𝐓𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇 𝐑𝐎𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐄 || 𝐒𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐏𝐒 || 🍀

60 - EPILOGUE

Hani

“Mimi needs you, Hans,” Seokmin called out to me. It was Mimi's twelfth birthday party, and the entire town was just in the backyard with food and drinks and loud music. It was everything Mimi dreamed of.

Seungcheol made sure to ask for a list of the things she wanted and has so far bought her more than a half of them.

Seokmin escorted me through the dining room, where there just happened to be two flutes of champagne waiting. He handed one to me, and we exited through the sun-room doors onto the deck.

“SURPRISE!”

I took a step back and clutched a hand to my heart as a large portion of the citizens of Riperia cheered from the yard below.

“It’s not a surprise party, you guys,” I told them.

There was a ripple of laughter, and I wondered why they were all looking so happy, like they were anticipating something.

My parents stood off to the side of the deck with Jennie and Mimi, all grinning at me.

“What’s going on?” I turned to Seokmin, but he was backing away and winking at me.

“Hani."

I turned and found Seungcheol standing behind me, his face so serious my stomach dropped.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, twisting around and looking to see if someone was hurt or missing. But all our people were here. Everyone we cared about was right here in this yard, smiling.

He had a box in his hand. A small, black velvet box.

Oh my God.

I peered over my shoulder at Mimi, worried I was ruining her party. The day was about her, not me. But she was holding my mom’s hand and bouncing on her toes, the biggest smile I’d ever seen on her face.

“Hani,” Seungcheol said again.

I turned back to him and pressed my fingers to my mouth.

“Yes?” It came out as a muffled squeak.

“Told you I wanted a wedding.”

I nodded, not trusting my voice anymore.

“But I didn’t tell you why.”

He took a step forward, then another one until we were standing toe-to-toe.

I felt like I couldn’t quite catch my breath.

“I don’t deserve you,” he said, sending a glance over my shoulder. “But a smart man once told me that what matters most is that I spend the rest of my life trying to be the kind of man who deserves you. So that’s what I’m gonna do. I’m gonna remember how fucking lucky I am, every single day. And I’m gonna do my best to be the best for you.

“Because you, Lee Hani, are incredible. You’re beautiful. You’re sweet. You’ve got a fancy-ass vocabulary. You make people feel seen and heard. You make broken things whole again. Me. You made me whole. And every time you smile at me, I feel like I hit the lottery again.”

The tears were threatening to spill over, and there was nothing I could do to stop them. He opened the box, but I couldn’t see anything through the waterworks. Knowing Seungcheol, the ring was over-the-top and somehow still exactly perfect.

“So I told you once. And now I’m gonna ask you. Marry me, Rose.”

I didn’t point out that he hadn’t exactly asked—it was more like he ordered. I was too busy nodding my head.