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Weekend of the second week of January and Yangyang spends his after-lunch hours on the bed, a hand idly caressing Jaemin’s hair and the other holding his phone. They agreed to go out to buy groceries in the evening to grab some bread in closing-time discounts, so he had no plans on getting up until later. He scrolls through TikTok, calling for Jaemin’s attention in between laughter when he finds an interesting video to share with his boyfriend. Eventually he has to keep it down as the gentle caressing of his hair and a full stomach resulted in Jaemin dozing off. That, and he had a pretty tiring week.
Up next in his For You page is a video of a group of friends doing the rainbow picnic challenge, where everyone buys snacks that correspond to the colors of the rainbow and takes it out one by one. He chuckles to himself, thinking it would be fun to try it when he goes on a trip with his friends again. He checks the hashtag out to look at other entries, and a video of a couple doing a Christmas gift exchange catches his eye.
The video reminds him of the jewelry he bought two months ago. He hoped to propose on Christmas, but fate had other plans for him and decided to place him in another country during the holiday for work. He thought of doing it on New Year’s Eve, the idea of Jaemin saying “Yes” as the new year arrives was tempting, but he got too drunk to remember. Renjun tells him that it doesn’t have to be a special day, as the proposal itself will make it special, but Yangyang is still waiting for the “right moment” again.
Yangyang thinks the challenge is a sign. Christmas is done and he doesn’t want to wait for almost a year for the proposal, so his mind lands on the next (Hallmark) holiday perfect for the idea: Valentine’s day. He doesn’t actually plan on posting a TikTok challenge, but the existence of the challenge is a good excuse so Jaemin wouldn’t get suspicious. He hopes Jaemin would agree to it, as he is already thinking of gifts to buy for his boyfriend (and soon to be fiancé).
Yangyang brings it up over dinner, showing Jaemin the video and glancing at his face to see his reaction. Jaemin smiles, a chuckle escaping from his lips as the excitement from the people in the video affects him.
“That looks fun. Let’s do it! What’s our price cap?”
“Oh, er, I didn’t think about that.” Yangyang mentally curses himself. “Uh, just make sure we don’t go broke?”
Jaemin laughs at his response.
“Sounds good to me.”
Valentine’s day arrives and Yangyang can feel his entire body feeling cold in anxiety. He knows Jaemin will say yes, as they have discussed the possibility of marriage a bunch of times, but still he couldn’t help but feel nervous over the entire scenario. What if Jaemin suddenly changes his mind? What if Jaemin gets disappointed with his plan? What if he finds it too cliché-
“Is the camera ready?”
Jaemin asks as he brings in the big paper bag containing all his gifts for Yangyang, placing it on the bed just like what Yangyang did with his.
“Yep. I’ll start filming if you’re ready.”
“I’m ready.”
Yangyang takes a deep breath as he presses the red button. He lets out a sigh before going back to the bed. He signals to Jaemin that they’ll start the challenge. They wave at the camera then pointed at their paper bags, enough time for an introductory voice line.
Red.
Yangyang takes out a heart-shaped box of chocolates while Jaemin takes out a pair of red and white shoes. Yangyang almost jumps in shock. They were the Valentine’s day special of Dior and they were sold out within 10 minutes. Yangyang doesn’t even want to think how much Jaemin spent to get those. His box of chocolates seemed pale in comparison, but they weren’t his main gift in the first place.
Orange.
Jaemin takes out a box of three orange-shaped candles, knowing that Yangyang enjoys scented candles. Yangyang brings out Kakao Friends’ Ryan-themed pajama set, earning a pleased squeal from Jaemin. He immediately wears the sleeping mask over his head.
Yellow.
Jaemin takes out roll film and gives it to Yangyang. He quickly unrolls it and finds pictures of them from different years, starting from high school when they first met. Yangyang places it on the side then takes out a long red box and pushes it towards Jaemin. He opens it and finds a golden chain bracelet, two small rings connected to form an infinity. Jaemin looks at it in awe and Yangyang finds his sparkling eyes adorable.
“I love it.”
“Can I put it on you?”
Jaemin lifts up his left hand to let Yangyang place the bracelet around his wrist. It looks even prettier on Jaemin. Yangyang mentally praises himself for choosing the right jewelry.
Green.
Jaemin takes out a small green box and for a second, Yangyang feels his heart stop. He heaves out a relieved sigh when he sees a silver earring, a small heart dangling from it.
“Does a green box count?”
“We don’t have to be strict about this, babe, so it counts.”
“Oh, okay… It doesn’t look cheesy, right?”
“No, I love it. It’s cute. Can I wear it now?”
Jaemin nods in response. Yangyang takes off an earring on his left ear and replaces it with Jaemin’s gift. Yangyang pulls out a mint green hoodie and Jaemin laughs at the sight of it, remembering he used to own one back in college but lost it during a trip. He was known as the mint boy for wearing it almost every day.
Blue.
Yangyang takes out a dark blue mug. He doesn’t have time to demonstrate, but later on Jaemin will find out that “I love you forever and after.” will appear when hot water is poured into the mug. Jaemin laughs and takes out the exact same mug. However, the hidden message for this one is “Every moment I share with you is special ♡”.
Violet.
(They agreed to drop indigo.)
Jaemin brings out a dark violet box with a lavender ribbon and pushes it to Yangyang to let him open it. Inside are preserved red roses, Yangyang’s favorite flowers.
“I know that as much as you love roses, you think flowers as gifts are stupid because they don’t last long yet they’re expensive. These aren’t stupid since they’re supposed to last for three years.”
Yangyang laughs at how Jaemin seemed to feel the need to explain his gift. Well, even if he finds the idea of giving fresh flowers stupid, he would still love it if ever Jaemin gifted him a bouquet of fresh roses. Yangyang takes out his last “gift” from his pocket, a piece of paper with a question mark printed in purple.
“What… does this mean?”
“Check each gift. Each one has a note similar to this.”
Jaemin checks the box of chocolates first. He opens it and on the back of the cover, there’s a note with “Will” printed in red. He checks the box containing the Ryan-themed pajama set and finds a note with a “you” printed in orange. He opens the box containing the bracelet and finds a note of “marry” printed in yellow. At this point, Jaemin realizes what the message is going to say. He looks at Yangyang with teary eyes and Yangyang smiles then nods at him to go on.
Jaemin checks the pockets of the mint hoodie and finds a note of “me,” printed in green. Under the dark blue mug, Jaemin finds the last note, his name printed in blue. He arranges the notes to form the message:
Will you marry me, Na Jaemin?
Jaemin looks at Yangyang, tears already pouring down.
“Absolutely, I would love to.”
Jaemin moves the items away to meet Yangyang halfway and press his lips against his. Yangyang promptly breaks the kiss afterwards to wipe Jaemin’s tears away.
“I didn’t expect that you would cry.”
“I’m just so happy, okay… I know we’ve talked about this but… this sets it in stone, in some way.” Jaemin looks at the bracelet around his wrist. “Wait. Is this supposed to be…?”
“An engagement bracelet. I thought of going with rings, but I know you’re not a fan of wearing them and we would eventually have wedding rings.” Yangyang reaches out for an identical box from his paper bag. “I actually… bought one for myself, too, so we would match. Could you put it on for me?”
“Of course.”
Jaemin smiles after he places the bracelet around Yangyang’s wrist. They look lovely together.
“I actually… bought them last year, but I wasn’t able to propose when I wanted to, so I waited for the right moment.”
“How did you know it’s today?”
“I didn’t, but I thought the challenge was cute. I only realized I had to ask you today while we’re doing all of this. You seemed so happy and… I just want to make you happy for the rest of my life.”
Jaemin melts at his words.
“I love you.” is all he could reply.
“I love you too. Thank you.”
“For what…?”
“For saying yes, dummy.”
“There is no way I would say no to that, Yangyang.” Jaemin leans to press another soft kiss on Yangyang’s lips then pulls away shortly after. “I’ve always imagined I would spend the rest of my life with you.”
“And now it’s going to happen. Excited?”
“Very.” Jaemin adjusts his position to embrace Yangyang. “I don’t think you realize how happy you make me.”
“You make me so happy, too, Jaemin.”
Yangyang holds Jaemin around his waist to pull them and lie down on the bed, hitting the paper bag in the process.
“...We should clean up first before we cuddle.”
Yangyang groans in protest, but the paper bag under him is extremely uncomfortable and he realizes his phone is still recording.
“...Yeah, we should.”