Second Arrangement

CHAPTER 30 - PROP(ER)SAL

JACKSON

"Well, you don't think I'll stay single forever, do you?" I asked her cheekily but even I knew there was a double meaning behind my sentence. I clearly said that this year would be the last time I could get hong baos which meant I didn't plan to be single next year. Which meant, I would be married next year. And we were in a relationship right now, so surely I imposed that we would be married before next year. I could see the gears in her brain started moving so I felt like this was the right time. I've thought about it since I asked her to be with me again. In one year when we were apart, I never thought of any girls to replace her. I never saw any girls. My mind always went back to her. She was the only one that managed to creep into my heart. And she was the only one that could put me in my place. I was sure that there was no one else for me except for her. Right then, I knew this was the right time.

I knew she was watching me carefully, so I pulled one of her hands and dropped down on one knee. I didn't care that we were in her uncle's place. I didn't care that there were people around us, probably watching us already. I just knew that this was the time. I couldn't find a better moment than this time. I already prepared my speech before, but when I looked at her face, suddenly I forgot everything.

"Wait, I had it in my head, but you made me forget everything," I couldn't hide my nervousness and neither was she. Keeping my gaze on her, I decided to do it freestyle. "That being said, I was in love with you back then, and I still am today. I believe heaven agreed with me that we should be together as they sent you again back to my arms, so I'd be a fool if I let you go again. So, will you stop being stubborn and marry me again? Forever this time, please?" I looked up and opened the box in my hand, showing her the ring. She froze, certainly didn't expect me to propose to her here and now. Her silence started to make me sweat.

"Princess, you're making me nervous now. Can't you say something?" I tried to pry some reactions from her while hoping that she would say yes, and she finally nodded. I smiled like an idiot and I felt relieved beyond measure. "May I?" I pointed to the ring and she nodded. I slipped the ring to her finger and I was glad that it fitted her. She was still in a daze, looking at her ring when I pulled her into my hug and kissed her forehead. Then I noticed the cheering and clapping from the background and Ellie blushed instantly.

I looked around and saw Sophie and the kids that hunted hong baos with me earlier were whistling and clapping noisily. I grinned from ear to ear while pulling her closer. I couldn't hide my happiness right now.

"Yayyy!!" the kids rushed toward us and crowded us before turning their attention to me. "So, does this mean next year we will get hong baos from you?" they asked hopefully and I chuckled before answering.

"Yes kids, I'll prepare a lot of hong baos for you guys next year."

They cheered again and then left us alone, finally. I pulled her again into my hug, feeling I had to make sure something, "For forever this time, okay?"

She nodded, "For forever."

ELLIE

I didn't expect him to propose during CNY. In fact, I didn't expect him to propose that soon. When we went to Beijing, our last conversation didn't exactly end on a good note, that was why I never thought of him proposing here. I didn't even know that he had bought the ring. When did he have the time to buy the ring anyway? I thought he was super busy with everything going around in his life. I was honestly surprised, but in a good way. He caught me off guard that I didn't have any time to overthink everything. And he had given me a fair warning when we started our relationship, that he wanted to start a relationship with marriage as the end game. The only question was when.

Soon, everything went into chaos because of the proposal. Jackson's mom was so excited when she heard the news that she insisted that we postponed our flight back to Korea so we could arrange our upcoming wedding here, while we were both still in Beijing. We had agreed to have a wedding in Beijing because both of our families were here, so we would only hold a small celebration as well as a press conference in Seoul, but the big party would be here, in Beijing. I called the hospital, informing them of the change of plan and luckily, I could add five more days to my leave without disturbing the patients' care.

"Alright, we need a wedding planner, a venue and a wedding gown. I think those are what we need first," Jackson said, listing all our to-do-list for today. It was just after the holiday, so hopefully some of them already went back to business. "And would you just please move to my place? It'll be easier for me, for both of us," he quickly revised himself. "After all, we're engaged already. Ain't that enough proof that in the near future, we will be sharing a house anyway?"

"Let me remind you, mister, you only proposed to me. There's no engagement party yet," I reminded him that in our tradition, he was supposed to ask me formally, meeting my family and all.

"Do we have to do it all over again?" his eyes widened as we did have an engagement party, back when we first married, thanks to his mother's persistence.

"Nah," I shook my head, "It'd be a hassle to do it all over. Plus, your mother didn't say anything about the engagement party, so I guess we can skip it."

"Then why do you need to mention it?" he looked annoyed and I couldn't help chuckling at his frustration.

I shrugged, "I don't know. Maybe because it's fun to see you getting a bit anxious and all?"

He rolled his eyes and with a growl under his breath, he pulled me until my front collided with his hard chest, "Trying to tease me, aren't you now? Be careful, princess, or you'll get burnt."

My breath caught in my throat at the sudden closeness, "I thought we have a lot to do?" I reminded him and he groaned again, as I stopped him from his earlier intention, who was trying to kiss me, I believed. He rested his forehead against mine and I could hear that he tried to resist himself before pulling back and grabbed my hand, "Yeah, you're right. Let's get going so I will have lots of time to persuade you to move to mine later."

It was a good thing that Jackson was in the entertainment industry since we only needed to spell his name and all wedding planners lined up in front of us in no time. Okay, no, I was kidding. We didn't use his name to find our planner. In fact, we decided to just use whatever Henry recommended to us. Moving on to the next in our list, the venue. Since our first wedding was a secret, we held it in secret. So this time, he wanted something grand. I didn't like the idea at first, but I knew he meant well. He said he was so damn proud of me that he wanted to show me off to the world so I had no heart to say no to his request, so I let him. He finally decided on a hotel after looking at three places. Then it was time to find our attire. He didn't want to buy another tuxedo since he was sure that his old one still fit him. But he insisted that I got a new gown. I agreed, but he didn't expect that his suggestion would backfire.

"Why can't I tag along?" He whined when I told him to go back to his office as I could ask Sophie to accompany me to the bridal store.

I rolled my eyes, "It's a bad omen for the groom to see the bride in her wedding gown before the ceremony."

"Seriously? I thought you didn't believe in superstitious stuff like that," he deadpanned.

"I don't," I admitted. "But I will do whatever it takes for us not to jinx this one," I added carefully and his expression changed. Like realization suddenly dawned on him and a mix of surprise was there as well.

"Oh well, if you say so.. ," he leaned forward and kissed my forehead before pulling back. "Call me when you're finished. I'll pick you up."

"Why? Sophie can take me home," I answered automatically and he rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, Sophie will go home as usual, but you.. You will go home with me," he said with determination and he didn't give me time to argue as his phone decided to ring at that crucial time. A minute later, he paused, pulling his phone away from his ear and mouthed, "Sorry, I have to go. Call me!" he jogged toward his car and waved goodbye before vanishing into his car and left me standing at the parking lot. Luckily, Sophie's car came into view a minute later, so I didn't look dumb too long.