HEROINE • Yoonmin

(65)

Jimin jumped around like an excited kid. He shook my hands around and giggled. His backpack bounced up and down on his back.

"You're adorable." I laughed. It's three in the morning and we're about to leave. We pre-booked out tickets this time, getting the same type of cabin as we did last time.

"I can't wait," he kissed me.

"I'm excited to be legally bound to you. No getting away from me for a long time." I smiled at him fondly. "Ready to go?"

He nodded and we left in silence, hand-in-hand as we shuffled our feet down the hallway. My body was jittering. I'm marrying this boy in less than twenty-four hours. There's a beautiful chapel right down the street from where we stayed the last time we visited. We are going to wait until New Year's Day to make it legal, just so we can keep the same anniversary date.

By now I would usually be panicking, second guessing everything I've ever done in my life. But, I'm feeling surprisingly relaxed. A little tired but that's all. I've been ready to take this step for a while now, and we've both been through the process of expressing our fears.

It's supposed to rain today. We'll get into town at around eight or nine, I can't remember. But it's rainy and snowy for the next week. I think it'll be nice, we both enjoy the rain a lot.

We sat in the bitter cold at the bus stop for a couple minutes before it arrived. We were the only ones, once again. He leaned into me as we rode silently, and once at the station, we boarded the train immediately.

After settling in, the train departed at four-thirty.

Light rain began to fall as we rode, laying in the small bed together and watching the night sky. He played with my hair softly, drifting in and out of sleep. We weren't talking too much. There was nothing really to say.

Our vows were written a long time ago. By that I mean, I wrote them back when I promised to marry him. He wrote his around the same time.

We fell asleep after a while, his body sprawled out over mine, under the blankets. It's a bit cold, even in our little box. With only an hour remaining of our trip, we went to the cafe car and grabbed a bite to eat. We sat on the floor and watched the heavy rain. It's coming down harder than before. We bought umbrellas in a small store at the station just in case.

He laughed as we got off the train, "It's surprisingly warm."

"You're still living off my immense body heat. Just wait." I teased, pulling him along. He would step in every puddle he saw if he could. But it's cold and there's snow everywhere.

I could go for a hot shower. Or bath.

By the time we arrived to the little motel, we were both freezing and, indeed, in need for a hot bath. I ran the water while we both unpacked. We got an upgraded deal on the room, so the tub is a stand-alone, and much larger. He suggested adding bubbles. So I added lots of bubbles.

We both quickly stripped down and got into the hot water. It's always a nice but different feeling when he and I are close but so exposed with one another. In your most vulnerable state, it's normal to feel awkward, but with him it never did.

After another couple hours of laying around and doing whatever, the rain stopped and the sun peeked out. We took this chance to leave the room and go get lunch at this adorable little diner. We sat and ate soup next to a large window. I haven't shown him the rings yet. Our engagement rings were simple silver bands, but our wedding rings are a bit more extravagant. He's always talked about having vintage wedding rings; ones that are a bit of a tarnished bronze color.

Luckily for me, my mother had hung onto my grandma and grandpa's rings. They're the same size, and Jimin and I have the same size hands. It all fell perfectly into place— and they didn't cost me a thing. I insisted on paying, but since she's my mother, she didn't care. Jimin doesn't know that I told her, but I felt like I needed to. Plus, we're going to need her help soon when we start looking for a place to live. She's got over fifty years of life experience, and Jimin and I barely know what we're doing.

She's really excited for us, and was perfectly okay with knowing she won't be here. She understands how important it is to Jimin that we're on our own. I like the privacy, anyways. We aren't even going to be saying our vows in front of the minister. She does want to see us soon; she wants us to come visit during Spring Break.

After finishing our lunch, we continued to walk around town. It's such a lovely small town. The buildings are old, and they all smell like old books. The people are nice. There's lots of plants and trees. I think Jimin and I both subconsciously know that we want to move here. Even if it's not soon, just someday in the future.

"We should get a cat someday. A little fluffy black cat." I said, watching a family walk by with their dog.

"Definitely," he nodded. "Ah, this is gonna be so much fun. I'm really excited, Yoongi."

"For what, specifically? Tonight or further on?"

"Both, in actuality. But I was specifically talking about the future. We're gonna be such big kids. And we'll be able to do whatever we want, whenever we want. It'll be so much fun."

"The biggest of big kids. We can get so many plants." We sat down on a park bench under meath a tree that appeared to have tiny green apples on it.

"You and your plants, oh my goodness." He chuckled and shook his head, patting my thigh. He does this thing where he twiddles with the rips in my jeans, it feels funny but I let him do it. "I'll get you as many plants as you want, I promise." He kissed my cheek.