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"Where are you going?" Chaewon stood at the door, confusion etched all over her face, as she watched Minju pack things into a suitcase.
The girl flinched, not at all hearing Chaewon's approach up until she spoke, "God, Chaewon!" she giggled, easing the frown lines on the older girl's forehead, "You scared me.".
Setting down the small pile of folded tops she held on the bed, Minju walked over to Chaewon, who was yet to say anything more to further express her confusion. She let Minju hug her, settling into it as she wrapped her arms round Minju's waist, pulling her in tight.
"Good day?" Minju didn't fully pull away, only enough to face Chaewon, who nodded, punctuated with a small hum, "Mhm.". "Boring?" Minju asked because, really, she knew Chaewon hated that she made her get a job.
With another nod, Chaewon finally spoke up, "It's silly that I've stooped down to working amongst... normal people. In customer service.". Chaewon didn't grimace as she said it, like she used to, back when she thought she was completely above working in retail.
"Would you rather everyone ask how on earth we afford this place?" Minju tilted her head, already seeing the defeat in Chaewon's eyes. 'This place' wasn't anything crazy, but two girls only a few years past graduation shouldn't have had such an easy time with all the bills.
They've had this conversation way too many times, and Minju won every time.
No, one seemingly young girl with a job in a fairly common clothes store couldn't pay for a nice apartment alone, but said seemingly young girl wasn't exactly young, and it wasn't the job paying for the apartment.
Chaewon shook her head, both answering Minju and wanting to shake off the distraction that came in the form of conversation. "Where are you going?" she repeated.
Stepping back from Chaewon, Minju turned to face their room, only just taking in its state. "Wow, looks like a tornado's run through here." she said to herself, amused.
Seeing Minju act her usual self, Chaewon couldn't think up anything suspicious. She was packing a suitcase and, had Minju been any less jolly, Chaewon would've jumped to conclusions, thinking Minju had finally come to her senses.
Before Chaewon could open her mouth to ask again, Minju spoke, "You're meant to be asking 'where are we going'.". She turned to look at Chaewon again, the downturned eyebrows back on her face.
Smiling, Minju hopped up close to press a kiss onto Chaewon's lips. "You thought I was leaving?" she was teasing, smug. Chaewon nodded.
Minju only wanted to tease more.
With others, Chaewon was a woman of few words, very committed to the 'cool and mysterious' bit, but, over time, Minju had managed to thaw out everything cold about her, wringing out that excited chatterbox that could talk from dusk till dawn.
(Not the only thing Chaewon could do from dusk till dawn.)
Minju loves that about her. Minju loves most things about her.
Apart from when she regressed back to playing the part when it suited her.
"Why?" Minju softened up on the girl, taking her hand. God knows if Minju walked in on Chaewon packing up a suitcase, she'd assume the worst and probably start crying.
"You didn't say anything." Chaewon replied.
Lightly squeezing Chaewon's hand, Minju brought up her other hand to wrap behind Chaewon's neck, pulling her in for another quick kiss. "It was meant to be a surprise." Minju admitted, punctuating with yet another short kiss.
"For me?" It was the most emotion Chaewon had thrown into her voice since she'd arrived home. "Yeah." Minju chuckled, "Who else?".
"Me?" Chaewon questioned again, disbelieving.
For good reason.
Chaewon had lived many long, fulfilling lives. She had experienced most experiences already.
What could Minju possibly have prepared for her?
(Of course, Chaewon would take anything from the younger girl if she was the one giving.)
"You give me everything you legally can. You want to give me everything else you can." Minju said, again putting her arms around Chaewon's neck so they could return to their up-close and personal position.
"I know, I'm amazing." Chaewon grinned. "And incredibly humble." Minju chuckled, pressing a kiss onto Chaewon's lips, prompting her to do the same.
Not letting Chaewon take it any further, Minju hummed into the kiss, pushing, ever-so-slightly, just so Chaewon could take the hint. "I should give back. At least once." Minju finished her point.
"What?" Surprise and confusion worked its way back onto Chaewon's face, "You give all the time.". "How?" Minju deadpanned; there wasn't much she physically did to return all the favours.
"You started dating me. For one." Chaewon said, confident that she was making a very strong point, "You said yes when I asked you to be my girlfriend. You even said yes when I asked you to move into a new place with me.".
Minju laughed, soft and lighthearted, cheeks dusted with a light blush, "And you worked very hard to get all of that out of me.".
"Well-" Chaewon started, but was stopped by Minju's finger on her lips, "Don't you dare tell me you don't deserve it.". Minju knew what Chaewon would tell her.
Unable to undermine Minju's intentions to keep her quiet, Chaewon only shrugged.
"I know you think you don't, baby, but I want to do something for you, okay?" Minju dropped her finger from Chaewon's lips, expecting a response. Chaewon nodded, exhaling, "Yeah, okay.".
"I love you, okay?" Minju wanted to make sure Chaewon knew it.
So Chaewon reassured her, "I know.".
-
"Syracuse? What?" Chaewon wasn't talking to anyone in particular, talking aloud in the comfort of their AirBnb, but Minju was plenty entertained.
Proud of herself for managing to keep the reason for their little holiday a secret, Minju thoroughly enjoyed being on this side of the surprise.
"I've been in New York before. Plenty of times." Chaewon continued to mumble, being insufferably productive and deciding to unpack their things. Minju hadn't packed much, they weren't staying for long, just two nights, two days.
Minju helped, not interrupting Chaewon's inner detective try to piece it together herself.
By the time they were done, Minju decided it was time for dinner, only having eaten once on the flight over. Chaewon hadn't treated herself to anything sufficient for a while.
As usual, when it was her treat, Chaewon wanted to take Minju out for a fancy dinner, something they regularly indulged in because it really made Minju feel special. She'd get all dressed up and pretty for Chaewon, and Chaewon would shower her in all the compliments, dote on her in all the ways she could.
But Minju didn't want that this time. She wanted to make Chaewon feel special.
So she made Chaewon settle for a long walk downtown, finding a family-owned restaurant that served one of the best salads Minju had ever eaten.
For that night, Minju wanted to eat clean and healthy, in the hopes that it would make Chaewon's 'dinner' taste better. Chaewon had never told her anything of the sort, but she had, in the past, made off-hand comments about the difference in taste when Minju ate healthy. It was a pretty good motivator to treat her own body like a temple.
When they got back to the Bnb, they were quick to ready themselves for bed, practically rushing to get tucked under the covers.
Chaewon had put on a movie, taking it upon herself to flaunt what she'd only recently learnt; sticking a couple cables here and there to connect a laptop to a TV screen (Chaewon had never really taken interest in television, after its invention, until Minju forced her to sit through many a movie marathon).
"Chaewon." Minju called, already having captured her attention when she moved her head from its previous position, tucked comfortably in the nook of Chaewon's neck. "Hm?" It was a movie they'd already seen, so Chaewon was fine with being distracted from it.
It wasn't the reason she'd called Chaewon's name, but Minju couldn't help give her girlfriend a little smooch, the girl was adorable. "I can turn it off," Chaewon offered, awfully charming, "if you want.".
Minju shook her head, sitting up and crossing her legs. "What's wrong?" Chaewon sat up too, back still against the headboard.
"When was the last time you ate?" Minju asked, drawing circles on the bed with her finger just in front of where her legs crossed. Chaewon saw that Minju wasn't looking at her, instead watching her finger.
Taking Minju's hand, Chaewon held it, running her thumb over Minju's knuckles, "I'm fine, my love.". She then chuckled, seeing how the term of endearment had Minju's cheeks flushing with colour, a shy smile on her lips.
"I know you're fine, Chaewon." Minju gave her that, knowing Chaewon could last ages without feeding, "I just want to know.".
"Uh..." Chaewon trailed, a guilty smile spreading on her lips, "The last time you let me.". "What?" Minju could've yelled if it wasn't for their closeness and current gentleness.
"You're a terrible influence on me, I've really slowed down on the kill count." Chaewon said, "I'd be embarrassed if I wasn't in love with you.". Minju rolled her eyes, realising that Chaewon was buttering her up, "Baby, you need to eat.".
"I do?" Chaewon wondered why Minju was pushing it, almost like she didn't know how durable Chaewon was, "Minju, it's only been a few weeks.".
"My birthday was three months ago, Chaewon." Minju told her, not shying away from the connotation that it was a birthday present, for her, and she may have had a little kink.
"I'm fine." Chaewon repeated. She was a little more tired than usual, that's all.
Thinking about it, for a way to convince Chaewon, Minju bit her lip. She'd do anything for me. "For me?". Chaewon smiled, small and apologetic, "I can't.".
"But why?" Minju almost whined. "You know of my..." Chaewon sighed, trying to figure out a way to word it, "distaste for drinking straight from the neck.". "It makes you look like those TV vampires, I know." Minju said.
"You like it, though?" Chaewon questioned, the same way she did those few months ago. She didn't quite understand why Minju wanted her to drink from her... like that.
Fair, it was pretty morally correct for Minju to persuade Chaewon to only drink from her, because she knew what Chaewon was and that Chaewon had racked up quite the body count over the years. And not the fun kind.
But Chaewon couldn't understand the neck thing that Minju had proposed as an easy little present for her birthday. Of course, Chaewon gave in anyway.
"I do. And you like fresh blood, right?" Minju said. "In less..." Chaewon was smiling again, amused, "primal ways.".
"God, fine." Minju groaned, getting off the bed and heading out to the kitchen that they'd barely stepped foot in so far. She returned with a small mug, most likely meant to be used for the coffee machine and its minuscule pods.
Minju sat facing Chaewon, legs crossed again, "I'm giving, you're taking.". She shoved the mug in Chaewon's face, who took it, laughing when she met Minju's serious eyes.
"This is why you've been eating so clean and expensive all week?" Chaewon asked. "You noticed?" Minju shouldn't have been surprised, Chaewon was very observant.
"I just don't know why you'd do that for me." Chaewon shrugged.
"Well, that's obvious." Minju said, "I love you, that's why. And I think the blood you drink should taste nice.".
"I don't deserve you, my love." Chaewon conceded, leaning over to press a kiss to Minju's cheek.
Sitting back, Chaewon held out her hand, wordlessly asking for Minju's. When she placed her hand in Chaewon's, Minju watched with interest as she flipped it over, holding her by the wrist to bring her hand up to her mouth.
"Thank you." Chaewon said, before placing a kiss at the side of Minju's palm, on the small bit of flesh under her last finger.
Trying her best to be gentle, Chaewon took that side of Minju's hand into her mouth as she felt her fangs grow out, biting down until a small flush of blood filled her mouth. She couldn't thank Minju enough, it did taste good.
Though she could, Chaewon didn't want to drink directly out of Minju's hand either, releasing it and holding Minju's bleeding hand over the mug. Minju couldn't help but stare for a bit, as she watched Chaewon run her tongue over her fangs as they shrunk back into her gums, discomfort momentarily on her face.
Having done this often enough beforehand, Minju closed her hand into a fist, squeezing and squinting as she watched the blood drip out of her hand.
A pained whimper earned a worried look from Chaewon, but Minju didn't want to let up, the mug wasn't even half-full yet. "Only a little longer, Minju, please don't overdo it." Chaewon pleaded.
Minju couldn't help but chuckle, "You haven't slit my neck, Chaewon, I'll live.".
Soon enough, Minju's hand stopped dripping as much blood as it initially was and Chaewon turned it over so any last drops wouldn't fall onto the bed, setting her mug on a bedside table.
Minju's wrist still held in her one hand, Chaewon brought her own hand up to her mouth, piercing the pad of her thumb with one of her upper right fangs.
Before the wound could close up, Chaewon tucked her hand somewhere under Minju's left ear, reaching her thumb around to Minju's lips. "Just a drop will be enough." Chaewon's voice was almost at a whisper, though she's said the same words to Minju before.
Very charmingly so, Chaewon was one to talk Minju through... certain activities.
Taking Chaewon's thumb into her mouth, Minju sucked for just a second, letting go as quick as she could so she could swallow that little bit of Chaewon's blood as soon as she could.
Unlike Chaewon, Minju was not something that fed on blood, and would never get behind it's taste, whether it was her own or Chaewon's.
But it did make Minju think; what if she was?
What if she could heal like this every time she hurt herself? Minju watched the two small holes in her hand close up, getting goosebumps from the way it happened so quickly. She could get used to this bit.
Chaewon didn't let her think on it further, interrupting her thoughts with a kiss. Minju reciprocated instantly, letting Chaewon deepen the kiss, as far as laying her down on the bed to go further.
"Uh-uh." Minju protested, hand just below Chaewon's neck, pushing, "Drink.".
With an audible groan, Chaewon got off the bed, gulping down every last bit of Minju's blood from the mug before setting it down and rushing off into the bathroom. Minju laughed at her.
Chaewon soon returned, minty-fresh, and ready to kiss Minju into oblivion.
-
"Rise and shine!" Minju yelled, jumping onto the bed to sit on Chaewon's side, then lying back across her, stretching.
With a tired laugh, Chaewon pet a hand over Minju's hair, "Morning, gorgeous. You've been up for ages, only wanted to wake me now?". "Just to eat. Didn't do anything crazy without you, don't worry." Minju sat up, holding one of Chaewon's hands.
"So, we're a day in," Chaewon began, bringing Minju's hand up to kiss her knuckles, "will you tell me why we're here?. "We're going out to a nice park in the afternoon." Minju answered.
"Mmm, perfect." Another kiss, "You're perfect." And one more.
"You're not going to ask me why we're just going to a park? We could do that at home, with the pretty cherry blossoms and all." Minju said. "You're taking me out for a nice day in another country that we got to on a flight that you paid for. No, I'm not going to ask." Chaewon answered, all charm and none of that morning ugliness.
Just when Minju wanted Chaewon to ask questions, to try piece it all together herself, Chaewon decided she was going to be quiet and grateful. "Okay, well let me ask you something, then." Minju said. Chaewon encouraged with a nod, eyebrows raised when Minju didn't go ahead and ask.
Instead, Minju told her, "Go brush and shower. I can get you something to eat?". "You can?" Chaewon questioned, with a smirk. "Just don't take too long, I might bleed out." Minju shrugged, earning only a small chuckle and a very light pinch from her girlfriend, "Don't joke like that.".
Minju got up, pulling Chaewon to sit up and leaving her with a kiss on the cheek.
-
After Chaewon healed up the unnecessarily large cut Minju made across her palm, the girls ended up making out for the better half of an hour. Chaewon was the one to put a stop to it, reminding Minju that she had plans.
Then Chaewon actually drank the lovely little breakfast treat Minju prepared for her, washing up the mug and the one from the night before, all while Minju just watched. Top tier entertainment, I'm sure.
"You wanted to ask me something?" Chaewon eventually brought it up, drying the mugs with a hand towel when she noticed the absence of a drying rack. "Oh, right." Minju pushed herself off the counter, from where she was watching Chaewon.
Walking over to the older girl, Minju took the mug Chaewon had dried from her, opening the cupboard it came from and tucking it away while Chaewon dried the other. She only really did all that to get closer, but it wasn't exactly like she needed an excuse, they'd been dating for long enough.
"Do you- like- I know you're older than time itself but do you remember... most things?" Chaewon found it very funny, the way Minju stuttered and tripped up her words whenever she asked about Chaewon's long, strange life.
"The things worth remembering, yes." she replied with a small laugh, "But, of course, I don't remember everything.".
"And you like space- and stuff?" Minju was not an astrology girl. She knew the earth, the sun and the moon existed, and that was the height of her outer-spacial knowledge. "Yes," Chaewon nodded, "Yes I do. I had thought this planet had nothing more to offer after a few hundred years.".
Minju smiled. Small and smug.
"Then you met me.".
"Clinical biochemistry was obviously my true calling." Chaewon joked, though her line delivery left a lot to be desired. Minju didn't mind. She rolled her eyes anyway.
"Okay, so." Chaewon patiently waited for Minju to somehow put the two questions together, fairly intrigued, "Do you remember the morning of your birthday, 2008?".
Chaewon didn't even have to stop to think, "I do. I was in Canada. You'll have to be specific, though, darling.".
It hadn't been too long since Chaewon had come clean to Minju about her lifestyle, and she had expected the few weeks of radio silence from the younger girl when she had to come to terms with all the blood Chaewon had spilled throughout her life.
So when Minju suddenly picked out a particular day on which a particularly large amount of blood was spilled, Chaewon could feel her insides doing flips, the not-good nervous ones.
"That morning?" Minju specified. "The solar eclipse. I used to try to watch it whenever I could." Chaewon stated, "How do you...?".
"When I found all those letters from that Sakura you write to, I thought you two were- you know- something." Minju admitted. "Oh, I know." Chaewon recounted, glad the both of them were able to laugh about that fight.
"Before I asked you about them, I..." Minju looked a little shy, guilty even, and Chaewon found it adorable. Whatever Minju had to say, Chaewon had already forgiven it.
"I know it's an invasion of privacy and you hate that, I know, but I was just so angry- I mean, I'm new to all this, so I didn't think you could be 'just friends' with someone you've been writing letters to since the 1800s, and keeping them." Minju rambled, trying to justify her curiosity.
Chaewon wanted to help, not wanting Minju to feel guilty about something she would've thrown a massive tantrum over, "Keeping the letters is a thing, for me. It's not just hers.". Minju knew that, they talked about this. Chaewon kept all the letters from Sakura, but she also collected and kept a letter from everyone who's life she took.
A name. An address. They weren't just bodies, to her.
It was a thing. As mentioned.
"I might have read one or two of them." Minju confessed, "Or ten.".
Yes, Minju was turning herself in for invading Chaewon's privacy, but Chaewon couldn't care less in the moment. She'd make a meal out of anyone else who even tried, but Chaewon couldn't be more in love with Minju than she was then.
"I read one from 2018, I think, Janurary 31st." Minju tried to act like the contents of the letter weren't permanently etched into her brain, "She wrote to you and said something about hoping you saw the eclipse from Korea. She was going to see it too, and she said she'd think of you.".
"I know, Sakura writes like she's in love with me." Chaewon joked, pinching at Minju's cheek when she didn't laugh, pouting instead. "I looked up other eclipse dates and where they were visible from. I dug through that briefcase for those dates, read the letters she sent." Minju said.
She didn't hate the grin on Chaewon's face, but she didn't appreciate that Chaewon was getting far too much entertainment out of this. "You're obsessed with me." Chaewon commented, and Minju rolled her eyes, again.
"I couldn't understand why the eclipse meant so much to you. Then I read one of the letters from 1920." Minju said. "1919." Chaewon corrected, she knew exactly which letter Minju was talking about, "Early June. I was in England.".
"You were studying?" Minju questioned it, "Physics, of all things, too?"
Another thing she couldn't understand was why Chaewon constantly returned to higher education. Education was the last thing Minju would do if she knew she had eternal life.
"It really annoyed me that all the men thought they were smarter than me. Astrophysics sounded complicated. I'm petty." Chaewon reasoned.
Pettiness was quite the cause for higher education.
(Then again, this is the same thousand-year-old bloodsucker that went back to university because she thought a girl was pretty. It was so worth it.)
"And you were the one that proved- um-" Minju didn't want to get it wrong, she was a clever girl, just not a physicist. "Gravitational deflection. Too bad I couldn't take credit." Chaewon shrugged, "Thank god the whole mind compulsion thing exists.".
It was a chore, having to tell all those people it was some Sir Arthur Eddington that she'd been working with that had taken all the photographs and proved the whole phenomenon.
"Honestly," Minju sighed, "I still don't get it.".
"You haven't been in a room full of arrogant men and proved a theory all by yourself. It's like a birthday to me." Chaewon explained. Her actual birthday had lost meaning soon after her 100th rodeo.
"Happy birthday, then?" Minju took Chaewon's hand, wearing that shy smile on her lips. "Huh?" Confusion was evident on Chaewon's face, though she was smiling, giddy about the 'surprise'.
Dropping Minju's hand, Chaewon picked up her phone where she'd left it on the dining table, checking the date. At some point in her long life, the date stopped meaning much to Chaewon, just like her actual birthday.
It was the 8th of April. "The first and only time I brought it up you said you thought watching the eclipse was stupid. It happens too often for people to make a big deal out of it." Chaewon regurgitated what Minju had said, paraphrasing.
"And now I'm making a big deal out of it, I'm a massive hypocrite, I know." Minju said, walking over. "You're amazing." Chaewon wrapped her arms around Minju, squeezing her tight, maybe a little too tight.
Once she let go, Chaewon didn't quite know how else to express her excitement, skipping around the dining table, absolutely cheesing and mumbling to herself, as Minju watched and laughed, "I didn't think you'd be this happy.".
"I didn't even know." Chaewon said, when she was stood in front of Minju again, "Even the eclipse stopped meaning anything to me around 2010. The one in 2008 was only something of value because it fell on my birthday. I didn't care but Sakura did and she made sure I knew that.".
"Can it mean something today? Because of me?" Minju asked, bringing up a hand to caress Chaewon's cheek. "It can. I'll always remember it." Chaewon spoke softly, taking Minju's hand and pressing a kiss to the middle of her palm.
-
Minju had bought them both a pair of those special eclipse sunglasses, the fact that Chaewon wouldn't feel any different going right over her head.
So when they met at the agreed spot, somewhere in the park, Chaewon laughed and handed Minju the cup of ice cream she'd bought with a kiss on the cheek, finding it adorable that Minju cared about her ophthalmic health.
The display of affection earned some sour looks from the general public, those that were there for eclipse-viewing, not to see two girls giggle and show their affections.
Chaewon couldn't blame them, she hated when she'd go to see eclipses alone, seeing physicists and the other men that were interested all with a woman on their arm, all smiles and love. That's why the event stopped being so special to her.
And Minju was certainly returning it back to its glory.
As Minju watched, strange blocky glasses and all, Chaewon watched her. Not for long, because Minju wasn't stupid. She could see that Chaewon was looking at her, but she wanted Chaewon to look up.
A minute into the small, three-to-four minute window they had, Minju looked at Chaewon, pushing her by the chin with her fingertips so she'd look away from her at least, "Look at it. Stop looking at me.".
"Yes Ma'am." Chaewon obediently followed, watching the eclipse until its very end.
Space was such a beautiful thing. Chaewon would've gone if she knew how to escape her eternal life. The eclipse only reminded her how long eternity was. Very long.
But the eclipse was still quite something.
And Chaewon was quite something. That's what Minju thought when she caught a glimpse of Chaewon staring up at the sky. The thought repeated itself in her head when she did a double-take, beginning to just stare at Chaewon.
Every time Chaewon told her about how long she'd been alive, she made sure Minju understood that there was very little she found interesting anymore. Minju knew she was lucky to have piqued that interest. Chaewon knew she was just as lucky to have found Minju.
So Minju felt justified in staring at Chaewon, seeing, for the first time, wonder on her face. The eclipse was something Chaewon had seen a few hundred times over, yet she still watched it happen with wonder.
The big beyond was the one thing that Chaewon had never explored.
"Telling me not to look at you and staring right back at me is a little mean, don't you think?" Chaewon asked her, in the last few moments of the moon passing over the sun. "As I said, I'm a massive hypocrite. Obviously." Minju said.
Hearing Minju's voice was persuading enough to turn to look back at her.
Chaewon thought she'd mastered the art of expectation. She noticed that the world became a very, very predictable place, at some point when she was three quarters of the way to a thousand.
When she really did hit the milestone, Chaewon had thrown away all hopes for most things that those without eternal life yearned for. Love was the last thing she needed, or wanted.
Initially, Chaewon wanted a good bit of fun out of Minju, not a gut-wrenching tug on her heart every time she thought of the younger girl in danger or any kind of pain. Falling in love was not part of the plan.
Being engaged was not part of the plan.
She actually gasped, when she turned to face Minju, seeing a small, navy box in her hands, holding it open in the small space between them.
The ring wasn't anything crazy; a simple, neat, gold band, the pattern of the Celtic Love Knot engraved into the surface.
Nothing crazy, appearance-wise, but Minju had spent quite a hefty bit of her pay-check on it.
"I know you do, but I might not have forever, Chaewon." Minju wasn't looking at the ring, she was waiting for any further reaction from her girlfriend.
"I want this, all of it." Minju saw Chaewon about to interrupt, and she knew what Chaewon would say, "I've thought it through, please don't tell me I need to again. I'm a scientist, I've thought it through. I've written my hypotheses, I've theorised so many possibilities.".
There was nothing to question, Chaewon would say yes time and again. "And what of your conclusions?".
"I love you. I know that much." Chaewon didn't take the ring, yet, as she listened to Minju's words, instead cupping Minju's hands in her own.
"If I don't get forever with you, I want whatever I do have with you."
"I didn't get here without any doubts, I won't lie and tell you I did." Minju chuckled, a guilty blush dusting her cheeks, "I thought about shoving this box in the corner of my suitcase and forgetting about it. I didn't want to ruin our trip.".
Chaewon's smile was soft. And so full of all that love.
"You could never. You've made this the best era of my life." Chaewon concluded herself, "And it's barely even started.".
Knowing Chaewon would've hated the spotlight, Minju didn't get down on one knee and ask a stranger to film or photograph their special moment.
Minju simply asked, "Will you marry me, Chaewon?".
"I will." Chaewon, just as simply, answered.
After allowing Minju to push the ring onto her empty ring-finger, Chaewon took the box from Minju, simultaneously freeing her hands and getting the small obstacle out of the way so they could share a kiss.
Short and sweet, because they were still in public, after all.
"Give it at least five years before you ask me for anything crazy." Chaewon said, seeing the look in Minju's eyes when they pulled away. "What?" Minju nervously laughed.
"I want forever with you, of course I do. I'm selfish enough to consider slipping my blood into your drinks every time I make you one, your food every time I cook for you. And I know you've thought about it, you've made your theories, and all." Chaewon said.
"But?" Minju encouraged, noticing Chaewon's hesitance.
They were already speaking quietly, in their own little bubble, and Chaewon only lowered her voice further, "I don't know if you'll ever be ready to live like this.".
"Like me."