[001]

I woke up to the smell of hot bacon and sausages wafting to my nose, travelling down to the pit of my stomach. My eyes fluttered open slowly to the bright sunrays of the morning glory, and I had to blink them for a couple of times before I could see the person sitting on the edge of the bed, clearly.

“Good morning, sunshine!” My fresh, awakened boyfriend greeted me eagerly with a huge grin on his face. He was holding a tray of foods in his hands as he waited patiently for me to rise up and rubbed my eyes sleepily.

“Woohyun...” I mumbled, managing a weak smile at him. “What is this? A breakfast in bed?”

He nodded his head excitedly. “A breakfast in bed for my beautiful princess.” I cringed at his cheesy line early in the morning, although I’ve gotten pretty used to it after these two years. “Happy Anniversary, my love!”

My smile turned into a laugh when realisation hit me and I lunged forward to throw my arms around his neck, almost knocking over the tray in his hands.

“I’m sorry. For a moment, I actually – happy anniversary, Woohyun.” I released my grip and planted a big kiss on his left cheek. “How I’ve managed to put up with your greasy ways all these time still amazes me, but hey...I won’t have it any other way.”

“Well, look who’s being all corny now,” Woohyun teased me and pinched the bridge of my nose.  “Let’s stay together for many more years so that I can influence you more, shall we?”

I couldn’t help giggling as I leaned in close to him, lips only inches away from his as I said, “I love you, Nam Woohyun.”

I could see him smiling, just before our lips met.

“I love you too, Park Chorong.”

: :

Woohyun took me to a bowling alley for our 24^thmonthsary date. It’s been awhile since we last went to one and I was looking forward to beating him, even though he usually got higher scores.

“Prepare to go down tonight,” I told him confidently as I took the first ball and started to weigh it in my hand. “I’ll make sure you’ll buy me that old DVD movie I’ve always wanted to watch.”

Woohyun scoffed at my blatant confidence. “Have you been keeping scores, Chorong-ssi? Scores of how many balls you’ve dropped I mean.”

My smile turned into a scowl and I pretended to hurl the heavy bowling ball at him. Woohyun laughed out loud as he ducked away for cover.

I narrowed my eyes into tiny slits. “Just watch.”

He got up from his seat as I started moving forward to take my position. While I was trying to concentrate, I felt him approaching from behind and a second later, his arms were around me, while his right hand was guiding mine.

“First, you need to concentrate.”

I gritted my teeth. “You’re ruining mine.”

Woohyun chuckled. “Second, aim for the centre.”

“I’m trying to do that here,” I whined. “Can you please let me do this on my own?”

“Okay.” He let go of me and backed away slowly. But just before I was about to take my first shot, he sneaked up a kiss on me and I dropped the ball to the ground with a loud thud.

I growled out of sheer annoyance.

“Woohyun!”

: :

When were about halfway into the game, Minhyuk came to join us, together with Joo Hee. They’ve brought along some snacks, which I was thankful for because I was starving, despite having an early dinner.

I couldn’t help smiling every time I see my best friend and Joo Hee together. It was nice to see them keeping a close friendship especially after what they’ve been through. Minhyuk even told me that they have talked about giving it a try for the second time, but they each agreed to take things slow this time round.

“One step at a time,” Minhyuk had said. “Isn’t that always the best way?”

Joo Hee seemed to have no problem with it. I could tell, that she has never stopped loving Minhyuk, even though my best friend was stupid enough to break her heart.

And the best part, she’s never hold a grudge against me – and now, we’ve become the best of sisters as it seemed.

“How many points are you behind?” she asked me when us girls were sitting on the bench, while the two males were having fun challenging each other.

“Just one. And I would’ve been in the lead, if Woohyun hadn’t distracted me,” I complained about my earlier loss, to which Joo Hee just laughed it off.

“It’s your anniversary today, isn’t it?” she turned to face me. “Why didn’t Woohyun take you out to a fancy dinner or something?”

I simply smiled and said, “I prefer it this way. Being with Woohyun has taught me to appreciate the little, unexpected things.”

My boyfriend can be a little over the top with his cheesy, romantic ways but he’s pretty much casual and laidback when it comes to dates and celebrations. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Joo Hee nodded. “Do you want to spend the rest of your life with him?”

I looked over towards where Woohyun was jumping on top of Minhyuk, excited about the fact he had just scored another strike. The two of them were laughing hysterically, only Minhyuk looked like he wanted to send Woohyun down the gutter lane any second now.

Woohyun turned around and met my gaze, giving me a lopsided grin as he pumped his fist into the air in victory.

I smiled back at him.

“I do.”

Joo Hee leaned back against her seat. “You may just get your wish soon.”

“What do you mean?”

She was about to open and say something else, but the lights in the whole alley suddenly went off and for a moment, everyone stood still. I could hear their hushed whisperings as I reached for Joo Hee’s hand to make sure she was still there.

“What’s going on?” I wondered, my head whipping back and forth even though I could see nothing. “Woohyun?”

Just then, the screen from one of the bowling lanes lit up and six words appeared one by one in bright neon colours.

Park Chorong, will you marry me?