D-06 to Lee Sungjong's Birthday!

Pairing: Howon/Sungjong

Prompt: Getting Married

(No One Else in This World)

Lee Howon was not known for losing his composure- in fact, he was the one that people counted on to be calm at all times.

But in this moment of time, calm, cool, and collected Lee Howon is nowhere to be found.

In fact, Howon is sure that he is going out of his freaking mind with the level of nervousness that he is feeling. Howon finds himself pacing back and forth relentlessly, unconsciously trying to make a hole in the floor.

To his side, Nam Woohyun, best friend extraordinaire, stares at him blankly. Woohyun ends up offering the most consoling words he can think of. “Dude, calm down.”

“I am calm!” Howon snaps, immediately stopping his pacing in favor of closing in on Woohyun. He sounds increasingly more panicked than ever. “I am calm- I just- don’t know what to do, I’ve never proposed to anyone before!”

“Well, if you had experience, then we would have a problem,” Woohyun dryly retorts.

Howon gives him the stare of all stares.

-

Lee Howon has been dating Lee Sungjong for the past three years. From the moment he met the younger, Sungjong had been his matter of interest. And now, after three years of dating, Howon is ready to take the next step in their relationship.

He wants to propose- is going to propose.

Howon knows that if there is anyone he is going to spend the  rest of his life with, it is Lee Sungjong. He’s sure of it.

He’s even pretty sure that Sungjong will say yes when he eventually proposes- because damn right he’s confident. (Even if he is, also, scared out of his mind about proposing.)

But first thing’s first!

How in the world is he going to propose?

-

Howon ends up coming up with a (rather questionable) plan with the help of Nam Woohyun and Lee Sungyeol- two friends who have been with Howon and Sungjong since the beginning of their relationship.

“No matter how you do it, Jongie is going to like it,” Sungyeol unhelpfully tells him.

"So just do what you’re good at and what’s your style- you’ll be fine,” Woohyun unhelpfully adds.

They give him no specifics, only offers those two things as advice.

Howon thinks long and hard about Woohyun and Sungyeol’s words- because, lets face it, they didn’t give him much to go off of.

Eventually, Howon figures that he’s really good at doing two things.

One thing he does really well is making Sungjong happy.

The other is dancing.

So making Sungjong happy and dancing it is.

-

A plan is set in motion and a day is picked.

-

Howon’s kind of (but not really?) elaborate plan that involves tricking Sungjong- which is great and all, because it is sweet and romantic and what not.

But it involves tricking Sungjong.

And no one ing tricks Lee Sungjong (and lives to not sleep on the couch that night).

Howon has learned this the hard way.

But alas- the plan involves tricking Sungjong, and tricking Sungjong is what he shall (hopefully) do.

The plan, basically, is for Sungjong to be super duper surprised at how romantic and sweet and Howon is and get all emotional.

Howon has his work cut out for him.

-

The day is today.

-

Howon starts of the day with breakfast in bed- which he pulls off pretty damn well, if he can say so himself. He wakes Sungjong up with the delicious smell of strawberry waffles and syrup. By the time Sungjong is sitting up and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, Howon is nervously pouring syrup on his stack of pancakes.

“Morning?” Sungjong mumbles, looking confused at the mini-table in front of him.

“Morning,” Howon cheerfully responds to him, placing the stack of pancakes on the said mini-table.

Sungjong blinks once, twice, and then is instantly filled with suspicion, even as he graviously accepts a fork and knife from Howon. “What’s the special occasion?” he asks as he cuts into the fluffy pancakes.

Howon smiles uneasily, merely quipping a fast, “Can’t I make breakfast for my boyfriend?” And soon to be fiancee?

Sungjong purses his lips but accepts the reasoning with a shrug. It’s not the first time Howon has done something like this (although the last time had been for his birthday). But something is definitely up.

Howon internally cheers. So far so good!

(Or so he thinks.)

-

Howon acts skittish (but Howon doesn’t act skittish, damn it) the whole day and he can only hope that Sungjong hasn’t noticed.

(Sungjong has definitely noticed.)

-

Sungjong and Howon end up taking a stroll at their favorite park, where both proceed to do little dances and frolick around.

Howon even does a girl group dance, just so that Sungjong could get a kick out of it.

Sungjong laughs.

Howon only gets mildly irritated by all the catcalls he had gotten from the other spectators at the park.

If it’s for Sungjong, it’s fine.

Or at least, that’s what he tells himself when an elderly couple passes by and tells him how much of a “catch” Howon is. Sungjong only smiles, amused.

Howon hopes Sungjong thinks he’s enough of a catch to marry.

He really does.

All Howon does is smile nervously when he hears that, looking at Sungjong meaningfully.

Sungjong’s suspicious are still very much alive- in fact, his suspicious practically go crazy once he sees that nervous smile.

-

Howon and Sungjong eventually get bored of the park, opting to go back home for an impromptu and snuggly movie night, in which Howon will make dinner afterwards and eventually propose.

Except things don’t go according to Howon’s plan because once they’re about twenty feet away from the park, Sungjong’s suspicious get the best of him.

He stops Howon in his place and looks him square in the eyes. “Are you breaking up with me?" He’s serious.

"What?” Howon is flabbergasted. His mind reels, scrambling to come up with a response to what he thinks is a ridiculous question. “No! Why would you think that?" Really, why would Sungjong think that?

"Because you've been acting weird all day!"

“What? But that’s because I- I don’t want to- argh,” Howon lets out a long suffering huff and Sungjong is unamused. “Why would you think I want to break up with you?”

“Because this is your sick way of letting me down easy?” Sungjong asks, tilting his head to the side. Okay, so Howon probably isn’t breaking up with him. But he has no idea why else his boyfriend has been acting so strange!

“No.” Howon is now the one that is unamused. “No, that is just wrong. I don’t remember the last time you were so wrong, Jong.”

“Then tell me why you’ve been acting weird,” Sungjong demands, pout evident on his face. Okay, so Howon might not be breaking up with him- but he has been acting weird. And Sungjong wants to know why.

Howon should have known not to try and pull a fast one on Lee Sungjong.

He spends about half a minute trying to come up with something plausible. What comes out is, “Lets get married.” Aw damn. He ended up just blurting it out.

Damn. So much for that part of his elaborate plan. No romantic speech to be found here. Nope.

“Please marry me? ” Howon asks- begs, really. The figurative cat is now out of the bag anyway. So now Howon is just going with it.

They both stare at each other blankly for a moment before Howon remembers- oh, , he’s supposed to be on one knee.

He fumbles a little bit to drop to one knee and then fumbles a little bit more to take out the ring in his pocket, but eventually holds it up for Sungjong to take.

Sungjong stares down at him, wide-eyed and confused.

So this is the part where he is supposed to be convincing Sungjong, he supposes. He has a whole speech ready for this. “If you marry me, you won’t even have to change your last name!” But he ends up saying the first thing that pops into mind.

Damn it.

“But that’s because we share the same last name! I wouldn’t be able to change it anyway!” is Sungjong’s retort, moving a hand to hover over the ring. He looks at the piece of jewelry thoughtfully.

Howon is still nervous- but hey, that reply was good, right? Because it meant that Sungjong has thought about the whole last name thing. “Is that you’re way of saying that you’ll marry me?” Howon’s hopeful, and it shows. His hand shakes just barely as he keeps holding up the ring.

Sungjong rolls his eyes and deadpans, “No.”

And Howon’s world starts crumbling right then and there, completely imploding upon itself because Sungjong said-

Sungjong must have sensed Howon’s internal melt down because he chuckles a little bit and says, “Of course I’ll marry you, you idiot.” Sungjong, even when accepting his proposal, sasses him. He takes the ring and puts it on himself, taking a second to admire how it looks on his finger.

It is a completely Sungjong thing to do and Howon loves that.

All Howon can do is laugh one of those completely happy and blissful laughs.

He thinks the ring looks rather beautiful on Sungjong’s finger.

Sungjong both destroyed Howon’s world and built it back up with just a couple words. But that’s all well and good because Sungjong said yes.

He said yes.

Howon has to take a breather and sit down on the floor, content with laughing to himself.

His boyfriend- no, his fiance, makes him stand back up forcibly, and pulls him up for a nice, long, and appreciative kiss.

(There is definitely no one else in this world that Howon would like to spend the rest of his life with. No one else.)