Start-Up

Wedding Plans

Ji-pyeong and In-jae stood side by side at the kitchen as they did the dishes together.

"Hey, guess what," In-jae said as she took the plate from Ji-pyeong and dried it with a towel.

"Hmm?" Ji-pyeong asked as he rinsed a bowl and handed it to her.

"Dal-mi asked to meet with me today. She wants to scale up," In-jae looked at Ji-pyeong and caught his devilish grin.

"Good. I'm ready. We can meet about it tomorrow," he said, winking at her as he handed her another bowl to dry. "You should bring your ring with you and find a way to discreetly slip it on. You'll know when."

In-jae laughed as she put away the dishes. "I can't wait to see this plan of yours in action," she teased. "Do you want some tea?"

Ji-pyeong nodded with a smile, "Sure, thanks."

Later, they stood by the window, sipping their tea as they enjoyed the view of the night sky together.

"Remember when we first stood here like this so many years ago?" In-jae said wistfully, remembering the night she had confessed her feelings to him.

Ji-pyeong shook his head with a rueful smile, "I was so hurt and mad and confused, but I still found it in me to ask if you'd eaten."

In-jae turned to him then, and set down her cup of tea before returning to stand beside him. "Thank you," she said sincerely, and he looked at her in surprise.

"For what?" he asked as he set his cup of tea down at the table, then rejoined her by the window.

She reached up and traced his jawline with her fingertips, then let her hand rest on his chest to feel his beating heart. "For being patient with me. I know it hasn't been easy for you these past few years, dealing with my fears and issues," she said, looking up at him. "Thank you for waiting for me to catch up to you."

Ji-pyeong opened his mouth to reply, but she put a finger to his lips and said, "I just want you to know that I love you, Han Ji-pyeong. You know I'm not very good at expressing how I feel, but it's important to me that you know that, and that you never doubt that. No matter how scared I had been in the past, not once did I ever think of leaving you. How could I, when you're already a part of me? So don't you ever think for a minute that I don't love you, because I do. With all my heart, I do."

Ji-pyeong was so moved by In-jae's words that he turned away from her quickly, but not fast enough. In-jae stood on tiptoe to peer at him. "Are you crying?!" she said incredulously, ready to tease him mercilessly. 

He grabbed her to him and hugged her fiercely. "So this is what it feels like to be proposed to," he said gruffly, and she laughed. 

"We should probably cool it on the wedding vows, or else we'll be a blubbering mess and we'll never hear the end of it from everyone," she said, loving the way his laugh rumbled in his chest.

"Speaking of the wedding," he pulled away to look at her, "Have you given any thought to what you want?"

In-jae turned in his arms so they could both face the view, and she leaned against his chest comfortably as Ji-pyeong wrapped his arms around her. "Well, I wanted to keep things simple. Grandma, Mom, Dal-mi," she said thoughtfully, "But I was also thinking we might want to invite people from work. Your team, my team, the Cheong Myeong guys, Ms. Yoon."

Ji-pyeong laughed, "Park Dong-Chun might get a heart attack if he gets a copy of our wedding invitation. He was already so happy when I said he did a good job in putting Hong Ji-seok's business proposal on my desk."

"Do you think it's weird to have them there?" In-jae asked, and Ji-pyeong shook his head. "I think it's nice. I mean, they've been there for us all these years, they might as well see that their bosses are human and know how to love and be happy."

In-jae laughed and nodded, "Yeah, and it'll be nice to have Ms. Yoon there."

Ji-pyeong tightened his hold around her as he said, "Hey, I just realized. If Do-san is planning to propose to Dal-mi, and they find out we're engaged, do you think they're going to want a double wedding?"

In-jae turned around to face him, and they looked at each other in horror as they shook their heads in unison. "That is the cheesiest idea ever," In-jae said, making a face as Ji-pyeong nodded furiously. "So I guess we need to get married sooner than later," he said emphatically, "You're the elder sister, you need to go first."

Ji-pyeong watched as In-jae got a determined look on her face and she looked up at him. "Bring out your laptop. We need to go into that meeting tomorrow with a solid wedding plan so that Dal-mi doesn't try to convince us to do a double wedding," she said determinedly, and he grinned. "I love work mode In-jae!" He gave her a quick kiss on the lips before releasing her to grab his laptop.

In-jae grabbed her laptop and together, they sat side by side at the desk. "I'll handle the budget, you get started on listing the suppliers we need," Ji-pyeong said, getting into work mode too. In-jae looked at him and smirked, "Work mode Ji-pyeong is so sexy."

"Work now, play later," Ji-pyeong said, his dimples flashing as he and In-jae set to work on their biggest project yet-- planning their wedding.