Unlike the rest of the mansion, there were no Christmas decorations in the indoor forest. There were, however, beautiful fairy lights hanging on some of the trees and shrubs, lightly swaying here and there like leisurely fireflies.
Jennie and Lisa, along with the butler, led everyone through the main trail to the centre of the indoor forest. Before long, they all saw the koi fish pond. There were gasps as their eyes feasted on the scene in front of them.
Small red candles were burning on top of lily pads floating on the pond. They cast a captivating illumination on the clear water, reaching underneath where the colourful koi fish swam curiously along the firelights.
Aboveground, two rows of bigger and taller candles lined up the edges of the mini bridge leading to the islet in the middle of the pond. A carpet of red rose petals covered the entire bridge.
V stood just outside the pond while holding a video camera and recording everyone's arrival. He flashed them with his killer smile before nodding at his older brother.
Lisa nodded back. He and Jennie instructed everyone to stand a little farther away from the main trail and to keep quiet. While doing so, they all glanced at the islet in the middle of the pond.
Jiyong stood there together with two of his sworn brothers. He was busy listening to Haruto who was busy speaking to someone on the phone. Jackson circled around them and recording everything with a handheld video camera like V.
Moments later, Lisa shushed everyone. All the murmurings stopped. It didn't take long for footsteps to be heard.
"What's happening?" a female voice asked in a tiny, nervous voice.
"Relax," another female voice soothed her. "Everything will be fine."
Finally, everyone saw the new arrivals. Hoyeon and Mingyu were leading a blindfolded Jisoo. Jihoon and Jia followed behind them.
Mingyu was also holding a video camera and recording the event. He gave a signal to his sworn brothers before looking at Hoyeon. She nodded and together with Mingyu, they both led the blindfolded Jisoo on the bridge while Jihoon and Jia joined the rest of the spectators.
Hoyeon transferred Jisoo's hand to Jiyong before retreating.
"Jiyong?" Jisoo asked, her voice a whisper.
"Hm, it's me," he replied.
She sighed in relief, her nervousness decreasing by half due to his presence alone. Although she couldn't see anything, she could hear the gentle splashes of water and smell the fresh earthy scent of nature. She knew that they were in the indoor forest. But that was it. She didn't know what was going on.
After she and Jiyong spoke to Jihoon and Jia earlier, Jiyong excused himself, leaving her to have some heart to heart talk with her father and stepmother. Later, Mingyu and Hoyeon arrived and blindfolded her, saying that she was among a small group of randomly chosen ones who were selected to win a big Christmas surprise.
She didn't doubt their claim for one bit because her sister Jennie and Lisa had always been excellent in throwing parties and making their guests enjoy themselves. Maybe this was another one of the couple's ways to liven up the atmosphere and make the Christmas gathering memorable for everyone.
Back to the present, Jisoo stuck close to Jiyong's side, taking comfort in his presence. Her excitement was quickly trumping over her nervousness.
Jiyong's lips touched her earlobe, causing her skin to flush red, before his devilish whisper asked, "Are you ready?"
She nodded like a pecking chicken. Finally, the cloth covering her eyes was removed. At first, she didn't notice anything amiss. She blinked her eyes to adjust to the sudden brightness. Then she hesitated when she saw the setup around her.
"W-what...."
Before she could form a coherent thought, Jiyong knelt in front of her and opened a small velvet box. A diamond ring shone inside.
Her hands covered her gasping mouth.
"Kim Jisoo, will you marry me?"
It felt like fireworks went off inside her mind. Her IQ fell to amoeba-level. It took a few moments before her consciousness returned.
"Jisoo?" the still kneeling Jiyong continued to ask her.
She stared at him like a stupid idiot.
He frowned but didn't move from his kneeling position and continued to wait for her reply.
She wasn't aware because her IQ was currently at the level of an amoeba but the spectators were almost dying from anxiety watching the proposal playing in front of them. She didn't notice the restless Grandpa who was being stopped by Grandma from running towards the islet to assist his own grandson's proposal.
The seconds ticked by and Jisoo still hadn't replied. Jiyong couldn't hold it anymore.
"Are you not going to accept my proposal?"
The frown remained on his face but others couldn't see any additional emotion. Nobody detected his sweaty palms or the slight trembling of the hand holding the velvet box containing the diamond ring. To others, he remained steady despite the long wait for his lady's response to his proposal.
It was a slow process but Jisoo finally recovered some of her IQ. Not much but at least her mind wasn't at the level of amoeba anymore.
"I...Ni—Jiyong, you..." she stammered.
He raised an eyebrow and lifted the small velvet box closer to her.
"B-but we're already engaged," she said. "Didn't I already propose to you before? And you already accepted it. Why are you p-proposing to me?"
Jiyong sighed. "I want to give you a proper proposal. So? What's your answer? Will you marry me?"
"But you should already know my answer."
"Dammit, Jisoo! Yes or no?"
"Yes!" Tears flowed down her face. "Oh yes, I'll marry you!"
The frown disappeared from Jiyong's face replaced by a faint but genuine smile. He quickly slid the diamond ring on Jisoo's finger before standing up and sweeping her in his embrace and kissing her in front of the cheering spectators.
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Chapter Title: Proper Proposal
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The Wife Is A Superstar 7
FanfictionA world-famous hacker and daughter of the most powerful criminal family who ruled the international underworld for many generations is killed when their organization is annihilated in a single night. She is reborn into the body of Jennie Kim, a pop...
