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"so why am i helping you again?"
"because you keep breaking apples on tv."
you hear jongho sigh while you laugh in response. he holds a ladder while you pick apples off of a tree.
you work at a local garden and have a lot of work to do today. the most important task is harvesting a bunch of apples and bringing them to one of the nearby buildings. you had gotten your boyfriend to help you on his day off. it doesn't seem like he wants to help you, but you hear him sing a few times as you two go through the orchard together.
"hey, babe," jongho calls for you. you look down. "do you want me to go ahead and drop these off?" he asks, holding a basket of apples.
"i think we have enough to bring over, so we can go together after i'm done," you say to him. he nods and puts the basket down so he can hold the ladder again.
you finish picking apples and start climbing down with a basket in tow.
"i'll take it," jongho says when you get close to the ground, holding his hands out to take the basket from you. you hand him the basket and step down to the ground.
you two walk to the four-wheeler with your baskets and put them down on a small trailer that's attached. jongho moves the rest of the baskets onto the trailer while you check a clipboard and mark some things off.
"ready to go?" you ask jongho.
he nods, "yea."
you climb onto the four-wheeler with jongho sitting behind you, hugging your waist even though you drive slow. you drive to a nearby building, where the staff sells the produce to customers, and park by the front doors. you and jongho take the baskets of apples off of the trailer and rinse the apples using a hose that is attached to the building, just in case any debris from the trees and nature had gotten on them.
"could you bring them in?" you ask jongho.
"yea, no problem," he says to you and takes a basket into the building. you finish rinsing off the apples and bring a basket inside.
you and jongho bring all of the baskets inside except for one basket.
"alright, here's your payment for a day of work," you say with a laugh to jongho.
"what am i supposed to do with a tub of apples?" jongho questions you as he holds the basket. he puts the basket back down on the ground and picks an apple up.
"it's for when you have to break more on tv," you say and start laughing right after. you can see jongho rolling his eyes at you but softly smiles afterwards. "i'll bring them inside, but i'm taking some for myself, " you say to him.
jongho breaks an apple in half and starts eating one half. "i'll buy some," he says, "and i'll bring them to the guys." he hands you the other half of the apple, and the two of you sit down on some empty crates that are nearby.
"thanks for helping me today. i'm sure you wanted to do something else today," you say to him.
"it was fun," he says to you. "i'm just glad i got to see you today," he mentions. "it's fun when you come to performances with me, but it's fun getting to go to work with you too," he says with a smile.
"well, you're welcome to come help anytime," you reply. the two of you finish your break and bring the last basket into the building. jongho packs some up for both of you while you work behind the counter for a bit. you can see him roaming around out of boredom, but you also see him talk to a few customers and staff a few times.
—
once the orchard closes for the day, you and jongho leave together and head to the nearest subway station. jongho carries a small crate of apples while you carry your backpack that has both of your belongings inside. the station is quite a bit away, but there's a nice view of the approaching town as you walk.
"i can carry it," you offer to jongho as you walk into town so he can have a break from holding the crate.
"it's alright, don't worry about it," he says to you.
"jongho, let me carry it."
"it's not even heavy," he immediately replies and lifts the crate up and down, "see? not heavy."
you sigh, "alright, whatever you say."
eventually, the two of you get to the subway station and soon get onto the subway that will take you to the station where your apartment is. the train is a little bit crowded, but you manage to find a seat. jongho lets you sit down, and you hold the small crate of apples on your lap.
"you look cute," jongho suddenly comments, holding onto a metal handle above him as the subway starts moving to the next station.
"what do you mean?" you ask him.
"you just look cute with all of the apples," he says, "my cute girlfriend."
"and you're my handsome, apple-breaking boyfriend," you reply. jongho instantly rolls his eyes again at you with a huff.
"how long are you going to keep this up for? years?" jongho asks.
"i'm sorry, i'll stop," you say in the midst of laughing.
jongho sighs but smiles. he leans in and kisses your forehead, "well, if it's you, i guess you can say it."
