The day I rescued you and everything changed (TxT's Soobin Fanfiction)

Epilogue: A little secret between us

--- 4 years later ---

"I mean, you know I love Choi junior but he's getting his teeth now and apart from the lack of sleep I also barely have alone time with my Misses", Yeonjun whined. We sat together in our favourite bar for our usual get-together that we tried to have at least once a month. I had been quite surprised to hear that Yeonjun did not only stick to the girl he had met back in the club but also was engaged to her since a year now. "Feel free to bring him over anytime for babysitting", Taehyun suggested, "Io doesn't seem to have anything else on her mind since Miri gave birth to your junior. She's almost a child maniac." Io was around for a year and a half now and I still was secretly endeared about the memory of when Taehyun had proudly introduced her to us, smiling brighter than ever. Beomgyu raised his glass into Huening's and my direction. "Cheers to being single, I guess", he grinned and with a smirk, I told him: "Oh don't be too sure about our Huening. Since he got to know Aurora, he had started to like the idea of a relationship." Our youngest blushed as Beomgyu's loud protest made everyone at the bar turn to us. "YAH! Huening! You can't let me be the only single in our group! We're too young to tie the knot!", he shouted and Taehyun nudged him, complaining: "Shh, you idiot! Everyone's looking."

Beomgyu sulked and took a sip of the whisky I had treated them to. Huening shrugged helplessly. "Aurora's a nice girl", he mumbled. "Of course she is", I reassured him, "After all, she originally was Kasumi's friend before you all got to know her." "And I am sure Beomgyu will find someone soon as well", Yeonjun grinned. But before they could start their usual bickering, his phone's alarm went off. "Time to go back to your baby, Mr. Family man", Beomgyu announced, dodging Yeonjun's hit with a mischievous laughter. "Say what you want", the other one said sulking, "But I still think that Miri and my junior are the two best things that happened in my life. And you guys are second." I chuckled and got up. "Alright, gentleman, time to go", I said. Beomgyu pouted. "You all got so boring since having a girlfriend", he said salty.

•••••••

A bit later, we sent Beomgyu off with Huening who had agreed to "babysit" the first one and go to yet another bar while Yeonjun, Taehyun and I shared a taxi. I was the first one to get off and waved them goodbye before walking over to my apartment with a hum. I really enjoyed those meetings with my old friends. It felt so good to be back around the people that knew me for so long already, despite the break of almost a full year when I was with Ari still. Yet, they had forgiven me for neglecting them and I was more than grateful.

I unlocked the door and when I stepped inside, I knew she was home already. Music came from the living room. We had changed a bit of interior when I moved in, but it still had this flair of immediately feeling at home. Odi had also adapted to the change and by now even cuddled with her though still not always accepting Beomgyu or Huening. I walked over to the living room and leaned against the doorframe. The room was really pretty, especially in this dim light and the obligatory bouquet that she always brought with her to prevent the leftover flowers from being thrown away. Next to it was the one I bought her yesterday for a certain reason. A bunch of simple forget-me-nots, symbolizing eternal loyalty, combined with pink and purple tulips that stood for perfect love. She was an uncommon girl, so I had actively decided against the obvious red roses.

I let my eyes wander further again. She had decorated the room for spring recently and I probably still haven't found every single little detail. But right now, I couldn't care less. My whole attention was drawn to her, sitting on the couch, reading a book. It was such a simple picture, so normal yet it always touched my heart. This is what I wanted to see for the rest of my life: Her, our home, us together.

She must have felt me staring at her because she turned around and her face lit up as she saw me. "Soobin", she said happily and came over to hug me as always. "Hi Kasumi", I mumbled into her hair as I pressed a peck on the crown of her head. "How was your night out with the girls?", I asked. "We left early, right after the movie because Miri was so tired. Seems like her little son keeps her awake quite much. We should offer our help. Or at least bring them something, don't you think?", she answered. "We will", I promised. "Other than that, Io and Aurora are doing perfectly fine. How are the guys?", she wanted to know. "Chaotic as ever", I chuckled. She laughed softly: "Yeah, I can imagine that. Have you told them yet?" "No, and you?", I gave back. She shook her head. I thought so.

I still held her in my arms, her body fitting into them perfectly. "Soobin?", she suddenly asked. "Hmm?" "If you wanna dance, do it right." Only know I realized that I swayed from left to right to the rhythm of the music. She grinned at me mischievously. Oh, how I loved that look on her. And I knew how she liked dancing: As lively and exhausting as possible. Or to put it differently: With as much passion as possible. With the right music, she turned into the biggest tease I've ever seen, carefully preserved for her dance partner and her dance partner only. The thought of feeling her moves underneath my fingertips alone made me feel flustered.

"As you wish, my Lady", I laughed and started right away. The song changed and I recognized it to be her favourite song for a Discofox, "Shut up and Dance" by Walk the Moon. We danced through the room, in full swing while our feet moved in perfect sync. The deep happiness showing on her face and the way she always seemed to dive into another world when dancing, moving her body perfectly according to what I lead kept fascinating me, even after three years of being her boyfriend. At the end of the song, I let her turn a last time, before catching her and stealing a sweet kiss, just as "Andante, Andante" by ABBA started playing. She laughed and I knew it came from the bottom of her heart. I kissed her nose and she smiled before burying her face in my chest, humming along to the song. As I lay my arms around her fully, I could feel her heartbeat, not even surprised that it beat in the same rhythm as mine and along to the wonderful harmony that got created by our voices as I started to sing along to both, the song and her hum.

Suddenly Kasumi looked up to me again and motioned me to come closer. "I shaved my legs today", she whispered into my ears conspiratorially, "All the winter fur is gone." I smirked and immediately picked her up. She squeaked and held onto me, laughing while I carried her into the bedroom, gently lying her down on the bed. Her eyes were still looking at me playfully as she, jokingly scolding, said: "Choi Soobin, don't you think we should turn off lights and music in the living room? Odi doesn't like the light too much and it's a waste of energy." I rolled my eyes grinning and brushed a hair strand out of her face before entangling our fingers and pinning her down by putting our hands to each of her head's side. The playfulness in her eyes disappeared and turned into love and anticipation.

Over time, she had allowed me to see all of her thoughts and emotions in her eyes. Or maybe I learned how to read her. Either way, we didn't really need words anymore most of the time. I was incredibly thankful, knowing just how lucky I was to have found her. I bent down and whispered: "All of that can wait a bit longer, Choi Kasumi." "Still can't believe we're finally engaged", she grinned at me. "Still can't believe you said yes", I gave back smirking, backing up a bit again. "Oh, shut up, of course I did. And now kiss me already since I can't do it myself thanks to you holding me down", she complained laughing. "Yes, Madam", I chuckled and finally closed the gap between us.