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You and Jeongyeon promised each other you wouldn't go all out for your one year anniversary. You agreed on dinner and just a small present for each other- neither of you could afford anything crazy on your college budget, so you settled on what you could manage.
A whole year with Jeongyeon had been an experience, to say the very least. She was fun and spontaneous. Dates were never boring, and she always had some new idea in mind to try whenever she swung by for bi-weekly date night (though you had to admit, a picnic in the snow wasn't one of her best ideas, and she learned her lesson after being sick in bed for a week). It wasn't uncommon for Jeongyeon to come banging on your dorm door in the wee hours of the morning to drag you out to the local diner for pancakes, and while you did make a fuss about it, you never really minded- Jeongyeon seemed to thrive when it was just the two of you, at three in the morning, in some rundown place that had a plethora of breakfast foods.
You thought it was simply adorable.
Even though gifts weren't going to be expensive, you still made sure to pick the best of the best at the florist, where you bought Jeongyeon and dozen roses, varying in color, from off white to deep, dark red, and you made sure to buy her favorite chocolates from the grocery store down the road from your school.
It wasn't much, and you felt bad for being unable to afford much else, but it was the thought that counted, and you knew Jeongyeon would be happy, with or without a gift.
You had class the morning of your anniversary, so Jeongyeon promised to show up long after your class ended to give you time to get ready for dinner, and while you waited, you were sitting cross legged in bed, with a number of books sprawled out in front of you and another notebook in your lap. You stared at the pages of your colorful biology textbook like it was in another language, eyes jumping from picture to picture in hopes of retaining some of the information that was presented. You had been so focused that you didn't even look up as you heard someone fumbling with the handle to your door in an attempt to open it, and after a few seconds, a frustrated groan, a few swears, and the sound of what might have been a head hitting the door, it swung open and Jeongyeon appeared.
Her cheeks were bright red from the cold and her eyes sparkled with excitement as she threw a few full grocery bags onto your bed, landing in your notes and books with a thump.
"Jeongyeon!" You groaned, throwing your pencil at your girlfriend for making a mess of your notes, but she only cackled as she kicked your dorm door shut and ran over to the side of your bed. "Anniversary or not, I'll still kick your ass!"
Jeongyeon didn't stop laughing, but made work of shuffling through the grocery bags she had thrown in your direction, pulling a number of random things out of it- a slinky, some loose candy, a fake mustache-
"Listen," Jeongyeon started with a few short breaths after her fit of laughter, "I went to the store today, right? I went to get you an anniversary gift, but I saw all of this stuff-" she gestured to the growing pile of nonsense that was collecting on your bed- "and it was on sale, and I kind of impulsively bought over half of what was on display and that was probably a really bad idea and I'll regret it later but I got this!"
Jeongyeon took a long, deep breath after that mouthful of a sentence before pulling something out of the grocery bag, and-
"You got a... horse mask?" You questioned in disbelief even though the item was quite real, and currently being shoved in your face by your girlfriend. Jeongyeon was completely amused by the mask she held, and started to giggle again as you swatted the mask out of your face.
"Hell yeah! D'you know how much fun we could have with this? I wanna run into the dorm bathroom with it and scare the pants off of the girls in the shower! ... I mean, they obviously won't have pants on in the shower, but you get wh-"
You shoved a finger to her lips to quiet her down. "So what you're telling me is that you intended to get me an anniversary gift for our one year celebration, and instead bought a load of cheap toys that were on sale that you'll probably never use?"
"Yes!"
You took a moment to simply stare at Jeongyeon in surprise, to which she just grinned back with a bright smile so big it was nearly blinding. "Wow," you squeaked, rubbing the bridge of your nose as you eyed the horse mask with something between curiosity and disgust, "that might just be the least romantic thing you've ever done."
Jeongyeon laughed. "Yeah, you're right- but come on! This is gonna pull some serious laughter from everyone! This was the single best purchase I've ever made, and I-" Jeongyeon paused, her eyes widening as her mouth opened like she just discovered the meaning of life, "Oh my god, I'm gonna go scare the freshman." Then she was running to the door, struggling to get the mask on as she stumbled across the room.
You got up to follow her, muttering an "oh my god" under your breath. "J-Jeongyeon, baby, no," you stuttered, but Jeongyeon was already out the door, and you heard some muffled screams from what must have been coming from the bathroom down the hall. You stuck your head out of your room and into the hall to see Jeongyeon running out, and she waved to you.
You covered your face with your hands as your cheeks lit up bright red in embarrassment as someone walked by with their eyebrows raised, and they didn't seem to believe you when you said, "I don't know that girl, I swear. I have no idea who she is. No clue at all."
Your attention was grabbed by the yelling you heard down the hall, and you watched as the neighboring freshmen sprinted down past you to the stairwell, with Jeongyeon right on their heels, laughing and yelling after them, and as embarrassed as you were, you couldn't help but chuckle.
Jeongyeon may go down in history as the world's most unromantic girlfriend in your book, but she was smiling and having fun, so you didn't entirely mind. And besides, you knew the horse mask was way more entertaining than the flowers and chocolates you got her.
