Six years was actually a pretty long time for a couple to date each other without having the plan to move to another step of the relationship. Just like their relationship now, which had just reached six years, there were still no hints from Jong Kook to ask Ji Hyo to move to the next step.

It was not that Jong Kook did not want to marry her. Hell, he would actually elope with her if she was willing to, but it was a matter of how he should propose. Jong Kook was clueless, unsure how to ask her to spend his life with him perfectly.

Sure, he had asked for some advice from his friends who had already proposed to their wives, but none of them matched Jong Kook’s standards. He wanted it to be spectacular. He wanted it to be unforgettable. He wanted it to be perfect for his loved one.

Well, she had actually never poked on that topic, perhaps because she knew he was uncomfortable talking about it if he was not ready to do it yet. Nonetheless, Jong Kook knew she was waiting for him to pop the question. She was not getting any younger, as well as he was. Therefore, the least he could do was show her the clear intention of him dating her instead of tiptoeing here and there.

With her now moving in with him six months ago, it was more difficult for him to plan something without her noticing. Not that he minded her presence here—he was actually grateful for having an extraordinary chance to wake up every morning to her pretty face. Still, as much as he wanted the proposal to be perfect, he should find some ways to make it tidy under the rug so that she would not sense something weird going on.

This morning, as always, he woke up first and headed to the gym after planting a kiss on her broad forehead. Even while working out at the gym, he did not waste his chance to ask some of his gym buddies about the proposal ideas, hoping that there was actually something that he could add to his grand plan.

Though most of the time, he got nothing.

Soon after finishing the morning working out session, he rushed back home again while listening to the radio in his car. It was always nice to have company while you were driving, and the radio was not really bad company, actually.

“You know, some people just want their proposals to be extremely perfect. Some of them would even buy or do some extreme things just to prove their love for their partner and propose to them. While some also would just try to make things simple but memorable.”

What a coincidence! He raised the volume up to listen to the radio better.

“Some also say we should focus on what our partner likes, not what people think would be amazing. Sometimes such little details that we remember from our partner can easily make them feel loved and cared for. If our partner likes chocolate, perhaps we can write our proposals with arranged chocolate bars. Well, in the end, a proposal is about how you properly ask your partner to live with you forever, to spend their life with you, so I think it should focus on what you both love and cherish the most. Show them wholeheartedly that you really love and will cherish them for the rest of your life, then I’ll ninety-nine percent guarantee that they’ll accept your proposal! Good luck to all the couples who are thinking of getting married!”

Showing her that I love her wholeheartedly? That should be easy.

It was only 9 AM when he arrived home. He showered her with many kisses, but she was hard to be woken up. He could not stop giggling when she groaned between receiving the kisses and said something inaudible.

Oh, what had he done in the past until he could meet someone as lovely as her?

He decided to leave the sleeping beauty alone and headed to the kitchen. Everything had to be done cautiously, silently, since he did not want to wake her up. And thankfully, all the calls and plans making were done just in time when she reached the kitchen.

“What are you doing here, oppa?”

He smiled at her and hinted at her sitting on the dining chair next to him. “Nothing. I was just on the call with Gap Jin to discuss my schedule. Did you have a good sleep?”

She nodded. “I think my sleeping problem is scared of you because it goes away whenever I sleep next to you.”

“Really? Then you’ll forever have no sleeping problem then since you’ll be sleeping every night with me.”

Oh, that was more than a powerful hint.

Her chuckles filled up the room before she finally rummaged around the kitchen. “I’m hungry.”

“I bought you a sandwich wrap earlier.”

And that was how every morning actually went in Jong Kook’s apartment—their apartment, to be exact. Some chitchats about this and that were necessary while she was having her breakfast. Until finally, Jong Kook started to drop another huge hint.

“Ji Hyo-yah, what’s your schedule for tomorrow night?”

She tilted her head, trying to remember her schedule. “Tomorrow night? It’s Saturday, right? I think I have no schedule for tomorrow. Why, oppa?”

He grinned. “Okay. Dress up nicely, Ji Hyo-yah. I’ll pick you up at 5.”

“Oooh, is it a date? What’s the occasion?” Her eyes gleamed in excitement.

“What? I can’t take you out for a proper date if there’s no special occasion?”

“Of course you can! I’m just wondering because it’s uncommon for you to ask me to dress nicely. We used to always disguise ourselves by wearing all black, remember?”

Well, that was true. Since their relationship was private and had not been exposed to the public yet, they had to go on dates in secret by disguising themselves. Or, they could also bring someone as a smokescreen to make people still believe that they were just hanging out as friends. Truth be told, Jong Kook was up to publicizing the relationship, but Ji Hyo worried that it would affect their career—or, mostly, his career.

And to have a secret relationship for six years was not an easy task to do. They had lost count already of how many failed dates and panic states they were in when people seemed to start getting suspicious of their presence in public.

I hope Ji Hyo suspects nothing with my request.

Ji Hyo sat on the black sofa in their apartment, waiting for her prince to come and fetch her. Jong Kook had been leaving the house since the morning because he had meetings for his upcoming concert. She then texted him, letting him know that she was all ready to go and was now waiting for him to come. It did not take long after she sent the message to hear their passcode door being unlocked, making her smile widely while standing in the foyer of the apartment.

“Aigoo uri pretty Ji Hyo is ready.” He kissed her cheek softly. “Shall we go now?”

Right after receiving a nod from her, they then drove to an upscale restaurant where Jong Kook had booked a table yesterday. All the foods being served were actually Ji Hyo’s favorites, which explained why the woman was smiling all the way while munching her food.

(I Do) Can you look at one person for the rest of your life?

His own song suddenly played in his mind. To answer the question in his own lyrics, well, yes, he now could confidently say that he could. Why would Jong Kook resist seeing such a beautiful thing every day for the rest of his life? Her smile became his favorite view, beating any other pretty sight Jong Kook had seen with his own eyes.

(I Do) Can you care for someone else more than you do yourself?

That explains how Jong Kook managed to take care of her when she had a fever and flu a week ago. He could even still remember how a particular simple illness could drag her down from being a solid lioness in just one night after seeing her come home looking all pale and burning. Although his back pain made him live in hell last week, he still put her as his top priority, no matter how stubborn she was, saying that she could take care of herself.

Seeing that she was all healthy today and could enjoy the meal happily made him relieved. If he could choose, he would never want to return to when she refused to eat everything. Only God knows how he managed to finally make her finish up the porridge he cooked for her at that time.

(I Do) I can answer whoever asks me
(I Do) You, you’re my love

What was the point of prolonging it more anyway? Jong Kook now wondered to himself. He should have just officially made her his right from the start.

To the hell with the perfect proposal thing. He signaled to Ji Hyo if she was ready to go once he saw her empty plates. She grinned widely and nodded.

The way she held his hand, the way she shot him with a glance full of love, the way she his hair to tidy it up since she knew he hated it when his hair was messed up, and a lot more ways she loved him making him realize a thing.

I have never met someone so important and precious to me, that it hurts
To meet you, to feel this happiness
I must have dealt with a lot of pain

“Where are we going now, oppa?” After a few minutes of them driving in an unfamiliar neighborhood, she finally asked.

“Do you trust me?” What a rhetorical question.

As he expected, she nodded in approval. Just in another 5 minutes, they arrived somewhere. It was quiet outside, not to mention that it was already 8 PM which the sun had, of course, retired for the day. She took a look around from the car window before finally getting her eyes completely covered.

“Yah, oppa! What’s going on? It’s not even my birthday! Is this part of the filming? Are we getting a secret mission?”

He chuckled at her guess. “Just trust me, Ji Hyo-yah.”

Gripping his warm, big hand tightly, Ji Hyo managed to get out of the car. For more than a decade since they knew each other, she knew deeply that she could trust Jong Kook, that this man would never even lift a single finger to harm her in any way. Especially now that they had fallen in love with each other deeply, he would not even let a mosquito bite her at all.

The next thing she sensed later was Jong Kook letting her hand go once they were inside somewhere. And that was when she started to get panicked. Only by holding his hand would she feel safe.

“Oppa? Don’t let my hand go!” She tried to reach his hand back again but ended up failing as she was just touching the air around her.

“It’s okay, Ji Hyo. You can uncover your eyes.” His voice was clear but distant, like he was nowhere near her.

The moment Ji Hyo uncovered her eyes, she saw nothing. The darkness of the room was still bugging her vision. Until finally, the lamps were then .

And guess what, Jong Kook’s prediction once again was right. She gasped as she then closed her gaping mouth with her hand. The room—which somehow seemed like a living room—was filled with the flying polaroid photos of her and Jong Kook that were being tied to the pink balloons.

Not only that, there were all of her family, his family, and friends gathered around her with broad smiles on their faces, which she did not even realize until they shouted “Surprise!” in front of her face.

“Omo! What’s going on here?” She looked at some of the photos and turned her body around. With the blank expression on her face, she seemed to have not realized what was happening there.

One thing that caught her attention was the fact that Jong Kook was not there. Nowhere near her. Nowhere around friends and family. Nowhere in this place, as if he vanished.

“Jong Kook oppa... Where’s Jong Kook oppa?”

Right when she started wondering, she could finally hear his voice echo through the room, singing the infamous Today More Than Yesterday song that was actually one of his songs that she always sang playfully in the shower.

Seeing him sing his songs live in front of her was such an ordinary thing since Ji Hyo heard them almost every single day, though even now—still, she was amazed at his soft and calming voice. His extremely good-looking face always captured her gaze and heart right from the very beginning when she saw him in Turbo, yet now she always enjoyed seeing his sleeping face every night.

Losing her eyes deeply into his, she unconsciously took his hand when he offered it and was guided to the center of the room. Much to her surprise, soon after the song ended, he kneeled in front of her and opened a velvet blue ring box, making her then drop a single tear.

Of course, it was obviously a tear of happiness. For six years long, Ji Hyo had waited for this moment. Every time they went to a wedding party together—secretly, of course, as they had to distance themselves from each other when they met people there, Ji Hyo could not stop imagining herself and Jong Kook to be the ones who held the wedding. Just like what Haha always teased that they would have a grand wedding at Gocheok Sky Dome, it would be a damn most anticipated wedding of the year.

And Ji Hyo just could not wait to make it happen.

“Song Ji Hyo.” She instantly shifted her attention to the man kneeling in front of her. She could see some sweat behind his curly bangs, perhaps because he was nervous.

“I’m sorry to make you wait for this long. Honestly, I just want to marry you right here, right now, but it won’t be proper if I haven’t popped the million-dollar question first. When I look at you, I know that the person is you. It’s always been you. And it’s just a matter of time before we finally are together until now. Meeting you is one of the biggest blessings I’ve got in my life, and whether you’re mine or not, I’ll always be grateful for knowing such an amazing human being like you. You probably have had enough of me confessing my love to you, telling you that I love you deeply, but I’ll let you know this one more time again that I love you today, more than yesterday.”

Oh, damn, my eyes! She cursed herself as she could not stop crying. Well, much to Jong Kook’s concern, Ji Hyo actually never dreamt of getting a perfect marriage proposal, and she could never ask for more of the perfect marriage proposal than the one she was getting now. What did she do in the past until she got someone as perfect as Jong Kook? 

“Song Ji Hyo, my love, my heart, my everything, will you do me the honor of marrying me?”

She simply just nodded. Seconds later, she felt her feet were not touching the ground anymore as she spun around in his embrace. Then finally, their lips met each other, and she whispered something that Jong Kook could never ever forget.

“I will always love you today more than I did yesterday too, Jong Kook oppa.”