"Let's get married."

This wasn't how Woohyun imagined it would end up happening. When he proposed, he wanted it to happen in a romantic restaurant with a great view of the night sky. He wanted to put the ring (which he spent hours searching for) in her dessert (whatever was her favorite) and see her surprised but elated expression when she discovered it. There should've been a dozen roses or balloons, or at least a girl who was dressed up. The one who was sitting next to him right now was dressed in sweatpants and a cartoon t-shirt with ice cream carelessly dribbling down her chin. The location wasn't much better, a bench at their neighborhood park. But at least it had a great view of the night sky.

"Huh?" Maeri said as she finally wiped the trail of frozen diary off her chin. Her eyes grew wide for a second out of shock; then they shrunk back down to their normal size. She turned to Woohyun and laughed. "I bought you dinner and ice cream for your birthday. That wasn't enough? Now you want me?" she asked, pointing at her own nose. Woohyun nodded enthusiastically, with a sincere smile on his face. Maeri punched him in the arm, causing him to drop his smile and almost drop his ice cream cone. "You're crazy," she muttered.

Woohyun rubbed his arm gingerly and pouted. "Come on. Remember that promised we made?" Woohyun asked. Maeri nodded, mostly focusing on her ice cream cone. "Well, we're both 30 and single."

"We were 18," she stated matter-of-factly.She did have a point. They did a lot of stupid things at 18, like normal hormonal teenagers, but this one Woohyun wasn't willing to forget.

"So," he began. "It still doesn't change the facts. Our parents keep asking us why we aren't married yet, why we aren't marrying each other."

"Because we're just friends," Maeri spat out. It was a reflex that both of them had developed over the years when they were confronted about their relationship. It was something that they told their parents and friends at least once a day. The misunderstanding wasn't strange though. Woohyun and Maeri either met or talked on the phone once a day since high school, being each other's long-lasting relationships. Both of them had seen streams of friends and significant others walk in and out of their lives, but they always stood by each other's sides, even when one of them was annoying the hell out of the other, like at this moment.

"Aren't married couples friends?" Woohyun retorted as he looked at Maeri cutely, his cone. Maeri was at a loss for words, which wasn't unusual. She often got lost in her own thoughts. Woohyun could see the gears in her brain grinding, searching for an answer. Maeri also wasn't the type to make a decision too hastily; she always weighed every...single option before arriving at the solution that she deemed best. Woohyun, on the other hand, was a bit more impulsive, like he was right now. He hadn't planned on proposing to Maeri. Well, not entirely. "Just think about it, okay?" he requested, patting his old friend on the head.

She batted his hand away. She looked at him, smiling with only. Her eyes were still lost in thought. "You're still crazy," she joked.

"Crazy for you," he joked back, bringing a genuine smile to her face.

"Aigoo!" she exclaimed, slightly cringing at his cheesy words. But Maeri was used to these, having heard them for over ten years. However, she knew that Woohyun like seeing such reactions, seeing how his words affected people. "I should send you to a mental institution."

"Only if you come with me," he responded, putting his hand on her shoulder.

Maeri pointed to herself. "Me?" she asked, the she scoffed, "I'm not the crazy one."

Woohyun laughed, "That's what all the crazies say." Maeri punched him in the shoulder again, but this time, a little harder. Woohyun squealed out in pain, but she didn't care. So he stole the rest of her ice cream cone and began to eat it. As she was about to object and hit him again, Woohyun shot her a sad glance and said, "It's my birthday," already bringing up his arm to protect his shoulder from her potential blow.

She let go of her fist and tossled his hair instead. "How are you even 30?" she mumbled, eyeing her friend up and down who was scarfing down his second ice cream cone.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Later that night, Woohyun was in his apartment lying on the couch, gripping the t.v. remoted as he flipped carelessly through the channels. Nothing was catching his interest. He contemplated turning it off, but he didn't want to miss anything good. Then the apartment door flew open, and his roommate stumbled in. He was creating tons of noise, taking off his shoes while grunting in exertion, then throwing them into the pile that they had next to the door, and finally stomping across the apartment until he jumped and landed on Woohyun. "Happy Birthday, Woohyun!" his roomate wished as he hugged the birthday boy tightly. "I'm sorry that I missed out on the celebration!"

Woohyun hugged his friend back. "It's okay, Dongwoo. It's probably better that you went to your work thing."

Dongwoo got up from his friend, finally allowing him to breath. He cocked his head. "Why? What happened?" he asked.

Woohyun sat up, giving Dongwoo room to sit down, which the latter gladly accepted. Woohyun sighed and rubbed his face. "It only ended up being Maeri and me. I guess that's what happens when everybody has a job, or a girlfriend, or a wife, or kids," he mumbled.

Dongwoo took up the remote and resumed Woohyun's ceaseless channel surfing. "I guess that's all a part of getting older." And it , Woohyun thought. But before he could further contemplate the downside to getting older, Dongwoo interrupted. "But you were with Maeri? That must've been fun. I haven't seen her in a while. How is she? We should all get together soon."

"I asked her to marry me," Woohyun confessed.

Dongwoo stopped flipping the channels and dropped the remote. He slowly turned to Woohyun. His mouth opened a bit wider than usual. "WHAT?" he asked, blinking several times in confusion.

Woohyun threw his head back and closed his eyes. "I proposed," he repeated. 

"What? I didn't know you were going to do that. Wait. You guys aren't even dating? Were you drunk? Did she say yes? Do you feel okay?" a stream of questions flowed out of his roommate's mouth. Dongwoo ended by feeling Woohyun's forehead, searching for any traces of a fever.

Woohyun batted his friend's hands away and stood up straight again. "I did drink a bit, but not enough to do anything stupid." He bit his lower lip and paused slightly before continuing,  "I probably would've asked completely sober. I had been thinking about it for a while. Maeri and I have been friends forever. And we like each other alot. We always have fun. It was kind of like, why not? So I asked. But she hasn't answered yet. Which isn't weird. The girl can't make a decision. It took her a half an hour to chose her ice cream, and it was just chocolate, what she always gets." Then Woohyun noticed that he had been talking for awhile without his roommate interrupting. He looked over to see Dongwoo chewing his lower lip, obviously holding back his words. Woohyun nudged him, "What is it? Spit it out."

"This is either the smartest or the dumbest thing you've ever done," Dongwoo said, his eyes fixed on the t.v., which was settled on a news station which neither of them watch. So Dongwoo was just avoiding Woohyun's gaze.

"What do you mean?" Woohyun asked with a chuckle.

Dongwoo finally looked at his friend. "You  guys get along really well. You guys could end up being a great couple. An ideal couple!" Then he dropped his gaze. "But..."

"But?" Woohyun repeated, urging his reluctant friend to continue.

"Great friendships don't always translate into great relationships. It could end up ruining everything," Dongwoo finished. He noticed Woohyun, whose head was hanging so low that it was basically touching his lap. His usual smile was replaced with a pout. Dongwoo immediately felt guilty and patted his depressed friend on the arm. "But I'm sure that won't happen to you and Maeri. You guys will be cute together." Woohyun immediately perked up at Dongwoo's encouraging words. "Do you think she'll say yes?" Dongwoo asked.

Woohyun shot him a skeptical look. "Of course! Look at me! Who wouldn't want to marry this?" he said, showing off his figure and handsome face.

"I'd marry you," Dongwoo joked, his friend's arm tenderly. 

Woohyun giggled and wiggled away from Dongwoo. "I'm sorry, but I'm already taken." He got up from the couch and waved to his friend. "Good night!"

"But she didn't even say anything yet," Dongwoo said, calling after his friend who was already in his bedroom with his door shut. "Crazy kid," he muttered under his breath as he continued to flip through the channels.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"You did what?!" Sungyeol said, practically spitting out his coffee. The lanky man was leaning on the wall of Woohyun's cubicle as the co-workers exchanged small talk.

"Why is that everyone's reaction?" Woohyun muttered under his breath, not removing his gaze from his computer. He was in charge of social media at his company, which was perfect for him, who was always on his phone texting friends, posting to his twitter account and instagram. He also had a couple hundred followers (almost 1000), which was impressive for someone like him, a man who rarely stepped foot outside his hometown.

Sungyeol moved in closer to his co-worker. "Aish! I should've come. I would've loved seeing that. Too bad my wife had already made plans for us. We went out with her friend and her husband. It was sooooo boring." He then chuckled and nudged Woohyun. "That's something you'll have to get used to soon."

But she didn't even say yes yet. There's no reason for her not to, but still, Woohyun thought. But there was no reason for him to tell this to Sungyeol. He  wasn't as good as a listener as Dongwoo. In fact, Sungyeol didn't even notice that Woohyun hadn't said anything in a while. He was just reaccounting the couple date he had last night, how the only sport the friend's husband played was Starcraft and how that's not even a sport. But Woohyun enjoyed his useless chatter. It took his mind off of his own problems. Besides, Sungyeol always told stories in an entertaining way, even if the story itself was mundane.

When Sungyeol finished his story and left the cubicle, Woohyun's thoughts were entirely focused on marriage. Even freakin' Lee Sungyeol is married. Why not me? Ever since his brother, Boohyun, got married, his parents had focused all of their attention on marrying off their last son. And since Maeri was the only girl who managed to stick around, they swore to Woohyun that she was the one. Even worse, his parents and hers got along famously and were good friends, so her parents were in on the act too. But Woohyun wasn't ready to settle down...that was until his brother had a kid six months ago, a cute, completely loveable, little girl. The first time he held his niece, it stirred something inside his heart. He wanted his own. He wanted his own beautiful wife and his own house with a yard and red door. He wanted it all. 

She'll say yes, won't she?

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________

It took all of Maeri's willpower not to call her mother. She always asked her mom for advice everytime she face a difficult decision. Maeri had accepted long ago that her parents really did know best. But they wouldn't be able to offer an unbiased opinion this time around. They loved Woohyun. They already considered him as their son, and her little brother, Jonghyun, idolized him. If she had told them, the wedding date would be set the next day.

So she sat at the front desk in the auction house she worked at, head resting upon the slick, oak surface, staring unblinkingly at her phone. A slender, aged hand picked up the phone. "No phones at work," a voice said in a monitory tone.

Maeri immediately jerked up her head and saw the slender figure of her boss. She began to apologize profusely, "Debah! I'm so sorry. I was just..."

Debah put her hand up to stop the woman's apologetic rambling. She stared down at Maeri with a concerned expression and crossed her arms. "You've been in an odd mood all day. Is everything alright?"

Maeri paused. She knew that she shouldn't let her personal life affect her work so much. She stood up straight and tucked a stray hair behind her ear. "I'm just tired. I haven't been sleeping well lately."

"Well, get some sleep tonight. I need your cheery attitude and signature smile tomorrow. You're doing an estate appraisal tomorrow," she said and walked away. But before she crossed the threshold into the backroom, she finished, "It's an hour away, so go to bed early. Oh yea, take the intern." Then the middle-aged woman disappeared completely into the backroom.

"But my phone..." Maeri muttered, reaching out fruitlessly at her boss' back. She wouldn't be seeing her cell phone for the rest of the day, which might be best, to avoid the temptation.

She placed her head back onto the desk and surveyed the empty shop, wondering how she still had a job with such slow business. She sighed and placed her head in her hands. Me and Woohyun...Woohyun and I...why the hell not? But...

"NOONA!" a voice called out to her. A boy bounced from the back room, sitting himself right next to Maeri. "DId you hear? I'm going with you! This is my first estate appraisal. I am so excited!"

Maeri couldn't help but to smile at the boy's uncontrollable enthusaism. This intern was so full of energy. Where the hell did he get it? After turning 30, she felt so old and tired. She would love to siphon some of the energy away from this kid. "Sungjong, you know why they're estate appraisals, right?" she asked. The boy shook his mop of black hair. She hated to burst his happy bubble, but it was better now than tomorrow. "Normally someone has died and a relative asks us to help sell their items."

"So," the wide-eyed boy began. "We're going to be touching some dead guy's stuff?" he asked with a shiver.

"Yep, and appraising it. But most importantly, we'll be dealing with the relatives. They'll be grieving, so we'll have to be as pleasant and warm as possible," Maeri said, ending with a soothing voice that would rival a yoga instructor. "So give me your best smile." Sungjong then gave the warmest most energizing smile that Maeri had ever seen. She immediately lifted her hand and dragged it across his face. "You're so pretty, I hate you."

Sungjong pulled away and laughed. "Don't be jealous, Noona. You're not half-bad."

"Aigoo. Kids these days, where do you learn your manners?" she grumbled.

"My mom!" Sungjong cheerfully responded to the rhetorical question. Maeri giggled lightly and looked at him. Sungjong's cute response reminded her of Woohyun. She then immediately felt an urge to call her friend, but she shouldn't, not until she had an answer...or her phone back from her boss' tight grasp.

I have to make a decision soon. I can't just avoid him forever.