How It Should Have Ended Part2 (The Continuation)

Chapter 8

Ji Hoo's confession rendered her speechless.

I knew there was an explanation. It just never crossed my mind it would be this.

And then he told her everything. Everything that happened to him while he was in Canada and the United States. Jan Di couldn't help but feel sorry for all that Ji Hoo went through.

For her.

For them.

"I tried my best, Jan Di," he explained, and she could feel the pain in his voice. "I went to talk to him. It took longer than I thought..." He sighed, wearily. "I'm sorry I couldn't keep either promise."

Jan Di wrapped her arms around him.

She understood. She knew the consequences of choosing Ji Hoo.

"He doesn't hate us if that's what you're worried about," Ji Hoo continued. "He just needs more time."

Ji Hoo was lost in thought for a few minutes. Then he met her eyes.

"Jan Di," Ji Hoo's face was solemn. "If you had to go back and choose again...would you still choose me?"

Jan Di was taken aback by his question.

She thought about the moment she realized she loved Ji Hoo.

How truly happy she'd been since they got together.

All his sacrifices, his unending patience, his unconditional love.

She put a hand on his cheek and stroked it tenderly.

"I chose you. And I'll choose you, over and over, without pause, without doubt, in a heartbeat. I'll keep choosing you."

Ji Hoo sighed and she saw relief flood his entire body. After a couple of minutes, a sly grin spread across his face.

"Oh, I also spoke to your parents this morning and asked for their blessing," Ji Hoo disclosed.

"What did they say?"

"Your father took me aside for a man-to-man talk."

Jan Di's father had come back to the city to be with them after a few years on the fishing boat. Her parents had managed to reopen their dry-cleaning business, and are now busier than ever. Ji Hoo promised her Madam Kang wouldn't be able to touch their home or business again. Jan Di often wondered if Ji Hoo had bought their entire building.

"What about umma?" She asked, her head tilted to the side.

Ji Hoo's face broke into a grin. "She was...happy for us."

He remembered sitting down in front of Jan Di's parents and asking them if he could marry their daughter. Her mother jumped up and down excitedly screaming:

"Finally! It's about time! You guys took long enough!" and wouldn't stop hugging him and kissing his cheeks, much to the embarrassment of her husband.

Jan Di was amazed at how much planning and preparation Ji Hoo had gone through for her.

She stared at him, her eyes scanning every inch of his face – that soft, beautiful, baby face that she loved so much. He never ceases to amaze me...

"Yes," she whispered, and Ji Hoo wrinkled his forehead, unsure of what she meant.

She took the box from his coat pocket, took his ring out, and placed it carefully onto his ring finger.

He smiled crookedly as he took her hand and placed her engagement ring onto her ring finger. She looked admiringly at the two rings that now graced her finger.

After a few minutes of silence, she bit her lower lip and knitted her brow. "Are you sure you want to marry me though?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"I mean, I don't really have anything to offer you." She smiled shyly at him. "You've got the money, the looks, the brains, the talent..." Then she frowned. "What if one day you find someone better than me? Someone perfect?"

He shook his head. "There will always be someone better than us..." he began, as Jan Di stuck her lower lip out. "But none of that matters to me. I'm not looking for someone perfect, but someone who's perfect for me."

"The only thing I can offer you is my love," she whispered.

"That is the only thing I need," he answered.

He paused and seemed to reassess his answer. "That and your cooking skills."

She laughed out loud. Then she faced him and turned serious once more. She remembered Yi Jung's words a few weeks ago – how loving someone was a risk, since people never knew how long they'd last.

"Are you sure you're ready to risk everything for me?"

Ji Hoo placed both palms gingerly on her cheeks and touched his forehead lightly on to hers. His lips were mere inches away from hers.

"Jan Di..." His voice was so gentle and so full of longing it sent electric currents all over her body. He brushed his soft lips lightly against hers.

She closed her eyes as she heard him whisper:

"You are the risk I will always take."

...