Work Text:
Jeonghan buys the ring at Kay Jewelers, mainly because he had their dumb jingle stuck in his head when he was looking for stores to buy it from.
“Every kiss begins with K” repeats in his mind as he tells the jeweler Jisoo’s ring size and what he wants engraved on the inside.
Every kiss begins with K? More like J. Haha. Jeonghan plans to say that when he proposes. After 5 years of spending every single day with Jisoo, he’s sure this will go all according to plan. Besides, what is there to be worried about?
“Wedding ring? I remember when I proposed to my girlfriend. I almost threw up out of nervousness.” The jeweler chuckles as he hands over the receipt to him.
“Oh.”
“Yeah, you think everything is going to go smoothly until you start stumbling over your words cause you get the idea of ‘what happens if they say no?’, you know?”
“Oh.”
Fuck.
Attempt #1
“Sorry, there was a mountain of essays I had to grade. Can you believe some kids still don’t know how to use commas? You’d think they’d know by 9th grade.” Jisoo huffs on the other end of phone.
“Absolutely mortifying, like how you couldn’t spell exercise for four years.” Jeonghan snorts as he sits at the table in the fancy restaurant, spinning the ring box in his hand.
“I just didn’t know where to put the ‘c’ in! And that’s spelling not grammar.”
He tries his best to listen to the rest of Jisoo’s rant on how he knew how the English language works as he takes the ring out and proceeds to try to stuff it in one of the rolls in the basket of bread.
“Hey, waiter?” Jeonghan calls the server next to him once he hung up, “You think this is inconspicuous enough so that when my boyfriend gets here he’ll take a bite out of this without thinking?”
The waiter squints and lets out a wheeze.
“You hid it too well, sir. How are you gonna tell this apart from the rest of the bread?” He replies with a hint of force when he says ‘sir’.
“I’m not stupid, I’ll make sure I don’t… Wonwoo.” Jeonghan reads his name tag and he shrugs.
“I’ll make sure to call 911 if anything happens, sir.”
Jisoo comes in 20 minutes late panting, shrugging off his coat and handing it over to Wonwoo, who was happily accompanying Jeonghan to avoid work.
“Can I have a glass of water, please ?” Jisoo wheezes out.
“Of course, I’ll bring it over. As of now, enjoy the complimentary rolls.” Wonwoo robotically says and gives Jeonghan a subtle eyebrow raise, probably meaning, did you see what I did there , to which he replied with his own eyebrow raise to mean, yes I did .
Jisoo takes a roll, tearing off a piece.
“You wouldn’t believe what Sharon did in class today.” He says with a mouth full of bread.
“Not Sharon.” Jeonghan deadpans, eyeing the basket again.
He’s going to damn Wonwoo to hell for planting that fear of putting a potential choking hazard into his mind. Jeonghan looks at what seems like a mountain of buns sitting immaculately in the basket. Fuck, which bread was it?
“I was telling the class about Of Mice and Men , and we really got to the meat of the story with the dog and all. Sharon was on her phone the whole time that I had to take it away but she threw a fit.”
“What? Don’t you teach a class of 15 year olds, not 10?” Jeonghan frowns.
“Exactly! Her mom apparently wants to have a meeting with me, probably going to be about how Sharon deserves a higher grade in the class. Want one?” Jisoo sighs, handing another piece to him.
Without thinking, Jeonghan takes it, too busy trying to remember the speech he prepared to say when Jisoo finds the ring.
“When Jisoo takes a bite, he’ll see it and that’s when I’ll get down on one knee and say my speech. After it all, bring the champagne bottle over.” Jeonghan instructs Wonwoo, who’s finding more interest looking at the white tablecloth.
“Of course. Will I get tip?”
“We met 10 minutes ago and let me just say, you are a horrible waiter.”
“I need to make extra cash, somehow.”
Out of nervousness, he starts eating the bread, only to stop when he hears a clink and the feeling of something metal between his teeth.
Quickly, he hides his mouth behind his hand, getting out of his seat. Jisoo looks up from the menu with confusion.
“Everything alright?”
“Yeah! I fohgot they pwut wheat in this bwead. Let me go teh them to chan it.” Jeonghan tries to explain, and Jisoo only gives him a nod. He runs to the bathroom that’s lined with velvet walls and a leather couch at the corner (he still doesn’t get why it’s there) and finds Wonwoo in there folding the hand towels.
Wonwoo watches as Jeonghan grabs one of them and spits out the gunk of bread, the ring in between all the mess.
“I told you that you hid it too well.” Wonwoo smirks.
“Shut up, I’m pretty sure I just ate a chunk of platinum.” Jeonghan grumbles, washing the ring under the sink. He hands the used towel to Wonwoo, who grimaces.
“I’m guessing your idea isn’t going as planned.”
“I had this all thought out for months now, I don’t have a backup! And I’m not just going to walk out here with this ring and put it on his finger and go, ‘by the way, this has been in my mouth so you might want to throw it into some rubbing alcohol when we get home’.”
Wonwoo shrugs and throws the towel into the wastebin.
“Just enjoy your dinner for the rest of the night, and think of another plan for 6 more months.”
Jeonghan runs his hand through his hair, tugging slightly out of frustration.
“You aren’t getting any tip today.” He says before exiting out the restroom.
“What the hell? Don’t take out your frustration on me!” Is the last thing Jeonghan hears from Wonwoo before he returns back to his seat. Jisoo is mindlessly twirling the straw in his water but sits up straight when he sees Jeonghan.
“How did it go? You were gone for a while.”
“Busy day for them, so they can’t give us a new basket.” Jeonghan lies.
“Aw, poor baby can’t get white bread?” Jisoo teases, and he gives him a mumbled “shut up”.
Jisoo laughs, unfolding the napkin and setting it across his lap. Jeonghan follows and reaches for the menu, only to find it gone.
“Another waiter came so I ordered ahead. I ordered the calamari for our starter and steak for the entree, medium rare.”
“You know me too well.” Jeonghan smiles.
“Of course I do, we’re practically like an old married couple now.”
Jeonghan nods, the ring in his pocket suddenly feeling a little bit heavier.
Attempt #2
Wonwoo : where r u guys standing?
Jeonghan : bout to enter near the pond, shit ton of ducks here
Seungcheol : I really hate ducks, did you know that?
Wonwoo : ok
It’s not that Jeonghan exactly wanted to have Wonwoo somehow squeeze his way into his group of friends, it’s that after the dinner 4 months ago, Jisoo had given Wonwoo a gratuitous amount of tip because Wonwoo came out with a basket full of white bread.
“I think we can really get along.” Wonwoo grins, stuffing the cash into the pocket of his vest.
“We could! Thanks for keeping Jeonghan company when I was late, we should hang out some time, isn’t that right, Jeonghan?” Jisoo nods, looking at him for confirmation.
“Huh? Yeah, sure.” He’s too busy looking at the bill again, realizing he was charged extra for the second basket of rolls.
Wonwoo : I have the camera ready, just make sure you don’t stand behind the old lady feeding the pigeons rn
Jeonghan scans the area in the park before finally noticing 2 heads peeking out behind a bush. Wonwoo waves with the camera in hand; Seungcheol is busy trying to push the balloons down so they won’t float too high.
“Can I ask why you, out of all people, decided to go to the park today?” Jisoo snorted, one hand in the pocket of his peacoat, the other holding a bag of bread crust (Jeonghan doesn’t like eating the edges of toast).
“The weather seemed nice, so might as well get some fresh air.” Jeonghan really wants to say it’s because he needs to make the proposal as romantic as possible, and that Seungcheol’s workplace is nearby.
They sit down on the bench under the gazebo, facing the pond with the fountain in the middle. Jeonghan’s palms are beginning to sweat at the idea. Jisoo is too oblivious to notice, already tearing off pieces of the bread and throwing it into the water for the ducks to eat.
What happens if Jisoo says it’s too fast? Maybe he doesn’t love him as much as he does. Maybe he’s going to break up with him if he proposes, since that would mean Jisoo would have to take care of his ass even more meticulously than now.
Jeonghan suddenly feels nauseous, and his phone buzzes, snapping out of his train of thought.
Wonwoo : u gonna propose or what, the tapes been running for 15 min now and all I have is Jisoo feeding ducks
Wonwoo : also a duck is near us and Seungcheol is getting antsy
It’s now or never, and Jeonghan takes a deep breath before turning to his boyfriend.
“Jisoo-“
“Hold on, is that goose fighting the duck?” Jisoo guffaws, leaning forward to look closely.
“We need to record this, Jeonghan. Fuck- where’s my phone.” He continues.
“Wait, this is really important.” Jeonghan frowns.
“Yeah this is, I want to snap it, Seungcheol’s gonna crap his pants.”
Jeonghan is scared. Frightened. Jisoo isn’t even paying attention to him. Oh god, does this mean Jisoo doesn’t care about him at all? Does this mean this relationship has all been a sham?
“Holy shit!” Jisoo cries out, and Jeonghan notices that the bread crust he threw had hit the crown of the goose’s head.
“We need to go, I fucked up so badly!” Jisoo groans, grabbing Jeonghan’s arm, leading them to run off to the other end of the park with an angry goose trailing after them.
He doesn’t know when he started crying, but Jeonghan has tears in his eyes and through his blurry vision he sees Wonwoo and Seungcheol running after them trying to catch up.
“That was so close.” Jisoo has his head down and hands on his knees, not noticing that Jeonghan just had a breakdown mid-chase. When he looks up, still panting, his facial expression turns into a look of surprise.
“Are you okay?” He tries to wipe some of the tears off of Jeonghan’s face with the sleeve of his coat. The wool feels rough against his skin, but Jeonghan nods.
“I didn’t know it would be that scary. I mean, who would’ve thought a goose could have such murderous intent?” Jisoo frowns.
“It’s fine, just got really scared.” Jeonghan mumbles, trying to fix his shirt and hair to not look like he ran at 40 miles per hour just now.
“Were you going to say something before this whole fiasco? Sorry I cut you off; ducks are really entertaining.” Jisoo apologizes.
Jeonghan looks at the ground, digging the heel of his shoe into the dirt before sighing.
“No, I forgot what I was going to say.”
Wonwoo : [MOV_1980.mp4]
Wonwoo : lol it’s 3 min of u being chased and then crying
Jeonghan : shut the fuck up
Attempt #3
Worried that Jisoo has been overworking lately due to finals week, Jeonghan had told Jisoo to call him when he was done so he could pick him up instead of Jisoo potentially falling asleep behind the wheel.
“You really think I’d do that?” Jisoo snorted in the morning, and Jeonghan replied with a shrug.
It’s nearing 2 in the morning, and Jeonghan aimlessly taps the steering wheel, waiting for the traffic light to turn green.
“So when are you gonna propose again?” Seungcheol asks, sliding him a cup of coffee across the break room’s table.
“Don’t know, I still have to come up with something. I thought I only needed one backup plan.” Jeonghan sighs.
“It’ll come to you.”
Jeonghan knocks on the classroom door that had the sign “Mr. Hong” labeled on it. No answer came, and he knocks one more time before opening the door.
Jisoo has earphones in and is going through another paper, muttering the sentences out loud. Jeonghan taps his shoulder, and he jumps out of shock.
“Fuck, you scared me!” Jisoo breathes out, hand across chest.
“You’re the one who told me to pick you up right now.”
“I didn’t think you’d drive this fast. Let me finish these last 2 papers, if that’s fine with you.”
“By all means, go for it. Unless it’s by Sharon.” Jeonghan smirks.
The night goes by slowly, with Jeonghan scrolling through his phone, eyeing the stack of paper and to Jisoo, who’s scratching the back of his head with the pen in his hand.
“You know, it’s nearing our 6 year anniversary.”
“It’s today, sweetie.” Jisoo answers without thinking, reaching for the last essay.
“Really? Thought it was in two days.”
Jisoo looks up, “Aren’t you the one who has an alarm set for these things? Closet romantic.”
“It didn’t ring at all, I’m pretty sure it’s on Tuesday.”
“Jeonghan, I swear. If it was on Tuesday I wouldn’t have spent all of Saturday trying to finish grading these essays so we could spend time together today.”
“Well if it is today, maybe you should hurry up so we can actually do something later.”
Jisoo rolls his eyes and looks down, preparing himself to read the introduction.
“Happy anniversary, Jisoo-”
Jisoo looks up from the paper. Jeonghan has his hands in his pockets, grinning widely.
“Are you going to finish the essay or what?”
Jisoo lets out a laugh in disbelief, staring at the 3 page paper that had Jeonghan’s name written in the right hand corner.
“When did you put this here?”
“It’s not hard to do when you leave that folder on the kitchen island the whole night. Also, you do have to read the whole thing. I spent two months writing that.”
Jisoo clears his throat and begins.
“Happy anniversary, Jisoo. Thank you for staying by my side for these last five years. You’ve put up with me through my highs and lows, through you having to find my car keys for me in the morning, through you having to hear me complain about work every night, it’s amazing how you remain sane.
“When we met sitting in the back of Chem 101, trying to get our GE’s over with so we can graduate, I remember thinking that we would be great friends. We became more than that; however, when I ended up staying at your place more than your apartment and when I realized how happy it made me when I saw you laugh at my jokes and me at yours.
“Our first year together was nerve wracking. I tried my hardesr to plan the most perfect first date possible while you tried to be patient when we lost the reservation, resulting in ordering Domino’s at home, sitting in our just ironed suits. You opened up ‘Fifty First Dates’ on Netflix, and we ended up binging every Adam Sandler movie until three in the morning. To this day, that remains the best date I’ve ever been on.
“Even after all these years, I’m still in love with you, even more now. When I bought this ring, I was nervous. I wondered if you were going to reject me. I wondered if you loved me as much as I love you. However, the anxiety melted once I saw you come home, grinning as you told me all the stories that happened at school that day.
“You are singlehandedly the best and most beautiful man I’ve ever met in my life. I don’t know how I lived the majority of my life without you. You’ve helped me through so much, and now it’s my turn to say thank you.
“Hong Jisoo, will you…”
Jeonghan eyes him as he trailed off, biting his bottom lip. Jisoo nods vigorously, throwing his arms around his neck, embracing him in a deep kiss.
“You have to- you have to finish- the sentence.” Jeonghan says in between kisses, and Jisoo shakes his head.
“Can’t. I’ll cry if I do.” He responds, breath shaky.
“Well, if that’s a yes, I have a present.” Jeonghan says after a minute of silent embrace, pulling out the ring box from his jacket’s pocket.
“It literally took me 6 months to get this proposal down. I had to return the ring the first time cause of a mishap.”
“What happened?”
“I might have… accidentally put it in my mouth when I tried to propose to you the first time.” Jeonghan scratches the back of his neck, and Jisoo laughs. He slips the ring onto his finger, and he watches as Jisoo stares at it in marvel.
“Oh yeah, I was going to say, ‘every kiss begins with ‘k’? More like every kiss begins with ‘j’.”
“Haha.” Jisoo rolls his eyes, giving him another peck on the lips.
“Now, are you going to explain to me a little bit more on how you ‘accidentally’ put the ring into your mouth?”
Afterword
“So he finally proposed?” Wonwoo smirks when Jisoo lets him into the apartment.
“Yeah, and he told me you were there the first two times.”
“Of course I did, what type of friend would I be if I wasn’t there to help and also get 100 bucks out of it?”
“Very funny. I want a refund.” Jeonghan quips from the kitchen counter, preparing dinner.
“Hey, by the way,” Jisoo starts, ignoring the death glares Jeonghan is shooting from across the room, “do you have the video of us being chased by ducks by any chance? I want to put that in our wedding invitation.”
“I sure as hell do. I recorded it in 60 fps so you can see Jeonghan’s tears really clearly, too.”
“Delete that!” Jeonghan yells.
“Congratulations on your engagement, Jeonghan. Now everyone is gonna witness the greatest moment of history.” Wonwoo laughs before he jumps out his seat, dodging the cloves of garlic being chucked at him.