Under the first snow of the year, the couple walked hand in hand, wrapped in each other's warmth as they approached the restaurant they had reserved for dinner.
"A table under Xu Kai, please," Kai said with a polite smile. The waitress led them to their table, and he pulled out a chair for his girlfriend before taking his own seat.
"Thank you," Jia said with a bright smile, her face showing just how grateful she was for such a caring boyfriend.
"You're beautiful every day," he said, winking playfully, "but tonight you're absolutely breathtaking—and you know it."
Jia blushed immediately. "So are you," she replied shyly, which made him smile even wider.
They had been together for five years now. They'd met while studying abroad in the States. Despite their three-year age gap, they clicked right away. At the time, Jia was an International Relations freshman, and Kai was a first-year master's student pursuing his International Law degree. They became friends first—bonding as the only Koreans at their university (Kai being half Chinese)—before falling deeply in love.
"Do you remember how we first met?" Kai asked while they waited for their food. He chuckled softly before continuing, "I honestly thought you were a high schooler waiting for your sibling to finish class. I couldn't believe it when I saw you in my class the next day."
Jia laughed, the memory still fresh. "I was a freshman and you were a master's student—of course I looked young to you! But do you remember our first conversation?"
"'DO YOU LIKE OUR PROFESSOR?'" they both said in unison, bursting into laughter.
Jia wiped away a tear from laughing too hard. "That was literally the first thing you said to me after sitting in silence for two and a half hours."
"I couldn't stand that kinky old man," Kai said, handing her a tissue. "And I could tell you didn't like him either. You looked disgusted the whole class and that's when I knew I wasn't alone."
They kept talking and laughing, reminiscing about the good old days—New Year's, Valentine's, Thanksgiving, Halloween, Christmas, even Chuseok. Just the two of them, far from home, yet somehow feeling completely at home when they were together. As Kai always said to Jia:
"Anywhere feels like home, as long as there's you." Just then, the waitress arrived with a big bouquet of white roses and a small heart-shaped cake that read: Happy Anniversary, honey.
Jia gasped, completely surprised. She stood up, took the flowers from him, and wrapped her arms around him, planting soft kisses on his cheek. The restaurant filled with gentle applause—some smiling while some secretly wishing their partner would do the same.
Five years, and yet nothing had changed—the way he treated her, the way he spoke to her, the way he remembered every little thing, the way he worked hard for their future, and the way he never made her doubt the decision for choosing him to be the future life partner who will experience all the up and down together in a journey they call 'life'.
"I can't wait for the day I get to wake up next to you every morning—how I want our future daughter to look like you, and our son to see the world through your eyes." He said softly, "I don't want you to go to work so you will have all your time for our kids."
Jia giggled and pinched his cheek. "I can't wait to name my child after you too, Daddy Xu."
They spent the rest of the night talking about their dreams for the future—wishing, secretly, that tomorrow could bring it all closer.
________________________
Here is Xu Kai.
And soon, we'll see how the story unfolds— and how Taehyung might find a way to steal Jia's heart, even when she seems so deeply in love with her boyfriend.
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