Chapter Text
Saeyoung always felt anxious before he went on a date with MC. Even if they had been engaged for a few months, it was always a situation filled with anxiety. He always checked at least three times to see if he had scheduled the right place, if she could come, if he had bought flowers. That night, he paced up and down in the bedroom, impatiently, thinking about where they were going to eat since they had decided to go out on the last minute. He always felt a bit lost when they decided to go out at the last minute. It had been her idea and they did not have a plan. He liked having a plan. It was his way of making sure that everything would go perfectly.
“Saeyoung, breathe” MC said, putting on her earrings “You’ll end up exploding by being like this. It’s not our first date, the worst part is over” she turned to him, taking his hand and smiling “There are no cultists trying to kill us this time, so I guess we will be fine”
He lowered his head, laughing. He placed his hands on her waist, bringing her closer to him. She thought he was very handsome that night. The black leather jacket over the orange shirt made his amber eyes even brighter.
“Have I ever said that I am very lucky to have you here with me?” he asked, staring into her eyes.
“I guess you have mentioned it once” she answered, giving him a soft kiss on the lips and smiling “My goofy defender of justice”
They touched their foreheads, close, together. Sometimes it all felt like an impossible dream, where one of them would wake up suddenly and forget about that happiness. But they did not wake up. After everything they had faced, they had decided that they would be in that dream for the rest of their lives.
“Saeyoung, where do you keep the honey buddha?” Yoosung yelled from the living room.
MC began laughing as her fiancé let out a frustrated sigh. The moment was over, duty called. He rubbed his eyes under the glasses, still keeping one of his hands on her hips. She loved how much he cared about everyone, even though she thought that he should care about himself that much too. He had not realized yet that, for her, it would not matter where they ate or what they did on their dates. The small things were all that mattered, and she wished for him to see it too. He had already met all her expectations and surpassed them, only with those small things. The way he cared about his friends, he cared for his brother, the times when she saw him watching her study and he would blush and leave the room.
“I will finish getting changed while you take a look at the kids” she said, giving him a kiss on the cheek and walking back towards the bathroom.
Saeyoung smiled watching her leave. He had read about falling in love with someone over and over again, but only after meeting her he understood what it meant. He was deeply in love. Her smile, the way she was always so kind to everyone, how she treated his brother. Saeyoung felt that he had to be more for her, even if she had told him so many times that he was more than she ever wished. He loved her profoundly.
Slowly, still smiling, he turned and walked towards the living room, only to find Saeran lying on the couch and Yoosung sitting upside down next to him, both of them watching TV.
“Saeran knows where the chips are,” Saeyoung said, walking towards the kitchen.
“I didn’t want to stand up” Saeran answered, without taking is eyes off the TV “Frogo is about to throw the ring on the fire”
“You’ve watched it eight times already” Saeyoung stated as he grabbed one package from the cupboard “And there is a pause option on Nightflix” he threw the package to Yoosung, who grabbed it in the air “What happened to the rule of not talking to me when I am in there with MC?”
“The door was open” Saeran said
“You can’t see the door from here” Saeyoung said, pushing his brother’s legs to the side and sitting on the couch.
Saeran laughed and looked at him. That stupid brother of his. Traitor. No. He was always so terribly nervous when he had a date with MC, Saeran could not understand that. They would spend most of their free time together. There was something wrong with the idea of dating, he supposed. Saeran wondered if he should say something. Saeyoung was definitely anxious and maybe a few words would make him feel better. Why would we help him? He was still angry at his stupid brother, but maybe saying something nice would not be the worse thing in the world. It would be a nice gesture for MC, because she had been really nice with him when they went to the market together a few weeks before. Noona is nice, Saeyoung is the one that abandoned us. No. Stop. He paused the movie.
“Why are you so nervous?” Saeran asked “It’s not as if you had just started dating. It’s been four months since you got engaged. What‘s the matter between you and dating?”
Saeyoung sighed. Even he wasn’t sure about it. He just wanted everything to be perfect, and if something were to not work out, he would feel terrible about himself.
“I just want everything to go well” he answered “I was terrible to her on the beginning because I was scared. I don’t want anything wrong to happen anymore. It will feel as if… I don’t care enough, and that’s not it.”
“Saeyoung, have you ever seen the way she looks at you?” Saeran asked, sitting up to face his brother “Do you think that what you guys have would end because of one dinner gone wrong? What you have is movie love. This kind of thing doesn’t happen to everyone. And I know you don’t believe in what you are saying, your brain is just… being mean. Don’t be mean to yourself”
Saeyoung smiled at him. All he had said was true. He knew it was. Perhaps he was just finding it difficult to believe that he was enough for her. Perhaps sometimes he was just afraid that he would let all of them down.
“My parents were really strict when I was young” Yoosung said “But there was one thing that my mom used to tell me. She would say that if you were doing your best and giving others the best version you could be that day, the people that mattered would always be by your side. Sometimes, your best version is not that good, but the people that matter to you and care about you, would know who you truly are and be with you on those dark times.”
Saeyoung sighed. He hated when those two were right. He looked forward as he heard steps on the hallway. When she came into the living room, his heart skipped a beat and a half. She was wearing a cute yellow strappy dress with a jeans jacket. Her hair was loose and falling over her shoulders. She was beautiful, especially when she smiled at him.
“Are we ready?” she asked, as he approached her.
“We are,” he smiled. Turning to his brother and Yoosung he stated “We’ll be back soon. Please don’t burn the house down. Saeran, take care of Yoosung and don’t let him stay on lolol for too long.”
“Bye, guys” she said “Have fun”
They left to the street, taking the sidewalk as they strolled into the night. It was a pleasant night. The moon was bright in the sky, surrounded by stars. There was still some movement on the street. Cars passing by and, occasionally, some pedestrians walking without noticing the couple.
“All right,” Saeyoung said, taking a deep breath. “I’m being cool. Relaxed.” he snapped his fingers, pointing at her “Where do you want to eat?”
“I still don’t know, but if we go to any restaurant right now they will mistake you with a tomato and put you in a pan” she laughed “You are completely red, that’s so cute”
“Will you stop?” he laughed, hugging her from behind and placing his chin over her head, hands crossed over her stomach.
They walked like that for a while, occasionally stopping to talk about something they saw on a store window or to show each other something on the street. The small moments, thought Saeyoung.
“What do you want to eat?” he asked again, whispering in her ear
“We could go to the japanese place,” she answered, turning to him.
He agreed. She loved the japanese place a few blocks away from his home and he knew that. It was always fun to go there, especially when MC got excited and started chatting with the owners. They were an elder japanese couple, very traditional and very excited about talking with the “new, young generation”. Since MC told them that she was half japanese because of her mother, they would always spend a little extra time at their table chatting with them. She had even tried teaching Saeran to speak a bit of japanese, but in the end he ended up telling the restaurant owner that he wanted to eat the table and got frustrated. Saeyoung laughed a lot when it happened.
“I’ve never seen someone like japanese food this much” he said, holding her hand “You miss there a lot, don’t you?”
“It’s weird” she answered “I was really young when my parents died and I had to move back here. I don’t have many memories of our life there. But there is something when I eat the food or speak a bit of japanese that…” she took a deep breath.
Seyoung looked at her. She rarely spoke about her parents and the time she lived in Japan. Mostly because she did not have many memories about it. He held her hand tighter, gently stroking it with his thumb.
“Is it the feeling of it?” he asked.
“Yes. The feeling” she leaned her head on his arm.
It was very rare for her to talk about her parents. Saeyoung knew that. He also knew that what made her sad was not how much she missed them, it was the fact that she remembered so little about them.
“We could go there one day” he said “See the sakura trees, walk around Tokyo, go to that park where you can feed the deers, I’ve always wanted to go feed the deers”
“Are you serious?” she asked, smiling “You and me, travelling there?”
“Sure! Why not?” he smiled too “In the future, of course. Now everything is…” he could not find the word to describe what his life had been for the last months
“Scrambled eggs?” she asked, receiving a confused look from her fiancé “My grandmother used to say that life was just like scrambled eggs, because things were always mixed up in the middle”
“Your grandmother sounds like someone with whom I would have had amazing conversations” he laughed “Yeah. Things are really scrambled eggs right now”
As soon as they entered the restaurant, they were greeted by the smiling owner. After a while of small talk they managed to order what they wanted. The night seemed to flow as if the clock was hurriedly trying to end it. They talked a lot about the toy shop that Saeyoung was working so hard to open. There was a lot to put in order and he was still giving it some time until they were sure that Saeran was completely fine, but he would get there. He did not want it to be big, just a tiny shop, but his idea was amazing. A place where kids could actually play and see the toys. He was trying to implement automated components so that everything would seem magical. MC loved seeing him talk. When he was excited about something his eyes would have a special sparkle. She told him about college. Her major in arts was a lifelong dream and she was working hard to achieve it. She was working on a big research project about the use of art in psychological therapy and was very excited with the results. Her dream was to either work with teaching arts for kids or being an independent artist, even though she did think that she could be both. Saeyoung was sure that she could achieve whatever she wanted. He fell in love with her once more seeing her smile.
For a while, they chatted about the upcoming party. They had all been apprehensive about getting back to it, but they had agreed that they needed to continue. Once again, it would be small, but they surely hoped that it would be less chaotic than last time. They laughed as Saeyoung began telling about the time when he and Vanderwood had crashed into a fancy party in order to steal one object that was being auctioned.
After dinner, they strolled around a small park near his home. There was a big lake right at the center of the park, surrounded by trees and flowers. It was a special place. According to MC, it felt magical.
Shortly after, they headed home. Before entering, they stopped by the door, holding hands, looking at each other. Both of them smiled.
“Thank you for the night,” he said.
“Thank you for being here,” she answered, hugging him.
They felt that they could be there all night, holding each other close. Saeyoung gave her a soft kiss on the head, running his fingers through her hair. He was so happy.
He turned around and unlocked the door.