though when she looked at him, she noticed he hadn’t moved from his chair. In fact his head was on the desk, resting on top of his arms. Had he slept through class? That definitely wasn’t like Jinki. Aerin walks over to him and knows for sure that he’s asleep. He looks more at ease than she’s seen him in days. The calm on his face makes her not want to wake him. She gently places a finger on his cheek then proceeds to slowly move across his features. He looks so peaceful and beautiful and just as her finger reaches his jawline...Jinki jolts awake.

Aerin jumps back and looks almost as shocked as he does. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you.”

The brunet stretches and shakes his head “No, it’s better that you did.”

“Were you having a bad dream?”

“Something like that, more like a bad memory.” Unfortunately, the present situation wasn’t much better: his mother had told him that Sunyoung would be spending the semester at their university. It wasn’t something he was looking forward to. Jinki looks back up at Aerin “Don’t worry, the bad stuff is all over thanks to you.”

The girl tilts her head “Are you sure? You seem to be really out of it lately. I’m kind of worried.”

Jinki stands and pats her head “You have nothing to worry about. I’ve just been busy with helping my parents at the cake shop.” He hated lying to Aerin, but bringing up Sunyoung right now would only make things worse. He didn’t want her worrying about him. He could handle this himself. “I’m just adjusting to having work and school. I should have it all balanced in no time.”

Aerin looked at him skeptically, but nodded nonetheless. If Jinki didn’t want to tell her what was wrong, she wouldn’t press him. “You know that you can tell me if something’s bothering you, right?”

“In that case, there is one thing I’m a bit concerned about,” he smiled. “Should I tell you?”

Aerin nodded. She wanted to prove that she could be a good friend and help with his problems. Although if this was a problem, why was he smiling?

“I’m worried about what you’ll say if I ask you on a date.”

Aerin’s brain couldn’t process the words that had just been spoken to her. Did Jinki want to ask her on a date? Her legs felt weak and she had to steady herself on the desk behind her.

“Hello! Say something!” Onew had appeared, looking half annoyed and half amused.

Aerin cleared “T-that’s not something y-you have to w-worry about.”

“Oh?” Jinki couldn’t help but chuckle at her stuttering. He hadn’t expected things to go so smoothly. “Well if you say that, it makes the next part easy: Aerin, will you go on a date with me?”

Aerin couldn’t breathe. The obvious answer was yes. She liked Jinki. She liked him more than she had liked anyone in a long time. She knew what she wanted to say, but…that was it: but. There was that nagging thought that something would go wrong. That Jinki would be just like the others. That somehow this would end with her in tears.

“Say yes.” The redhead looked over at Onew who placed a hand on her shoulder.

“But—”

Onew shook his head “You know he’s not like them.”

Aerin nodded. Onew was right; Jinki was nothing like anyone she had ever met before. She turned back to the male in question. “Yes, I would like to go on a date with you.”

Jinki smiled “Well then, all my worries are taken care of.” He picked up his backpack “Should we grab a snack before heading home?”

Aerin nodded once more as they headed out. She couldn’t help grinning from ear to ear as they headed out. She hadn’t been this happy in a long time.

Jinki is tired. His mind won’t stop racing with all the thoughts in his head. He should be jumping with joy since the girl he likes agreed to go on a date with him. He wants more than anything to be happy about the situation, but he can’t. All his thoughts lately have been focused on Luna. No, Sunyoung. She left you. You can’t call her by that name anymore. Yet somehow, she’s all he can think about. He has so many questions to ask her. Why did she come back? Did she want to see him? Did she want to get back together? Why did she wait so long? Jinki drops his head onto the back of the sofa; this is hurting his brain. Even if Sunyoung did answer all of his questions, what did it matter? He had moved on. Well, he was trying to. That had been the whole point of asking Aerin to go out with him. This was the first time in years since he actually had feelings for someone. This was his chance to move on. So why was he continuing to look back?

“Hello? Anybody home?”

Jinki looks up just as Jonghyun comes through the door. The shorter male’s hair is wet and he has a towel hung around his shoulders. “Coming from the gym?”

“Yeah,” Jonghyun says as he looks around the room. After a few seconds, his eyes fall back onto Jinki “Are you okay?”

“Yeah why?”

Jonghyun gestures with his arm around the room “You’re sitting in the dark.”

The brunet looks around and realizes his friend his right. He had been so caught up with thinking about Luna, that he hadn’t even realized the sun had gone down. “I’m fine, just thinking about something.”

Jonghyun raises an eyebrow as he drops his gym bag on the floor. He knows his friend and he knows that Jinki only loses track of time when something extremely important is occupying his mind. “What’s going on?” he asks as he takes a seat next to the brunet on the sofa.

Jinki isn’t sure if he should say anything. He doesn’t want to worry Jonghyun, but if he lies, the younger man will know. Besides, he could use some advice. Despite his childish manner, Jjong was good at giving advice. “It’s Luna.”

“What?” Jjong blinks “I thought you were over her.”

“Well I was until she showed up a few days ago.” He runs a hand through his hair “She came into my parents’ shop a few days ago and I found out she’s going to be here for a while. I saw her. I spoke to her. I tried to act like I was over her and that I didn’t care, but...I can’t stop thinking.”

Silence falls over them. It’s a lot to take in. Jonghyun remembers how Jinki was when Luna left. He remembers how Jinki refused to talk to anyone. He remembers Jinki trying to delude himself into believing that she would come back. He also remembers Jinki getting back up and trying to put the pieces of his life back together. Not only his pieces, but now he was trying to help someone else.

“What about Aerin?” Jonghyun asks.

Jinki had been thinking about her too. This wasn’t fair to her, especially after finally admitting how he felt about her. “I asked her out and she said yes. I want to be happy. I am happy. I should be happy but my mind keeps wondering about Sunyoung. I have so many unanswered questions and all I can do is wonder about my past when I should be focused on Aerin.”

“You like Aerin, right?”

“Of course I do.”

“What do you think of when you think of Aerin?”

“What?”

“It’s an exercise,” Jonghyun explains. “Gwiboon and I did it when we went to a couples’ retreat together. Now when you think of Aerin, what do you think of?”

“I think of sunshine. Once she opens up, she’s a really warm person. I think about snow and how we both like the cold. I think about holding her hand or having coffee together. I think about how she’s helping me in ways she doesn’t even know about.” Jinki could go on for days about Aerin. That’s when he realizes it: he’s fallen for her. Not petty-crush fallen, more like she’s-changed-my-world fallen. “But if I feel this way about Aerin, why do I have so many questions for Sunyoung?”

“That’s normal,” Jonghyun pats his friend’s shoulder. “You just need closure from her. She left you with no real explanation so it’s natural that you have questions. Just talk to her. Ask her everything you need to know and you’ll feel better once it’s over.”

Jinki nods. Jonghyun is right; once he has his answers, he can move on with his life. “Thanks, when did you get so good at relationship advice?”

Jonghyun chuckles “When you hang around Gwiboon long enough, it inevitable.”

Jink makes a mental note to thank Gwiboon later. He also thinks he should meet with Sunyoung as soon as possible so they can talk. He needs to clear up things with Sunyoung, so he can give his all to being with Aerin.

“How about this dress?”

“I like it!”

“Eh it’s a little…”

Aerin sighs as she puts yet ANOTHER dress back on the hanger. It was already the night of her date and she had nothing to wear. Onew suggested that she wear one of the dresses she already had, but she hadn’t listened. She’d told him that this was a special occasion that demanded she but something new. “I’m never going to find anything,” the redhead continued searching for something, anything decent.

“Well we wouldn’t be in this situation if someone,” Taeyeon shoots an accusatory glance at Gwiboon “hadn’t made us wait until the very last minute.”

The cat-eyed girl rolled her eyes “Well excuse me for having a life. Aerin insisted that the three of us shop together and obviously the opinion of the resident fashionista is important to her or she wouldn’t have waited.”

That wasn’t exactly it, but Aerin didn’t bother to argue. She did want their opinion, but really she thought the shopping trip would be a fun thing to do as friends. Although if she’d known things would turn out like this, she would’ve just taken Onew up on his advice.

“I found something!” Taeyeon cheers as she pulls a white knee-length dress with blue straps and a blue butterfly print along the bottom off the rack.

“It’s beautiful,” Aerin says, entranced by the pattern.

Gwiboon looks over the dress with a critical eye before giving a nod of approval “If Aerin likes it, then I won’t argue?”

Said girl looks at her in disbelief “If that was the case, we would’ve been done hours ago!”

Taeyeon bursts into laughter and Gwiboon can’t help but smile at how much Aerin has grown. She was no longer the girl they found in the closet when they first met. No, she was louder and more sure of herself. Gwiboon is proud of the girl she sees before her.

Jinki sits at the table tapping his fingers impatiently. He had been waiting for Sunyoung so they could finally talk. He wanted to meet with her earlier, but today was the only time she was free. This meeting was cutting into his date preparation time. To say that he was annoyed was an understatement. Nonetheless, he’s glad when Sunyoung comes running over to him.

“I’m sorry,” she pants as she tries to catch her breath “I got caught up in a conversation with a professor and lost track of time.”

“It’s fine,” Jinki gestures to the seat across from him.

She sits down. For a moment, there’s an awkward silence before she speaks “How have you been?”

Jinki has been a lot of things since she left. He’s been depressed, anxious, scared, worried, and wondering. Yet he’s also been happy, relaxed, confident, and sure of himself. He’s hit rock bottom, but he climbed out of the hole and feels like he’s standing on solid ground. “I need answers. Real answers about what happened all those years ago.”

Sunyoung looks down at her hands “I know. I’m sorry that I left without a proper explanation. I know I owe you at least that much.”

“Why did you leave?”

For a moment, she says nothing. Maybe she can’t find the words to explain how she was feeling back then. Maybe she doesn’t remember. Jinki doesn’t care if it’s a lie or the truth, he just needs something to occupy the hole in his mind that doesn’t understand why she left him.

“I was scared.” Was that it? No, there’s more. “Jinki, I loved you, I did. But I was too young to settle down. I wasn’t ready to be with one person for the rest of my life. You were my first love, my only love. I wanted to experience other loves, other places and other people. I knew I wouldn’t be able to do that if we had stayed together. I would’ve wound up hurting you even more. I thought that breaking things off would do the least possible damage.”

The least possible damage? Jinki wants to yell at her. He wants to scream that was the worst damage he’d suffered in his life. He wants to shout about being heartbroken and being afraid to put his trust in anyone ever again. She thought that crushing his heart and leaving him to suffer was the least possible damage?!

Jinki knows she’s right. A clean break hurt. It was one of the most hurtful things imaginable. However, he knows that staying together would’ve hurt more. She wouldn’t have been happy and as a result, he wouldn’t have been either. He hadn’t wanted her to be miserable. If she was happier without him, then breaking it off really had been the best course of action. Staying together would’ve ultimately made them both bitter and angry.

“Thank you,” he says, looking her in the eyes for the first time. Jinki feels free. The ties that bound them together were finally broken and he could give his heart to Aerin.

Aerin finally has everything she needs for her date and she’s more than excited. She thanks Taeyeon and Gwiboon for helping her pick out a dress and offers to buy them lunch.

“Well, I never say no to free food,” Gwiboon smiles proudly as they enter the food court.

“Is your wallet ready?” Taeyeon whispers “You know she’ll probably want something expensive.”

Aerin laughs “It’s alright, I’m in a good mood anyway.”

“Suit yourself,” Taeyeon shrugs her shoulders just before she bumps into Gwiboon’s back. “You know you shouldn’t just stop—” The blonde realizes her friend is practically frozen and follows her gaze. She sees it. She sees what Gwiboon sees. It’s not pretty. Unlike Gwiboon, Taeyeon recovers quickly and snaps her fingers in front of her friend’s face. They both turn to get Aerin, but it’s too late.

Jinki is sitting and holding hands with a girl. They talk for a bit then they both stand. She kisses him on the cheek before waving goodbye. He leaves without even noticing her. Gwiboon and Taeyeon pull her away from the scene. She doesn’t resist. She doesn’t fight against them. She doesn’t cry. What good will it do her? Her last bit of hope in humanity has been crushed.

“Why are you here?!”

“I need to talk to her!”

Aerin hears voices. The two voices are yelling at each other. Was it her parents again? Were they arguing about Onew?

“It’s not that.” Aerin looks over and sees the bunny boy sitting next to her on the bed. “You’re friends are standing up for you.”

She groans as she sits up and looks at him “What friends?” The ones that lied to her? The ones that led her on a path to fall for a playboy? “They are not my friends.”

“They are your friends!”

“They set me up! They knew what kind of person he was, and encouraged our relationship anyway.”

Onew shook his head “I saw their faces. Gwiboon and Taeyeon were just as shocked as you were.”

“How would you know?!” Aerin glared “You weren’t even there! You haven’t been there for a while now! Are you gonna leave me too?!”

“I have always been there,” he held her hand tightly. “I am here whenever you need me, but you have real friends out there who are looking out for you too.”

“W-why?” Aerin’s voice cracked as tears streaked down her face. “Why would he do this? I thought he was like you.”

“Ask him.”

“What?”

“Ask him why,” Onew repeated. “Make him explain himself to you. He owes you an explanation.”

Onew was right. She deserved to know what was going on. Even if she didn’t like it, at least she would know the truth. Aerin took a deep breath as Onew helped her out of the bed. He held her hand tight and gave her a reassuring nod: she could do this.

When Aerin opens the door to her room, she sees Gwiboon and Taeyeon effectively blocking Jinki from getting in. They really are her friends. They were trying their best to keep her from getting hurt any more. She was at least grateful for that. However, she knows she has to talk to him. She needs to know for herself what happened at that table. “Let him in,” she says just above a whisper. Gwiboon and Taeyeon look back at her in surprise, but ultimately respect her wishes. They step back and move to either side of Aerin. The redhead smiles at them “Thank you. Can we have some privacy?”

“But—” Gwiboon starts to protest, but Taeyeon shakes her head.

The blonde grabs her friend’s hand and pulls her out of the room “Yell if you need us.”

Aerin smiles for a split second before turning to Jinki. He looks just as nervous as she does. Was it because he had something to hide? She gestures for him to sit and they both take a seat on the sofa.

She doesn’t know what to say. Neither does he. There was no right way to start a conversation that would end badly.

“I’m sorry,” Jinki finally speaks up. “I should’ve told you.”

Aerin knew this was coming. So why does it make her chest hurt so bad? “Who is she?”

“Her name is Sunyoung. We dated a long time ago.”

Sunyoung? Luna? She was the girl who broke his heart. Why was he meeting with her? He still has feelings for her. Of course he did. They had been together long before Aerin had even entered the picture. He had intended to marry her. Of course he would jump at the chance of getting back together with her. “Why did you ask me out?”

“What?”

“Why did you ask me out if you were just going to get back with her?!” Aerin clasped her hands over . She couldn’t believe she had just yelled at him. The only person she’d ever been bold enough to yell at was Onew.

Jinki’s eyes widened then he took Aerin’s hands and held them tight “Look at me.”

The girl was shaking. She couldn’t look him in the eye right now. If she did, a river of tears would fall down her face.

“Please look at me,” Jinki said a bit more forcefully. This was not a request, it was a command. It took a moment, but Aerin did look up at him. Jinki doesn’t think he’s ever seen so much sadness in a person’s eyes. “I asked you out because I like you. I like you so much. I met with Sunyoung to close that relationship. I wanted to make sure my whole heart was available to you. Aerin, I want to be with you.”

Aerin can’t believe this. How can she? She knows what she saw. But she also knows Jinki and the person she thought he was. Was he telling the truth? Was he lying?

“He’s telling the truth.” Aerin looks at Onew who’s resting a hand on her shoulder. “You can trust him. You can be happy with him. Let yourself be happy.”

Let yourself be happy. Nothing else needs to be said as Aerin closes her eyes and kisses Jinki. The brunet is shocked for a second, then pulls her close. This is everything Aerin has ever wanted. This is what happiness feels like.

Jinki slowly pulls back and looks at Aerin worriedly “Why are you crying?”

Aerin smiles up at him “You make me so happy.”

Jinki stood at the bridge patiently waiting for her flowers in one hand, the other in his pocket. He could feel the small velvet box clasped in his fingers. This was the day he had been waiting for. He’d been here before, but today was different. Before this had been the first stop, today it was the last. Of course after today, they would be starting a whole new chapter in their lives. Today he would finally ask her to be his forever.

There she was: Aerin Holt. She wore a white dress with blue butterflies on it. Her hair was tied back into a bun, although a few strands fell loose. She was as beautiful as she was the day he met her two years ago. Maybe she was even more beautiful now. She wasn’t the timid girl he had met. No, she was confident and more than capable of standing on her own two feet. He was grateful that she remained standing with him. Jinki couldn’t wait to show her how much more he’d grown to love her.

Aerin smiled when she reached her boyfriend. Even though they’d been together for two years, calling Jinki her boyfriend was still kind of weird. Onew hasn’t been around since she and Jinki had made things official. Of course he didn’t leave without saying goodbye. He had told her that she was no longer in need of his services. As much as she missed her friend, Onew had been right. She had real friends now. Friends who had her back no matter what. And she had Jinki. Her boyfriend who loved her as much as she loved him. Love, even after all this time the word still gave her tingles up her spine “These are for you,” he handed her a bouquet of pink roses. He knew these were her favorite.

“Thank you.” She looked up at him curiously “You’ve been leading me around the city all day, what’s going on?”

Jinki doesn’t respond and just kneels down on one knee. “You know what’s happening, right? I’m pledging to love you. I want to be with you for the rest of my life. I want to continue to make you happy, the same way you make me happy. Aerin, will you marry me?”

“Yes!”

A/N: Well that’s the end. I hope it was worth waiting for. Thanks for sticking it out with me. Until next time, subscribe, comment, etc.

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