Chapter Text
Soonyoung dropped a kiss on top of Jihyun’s head as he walked into his kitchen, where she was sitting at the kitchen counter, strawberry milk in one hand and phone in the other. “Morning, jagiya.”
Jihyun let out a small hum of acknowledgment, eyes still on her phone. Smiling, Soonyoung grabbed his own cup of coffee, and settled down from across her, where chicken porridge and banchan were already waiting for him. The domesticity of their entire situation had another smile tugging at the corner of his lips, which stayed even after he’d polished off his breakfast.
It had taken a couple of months filled with far too many emotional outbursts and tears, but they’d gotten their peaceful happily ever after eventually. It hadn’t been an easy journey, but they’d made it. And Soonyoung had no words to describe the spark of joy in his heart when he could hold Jihyun’s hand in public, in front of their friends and family, without fearing any potential repercussions. The simplest act of affection between couples had never been available to them, not until now, and he would savour every single moment of it, even if their friends would groan about how grossly in love the both of them were.
Like Seungcheol was one to complain, Soonyoung snorted. He wasn’t the one who’d publicly declared his love for his boyfriend in front of a whole hall of wedding guests that included his friends, family, and more, by kissing him in the middle of the dance floor before giving anyone a heads up.
If it weren’t for the fact that the Chois loved Jeonghan to bits, Soonyoung doubted that Seungcheol’s mother would’ve recovered from the shock as fast as she did.
He looked down at his plates, only to realise that they’d been cleared and washed without him realising it, and Jihyun was already back in her seat, sipping on the rest of her strawberry milk while looking at him with amusement dancing in her eyes. God, he loved her eyes. “Finally. How was the daydream?”
“Interesting,” he told her honestly, enraptured as he watched her laugh in response.
“I’m going to go first; I want to make a detour to Spring.” She gestured at the huge bottle of strawberry milk that she’d made from scratch yesterday, specially for the man who shared her love for the refreshing drink. “Seungkwan will get it to Jeonghan.”
Soonyoung had no doubt that even though Jeonghan had trusted the young man wholeheartedly with Spring, which had been born of his dreams to spread happiness through artfully arranged bouquets, he would never be able to fully let it go, hence Seokmin and Jeonghan’s regular visits to the shop to check on Seungkwan. “I could pass it to Han for you, if you wanted.” Kwon Incorporated was only a short distance away from Yoon Corporation; the two men met up often for lunches, often giving their employees who were enjoying their lunch breaks in the various eateries around the area a heart attack whenever the two of them entered the establishment together.
Soonyoung didn’t blame them, not one bit. They were an exceptionally attractive duo, if he himself could say so.
Jihyun shook her head. “It’s fine. I want to catch up with Kwan, anyway.” She grabbed her bag off the couch and the bottle of milk which was carefully placed in a tote that Soonyoung recognised as one from Wonwoo’s bookstore; he was fairly sure that Jihyun had at least ten of those spread around her own place and his, being a regular visitor to the store. Just last month, Soonyoung had, with Wonwoo and Mingyu’s help, bought and installed an extra bookshelf in his study, and filled it with books Wonwoo had sworn up and down Jihyun would love. Soonyoung hadn’t bothered doubting the man’s claims; he loved Jihyun, but when it came to books, Wonwoo knew her best.
He thought Jihyun loved chocolate. Heck, she’d shed tears over that box of Piaf truffles from Seungkwan that one Christmas ago. He wasn’t prepared for the full-blown sobbing that had lasted for a whole hour when she saw the bookshelf. Jung Jihyun, who was undoubtedly one of the most levelheaded people in his life, had cried when she’d received a gift of books.
“I cried when I visited the Harry Potter Studio when I was still in London,” she’d told him between sniffles, once he’d managed to calm her down. “I think I nearly gave Jeonghan a heart attack; he couldn’t figure out what was wrong.”
Soonyoung had tried very, very hard not to laugh at his girlfriend. “So crying is your way of expressing your happiness?”
He’d earned himself a sharp pinch to his waist, but since it had been followed by very appreciative and grateful kisses and snuggles, he hadn’t complained.
Soonyoung pulled her in for a kiss before letting her go. “Text me when you get to the office,” he reminded her gently. He would’ve preferred dropping her off every single day, just to ensure that she was safe (and to spend more time with her) but Jihyun had insisted on getting to work herself most of the time, reducing the gossip she’d have to endure if her colleagues found out that she was dating Soonyoung. Not that they didn’t have anything else to gossip about; the woman left her job where she’d been valued and treasured all of a sudden, only to return after a year as though nothing had happened in between, and no one other than Jihoon and Mingyu - who was now the manager of a team in their department and unfortunately no longer Jihyun’s deskmate - knew the real reason behind it all. There was prone to be gossip, but she didn’t want to garner more unwanted attention to herself, and Soonyoung could respect that.
“You worry too much, Mr. Kwon.” She tugged him by his tie in for another kiss, and left him breathless as she spun out of the door with a satisfied grin on her face.
Soonyoung was still trying to catch his breath when the door opened again, Jihyun coming back into his unit. “It’s raining cats and dogs out there,” she explained. “Do you have an umbrella I can borrow?”
Shaking his head, Soonyoung grabbed his coat and briefcase. “I’ll drop you off, jagiya. No buts,” he said, sensing her protests even before they were voiced out. “I am not having you trudge through the rain and falling sick.”
Jihyun sighed, but relented, understanding her boyfriend’s concerns. “I still need an umbrella though, just in case I need to go out later. Do you have a portable one that I can slip into my tote?”
Soonyoung rummaged through the umbrella stand in the corner of his doorway, and pulled out a black foldable umbrella that he’d only used once, passing it to Jihyun, whose face twisted into concentration and confusion when she saw the umbrella. Curious, he asked, “Is something wrong?”
“No, it’s fine.” She opened it up to check, and once she was satisfied that there were no loose parts or holes, she slipped it into her bag. “It’s just that the logo-“ she pointed to the neatly printed logo of an umbrella on the cover, “seems really familiar, but I can’t remember where I’ve seen this before.”
Soonyoung hummed as he recalled how he’d gotten the umbrella that one rainy day in Daegu so many years ago. “I didn’t buy this, actually. I was in Daegu for a business trip, and Hansol and I had just checked into our hotel. We were going to walk over to the office where the meeting was supposed to be held, but it started raining so heavily, it would’ve been impossible to do so. There was a conference in the hotel that had ended at the same time, and everyone was fighting over the cabs and umbrellas. I’d sent Hansol into the fray to try and grab us something to get us to the meeting, but frankly, it seemed like a lost cause. I was about to call our partners and cancel the meeting, but a woman who was waiting in the hotel as well offered me her umbrella - this umbrella. She said she was leaving, and she’d gotten the umbrella the day before-“
“At the convenience store across the street.”
Soonyoung stared at Jihyun, who’d finished his story for him, her eyes wide with shock and realisation. “It was you?”
“That’s why this was so familiar,” Jihyun murmured wondrously, looking at the umbrella in her hand. “You were the man I gave the umbrella to. I remember thinking that he was extremely attractive, but I forgot all about it after that.”
“I was far too annoyed with the weather back then to remember your face, but I never forgot the act of kindness you showed a mere stranger,” Soonyoung said softly. “Fate sure works in weird, weird ways.”
Jihyun wrapped her arms around his waist. “I’m glad we found each other in the end,” she said, voice muffled into his shirt.
Soonyoung sighed into her hair. “You and me both, jagiya.”
*****
“Smile!”
Thanking the staff for the photo, Soonyoung turned to Jihyun and stifled a grin when he saw her bouncing on her toes excitedly, looking absolutely adorable in the oversized Slytherin cloak. “Come on, jagiya. Let’s go get our photos.”
After some wrangling and sneaky manipulation of both their schedules - Soonyoung owed Jihoon a couple of huge, huge favours - Soonyoung had managed to surprise Jihyun with a trip to London for a week. She’d been ballistic when he’d kidnapped her from work and had headed all the way to the airport and through the gates without any warning, but the fire had been easily put out by the prospect of visiting the city she’d spent a year in and missed dearly.
Jeonghan and Minghao had packed her bags for her, and Soonyoung thoroughly enjoyed Jihyun’s exasperated exclamations whenever she discovered a new piece of clothing that she most certainly did not own inside her suitcases. (“A Burberry trench coat? Really?”)
They’d spent the first four days sightseeing, Soonyoung allowing Jihyun to show him all the mandatory tourist landmarks - he wouldn’t admit that his favourite part of visiting the London Eye had been feeding the squirrels in the park beside it - and her own favourite spots. They’d spent a morning in the Royal Courts of Justice, wandering the majestic halls, taking in the sheer historical presence the courthouse radiated, even sitting in a couple of ongoing hearings, and Soonyoung had been utterly fascinated by the entire experience.
“You could’ve been one of those barristers, fighting for their client’s case in front of a judge,” Soonyoung commented as they browsed through the intimidatingly wide selection of teas in the Twinings shop across the road from the courthouse.
Jihyun chuckled as she read the label on a box. “I started from sitting in the gallery as an intern, taking notes on what the other side would say, and what our own side would present as well. Interns were normally given the task of transcribing the recordings for our own records after the hearings, and it helped when you had some rough notes to refer to instead of doing it directly by ear. Then I got to sit at the bar table, the junior counsel that passes your senior counsel all the files and documents he’d need to present his case, and that was a challenge in itself, remembering where every single scrap of information could be found in the stacks of papers, because if you were too slow, the judge would get impatient and you’d get a scalding lecture the moment you got out from the courtroom.” She selected two boxes of earl grey, and handed them over to the girl waiting quietly by the side. “But the adversarial system - you sensed it, didn’t you? I could never get used to it. Even while mooting back in law school, it always made me feel uneasy. Jihoon used to say that I lacked the confidence in presenting my case, which just translates to a lack of advocacy skills. It’s true, though. So as much as I love watching the way experienced and talented lawyers submit in the courtroom, it was never something I could do. Jihoon, though.” Jihyun laughed, shaking her head as she selected another two boxes of jasmine green tea. “I should show you the recordings from his mooting competitions in university. The man was - still is - brilliant.”
The British Museum and Natural History Museum had been eye-opening; they’d spent a whole day just walking through these two buildings, filled with so much history and knowledge. They’d visited the London office of Yoon Corporation as well, Soonyoung taking the time to thank those Jihyun introduced to him for taking care of her and Jeonghan while they were there. She’d introduced him to the best fish-and-chips of his life, and the duck confit sandwich that had prompted Jeonghan to call them up and yell at them tearfully when they’d sent him photos of them devouring the sandwich. She’d brought him to a finely decorated restaurant that had a majestic view of the city at 2 in the morning, where the food came with outrageous price tags, but was an experience in itself, and had brought him to a place with outrageously good hot chocolate with a whole mountain of mini marshmallows that melted in his mouth. They visited the theatre twice, watching Hamilton and Wicked unfurl in front of them, absorbing every single second of the brilliant shows that left them breathless and in awe.
And on the fourth night, they’d gotten themselves an unexpected visitor in the middle of the night.