now playing: marry you - bruno mars
"'cause it's a beautiful night"

it was a beautiful night and despite all the times she had been in vienna before, there was something about tonight that felt different. 

at 3am, the streets were quiet and usually at this time she would be tucked warmly into her hotel bed finally getting the sleep she needed, and not wandering the streets with a half finished bottle of wine in one hand. 

but when her members and the staff wanted to celebrate the end of their world tour with a big party, and everyone was in high spirits and buying her drinks left and right, and joohyun swears the alcohol in vienna must be stronger than usual, she had no choice but to allow herself to let loose for once. 

after all the busy schedules and stressful situations over the course of this tour, she deserved it. 

and when seulgi- her beautiful, sweet, loving seulgi- who was just about as drunk as she was, gave her a kiss that had joohyun reeling and looked at her with puppy eyes and said she wanted to walk outside on the streets like her favourite movie, joohyun had to say yes. if she was sober, she would've considered all the risks and rationalise that it maybe wasn't the best idea. 

but she wasn’t, so the two of them giddily snuck out of the club hand in hand, taking an unopened bottle from their vip area because “we might get thirsty from walking” she reasoned. 

“seulgi-yah, look.” joohyun said, swaying a little on her feet as she halted them to point ahead at the town square they were approaching with a beautiful water fountain in the middle.

“you’re not wanting to drink it right?” seulgi asked, looking at her with an amused grin. 

“no silly.” joohyun shook her head frantically, tugging seulgi’s arm to keep walking forward. “money.” she stated when they were beside the fountain and pointed. 

“you want to steal the money?” seulgi guessed, squinting her eyes at the small coins scattered all across the bottom of the fountain. 

“no!” joohyun laughed, finding it all too amusing and seulgi looked at her with an equally amused expression. “i want to make a wish.”  

seulgi furrowed her brows, quickly searching her pockets and eventually pulling out a slightly crumpled 50 note. “i only have this.” she said.

joohyun’s eyes widened comically wide, “seulgi! that is so much money.” she said with a giggle. “we could make so many wishes.” 

“maybe we could exchange this for coins.” seulgi suggested, reaching over the side of the fountain into the water. 

joohyun gasped, “are we allowed to do that?” she asked, watching seulgi retrieve a handful of coins from the bottom of the fountain and triumphantly lift her hand up, dripping water on them in the process and making joohyun yelp. “seulgi! i don’t think we can.” she said in a hushed voice, looking around as if there was anyone to overhear them. “put it back.” 

“aw.” seulgi pouted but obediently returned the coins into the water. a smirk formed on her face as an idea popped into her head and she lifted her wet hand to flick water directly at joohyun’s face, earning herself (and the residents in the vicinity) a loud scream. 

“oh my god!” seulgi gasped, shushing her girlfriend while laughing uncontrollably at the reaction. 

without a word, joohyun reached into the fountain and swatted a wave of water towards seulgi, making the latter yelp and jump backwards to avoid the splashes. “stop, stop!” she said between laughs, waving her hands. 

“you started it.” joohyun said simply but stopped and let seulgi pacify her by pulling her into her arms and giving the tip of her nose a kiss. 

“i’m sorry.” seulgi smiled, cheeks still rosy from the alcohol and eyes hazy but full of adoration. “where should we go now?” 

~

they sat side by side and watched the lights flicker like stars across the river, in awe at the beauty of it all and simply enjoying the quiet, peaceful outdoors that was a nice change from their usual crowded noisy environments. 

joohyun passed the wine to seulgi, who finished the last few drops and put the empty bottle aside.

“this is nice.” she said. 

“which part?” 

“all of it.” seulgi replied looking at her. “vienna. being drunk. you. us.” she listed, bringing a smile to joohyun’s face. 

“remember how we always went out at night like this to the river. so no one would see us.” joohyun said in a soft voice, watching the glimmering lights reflecting on the water. 

“yet we’d still worry fans would recognise us.” seulgi said with a small laugh. “that’s why i love being overseas with you. we have much more freedom.”

“yeah.” joohyun agreed, looking at her fondly, remembering their many years of secret dates, hidden kisses, and sneaking behind staffs' backs. it hadn't been easy, but the way those obstacles only made their relationship grow stronger only proved even more that they were meant to be together. 

“is there any city we haven’t been to?” seulgi wondered out loud. 

“many. why?” joohyun asked. 

“i was just thinking where we would go for our honeymoon because i want it to be somewhere new for both of us.” seulgi said. 

joohyun looked at her with a smile of both amusement and flusteredness. “already thinking that far?” 

seulgi bit her lip, blushing a little at the realisation of her slip up. “doesn’t hurt to plan early.” she reasoned and joohyun nodded, a small smirk showing on her face. 

“but aren’t you skipping a few steps?” 

“maybe i have it planned already.” seulgi responded and joohyun felt her heart skip a beat. “or am i the only one planning?” she asked with a hint of teasing. 

“of course not.” joohyun said with certainty in her voice, making seulgi smile brightly and turn back to watch the river's calm ripples. 

joohyun stared at her for a moment longer before calling her name affectionately to make her look back at her. 

“i love you.” she said. 

seulgi’s smile sent warm and fuzzy feelings through joohyun and she leaned in so their foreheads touched, her eyes fluttering shut. “i love you too.” 

joohyun kissed her boldly and confidently, taking advantage of the rare occasion that they could be outdoors with no reporters or fans to be wary of and she could express her affection freely. 

as seulgi kissed her back, joohyun could only think about how sure she was that she would spend the rest of her life with her. 

~

they danced down the boulevard, giggling and twirling each other around without a care in the world. 

seulgi looked breathtaking under the warm orange lamplights as she danced and joohyun could hardly believe how lucky she was. 

countless times throughout the day, she would catch herself stopping to stare at her, as if still trying to process the fact seulgi was the love of her life. 

what were the chances of meeting your soulmate at the age of 19? joohyun wondered. and the chances of everything working out and you choosing them and them choosing you back? and despite all the challenges and obstacles, to still make it through and come out stronger each time. 

“what should we do now?” seulgi asked, smiling as she skipped back closer to joohyun. “what do you want to do?” she asked, feeling like she still had infinite amounts of energy to continue this night. 

joohyun blinked, looking into seulgi’s eyes who gazed back with warmth and patience. 

“i…” joohyun uttered, and the desire to say the words out loud (plus the presence of alcohol) overtook any semblance of rationality she had left. “i want to marry you.”

seulgi’s gaze softened if that was even possible and a shy smile bloomed on her face. “i want to marry you too. i can’t wait for that day.” she said. 

she was surprised when joohyun shook her head. 

“seulgi, i want to marry you.” joohyun repeated slower, careful. “as in tonight. right now.” 

seulgi’s jaw almost dropped and she looked at her incredulously. “really?” she asked. “wait, i think we are too drunk to make this decision.” she said.

“drunk or not, i want to marry you.” joohyun said determinedly. “so why not now?” 

seulgi grinned, “no time like the present.” she agreed but then came to her senses again, eyebrows furrowing in serious contemplation. “but don’t you want a proper wedding?”

“i don’t care about any of that.” joohyun said. “i just want us to be married.” 

“me too.” seulgi said, excitement shining in her eyes. “but how? where will we go?”

“there’s a chapel down the end of this boulevard.” joohyun recalled, surprisingly clear-headed all of a sudden. 

“oh my god.” seulgi whispered, reality setting in. “i can’t believe we’re doing this.” she said with a laugh. 

“are you really sure about this?” joohyun asked, turning seulgi to look at her seriously. “if you’re not ready-“

“i’m ready.” seulgi said confidently, taking joohyun’s hands and giving her a big smile. “i’ve been ready for the longest time.” 

joohyun smiled, giddy with excitement. “okay.” she took a deep breath, feeling her heart swell with happiness. “then, let's get married.”

~

joohyun woke up with a heavy head and a blurry memory of last night’s events. 

she lifted herself up with a groan, blinking at her surroundings to make sure she was where she was supposed to be. 

yes, this was her hotel room. her belongings were right where she left them before she left for the party last night. so she did make it back to her room safely; that was a good sign. 

her eyesight became more clear and she took in more of her surroundings, taking in the sight of some clothes lying haphazardly around the room. she looked to her left, smiling in relief at the sight of seulgi fast asleep. another good sign that they didn’t get up to too much trouble last night. 

she reached out to gently brush seulgi’s hair out of her face, admiring her soft features and how cute she always looked asleep. joohyun paused her actions when she noticed a small pink ribbon tied in a bow on her finger. 

what is this?

joohyun lifted her hand closer to her face to inspect the ribbon on her fourth finger and she had no memory of how it came to be tied there like it was meant to imitate a ring. 

joohyun didn’t dwell on it as it was probably one of the many silly but harmless things they did while drunk and looked at her phone, somehow still alert enough to remember they had to check out of the hotel at 2 in the afternoon. it was currently 12 so she would have to wake seulgi up to allow them enough time to get ready and pack.  

“seulgi-yah.” joohyun whispered, tapping her finger gently on her girlfriend’s nose. it took a few tries to rouse her and seulgi’s sleepy and confused gaze that lasted for almost a minute made joohyun giggle. 

“good morning.” seulgi mumbled before falling asleep again. 

“no, no.” joohyun quickly grabbed seulgi’s face to keep her awake and laughed at the sight of seulgi cutely struggling to keep her eyes open. “we need to get up now.”

“my head hurts.” seulgi whined. 

“i know, i know.” joohyun cooed, “i’ll order us hangover soup.” she said as seulgi reluctantly agreed to get up. seulgi rubbed her eyes and joohyun caught sight of the same coloured ribbon on her fourth finger, making her grab seulgi’s hand to look at it. 

“what is that?” seulgi asked, not knowing why she had t