You and Kai spend the next two hours answering a ton of questions and trying to comfort Key, Taemin, and Taeyeon.

“Yah! How could you not tell me!?” Taeyeon demands. Her “angry” tone is still sweet.

“YOU DIRTY ROTTEN CHEATING LIARS WHO ARE..LIARS!!!” Key roars, red in the face. “HOW COULD THIS GET BY ME!? POSSIBLY THE BIGGEST PIECE OF GOSSIP IN THE HISTORY OF THE ENTIRE PLAAAAAANET, AND I DIDN’T EVEN HAVE A CLUE!!!!!”

“Um, Key-oppa, we didn’t…lie. And we didn’t cheat either,” you say in your sweetest voice possible.

“AIGOO, I KNOW, I KNOW… BUT SERIOUSLY HOW COULD I NOT KNOW?” he whines, still pretty pissed off. It had taken him about 5 minutes to be revived, and he had only woken up when someone joked that there was a rival gossip column coming to SM High.

Kai snickers, and steers you towards your EXO friends. They had all known Kai was going to ask you to marry him that night, and they congratulate you both sincerely.

Chanyeol grins from ear to ear, as usual in a four thousand kilowatt smile.

“I’m so happy for you, _________ and Kai! You’re both like family to me and now you’re going to be family to each other. I can’t wait for the wedding!”

You don’t understand how his face can stay in such a huge smile for such a long time. Your face starts hurting after thirty seconds of straight smiling.

“Thanks, hyung!” Kai says, giving Chanyeol a brotherly hug.

D.O looks at you both with happy wide eyes, and offers to sing with Suho and Baekhyun at your wedding, and you immediately agree.

Suho gives you his fatherly blessing and you give him a friendly hug.

Baekhyun congratulates you, less enthusiastically than the others. You know he’s trying really hard to be happy for you, but he had had a crush on you since your first day too, and can’t help but feel a little disappointed.

Sehun tackle hugs Kai, and gives you a huge hug. He then pulls Kai into your hug and talks about how he  can’t wait to be one big happy family and some other cheesy crap that is very unlike the Sehun you used to know.

Taemin walks up to you. “Noona, hyung!” (yes I KNOW Taemin’s older, but in the story he’s like the cute little brother kay) Kai flashes a huge smile at his friend, and greets him happily.

“Congratulations!” he says sincerely. “I am a little jealous, to be honest, but I’ll always support two of my favorite people ever!”

He looks around sheepishly and adds, “just…Don’t tell Key-hyung I said that. He’ll kill me if he thinks he’s not my favorite.”

You hear a growl underneath a table nearby, where Key is hiding. Aisht, that boy.

You giggle as you remember how Key and Taemin would hide in things ranging from fruit baskets to bushes, undersides of chairs to chandeliers. Key calls it “research” for his gossip column and he trains Taemin to take over when he leaves.

Taemin scurries off to find somewhere safe, and you return your gaze to Kai. You honestly think he gets even better looking every time you lay eyes on him.

“Yah,” you say. “How am I going to tell my umma?” you say, concerned.

“I’ll come with you,” he says. “We’re in it together forever, arrasso?”

You touch his cheek and it gently with your thumb.

“You’re so sweet, you know that?” you inform him gently.

“I know,” he says cheekily with a cute wink. You punch him softly in the shoulder.

The dance ends, and you and Kai make your way back to your house. As you expected, your umma has been waiting up for you. You walk in, holding hands with Kai.

“Annyeonghasseyo, Mrs. ____________,” Kai bows respectfully.

“Annyeong, Kai, ________. Did you two have fun?” she asks with a smile.

“Neh, umma,” you reply. You’re more nervous about telling your mom than about telling the entire school. But she has to know.  “Umma, there’s something we have to tell you.”

Your mom stares at you, putting down the book she’d been reading.

“What is it?” she asks, sounding worried.

You hold up your ring.

“Jongin and I…well, we’re getting married,” you say sheepishly.

Your mom laughs nervously. “This is a joke, right?”

“No, umma. I love Jongin and he loves me and he asked me to marry him tonight,” you say carefully.

“________, you’re in high school,” your mom says with a finality.

“Umma, you don’t understand,” you say softly. Your mom’s eyes look upon you with such intensity it scares you a little.

“What, you think I don’t understand love? I know what love is, __________. I also understand what losing love is. Don’t tell me you know more about love than me, young lady. I lost your father and I don’t want you having misconceptions about love. What you’re feeling isn’t love. It’s high school lust. You don’t know what love is. You’re too young,” she says scathingly. “Are you pregnant?” Her voice is deadly by now.

“No, umma…I just…” You don’t know what to say, and you can feel hot tears springing into your eyes. You’d thought your mom would be supportive. She really likes Kai and she always supported your relationship.

“Ms. _____________, I love your daughter very much and I want to spend the rest of my life with her. I know being married young is abnormal, but our feelings for each other are abnormal,” Kai says smoothly.

“Kai, I know you think that we old people don’t know what the feeling you’re feeling is, but we do. You aren’t in love!!! You’re too young and the feelings you have are VERY normal for teenagers. Maybe you’ll love each other someday, but you don’t now. You need to grow up first. Marriage is for adults. You’re children!!!!” her voice is rising quickly, and her face turning redder.

“Ma’am I’m in no way saying you don’t know what love is, but there’s not an age limit for love. You have to be a certain age to vote, smoke, drink, drive. You don’t have to be a certain age to love. There’s no specific time someone has to love, just like there’s no time someone can’t love. Love isn’t explainable. I love your daughter, and I want her to be my wife forever, starting as soon as possible,” Kai says sincerely.

“Okay, Kai,” your mom says tiredly. “You’re good with your words, but I can’t talk to you right now. Either of you.” She looks at you, not angrily anymore, but with a great deal of exhaustion on her face.

“Umma…” you begin, barely whispering.

“Go,” she says. “Go.”

Tears trickle down your face as Kai escorts you to his house. He’d already told his parents about it, and they were okay with it. They had married young too. No, they weren’t in high school, but they were in their first years of college, so they didn’t really have an argument against it. They had warned him it would be hard, but he insisted he’d be okay with it.

Kai puts his hand comfortingly on the small of your back and leads you into his room. You borrow some clothes from his sisters, and he lets you crawl into his bed. He lays out a blanket on the floor for him to sleep on, not wanting to make you uncomfortable.

“Yah,” you say, still tearful, but amused. “You’re my fiancée. You can sleep in your own bed,” you giggle a little.

“Oh.”

Kai slides into bed with you and you lay your head on his chest and he your hair while you cry a little more.

“Everything will be okay as long as we’re together,” Kai whispers into your ear, wiping a tear from your cheek.

“I don’t know if this is a good idea, Kai,” you say gently. “My mom has a point. We ARE young…It’s not going to be easy.”

“No, it won’t be. But _________, we’ve already had tough times and we got through them. We’re stronger when we’re together. Well I’m stronger with you, at least. But I’ll protect you and I’ll be there for you forever. Always. Always and forever, remember?”

You definitely remember.

“I love you, Kim Jongin.”

“I love you too, future Mrs. Kim Jongin.”