CHAPTER 35: The Gift

Family is a very important aspect in every person's life, most especially to Kim Heechul which is why he makes it a point that before he gets married, his bride-to-be must be familiar with everyone close to him, that including all of his close cousins.

According to Heechul, this cousin of his was currently studying overseas, somewhere in the U.S. But he wasn't sure where and the reason why he wanted Youngmi to go to lunch with him, his sister and this cousin of his was because this was going to be the only time that Youngmi meets her before she flies back to the States.

“You look nice today”

Heechul compliments her making her eye him weirdly.

“You're not going to propose to me again, are you?”

Heechul scoffs to the side as Youngmi enters his car and he closes the door before running around to the driver's seat.

“You wish, I just think you do look nice and I won't have to worry about how we both look plus, your clothes and my clothes compliment each other”

She was wearing a white button-up long sleeved shirt, the button on the collars were sealed to it hugged her neck quite well, the shirt was tucked inside the black dominating classy floral print skirt and to finish it off, she wore a black blazer, black stockings and a nice black pair of high heeled ankle boots before wrapping herself in a white trench coat. Meanwhile, Heechul wore a white button up too, a black jacket paired off with some dark denim pants and a pair of black sneakers. It was one of those rare sunny days of December.

“You dyed your hair?”

She noticed as Heechul put on his seatbelt and started his car.

“Yeah, I plan to dye it blonde... what do you think?”

He took a quick glance at her, leaving the side of the street and began to drive off.

“I don't know... your black hair looks nicer tho”

She smiles, reaching her hand to push back the stray strands. He had the softest hair today too. Heechul pouts.

“But I'll look more awesome in blonde, right?”

“I like your black hair more”

She states; Heechul clicked his tongue and leaned back some more on his seat.

“By the way... I won't be here for Christmas”

Lately, he's been going from country to country with the boys because of Super Show and whenever they're home they're still packed with schedules but luckily for him, he had this special schedule that Youngmi didn't know about. Whenever they came back to Seoul, his schedules always had her in it which is why he has been seeing her despite the travels so she never really noticed it when he leaves thus saving her from the drama of missing him.

Youngmi sighed

“Yeah, I know... I heard from Leeteuk-oppa that you guys would be in China on the 25th”

Heechul glanced at her as she diverted her gaze out of the window. Although the drama of missing him wasn't there, the worry was;

“Yah ~ don't be like that, I'll be home on the 27th and I promise I'll do my best to make it for New Year”

“Can you even make it to May 8?”

She questioned, afraid of the answer. The last stop for Super Show 3 was going to be in Vietnam and it just so happened that it was going to happen the day before their wedding. Heechul let out a sigh as Youngmi looked away once again.

“I'll make it... I promise”

The next few minutes of the drive were quiet until they had reached the placed wherein they'll be having lunch. Yeonpo Galbi, good thing that they were near the area otherwise it would take a hell of a long drive; Heechul parked the car and the couple got out then entered the restaurant.

Heechul talked to one of the waiters and afterwards, led them to a reserved room whereas upon entering, there sat Heejin with another girl. The girl had reddish brown hair, her bangs swept to the side and the rest of her hair cascaded beautifully on one of her shoulders as its ends were curled. She had big brown eyes, wore glasses and had cute cheeks. She looked like an ulzzang; she wore a shirt underneath her black hoodie, its sleeves were white; a pair of black skinny jeans and black and white sneakers.

Heejin stood up and so did the girl, hugging her brother first then Youngmi. Heechul hugged his cousin and turned to Youngmi

“Ah, by the way... this is my fiancee, Youngmi; Youngmi-ah, this is Mia”

Youngmi smiled and bowed as did Mia and they both shook hands. Afterwards, they all sat down as the food arrived; Heechul sat beside Youngmi, across Mia while Youngmi sat across Heejin and to start off the conversation, Mia asked one of the most common questions for an engaged couple

“So... when's the wedding?”

Heechul placed some more meat on the grill; Youngmi took a sip of her drink before answering

“May 8... hopefully”

Heejin looked up from her plate

“Hopefully? Waeyo?”

Heechul sighed and took a quick glance at Youngmi who ignored him

“Super Show 3's last stop is on May 7 but”

He eyes Youngmi who continued to eat.

“I'll make in time for the wedding even if I have to fly back on the last flight or the very first flight in the morning”

Mia smiles and looks at the couple in awe; she never knew her elder cousin would be this dedicated and even took the wedding news as a joke at first but it seemed like Heechul was really serious about this.

“Wow, you really are getting married sachon (cousin)!”

“Oh! Heechul-ah, you have a schedule in 2 hour sright?”

His sister asked; Heechul nodded his head. Youngmi looked up from her food and looked at Heejin

“Youngmi-ah, you should go shopping around with Mia & I after this!”

Youngmi smiled and nodded in agreement; Mia's smile grew wide, who wouldn't? Girls love shopping.

“Unnie, did you two do it already?”

Mia asked; Youngmi accidentally swallowed her food while Heechul almost spat out his drink. Quickly, he set down his glass of water and turned to the girl, pointing a finger

“Mia! Is that what they teach you there?!”

Mia laughs and so does Heejin; Youngmi grabs her glass of water and takes a sip.

“Difference in liberation sachon but don't worry even I haven't done it; I can tell by unnie's appearance that she's pure, I can't say the same for you though”

She stuck a tongue out at Heechul whose eyes went wide; Youngmi laughed. Heejin popped a piece of meat into and turned to Heechul and some more

“You really should come clean Heechul-ah”

Heechul puffed out a sigh of irritation while the girls could only laugh at his whining and tantrums afterwards. Lunch was cut short for Heechul, Eunhyuk had called him for practice and so with dismay, he got up and excused himself apologizing to his cousin, sister & fiancee.

“I'll walk you out”

Youngmi said, getting out of her chair. The couple slid the door close, however as soon as Youngmi slid the door close to the room, Heechul pulled her to the side by the waist. Trapping her between his body and the wall, his hands resting on her waist.

“Heechul, what are you -”

“You trust me, don't you?”

she didn't know what he was blabbering about; obviously, she did trust him because if she didn't then they would have broken up years ago.

“Ofcourse I do, now what are you do -”

“Then trust me too that I'll make it on May 8”

Youngmi sighed and closed her eyes for a moment before opening them back again and looked at him

“I trust you”

Heechul smiled and caught her off guard with a peck on her lips. Youngmi's face flustered.

“Aren't you adorable today?”

He smiled cheekily before grabbing her hand, she did say she was gonna walk him out.

-

Meanwhile, Heejin was entertaining her cousin. It's been awhile since they last saw this cousin of theirs.

“So, what do you think of Youngmi-ah?”

Mia grabbed some kimchi and put it on her plate, dragging them around for awhile before putting it into

“I think she's great for Heechul-sachon, she's a doctor, right?”

Heejin nodded her head; she grilled some more meat

“Did you know?”

Heejin begun, Mia turned to her elder cousin

“Mwo?”

Heejin smiled

“you shouldn't and must never tell Heechul tho...”

Mia put down her chopsticks and raised her right hand in a promise; Heejin turned back to the meat, flipping them around to cook them evenly.

“Remember that obsessed ex-girlfriend of Heechul's?”

“Yeah, what about her?”

“Well, she's been bothering the couple's plans for some time and recently she got into an accident... a really bad one”

“Whoa, does Heechul-sachon know?”

Heejin nodded her head and continued

“Youngmi-ah's her doctor; the accident was so bad that it broke two of her ribs so she needed surgery, Youngmi looked for the doctors to supervise the operation and she paid for the girl's fees”

Mia's eyes widened

“So... unnie is rich?”

“She has money, her mom used to be a doctor and her dad was also a doctor, he has worked in America, earned so much for his family then passed away. Youngmi-ah invests her money well too, maybe that explains why she has so much on her”

the door slip open again and Youngmi returned, taking her seat back.

“Sorry if it took so long”

She apologized and picked up her chopsticks again. Lunch flew by fast and the next thing they knew, they were in Myeongdong: one of Seoul's main shopping districts. Mia, as Youngmi would describe her when they got there, was a shoppaholic. She had dragged her & Heejin across many shops, trying on so many things and bought a lot too.

She said that it was living life to the fullest because it wasn't everyday that she was in Seoul.

“Let's go here!”

Mia chimed, pulling along the two. Some people had began to recognize Heejin & Youngmi already but Mia was oblivious to it, she was too absorbed in shopping.

“Louis Vuitton!”

Mia's eyes sparkled upon entering the store.

“Don't they have this store back in the States?”

Heejin asked; Mia walked over to one of the bags

“Yeah but I never bought one, do you know how expensive things are over there?”

Youngmi's white handbag hung on her arm as she crossed them below her chest. Heejin caught a glance at it and realized it was the same brand as the store.

“Youngmi-ah, did you buy that here?”

Youngmi turned to Heejin and saw her looking at her bag

“Oh, I don't know... umma gave it to me as a present for my birthday”

Mia turned to her and looked at the bag

“Aigo ~ you're so lucky unnie!”

Heejin began to walk around the store as did Mia and grabbed some too, trying them on while Youngmi just watched. She wasn't really interested in buying any more bags, her closet was close to exploding already.

“This is really cute ~”

Heejin cooed at the white Louis Vuitton hand bag that had a sling whose signature print was colorful. Mia on the other hand was awing at a black and white graffiti hand bag. The two checked the price before putting it back;

“Someday!”

They both chimed, pumping fists.

“I'm gonna go to the bathroom”

Heejin said, Mia decided to tag along.

“Youngmi, are you coming along?”

Heejin asked her;

“I'll wait for you guys at Forever21, is that okay?”

Heejin nodded with a smile before heading off with Mia. The doctor puffed a sigh and looked around, a saleslady approached her.

“Can I help you with anything ma'am?”

Youngmi smiled.

-

“Kamsahamnida unnie”

Youngmi thanked her sister in-law as Heejin placed the cup down infront of her and Mia then went back to get her own coffee and they all sat down. There were quite many customers today, some ELFs were beginning to crowd too, some looking their way. Some were even whispering and she swore she heard her name a couple of times, some also asked for a photo with her Heejin & Mia when they first got to the shop.

“Should we pay?”

Mia asked, sipping on her coffee; Heejin poked her cousin's forehead playfully

“Ofcourse not!”

Youngmi happily sipped on her coffee; it was already 6 PM and she was exhausted after all the walking and carrying some bags. Mia and Heejin had more bags than her but she really wasn't used to carrying a 5 to 7 bags all at once in a day.

“It's a shame I can't be there on your wedding day unnie ~ I really wanna hear sachon's vows”

Mia pouted; Heejin chuckled and looked at Youngmi

“I bet he's gonna throw in a few covered up insults”

Youngmi smiled

“I'm looking forward to that actually unnie; oh wait...”

Youngmi picked up the Louis Vuitton shopping bag then took out two boxes.

“It's to thank you for the great day today and for helping me out in my wedding too unnie”

She handed one box to Heejin & one to Mia; the two were speechless, not knowing what to say. They thought that Youngmi had bought a bag for herself; the box was Louis Vuittion too, it was sort of like, the packaging. They opened the boxes and found the respective bags inside.

“OH MY GOD!”

Mia couldn't hold it in; it was the bags they were admiring a few hours ago. She got up from her chair and ran over to Youngmi, wrapping her arms around the girl from the back and rested her chin on one of Youngmi's shoulders.

“Omo! Kamsahamnida unnie! I really love it! You didn't have to but... KAMSAHAMNIDA!”

After Mia, Heejin did the same. Who wouldn't be thankful? It's not everyday that someone buys you a bag that costs around a thousand or more dollars.

“Aigo ~ you really didn't have to Youngmi-ah”

Heejin said, sitting back down and putting the bag back inside it's protective wrap then back inside the box. Youngmi handed the paper bag to Heejin where the girls saw another box that had a ribbon on it.

“Is this yours?”

Heejin asked, still looking at the box inside the bag.

“Ani, I heard you were going home to Gangwon so I thought you could give that to umma, tell her it's from me and Heechul”

Mia's eyes twinkled as she turned to Heejin

“Aigo ~ Youngmi-unnie is really thoughtful! Is there a boy version of you?”

Youngmi laughed

“I wish I could say I had a twin brother but I only have an older sister”

Heejin took a sip of her cup

“Speaking of that... I heard you're not in good terms with her lately, what happened?”

Youngmi put on a small smile and set her cup down

“Nothing big unnie, just a little family problem that's all”

Truth was, she didn't know how to face Hyunjung yet. It still hurt.

(A/N: Kim Mia a.k.a. FarahSham92, congrats on being chosen chingu! As promised other than the one shot, here's the story feature!)