• Chapter 72 •
"Marry me," Jisung proposed once again.
Cho-a sighed. "No."
He reached out to grab her arm as she was about to walk away. He locked eyes with her. Sparkling, pretty, mesmerizing.
It was hard for her to look away.
"Han Cho-a, please marry me."
And he spoke so softly too. It was a question that floated through the room like a feather. Weightless. It reached her gently, touched her.
How could anyone resist th--
"No."
"But--"
"I won't repeat myself, Park."
Chenle whistled, smirked in amusement. "She called you by your last name," he pointed out. "I'd be careful."
Throwing a warning glare towards his best friend, he quickly put his attention back onto the girl that tapped a finger against his hand.
"Let go of me," she ordered and Jisung did so right away.
"Food's ready," Jaemin called out all of a sudden.
He and Jeno carried the plates out of the kitchen and into the living room where they placed them on the coffee table. Jaemin patted the space on the ground next to him.
"Cho-a~" he called her and watched her with a smile as she sat down to his left, while Jeno sat to his right.
Watching her with sad exaggerated puppy eyes, Jisung sat down opposite her next to Haechan and Chenle, who already started eating.
Haechan patted the younger boy's back. "Don't worry about it."
"I am curious," Jeno said, leaned forward to get a glimpse of the girl. "Why are you rejecting him?"
Jaemin was curious too. He momentarily put his cutlery down and focused on the girl. He whole-heartedly supported the idea of them marrying but he wasn't going to get pushy and so he didn't even want to ask.
Cho-a looked at Jisung briefly who had his puppy eyes still plastered on his face. Then she put her attention on Jeno.
"It's because he doesn't want to marry me because he loves me--"
"I do love you!" Jisung interjected, obviously offended that she even had the audacity to say such a thing.
This temporarily stopped her frustration and made Cho-a smile. She looked at her boyfriend.
"I know babe, I love you too."
Jisung seemed happy again after that, so Jeno kept asking.
"Then why?"
"Because he thinks it's going to keep me safe, seeing that it would give me a higher position."
"Oh," Jeno nodded. "And you don't want that?"
At which she sighed. She felt a little misunderstood although Jeno was talking in his usual voice and, except for Jisung, none of the boys was even the slightest bit pushy.
"It's just that I don't want to say yes to something so specific to the moment. In a year, if he asks me again, I will say yes in a heartbeat. But I can't just agree when he wants it to gain something from it."
"But it's for you," Jisung argued.
"Yeah," she nodded. "But I don't want it."
"Stubborn," he muttered under his breath.
Whereas Cho-a decided to ignore that comment, Renjun didn't. With the click of his tongue, all the attention was suddenly on him.
"Her position is understandable. If you push her into agreeing to something like that if she doesn't want it, you'll regret it," he said, locking eyes with Jisung who sat motionlessly.
Smiling, Cho-a gave him a thumbs up. "Thanks for the support. Very brotherly of you."
He gave her a small nod of his head before he continued.
"Besides, you will have to get Kun to agree. And he won't agree if you tell him your stupid reason."
"Firstly, it's not stupid," Jisung argued and then added in a surprised voice, "I need his permission?"
"Kun is like my big brother and the closest thing I have to a dad," she said. "Of course I want him to agree."
Jisung was baffled. "But he likes me so...?"
"Jisung, do you even know Kun?" Chenle asked. "You guys have been acquainted for years yet you act like you don't know him that well. It's not that simple."
"I just think that it can't be such a big deal," Jisung shrugged then looked at Cho-a. "Just like I think that marrying wouldn't be such a big deal."
"You literally said you wanted to marry me for safety reasons," Cho-a retorted snarkily.
"But can't I want to marry you because I love you and because I think it would be good for you?" Jisung questioned.
And, of course, Cho-a quickly nodded in agreement. Yet, it didn't help change her mind because she noted that,
"But why did you follow your initial proposal up by immediately adding 'I think it's the easiest way to ensure your safety'?"
Jisung gasped. "Because it is!"
"But if you say it like that it feels weird!" Cho-a shot back.
"They already act like a married couple actually," Chenle mumbled under his breath which earned him a glare from Jisung.
While Renjun and Chenle seemed to be on Cho-a's side and Jeno and Jaemin seemed to want to stay out of this, Haechan put his arm around Jisung.
He pulled him a little closer, threw a judging and disappointed glare at the girl.
"You know that she isn't the nicest person, don't let it bother you," Haechan whispered loudly to Jisung who smirked at what he was trying to do.
Cho-a gasped. "I am nice!"
"Kinda," Haechan agreed. "But also kinda not."
"What does that even mean?"
"Just," he began, laughed awkwardly. "That I love you regardless."
"You know what, I hate you."
"Now," Haechan interjected. "That's not very nice."
"I-" Cho-a cut herself off. "I'll ignore you now."
Jumping in, Jaemin smiled sweetly. "I have a question," he said. "Regardless of that whole problem between you two - are you really going to send Hyun-joo to earth and just... let her do her thing?"
Jisung and Cho-a looked at one another as if to confirm that they were both thinking the same thing. After a subtle nod from each of them, Jisung said,
"Yeah, that's the plan."
"Then what about Young-hee? She is still there, right?"
Cho-a quickly raised her hand. "I'll take care of her."
Chenle jumped up, standing tall, eyes wide. "What? No."
"I already talked to Jisung and Doyoung though. They are fine with it," she reassured. The boy turned his head right away and looked at Renjun.
"You are okay with that too?" he asked.
"Kun agreed," Renjun merely said. "And I have no objection if he doesn't have one."
Chenle exhaled in exhaustion, let his head fall back. "You guys are really..."
"All of you worry too much," Cho-a noted. She smiled warmly, reassuringly. "It'll be okay, nothing bad will happen anymore. I promise."
• Rushed •
quick little chapter but it has been floating around in my head for a while and I really wanted to write it
[might be a bit faulty, I didn't really proof-read it, sorry]
ly <3