She sped down the road to recovery.

                Life was busy for Sooyoung, but she was glad Jonghyun was at home to help out with chores and errands while she was at classes and her job. And at nights, when she came home weary and disappointed, he would always be awake, waiting for her with a nice dinner ready and his guitar strumming soothing chords.

                The first few months of living together and pushing away Sooyoung’s alcoholism wasn’t easy, but with each other to lean on, the couple found themselves in a favorable position in their lives, stable and happy. There were times where Jonghyun himself felt inclined to buy a beer, but chose not to for the sake of his lover, so he told Sooyoung. He made sure that alcohol was never presented as an option for her, and even carried around spare water bottles for the both of them.

                Changes were not appearing in just their lifestyles, but mindsets as well. Sooyoung noticed that she no longer needed to crouch into a ball under the sheets of her bed, but rather, she would snuggle close to Jonghyun and bury her head in the crook between his neck and shoulder. She felt safe, and the ravaging cravings for beer and wine slowly but surely decreased.

                On one of Sooyoung’s rare days off, he dragged her to the nearby river. It was a beautiful day, the sun shining brightly, the sky filled with puffy white clouds. Jonghyun had set up a blanket on the bank, and prepared a nice meal in a basket. Also on the blanket was his guitar. All around them were small blue forget-me-not flowers, popping up from the tall thin blades of verdant grass.

                “What’s this?” Sooyoung asked, delighted yet curious. “Is there a special occasion?”

                “Yes,” he answered. “Today I’m going to teach you to play the guitar, and then we’ll celebrate by eating great food that I bought from a nearby restaurant.” He was frank about it, but that was what Sooyoung had always liked about him.

                “Okay,” she agreed. She was thrilled to be able to learn to play a new instrument, especially one her boyfriend adored so much.

                He wrapped his arms around hers, and directed where her fingers should go. Wherever he gently touched her tingled; the feel of his warm breath on her skin excited her.

                They spent most of the day practicing with the guitar, taking occasional breaks to eat a snack or fool around in the river. With much dedication from both parties, Sooyoung was finally able to play the chorus of a song Jonghyun had personally wrote.

                “Hooray!” He childishly jumped up and down. “We can eat now!”

                Sooyoung didn’t even pay attention to him; she was too busy looking through the dinner in the picnic basket. “Mm! Smells good!”

                Jonghyun picked up his guitar and knelt down, strumming a few quiet chords as he waited for her to turn around. When she finally did, he looked into her eyes, garnering her full attention. “Sooyoung, when I was younger, I promised myself I wouldn’t get married until I found a woman who could play the guitar. Since you’ve done so well today, I can finally bring myself to ask you: Will you marry me?”

                The tall woman stared at her boyfriend with a blank expression on her face, which quickly transformed into one of irritation. “That was timed really poorly,” she muttered, turning her attention back to the meal. She examined a dish of noodles before glancing at Jonghyun’s fingers and saying, “You don’t even have a ring for me.”

                Jonghyun’s face fell, and his chin crinkled into a pout. “I was going to have you look at rings with me after you accepted. Seriously, you couldn’t have been more appreciative of my effort?”

                She sighed. “Yes, I will marry you. Was there enough appreciation in my reply?” She sarcastically asked, but there was a glint of teasing in her eyes, a hint of a smile on her lips. Jonghyun caught the signs, and smirked.

                “No, there wasn’t,” he spoke, leaning towards her, and getting in the way between Sooyoung and the picnic basket of food. He his lips hungrily and stared at her, pleading for more “appreciation”. She giggled, and lightly pushed him away. “You know, I don’t think I want to marry you anymore,” he threw his hands in the air exasperatingly.

                “Too bad, we’re engaged now,” Sooyoung snapped back without missing a beat. She was grinning, used to the bantering routine she had with Jonghyun. But her smile soon dropped when she noticed a man not too far away, lying in a spot on the grass where she had once lay.

                 He was shabbily dressed in tattered and filthy clothes. He hiccupped often in between lines of the old folk song he was warbling. A glint by his hand caught Sooyoung’s eye. In the grasp of his fingers was a glass bottle that was all too familiar to her. The gentle breeze in the air wafted the smell of its contents to her nasal sense.

                She seemed to be in a trance; the only thing her eyes could see were the bottle of alcohol. Ignoring Jonghyun’s worried looks, she her dry lips and continued to stare at the dark green glass. Her body unconsciously leaned towards the man and the bottle, her hand slowly sliding over the grass.

                Sooyoung was pulled away when Jonghyun used his strong hand to grip her wrist and turned her to face him. He didn’t say anything; he just stared at her with his deep brown eyes, letting his silent concern seep through to her.

                She groaned. “I know, I know, I don’t need it anymore,” Sooyoung recited, her voice strained. Her eyes occasionally darted back to the man and his drink, but once she noticed how worried Jonghyun looked, she fixed her eyes on his and smiled reassuringly. “Why would I go for a drink when I could just get drunk off of our love?” A grimace appeared on her face as she wrinkled her nose. “Oh my gosh, I think that was really lame.”

                Jonghyun laughed, an animated smile that showed his teeth lighting up his face. His laughter was infectious, and Sooyoung felt herself warm up, letting out a bout of giggles.

                The couple rolled around in the warm grass, basking in the sunshine as smiles stretched wide across their faces. Sooyoung lay on the ground, catching her breath, when she heard a familiar twang of a guitar string. She looked up to see her new fiancé sitting up, strumming on his favorite instrument. Closing her eyes, she let the melody wrap around her and take her away to a peaceful place. The cool grass tickled her arms and legs, each blade gently grazing her skin as it bent to the force of the wind. She basked in the warm sun, feeling the heat of the sunshine on her face.  

               Even after the music stopped, the chirping of the birds in the scattered trees continued the harmony. The whoosh of a mild zephyr added to the calm of the afternoon. Taking in a deep breath, Sooyoung still smelt the stale aroma of alcohol, but the smell, along with her thirst, faded away after she exhaled. Remnants of a smile graced her features as she rested.

              The smile grew when she felt a tugging at her left ring finger. Opening her eyes, she saw Jonghyun toying with the stem of a forget-me-not that he had plucked from the ground, delicately twisting and tying it around her finger. Sooyoung kept her hand still and patiently waited for him to finish.

               “Here. A temporary engagement ring,” he proclaimed, sticking out his chest as he examined his finished work. The tiny blue petals faced the clouds, the yellow center staring back at Sooyoung. “Happy now?” Jonghyun’s face clearly expressed his bliss. His eyes shone as they proudly and lovingly appraised her.

                She held her hand up to the sky, admiring the makeshift ring. “Yes.” Her voice seemed to float out of and into the atmosphere. Her eyes sparkling, she stared back at her husband-to-be. “I’m happy now.”

A/N: /kicked into oblivion/ This is more of a filler chapter, but I wanted it to properly set up the mood and plot for future chapters. And I'm sorry to say, I failed so hard. I'm so mad at how this chapter turned out, kind of irrelevant. I hope it doesn't take away much from the rest of the story. What I've been working on while not updating this story.