18. Youngmin
My Boyfriend, Boyfriend: Surprises
“You didn’t miss anything,” I chuckled.
“Yeah,” Kwangmin added. “Only the fact that Jeongmin and Mi Yun are dating.”
“What?” Youngmin looked at his elder wide-eyed. “Are they telling the truth, hyung?”
Jeongmin shifted uncomfortably in his seat as Mi Yun rubbed her temples and sipped from her drink. Youngmin grinned from ear to ear and patted his elder roughly on the back.
“Well, congratulations, hyung!” He laughed. “You won’t be forever alone after all!”
“Hey,” Jeongmin glared at Youngmin as he continued to chuckle.
“I’m joking,” Youngmin sighed, wiping a nonexistent tear from his eye.
Yun Hee, who was sitting on Youngmin’s lap, tugged on his tie, catching his attention.
“Appa! Are we going to get ice cream?” She asked, pouting at her uncle.
“Of course we will!” Youngmin said in a baby voice. “I’ll make sure they put in extra sprinkles for you, okay?”
“Thank you, appa!” She giggled as Youngmin proceeded to tickle her.
“Run along and play. Be careful! Youngho, watch after your sister!” Youngmin called out as the two ran off.
“Wow,” Jeongmin dragged out the word, nodding his head. “They’ve become really attached to you. Is she still calling you appa? You know, that’s not a good thing. It means competition for a new girl’s heart now, eh, Kwangmin?”
He smirked and jabbed Kwangmin in the side with his elbow. Kwangmin raised an eyebrow at the question and let out an exaggerated scoff.
“There is absolutely no competition. I am fine with my daughter. She’s probably just confused because we’re twins. That’s a-“ Kwangmin began blabbering.
“She still hasn’t called you appa yet has she?” I asked calmly, sipping my drink.
Kwangmin slumped over in his chair before replying with a simple, “No.”
I chuckled and rubbed his back, giving him a hug.
“Oh, it’s all right. It’s only natural,” I comforted. “Youngmin’s always at our house helping me babysit while you’re at work. It’s not a big deal.”
“But it’s not fair!” Kwangmin whined like a child. “How come he gets to be appa?”
“Because I’m your twin, and she’s five. I’m pretty sure she can’t tell the difference yet?” Youngmin smirked, leaning back in his chair and drinking his water.
Kwangmin stuck out his tongue, and Youngmin copied him. The two began mimicking each other, making faces and making strange noises, trying to get the other to crack. I sighed and turned to Jeongmin who shrugged as if this was normal, because it was.
I watched the two bicker as nostalgia poured over me like refreshing water. Youngmin is currently a vocal trainer at Starship Entertainment. Though he works under the company, he travels around South Korea, helping idol trainees to improve their vocal skills. As of right now, ladies, Youngmin is still single. I’ve asked him time to time to time if he has someone he liked, but he would always shake his head and smile softly. He repeats the same phrase over and over again.
“I’m still waiting for the one. I want a romance that’s as sweet as yours. When I find one, I’ll let you know, ne?”
I just want to squeeze his cheeks sometimes. Perhaps our Youngmin will never get married. Kwangmin and I, however, could always intervene. Because Youngmin only does hour-to-hour sessions and has a lot of free time, he tends to stop by our house and helps me watch after the kids. In fact, Kwangmin has been away on business trips so long, the kids have taken to Youngmin as a father figure, or in Yun Hee’s case, her actual father. The little girl can’t distinguish between Youngmin and the pictures of her father around the house. Poor thing. Hopefully we’ll get this straightened. God forbid what it’ll be like when the kids grow up.
As for Kwangmin, he followed in my father’s footsteps. Once my father stepped down from his position as head of scouting and foreign affairs, Kwangmin stepped in and took his place with ease. My father returned to America where he and my mother are living the life of retirement. Though he’s constantly on business trips, Kwangmin finds the time to stay at home and have family time. He’s a good father and husband, as he always has been and always will be.
As for me, I’m currently just a housewife, but I help the others whenever they need me. I still write songs, I still sing, and I still dance, but now I’ve added on the life of commitment to my family. And I couldn’t be happier. Though Kwangmin has encouraged me to open a flower shop someday. Perhaps I could help to inspire more love like ours; a love that grew like a flower, a love between the sun and the sunflowers, a love that keeps coming back… over… and over… and over again.
I heard a loud clinking noise and snapped out of my trance. Looking over at the small stage before the restaurant, I saw Minwoo holding up a wine glass with his fork tapping against it. Haerin stood next to him, smiling like there was no tomorrow.
“Thank you for your attention,” he bowed politely. “I would like to thank you all for coming to our wedding. I hope you enjoy tonight as much as we do, and I hope it’ll become a night for all of us to remember together.”
Jeongmin stood up and held up his empty wine glass. Everyone turned his or her attention to him as he beamed proudly at his maknae.
“A toast, in place of Donghyun, proposed to the newly wedded couple,” Jeongmin announced.
Everyone around our looked at each other as we all stood up and followed in his lead, holding our glasses up. At the table right behind us, Hyun Seong stood up and popped the cork off a bottle of champagne.
“Now, what’s a toast with some champagne?” Hyun Seong chuckled.
The whole restaurant erupted into cheering as everyone raised their glasses to congratulate the couple. Minwoo and Haerin hugged each other warmly and shared a kiss before everyone, creating yet another booming applause. Minwoo lifted the bride off her feet, causing her to squeal and duck her head in embarrassment. He then took her down to the guest tables where they began chatting with people from table to table, starting from ours. Hyun Seong and his wife turned their chairs around to join us along with Donghyun’s fiancée, Jieun, as we chatted.
“Congratulations, you two. You look wonderful together,” Rina, Hyun Seong’s wife, cooed. “I remember our wedding.”
Hyun Seong kissed his wife on the cheek, hugging her and reminiscing about his own marriage.
“Thanks, noona!” Minwoo chuckled. “Hey, I just want to thank you all for coming. I just wish Donghyun was here today.”
“Well, I’m sure if he was here, he’d prouder than anything to see his little maknae growing up,” Jieun stated on Donghyun’s behalf.
“Thank you, noona. I’m sure you’re ecstatic for his coming home, aren’t you?” Minwoo asked.
“Of course,” she cooed, holding her baby girl close. The baby giggled and waved her little arms around, opening and closing her fists. “Mimi is excited for her father to come home, too!”
“All right. All right, enough about us. Tonight is supposed to be about Minwoo and Haerin, the fated couple,” Youngmin chuckled, pouring champagne into everyone’s glass. “I say we make one last toast just between us.”
Everyone nodded in agreement and took a glass. Kwangmin put his glass up first, towards the middle of the table.
“A toast to true love,” Kwangmin announced, my glass joining his in the middle.
“A toast to surprises,” Jeongmin added, his and Mi Yun’s glasses coming to the middle.
“A toast to family,” Hyun Seong continued as he and his wife held up their glasses.
“A toast to friends,” Jieun said, carefully cradling her baby as she held up hers.
“A toast for the memories,” Youngmin chuckled, adding in his glass.
“But most of all,” Minwoo concluded as him and his new wife added in their glasses.
“A toast to dreams, because without them, none of us would be here,” Haerin said sweetly. She turned to me and winked. “Now would we?”
I smiled and nodded, “To us!”
Our glasses clinked loudly together and everyone drank their champagne in one go. I hope your story will be as great as mine. Who knows? Life is full of surprises.
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