THE RIGHT TIME - renjun

chapter thirty-five

song for this chapter:
shawn mendes - dont be a fool

"you've got my heart"

unedited.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
not so little girl.

The four sat around the round dining table of Chaeran's kitchen. An assortment of food displayed over the wooden surface, as they all dug in— each having long days and being in need of a home cooked meal. "I'm sorry we didn't get to go to your favorite look out for your birthday," The older woman reached across the table to her daughter's hand and lightly patted it with her palm.

Her downturned eyes glimmered apologetically, and Hwa Young could only shake her head to not worry her mother.

"What lookout?" Renjun piped up, nibbling at his chopsticks.

Chaeran turned to the male, and smiled softly. "It's this lookout in her grandmother's hometown. We used to always go on her birthday, and we tried to again this year, but unfortunately the weather was too rainy for a safe drive," She explained— Beomgyu humming at the memory.

The Huang nodded slowly. It finally pieced together in his head why she and her family would always leave town for a few days around that time. "Oh, that's why you were always gone around your birthday,"

Hwa Young swallowed her dinner before replying. "Yeah, which is why we celebrated it a bit earlier in high school," Her voice was thick with nostalgia— it's been quite a while since she's seen that view. "It's really amazing though. It's a seven hour drive from Seoul to that place, but it's worth it when you catch it at sunrise," Renjun watched her get emerged in the memory, a smile hanging off her lips with a slight edge.

"Renjun should take you some time," Her father suggested, raising his thick brows up and down in a suggesting matter. He remembered taking Chaeran there for a date back in the day, it would be good for the pair to do the same.

Renjun's lips parted, about to agree instantly, however his fiancée cut him off.

"No, it's okay," Hwa Young shook her head, cheeks reddening at her father's obvious actions and behavior. "He's too busy taking care of his company,"

"Oh that's too bad, but you should still go before your wedding then, hmm?" Chaeran caught onto her ex-husband's motive and nodded along. She backed up his statement and urged her daughter to do as they had suggested. "Visit your grandparents too," The woman added, knowing that she wouldn't say no now.

"I can't believe my little girl is getting married soon," Beomgyu sighed, eyes lingering on his daughter's sad smile. Just yesterday he was taking her out to get some ice cream from a local corner market, and now she was wearing a rock on her finger, and had her childhood best friend at her beck and call. "Spring is always a beautiful season to wed in,"

"How are the preparations going?" Chaeran questioned, her grin growing by the second. Though she was distraught at first, the feelings of despair and frustration soon filled into a happiness for her daughter, and she couldn't calm her excitement. Who knows what's next for them after?

Hwa Young glanced to Renjun discreetly, to find him already looking at her with that same stupid look he always had when he did. Her cheeks reddened and flushed, heart pounding so loud that she almost misheard her mother.

"I'm just in charge of a few things, like guests, colors, my dress and flowers. His assistant, Donghyuck has been a big help as he's been preparing the whole thing," She muttered shyly, turning away from her fiancée to gaze at her parents.

And by the shit-eating grins that were plastered on their smug faces, she knew they saw.

"Honestly," Renjun began, catching the three off guard. They all turned to him, and Hwa Young was so caught up in the surprise that she almost didn't catch his hand moving to hold hers under the table. Almost. But in some torturing way, her body noticed the sudden warmth that enveloped her palm, and intertwined her fingers.

Her wide eyes shot down at their connected hands and traveled back up to his side profile that nonchalantly continued the conversation with her parents. It seemed that it hadn't affected him as much as it did her.

"We've been so busy, me with the Huang Group and her with her students and new job, that we didn't really realize the date was approaching in March," His voice lingered in the air, sweet low rasp hypnotizing Hwa Young's parents as they nodded eagerly at his words.

All while their daughter stayed frozen in her seat, thinking of how her fingers locked with his under the tablecloth— reminding her of the days back in Senior year.

"I always knew you two were meant to be," Chaeran hummed in content, and finally Hwa Young's attention was back to the table.

"Huh?"

"How you looked at one another, that was no high school puppy love that could only last for a few years. That was something more," Beomgyu added, thinking back to all those times he had caught the pair either walking home together or at a restaurant. He never once interrupted them. He stood to the side from wherever he spotted them, and gazed at their happy figures— laughing and speaking so animatedly like a romance movie.

Chaeran smiled gently at the pair as they naturally turned to look at one another. Her daughter with a blank, flushed expression, as Renjun held a firm look in his eyes that immediately turned soft when his orbs landed on her. "It makes me so happy to see you find each other again," She gushed.

"Me too," Renjun whispered, staring so endearingly at the woman— hoping that for once and for all she could read the lines of his book, and recognize the three word sentence that ached to be spoken to her.

"Thank you for loving our daughter so preciously,"

"I'm honored to," He brought their intertwined hands up to his lips— still maintaining eye contact— and pressed a firm kiss to her knuckles.

Please be true.