I rolled my eyes at Jiyong. “Can I enjoy being engaged for a little while, Jiyong? Please? I just want everything to calm down for a while before we do this.” I walked into the kitchen while I talked and grabbed something to drink. “If you guys have stuff to do, go do it. I’m not going to get married without you, Jiyong. I promise you. You guys are my family.”

He sighed and his shoulders sagged. “What if we can’t get the time?”

I smiled and patted his chest softly. “I’ll have you idol-napped. I know people.”

Everyone left in the next couple of days, leaving Hyun Joong and me alone. The house seemed infinite without the guys there to occupy it with us. I stayed in bed the day after the last one left. I’d been awake for a while, as had Hyun Joong. He’d gotten up, gotten a shower, put on some clothes and then stood and looked at me.

“Are you going to get up?” he asked. I shook my head, making him smile. He sat down on the edge of the bed and grabbed my wrist. He yanked me over into his lap and squeezed me against him. “What am I going to do with you?”

I shrugged. “Trade me in?”

“Never,” he breathed, resting his head on top of mine. His answer made my heart beat faster. “Not for anything in the whole world, Soo Yun ah.”

I smiled and wrapped my arms around him. “You’re too great. I don’t deserve you.”

He sighed. “I really hate when you say things like that.”

“What? I’m only saying—”

“No, you aren’t just saying it to be sweet. You believe it. You believe that you don’t deserve to be with me but there’s no reason you don’t. There are a million reasons you do. I don’t deserve you. I don’t know why you don’t see how beautiful and amazing you are.” He pushed me down onto the bed and put his face close to mine. “What have you done to me? You’ve made me crazy.”

I felt my face turn red. “I didn’t do a thing. It was all you, mister. All you. You started it.” I stuck my tongue out at him.

He smiled. “I dare you to do that again.” I hesitated but did it again anyway. He took both my wrists in one of his hands and pinned them over my head. I knew what was coming and started giggling and squirming. “Oh, no. You’re gonna get it.”

“No, no, no, no. Hyun Joong ah! No! Don’t! Please I’m begging you,” I pleading, hardly able to talk because I was giggling.

His other hand kept getting closer and closer to my side and I knew he was going to tickle me. He pushed his body against mine to keep me from squirming but it just made me try harder. I closed my eyes, waiting for it. My eyes popped open when he pressed his lips against mine. I relaxed and closed my eyes again, kissing him with the same passion and love as he was kissing me. I freed my wrists from his hand and pulled him closer to me, his arms going around my waist. He pulled away and rested his forehead against mine, his eyes still closed. I knew he was getting upset.

“Please don’t be upset, Hyun Joong ah,” I said softly, running my fingers through his hair.

His arms tightened around my waist. “I don’t want to leave you.”

I felt like something was caught in my throat. I swallowed hard. “Everything will be okay. I promise. I’ll be fine, you’ll be fine. We’ll be fine. I don’t want you to worry.”

He opened his eyes and tears fell out, rolling down his beautiful face. It felt like my heart exploded into a hundred billion little pieces. It was my turn to be the strong one and that was okay.

I held up my left hand and he glanced at my ring and then back at my eyes. “Do you see this?” I asked. He nodded. I put his hand over my heart. “Feel this?” Again, he nodded, more tears rolling down his face. “Both are yours. Forever. My hand and my heart.”

He sat up and hugged me tightly, squishing me a little. I put my arms back around him and rubbed his back. He buried his face in my shoulder and I felt his body shake with sobs. I felt tears coming from me so I closed my eyes.

“Hyun Joong ah, please don’t be so upset. I can’t stand seeing you this way. I’m supposed to be the one crying because you’re leaving, not you.” I pressed my cheek against his hair. Every second, I was getting weaker. I wouldn’t be able to hold back my tears for much longer.

“I need you, Soo Yun. I don’t know when this happened but I can’t live without you.” He looked up at me, his cheeks tear stained, his eyes rimmed in red. I couldn’t keep it in anymore. I broke down and cried. He laid down with me in his arms and we cried together. And to think I’d been okay with it up until now. I’d been sad, of course, and I knew I was going to miss him but I’d been okay. Now, seeing Hyun Joong almost unable to handle it, broke my heart. How was I supposed to say goodbye to him when he left when we were crying now and he still had so much time? So much time wasn’t not enough time, though, and I realized it. This realization led to another—we can’t waste our time crying in bed.

I wiped my tears and got up. “Hyun Joong ah, we can’t do this. We can’t just lay in bed and cry about something we can’t change.”

He reached for me, slid his hand down my arm and took my hand. He kissed each one of my fingers. He pulled me on top of him. I squirmed and tried to get up, but his strong arms held me in place. “Let’s stay in bed anyway,” he suggested.

I sighed and squirmed again. “Hyun Joong ah,” I whined.

“Just today. Please. And the rest of the time we have, we’ll do anything you want. Anything. I don’t care what it is.” He kissed the side of my mouth. “Anything.” He kissed my neck, his lips lingering suggestively against my skin. “Everything,” he breathed. I stopped fighting him.

“You know I’ll give you anything you want. It’s not like you have to try very hard.” His lips kept moving up and down my neck. My breathing picked up.

His hands moved to my thighs, which were pressed against his sides. He had a ring on his pointer finger and he knew how much I loved his hands and rings on that finger. It was so y.

“What do you plan on doing in bed all day, my love?” I asked, trying to take my mind off of his lips on me and the ring on his finger.

He pulled away a little and looked at me with a small smile. “I thought we could talk about the wedding.”

I slid to the side, cuddling against him. His fingers trailed down my face; that ring was driving me nuts.

“What about it?”

“When do you want to get married, Soo Yun ah?”

I hesitated. I really didn’t know. What was an acceptable amount of time to be engaged? Did it really matter? He was going into the military.

“In a month. On the beach. Where you proposed. Jiyong is going to be my man of honor, and I want the rest of them in the party too. An even party is important. To me anyway.” We were both quiet for a few minutes. I was thinking about who was going to walk me down the aisle. I’d have to walk myself down. Appa would be there, in spirit. And that was good enough for me.

“Anything to make you happy, beautiful girl.” He kissed the top of my head. “Just tell me what you need me to do.”

Two weeks later, Hyun Joong and I had taken care of all of the arrangements that we needed. Hyun Joong was flying his family in the next day and Jiyong was inviting all of their friends. Some of Hyun Joong’s other friends would be attending. TOP told me Daesung wouldn’t be attending. I saw it coming, but it still hurt.

The next week, the boys were back to help me.

“Hyun Joong, I’m sorry but I must steal your bride-to-be to find something for her that makes her look more beautiful than even your wildest dreams could have come up with!” Jiyong said, pulling me away from my handsome love.

“Gimme a minute!” I grumbled, trying to pull my arm free from his grip. Hyun Joong smiled, put one hand on my waist and the other on the back of my head, and kissed me deeply but briefly, leaving me dazed.

“She’s all yours. You know, figuratively.” He chuckled and waved as Jiyong pulled me away to go dress shopping.

“Here, try on all of these and, uh… Oh! And this one, too!” Jiyong had picked out nine dresses and was shoving them all into my arms. I didn’t like any of them, but that didn’t matter to him. Especially because I wasn’t saying much about it. I just went and tried them on like I was told. None of them looked particularly good on me, except the last one. It was a mermaid style dress with elegant, beautiful folds at the bottom, the corset part decorated with silver beads that made the dress look like it had been made for a goddess. I stood in front of a row of mirrors, Jiyong standing behind me, his mouth and eyes open in awe. I teared up. This was it. This was my dress.

“Jiyong…” I whispered. “This is so perfect.”

He came around to the front of me and took my hands. I looked up at him.

“You look like an angel, Soo Yun. Now we just need to find your wings.” We both laughed a little. I wiped my cheeks. “Go get changed. I think Hyun Joong’s family is here and I have to take our handsome boys to find tuxes now. Go, hurry!”

Hyun Joong’s family was so sweet and so happy to meet me. Apparently, he’d told them everything even before I knew he was going to propose to me. So they already knew about me. They told me it was like meeting someone that was already a part of their family. That really meant a lot to me, and to Hyun Joong.

The house was loud and buzzing and noisy and I was getting anxious. The amount of time I got to spend with Hyun Joong had gotten very short; we only got to see each other when we were going to bed and getting up, which only made me more anxious. The night before the wedding was upon me before I knew it.

“What do you mean I can’t sleep with him tonight?!” I nearly shrieked at Jiyong.

“It’s bad luck for the groom to see the bride before the wedding! It’s just one night, it won’t kill you, Soo Yun ah. And you can’t see him until the wedding tomorrow evening either. Got it? Promise me.”

My head was spinning and my chest felt tight. This month had passed by too fast. Hyun Joong had ten months before he was going. That was going to pass by too quickly, just like this month had.

“Soo Yun? Promise me. This is important to me and it should be to you.”

“I promise, I promise. Just... Let me say good night to him at least.”

Jiyong nodded and I wandered out onto the beach. Hyun Joong was already there, almost like he was waiting for me. I smiled and put my arms around him from behind. He put his hand over my arms.

“There’s my sweet girl,” he said softly. One of his arms went around me and he pulled me to the front of him. He looked down into my eyes and I saw so much love and happiness there. “You’re not going to leave me at the alter, are you?” He smiled at me.

I giggled. “You never know with me. I’ve been known to be a heart breaker.”

He laughed and hugged me against him. “I really wish I could sleep next to you tonight. I probably won’t sleep though, so it’s better that way. I don’t want to keep you up. Not that you need any beauty sleep. You’re too beautiful as it is.”

I nuzzled his chest. “Stop it. You’re making me blush.”

He laughed again. “You need to get some rest. Okay?” I nodded. “I love you, Soo Yun ah. Sleep well okay? I’ll see you on the beach.”

“I love you, Kim Hyun Joong. I’ll meet you there.” We kissed briefly and I walked inside to go to bed.

Jiyong let me sleep in the next day, since the ceremony wasn’t to take place until sunset. I took a long, hot shower, taking time to shave my legs meticulously. I washed my face, body and hair about three times each and used excessive amounts of conditioner so my hair would be especially soft and shiny. I put on a big fluffy robe when I got out. Jiyong, Seungri and Youngbae insisted that I not lift a finger today. They’d hired people to do my hair and makeup, which took a lot of time compared to what I was used to. They styled my hair to one side in big, luscious curls. They put little things into my hair that looked like diamonds. My makeup looked gorgeous; black eyeliner fading into beautiful silver as it went up, lightest at the bottom of my eyebrows. It shaped my eyes wonderfully and made them pop. They also helped me into my dress. I was glad it was strapless. It looked good with my hair styled the way it was. When they were done, they left the room and the boys filed in—all four of them. I turned, making my diamond strand earrings sway.

“We got you something, Soo Yun ah,” Youngbae said with a smile.

“A late engagement gift,” Seungri said.

TOP came over to me and opened a big black box. I gasped. He took the necklace out and put it on me. It splayed down my neck, the diamond strands under the silver swirling reaching down toward the dress. It matched the dress and my earrings perfectly.

“Now, you can get married,” TOP said, smiling at me. “You look like an angel.”

The guys walked out before me, all looking drop dead gorgeous in their tuxes that matched Jaejoong’s. Seungri, who walked out last, smiled really big and waved at me. I was happy for that. It made some of my nerves go away.

I stepped out after them, watching where I was going at first so that I didn’t trip. I looked up when I heard everybody start gasping. My eyes found Hyun Joong—his hair was cut! It was styled up, looking kind of messy, not too short not too long. He looked older, more mature. He looked absolutely breathtaking. His lips parted when he saw me, his eyes widening as I walked toward him slowly. My heart was pounding hard against my ribcage. A smile broke across his face. God, he was handsome.

I stepped up to him and handed my bouquet to Jiyong. Hyun Joong was holding his hands out to me when I turned back to face him. I slid my hands into his and looked up into his eyes. After that, I didn’t hear anything. I don’t remember saying my vows but I remember Hyun Joong saying his. I remember meaning every word, despite forgetting what they were.

Jaejoong handed us our rings, winking at me when Hyun Joong turned around. I giggled quietly. I paid attention this time, when we were exchanging rings. I remembered what we said. I’ll never forget the feeling over his fingers brushing mine as he slid the little silver band on my finger. When we locked eyes again, it was like everyone else in the world vanished. He put his hands on my waist and stepped into me. He leaned down and pressed his lips against mine, kissing me softly. I melted and slid my arms up around his neck, standing on my toes to deepen the kiss. Everyone started cheering and we pulled away, but we were still looking at each other. We both had huge smiles plastered on our faces.

“I love you, Kim Hyun Joong,” I said to him softly.

His arm tightened around my waist and his smile got bigger. “I love you, Kim Soo Yun.”