It was a sunny day, the sky blue, the birds chirping, as Doojoon strolled up to a mahogany door, a bouquet of red tulips in hand. He paused on the steps, smelling the flowers. His face relaxing, he checked himself in the glass before knocking on the door.

            He was excited. Today was their three-year anniversary and Doojoon was going to make it perfect. His black hair was styled meticulously, his skin was flawless, and he even managed to pick out an outfit that didn’t look raggedy: a form-fitting white dress shirt with a v-neck, black, white and grey checkered sweater over it, and a pair of sleek black jeans. Everything was perfect. Nothing could ruin this day.

            Hiding the bouquet behind his back, he waited.

            His smile fell as he received no answer. Knocking again, he rocked on his heels. He was sure she was home. She told him yesterday that she didn’t have any plans today. Taking his phone out, he texted her a quick little ‘hi.’

            Doojoon started becoming nervous. He meant to take Heeyoung out on a nice date today. He meant to wow and woo her. Maybe even…

            Sighing and running a hand through his hair, he jumped when his phone sounded. Excitedly looking at the message, his expression became sullen. Heeyoung was sick. Texting her back, he waited at the door. Hearing the lock click, he was greeted by an ill Heeyoung.

            Hoping it would cheer her up, Doojoon pulled the bouquet of flowers out from behind his back.

            “What’s this?” she asked, sniffing as she took them in hand.

            “I wanted to see you,” he answered shyly. “Can I come in?” he inquired, poking his head in.

            Heeyoung nodded, turning into her house and waddling into the kitchen, Doojoon following her in. Once inside, Doojoon took the flowers from Heeyoung, putting them in the empty vase on her kitchen table. Taking a second, he observed the warm, light color of her house’s walls, the pastel wood-color of the table, and the pure white of the floor tiles; he smiled. The vibrant red of the tulips made the interior even more magical.

Turning to her swiftly, his smile grew. Heeyoung looked too cute in a tan sweater that was too big for her and a pair of white capris that highlighted her skin’s smooth color. She lifted her petite eyebrow at him. Chuckling, he leaned forward and kissed her cheek.

            Blushing, she lightly hit his shoulder, embarrassed.

            “What was that for?” she muttered, looking up at him meekly. She gasped suddenly, though, lifting a hand to her lips. “I’m sick! What do you think you’re doing?” she hit his shoulder again.

            Laughing, and rubbing the slightly sore shoulder, he responded, “I’m kissing my girlfriend.” Smiling sweetly, he continued. “Hey, do you want me to make you lunch? You could sit in bed or on the couch and get better while I make you…”

            His eyes searched the room for something simple he could make that wasn’t ramen.

            “Ramen?” she scoffed playfully.

            “If you so desire,” he rubbed the base of his neck nervously.

            She glowered at him playfully before nodding. Patting his arm, she dismissed herself to the living room. Slinking over to the couch, she grabbed the remote and curled up on the couch. Clicking the TV on, she sighed contentedly.

            Stumbling could be heard across the floor, vaguely at first before it startled Heeyoung as she looked into the doorway to see Doojoon happily bringing her a blanket and pillow. Draping them over her as she fussed, he calmly took her hands in his and gazed into her brown eyes lovingly. Kissing her forehead, he went back to the kitchen. Smiling after him, she shook her head. He was adorable.

            Stepping back into the kitchen, Doojoon sighed. He was not confident in his cooking, but Heeyoung needs to get better and getting better means eating. Rolling up his sleeves, he removed some pots and pans from the cupboards, ready to get down to business.

           

 

            It was closing in on an hour now, and Doojoon was still in the kitchen. He hadn’t come out once, and, worried, Heeyoung started to rise from the couch.

            “Ah!” she heard Doojoon scold her from the kitchen. “Sit back down right now!”

            Complying with the order, she waited, curiosity eating at her. After a minute of silence, Heeyoung was almost about to get up again when Doojoon entered the room, pulling the coffee table closer to the couch and putting a mat down in the center. Dashing back into the kitchen, he returned with a kettle, placing it gently on the mat. Retreating, he arrived with a glass of orange juice before sitting on the floor across the table from her. Separating both of their chopsticks, he handed Heeyoung hers. Opening the kettle, steam rose from within, a curtain of white dissipating to reveal…

            “Instant noodles,” she stated, glowering at him.

            Pouting, he rebutted, “Not just instant noodles.” Standing up, he sat beside her on the couch and wrapped an arm around her shoulder before pointing at the substances in the kettle. “I made chicken on the stove- cut it and seasoned it myself! And then, I cut up some onions and I made it all fancy! It’s basically handmade.” He finished, turning to her excitedly, his innocent white grin shining.

            Noticing each detail as Doojoon pointed them out, Heeyoung smiled.

            “Try it, you’ll like it,” Doojoon persuaded her, squeezing her shoulder before going back to his place on the floor.

            Smiling hesitantly, she picked up her chopsticks and swirled the noodles around before picking some up. Blowing on it, she made eye contact with Doojoon. Dropping the noodles back into the pot, she yelled at him.

            “Don’t watch me!” Her cheeks flushed pink.

            “I want to see your face when you try it!” Doojoon stated, fidgeting anxiously. What if it wasn’t good? What if it was so bad it made Heeyoung sicker? What if it was so awful that she broke up with him for being a bad cook? Biting his lip, he waited in anticipation as Heeyoung lifted the noodles back up to her lips. Biting into them, she smiled, her eyes closing.

            “Does that mean she likes them? Or is she just being nice?” Doojoon trembled mentally.

            Taking another bite, she quietly continued eating, finishing it in a matter of minutes. Placing her chopsticks on the mat carefully, she coughed before bashfully turning to Doojoon.

            “That was really good,” she muttered, embarrassed.

            “Really?” He asked, his face beaming.

            She nodded, her face flushed.

            “Thank you,” she mumbled as he sat beside her again, wrapping his arm around her and kissing her cheek.

            “It’s no big deal,” he gave her a toothy grin. “It’s my pleasure.”

            Smiling contentedly, she looked up into his dark eyes.

            “Hey, why did it take you so long to make this?” she inquired, tilting her head as the question popped into it.

            Pulling back slightly, Doojoon averted his eyes, chuckling guiltily.

            “Uhm, we-well,” he stuttered. Glancing into her eyes, he sighed. “I didn’t actually make the chicken. I had my mom make it. She brought it over, and that took a while. But I cut the onions and decorated it and made the noodles myself…!” Doojoon hung his head. “I’m sorry. I’m no good as a cook.”

            Sighing, she kissed his shapely pink lips. Looking into her eyes curiously, he asked meekly, “So you’re not going to call me a horrible cook and kick me out?”

            “No, silly! Where did that even come from?” she giggled, lightly hitting his shoulder.

            Exhaling in relief dramatically, he smirked.

            “I was just afraid that if I didn’t make something that was even more delicious than you…” he trailed off scandalously, his arm wrapping around her waist.

            Blushing, she jumped off the couch, scolding him. When he went chasing after her, she squeaked, dashing away happily. Passing the kitchen, she slowed to a stop. Backing up a few feet, she came into the doorway. Hugging her from behind, Doojoon kissed the top of her head. He was so happy that she still liked him. Then he noticed…

            “What happened in here?” Heeyoung gasped.

            A couple pots were spewing out of an open cup board; there were soup splatters on the stove and onion shavings on the bread board. It was like a typhoon had swept through.

            Scolding himself, Doojoon apologized. “I was going to clean it up once I took the kettle back.”

            Huffing, Heeyoung moved to face him while still in his arms. Pouting, she gripped the sides of his shirt.

            “You’re a mess.”

            Smiling at the playful nature of her words, Doojoon kissed her forehead.

            “I’m your mess.”

            Blushing bright red, she wriggled. Escaping his arms, she started picking up the pots from the floor, pointing one at him.

            “Come on, let’s clean up this mess,” she stuttered cutely.

            Nodding, Doojoon followed along, mopping up the stove and cleaning off the bread board.

            “She’s beautiful,” Doojoon thought as he watched her determinedly putting things away. “She’s sweet, she’s playful, she’s… perfect.”

            “Heeyoung,” Doojoon called for her attention softly.

            “Hm?” she hummed, pivoting on her feet to face him.

            She gasped. Doojoon was getting down on one knee, the sleeves of his dress shirt rolled up and his hair a handsomely disheveled mess. Slowly, confidently, he pulled out a little black box.

            “Heeyoung, we’ve been together for years now,” Doojoon started solemnly. “I’ve known you were perfect from the first time I saw you. Now that I have gotten to know you a little bit more, I see how wrong I was. You are beyond perfect. And I want you to prove me wrong everyday for the rest of our lives because I just know you’ll become even more beautiful every second I’m with you.”

            Heeyoung lifted her hands to , tears of happiness welling up.

            “Heeyoung, will you marry me?”

            Nodding profusely, she dropped to her knees, hugging him tightly.

            “I will, I will,” she repeated, tears escaping from her eyes.

            A look of absolute bliss took over Doojoon’s features as he kissed Heeyoung again, slipping the ring onto her ring finger.

            “I love you,” she whispered into his shirt as he held her close.

            “I love you, too.”

 

~

Thank you for reading and I hope you liked it!!