Sorry I wasn't able to finish To the Woman I Love the Most as I originally planned. I got extremely busy with holidays and looking for a new job. I hope this will suffice for now. This update is in celebration of the anniversary of this fic. I also updated every chapter so it would seem less like .

~

Despite the rather dramatic start, the rest of my day with Tzuyu turned out to be a really enjoyable one. We don’t usually hang out for very long, making today the longest we’ve ever hung out. We went shopping, played at the arcade and even did karaoke. I remember her having quite a lovely voice, however, it’s karaoke we’re talking about, so the I heard come out of was similar the noises cats make when they’re being tortured. We stood outside the mall entrance. She was waiting for her driver, while I waited for a cab. She offered to take me back to my place but I didn’t want to be a bother since we live in near opposite sides of the city and traffic’s a . I took out my phone to check the time and, to my surprise, it was nearly 6:00 PM. “Nayeon must be pissed,” I thought. We would usually watch movies during the weekend. I kinda feel guilty for enjoying myself too much today.

“Oh, right. I wanted to give you something,” my younger friend said as she searched her purse. She wore a smile and presented to me a small velvet box.

“Uh… is this what I think it is?” I asked, my left eyebrow raised as I took the item from her hand.

“Probably not, it’s the promise ring that I wanted to give Chaeyoung on our anniversary.” I brought myself to open it and the sight of the ring itself was enough to knock the air out of my lungs.

“What the fu— This is not a ing promise ring,” I exclaimed. She gave me a confused look, her head tilted slightly.

“What are you talking about?”

“This is a ing engagement ring! I mean they’re basically the same thing if you really think about it but still,” I paused for a moment and took the ring out to emphasize, “Look at the ing size of this thing, most promise rings don’t even have diamonds, this is like a solid 3 carats and Chaeyoung has small hands.”

“Alright, unnie. You’ve made your point. Easy on the profanity.” I was about to swear again until I looked over to where she was pointing and saw a child whose ears wear being covered by his mother. I smiled awkwardly as I gave the older woman a small nod of apology. All I got in return was a look of disapproval before their ride arrived and they left. “Well… that’s good then. I just wanted you to keep it but at least this way you’ll actually get to use it.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Oh, um, never mind. You two probably haven’t talked about it yet.” We have, actually. Before she and I were even together. Nayeon told me about wanting to get married and have a baby before she turned thirty. It made me wonder if she was just waiting for me to ask her already. I mean, she is 25 now and I’m pretty sure she’s ready. I guess it’s a question of whether or not I’m ready.

“No uh— I mean, thanks for this.” She gave me a small nod before her focus shifted to the car that was approaching from behind me. She thanked me for spending the day with her and gave me a hug before entering the backseat of the car. I waved goodbye as they car drove off and I was left standing by the mall entrance with an engagement ring in hand.

“This is a weird day.”

~

I went home the same way I usually do. I greeted the staff in the lobby, bought a drink from the old vending machine and I took the elevator to my apartment. Though, today, I did those things with a really intense heart rate. I’ve never been more nervous in my entire life. I completely underestimated the sheer power of the ring. God, I sound like someone from Lord of the Rings, or maybe Green ing Lantern. I felt nauseous, every step I took in the hallway made me want to throw up. Luckily, I was able to make it to my apartment door without doing so. I was about to knock but I heard a faint moan from the other side. I pressed my ear against the wooden door and listened closely. The one was clearly Nayeon. I should know because— never ing mind. “, yes. Right there,” I heard her say. I was fuming, and more than ready to bust the door down in an adrenaline-fueled rage, but then I heard another voice I recognized.

“I told you she’s good at this. Her fingers are like magic.” It was Chaeyoung’s voice. Wait, there are three people in there? What kind of sick is this? I angrily pushed the door open. I exerted so much force that it bounced off the wall and hit me right on the shoulder. It hurt like a motherer, but I paid no mind to it and stomped towards the party, ready to give them a piece of my mind. “WHAT IN THE NAME OF—” I was met by the sight of the trio, their eyes widened from shock but also anticipation, seeing I paused in the middle if my outburst, “—hell.”

“Uh, Nayeon wanted to try the deep tissue massage,” Mina explained. Deep tissue massage… well, .

“Okay… and what are you guys doing here again?”

“Chaeyoung has an announcement to make,” my girlfriend answered.

“Nah, that for now. You okay there, bro? You totally thought Nayeon was cheating, weren’t you?” Chaeyoung asked as she wore a teasing look on her face.

“Obviously! I could hear you guys from outside and I thought you were taping the—” I paused once more, realizing what she had referred to me, for she hadn’t called me that in years. “Wait, what did you just call me?” She exchanged looks with the other two, both of them giving her a nod before she stood up and made her way towards me. She was about a foot away from me when she decided to make eye contact.

“Hey there, bro.” Her smile was softer than usual and her eyes glistened as she spoke. I immediately understood the message she was trying to convey.

“You’re back?” It was the only thing I managed to make out. I think every person in the room dreamed of the day Chaeyoung would regain her memories, but I doubt any of us imagined how we would handle it. Her smile grew ever so wide as she nodded twice, a single tear descending towards her cheek. I felt my chest ache, and my eyes fill with tears, the way it did when I found out about her accident. Only this time, the overwhelming sorrow was replaced with one of utter joy. I lunged forward and wrapped my arms around her waist, giving her the tightest hug that I could give. She was quick to return the embrace. “So, this is what it’s like to cry tears of joy.” We shared a laugh at the surreal moment however they would soon be replaced with light sniffles coming from the both of us. I saw our girlfriends shed tears of their own as they watched us. “I missed you, kiddo.”

“I missed you too.”

~

I failed to notice the food that Mina and Chaeyoung brought, probably because I went from angry to happy to weepy the moment I stepped foot in my apartment. God, that was an emotional two minutes. The four of us had dinner and talked to each other, mostly about the food the couple brought. Most of the food was Japanese and undoubtedly ing expensive, meaning Mina bought all of it and Chaeyoung probably bought the strawberry ice cream that I found in our freezer. I called her out on it and she defended herself, saying that she also bought the wine which made us laugh. We also talked a bit about our lives, albeit the mundane parts like our jobs and Chaeyoung’s graduation practice. Nayeon chimed in and told her that we would be attending the ceremony as her parents. “You keep forgetting she has actual parents,” I said, earning an exasperated huff from my her. I rolled my eyes and gave her a kiss on the cheek… which earned some groans from the couple in front of us. “Oh, off. This is our house.”

We broke off into pairs after dinner. Chaeyoung and I popped the bottle of wine open while Nayeon and Mina settled for the ice cream. We sat by the balcony as we drank and talked some more, this time about my little hangout with her ex. “So, she’s not over me but she’s giving up on me?” she asked.

“Pretty much, yeah.”

“Wow. Never thought it’d actually happen.”

“You and me both.” We both took a sip of our wine and stared at the beautiful view of the city.

“I think I might talk to her, on graduation day, I mean,” she said.

“Yeah, that’d probably be a good idea.”

“By the way, the hell is that in your pocket?” she asked, referring to the large bump on my thigh.

“Oh, right,” I said as I took the box out and placed it on the table between us.

“HOLY ! YOU’RE GONNA PROP—” was all she could say before I brought my hand to .

“Keep your ing voice down or I’ll be the cause of your second amnesia,” I threatened. She removed my hand herself and grabbed the box. “And no, I’m not gonna propose yet. That thing there is the promise ring that Tzuyu wanted to give you for your anniversary.”

“This is not a ing promise ring,” she remarked.

“Thank you!” I exclaimed.

“Wait, why do you have it?”

“She gave it to me. She told me to keep it or propose to Nayeon with it,” I explained.

“Honestly, it’s kinda hard to reject someone with a ring like this.” I looked over to her and saw that she was wearing the ring. “What is this, like, 4 carats?”

“3 actually, you just have small hands.”

“And Nayeon’s are massive.”

“Hey, that’s my wife you’re talking ab—” We looked at each other with wide eyes, realizing what I just blurted out. “Shut up. I know what I said,” I told her, cutting her off before she got the chance to say anything. I let out a deep sigh and took a sip of my drink while she placed the ring back in the little velvet box. “I’m terrified,” I muttered under my breath.

“Why? You’ve been together since I was 13,” she argued.

“Exactly,” I started, “We’ve been together for 9 years and all I can think about is how nothing is falling into place. I’m 24 and I’m working as a ty intern in some ty record label doing ty tasks like write down and get everyone’s ing coffee, and Nayeon… she’s doing really well. I’m afraid she’ll wake up one day and realize that maybe I’m not the partner she’s looking for.”

“You’re not,” she deadpanned.

“Gee, thanks,” I replied sarcastically.

“You’re not because you’re real,” she clarified, “and the people we’re looking for often aren’t. Just ideas that popped in our heads once upon a time.” She extended her arm and handed the ring over to me. “You’re so much more than an idea. When she realized that, it probably overwhelmed her, but she stayed and loved you all the same. So, stop worrying about being the one for her and just be with her.” I could only nod at her response before I resorted to comedy.

“God, I forgot how smart you used to be!”

“ you.” We shared a hearty laugh before silence fell upon us. She’s obviously right about… everything. I looked up at the night sky, hoping to see some stars and wish for things to be easier. Sadly, there were none. Just one of the many great things about living in the city.

“Babe, let’s go. Traffic’s died down,” Mina said from behind, startling the both of us. Chaeyoung checked her watch and told me that it was getting late anyway. We said our goodbyes and the couple left while I stayed on the balcony a little longer, calming my nerves and playing with the box in my hand.

~

I came back to find the kitchen tidied up and my girlfriend by the sink loading the dishwasher. I went over to her and gave her a peck on the cheek before I placed the wine in the cupboard above her. “Let me take care of those,” she said as she took the wine glasses off of my hands.

“Just leave ‘em on the sink, I can wash them in the morning,” I said in protest. She didn’t say a word and just knocked me on the head before proceeding to wash the glasses anyway. It was moments like this that made me think that we were basically already married. A comfortable silence enveloped the room. The vibe was very domestic, very serene. I felt calm, really calm, like I had absolutely nothing to worry about. This moment here, I loved everything about it, I loved her. I took the box out of my pocket and held it for a few seconds as I braced myself for what I was about to do. “Hey, do you wanna get married?” The sound of the glass hitting the metal surface of the sink, and the faucet ceasing the stream of water, was all I heard before Nayeon turned around and spoke.

“What?” The expression she had was hard to decipher. Her eyes switched back and forth from my eyes to the item in my hand. I noticed her tear up and the sight alone nearly made me do the same, but I pushed through and wore a big smile on my face.

“I, uh… I got this thing here and I was—” I didn’t get to finish because she almost immediately left as soon as I spoke. I heard the door of our shared bedroom slam shut and just like that, I was no longer calm. The fears that had plagued my mind mere minutes ago came flooding back as I ran after her. As expected, the door was locked. I knocked hard and begged her to open up. When that didn’t work, I ran to the living room and searched the couch compartment for our spare keys. I ran back as quickly as I could but I still had a bit of trouble figuring out which of the keys opened the bedroom door. We really should’ve labeled these. About a couple of minutes of trying, I finally got the door open and I was met with the sight of my girlfriend hastily packing her stuff in some luggage. Tears wear streaming down her beautiful face and they were accompanied by heavy, almost angry sniffles from her. “Honey, what are you—”

“I can’t ing do this anymore. I can’t deal with your bull,” she said as she continued to pack.

“Bull? What?” I asked, slightly exasperated.

“What? You’re gonna make me open that thing, I’m gonna be all teary and when I pull it out it’s gonna be a ing hook? Nice try, Jeong, but we only watched Mr. Bean last week. You could’ve waited a little while longer.” I snorted a bit at the absurdity of the situation, which was an awful move seeing as I pissed her off even more. “See? I ing knew it. You had that same stupid smile on your face earlier.”

“What? That wasn’t why— listen to me—”  

“No, you listen to me!” she shouted as she halted packing. “I put everything on the ing line for you. I jeopardized my relationship with my parents for you. Do you have any idea how many times I’ve tried to convince them that this thing between us isn’t just some stupid phase?” She sat at the edge of the bed and wiped some of the tears off of her face. “I have sacrificed so much for you, for this relationship and all you ever do is tease and pull pranks every chance you get. 9 years and you’re still treating this like a big ing joke, you of all people. This is a new low for you. You who knew every little detail about me, who knew that I wanted to…” I waited for her with bated breath. I waited for her to say something else but she just looked away and went over to her bags, zipping them up. I felt my cheeks heat up, my chest tighten, and my knees grow weak as I watched her.

“Nayeon,” I croaked, my throat drier than ever.

“I can’t keep doing this with you, not when I feel like I’m just wasting my time. I’m 25, Jeongyeon. I’m not getting any younger and I’m certainly not getting any more patient. So, you be very careful with the next few words that come out of your mouth.”

“You’re wrong, I don’t know every little detail about you. Half the time, I don’t know what you’re thinking or feeling. Sometimes I’d look at you in the morning and guess. Maybe you’re thinking of puppies or what to watch on Netflix... or whether or not you feel like wasting your life being with me. Guess I got that one right,” I said as I broke eye contact with her for a second. I gulped hard as I felt a tear escape my eyelid.  “I know sometimes I . I close myself off to you without ever really meaning to, I don’t take things as seriously as I should and I often resort to humor… but I love you. I know I love you.” I slowly walked forward, making my way towards her. “I can’t imagine myself being with anyone else but you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you, through all the good, the bad and the stupidly mundane. What we have isn’t a joke to me and it’s never been.” I stopped and leaned my forehead on hers. I held the box with both hands and opened it, making her cover with both of hers and tear up even more. With that, I got down on one knee and held the ring in front of her. “I love you, Im Nayeon. I can’t believe you’re real. I can’t believe you fell in love with the retarded mess that I am.” We both laughed hard at what I said. I was so glad that no one was here to tape the entire thing. I could already see how stupid we look, laughing and crying at the same time. “Will you marry me?” I finally asked. She inhaled sharply and nodded furiously.

“Yes! God, yes!” she exclaimed. I stood up and smiled wider than I’ve ever had in my life. She held her hand out, waiting for me to put the ring on her, which I did. The ring looked beautiful on her exceptionally long finger. She stared at it for a second then squealed loudly before pulling me into a deep kiss. Things quickly got heated and I found myself getting pushed onto the bed. We had a very romantic night and an equally romantic morning, one where I played with her hair as she snuggled up next to me.

Where the sun shined ever so brightly, illuminating the diamond on her hand.