Update part two! Please enjoy it :3

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Five years later found them both out of college and still very much in love. Taehyun had graduated with a degree in elementary music education and plans to start work as a music teacher in the fall. At first he thought he’d try his hand at being a singer, but realized it’d be a lot more work than he thought he’d be able to commit to. His love for music prevailed, though, so he decided he’d teach.

Jiwon had graduated with his business degree and made a name for himself as ‘Bobby’ and had a large, growing fan base. His breakout hit song, ’11 AM,’ was an overnight hit—Jiwon was surprised that that was the song that became popular as he’d just written that for and about Taehyun when he was feeling particularly romantic. He even used the track Taehyun had given him for Christmas back when he was still with Areum; he supposed the song succeeded because the lyrics were ambiguous in the gender of the subject so no one knew it was originally written about a man. The popularity of the song prompted him to take action so he could do what he wanted in the future should he want to use words like “he/him/his” freely. He’d reset most of his fan count towards the beginning after publicly coming out as gay, which was a sizable risk on his part but one that was worth it to him—he’d wanted to be honest about it up front and didn’t want a “scandal” to occur had his relationship been discovered later on when it’d hurt him. Now he has plenty of fans that enjoy his music and love him as he is, and he is currently on tour with the 1llionaire artists (though they haven’t signed him yet). He’d brought Taehyun on the road with him since he didn’t want to be away from him for so long and he was a large part of his support system.

Presently, the two are in their hotel room in Busan, winding down from the day’s activities. Earlier, they’d gone for a walk around town, neither having been there before. They mostly just got food and sat at the park; although Taehyun had wanted to go walk into an art exhibit, Jiwon made an excuse to drag him away.

Said man is hyper and bouncing around the room at the moment, the older of the two lying lazily on the bed, reading a book. Jiwon pouts, skipping over to him and poking his boyfriend.

“Pay attention to me,” he whines.

Taehyun makes a big show of rolling his eyes so hard his eyelids flutter. “Are you a man or a child?” he replies teasingly, going back to his book. Jiwon snatches it out of his hand, tossing it onto the other bed and crossing his arms, victorious. Taehyun sighs. “Why are you so hyper?”

“Dunno,” Jiwon answers, smiling and shrugging his wide shoulders. Over the last two years, his figure had really filled out, bolstered by his taking up exercise seriously. Now the skinny, wiry armed boy from his high school days is long gone, instead replaced by a man with washboard abs and muscled arms. Taehyun, of course, doesn’t mind his new physique one bit. It does make him self-conscious, though.

“Yah, put a shirt on, will you?” Taehyun complains playfully, throwing a pillow at him.

“Don’t act like you don’t like looking at it,” he teases, smirking and throwing it back.

“I know I do… it just makes me feel bad about my own self.”

Jiwon makes a “tch” sound before sitting next to him on the bed. “You’re perfect.”

“Yeah, right,” Taehyun snorts, running a hand through his auburn brown hair. “I’ve got a chubby tummy.” He pats his stomach gently.

The rapper reaches over and rubs it too. “I like your little belly, it’s cute. It makes you squishy and all the more huggable and cuddly!” He flashes a big smile, making the other laugh.

“Okay, that was actually kind of cute,” he admits.

The younger man shrugs. “Of course it was, I said it.” He smiles softly again before flopping back onto the bed, draping over his lover’s legs.

“What’s the matter, Jiwonnie?” Taehyun asks, sensing his change in mood.

“I’m nervous…”

He sits up straight, reaching out a hand to the other’s hair. “You’ve been on stage before, you love it up there. What’s making you nervous?”

“It’s just… I don’t know how the crowd will react to me, y’know? Those aren’t my fans, they’re my sunbaes’.” Taehyun hums in understanding, signaling for him to continue. “I just don’t know if they’ll like me or not, and I really want it to go well.”

“It’ll go fine, just like it always does. I know it’s new for you since it’ll be the biggest crowd you’ve performed in front of so far, but you’ll do great.” Jiwon opens one eye to look up at him. “I always say this, I know, but I’m always right, right? Plus, it’s like you say; if they don’t like you, ‘em. It doesn’t matter.”

Jiwon sticks out his bottom lip. “I say that, but I’m not sure I mean it completely… I don’t want to ruin their show or anything.”

He sighs. “Jiwonnie…”

“I know, I know. I hear what you’re saying and you’re probably right. It’s just… this is a really big opportunity for me and I really don’t wanna mess it up.”

Taehyun knows. He knows how much this means to him, living out his dream and performing for larger and larger crowds, getting closer to his goal of being someone he considers a great rapper. “I’ve watched you, all these years. I watched you struggle to improve your rap, get frustrated when you couldn’t seem to find the words to say what you wanted to say in your lyrics, fight to gain respect and be accepted in the community for who you are.” He caresses his cheek as he continues. “You’ve come a long way, and you’ll go farther. It’s not your concert yet, but it will be one day. Just focus and remember that it’s your moment, and you’ve worked hard to get it. For this reason, I know you’ll be amazing, like always.” He smiles. “Also, you’re just awesome like that, but you get what I mean. Don’t worry so much.”

The smile returns to Jiwon’s face, his eyes nearly disappearing he smiles so big. “Aw, babe,” he coos playfully, but Taehyun knew what he’d just said really meant a lot to him, so he blushed. “Thank you.”

“Of course. I was only telling the truth.” He shrugs, leaning down to softly kiss him on the forehead. When he sits back up, Jiwon does as well, moving so he’s in-between his legs as he kisses him on the lips. Taehyun responds, the kiss innocent until he is gently pushed down and the kiss deepened. He moves his hands to Jiwon’s and lightly runs his fingers over the smooth skin, making him tighten his grip on his waist. Jiwon pulls away and moves down to his lover’s neck, knowing he is most sensitive there and wanting to . He nips and all down his neck as he pushes the collar of his shirt down so he can attack his shoulder as well. Taehyun moans, ing his hips up into the rapper’s.

Jiwon smiles, returning to Taehyun’s lips to kiss him lightly before rolling them over onto their sides. The two lie there, staring into each other’s eyes and smiling. They lean their foreheads together as Jiwon reaches up to the other’s hair. Before long, Taehyun’s eyelids begin to droop, and he soon falls asleep. Jiwon stays holding him for a little while longer before kissing his nose and carefully getting up off the bed.

He hadn’t initially planned to do it like this. He had something more elaborate planned out, but now that Taehyun is asleep, he’s taking the opportunity. A new idea filling up his head, he moves quietly and quickly. Slowly, he reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small box, opening it and taking out what was inside. He holds between his fingers a silver band with three rows of small diamonds, the middle row containing alternating champagne colored diamonds all around and one big, square champagne diamond set in the middle. Jiwon knew he had to give this one to his love when he saw it, as it suited his tastes perfectly. He was originally going to design the engagement ring himself and have it custom-made, but after seeing this one, he couldn’t imagine anything else sitting on Taehyun’s ring finger.

Heart beating wildly, he creeps back over to the sleeping man and carefully slips the ring onto his ring finger. Then he quickly runs to put on the shirt he had laid out to wear earlier to their dinner (where he was going to propose originally) before exiting—quietly—to go pick up the flowers he’d ordered. He’s a nervous wreck, not exactly sure how Taehyun will react when he discovers the ring. They hadn’t really talked about marriage a lot, so he was worried. A long, long time ago when they were in high school, he remembered the other had said he didn’t think he ever wanted to get married. But then, he’s also said he wants to be with Jiwon always, so maybe he changed his mind? Jiwon might have asked him straightforwardly what his feelings were on the subject now if he didn’t want the proposal to be a total surprise, which he does. However, it’s too late now—he’s already set things in motion. All he can do now is wait for Taehyun to wake up and find out for himself how things will turn out.

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Taehyun begins to stir, waking up from his little nap. He immediately starts feeling around for Jiwon’s warmth, but all he feels are cold sheets. Slightly annoyed, he cracks open an eye to see that he indeed is absent from the bed. He rubs his eyes as he sits up and looks around for his boyfriend. The light is on in the bathroom, so he figures he’s in there and relaxes a little. Leaning back on the headboard, he brings a hand up and runs it through his hair, flopping it back down into his lap after. He starts to reach over to his other wrist to check the time when something catches his eye.

A flash.

Confused, he looks at his left hand and abruptly stiffens. On his ring finger is the most beautiful ring he’s ever seen, catching the fading light from the window. His mouth drops open at how extravagant yet not over the top it is, his shock amplifying when it dawns on him. I don’t own a ring like this…

A gasp escapes him. Slowly, he begins to get an idea about what the ring is, where it came from, and what it might mean. Could it be…?

He doesn’t have to wonder much longer. Having heard the gasp, Jiwon had figured that was his cue to make his entrance. He walks out, a bouquet of the flowers that Taehyun liked grasped tightly in his hand and a certain shirt adorning his torso.

Momentarily recovering from his shock, Taehyun recognizes the shirt he has on and feels himself smile, his heart warming. “I thought you’d lost that,” he says softly.

Jiwon shrugs, smiling back. “I found it,” is his simple reply. He is wearing a She & Him shirt, something he and Taehyun had bought together after attending a concert of said band in America as couple shirts. About a year ago, he thought he’d lost it, which had made Taehyun a little sad because he liked when they wore them together when they went out; his own had become his favorite shirt.

The nervous rapper slowly approaches Taehyun, and the older man scoots to sit at the edge of the bed. He hands him the flowers before sitting down; Taehyun’s heart starts to beat faster as he takes them, sniffing them briefly before gently setting them aside in favor of holding the other’s hands and smiling in gratitude. For some reason, his eyes begin to water.

Jiwon speaks as he plays with Taehyun’s hands. “Baby,” he murmurs. “Do you remember when I was having a hard time my senior year in high school and you sang that lullaby for me?” Of course he does—how can he forget? That song became their song and the band became important to them, hence Jiwon taking Taehyun to one of their concerts in America once he had a bit of money from doing shows. So he smiles and nods his head, the memories and his fluttering heart causing a tear to fall. “That was when I fell in love with you.” Taehyun’s heart rate picks up again, and Jiwon continues. “Do you remember when I finally got to see you after a year and we moved in together? …That was when I knew I loved you.” He laughs a small laugh, one hand reaching up to wipe away the stray tear even as another started to come.

“I remember a lot of those times. The memories we shared have become really important to me, and I’ll cherish them always. I love you so much, Taehyunnie…” As he says this he looks at Taehyun with so much love in his eyes, the other thought his heart would burst. Still holding his hand, Jiwon moves so he’s kneeling on one knee in front of him. “So much that I want to continue making new memories with you. I want you by my side always, and I never want to let go of your hand. I know there’s nobody else for me, and I know you feel the same way. Through everything, you’ve been by my side and loved me at my best moments and especially at my worst, when I needed you most. If you’ll have me, I want to be that man for you, too; forever.” Here he pauses, taking a deep, shaky breath. Ever since he knelt before him, Taehyun’s vision had blurred with silent tears as he looked at the man before him, his right hand over his mouth as Jiwon held his left. Jiwon rubs his thumb over the other’s knuckles soothingly before he continues. “Nam Taehyun, my best friend and the light of my life, will you marry me?” Jiwon finishes, his voice steady and gaze firm as he anticipates his response.

Taehyun takes a moment before he answers, wiping at his eyes and making sure he’d really heard all that right. He just proposed to me…! He waits for a beat, giving the younger man a chance to take it back in case he misspoke or hadn’t meant it or it was a dream. He realizes then that none of these are the case, and his heart begins to soar. He means it… He really wants to marry me!

So, not wanting to keep his love waiting any longer, he slides off the bed and kneels down in front of him. He reaches up and puts his hands on either side of Jiwon’s face, brushing his cheeks softly. Then, slowly, he nods. “Yes,” he whispers, tears of joy still running down his face.

Jiwon’s eyes widen, almost disbelieving. “Huh…?” he blurts, absentmindedly wiping Taehyun’s tears away. The other man laughs, rolling his eyes and playfully pinching him.

“I said yes!”

“Yes?” The beginnings of a huge grin show on his face.

“Yes, I will marry you!”

“Oh! YES!!”

“YEAH!!” Taehyun starts laughing again as Jiwon grabs him and holds him tightly. He weakly hugs him back, still in shock over the proposal and laughing too hard to hold him properly. Jiwon starts chanting, “You said yes!” as he stands both of them up and promptly lifts his new fiancé in the air, spinning him around.

Taehyun couldn’t be happier; he is beyond being on cloud nine. It was funny—he’d always thought he’d never want to get married, and so the thought had never occurred to him really. But now that Jiwon has proposed to him, the excitement and love he feels tells him that being with the young rapper had changed his mind. He’ll do anything as long as it’s with Jiwon, and thinking about their future together not as two separate people, but as a unit bound together forever through love and marriage, fills him with indescribable joy.

Jiwon sets him down, and Taehyun pulls back a little to see him wiping his own tears away. He helps him, rubbing his back. “Why are you crying? I’m the one who just got proposed to,” he teases.

The other just chuckles. “Because you said yes,” he replies, sniffling a little.

“Did you think I’d say no?”

“No, but it’s never good to just assume about these things, especially since we hadn’t talked about it at all and you told me a long time ago you didn’t want to.”

He hums, lightly pecking the younger man on the lips. “Well, I guess being with you changed my mind.” He pokes Jiwon’s nose, smiling softly at him as he leans closer to him so that their noses touch.

“I’m glad.” Jiwon moves in to kiss him, moving his hands down to Taehyun’s waist to pull him closer. Taehyun tangles his fingers in his hair, immediately parting his lips to caress his tongue and flick his piercing with his own. He pushes against him as Jiwon breaks away to at the sensitive spots on his neck, whispering an “I love you.” He responds by sliding his hands down from his hair to move across his back and eventually disappear under his shirt. Walking forward, he manages to push Jiwon back onto the bed and straddle him before the other pulls away from him. Taehyun pouts, and the rapper chuckles at his cuteness.

“We have dinner reservations, babe. Remember?”

Taehyun clucks his tongue. “ the dinner reservations. I want you now.”

Jiwon sticks out his lower lip. “But… I’m hungry… please?”

He stares down at him a moment longer before groaning dramatically and getting up off him. Taehyun grabs his wallet and stomps over to the door to sit down and put his shoes on, pouting all the way.

Jiwon chuckles again, only feeling a little bit bad as he puts his own shoes on. “Think about it. If we did it now, we’d have to stop for food later on anyway. This way, you can have me as long as you want, without interruption.”

Taehyun glares up at him for a second before conceding. “Fine… but no dessert!”

The rapper grabs his hands and pulls him up, kissing his forehead. “I know, baby. ‘Cause you’re dessert, right?”

“Damn right.” They laugh as they exit the room and lock the door, their hands swinging laced together as they walk.

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Aaaand that's all for now! I have other stories to update/start, so it'll be a while before this is updated again. Or should I leave it like this? What do you think?? Either way, subscribe and follow me on Twitter so you know either way! Please leave comments, too~