Karina invited Minju two days before the party, she accepted her invitation rather gleefully. The other invitations were mostly handled by Jisoo, Jennie, and Chaewon.
Minjeong spent most of his time in the library, attending meetings virtually on behalf of his father.
Aeri pulled Karina into her room, shoving outfits in front of her. Karina brought her eyebrows together, "What is this for?"
at huffed, taking away the outfits away from her, "Your party."
"How many people did they invite? I thought it's going to be a small one," she asked, standing cluelessly.
Aeri laughed sarcastically, "I heard from Yizhuo that the Kims never throw small parties. Especially if Jennie is involved."
The day of the party arrived, they dressed Karina up in all nines. A light blue oscar, not her color, but it was beautiful. Her hair done half up, half down. Diamond earrings and necklace completing her look. She looked at her hand, playing with the ring my gave before.
Kazuha did the final touch on her, patting her shoulders lightly, "All done."
Aeri and Jisoo had already change their clothes into their party dresses. Aeri with a red knee length dress, Jisoo wearing a light pink full length. Minjeong stared at Jisoo'a dress and back at hers.
"You're wearing pink," she squinted her eyes.
Jisoo shrugged her shoulders, standing in front of the mirror, fixing her own hair, "Eh, Jennie chose this for me, okay?"
"I should go downstairs, Minju just texted me," Aeri excused herself, leaving Karina, Jisoo, and Kazuha in the room. The three of them went downstairs, taking turns to hug Minju.
Karina hadn't seen Minjeong for the whole day. Well, he did greet her once the midnight struck earlier. Then he went out of the room, leaving her alone in their bed. She decided not to bother him as she doesn't want to be seen as clingy. She could hear Minjeong talking in the library when she went downstairs to grab a glass of water.
They entered the hall and gasped collectively. The Kims sure went all out, the venue transformed into a magical garden, looking almost like a wedding venue. She recognized some of the attendees; former costars and a few directors. Aeri and Jisoo left her alone with Minju heading towards their partners, respectively.
She saw Minjeong walking towards her, with Chaewon along his side.
"Wow," Chaewon stared at Minju, "I mean, hi I'm Chaewon." Minju smiled, "Hello, I'm Minju."
Minjeong cleared his throat, "Well, you have met me before. Chae here is a DJ." Minju gasped, "A DJ? That's cool! Can I watch you play?" Chaewon scratched the back of his head, stammering, "Uh, sure?"
The two walked away from them, Minju talked rather animatedly with her hands.
Minjeong looked back at Karina, "Hello, beautiful. Happy birthday." He said, lifting her chin and placing a kiss on her lips.
Happy to have seen Minjeong for the day, she could feel her mood lifting up, "Thank you, MinMin."
"Let me introduce you around. I am good in networking, you know," Minjeong said while pretending to fix the lapel of his jacket.
Just like he said, they took an hour greeting the guests. They exchanged business cards amongst each other. Minjeong's phone suddenly rang, he looked at the screen and frowned, "Excuse me, I have to take this."
She watched Minjeong getting farther and farther away from her, and out of the venue. It has been 30 minutes and Minjeong is still not back to her side. She looked around for him and decided to check the house instead.
She checked the living room and saw no sign of Minjeong. So she went upstairs, at the foot of the stairs, she saw light escaping out from the space under the door. Thoughts went running inside her head as she remembered the lines on the table before.
She slammed the door open, Minjeong stood in the center of the room, petals around him. He looked at his watch, "Took you long enough."
"What's going on, baby?" she asked while walking towards him.
"Let's cut to the chase. I don't want to be involved in our previous arrangement," he said, hand in his pocket.
Karina felt her eyes getting warmer, "You're backing out?"
"No, I mean. Let's make it real. Let's not pretend anymore," he got down on his knees, an opened-box on his palm. "What I'm trying to say is.. Will you marry me, Karina?"
Karina covered her mouth with her hands, "Yes, a thousand times yes." Tears streaming down her face.
Minjeong got up from his position, his hand trembling while trying to veil the ring on her ring finger, "I am not backing out this time."
He pulled Karina for a kiss, her hand cradling the back of his neck, "You better not." "Maybe we should get fake married," he said in between their kiss. Karina threw her head back to let out a laugh, "Maybe we should."
"Let's take a photo together," Karina said, wiping away her tears. She snapped a photo of them, Taeyeon hugging her from behind while kissing her cheek.
The greatest birthday gift.
6 months later
Yizhuo moved out of the house as he had found a place closer to his cafe, Aeri followed him too. Jennie decided to stay at his uncle's house with Jisoo. Chaewon is finally allowed to go back home in London, his father thought it was a good enough punishment for him. Only left in the big house is only Karina and him, giving them all the privacy the needed.
Occasionally, the ladies would stay over for a sleep over with Minju sometimes tagging along. They had quiz nights and game nights with Jennie keeping a win streak.
2 years later
Minjeong and Karina finally tied the knot. Their ceremony done privately with only close friends and family attending. In that same year, Karina won an award for outstanding actress. She gave a short speech on the stage, thanking Minjeong and her newly found family.
Karina pats her stomach on stage, smiling as brightly as she could. The camera panned to Minjeong, who went still in shock. Karina went down the stage and back to their table.
"You're pregnant?" Minjeong said while touching her stomach tenderly. Karina nodded, "I am. With a baby girl."
Minjeong hugged Karina, unwilling to let her go. His eyes brimming with tears, "I love you."
