“Marry me!”, Sohyun said with her forehead still against his. While receiving the warmth from his hands cupping her face, she continued, “You stay in your house and I’ll stay in mine. Let it be a secret. We will tell them when the time is right.”

Unable to believe his ears, Seungho asked her, “You want to marry me secretly?!” and gave her a wholesome smile on hearing her proposal, showing his dimples.

“If we get married, then no one can oppose us!”

He planted a kiss on her forehead and asked, “Are you sure of it? seriously?”. His thumb never took a break from caressing her face.

“Tell me ‘yes’”, she said grabbing his shirt.

“If you say so, then marriage it is! Our marriage!”, he gave his reply and pulled her in for a tight embrace. She perfectly fit in his arms. Being in his embrace, she sought solace in his scent and warmth. She noticed a scrap on his shoulder and immediately pulled back, “What happened? Are you alright?”

“You are the doctor. You should tell me.”

“Did you fail in your language subject? That’s not the answer for my question!”, she asked him anxiously.

“On the way, the bus had an accident, a minor one, it might be from that. I’m alright!”, he told her nonchalantly and pulled her in to resume their embrace. She resisted and stood up.

She dragged him to a room which looked like a dormitory with two beds and desks, but it was empty except for the medical equipment. Seungho asked, “Is this your room?”

“No, I stay in the next room. We use this for treating elderly who can’t find the camp accessible”.

She asked him to take a seat on the bed, while she brought a bowl of water to clean the wound. 

“No band aids or dressing?”, he asked.

“No need coz it’ll heal faster if uncovered, but watch out for signs of infection”, she replied cleaning his wound.

He nodded and asked, “If it’s not that serious, then why do you look so worried?”.

His eyes followed her expecting a reply while she took the water to the bathroom to dispose it. As she washed the bowl, she asked him, “Don’t you know about ‘what if’ situations?”

He followed her to the bathroom, leaned on the wall beside the door and waited till she placed the bowl on the shelf after washing it. When she was about to walk out of the bathroom, he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her towards him. As she looked up surprised, he gazed at her and said with soft voice, “If we can be together in next life, then I don’t fear death. But if this is our last life on earth, then…”, his voice subsided, and his eyes darted between her eyes and lips. He tightened his hold on her closing the gap between them. His hand moved up on her back and rested behind her neck stabilizing the proximity between them. She felt the desire in his eyes and his heated breadth on her cheek. With her whole body wrapped in his, she could feel their hearts beating against their rib cage in sync though rapidly. When she realized what’s gonna happen next, she turned crimson and said in a stuttering voice, “Here…”. “Looks like they are gonna make out!”, a voice of a granny interrupted them. Since the granny was partially deaf, although to her she was whispering into the ears of other two grannies with her, she spoke out loud enough to be heard.

Seungho and Sohyun pulled away startled and stood embarrassed with red cheeks in front of the three grannies who came for a check-up but instead witnessed them like that. Both bowed repeatedly as an apology. Grannies were also embarrassed as they were caught sneaking on them.

Sohyun invited them in for the check-up. Seungho sat on the bed with smile while watching her conversing with the grannies. The granny who made the comment, sat beside him after finishing her check-up and waited for the others. She asked him,

“Girlfriend?”

He shook her head in denial and said, “Fiancée”.

“When is the marriage?”

“As soon as she sneaks out of her house in Seoul”

“Gonna Elope?”, granny asked widening her eyes.

He shook his head again and said, “Gonna get married secretly”

“All the best”, granny said excitedly.

“Thanks”, he replied with a grin.

Sohyun’s first night in Seoul after the internship is full of nervousness as her transformation from Ms. to Mrs. is just a night away. In the morning, Mrs. Kim came to her room and woke her up. After a long time, Sohyun felt the comfort of waking up in her room. Mrs. Kim saw her rolling on the bed struggling to wake up, and said, “You are gonna be late!”. She immediately sat straight on the bed. Looking at her sleepy face, Mrs. Kim sat beside her, held her hands and asked, “You’ll be back after registering your marriage, right?”

“What are you afraid of?”

“Afraid that you’ll fly away”

“I’m your daughter before anyone else’s wife”, she assured.

Mrs. Kim hugged her and gave her a present. She opened to find a beautiful dress that her mom has prepared it for this special day.

During the breakup, Mrs. Kim knew how Sohyun struggled to fill the void in vain and she also knows Seungho was the reason behind choosing the medical camp in a remote area. So, Mrs. Kim immediately gave her acceptance when Sohyun told about registering the marriage. She didn’t want Sohyun to have a hard time because of her. For the trust in Seungho, she felt that he was trying to steal her away from them, but she wants to leave it to time before she judges him.

For the special day, Sohyun wore the dress that her mom gifted her. She came out dressed in seashell white colored linen shift dress that flowed along her curves. Except the chain waist belt, she didn’t wear any accessories. She didn’t want to raise the suspicion with dressing up too much. When she came down the stairs with Jiwoo, Mrs. Kim saw her with tears welled eyes and nodded at her smiling.

When Sohyun saw Mr. Kim in the living room, she smiled and exclaimed, “Thank God! I thought I wouldn’t see you at such an important day”. Jiwoo gasped at her statement thinking she would expose herself.

Looking at her dressed up more than usual, “Doing a seminar? All the best!”, Mr. Kim said in an assumption. As Sohyun stood there smiling, Jiwoo dragged her out of the house claiming that they are late. When they reached the end of the street, they took a cab to Local City Hall. Throughout the travel, Sohyun held Jiwoo’s hands to warm her icy fingers and to ease her nervousness.

As Sohyun and Seungho planned to register their marriage without a wedding, he made all the preparations in registering the marriage with the help of Yooram and his colleagues-to-be.

The late riser woke up early and came out dressed in formals. He saw his mom preparing the breakfast. He approached her and said, “Bless me Mom!”. She hugged him and blessed him for everlasting happiness and bright future. Seungho turned to Chaeyoung who was witnessing the scene bewildered, and said, “I’m registering my marriage today with Sohyun. I also applied for a loan. I need you to accompany me for the former and your signature for the latter”. Chaeyoung was left dumbfounded by his sudden disclosure of marriage. She thought he was still in breakup phase. Though she had her doubts when she caught him smiling for no reason in the past few days, ‘marriage’ never crossed her mind.

Before Chaeyoung could organize her thoughts, she found herself at the entrance of Local city hall with Seungho. Later, Yooram and Yoonhwa joined them. They waited for Sohyun to arrive. Chaeyoung saw Seungho biting his lips, waiting for Sohyun nervously. He had his hands tied behind and his feet hardly stayed still on the ground. So, she , “Is there a possibility that your reunion with her is all your imagination?”. Seungho looked at her flabbergasted considering the possibility of it since he even made the voice mail in drunken state. At that time, a car pulled over near them and Jiwoo got down. On seeing it, Seungho smiled breathing out and rushed to her and gave his hand to help Sohyun out of the car. On seeing his hand, Sohyun looked up to see him.

He said smiling, “I’m asking for your hand!”.

When Sohyun smiled at him, his heart skipped a beat. He couldn’t take his eyes off her. He looked at her and wondered about the gleam she has in her smile. For a moment his mind went blank. When she placed her hands over his, he came back to his senses. He slid his thumb over her hand and held her soft hand firmly but gently.

They sat together while they waited for their turn to register. Sohyun asked Seungho in low voice, “How do I look?”.

He leaned in and whispered in her ears, “Can my hands do the looking?”

His question made Sohyun to blush and she landed a hit on his arm. He chuckled.

They signed the papers to register their marriage. For the witnesses, Jiwoo and Yooram signed. After the documents have been submitted, Seungho took out a necklace from the jewel box in his pocket. Sohyun’s eyes widened in surprise on seeing a wedding band stringed like a pendant in the necklace. The wedding band had their initials carved inside. Seeing her surprised reaction, he said, “To save the effort of hiding the wedding ring”.

As Seungho took the necklace around Sohyun’s neck and clasped, he whispered in her ears, “Love you”. Sohyun pursed her lips trying to hide the smile. When she put the necklace on him, she whispered, “I know”. He grimaced as he failed in his attempt to hear the words he wanted. But, his eyes never failed to express his happiness. His hand which used to be on her shoulder, found its new place on her waist.

When Yoonpark said, “Now you may kiss the bride”, everyone joined with him and chorused, “Kiss her! Kiss her!”, forgetting that they are still inside the local city hall. When Seungho looked at her, she shook her head and buried her head in his chest in embarrassment. He hugged her and told others, “No free show!”. As everyone laughed loudly, the entire floor looked at them. A worker came up and politely asked them to be quiet. So, they found their way out.

Everyone congratulated them on registering the marriage. Seungho and Sohyun showed their happiness with endless smiling. His hands that never took a break from her waist, moved towards her hand, and intertwined the fingers. His act made Sohyun to look at him. They locked their gaze, others felt their need for privacy and took their leave. When everyone left, Sohyun and Seungho laughed for pushing them to leave.

Seungho and Sohyun walked into the parking lot with their hands intertwined. He halted suddenly and said, “Isn’t that your dad?”. She got alarmed and immediately hid herself behind him and curbed her head down while covering her face with the summer coat. Seungho laughed. As his laughter got louder, Sohyun realized he was pranking him. She stood straight adjusting her clothes and punched his arm. Controlling his laughter, he pointed to a car beside them, and said, “To prevent such things from happening!”. She looked at him blankly. Understanding her look, he said, “Sold my bike and by adding some, bought this car!”. As she stood still unable to say anything, he grabbed her shoulders, guided her towards the passenger seat and opened the door. She chuckled at his mannerism and took her seat. She was surprised by the customised lumbar support that perfectly supported her. He went around to sit on driver’s seat and took off.

During their separation, when he drove his friend’s car around, he always thought how comfortable and warm Sohyun be if he had a car to drive around with her. Sometimes, he even looked up in the internet to know the ways of customizing the passenger seat that would aid comfort for Sohyun. But, when the reality struck him, helplessness devoured him. But, after they got together, as soon as he bought the car, he took care of the passenger seat first.

They headed to one of the Han river docks. Since, it is a weekday, they found it empty. They got down and stood on the dock as the breeze brushed them. Like the distance between the two eyes, they stood apart but together. Looking at the river, listening to the breeze, he said, “That moment of certainty to see you every day… It gives me everything that I want to wake up for!”. She smiled looking at the sun that was taking a bath in the river.

Seungho asked, “Sohyun-ah, what do you want?”

She turned to look at him and asked puzzled, “I don’t get you?”

“With regard to both of us, what do you want?”, he asked with the eyes yearning for her answer,

She looked into his eyes and answered, “I should spend my life with you…”, she paused, and her eyeballs juggled to both of his eyes. She continued, “I want to be with you. I want to talk to you with smiles and happiness. I want to fight with you. I want to cry in your arms. I should be mad about you always as I am now. I want to have three kids. I want them to be like you in appearance and character. I want to see these eyes always…”.

Before she could finish, he cupped her face and kissed her on the forehead. He lifted her up wrapping his arms around her thighs. He raised his chin up to look at her and asked, “Then?”. She smiled and said, “I love to see me in those eyes…”. As she said it, he slowly loosened his grip and let her slide over him and caught her by the waist. Her face was just an inch above his and her lips were less than an inch away from his. When she nodded, he smiled and pressed his lips against her by titling his head slightly. With her legs in the air and his arms lifting her by the waist, she kissed him back on his lips. When she wrapped her arms around his neck and smiled, he took the moment and locked his lips with her. His sweet nibble on her lips which planted soft kisses said it is love that I have for you.

Author’s notes:

We all have that one person, be it a crush or lover or friend who can make us to look forward to the day with just the thought and certainty of seeing them right?

Thank you so much for reading the chapter :)  It's short,Hope to see you again in the next chapter :) :)