She woke up as the sun's rays penetrated her dreamless sleep from behind closed eyelids. What time is it? she wondered. Eyes slowly fluttering open, she saw it was morning, and was suddenly aware of his breath tickling the nape of her neck as he took in deep breaths, fast asleep.

His chest was to hear back, and she felt each time it rose and fell. Being this close, she couldn't help but get fluttering feelings in her stomach as she always did whenever she woke up beside him. Having him next to her was all she could ever ask for, but today was a special day, and so she had to get up and be the first to separate them from each other.

His arm around her waist secured her position next to him; it was difficult to pry him off her, and at this she smiled. After finally slipping away from his hold on her, she made her way to the bathroom for a much needed shower to start off the long day ahead. But was then stopped by a groaning voice, coming from the direction of the bed.

"Get back here," his voice, all husky from hours of sleep, infiltrated the silence that the room held. From lying down on his side, he was now on his back, left arm covering his eyes while his right arm continuously searched for the missing body that was supposed to be beside his own.

She laughed. "I can't," she said. "We have to get ready,"

He whined, hoping to get it through to her that he still wanted more sleep. "It's only…" he said checking the time on the clock by the bedside table. "...morning," he groaned.

"Yes, but we still have to say goodbye to my family before we leave." She told him admonishingly. "Don't you want to be in their good graces?"

He whined as he sat up in bed, the blanket over him now falling to his waist, making visible his bare upper body. This perfection, she thought, still managed to take her breath away despite the years they've spent together. "I'm already in their good graces. Your dad loves me," he told her, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

He remembered the first time she was to introduce him to her family. After her abruptly ended engagement, and after their one month impromptu vacation in Europe, she finally took him to her home. No more secrets, they told each other. And there had been none ever since.

Her father was a big man, not on the heavy side but rather his presence was very intimidating. Her mother appeared to be strict and uptight. Her brother glared at Jiyong the moment he stepped foot in their home, while her sister was the only one who actually made Jiyong feel the slightest bit comfortable.

Summer went to get the food ready and he was left to suffer the attention her family gave to him.

"You're the punk she used to date, huh." Eli said, scrutinizing everything about Jiyong.

"Be nice, Eli. I thought he was perfectly fine the first time I met him in the office." Dawn said, coming to Jiyong's aid.

Jiyong let out a sigh of relief, and turned to look at the two people who actually mattered the most if he wanted his relationship with Summer to be flawless.

Her parents scared him. He never actually had to face anybody's parents at all, save for his mom. And this scared him, but after everything he's been through, there was no going back. Not if it involved Summer. There was only forward.

"I'm very sorry for the trouble I've caused you," He told them. 

Eli scoffed. "That's what Dongwoon said, too."  But was stopped by Dawn smacking him on the head. And all that came from Eli was a wince. 

Dawn dragged her brother out of the parlor, saying they'd go help Summer out with the food being that she was taking too long.

Once they were alone, Jiyong spoke. "I love your daughter. And I would very much appreciate it if we had your blessing, or consent, to be with one another. I know I did things that hurt her, but I promise that's never going to happen again."

"You're right that's never going to happen again," her mother said. And Jiyong gulped at the venom in her voice.

Her father on the other hand was quite the opposite. There was an eerie calm about him, the type that made you want to hide under your blankets before you knew a storm was about to hit.

"Jiyong, I'm an old man." Her father began, prompting Jiyong to merge his brows together, a crease now evident on his forehead as confusion found its way on his face.

"I'm no longer supposed to be worrying about who my daughter dates, or why she does. It's those two you have to worry about," he said, pointing to the door, but signifying the people who just went past it: Eli and Dawn. "And I'm telling you this because I'm concerned. If you do anything wrong, it's your head they'll be after. Literally,"

"Clearly, Summer's pleased with the idea of you and her. She's been smiling a lot, hasn't she? She already likes you," Her father said, refusing to say the other L-word. "It's them that you have to get to like you," He said, "especially this one right here." Her dad said, now referring to her mom.

"Now, whatever it is you're doing, just make sure you keep doing it. She's happiest when she's with you." He finally said, letting out a small smile. But it wasn't small enough that Jiyong wasn't able to see it.

"And despite all the things your infatuation has caused us all, her happiness comes first above everything else,"

"Of course," Jiyong nodded. "Her happiness will always come first."

Just at that moment, Summer made an appearance in the room. "It's time for lunch," she happily said, then her face grew menacing as she turned to her parents, realizing the situation Jiyong was in.

"Are you scaring him?" She asked her parents.

Her mom shook her head no, leaving only her dad left to respond. "Of course not, Sweetheart!"

"I don't believe you," she told her parents. She turned to face Jiyong. "Well, are they?" She asked him impatiently.

He shook his head quickly. "No, they aren't."

Summer looked at Jiyong thoughtfully before considering his answer.

"Alright," She began. "Come on, the food's getting cold." She said, and they all followed her out of the parlor, making their way to the dining room.

Before they sat down to lunch, Summer's father caught up with Jiyong and told him, "Good answer, kid." Finally giving Jiyong a sincere smile, and making his way towards his wife.

And since then, Jiyong has been charming his way into her family's hearts.

"Yeah, well, my brother doesn't." She told him playfully.

"That's only because I hit him on the jaw," he said, shaking his head at a memory from long long ago. Summer scoffed.

"Exactly," was what she told him. She sighed as she finished preparing her outfit for the day. "I'm going to take a shower now," she said. This perked Jiyong up.

"Do I get to join you?" He asked her, waggling his eyebrows up and down, implying he meant more than just taking a shower.

She made her way to the bathroom, and turned around to look at him thoughtfully before replying a swift "no," and quickly closing the door.

Jiyong's mouth fell agape, and like lightning, made his way fast to the bathroom door, pounding on it with his fist incessantly. "You're kidding right?? Come on!! Open up! I thought we had a busy day ahead of us! And you know, we have to save water!! We're going to have droughts! One shower saves more water than two, Babe!!!"

-----

Some time ago, Jiyong and Summer were on the same trip as they were on now. It was their fifth anniversary, if anyone was counting, and they opted to go on another vacation. Britain was their first thought. But they were staying in London being that hey wanted to enjoy the city as it was, without the rush of moving from one country to another.

Yesterday, they went around the city proper. Hand in hand as they walked through high street areas and pop cultural places, entertaining themselves with things they saw and food they ate no matter how hipster or mainstream they were. But today they were finding their way to Windsor Castle, to feed swans along the boat docks. Leave it to Summer to navigate through a place they barely knew.

As they entered the Windsor vicinity, in West Berkshire, they found a family picnic area where you could play on a playground or play mini-golf. They decided to stop there for a while to stretch their legs. The sun was brightly shining, and the sky was clear blue. Looking for a spot they could claim their own, Summer walked ahead and sat on a bench near the river where a small boat just happened to pass by. This place was beautiful, she thought as Jiyong sat down beside her.

She got a small notebook in her bag, and a fountain pen. Why she had a fountain pen instead of a normal one, she didn't know; she just had it. And in a few moments began to sketch the scenery before her. To no avail of even capturing the essence of it's true beauty, she stopped all attempts of drawing on paper and instead started drawing some sort of spherical shape around her right ring finger.

It took Jiyong a short moment to realize that she was doodling on her skin. "What the hell are you doing?" He asked her, curiosity filling his voice.

"What about if I get a tattoo here while we're in England?" She asked pointing to the spot she was doodling on. "It's pretty cool, don't you think? A tattoo as a souvenir?"

"Are you crazy?" was all he replied her with.

"What? Why?" She asked him, suddenly defensive, looking at the intricate pattern of swirls she managed to draw on such small space.

"You can't get inked there," He told her like she was crazy. "Come to think of it, you can't get inked. At all,"

She was appalled, her mind forming a lot of rebuttals to his one statement. The first being "But you have tattoos everywhere! You even have Vita Dolce permanently imprinted on your forearms. This, this is a small, small thing." She said, raising her finger. "Why are you being such a hypocrite??"

"Why do you want one anyway??" He asked her, trying his best not to laugh at her being annoyed. 

"Because!! It feels empty!!" She finally said. When his eyes squinted, indicating that he couldn't follow her trail of thought, she continued. "I haven't worn any rings in days. My fingers feel !"

He laughed at her shaking his head. "Are you kidding me? You want to get a tattoo, a permanent tattoo, on your finger just because you forgot to bring accessories on our trip?" He asked her in disbelief.

"Yes!" She exclaimed, then pouted at his grinning self. It was no fun being laughed at about situations like this when your boyfriend had tats and he wouldn't let you get one. Where was the equality in that?

"Baby girl," He said in that calm yet enticing voice he used on her to get her to agree on certain things. She looked at him, jaw firmly set, eyes looking at him curiously but firmly, wondering what his newest proposition could possibly be.

"If it's a ring you wanted," he said as he dug into the pocket of his jeans. "then it's a ring you'll have." He told her and smiled, as he stretched out his hand, a ring in between his thumb and pointer finger.

She gasped as she saw the diamond embedded ring he held, and stared as he slowly grabbed her hand, and slipped the ring on her ink stained finger.

She looked at the ring, admiring it as it caught the suns rays on its every facet, and she tilted her hand up to see it better. She bit her lip as she tried to supress the huge smile that was slowly spreading across her face. She's never been as surprised in her life as she was  now.

Jiyong's heart was pounding as he stared at her, awaiting her answer, but all his worries and nervousness seemed to fade the moment he caught her smiling.

She looked up at him now, with what appeared to be a smirk on her face. "Smooth," she said. "Very smooth,"

He looked at her coolly, trying but failing to hide how happy he was, and shrugged. "I know," he told her.

And she only shook her head in amusement. "You're really something, you know that?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" He asked her as she made her way to his lap, both her legs on either side of his waist so she was completely facing him, bringing her face close to his so that when she spoke, her lips ghosted against his own.

"Of course I'll marry you,"

------

She walked down the aisle in graceful, flawless strides. This feeling of confidence as she moved only bloomed within her so rarely that she treasured whenever she knew it was there.

He tried his best to keep his heart calm as he watched her. This was undoubtedly the longest minute of his life. It took all his will not to just move towards her and carry her himself.

As they made eye contact, she couldn't wipe the smile off her face and neither could he, while they focused on no one else but each other. The bond between these two people were so strong, anybody could tell that coming in between them was futile and impossible.

The moment she reached the foot of these familiar steps, with her father in hand, he walked down them, reaching out to shake hands with his very soon to be father-in-law; then he had his other arm ready for her to steady herself with as they made their way up towards their place before the altar where they would be joined as one, forever.

"Ladies and gentlemen, may I present to you, Mr. and Mrs. Kwon Jiyong."

a/n

The end. :) Thank you all for supporting this fic. You've all been wonderful readers. I couldn't have done it without you!