| CHAPTER THIRTY |

One Big News ... or Two?

Bafflement plastered on Jiwon’s face as she entered the subway station. All dressed up in a tight red off-the-shoulder dress that ends just above her knees which she covered with her favorite leather jacket, black see-through tights to keep her legs warm—and not to make the overall outfit too ty—finished by some ankle boots. She was quite happy with how she looked tonight but the instruction given by Baekhyun to get off this subway station, park and get inside just made all the fun purely confusing.

Not that she was complaining.

Right at the entrance where passengers were to pay with their cards, Baekhyun stood. Goodness gracious, he was wearing a red and black flannel shirt, his sleeves were folded up to his forearm and some black ripped jeans. His hair was done quite messily, which looked like it was on purpose and the only accessory he had was a watch. He looked extremely simple yet so …. D – A – D – D – Y.

“Seems like I overdressed.” Jiwon muttered under her breath as she walked over to him. Once his eyes laid on hers, a smile formed on his lips. “Oh my god, you look beautiful—wow, those tights—you really know how to make this harder for me, don’t you?” He welcomed her with a warm hand on the small of her back and an innocent kiss on her cheek. “Why are we on a subway station? I thought you were gunna pick me up?” Jiwon asked instead.

Baekhyun rolled his eyes. “I did pick you up, I’ve been here waiting for you for the past thirty minutes.” Jiwon’s eyes bulged out in shock and quickly looked down to her phone to check the time. “What do you mean, I’m on time!” She argued, slapping him on the chest lightly. He grinned. “Yeah I know, I just wanted to be early.” He then showed their fare tickets. “I already got you one, don’t bother buying the fare card.” He dragged her in, passing the ticket.

“Why aren’t we driving again?” Jiwon insisted on talking about this whole thing.

As they got in and down the escalator, Baekhyun turned. Jiwon watched as his eyes travelled from her head down to her toes. Pure adoration and desire plastered on his expression, she felt good seeing that kind of reaction from him. “Because, it’d be fun taking a subway with you then walking around Itaewon then going to our favorite pub, Cheers!” As soon as he said that, realization hit her. “Oh my god, are we going there? Wait—then why didn’t we just take a cab?” She then asked.

This time, Baekhyun showed pure frustration. “Good Lord—mommy, stop complaining and just listen to daddy.” He rubbed his face in fake anger and for some reason, that shut her up. She closed her lips in a very tight line to hold her smile. Meanwhile, heat flushed her face and she knew it. She shouldn’t put on a blush; she didn’t need it. It got worse when he grabbed her hand as they got off the escalator. “If we just take the cab, the time would be much shorter. I want every moment to last with you. Subway is quite fun and more adventurous than just taking a lousy cab. And besides, we’ve never done it together.” He smiled as he dragged her to wait for the train.

Jiwon sighed, finally giving up. She smiled and hugged his arm. “You’re right. You know, when I was a student, I used to take the subway every single day to get to my university. Here in Korea it’s more organized and people are a little more disciplined but there in Toronto, oh my god. On rush hours, the subway line would be packed, we’re like sardines in a can inside. Sometimes you’d have to wait for two more trains until you could fit in there.” She reminisced.

Baekhyun just nodded blankly, his eyes fixated on hers. He just loved staring at her, hearing her voice and feeling her so close. It felt unreal. But it was real. She was real. Kim Jiwon was finally by his side and it was going to be for good, he wouldn’t let anything stop them anymore. “Are you okay?” Jiwon asked, stopping her story. He looked away and smiled solemnly. “I just—I don’t know, I just feel a little bit emotional cause you’re here with me now. I need a slap to assure me this is all real and—”

SLAP.

He groaned in pain when Jiwon slapped him—well, more like a hard tap on his cheek but either way, it almost hurt for real. “Ouch, god damn it, woman.” He grunted while rubbing his cheek. “You said you needed a slap; I gave you one. I’m easy to talk to. See, I’m real. Now can I continue my story and you actually listen to me?” She answered nonchalantly. Eventually, a smile climbed back up to Baekhyun’s lips as he rolled his eyes.

Right, he was with Kim Jiwon.

The Kim Jiwon.

Baekhyun laughed and pulled her by the waist. Just in time before a kiss could happen between them, the train arrived. With their bodies still touching, they hopped in. “It’s not a busy time, perfect. Let’s sit here far away from everyone.” Baekhyun dragged her to a corner and they sat beside each other. Giggles escaped their lips as they look at each other, their foreheads touching. They felt like high schoolers venturing the world of dating for the very first time.

“You’re gunna get me drunk, aren’t you?” Jiwon teased while nudging him. Baekhyun rolled his eyes before lifting an arm and throwing it down to her shoulders, pulling her even closer until she had to rest her hands right on his lap. “In your dreams, we have kids at home to go home to.” He leaned to her ear. “Unless you want to go home to my place tonight.” He added earning a light slap from Jiwon. “Jeez, you and your flirting maneuvers.” She growled.

There was a brief silence until she spoke again. “I mean … I actually asked Eun Jung unni to stay over the night tonight in case I don’t go home.”

Baekhyun gasped a little that he had to cover his mouth. “Oh my god, so you’re the one who wants to take advantage of me tonight after the date.” He earned another slap from the now embarrassed Jiwon. “Take advantage your —if anything, you’ve been begging for it since day one.” She argued back.

“Which day one are we talking about though? Cause I believe I got it the first day one.” Baekhyun came back at her with an even stronger rebut. “Yes, hence the twins, right?” Jiwon grinned. Not arguing anymore, Baekhyun captured her lips for a chaste yet full kiss. She pulled away quickly, tapping his chest. “Yah, I’m not quite comfortable with public display of affection. Can we not?” She muffled in between laughter. They looked around them, there weren’t many people.

“Of course, sorry.” Baekhyun laughed and rubbed his face. “I just couldn’t control it, I had to kiss you.”

Jiwon tapped his cheek lightly and smiled. “You’re very attractive, have I told you that before?” She asked. Their eyes met again and a winning smile curved on Baekhyun’s lips. “No, I remember you telling me I looked like a Corgi, my smile was square, my eyes were droopy, my chin was too pointy, I looked like I had lipstick on. That I was loud, I was annoying, I was a narcissist and that I was obviously a player.” He wiggled his eyebrows at her. “Now that’s … the real day one.”

Disbelief grew on Jiwon’s expression as she looked back. “Wow, you remember that whole conversation—unbelievable.” She clapped her hands softly, not to make it too loud. Baekhyun looked away, slight embarrassment surfacing in his chest. “Yeah, how could I forget the day I decided I was gunna have you for myself? No matter how it started, or whatever my initial intensions were … I still ended up simply wanting you because I wanted you.”

Pure bliss drowned Jiwon deep inside. She never knee she could ever be this content in her whole life—having Hansol and Hana … and now Byun Baekhyun. What more could she ever possibly ask for at this point? “I don’t think I’ve ever given you the real … proper apology. Jiwon, about everything I’ve done—” Before Baekhyun could finish his sentence, she shut him off with a lingering kiss on the lips. He ended it quite quickly and pouted. “I thought you didn’t want public display of affection?”

Jiwon looked around them again, then back to his gaze. “Like I’ve already told you many times … we both had our own flaws that stopped us from being together three years ago. Now, the only way this will finally work, is if we both let go of our egos, guilt, or whatever we may have left on each other. Let’s leave them all behind us and start anew.” She cupped his face. “I want this to work out … for the rest of my life.”

Baekhyun held her hand on him. “I know I gave you the honors … but I was hoping you could at least surprise me with a candle-lit dinner on an empty rooftop, hide the ring in a glass of champagne and hire some musicians to play an instrument for me as I say the big Y-E-S. Not in … a subway train.” He completely ruined the moment which quickly earned him a light smack on his gut. Jiwon eventually ended up laughing as she replayed what he just said in her head. He could always find the right timing to make her laugh. Always.

He