“Must they really find me there?” Jihyo whined as she sat sprawled on Jongkook’s couch. She was leaning onto him, and his right arm was wrapped around her securely. 

He chuckled, as he peered on to his phone that Jihyo had been staring at for the past few minutes. “Well, what were you even doing in that place? You haven’t said yes to my proposal and you’re looking at wedding dresses in Mapo-gu?”

That made her sit up and stare at him in disdain. He laughed even louder, as she continued to pout. “Aniya! I was just… Well…” she tried her hardest to think of an excuse, but she didn’t really have any. She ended up revealing the truth, “Okay. Fine. The dresses were really pretty.”

“Still! Going dress hunting with our friends in a wedding shop without giving an answer to my proposal? That’s a bit much isn’t it, love?” he said, stealing a kiss from her temple. 

It has been months since he proposed to her, and Jihyo was yet to give him an answer. He was sure he was going to get her to agree, but they were both just waiting for the right time. When he got the tip from his friends in the industry that some people caught Song Jihyo browsing for wedding dresses, he was pleasantly surprised, until it dawned on him that she had not yet formally agreed to marrying him. He was confident about her answer; after all, despite Jihyo not having said yes yet, they nonchalantly shared their own thoughts on their impending wedding and their plans after. It seemed like their future marriage was more factual than speculative.

Despite all that, actually looking at white gowns was stretching it.

Jihyo felt defenseless, so her instincts were to deflect his teasing. “Why do you feel so offended? Shouldn’t you be happy I’m actually moving forward?”

He laughed at that, standing up in the process. “Neo…” he began. “Look, I’m happy, but can you blame me? It seemed like other people were the first to know we’re getting married.”

“Who says you’re the one I’m marrying?” she retorted with a playful smirk on her face.

Jongkook walked off to his kitchen, his face turning sour at Jihyo’s teasing. “Okay, okay. Arraseo,” he said disdainfully, pouring himself a glass of water before drinking from it.

She immediately realized she may have crossed the line with her joke, so she trudged to the spot behind him, and put her arms around his waist, leaning onto his back. “Mianhaeyo, oppa. I’m just teasing you.”

Jongkook put down his glass of water, and held on to Jihyo’s hands that were situated on his waist. He looked down at her, “Now, will you quit playing. What were you really doing there?”

When Jihyo still didn’t answer, he turned around, and gingerly embraced her. He stared down at her, slightly smiling to get her to speak. She looked up at him, pursing her lips and waiting for her to just drop the topic. But he didn’t budge. She should have known; he’d always been serious when it came to the topic of marriage.

She breathed deeply before explaining, “We were just going around. You know me; I’m not really fond of shopping, but Youngin insisted, and I couldn’t refuse. She rarely had time to shop, and our other friends were too keen on it. I had to tag along. Then we passed by that building, and apparently it was a place for ateliers. We ended up entering one of the shops, and they asked me to try on some of the dresses.”

He listened to her patiently, but towards the end, his eyebrows had furrowed together. She felt a bit anxious about his reaction, so she asked whether the impromptu shopping trip was too much work to clean up. “Aniya,” he immediately rejected the notion. “I’m just… I was just worried you felt pressured by people again.”

His hands absentmindedly went to her hair, swiping them behind her ear to make sure they didn’t cover her beautiful face. She was still staring at him, her eyes enjoying the sight of him close to her. “What are you staring at?” he asked, starting to get conscious of her gaze.

She giggled, “Nothing. I just can’t believe I wasted so much time in the last decade, when I could have had this already.” 

His cheeks visibly flushed, and he had to fight back the wide grin that was starting to creep on his face. Jihyo rarely shared sappy words, but when she did, Jongkook was truly at a loss about what to do. He ended up staring at the floor, before shaking his head to get a grip on himself and looking back at her. 

“I didn’t feel pressured, oppa,” she clarified with a smile. “I told you already. The dresses really looked nice, so when they suggested that we should go in, I couldn’t turn them down.”

“Any dresses that you liked in particular?” he asked after a beat.

She tilted her head, looking up in thought as she tried to remember the dresses she tried on. “Nothing really struck my fancy there, oppa. The dresses looked elegant outside the window, but then when I wore them, it felt like they were eating me alive. They looked too big on me,” she finally said.

He chuckled, “I don’t think it’s the fault of the dresses. You’re just tiny.” Then, he tapped the tip of her nose playfully.

Her hand immediately smacked his chest, and as she sought to strike him again, his reflex was fast enough to deflect her next attacks. Eventually, it ended up becoming a chase around his apartment, but he made a crucial mistake. He slipped on the floor of his living room, landing on his couch, which allowed Jihyo to sit on top of him and continue trying to hit him. They were both laughing at this point, knowing that this entire thing was too childish for a bunch of 40-year-olds but not wanting to stop nonetheless. 

When Jongkook had enough of Jihyo’s playfulness, he fought back and took her wrists in his hands, and pulled them to her sides. She lost her balance, and her face ended up close to his. Her eyes were wide in surprise as she stared into Jongkook’s face. He was smirking, as he got the result he wanted, and he stole a quick peck from her lips.

She felt betrayed. The kiss was too fast for her liking, and she couldn’t resist the feel of his lips against hers, so she propped herself up on his chest, before leaning down to capture his lips in another kiss. This time, she allowed herself to enjoy the taste of him, and she felt his hands snake around her waist, enclosing her in a tight embrace. He responded eagerly to her kiss, nibbling on her lower lip and causing her to moan. He took this chance to swipe his tongue inside , and she couldn’t help but sigh into the kiss.

When air became a need, she had to pull back unwillingly, her eyes opening slowly to see him smiling back at her. His lips were swollen, and he bit his lower lip. She couldn’t help but find him adorable. He kissed like a man, and yet he was always boyish about everything that came after.

Her mind was hazy from the kiss, and he was also dazed by the sight in front of him. She was always so enchantingly beautiful, and he loved them just being like this on their free days. It was a glimpse of the life he was sure they were headed for, and now that Jihyo was becoming more open about the topic, he felt like they were quite close to the finish line already.

“So if none of those dresses were okay with you, what sort of dress would you wear?” he asked, floating the idea. He’d seen her decked in white on multiple occasions; sometimes, she would even wear actual wedding dresses in her movies and pictorials. But the image of her in a white dress that she would be wearing to marry him was just something else, and while he didn’t know what she would wear exactly, the notion of him waiting for her to walk down the aisle was just incredibly exciting. 

She thought about it carefully, biting on her bottom lip in the process. In the end, she didn’t really have an answer to that question, “I’m not sure, oppa. I guess, I just don’t want anything too extravagant. I’d want to wear something that’s going to be comfortable. I think ball gowns won’t do that for me.”

“Yeoksi, I thought so too,” he said with a smile. “Well, if it helps, I don’t care what you’re going to wear, as long as I’m the one you’re marrying, arraseo?”

“Arraseo, I’ll keep that in mind,” she said, stealing a kiss from his cheek. In the process of pulling back, she inadvertently pushed on his chest, and he tried his hardest to stifle the groan that came out of him to no avail. “Oh, mianhaeyo, oppa. Hold on, l