October 2018
Chaerin carefully managed her way through the big crowd gathering at the spacious living room of the Kwon House*
Chaerin didn't think Jiyong would invite so many people. She knew his connections were impressive but damn this was crazy!
How was she gonna find anyone?
"Hey, Chae!"
She turned to looked at Xin who thankfully had grabbed her hand, whisking her away from the throng of partygoers.
"Where's oppa?"
"Nice seeing you, too, Rin."
She squeezed his hand. "Right, oppa. This feels like inside a mosh pit. Why does he have so many friends over?"
"Chae, what do you expect? He's on an official leave so naturally he's gonna throw the biggest party there is..."
When Jiyong had texted him to come to his house, she had expected a light dinner over wine with the usual suspects - Plus 82 crew and some people from their mutual circles.
Xin had stopped walking when they neared a corner, "There's your oppa," he said.
Her heart raced when she saw Jiyong in his gray suit - she knew how wonderful it must felt for him to ditch his camo uniform for the time being.
Jiyong looked happy too, laughing heartily at whatever Choice oppa had been saying.
It had been months since she last saw him, and he was always easily missable.
"Oppa!" she said excitedly, tapping a hand on his shoulder.
"Oh, hey, Rinnie!" He turned towards her with a huge grin on his face. With an arm over her waist, he whispered, "How's my future wife doing tonight?" before giving her a peck on the cheek.
Future wife? Err, what?
"Oppa, are you already drunk?" She asked, looking at Choice oppa for clarification.
"He's fine-on his second bottle now. The night is still young."
~
The night indeed was still young, but Chaerin found herself at the balcony on the top floor - already exhausted from tonight's activities. There was simply too many faces to say hello to.
"Chae."
It was Jiyong, appearing beside her. "I've been looking for you."
She looked at him. "Why, oppa?"
"Have you thought about it?"
"What?"
"My proposal."
"What proposal?"
"The one I asked inside the military camp."
"Oppa, are you crazy?"
Chaerin didn't think it was serious. "Okay, oppa, after your training is over," was her reply to him. She said it while laughing so there was no way he didn't think she was joking. In fact, she had forgotten about the whole thing as soon as she left the camp. Because, what the hell?
"Why do you want to marry me?" Did military training alter the way his brain functioned? There was no way on earth this was happening
"I need someone to be the mother of my children." He said it like he just commented on the weather.
Chaerin stared at him incredulously. "Is this your lame attempt at getting someone into bed?"
She momentarily disregarded the fact that it was her who would be on that bed if she agreed to what Jiyong was proposing.
"Sure, I could have worded it better, but I am definitely serious, Chae." He said, running a hand up his hair.
None of this was making sense to her. "Wait a minute, why me? You could go out on the street and pick the nearest girl and you would get yourself a wife."
"Don't be silly, it's not that simple." He retorted.
"I'm the one being silly?" She said, voice slightly rising. "I don't know what's gotten into you!"
"Why are you so against the idea of us getting married? I'm single, you're single. We're at the proper age. Marry me, Chae."
"Oppa, you're making me uncomfortable."
She turned to leave. Why was Jiyong being like that? Marry me, Chae sure, oppa, let's just forget our careers and ride off into the sunset together! How could he just ask her for marriage as if he were just inviting her to dinner?
