“Ow! God!” Seulgi yelped in pain, carefully shoving the shattered piece of glass off of her shoulder as she stepped in, palming her stomach in protection. She hissed at the window, feeling like it just openly insulted her knowing the difficulty it took to fit in despite the illegal hole supposedly now meant for two people, looked like for even more actually.  Technically, she did consist of two people now but- did it get bigger or was she seeing things, Seulgi pondered. But chose to disregard it taking her usual familiar steps of defeat forward, white sneakers snug against her feet, and a few more steps away from turning gray due to the dusted, abandoned floor.

Just about to enter the door left open at the end of the hall, Seulgi’s gaze turned towards the photos left on the wall. Competitions, recitals, trainings; all her memories printed on a few enlarged pages, hung and left there to embrace all the dirt and dust floating around the air of the forsaken building. She walked nearer, taking a closer look at the pictures. Her fingers raised themselves up, almost touching one of them. She was maybe around fifteen -- the night of one of her recitals. It wasn’t her first, nor was it her last. But it was important. It was the first time she wasn’t one of the princess’ maids, or one of the flowers symbolically dancing along with the damsel in distress -- that night, she was a lead character; Odette, the Swan Princess of Swan Lake. Young as she was, she was already given a mature role. Her white tutu stuck to her skin, and almost as if to her bones. She wore feathered headwear, tight against her skull. Her toes were on end, arms and body steady in fifth position. She looked distressed. Distressed because supposedly she was longing, waiting for her prince. But at that night, it wasn’t a prince she needed. It wasn’t anyone. For the first time in maybe her whole existence, being on that stage, alone, toes possibly on the brink of death was all she needed. It was enough. The spotlight was on her when all she did her whole life was share it. That moment was hers, and it was only hers. And maybe, her dad fell asleep in the audience or her mom was busy chatting up the other mothers. Maybe, Seungri wasn’t even there or Seunghoon was the only one paying attention. Maybe, she was the only who cared about that moment. But it was hers. And no one could ever take it away from her.    

Seulgi felt a tug on the corner of her lip at the sight of her moment embedded on a tangible piece of paper. But where she was peering at only drifted back to that look on her face. The look that she was waiting for her prince. Her prince. She didn’t have one then. Did she have one now? 

She shook her head, shoving away the question. But it was an unexpected sound that jerked her head towards the direction of the door again. And a scent. She didn’t notice that earlier. She snuffled it in, confirming if it wasn’t just her brain making things up for her senses. She took the steps left towards the door, creaking it open wider, the vinyl sliding against the sole of her shoes. Her head panned up, eyes darting against her own on the mirror. And towards another pair of eyes.

Seulgi’s feet remained cemented where she stood, eyes the only ones in motion. “Ouch jesus, why is there so much glass here-” Jongin jumped in shock, pieces from the mirror seemed to have just fallen right where he previously was. His other hand in reflex whipped up to his other hand’s palm. Even from a distance, Seulgi knew it was blood. And with her own reflexes, she went from outside the door to in front of him in no less than a few seconds. 

“Idiot, what are you even doing?” Seulgi scolded, grabbing Jongin’s hand. She pulled on the sleeve of her sweater, dabbing it lightly around the wound, wiping the blood off off his palm. She pressed onto it, feeling Jongin resist for a moment but she only pressed harder, attempting to stop the blood flow. “There.” She pat lightly one last time, the blood leaving a stain on her previously very white sweater. But she hardly cared. “You’re lucky the glass only hit your hand and it was just a small cut, this could have been infected and you could have gotten—“ Seulgi looked up, and Jongin was staring down at her, expression straight, a smile tugging on his lips. But he looked nervous. His eyes were shivering. Shivering so much that the nerves transferred themselves onto Seulgi. She would have probably been even more nervous if what was left of the mirror wasn’t reflecting what it was reflecting. 

There were hundreds of yellow tulips surrounding the room. 

Hundreds and hundreds of dead yellow tulips. 

She felt that pang in her chest jerk itself forward, confused and in a complete daze. But that did explain the scent. Jongin coughed. Seulgi’s mouth opened, staggering. “What.. what’s going on..” 

Jongin let out an awkward chuckle. “This was not how I pictured this in my head.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, for one, I didn’t picture any form of blood being a part of this-“

Seulgi shook her head. “Part of what? What are you talking about?”

“In all honesty, I don’t think I remember either.” Jongin admitted, nervously rubbing his two hands together, eyes once again in a mess. “I think I’m going crazy-”

“Kim Jongin.” Seulgi chided, looking back up at him. “Why are you doing this— I mean, what is this even—  can you answer just any single one of my questions or I swear to God-“

“Chicken.”

Seulgi blankly stared. “Are you asking to be punched-“

“I’m doing this. Cause. Chicken.” Jongin seemed to think the words that just left his lips made any sort of sense. He sighed, attempting to gather his thoughts. Their gazes finally met. “There was that day. A few years ago, that day you entered my room, I didn’t even ask you to- no one asked you to but you just stepped in. It was one of my most depressing states in this life. It was the first time I showered in what seemed like forever. There weren’t empty bottles of soju on the floor after the longest of weeks too. I didn’t even hear you step in, I remember having earphones on. I was listening to some sad song. Probably something from one of those stupid dramas I heard the maid watching. I don’t remember. I just know it was very sad. I felt very sad.” He was babbling, recalling the oddest of memories. But Seulgi listened. “And you came in. You tapped my shoulder. Or probably did something much more violent, that would make more sense. And you asked if I’ve eaten. I said I had undercooked ramen. And you shoved a plastic bag in my face. And I asked you what it was.”

Seulgi understood now.

“And you said it was chicken.” Jongin sighed once more, calming himself down. “And it was in my favorite flavor… and Korea has three million chicken flavors but you brought my favorite one and… it was really good…  really good… and… after that, I didn’t feel sad anymore.” 

Seulgi cringed, wondering if he was done talking “I wish I could make sense of what you just said other than how much you love chicken - and just so you know, I have been informed several times, but—“

“God, you’re right, none of that made sense.” He groaned. “You know, none of that was part of what I practiced too-”

“You practiced?” 

 “I was going to start with a really nice apology and give you flowers and explain that all these flowers are the ones I ordered to have sent to you when we were apart but I never had the balls to send them to you and then you’d cry, and also, I would not have blood dripping from the palm of my hand, anyhow it was supposed to be extremely romantic that maybe I’d cry too—“ 

“You’re wearing the coat.” Seulgi pointed out, staring up and down.

Jongin whipped his head towards her, confused now too. “What coat..?”

“The coat. The coat you wore when you first held my hand. It was like two degrees out and I forced you to take a walk with me and I stupidly didn’t wear gloves so you held my hand and shoved it inside the pocket of that coat- wait, what’s happening again-” Seulgi stopped, surprised as Jongin’s empty, blood-less hand took hers.

“That’s it. That’s why I’m doing this.”

Seulgi’s attention was cut between his hand around hers, and the feeling of being completely puzzled now. She stared up at him, practically begging for a rational explanation.

“It’s because of those little moments. All those moments, that I had with you - that you and I had together. It was a million tiny things, that when I added them all up together, they meant we were supposed to be together. And in all the horribly tragic moments I spent apart from you, I still knew it. I just knew it.” Jongin let out the breath he seemed to have been holding on for so long. “Kang Seulgi, you seemed to have thought I said what I said after you told me possibly the biggest news you will ever have to tell me just cause I was looking for a solution. And maybe, yeah, maybe that’s what I wanted. Maybe, I was too overwhelmed that I didn’t know what to say or how to say it. But that is most certainly not why I asked you to marry me, and I'm so sorry I lead you to thinking otherwise.” 

Seulgi visibly gulped. Jongin did too.

“I have dreamt of becoming a father my father never was to me since as long as I could remember and I have thought of marrying you since the day you shoved that plastic of chicken at my face.” Jongin confessed. “And god, that was the least romantic thing I could have ever said. But that’s what we are… that’s what you are. You hate big surprises even if I’d surprise you every single day if I could, and you hate expensive gifts even if I’d buy you the universe if I could, and you’d rather have leftover ramyeon at home than a fancy dinner at some five star restaurant, you’d appreciate one flower more than a thousand fresh ones — not to mention everything in this room is currently dead if you happened to not catch me say that in the middle of my babbling earlier- also you hate A Walk to Remember and everything Nicholas Sparks stands for even if I would probably die for Nicholas Sparks, and you just hate everything remotely romantic,” Seulgi found herself smiling at that, almost laughing.

“And you, Kang Seulgi, are the complete opposite of the entirety of my life, and god, that’s precisely why I love you.” A tear slipped from Jongin’s left eye, his voice now shaking. And Seulgi didn’t notice it, but she was already crying, unconsciously tightening her hold on Jongin’s hand. “And there is nothing I would want more in this world than to spend the rest of my life keeping on loving you.”

And with that, Jongin reached into the pocket of his coat and took out a small box.

Seulgi gaped. “Kim Jongin, I’m going to punch you.”

“Can you let me finish-“

“Kim Jongin, you just talked about me hating expensive everything and if you take out anything with a single carat right now, I will seriously punch you—”

Jongin opened the box, and no, there weren’t any carats. At least, any visible ones. The ring didn’t look particularly pretty either.

Seulgi stopped crying for a moment and cringed. “Okay, I know I said I hate romance and all that…” She began. “But this moment is quite important, and if this really is the start of us spending the rest of our lives together, you do have more than a valid excuse to be even a little bit romantic and maybe get a prettier ring-“

“Ugh, I said can you let me finish—“ Jongin paused, eyes enlarging. “Wait, did you just say yes?”

Seulgi’s eyes grew too, sweat dripping from her forehead. “Yes to what? You didn’t ask anything.”

“Exactly. I haven’t even asked you anything.”

“Then there is nothing I have said yes or no to.”

“But you do know what’s happening here, right?”

“What do you mean I know what’s happening, nothing is happening-“

“No, I meant you know what I was supposed to be ask if ever I did have a question,”

“Huh, you have a question? I mean, you don’t have to have a question, no questions have to be asked-“

“Also, don’t you recognize the ring?” Jongin held it up. “Remember, the first gift I ever gave you? During our first christmas together? That bracelet you were only supposed to get once you became an idol. You left it in the box of converse sneakers I gave you when you moved out, I saw it under your bed — I had a part of it cut and now it’s a ring, and look I even had something else engraved in it so it no longer says KEnt but instead it says Mrs. Kim-“ Jongin let go of Seulgi’s hand, shoving his face into both of his hands. “This is the worst proposal in the history of proposals, I might as well punch myself-“

“Ha! I knew it!” Seulgi beamed, snapping her fingers. “I knew you were proposing!” 

“What else would I be doing—“ Jongin frowned at her. “Again, worst proposal ever.”

Seulgi paused, suppressing a laugh, slowly taking Jongin’s hand. “If it means anything, I think it’s the best one.” Jongin looked down at Seulgi smiling at him. “And you still have time to turn it around if you think otherwise, I mean this abandoned building isn’t closing anytime soon.”

Seulgi chuckled, and Jongin found himself doing so too. And with that, he took a deep breath and went down on one knee. “Kang Seulgi, I love you more than all the chicken this world has to offer. And I would like to sincerely apologize to this abandoned building but I’m now asking to become the official replacement as your one and only escape from everything that scares you or makes you mad or upsets you in this ugly world instead of it.” Jongin laughed in between his tears. Seulgi did too. “Will you give me the honor of being your husband and spending the rest of my life with you and our baby?”

“Kim Jongin, you idiot,” Seulgi whispered, cupping the side of Jongin's face and smiling down at the man, holding up a ring with the words "Mrs. Kim" glimmering under the soft light, who’s truly made her the most scared, the most mad, the most upset but above everything, the most happy. “You absolute idiot. Yes, I would love to marry you.”

AUTHOR’S NOTE

Took forever, but guess who’s back!

Thank you to everyone who waited both patiently and impatiently. Thank you so, so much. I missed you all. :)

Feel free to drop by and leave me a tweet at @dxncerline & let me know what you think 💖

Special Mention to @Angbahoko: una, tanginang username yan sis HAHAHHA charot but yeah she messaged me at least 50 times about updating this, you're amazing thank you so much + HI JEZZ I LOVE YOU HAHAHAH WALA LANG

PS. I know it's been really long so I'm sure a lot of people have forgotten about this story, do help me tag them or let them know Soulmate's back if ever you think they're still interested, thank you guys!