***

"Oh, my God. Mom is gonna love you for feeding her son so well," Sehun praised my culinary skills. We were sitting on the bed, eating our cold dinner after a lengthy make-up session. I shot him a faux-mean look. "It would have been better hot."

"Would you have preferred to eat first, later?" He gave me a heated look. The past two hours flashed in my head like a movie reel, making me feel oddly shy. "No. ing first was definitely the right choice."

He held out his hand, silently requesting mine. As I put my palm in his, he turned it over, kissing the thick red mark on my wrist. "Did I hurt you?" After my ill-gotten , Sehun proceeded to prove he was in charge. His belt wrapped around my wrists, tying me to the bedpost. My most anticipated spanking, which I was ordered to thank him profusely after each strike. The declarations of love and future plans and the best suggestions to punish a very naughty girlfriend. My was sore, my was throbbing and I felt calmer than I had in weeks. "A little. But it was very much appreciated, if you couldn't tell. Can I ask you a -"

"NO. Hell no. You are not ruinin' this moment." He stuck his fingers in his ears, making me giggle at his childlike behavior. I leaned over to give him an eager kiss and he pulled me closer his side. "Fine, devil woman. But if you up my good mood I'm making you sleep in the driveway."

"Is that...the rougher stuff, is that something you want to do on a regular basis? Like, some kind of Sadomasochistic relationship?"

He reached up to brush my hair off my shoulders. "First of all, a little rough ing isn't sadistic or masochistic, okay? I don't want you confusin' the two. And no, that is not a requirement. And before you ask, no, that's not always the kind of thing I'm into. You don't have to tailor your wants and needs to mine," His hand trailed down my arm, brushing past my thigh. "That being said, I do get a certain rush seeing you writhing beneath me. The begging is pretty hot too. And I'm pretty sure my hardened three times over when you called me 'Sir'. That's right sweetheart, I heard you."

"Oh God!" I hid my face in my hands in embarrassment.

He laughed. "I heard that phrase a lot too."

I dropped my hands to the bed and forced myself to look at him. "I like it. Not all the time, because sometimes I like it when you tell me you love me over and over while we do it slow. But sometimes when you slap my and are a little mean I like that too. Is that weird? I'm weird."

"You are a little weird, but not about that. I just don't want to hurt you." His worried face made my heart drop.

"Hey. Hey, I'm okay now. I promise. I'm taking my meds, and I'm back to...well, as close to normal as I'm going to get. And you ing me like a..."

"Dirty girl? Filthy ? Whorey McWhoreson?"

"...helped immensely, ert."

"Good. I'm happy to help. Question for you, sweetheart. Do you want to come to Texas with me for Christmas?"

I moved closer to him, overdosing on his presence after weeks of withdrawal. "Meeting the family. That's pretty serious."

"That's the point." I nodded my affirmation and he gave me a reassuring smile. "They're going to love you. My sisters especially. Brace yourself, though, there's probably going to be a lot of 'settlin' down' talk."

"'Settling down' talk?"

"Yeah, you know. Marriage and babies."

My heartbeat roared in my ears. "And...how should I respond to that?"

"That's up to you. Personally I would tell them to shut the up about it, but you may want to take a different approach."

"Okay." I rubbed my arm to try and push my goosebumps away. "I heard you. I was outside when you and Irene were fighting. So, I heard you."

He scrunched his eyebrows together, trying to figure out what I was saying. "Okay...oh. You heard me say I wanted to marry you." I nodded again. "And you're freaking out about it?"

"Surprisingly, no. Though I'm a little miffed you told her before you told me." He gave me a sad, puppy dog look so I patted him on the head. "I'm a little curious if that was something you were serious about, or if it's something you were just saying to get her out of here.

He watched my face, trying to gauge my feelings on the matter. After a minute he sat up and opened the drawer on the nightstand, pulling something out. "Well, you tell me." He returned to his side, placing a small blue box in front of me. "Do you think I'm serious?"

My eyes flitted from his face, to the box, and back again. "Is that what I think it is?" My voice was barely above a whisper. He shrugged nonchalantly. "You'd have to open it to find out."

I sat straight, staring at the gift, mind running like a hamster wheel. There is no way that's an engagement ring. He's only known you for two months...there's no way he's that crazy. Except that he is that crazy. What's crazier is that you are even entertaining the idea of marrying this boy. Don't do it.

Do it. DO IT.

No. Yes. No. Yes.

With a trembling hand I plucked the box from the bed. My fingers smoothed over the velvet exterior before using my thumb to pop it open.

"Oh my God."

The sounding sigh of relief I blew out made Sehun chuckle. The box contained a pair of small blue sapphire earrings. I glared at him, his laughter ceasing once he saw my face. "Oh . You're gonna kill me now, aren't you?"

I silently climbed on his lap like a tiger stalks its prey. I held both sides of his face, steadily looking him dead in the eye. "Don't you ever, ever, give a girl a ring box that has no ring, at least without first telling her. I will put your balls in a sling if you do that to me again, got it, Tex?" I gave him a playful slap on the cheek before returning to my place beside him.

"Ow. You have to stop hangin' out with Sydney, her mean is rubbin' off on you. Do you like them, at least?"

I ran my fingertip over the smooth stones. "I love them, they're beautiful."

"They were my grandmother's." I started to protest but he clamped his hand around my mouth. "Nuh uh. I want you to have them, you deserve to have them, I love you, end of story." I bit his hand and he yelped. "Damnit! Well now I'm definitely not getting you an engagement ring."

I grabbed his hand back and kissed the spot I bit him. "Six months."

"Six months for what?"

"I know you. You either already have a ring or are planning on getting one. And I'm telling you to wait. Ask me in six months."

He slid closer to me, lying his head on my lap. "...and you'll say yes?"

I ran my fingers through his hair, scratching his scalp as he purred. "I don't know what I'll say. That's why I'm asking you to wait. Stop being so impulsive, we've only been dating for two months. Slow down. Let me at least attempt to get my life together before you throw a life-long commitment into the mix."

He closed his eyes, nuzzling my leg with his hair. "You were going to say yes."

"Shut up."

His grin took up half of his face. "You were totally going to say yes."

I tugged his hair roughly. His eyes popped open, that emerald gaze making my heart skip a beat. "Miss Soojung, do we need another lesson on manners?"

I his forehead. "Only if I can be the teacher this time."

***

The restaurant my father picked for our meeting was a Mexican café near campus. The lounge overlooked a dining bar area with a stone fireplace, and was framed by a 2000-bottle refrigerated wine cellar. It was a vision in opulence, and pretentiousness. It was the restaurant my parents took me on the rare occasions they visited me at school. Sehun clutched my hand underneath the table. "Nervous?"

I started playing with the tines on my fork. "Nope. Not even a little bit."

"Really? I figured you'd be worried."

"I'm not, only because I'm fairly certain he's not going to show up." I took another sip of my champagne while he tried to reassure me. "I'm sure that's not true. He sounded like he really wanted to see you."

"He probably does want to see me. But, work comes first." He gave me a disapproving look over my negativity. "Don't believe me? It is," I checked my watch, "Five minutes to seven. In approximately four minutes a blonde woman is going to go talk to the hostess, asking her where our table is. Thirty seconds after that, she will apologize, my father had something come up at work, but 'he sent this for you'. She will then hand me an envelope containing a check and some half- apology from my dad, which she actually wrote herself. All before his requested meeting time. He's a very prompt man."

Sehun frowned. "I'm guessin' that's happened once or twice."

I shrugged. "Birthdays. Graduation. I can't remember the last time he showed up to anything, really." He looked like he was about to cry, which made me laugh. "Really, it's okay. He always does this."

"You are a lot more normal than you have any right to be." He brought the back of my hand to his mouth, kissing it lightly. "You know I wouldn't do that to you, right?"

I gave him a sweet smile. "I know, don't worry about it. My mommy issues are way bigger than my daddy issues, anyway. Speaking of which..." I turned my attention to the hostess stand, where my father's secretary, Cheryl, locked eyes with me. She briskly walked to our table. "Hi, Soojung. Your father..."

"I know, I know. Sorry you had to come all the way down here."

She handed me an unmarked white envelope. "He really did want to be here. He said to order whatever you and the young man want, he's taken care of the bill." I thanked her and she skittered off as quickly as she came. I handed the envelope to Sehun and picked up the wine list. "Let's order."

"Sweetheart, don't you want to open this?"

"No. Ooh, six hundred dollar bottle of cabernet. Let's get hammered and have in the bathroom, courtesy of daddy."

He snatched the menu out of my hand. "Soojung. Read it."

"I don't want to."

"Well I didn't want to put on a tie tonight, but I did. Therefore, you owe me."

I grunted. "Fine." He opened the envelope and placed the letter in my hand. I unfolded it and scanned the elaborate cursive.

Soojung,

I apologize for not being able to attend dinner, and please apologize to Sehun for me.

I am aware that over the years, I haven't been available as much as I should have. One day, when you have your own business, you may understand the sacrifices one must make. I only hope you have a family that understands your hard work and dedication.

But I digress.

I informed you of my conversation with your mother. While I agree that you should have been spending your time focusing on your studies to stay ahead, I believe the way your mother expressed her disappointment was inappropriate. She has made it clear she does not want you to receive any more financial support from us. I cannot dispute her on this. However, you have worked hard in school, and it would cause me distress to think you weren't taken care of.

"Ho. Ly. ." Sehun muttered under his breath, holding the second piece of paper in the envelope.

Therefore, I have taken your trust fund, which originally you were supposed to receive when you turned twenty five, and put it in your bank account. Your mother cannot access it, you do not have to worry about her interfering. If the young man you have been dating is as he seemed when I spoke with him, I can rest easy knowing you have someone to keep you safe. If you need anything, it wouldn't be best to call me directly. Call Cheryl and she will let me know.

Take care of yourself.

Byron Jung

I ran my fingers over the letters, shocked that one of my parents showed an iota of concern over my well-being. I looked up at Sehun, who was still gawking over the paper in his hand. "How much is it?"

He wordlessly handed it to me. At the top of the slip was my name, and the date. Underneath that was my savings account information. And underneath that was the new balance after his deposit. "Hmm."

"Hmm? Your dad gives you five million dollars and all you can say is 'hmm'?"

I tossed the bank statement on my plate, my thoughts bouncing all over the place.

"Soojung."

I leaned closing to him, keeping my voice barely above a whisper. "Look. My dad is a pushover. My mother may have treated me like crap, but he sat back and let her. Then he would overcompensated with money and gifts. It gets old after a while. And I know, I know that makes me sound like a spoiled brat...most people would kill for the life I have. I spent twenty-one years yearning for one of my parents to give a damn about me. I appreciate he wants to make sure I'm financially secure, but for once I just wish he would stand up to her. That's clearly not going to happen." I leaned back in my seat and twisted my napkin. "I'm lucky now, you know? I met someone who is kind, and funny, and sweet. And loves me, even though I'm neurotic and insecure and a total crazy person. So I don't care about the money. I finally have someone who actually wants me around, and who I want to be around."

"Jesus, sweetheart, that just about breaks my heart." Sehun my arm gently. "You are completely different from anyone I've ever met. You've got this...thing. This spark, you know? It's dim sometimes, but it's there. And yeah, you are a total basket case. But that makes you real. You don't have to pretend with me. You're kind of...all over the place. And it's confusing, and frustrating. I'm not used to it, and I ing love it." He ran his hand over his face. "I'm rambling. You make me ramble. You drive me crazy."