o26 || happy
the pursuit of happiness
After Jaehyun proposed to her, he asked her to move in with him. She declined, like she always did.
She knows she’s his fiancée now but still she felt like moving in would be too fast. She continued staying over during the weekend, and three weeks had passed and so far, everything’s going on smoothly. Jaehyun is the sweetest man she could ever want to have and he stuck to his words on going at her pace. They’re taking things slowly and they haven’t told anyone about the proposal. Jeno was still a bit confused, sometimes it’s Yerim imo and sometimes it’s eomma even though he leaned towards the latter more and to be honest Yerim didn’t mind being called either. Sungchan is always unbothered and happy, he can stand up on his own, already learning to walk, and is turning one today!
And that’s why Yerim is standing in front of the Jung’s residence to celebrate Sungchan’s first birthday. It’s a Saturday which means she would also stay over, this time in the Jung’s residence instead of Jaehyun’s apartment. She had stayed over there a couple times before and the first time it happened she ended up being Jaehyun’s girlfriend. But right now, she has a ring on her fourth finger so she’s a bit nervous.
Jaehyun and her decided they will tell his family the good news today which is why she’s getting a little antsy. She spent the entire last night baking a cake for Sungchan’s birthday—and Jaehyun’s all-time favorite pecan pie—so she hasn’t got that many chances to think over what to say to Jaehyun’s parents. She figured she’ll gonna let Jaehyun do the explaining then.
“I missed you so much!”
Yerim laughed and bent down to give the little guy a proper hug.
“Oh, I miss you too, little man. Shall we go inside?”
Jeno grinned and took her hands. In the dining room, Jaehyun is putting Sungchan on his baby chair, Jungwoo is setting up the table, and their parents are conversing happily among themselves.
Sungchan’s sudden babbles turned everyone’s attention to her immediately.
Mrs. Jung was the first one to stand up and approach her to give her a hug.
“You look good! When’s the cast coming off?” She asked.
“Hopefully in a month's time, imo.”
She grinned at Jungwoo who took the cake box from her. She bowed and gave Jaehyun’s father a hug before approaching her fiancée.
She grinned as she accepted his kiss on her cheek.
“I made you a pecan pie as well.”
He grinned wider, “This is why I love you,” he said playfully before giving her a hug.
“And you little man! You’re turning one today! Happy birthday, you giggly kid!” Yerim bent down to cup Sungchan’s chubby cheeks.
“Eommamamama!”
She couldn’t help but to kiss the baby’s head.
“I’ve lit the candle! Here comes the cake~”
Jungwoo came with the chocolate cake, already lit with a number one candle. He set it down in front of Sungchan as Jaehyun prevented the baby from smashing the cake with his little chubby fists.
“Yerim noona, you too! I’ll go record this!” Jungwoo said excitedly as he fetched his camera.
“Eh, me?” Yerim asked, feeling a bit unsure to stand next to Jaehyun’s family since technically she’s not ‘officially’ part of their family.
“Of course! Stand closer to them, sweetheart!” Jaehyun’s mom assured her and she shyly took her place next to Jeno.
“Okay, Sungchanie, see this bright flame? We’re going to blow it, okay? Jeno, you too, okay? See appa?” Jaehyun pursed his lips and demonstrated how to blow the candles.
“On the count of three, okay?”
Jaehyun put his arms around his two boys before counting, “1…. 2…. 3!”
The boys and Yerim followed Jaehyun and blew the candle off.
“Let’s cut the cake now!” Jungwoo yelled happily.
Jaehyun wrapped Sungchan’s fingers around the knife handle—a plastic knife to be safe—and enveloped the baby’s small fingers with his own before cutting the cake.
“Yeah! Happy birthday, Sungchan! You’re one now, so you gotta learn how to walk, talk, and eat proper solid food quickly, okay!”
After the eventful lunch, the family opted to lounge in the back garden. Jungwoo and Jeno were playing sword fighting using two rolled newspapers, Jaehyun was helping Sungchan practice his walk, meanwhile Yerim with the Jung parents were watching happily from the side.
“Sungchan was a very tiny baby when he first came, but look at him now! He’s going to walk on his own pretty soon,” Mr. Jung mused as he watched his son holding his grandson’s hands, leading the kid to walk on the grass.
“And he can say three words now. Appa, mama, and something that resembles hyung. Ah, I wish he can say halmae next,” Mrs. Jung added.
“He called you mama now, right? I think Jeno did too,” Mrs. Jung asked.
Yerim blushed and nodded, “Ah, yeah… Sungchan did it first while babbling, and Jeno just randomly followed one day.”
“Ah..., It’s nice to see my grandsons about to have a mother figure now. I hope Jaehyun proposes to you really soon,” Mr. Jung smiled.
Yerim nervously touched her ring. So far, everyone was still caught up with the fact that Sungchan just e so nobody really paid attention to the ring that was resting around the fourth finger of her casted arm. She smiled when Jaehyun turned around with a smile. The guy approached his parents and his fiancée with Sungchan who was toddling cutely while holding his hands.
“He’s gaining more strength in his legs, I’m so elated,” Jaehyun grinned, which was met with appreciative nods by his parents.
Seeing everyone gathering, Jungwoo put an arm around Jeno’s shoulder and led his nephew to his family.
“Did Jeno draw on your cast?” he asked as he touched the cast.
Yerim grinned and took off the sling to put her casted arm carefully on the table.
“Isn’t it cute?” She beamed, tracing the drawing with her fingers. Over the course of several weeks, Jeno had added more doodles on it. Jaehyun added a big red heart and a picture of a cake there. Even Sungchan contributed by adding some unintelligible scribbles.
Jungwoo grinned at the cute drawings, but then his eyes shifted to the gleaming jewel decorating Yerim’s ring finger. He reached out and touched it with a big stupid grin on his face.
Jaehyun stopped on his track, the tip of his ears reddening immediately. He planned on telling them later during dinner but his inquisitive brother figured it out first. Meanwhile Yerim was already turning as red as a tomato when Jaehyun’s mother dramatically gasped and examined the ring.
“Son! Did you...? Yerim, did he…?”
Yerim awkwardly smiled, “Three weeks ago, imo...”
“Three weeks? THREE WEEKS?! Nearly a month and you kept this a secret? Oh, God… the audacity! I like it that you guys are engaged right now but please give us a heads up!”
Jaehyun sheepishly grinned as he picked Sungchan up to approach his fuming mother.
“Sorry, Ma. We were planning on telling you tonight. We were just... trying to take things slow,” he reasoned.
“Oh, yeobo, don’t fuss. Let’s end the fight here with a question—when’s the wedding?”
“Appa!!”
“Are you excited?” Jaehyun took her hand as they entered the hospital. Finally, the damned cast is going off!
She entered Dejun’s consultation room with a smile and Dejun smiled back at the older girl.
“Noona! Oh, and Jaehyun hyung too! How are you guys? Haven’t seen you guys in weeks,” he stood up to hug his two friends.
“We’ve been good!”
“Alright, we’re gonna get this cast off today, and oh! Did Jeno decorate this?” Dejun beamed when Yerim took off her sling to put her casted arm on the table.
“Yep. Cute, right?”
“Very. We’ll get this off and you can keep the cast as a keepsake if you want. So, ready to say goodbye to this?” Dejun smirked as he called his nurse to grab the cutting saw. Yerim was a bit scared to see the electric device but she couldn’t wait to get the heavy plaster off her arm so she held it in. Her free hand held Jaehyun’s hand, appreciating the gentle squeezes Jaehyun gave her as Dejun began cutting the cast in half.
“It’s not deformed anymore. I’m glad. I’ll issue a reference for X-Ray after this, okay? And I suggest wrapping your arm in elastic bandage and keeping the sling for another two weeks or so,” Dejun said as he examined Yerim’s arm closely. And just like Jungwoo did a month ago, he noticed the jewelry on Yerim’s finger.
Both Jaehyun and Yerim pinked as they nodded shyly.
“How long has it been…?”
“A…. month?”
“A MONTH AND YOU DON’T TELL ANY OF US?! I thought you were still collecting your balls to ask her out, hyung! Wah… Did Jungwoo know?”
“He knew,” Jaehyun sheepishly nodded.
“What?! You two, stay right here!”
“Let’s see what others think about it now. At this rate, you can get married even before Ten ge did!”
“Uhm, we’re not getting married in a near time but… soon. I don’t know when, we haven’t talked about it,” Yerim explained.
“To think that I saved your arm and you didn’t even tell me, noona!” Dejun held his chest, acting heartbroken.
“Sorry, Jun. We were just… I don’t know! Jaehyun, you tell him!” Yerim covered her face in embarrassment, garnering chuckles from the two guys.
“The others are freaking out and having a massive field day,” Dejun grinned as he read the group chat.
“What do you think of a joint wedding with Ten ge, then?”
“Ya! Xiao Dejun!”
Sicheng smiled as he laid down his daughter on her cot. He sat down on the bed next to his wife who sported a tired look but was smiling at her phone.
"What are you smiling at?" He asked curiously as he peered into her phone before getting his own phone, chuckling at the notifications that popped.
"Just the news about Jaehyun and Yerim. I'm really happy for them," Yiyang grinned.
"I know, me too. I've witnessed the and puppy love of them all the way through high school. It's good that they decided to settle down. Yerim is what's best for Jaehyun," Sicheng smiled.
"After Ten's wedding, it will probably be theirs, huh?"
"Most probably. Ten just sent the wedding invitation to our friends in the States and also he relayed the information of Jaehyun's engagement."
"Oh, we haven't seen them in a while. They will probably come to Ten's wedding, right?"
"Or…. One might come a little earlier," Sicheng grinned as he read a flurry of messages that went into his phone from a certain someone.
"What? Who?"
Sicheng pressed the send button on his phone and smiled.
"Let's see."
Comments