Author's Note: The last chapter definitely had some high emotions (you could say), and this chapter will be the same - although different kinds of emotion! Brace yourself for a lot of tears from our dearest Taemin (and maybe some from Jongin too? 👀)
Enjoy! ♡

The rest of their vacation went by blissfully. Taemin awoke the morning after his birthday feeling incredibly well-rested; he had vague memories of waking again after their , Jongin mumbling affectionately – to himself or Taemin, he wasn’t sure – as he carefully cleaned them up and looked after Taemin. Somehow, he had flipped Taemin back upright so his head was in the pillows again, but Taemin couldn’t recall this happening. Taemin also may have told Jongin how he loved him very, very much, but that might have been a dream. Everything was hazy, but it felt perfect nonetheless.

After that night, Jongin didn’t waste the opportunity to thoroughly enjoy themselves every evening. Having unlocked Taemin’s loud side – because they didn’t care if their neighbours heard; people came and went, and no one knew them anyway – Jongin found himself eager to experience more of it. He couldn’t get enough of Taemin’s moans – sometimes pretty, sometimes deep and desperate, but always soft in a way only Taemin could be; it was music to his ears. And as for Taemin, he opened himself up to exploration of this side of their relationship, unable to deny the things it did to his head. Sinful? Yes, but absolutely heavenly too.

Outside of the hotel, they behaved as usual. It was a switch flipping, the moment they were on the other side of the door. For some reason, Taemin could handle being entirely unsubtle – crying Jongin’s name and not holding back on the immensely noises that filled the place every night – as long as it was in their room. Nothing could touch them there, and he could pretend the world didn’t exist. But once they were outside, it was all business. They were friends on a friend-cation, having a platonic summer trip to celebrate being on break from school.

Even if it wasn’t romantic though, it was still fun. Taemin collected some shells from the beach, excited to be able to find so many lilac purple ones – his favourite colour. They went into the city and ate at various restaurants, looked around traditional markets for treats and souvenirs, and hit up all the typical tourist attractions. Every day was so busy that Taemin didn’t even notice the time flying by, until soon nearly a week had already passed.

The morning of the twenty-fourth, Taemin awoke first. For a little while, he just lay there, thinking over the past few days and feeling more and more in love with Jongin by the second. Eventually his eyes opened so he could see the man he loved, still fast asleep and looking utterly content. Taemin’s hand moved to Jongin’s hair, his touch feather-light so as not to disturb the younger’s sleep.

He’s perfect. He’s everything I could have ever asked for…

Taemin had never really been one to look for love – the whole thing had made him a bit nervous, clueless as to how he was supposed to make it all happen – and he had long ago decided he would let God send the right one to him. Someone, he had hoped, who would make a good friend, first and foremost. Someone he could be himself around, and someone he felt happy with effortlessly. Someone he could trust, and who would love adventure as much as he did. Maybe even someone who could take him on even bigger adventures than he’d already done himself, but that was just a bonus. And then Jongin had come along, and it had been so simple. How could he not have fallen in love?

Dear Father, thank you for answering my prayers. He refused to believe the snake’s voice in his mind suggesting that Jongin had been sent by the Devil. No. The Devil couldn’t make anything this good. Jongin was a godsend, in the literal sense of the word, and Taemin would be grateful for the blessing that was his boyfriend as long as he lived.

Taemin had written all of this in a letter (minus the Devil part) a few days before they had flown to the island. The letter had waited in the bottom of his suitcase until last night, when Jongin had gone to the bathroom and Taemin had flown to move it from there to the drawer in the nightstand. Now, it was patiently waiting for him again – or rather, for Jongin to receive, because it was their one hundredth day anniversary.

Part of him felt like it was underwhelming. A hundred days together and all he had was a silly letter? But at the same time, he didn’t want to make a big deal of it. He worried that Jongin would think it was silly – as far as he could tell, it seemed like Jongin didn’t even know, considering he’d made not the slightest mention of it. Even so, Taemin had bought one of the little stone grandpa figures made of volcanic rock as an extra gift and souvenir for Jongin to always remember this precious holiday. (Taemin thought it was a little lame, but Jongin was thoroughly entertained by the figures due to their phallic shape, so he’d gotten it for Jongin’s very mature sake.)

Taemin was still worrying about it when a sudden knock at the door had him jumping. Was it cleaning service? They didn’t usually come while the boys were in the room, typically cleaning after check-out hours. He frowned, but then a groan was alerting him to the fact that Jongin had been woken up by the noise too.

“Time is it?” he mumbled, stretching out without opening his eyes. Taemin glanced to the clock.

“Eight… should I answer it?” Taemin answered, not wanting to leave whoever it was waiting.

“Sure…”

Taemin rolled off the bed, slipping his feet into his slippers and crossing over to the door. Taking a moment to peek out the peephole, he saw someone in the hotel uniform and quickly opened the door. The man was standing rather respectfully, one arm held to his waist and the other behind his back, like some sort of cartoon butler.

“Lee Taemin?”

Taemin gave a confused nod. “Yes?”

At the confirmation, the man’s second arm appeared, flourishing a large bouquet of flowers and holding it out to Taemin. “A delivery for you.”

Gaping, Taemin didn’t move for a moment. What on earth…? His mind buffered, finally registering that he was keeping the staff waiting and hurriedly taking the bouquet in both hands. “Th-thank you!” he rushed, giving a tiny bow before the man walked off, leaving Taemin to stare after him for just a second before closing the door and returning his gaze to the flowers.

They were a mix of white and pink, artfully organized so that most of the pink flowers formed a heart shape in the center of the bouquet with a couple acting as accents among the remaining white. Taemin knew little about flowers, only recognizing the large, pure white flowers as tulips. These were surrounded by several three-petal white flowers, and two types of pink ones. The first had bright yellow centers and looked particularly delicate, while the second were somewhat heart-shaped themselves. He found the last to be his favourite, leaning in to give them a smell, though most of their scent seemed to have faded.

“Come back,” Jongin called for him. Hearing his voice made Taemin want to cry a bit. It was Jongin who was responsible for this, he just knew it.

“You remembered,” Taemin said as he stepped back into their room, hugging the bouquet to his chest. Jongin had moved to sit up now, not looking all that awake still but breaking into a smile as he caught sight of the flowers.

“Oh, you got them. I was hoping it was that…” Jongin looked up at Taemin innocently, but Taemin wasn’t fooled. Then he added with a slightly sheepish grin, “Happy anniversary. I wasn’t going to forget an excuse to spoil you more.”

His comment made Taemin laugh, gently putting the flowers down beside Jongin before jumping onto him to give him a bone-crushing hug. “You’re amazing. Thank you so much…”

Jongin hugged him back, though considerably more gently. Then, when Taemin let him go, he raised his eyebrows. “I’m not done. Let me tell you what they mean…”

What they mean? Taemin reached for the flowers again, though he stayed in Jongin’s lap. This proved slightly more difficult as the bouquet was rather large to fit between them, making Jongin chuckle.

“I didn’t realize a hundred flowers would be this big,” he admitted as he looked it over. Once again, Taemin found himself gaping. A hundred? One for every day they’d been together, then. It made his heart throb achingly, finding the thoughtfulness so endearing. Then Jongin was pointing at the flowers. “So, these white ones are trilliums. They’re today’s flower, for July twenty-fourth,” he explained as he pointed at the tri-petal ones.

“And then there’s the tulips, which is the flower of April sixteenth,” he went on. Our anniversary… “And these pink ones are roses. They’re called moss roses, and they come in different colours, but I figured it would look best to match with the other ones, which are called cyclamen. And… well, the moss rose is the flower of July eighteenth, and the cyclamen is for January fourteenth, so I’m sure you can understand…”

At this Jongin trailed off, lifting his gaze to Taemin at last. He’d been feeling pretty shy explaining the whole thing, finding it incredibly cheesy. But Taemin was just the type for it, so Jongin had been hopeful that Taemin would like it. Taemin was silent through it all though, not a gasp or coo of realization, and it made Jongin a little nervous. Yet when he looked, he saw Taemin’s eyes filled with tears, biting his lip as he stared at the flowers.

“Are you crying?” Jongin wondered gently, making Taemin sniffle and wipe at his eyes before he was practically throwing himself at Jongin again. If Taemin did cry, it was only between them, and Jongin wouldn’t tell a soul.

“I can’t believe you…”

Jongin rubbed Taemin’s back, making sure the flowers stayed safe and not in way of harm. “It was pretty hard to find a place that had all the flowers, honestly. The tulips and roses were fine, but the other two… I almost gave up on them. I wanted it to have everything though.”

“Thank you,” Taemin sniffed, pulling back to look at Jongin sincerely. Jongin wiped at his eyes, and Taemin leaned in to give his lips a peck – as if that remotely covered how he was feeling. His chest was almost hurting from how much love he was feeling. As if Jongin had researched all these things, and worked so hard to find all the flowers of all their significant dates. (He also quite liked the way Jongin’s birthday flower had been his favourite one, finding it rather fitting.) “You’re beyond incredible. I’m… thank you. You do so much for me, give me so many things – I mean, this whole trip, all the food, and now this? I’m so lucky to have you.”

Jongin’s brow furrowed, taking Taemin’s face in his hands for a moment before sliding them down to rest on the crook between his shoulders and neck. “You? You’re lucky? No, I'm the lucky one, Taemin.” He shook his head as Taemin opened his mouth to disagree, continuing before he got the chance. “Good things would have found you. You're such a good person, your life was always going to end up well – with or without money. You make everything better, and you could have made your life good – and whoever else you met and ended up with.

“But me? Without you, I would've been a mess… With my parents divorcing, and losing our money…” A flash of pain crossed his eyes, but Jongin gave his head another shake, looking Taemin over and smiling. “You helped me so much with that, and with other things too. I used to be so selfish, and my priorities were all wrong. I mean, I'm not perfect now, but you’ve made me realize money can't buy everything. I couldn't buy all the experiences you've given me. The love you give… the love I feel for you…”

Taemin was the one cutting him off now, bringing their mouths together to give him a long and love-filled kiss. It filled his heart to hear Jongin felt this way about him, even if Taemin still felt convinced that he wasn’t all that special. But he soon forgot about this, focused on Jongin’s mouth on his, on Jongin’s hands as they slid to his waist and pulled him closer, Jongin’s warmth as their bodies pressed together. They kissed deeper, Taemin’s head tilting, lips parting to invite Jongin to do more…

“Wait, wait-” Jongin pulled back, face flushed and looking a little dazed before he let out a small laugh. “Hold on, I have more.”

More? Taemin couldn’t believe it, with everything he’d already done, and suddenly felt like he was about to cry again. “Of course you do…” When he blinked, he felt tears prickling in his eyes – it couldn’t be possible that Jongin was real, let alone really his. What had he done to deserve him?

“Don't cry…” Jongin was frowning again, reaching back up to hold Taemin’s face in his hands as he saw the tears threatening to fall. It only made Taemin feel more emotional, though. “Why do you get upset about me buying you things? I want to do it. It's my money, and it makes me happy to buy things for you…” His thumb brushed away the first tear to fall, giving Taemin a quick, much softer kiss than the last.

“I just wish I could do the same…”

“It's okay. I don’t need you to,” Jongin assured him, continuing to wipe at his tears as they fell. Taemin was grateful that he didn’t judge him for being this way, but Jongin was only returning the kindness and patience that Taemin had always had for him whenever he broke down crying. “I can buy myself whatever I want already. You – you give me something I can't buy… You're filling in the piece I'm missing, and I like to think I'm helping do the same for you.”

This made Taemin shake his head this time, wiping at his own eyes. “But you give me more than just presents, Jongin. You've given me a lot of love and happiness, too…” It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t equal at all. Jongin loved him just as much, yet he did so much more on top of that, while Taemin – didn’t. How could Jongin compare them?

But Jongin was grinning, just a tiny bit. He shrugged and stole another kiss. “I guess I'm just trying to make it so you can’t replace me,” he said playfully.

“I could never do that,” Taemin replied seriously, not an ounce of hesitation in his voice.

“Promise?”

“Yes, of course.” As if Taemin could ever find anyone else like Jongin if he tried, let alone anyone who could change his life as much as Jongin had. “I don’t want anyone else but you, Jongin… Here-” Suddenly, he was reminded of the letter he had written, which he thought would be more useful than his mouth right now considering how clouded his thoughts were by emotions. Thus, he reached over and pulled out the letter from the nightstand, holding it out to Jongin. “I wrote this for you, for today.”

Looking taken aback, Jongin took the letter and opened it, squinting for a moment before reaching for his glasses. Then he was reading it silently, Taemin watching and waiting and trying not to feel self-conscious about the cheesy things he had written. Soon, it was Jongin’s eyes that were watering. When he reached the end of the letter, he had to take off his glasses to wipe at his own tears, giving a slightly embarrassed laugh. “Jeez, you’re so… I could never ask for anything more than you. You're really the sweetest, Taemin…”

Taemin smiled bashfully, kissing him for the millionth time. Then to his surprise, Jongin was pushing him away – gently, but off of his lap. “Hold on a second…” Jongin climbed out of bed, going to grab something of his own before coming back and sitting beside Taemin. Whatever it was, it was small enough to fit in his hands, leaving Taemin’s curiosity piqued.

“I love you, and I'm glad we found each other,” Jongin told him slowly. “And... I want to promise you I'll only be yours. I love you, and I always will.” At that, he opened his hands to reveal a small box, opening it to show two rings inside. Taemin’s heart nearly stopped, shock clear on his face followed by a hint of confusion. The rings were simple, two silver bands without any stones. But… Why two? He couldn’t help but wonder, though he was too overwhelmed to think very clearly because was Jongin…?

“Don't panic, it's not-” Jongin didn’t miss the look in Taemin’s eyes, giving a soft laugh. “They're promise rings. It's a bit early to be thinking about marriage.” He chuckled again, sounding shy. “But I do want to promise to stay loyal to you and be yours, no matter who disagrees.

“Here, this one’s yours…” He pointed, and Taemin reached hesitantly for the ring, Jongin grabbing the other and bringing it up to his eyes before nodding. As he did, Taemin noticed the engraving on the inner side that Jongin was squinting at. Curious, he checked his own ring, finding a simple J inside his own.

“Oh- I think this is yours…”

Absently, his fingers brushed over the friendship bracelet he had made for them, always resting on his wrist, the T still shining there. It made him smile to think Jongin had done the same with these rings. To his surprise though, Jongin shook his head.

“No, it’s yours,” he assured, making Taemin frown and look at the letter again. J.

“But it’s a J, not a T…” Taemin noted. “You’re the J…”

“And I’m yours,” Jongin replied simply, sliding his own ring onto his ring finger. Taemin stared at him for a moment, and then blinked a few times. Oh… “I wasn't sure what size your fingers are, so if it doesn't fit I'll get it resized for you.”

Lost in thought still, Taemin tried to slip his on his middle finger, finding it too tight there and moving it to his ring finger. Surprisingly, it fit pretty well, and Taemin held his hand up to look at it before blushing just a bit. And I’m yours… The words echoed in his mind, leaving him a bit dizzy. That, plus having the ring on his wedding finger…

“Now I feel engaged…”

At this Jongin laughed, holding up his own hand beside Taemin’s to admire the rings together. Simple, but pretty, and truly making them look like an engaged couple. Then he wrapped his arms back around Taemin’s waist and pulled him back to lie on top of him. “I wouldn't mind that happening someday too…”

Oh… Taemin had thought he’d been alone in dreaming about them getting married. It made his heart soar to hear Jongin wasn’t against the idea. Even if it wasn’t really possible – not to mention even more sinful – Taemin was overjoyed to think Jongin might really be willing to spend the rest of his life with him. Bending to kiss Jongin, Taemin couldn’t hold in his sunny smile. “I really love you.”

“i love you too,” Jongin told him, returning his smile at equal brightness and running his now ring-clad hand through Taemin’s hair. Then he admitted fondly, “You know, I've felt for a really long time that you're someone I'd always want to have around. Even when we were just friends, you were different…” His eyes scanned over Taemin’s face, looking full of affection and love at what he saw. “I want you in my life forever, Taemin. I'll always love you, I promise that and I mean it.”

Taemin took a deep breath, trying to keep his emotions at bay as Jongin confirmed his hopes. “Stop trying to make me cry again, I’ve done that enough today…”

“Sorry,” Jongin chuckled, hand moving to pat Taemin’s . “Let’s go get breakfast while we still can then. Maybe you’ll feel better when you aren’t hungry.”

This had Taemin snorting as he sat up, grabbing the flowers off the bed. “What am I, your pregnant wife?” he joked, making Jongin laugh as he looked around for somewhere to put the bouquet. “What should I do with these…?”

“I’ll have to buy a vase,” Jongin said, waving to the sink. “Just put them there for now, we have food to eat.”

So that was what Taemin did, though not before taking a picture by the window of the precious gift, wishing he could have his ring on display too (not that he planned to post the picture, but he would probably show some people). It would be so nice to be able to show off Jongin’s love for him, and his for Jongin. But he couldn’t risk Taesun (or all the other people who didn’t know about them) seeing, so it would have to stay between him and Jongin for now.

After he put the flowers down though, his mind lingered on the ring, suddenly worrying about leaving the room with it on. On the other side of that door, where the real world awaited them, it would feel like a beacon. It would be one thing if it was only him wearing the ring, but Jongin had one too…

“Aren’t you going to wear it?” Jongin wondered as he saw Taemin sliding the ring off. “Don’t tell me you’re worried about a bunch of strangers seeing…”

But Taemin was worried. Wouldn’t it be strange if they were wearing matching rings on their wedding fingers? At the same time, he felt bad not wearing it, when Jongin had gotten it just for him. As he debated what to do internally, Jongin took of his own.

“Here, you wear yours there and I’ll…” He switched the ring to his right hand, holding it up and wiggling his fingers. “Less suspicious. Now they’re like friendship rings. Or cult rings.”

It made Taemin laugh, but he didn’t mind the idea. He could handle people thinking they were in a cult – because at least he knew they were wrong. The ring returned to his left hand, Jongin smiling at it and then holding the door open for him. Taemin missed the sadness in his eyes as he headed out, but it was gone in a second as Jongin pushed it away.

They knew. That was all that mattered.

Author's Note: Alright, be honest: who else thought Jongin was proposing just for a second there? Definitely too early for that! But look, we're getting to see Jongin's sweet and thoughtful side ♡ The reason the trip wasn't just a long weekend for Taemin's birthday is in fact because Jongin was thinking about their anniversary too, so yes, Taemin's not the only sentimental sweetheart.
This trip is doing them a lot of good in terms of bringing them closer together. Unfortunately it's coming to an end, but what I'm getting from it is that they need their own apartment - do you think Jongin's dad would be willing to pay for that, or do I need to start crowdfunding for them? ♡