Luminous • Jisung

72 • Rushed

• Chapter 72 •

"Marry me," Jisung proposed once again. 

Cho-a sighed. "No." 

He reached out to grab her arm as she was about to walk away. He locked eyes with her. Sparkling, pretty, mesmerizing. 

It was hard for her to look away. 

"Han Cho-a, please marry me." 

And he spoke so softly too. It was a question that floated through the room like a feather. Weightless. It reached her gently, touched her. 

How could anyone resist th-- 

"No." 

"But--" 

"I won't repeat myself, Park." 

Chenle whistled, smirked in amusement. "She called you by your last name," he pointed out. "I'd be careful." 

Throwing a warning glare towards his best friend, he quickly put his attention back onto the girl that tapped a finger against his hand. 

"Let go of me," she ordered and Jisung did so right away. 

"Food's ready," Jaemin called out all of a sudden. 

He and Jeno carried the plates out of the kitchen and into the living room where they placed them on the coffee table. Jaemin patted the space on the ground next to him. 

"Cho-a~" he called her and watched her with a smile as she sat down to his left, while Jeno sat to his right. 

Watching her with sad exaggerated puppy eyes, Jisung sat down opposite her next to Haechan and Chenle, who already started eating. 

Haechan patted the younger boy's back. "Don't worry about it."

"I am curious," Jeno said, leaned forward to get a glimpse of the girl. "Why are you rejecting him?" 

Jaemin was curious too. He momentarily put his cutlery down and focused on the girl. He whole-heartedly supported the idea of them marrying but he wasn't going to get pushy and so he didn't even want to ask.  

Cho-a looked at Jisung briefly who had his puppy eyes still plastered on his face. Then she put her attention on Jeno. 

"It's because he doesn't want to marry me because he loves me--"

"I do love you!" Jisung interjected, obviously offended that she even had the audacity to say such a thing. 

This temporarily stopped her frustration and made Cho-a smile. She looked at her boyfriend.
"I know babe, I love you too." 

Jisung seemed happy again after that, so Jeno kept asking.
"Then why?"

"Because he thinks it's going to keep me safe, seeing that it would give me a higher position."

"Oh," Jeno nodded. "And you don't want that?"

At which she sighed. She felt a little misunderstood although Jeno was talking in his usual voice and, except for Jisung, none of the boys was even the slightest bit pushy. 

"It's just that I don't want to say yes to something so specific to the moment. In a year, if he asks me again, I will say yes in a heartbeat. But I can't just agree when he wants it to gain something from it."

"But it's for you," Jisung argued. 

"Yeah," she nodded. "But I don't want it." 

"Stubborn," he muttered under his breath.