Stepping outside of the building, Ellie took a deep breath and looked at her surroundings. The fall was starting to set in and it had been about two years since she last saw Chen. Nowadays she was studying in pre-law to become a lawyer, she was in her second year of college. Ellie first started chasing after the dream to become a lawyer upon hearing Kris’s comment saying that she’d probably be good at it. From then on, it just took its course.

            Like any normal day, Ellie began the long walk back from her class to the dorm room that she was living in. Thankfully it was a weekend so she had a couple of days to relax before going back into another week of hard work. Finals were right around the corner and the first semester of her second year of college was almost complete.

            “Hey Ellie, you look tired,” one of her friends said as she came back to the dorm.

            “Yeah, well, you know,” Ellie said with a chuckle as her friend just nodded her head.

            “I heard that apparently there was a guy that was asking where you lived earlier today.”

            “Huh? Why would there be a guy asking where I lived?” Ellie wondered as they both boarded the elevator.

            “I don’t know,” she said as she shrugged her shoulders.

            “Oh well I guess if they want to see me they can just find me later,” Ellie said as they stepped out of the elevator and walked to where they both lived.

            “I think that’s him,” her friend whispered as she pointed towards Ellie’s door.

            “Huh?” Ellie asked as she turned and saw a figure standing against the wall.  Slowly the figure moved and turned to look in the direction where there were voices coming and slowly Ellie came to the realization about who it was. “Chen,” Ellie whispered.

            “Who? Chen?” her friend asked. “You know him?”

            “I think I do,” Ellie said with a smile as she turned around and looked at her friend. “I’ll see you later, alright?”

            “Alright, have fun,” her friend said with a knowing look before turning away to go into her own dorm room.

            “Chen…it really is you, isn’t it?” Ellie curiously asked as she slowly approached. As she got closer, a smile slowly appeared on her face as her suspicion was confirmed.

            “I thought you wouldn’t recognize me,” Chen said with a chuckle.

            “Not recognize you? You couldn’t have changed that much in two years,” Ellie said as she couldn’t keep her eyes off of Chen. It had been two years since she last saw him. She wasn’t entirely sure where they stood anymore in their relationship, but at the sight of him again, her feelings came back and she felt that familiar heartbeat in her chest.

            “Well I guess that’s true,” Chen said with a chuckle.

            “Why are you here? Why didn’t you contact me telling me you were coming back? How did you find out where I lived? How did you get here?”

            “Whoa, whoa,” Chen said with a chuckle, “slow it down a bit there.”

            “Ah, right, right,” Ellie said as she attempted to slow down a bit. “Um, why don’t you come inside? My roommate is away for the weekend, so she won’t be coming back.”

            “Oh, alright,” Chen said as he nodded his head.

            “Okay, let’s go inside,” Ellie said as she unlocked the door.

            A part of Ellie was happy about Chen’s arrival, but another part was also nervous and felt slightly awkward to be around him. They hadn’t seen each other for two years, and despite the limited contact with one another, it was weird actually seeing each other again. It was like all of the moments they spent together were now reduced to nothing and they were just meeting each other for the very first time again.

            “So…” Ellie slowly began as she and Chen sat on her bed. “How did you find out where I went to school or where I lived?”

            “People,” Chen said with a chuckle as he looked down at his hands and then slowly back up at Ellie. “Or actually…I asked Kris.”

            “You asked Kris?” Ellie asked. “You still keep in contact with Kris?”

            “Not very much…I just happened to run into him. What a coincidence, right?” Chen asked.

            “What about everyone else?” Ellie curiously asked. “Did everyone else come back with you?”

            “They did. They’re settling in a house right now. I thought I’d come and find you.”

            “Well I’m glad you did,” Ellie said with a nod of her head.

            Awkward silence fell between the two. They didn’t know what to say and they didn’t know how to continue. They both knew that they somehow had to talk about their past relationship, but they just didn’t know how to. How do they bring something up from two years ago? It wasn’t a simple task, especially since they never actually dated each other. It made it even more awkward to talk about.

            “So,” Ellie said breaking the silence as she looked at Chen. “Did you…did you find out about yourself while you were in Japan?”

            “I did,” Chen said nodding his head. “I did find out about myself. I found out a lot about myself.”

            “That’s nice,” Ellie said as the conversation died down once again.

            “Listen,” Chen said taking initiative with the conversation. “About two years ago…my feelings for you, they never changed. They’ve never once changed. I don’t know if yours have and that’s alright if they have, but you’re all I ever thought about while I was in Japan. I just thought that maybe you should know.”

            “Why would my feelings ever change?” Ellie softly asked. “I waited for you for two years, dummy.”

            “I told you not to wait for me,” Chen said with a chuckle as he leaned over and tightly hugged Ellie. “But somehow, I’m glad you did.”

            “I’m glad I did, too,” Ellie said with a smile as she wrapped her hands around him. “Do you know how many guys wanted to date me?”

            “Then why didn’t you go out with them?’ Chen questioned as he pulled away from the hug.

            “Because there was only ever one guy. You.”

            Slowly, Chen leaned in and softly kissed Ellie on the lips, a kiss that she gladly returned. “I love you, Ellie,” Chen whispered as he pressed their foreheads together. “I’ve loved you all this time, probably even when I first met you, I was smitten with you.”

            “Who says words like smitten?” Ellie asked with a chuckle.

            “I do.”

            “Well good, because I love you, too,” Ellie said with a smile.

            “You’re willing to accept me?” Chen asked with a bit of shock in his voice. “Despite everything, you’re willing to accept me?”

            “Despite what? Your past? Look, Chen, I don’t care about any of that. Like I said before, you’re you, you’re not like your father. You’re Kim Jongdae and I love you just like you are.”

            Without saying anything, Chen leaned in again to kiss Ellie. He was happy, she was happy. There was no other way to say it. They were just living for the moment, they were living for each other. At that moment, neither one of them cared for what was going on around them, they only cared about one another.

            “Be my girlfriend,” Chen whispered once again as he pulled away. “Be my girlfriend, Ellie.”

            “You already know the answer,” Ellie said with a gigantic smile as she leaned to kiss Chen again.

One Year Later

“Why are you so happy today?” Ellie’s friend asked her. For some reason she was unusually bouncy and happy that particular day and no one exactly knew why.

            “Is it a crime to be happy?” Ellie asked a she stuck out her tongue.

            “Are you going to go meet your boyfriend today?” another friend asked.

            “When doesn’t she?” the first friend wondered.

            “Hey, just because I’m happy in my relationship doesn’t mean that you guys have to be crabby like that,” Ellie said with a chuckle as she looked at her watch. “Anyway, I have to get going or else I’m going to be late.”

            “Late for what?”

            “A wedding,” Ellie said with a smile as she quickly gathered her books.

            “Hey, you’re late,” Chen said at the sight of Ellie approaching the church.

            “Sorry, sorry. Is Kris already out there?”

            “Yeah,” Chen said nodding his head as the two entered the church. “He looked nervous.”

            “Well of course he would be nervous, it is his wedding day. I just hope he doesn’t mess up anything,” Ellie whispered as they found seats with her parents.

            Finally the wedding started and it was a beautiful ceremony where Ellie finally saw Kris marrying the one that he was meant to be with. They had been dating ever since Kris joined the police force, which was right after his injuries healed. During Ellie’s first year of college, Kris would always call her for advice on what to do and how to impress his girlfriend since he wasn’t entirely sure. After about two years of dating, they finally got engaged and got married one year later.

            “That was a beautiful ceremony,” Ellie’s mother said as they sat at the reception.

            “It was,” Ellie said nodding her head. “I can’t believe Kris is a married man now. I thought that day would never happen.”

            “Did you think he was just going to be single for the rest of his life?” her father asked.

            “No…but I mean…I don’t know,” Ellie said. “It just feels surreal.”

            “Chen, when will we get to hear wedding bells for you and Ellie?” her mother asked causing both Ellie and Chen to choke on their drinks.

            “Excuse me?” Chen asked in surprise.

            “Mom!” Ellie complained. “It’s too early to be thinking about marriage. I haven’t graduated from college yet and I still have law school. I have a career to start, you know.”

            “We’re not saying right now,” her mother attempted to clarify, “but you know…it would be nice to plan a wedding for my only child.”

            “Mom!” Ellie complained again.

            “Um…I think we’re a little young,” Chen said finally chiming in.

            “You two are in love, I can see it in the way you guys look at each other. To be in love again,” her mother said as she blushed at the thought.

            “I know that your brothers want you to get married, Chen,” Ellie’s father chimed in.

            “I think marriage might be in our future,” Chen said with a smile as he took a sly look at Ellie.

            “What?” Ellie asked in surprise.

            “I wouldn’t mind marrying you,” Chen said turning to look at her.

            “I think we’ll hear wedding bells in the future,” Ellie’s mother said with a big smile as she looked at her husband.

            “What if I don’t want to marry you?” Ellie playfully joked.

            “You’ll marry me,” Chen confidently said with a smile.

            “How are you so sure?”

            “Because you love me and because there’s no one else but me, just like there’s no one else but you. Ellie, would you like this dance?” Chen asked as he extended his hand to her.

            “I would love it,” Ellie said with a smile as she accepted his hand and got up to dance with him.

            “Just imagine us doing this at our wedding,” Chen said with a chuckle as he started to slow dance with her.

            “Yah, why do you keep talking about our wedding? You’re making me embarrassed,” Ellie said as she hid her face in Chen’s chest.

            “But I’m really serious. I want to marry you in the future, Ellie. I can’t imagine my life with anyone but you. I love you and I always will.”

            “I love you, too,” Ellie said as she looked up at Chen. “But if we married, can we hold off on the children bit for a little while? I at least want to become a lawyer before I become a mother.”

            “I’ll wait however long you need, after all, you waited for me for those two years, it’s only right I wait for you,” Chen said as he tightly held onto Ellie again.

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This is it, it's the end of the story :(

A part of me will miss writing this and going on the journey with Ellie and Chen and even Kris. There were many things I wanted to do with this story but just couldn't, some of which will be explained in the next chapter, which is my Extra Stuffs chapter that has some songs and trivia that pertain to the story.

I thank all of you for reading this story and sticking with it through the ups and downs and even though some of my writers block. I'm thankful to all of you.

So, without further ado, here is Chapter 32, the final story chapter of Behind Our Smiles.

Have a good morning, good afternoon, or goodnight. See you again :)