- SIX -

“Excuse me?” he asked, probably confirming that what he heard was not a hallucination.

“I said let’s do it. Let’s just get married.”

Yeonseok just scoffed. He probably thought that she was drunk or might have knocked her head somewhere because right then he put his hand on her brow, and with the lingering smile he flipped her hand upside, pressed his two fingers on her wrist.

“I’m not drunk, if that’s what you think.” She told him, a bit offended.

Now Yeonseok pulled his hands back and fold his arms on the table. “No, you’re not. I just want to make sure if you said that genuinely. Because last I checked, you got a boyfriend.”

“I did.” She bit her inner cheek on the reply, trying to hold back her sadness when Sehun face popped out in her mind again.

“You did?”

“We broke up few days ago.” She looked down to her empty bowl. Her confidence suddenly disappeared when Sehun was mentioned in the talk. Of course Yeonseok knew about him, and it made her wonder if he was also the reason Yeonseok had acted indifferently all this time. Was he considering of not marrying her if she had someone else in her life?

“Look. It’s a marriage, Jisoo. It would be a whole different world for you and I don’t want you to do it out of desperation. I don’t want you to do something you will regret just to make your dad happy. You deserve to be happy too.”

Jisoo didn’t say anything about that. She wasn’t even sure how to respond, because after all what Yeonseok said wasn’t wrong at all. She knew that she deserved happiness, she wanted to marry someone she loved, and she wanted to spend the rest of her life with no regrets. But you couldn’t always get everything you want, and Jisoo had gotten so many things over the years. What about her dad?

“You know, when my mother died, it’s like the ship of our family was wrecked and we’re drowning in a stormy sea. Dad became the only one I hung on as we swayed in the five-foot tall waves, sweeping us off at the endless ocean.” She told him. Her stared on an empty gaze as the recollection of her past lingered in her imaginary view. “For a week he didn’t go to work, we spent the whole day sitting in front of TV watching my mom's favorite movies and laughing at the jokes she often gave us. And you know what he said back then? Life must keep running even though our love has torn apart.” Jisoo took a breath in and looked up, meeting Yeonseok eyes while the memories of her late mom reminisced in her mind.

Yeonseok stared at her speechlessly, carefully listening now with his both elbows on the table and hands propping his chin.

She moved on, “And during that time he acted as if there was nothing wrong with him. He’s not a complainer, and he kept his illness a secret from me. He never showed it, but I know he felt lonely every night. He worked very hard to cover it up, always with a smile, even when he had no time to sit down and talk in his terribly busy schedules.” A pause she did only to wipe a tear she didn’t even realize running down her cheek. “He did everything to make me happy, but I never did anything to mend his broken heart. He deserves better, I just want to make his last days the best day of his life. And if that day is the day I marry you, I will gladly do it for him.”

That's all Jisoo could say. She didn’t expect much, nor she even knew what to expect from this marriage. They knew that they didn’t love each other, maybe Yeonseok also did all of this on the basis of respect for her dad. So she felt greatly relieved that Yeonseok no longer questioned her feelings, for if this happened, she would probably weep again lamenting her breakup with Sehun.

Yeonseok pulled his back to lean on the chair, for some moment he stayed silent. She didn’t make out anything from his mind on that. But during the silence his both eyes were fixed only on her, and during that time Jisoo lowered her head instead of staring back at him.

“I’m not that type of guy to do something then undo it when I feel like it, FYI.” He told her. “I need to tell you this though, once we agree to do it, we’re in it together. And I don’t do let-go.”

Jisoo took a breather for a moment. She knew exactly what Yeonseok meant with his last words. But what Jisoo failed to comprehend was whether Yenseok was trying to say that she should’ve tried harder to fight for her relationship with Sehun, or he knew this whole proposal might be a bad idea and had a chance for failure as well, and he wanted to let her know that he could do better? Or what?

She was scared to think about what's going to happen tomorrow, or next year, or ten years from now. She never thought of her future with anyone but Sehun, and now there’s Yeonseok, Jisoo had no idea what to do.

“Will you be okay with this?” asked he again.

“Honestly? No. I’ll be lying if I say I’m okay with all of this. But I keep telling myself that maybe…” she flattened her lips, protruding, “Maybe marrying you is a blessing in disguise.”

Yeonseok paused again for a moment, before then he nodded eventually.

“Maybe it is.”

They finished the talk with a comforting pat on Jisoo’s hand, it’s a done deal.

Yeonseok dropped her off and paid a visit to her dad that evening after the talk, and Jisoo left the both men alone so Yeonseok could, as she guessed, let her dad know about their marriage plan. Surprisingly, her dad’s condition gradually improved after their private meeting. The team doctors said that his platelets count increased greatly, LFT level’s back to normal, his face looked brighter than the previous days, and the most visible was how doctor Kim Hyunshik looked more cheerful when people visited him. Jisoo was very happy to see him, it was nice to see smile now decorating his face again.

The next two days, Yeonseok took her out for dinner. Jisoo found that the man seemed to be much more friendly and warm as soon as their deal went by. Instead of only giving her a polite nod or smile, he let out a genuine beam more openly. So the plan was, they would be having family dinner at the end of the week, even though their parents had known each other well, Yeonseok's mother wanted them to stick to tradition and even invited her aunt's family—because technically Jongdae's mom was hers too—to join them. And if everything went well, they might be able to ‘sneak’ her dad from the hospital for a few good hours.

“Um, I have something to give you.” The dinner had long finished when he fished out something of his pants pocket and put a small black suede box near her hand. “Open it.” He instructed.

Jisoo did as he said, pulling up the top lid to find a pair of engagement rings in it. It was a rose gold ring of solitaire stone with a diamond halo surrounding it, and came with a unique matching thin diamond band. She was never into jewelry before, the only embellishment she still wore today was her late mom’s morganite necklace. And coincidentally, the stone in the ring was the same color. Jisoo put her hand instantly on her upper chest, where the pendant was hanging in the middle of her necklace.

“I know this is not the greatest proposal ever, and you might not expect me to do this. But back in the US, a bride-to-be is always adorned with diamonds. And I thought of getting you something to go with the necklace.”

She had nothing to say, seriously. Why was he so nice and considerate? It’s too overwhelming she was stunned. She could only hope Yeonseok wasn’t that type who would pamper his lady with gifts and attention because, honestly, who didn’t like it? And if anything, it was her weak spot and unrele