A year later…

 

 

 

 

 

 

LISA MANOBAN HELD A PRESS CONFERENCE ANNOUNCING HER ENGAGEMENT WITH KIM JISOO

~NY NEWS

 

 

 

 

“Did it need to be global Lalisa?” I asked calmly. Well, I’m trying. This girl got more unpredictable and stubborn as days passed. This has got to be the most surprising one yet. When she got on tour, I decided to stay in Seoul and she just called me and said to watch the live news on the international channel. Well, her news shocked everyone… yes, including me.

 

 

We did get engaged though. Marriage is not something that went to our minds in an instant or randomly. We talk about it from time to time and how we will work things out, planning our future, and the sort. To be honest, there was no proposal needed, but Lisa still did and it just melted my heart away.

 

 

It was on that one simple and casual late night dinner that Lisa asked me literally every day before her requested day came. I wondered at first; why did she even need to schedule it? ‘Unpredictable Lisa’, I just thought of it that way and never did I imagine in the slightest that she will drop the question that night. We were sitting on the living room floor while our backs rested on the lower part of the couch. We were eating and talking like the usual until she grabbed the guitar that was just resting beside the television.

 

 

 

 

Flashback…

 

 

 

 

“You’re into guitar lately huh?” I said as she practiced strumming and slightly adjusting the tune.

 

 

“Just practicing.”

 

 

“For what?” I asked, and there was a long pause before she answered.

 

 

 

“For this.” She then started playing some tunes; tunes that seemed familiar…

 

 

 

…and it was.

 

 

 

How could I forget?

 

 

 

It was our group’s bittersweet song; ‘Stay’.

 

 

 

Once she started singing the first verse, a tear escaped my eye. I quickly wipe it away and gave Lisa my sweetest smile… I didn’t want her to stop playing it. Mixed emotions kept flooding in. I can’t believe how long it has been for both of us… for the four of us.

 

 

 

I remembered when we taped for the music video; we were so young… and as much as we were serious about our dreams, we kept fooling around too. I remembered when Chaeyoung didn’t even get to sleep with excitement, but still turned out to be the most energetic during the taping. I remembered Jennie kept asking me how to act her parts but we ended up mocking each other. I remembered Lisa making fun of me because I didn’t know how to ride a bike but kept bugging me that I should ride with her instead of Jennie, and then I obliged because she was already on the verge of crying. I remembered the four of us smiling against the light of our dreams and I thought that time… ‘I could do this forever… with them.’

 

 

 

And I still think the same. Even though our careers took different paths, our bond remained strong. I smiled wider every time I remember memories of our journey together as a group, and how we are now; even better. I am so proud of our friendship, I’m so proud in each and every one of them.

 

 

 

I swayed along, sang some lines with her, and our gazes never looked away from each other. It was that soft and warm feeling… it was pure bliss.

 

 

 

When I think of it, it was an odd choice for a proposal song. ‘Stay’ was about someone who doesn’t love you back and asks that person to stay. But we both know that song resembles something more for us. It wasn’t just about the lyrics, it was about the memories and feelings that encompassed within it… and in all honesty, I wouldn’t have it any other way. It was perfect.

 

 

 

Lisa’s voice was angelic… it has always been. The concept for her before was this cool and swag rapper style, and people seldom hear how pure her voice is. Can you even imagine her singing the whole song? No? Well, I’m the lucky girl.

 

 

 

 

 

“Jigeum dangjang manheun geol baraneun ge anya. Geujeo nae gyeote, stay with me…”

(I don’t ask for much, I just want you here by my side. Don’t let go of me, stay with me)

 

 

 

When she finished the song, both of us were teary-eyed, in all smiles. It was like we experienced the same realm where the melodies had sent us; where time stopped for us to take our hearts back to where it all started, to remind us that friendship is one of the rarest treasures we find in life, and how important it is as a foundation of our relationship.

 

 

 

You know when someone looks at you so lovingly like you’re the only person that she needs? When she tilts her head a little and she looks at you then her lips slowly form into this smile like saying “you’re the most beautiful girl in the world”.

 

 

 

Lisa did exactly that as she reached for her sunflower necklace and lifted the pendant along with the beautiful ring before uttering the words that could ring in my ears a thousand times more and I wouldn’t ever mind as long as it’s from her voice.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Jisoo, marry me.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Present…

 

 

 

 

“Of course it needs to be, Kim Jisoo.” She answered as she helped me zip the luggage that I was having a hard time closing for the past few minutes. Her statement sounded as if I asked something that had an obvious answer.

 

 

I sighed in response. Arguing with her is hopeless now. Aish jinjja.

 

 

“And what’s with that deep sigh?”

 

 

“Nothing, honey.” I said sweetly, with a peck on her lips after. She always gets distracted and flustered when I do this. I avoided quite a couple of arguments and interrogations from her this way, and I can say that it is my secret weapon.

 

 

As expected, her reaction showed favorable results for Kim Jisoo. I tried not to show my smirk though I guess she wouldn’t notice anyway. She pulled me by the waist with her right arm and placed a gentle kiss on me.

 

 

“That’s unfair.” She said then smiled and nudged my nose with hers. “Shall we go?”

 

 

I nodded. “Yeah, let’s go.”