I’m ready. He was ready.

At least, that’s what his friends told him.

“You can do it, dude. You’ve prepared so long for this, right?” Kim Jongdae told him. He massaged his friend’s shoulders, but he was quickly swatted away like a fly.

“Stop that. You’re making me more nervous.”

“He’s turning white,” Oh Sehun accused. More like teased.

“Can Kai still turn white?” Park Chanyeol joked.

Yes. The jokes on him now. But whatever. He was nervous. He had never felt something like this before. Sitting outside the principal’s office was nerve-wracking (although he didn’t knew—he was quite a good kid in his time). What he was about to do now was death-defying. Like falling off a cliff with only a single-rope tying him to the edge.

Yes. Kim Kai is proposing.

“I think you guys are being harsh on him,” Jongdae mused as he sat on the sidewalk. The foursome were already gathered by the street as planned. The props are ready. The fake bystanders are all in their designated positions. All they need now is the main star of the show.

“Says the guy who directly calls him dark a lot.” Chanyeol went and sat beside Jongdae. “You know, I never could tell if you’re serious or what.”

“It takes a true man to know a true man.”

“I don’t even know how that applies.”

“I don’t either.” Jongdae removed his cap and brushed his hair. “It’s so hot.”

“Sorry, that’s just me.” Sehun nonchalantly fanned himself. “But yeah, it’s hot.”

Kai wanted to join in on his friends’ childish exchange. He was always the one who threw corny come backs at them and silenced them in a flash. He loved that very much. But he was too nervous to even listen to them. His head was swimming with the fishes. His body was jittery, like his friends had placed a frog inside his underwear (they once did, and he knew the feeling).

He shouldn’t be this edgy. Jina and he have been together for five years. That’s actually longer than Kim Kardashian’s first marriage. Like, literally longer. He has loved Jina since college. And the moment she said yes to him (as his girlfriend), his life changed forever. Jina was a perfect match for him. She was sweet, and caring, and humorous all the same. Yes, of course they argued once in a while, but the great thing is that they resolve it like the mature adults they are. He knows every inch about Jina. And Jina knows his. And he knows very well that they both loved each other.

But where is she?

“Kai, are you sure you gave her the right place?” Sehun asked as he continuously fanned himself. “It’s been thirty minutes. And I’m sweating here like a waterfall. I can’t blame my hotness anymore.”

The other two fake-gagged.

“I’m sure,” Kai replied, hands inside his pocket. He was clutching on the violet velvety box. But just to be sure, he dropped it inside and took his phone in exchange. He checked his message. “I gave her the right address. See?” He showed the others his phone.

“Boo?!” Jongdae cringed after reading. “You call each other boo?! That word still exists?”

“I thought it’s already called ‘bae’,” Chanyeol quipped. “The kids nowadays use it. BAEEEE.” He lingered on the word ‘bae’ for about thirty seconds.

Kai became defensive. “Both of you just shut up.”

“Yeah, okay. So you gave her the right address,” Sehun said, sounding impatient. It was his hotness versus the sun’s hotness. He was losing. “Does she even know this address?”

“You know, Jina. She’s not stupid,” Kai defended.

Chanyeol made a fist with his right arm and pounded it on his left palm like he’s having a eureka-moment. “I know! What if she knows the address, but she doesn’t want to go?”

Kai frowned. “Why won’t she go?”

Sehun shrugged. “Because she knows you’re proposing?”

Kai sighed. “She doesn’t know. Besides, if she knows, why won’t she want to go? I’m her boyfriend.”

“Maybe she just realized that you’re one ugly mofo,” Jongdae commented.

“Took her long enough,” Sehun murmured.

Chanyeol intervened. “But, no, really. I bet she knows.”

“She doesn’t.”

“She knows.”

“She doesn’t.”

She knows.

Hwang Jina stared at her full-sized mirror. She hated looking into it. She could very well see how short she was, because there was still so much space left above her head. Anyone could still peek above her, look through the mirror, and do their make up above her head.

She didn’t know what to do. Since Kai’s text a few minutes earlier, she panicked. Could her friend’s words be true?

“I heard Kai’s preparing something big.” Kang Seulgi said. “He was with his monkey- friends at the coffee shop. And girl, he’s proposing.”

Point one, Seulgi eavesdropped. That’s just wrong. Point two, Seulgi’s such a hag. If it actually turned out to be true, Seulgi should have kept it, so that it could have been a surprise. And point three, Seulgi is her best friend. Which is infuriating, because she knows every inch and every corner of Jina. Even more than Kai does. That’s why she had her reasons why she had to tell that to her. It wasn’t a slip of the tongue.

It was a warning.

“Jina, we’re only twenty-three once. We’re still young,” Seulgi told her that day. “You have to think this over.”

“One, we’re only an age once every time, you know. Two, we’re not even sure if you heard correctly,” she said.

“I’m not deaf, Jina. I heard what I heard.”

“Like that time you were sure you heard there were classes, and you ended up being the only student at school?”

“That was different.”

“And that time when you were sure you heard Mrs. Seo say it was okay to bring your freaky pet iguana, and you ended up being the talk of the century?”

“Hey, my Cheeky is not freaky. He’s cute.”

“His name is still inappropriate to his face.”

Seulgi sighed. “Fine. I’m not a reliable source. But what if it’s true? What would you say?”

What would I say?

That’s the thought that has been plaguing Jina since then. What would she say? Then she wondered, what if Seulgi hadn’t told her about this? What could she have said in a quick response when Kai says the magic question? Right now, she’s already aware of what might happen in the next few minutes. Or hours. She’s already expecting the surprise (which is awkward, because the point of it being a ‘surprise’ just got killed) and she still doesn’t know what to respond. What more if she really was surprised?

She pretended not have any idea when Kai and her were together after that. They’d still go out, they’d still go on dates. And she never let on that she knew something was up, hoping Kai wouldn’t notice. Probably Kai was trying his best not to let on, too, that he himself had a secret surprise (which is really just not a surprise anymore).

When Kai texted her to go to a street in Gangnam, she knew. Seulgi heard about that, too. (“They were loud. Too loud. They’d jeopardize the FBI, if they were even accepted there,” she had said.) It was the cue. He really is gonna propose.

What am I gonna say?

It took her thirty minutes to compose a proper answer. She was all hopes that her voice would come out right as she hailed a taxi and immediately got to the destination. She texted her boyfriend that she’s coming. She’s on her way. And she’s sure as hell panicking.

She’s on her way.

“Guys, she’s on her way.”

Kai’s voice got serious and shaky. It was a mix. The boys couldn’t tell. They couldn’t explain it, but they, too, were starting to get agitated.

“Finally!” Jongdae got up. “Where is she?”

“She didn’t tell, but she said she’s already on a taxi on her way.”

“Then… that’s only fifteen minutes away!” Chanyeol screamed hysterically and pointed at the fake bystanders. “Hey, you people! Go to your posts!”

The people dispersed and scattered crazily like chickens.

Sehun rolled his eyes. “Way to go in making a ruckus.”

Everything was all set. The bystanders were already in their proper places. The props were set. They had their props. The three guys waited and hid behind the wall with Kai.

Soon after, the taxi came.

Jina alighted the taxi to the exact street where Kai told her. She paid the driver and thanked him as she closed the backseat door. She inhaled deeply and hoped for the best.

There were so many people everywhere. And not a single one of them was Kai. Jina’s eyes darted from left to right to check for him as she walked. Not a sign of her boyfriend.

She got her phone and started to get confused. “Wait. Did I get the right address?” She stopped. What was she thinking? He’s proposing. She doesn’t even know what to respond yet. She should be hiding. Or better yet, she should get buried under a rock.

“Excuse me?”

Jina looked up and saw a young woman smiling at her. The woman was holding a rose, and she was offering it to Jina.

“Jina, right?”

Jina slowly nodded. It’s starting.

The woman gave Jina the rose, and she quickly ran away. Soon, a hoard of people came to her, offering her roses.

“Look at her,” Jongdae hissed. “She’s happy!”

“She looks more scared than happy,” Sehun said.

“She looks constipated,” Chanyeol added.

“Shut up,” Kai demanded.

There were supposed to be a hundred roses. Jina (who’s actually scared and flabbergasted at the moment), took them all one by one with a worried smile and politely thanked the people who were handing roses to her.

When the 97^th rose was up, the three stooges came out from their hiding spot.

Jina’s eyes bulged and flashed a nervous smile. “Hey… you three…”

The three guys just smirked and went up to her.

“97,” Sehun said and handed her a rose.

“I thought you wouldn’t come,” Jongdae told her and gave her another one. “98.”

“What? Why are you guys counting?” Jina asked. But she was ignored as Chanyeol came up next.

“99, Jina,” Chanyeol smiled widely at her.

The three went back to the sidelines. And Jina was still nervous. But at that moment, she was just having a hard time carrying those roses. They were too many.

Finally, Kai came out of his own hiding place. And as soon as he did, the lamp posts of the street started lighting one by one, leading up to the very end of the road. It was a soft glow of pink, which was weird because the lamp posts emitted yellow.

He really did all of this? Jina thought to herself. She was about to cry. It was really so beautiful. His effort was so grand that it made her heart flutter so much. He really was ready.

Is she?

Kai was now in front of her. He watched as Jina struggled to lower the bouquet of flowers. He was going to have to apologize for that. But as soon as he saw her face, everything just melted in him. Her eyes, her nose, her perfect face, her lips. She was everything he could have ever wanted. He fell madly in love all over again like he did the first time. She was just so breath-taking.

“Jina?” he started.

“Yeah?” Jina replied.

“I love you very much. You know that, right?”

Jina nodded.

“And I want to love you for the rest of my life, every second, every minute, and every hour of the day.” Kai clutched the velvety violet box once again inside his pocket, ready to pull it out. “I just want you to know that I’m willing to spend my whole life with you.”

Jina swallowed hard. This was it.

Kai pulled the box out of his pocket, knelt down, and opened it in front of her. Inside was a diamond ring in the shape of a small rose, perfect to complete the one hundred roses. He smiled his best smile at her.

“Jina, will you marry me?”

The fake bystanders were beaming with expectation. The three guys were looking on excitedly. Jina looked at all of them. Jina looked at the roses. She looked at the pretty glowing pink light of the lamps. Then she looked at Kai. The love of her life. She loved him more than anything else in the world. Is she really ready?

She remembered the words she practiced before leaving.

“Kai… I’m sorry…”

And the street sweepers collected a bag full of broken hearts that day.