"Okay," you muttered to yourself, checking the time on your watch. "Okay, just keep calm. He'll come." But somehow the twisting in your stomach didn't bode well.

    The rain was pouring down in sheets now, but you continued to stand under the little alcove of the coffee shop, clutching your purse to your chest tightly and beginning to curse the fact that all your friends seemed to be out of town at this moment because look at where that had left you. Here, soaking wet, hiding in front of a closed coffee shop with a strong feeling of anger beginning to bubble up in your stomach.

    "That jerk!" you yelled, wincing as it echoed around the alcove loudly before dying off. "That jerk." This time you said it more quietly with more resignation. "I even called him this morning…"

    Yes, you remembered. "자기야, [1]" you had said on the phone, smiling at Lay's sleepy voice. "This will be the first time we've seen each other in almost two years. I'll be waiting for you."

    Just thinking about the phone call made your blood boil, and you stamped your foot in a mix between petulance and anger. "Of course he would forget this," you muttered, peeking out from under the alcove for a second and receiving a blast of rain on your face for your troubles. Ducking back under, you rapidly blinked the rain out of your eyes and in a deep breath to keep from yelling out any more of your feelings.

    It would be best just to forget about it. It was not the first time that Lay had forgotten about a date, and it probably wouldn't be the last, but it was the first time that he had actually forgotten about something so important. It's sort of silly, you thought, blinking more rain—or was it actually tears?—from your eyes. Because they're always saying if you really love someone, you should accept their faults, but…

    All the times Lay had forgotten dates rushed back. At least before today, he had always turned up late, even if by a few hours, but now you had been waiting almost the entire day and didn't feel like waiting a single second more.

    A jingling sound from behind you made you whirl around in surprise, and you found yourself staring at the barista who had served you coffee in the morning.

    "It's just…you've been standing outside of here since this morning," the boy said awkwardly, and you smiled because he was wearing eyeliner, and it looked way better on him than it would ever look on you.

    "Yeah," you replied, shrugging and running a hand through your wet hair. "I was waiting for someone, but I don't think they're coming now."

    "Ah, yeah, that ," the boy said, shuffling awkwardly to the side. "Er, so, do you need a ride…or something?"

    Behind the boy with eyeliner, you could see inside the coffee shop there is another boy with curly hair and a huge smile hunched over the counter, laughing. You couldn't help but grin as well and patted the eyeliner-boy's arm gently.

    "Ah, could I just get a ride to the bus station?" you asked and were relieved when the boy nodded and went back inside only to come out with two cups of coffee and a ring of keys jangling on his fingertip.

    You followed him to the back of the shop where a nice car was parked, thanking him at the same time as you apologize profusely for getting the inside of his car yet.

    "It's really no problem," the boy replied, and you both settled into a comfortable silence in the car as he started up the engine and eased out of the parking space. The silence didn't last for long.

    "Is it okay if I put on some music?"

    You nodded, curious as to what kind of music this boy listened to. You almost jumped out of your seat when "Gee" came blasting on.

    The boy took one look at your expression and laughed. "I'm sorry. Do you not like them?"

    "아니요! [2]" you exclaimed, shaking your head. "I like them."

    It took you by complete surprise when the boy beside you yelled loudly, "I do too!" You couldn't help but laugh, however, when he lowered his head sheepishly over the wheel of the car and grinned slightly.

    "You must really like SNSD," you observed as he pulled the car to a smooth stop in front of the bus stop.

    "감사합니다, [3]" you said, hopping out of the car and bowing your head. "That was a really great help!"

    "I hope you find the person who you were waiting for," the boy said, and then you shut the door to his car and watch as he drives away.

    Upon repeating his words in your head, you frowned and quickly took cover under the bus stop waiting area. "Like I'm ever going to find him. He's always so busy, telling me to schedule all the dates and things. And then he forgets to pick me up, so I take a cab from the airport, and…"

    A horrified expression appeared on your face as you frantically opened your purse and begin to look through. After pouring through your purse completely twice, you let out a huge sigh and slump down. Great, you thought sullenly, and now I realize that I spent the last of my money on the cab fare from the airport to the coffee shop. This time when you wept your tears, you didn't even bother trying to hide them because your frustration and disappointment takes over.

    Eventually, you ended up walking home in the rain which not only leaves you in a bad mood but also completely soaked to the bone, so it's not a surprise the next day when you felt absolutely horrible. It also didn't help that Lay's phone call woke you up from your deep, illness-induced nap during the day.

    "What?" you snapped, poising your finger to end the call.

    "I'm sorry!" Lay exclaimed, and you groaned. This was not what you wanted to deal with right now. All you wanted to go do right now was sleep because you knew if you didn't, you were going to say something wrong and mess something up.

    "Can we talk about this tomorrow?" you asked tiredly, but Lay's voice on the line firmly refused.

    "I was going to come, but then I realized that I forgot my keys at home, and then I locked the door on myself. After that, I had to call Kris to come help me out, and then Xiumin wanted to go out to eat, and—"

    "Just stop with the excuses," you replied flatly, resisting the urge to roll your eyes. Of course, Lay always remembered things with his group members but never with you, and you hadn't even met all of Exo yet—only Exo-M! You couldn't imagine sharing Lay with eleven other members instead of just five. Sure, it was a little selfish, but you thought you had a right to be selfish just for this one day. Any other day he could've forgotten but on your reunion after almost two years? No…

    "I'm not making excuses. I really forgot." His voice was earnest as if he knew that you were going to forgive him, and any other time, you probably would have. Being late to dates was just a seeming habit of his, and he always  called to apologize later, and you always accepted…except now…

    "How could you forget?" you said accusingly, and despite your best efforts, the hurt in your voice is practically palpable.

    Lay's sharp intake of breath across the line signaled to you that he was not as dense as he was forgetful, and you sighed.

    "Can we just not talk right now? I'm going back to sleep." You hung up before he could even reply.

    It was only an hour later when you found yourself jerked out of sleep once more by a hammering on your door. Groaning, you dragged yourself out of bed and opened the door, almost slamming it when you say Lay's apologetic face. Then you noticed that he was panting and still wearing sweats and a sweatshirt.

    "Did you come from practice?" you asked mildly, holding open the door. It was a happy feeling to know that Lay had dashed over from practice to see you, but you still felt hurt from the fact that he had forgotten your first reunion in almost two years.

    "I called during break," Lay replied and stepped into your apartment. "I'm sorry."

    You closed your eyes for a second, trying to fight against the throbbing headache that threatened to break your skull open. It definitely wasn't helping to put you in a forgiving mood. "Whatever, you're here now," you muttered half-heartedly and shuffled to the kitchen. "Have you eaten?"

    "No," Lay said and then added sheepishly, "I forgot."

    An amused smile graced your face despite your conflicted feelings, and you shuffled into the kitchen to try to find something to make for him.

    "I didn't mean to forget," Lay mumbled, and your hand closed tightly around the plastic bowl you had found in the bottom cupboard.

    "I know." You refrained from slamming the bowl on the counter and settled yourself with angrily chopping up some cucumber slices. The loud clicking of your knife was the only thing that filled the silence until Lay moved forward to rest his hand on your arm.

    "I really didn't—"

    "Enough! I get it. You didn't mean to forget," you replied and turned your face away from Lay, putting down the knife as well. There was a long pause, and then you finally added, "But you did forget. I just thought that maybe after almost two years, that was important enough for you to remember. Sorry, I'm not in a very good mood right now… Maybe you should—"

    But then his arms were around yours, and you were trapped against the counter, blinking rapidly in confusion.

    "Eh, why—"

    "Sorry," Lay muttered, squeezing you tightly. "I didn't want to tell you this, but you seem angry at me. The real reason why I forgot was…" He released you from his grip and fumbled around in his pockets before letting out a loud groan. "No! No! I put it in this morning! I remember!"

    You watched, confused, as Lay continued to search around in his pockets and eventually began to pace the room.

    "How could I forget?" he groaned, and then he whirled around to face you.

    "What did you forget?" you asked suspiciously, moving away from the kitchen counter toward the middle of the kitchen.

    "I didn't just forget my keys," Lay replied, and then he kneeled down on one knee in front of you.

    Your mouth dropped open, and you in a huge breath of air. "What are you doing?"

    Lay's gaze was serious as he began his story. "The real reason I had to go back into my apartment was because I left my ring there, and then after I got back in, Kris and Xiumin made me doubt whether I had picked the right one. I went out to the store to look for a new one, and I lost track of time…"

    You pressed a hand to your mouth, feeling slightly faint as Lay continued.

    "It's been almost two years since I've last seen you, but I haven't forgotten the feelings you've given me from the beginning, so…"

    Lay trailed off, and you giggled, asking teasingly, "Did you forget your lines?"

    "No," Lay said slowly. "I was just struck by how beautiful you are."

    It would be a lie to say that all your anger faded away, but it certainly died down. This was something you loved about Lay. He was forgetful, sometimes slow, and quite often oblivious, but he was painstakingly true.

    "Whatever you're going to say," you said slowly, nodding your head and feeling your headache slowly begin to fade, "my answer is yes."

    Lay's eyes were suspiciously bright as he stood up from one knee and cupped both your hands in his. "I may forget what I'm going to say sometimes, and I may forget occasions…but know that I will never forget you." Pressing a kiss to your lips, he smiled at you and then awkwardly scratched behind his ear, grinning slightly.

    You were about to reply with a heartfelt confession as well when your phone rang. Quickly scrambling over to it, you frowned as you looked at the number and then back to Lay.

    "Lay," you said carefully, "did you happen to forget to mention to anybody that you were leaving practice?"

    His blank expression was all that it took for you to burst into laughter. "Come on," you said, retrieving a bowl from the cabinet and sliding the sliced cucumbers off the cutting board into the bowl. "I won't let you forget to eat too."

    Lay's arms wrapped around you, and you paused for a second, thinking about all the time that had been spent apart from each other. All that time had led to know, and honestly, there was no place you'd rather be now.

    "What I meant to say," Lay breathed, hugging you tighter, "is that I want to be by your side forever."

    "You won't forget this, right?" you asked, suddenly a little afraid. Time went on; people changed. What if the you in two years wasn't the one Lay had been expecting?

    "I won't forget," Lay promised.

    "I'll hold you to that," you replied, smiling. Yes, you thought, turning around to hug Lay tightly around the waist and breathing in his familiar scent, two years is a long time, but sometimes…things really never change.

* * *
[1] = jagiya // sweetheart / honey (Korean)
[2] = aniyo // no (Korean)
[3] = kamsahamnida // thank you (Korean)