Finishing Line

Before 20:07

It was the 1st of April of the year 2007, a beautiful spring morning worth marveling over.

But it was also April Fools' Day.

Baekhyun was walking along the roadside pavement when he accidentally slipped on a banana peel. He grumbled to himself, and then got up and dusted off the debris on his back.

He walked to a nearby café for a quick breakfast. A waitress took his order, flat white, no sugar and jam and toast.

Out of curiosity, he had asked the waitress a completely unrelated question. "Why do banana peels make us slip?"

The waitress smiled and said, "Because it's surface is smooth and slippery. You should lighten up you know, it's April Fools' Day."

The waitress was Eunjung, or at least that was what she claimed her name was.

She had fallen for Baekhyun and his stupid questions, the way Baekhyun had fallen for Eunjung and her frank ways of answering him.

They completed each other the way no one else could, they were the perfect match.

But standing alone, they had their flaws.

Eunjung was not the kindest person on this planet. She had a sassy mouth when she wanted to, and her words stab like daggers. She can make a big deal out of the tiniest things, and of course, with Baekhyun by her side, get away with it.

But she was also capable of being sensitive, which was often.

Baekhyun was used to getting what he wanted, being a jock back in high school, the school girls had fawned over him back in those days. Some shameless girls still do, sending him love letters and chocolates and flowers.

Before Eunjung came into his life, he would accept them and then would just give them away to his friends without a second thought.

But after Eunjung came around and they started dating, he would decline to the gifts. Knowing Eunjung, he was scared she would get angry at him for accepting their gifts, so he never took his chances with her.

The café had belonged to Eunjung's mother. Eunjung's mother also owned a restaurant a 30 min drive from Gijang, in Busan.

After 3 years and 9 months of courtship, Eunjung's mom was getting impatient of waiting for Baekhyun to propose to her daughter. Mrs Oh knew it well that Eunjung was patient in waiting for her dearest boyfriend, but as a mother, she wanted it so badly for her daughter.

15th January 2010

Mrs Oh: Baekhyun, I think it's time you'd step up. Aren't you afraid Eunjung might get upset about it? It's been almost 4 years already and she's not going to get any younger, especially when she's always frowning like that.

Baekhyun: Ahjumma, uh, ommo-nim, I'm not ready yet. I'm saving up for the ring, I can't go in debt for this, please, give me a few months.

Mrs Oh: I don't care how much time you need. You better not hurt her.

Baekhyun: I'll try my best, ommo-nim.

This was more or less the conversation Baekhyun had with Eunjung's mom, a self-respecting woman with pride in her cooking.

She has a sous chef back in her restaurant, Eunjung's childhood friend, Kyungsoo, who has a flair in making kimchi spaghetti.

He drove to Busan to Eunjung's mother's restaurant, and as he had dinner, he had a chat with Kyungsoo about Eunjung.

Kyungsoo had told him to make her happy while he works towards his goal; the ring.

23rd January 2010