The two girls sat quietly on the bed in Roseanne's room. It felt a little nostalgic as Roseanne recalled how awkward it was for her when Jennie was beside her in the room the first time. There was peace, quiet, and silence now as well but no more awkwardness left. Nonetheless, the mood was heavy. Mr. Kim had just left in a fit of rage after firmly concluding that he would never approve of the two.
"Nini-yah--"
"That was the first time he ever hit me." There was still a slight sting on Jennie's right cheek as she brushed her fingers across the spot.
"I'm so sorry... I should've been the one to take that blow but I really didn't see it coming..." Roseanne hurriedly pulled the girl into her arms and cuddled her closely.
"He is the most selfish man I've ever known." Jennie continued, still pissed off at her father's strict disapproval.
"I actually understand where your father is coming from, Nini. He just wants what's best for you. I can't believe he came all the way down here for this." The smaller girl released herself from Roseanne's arms at the statement.
"So you don't mind that we're not allowed to be together?" When she saw the disappointment in the girl's eyes, Roseanne rapidly shook her head.
"Jennie, I love you, and it would kill me if I couldn't be with you. I just want you to see that your father really cares a lot for you, and perhaps there might still be a way to convince him that we are serious about this. I would do anything within my means to get his consent, no matter how long it takes." It was true that Roseanne had no freaking clue how she was gonna go about doing whatever she just promised but she knew she would find a way around it eventually.
"Rosie... thank you." Jennie leaned against the taller girl's shoulder. The assurance that Roseanne was able to give her made her feel secure.
"No, I should thank you. All those things you said to your dad allowed me to truly understand how much I mean to you. I'm that much surer now that you're the only one I'll ever need."
So the couple remained in silence, merely taking pleasure in each other's presence.
"You know, I'm so gonna get Lisa for this." Trashing things out with Lisa was something Roseanne had always wanted to do ever since the day she first met the nasty girl at the café.
Jennie rubbed a soothing hand down her arm, and Roseanne expected to be told to drop the issue once again.
"I'll be there with you if you ever want to meet her in person just to clarify things."
"At long last! Justice is finally restored! Nini-yah, you really surprise me sometimes." Roseanne chortled. Only a few hours earlier she had been advised not to be rash or do anything silly.
"Mm, Rosie." Jennie started a few minutes later.
"Yes?"
"Do you know what I've always wanted to do?" Roseanne noticed a playful gleam in her girlfriend's eyes when she turned to face her.
"Tell me."
Jennie closed the distance between the both of them slowly, leaning in until their lips were merely less than an inch apart.
"Wait." Roseanne laid a finger on the girl's lips before she could move in any closer. Jennie only looked at her curiously.
"Is this another attempt at trying to get me to skip out on another working day? Because I happen to realize that it's Saturday tomorrow..." The inquisitive expression on Jennie's face was instantly replaced by a scornful one at her girlfriend's allegation, and she retreated at once.
"You sure learn fast." Jennie sighed as her shoulders dropped in defeat. Roseanne simply chuckled in response.
"I guess we can't keep jeopardizing your relationship with your employer this way. I'll make do with a movie marathon while you're gone tomorrow then."
"What if I told you I quit my job a few days ago just so I'll be able to spend every Saturday with you?"
"Really Rosie?" In her excitement, Jennie peppered her girlfriend's cheeks and lips with quick pecks.
"I've managed to save up quite a bit so I decided to take a break for a little while before searching for something better." Roseanne smiled seeing Jennie so happy.
"That's awesome. I'm so happy for you! And myself." The girl grinned. She had already mentally made plans for what they could do the next hundred Saturdays.
"Now... can we get back to where we left off?"
-----
With Roseanne, Jennie never failed to reveal her inner child for some reason. This was further proven when the pair spent more than forty-five minutes hogging a claw crane at a video arcade.
"Aish! Not again!" The taller girl banged her head against the glass front of the machine several times when the damned Green men soft toy about half Jennie's size slipped through the loose metal hooks to bounce back into the huge pile.
"Nini-yah, forget it. Let's go get something to eat. I'm hungry..." She stuffed the remaining tokens back into her pocket, all ready to leave. But the shorter girl simply stood rooted to the ground, staring intensely into the glass box with a sullen expression. She looked like she was almost going to cry.
"Okay, okay... we're not gonna leave until we get it, alright?"
A sheepish grin formed on Jennie's face at once as she chewed her bottom lip in anticipation, watching with puppy-dog eyes as Roseanne emptied her pocket and dunked another token into the slot.
Ten minutes later (when all the tokens were used up)...
"That's not fair! We almost got it!" The shorter girl stomped her feet in frustration, making it a point to glare at the toy alien.
"Maybe I should talk to the person in charge of this place... it's impossible to win this game!"
And so the two strutted over to the main counter, where a young girl in uniform stood. She had a cap on, which showcased some obscenity, and appeared to be chewing on gum. She merely raised a questioning brow coolly at the sight of the girls when they appeared before her.
"Uh... could you perhaps check if that machine over there is faulty?" The girl's gaze followed Roseanne's arm as she pointed towards one of the stations at the back.
"Just did earlier on. It's fine." It was obvious that she couldn't be bothered.
"Are you sure? We spent almost an entire hour trying to get that plush toy but there's no way it's gonna come out. Could you check the arrangement of the toys or something? Just to make sure this isn't a fraud?"
Still, the girl refused to budge. She only rolled her eyes to the back of her head before checking her nails out.
"Excuse me?" Roseanne simply refused to give up.
"You want me to go all the way there to do something I've already done just because you suck at the game?" The girl spoke without looking up.
Roseanne squinted at the nametag pinned carelessly on the girl's top before starting, "Sooji? Right? Is your manager around? Can I speak with someone else then?"
"Darn. Why are people so freaking unreasonable these days? It's just a stupid toy..." The girl was evidently threatened at the mentioning of higher authority.
"As opposed to what you believe, it's not just a stupid toy. If you don't want a complaint letter coming in about how terrible your work attitude is, please sort this out for us and we'll let it go." There was certainly some sort of effect behind what Roseanne said because the girl eventually dragged her feet over to the machine.
All it took was a concise bump, and Little Green Men came tumbling out from the opening in the corner of the box. Jennie squealed excitedly before picking it up and hugging it closely to her chest.
"How old is she exactly?" The girl named Sooji remarked with a startled expression.
"Sometimes five... or four, I don't know. Anyhow, thank you very much, Sooji. You're really a good person." Roseanne smiled pleasantly before leading her daughter, no, girlfriend off by the arm, relieved that she finally got what she wanted.
"Thank you, Rosie!" Jennie giggled as they left; she was now meddling with the tuft of antenna on top of the toy alien's head.
"This is so beating up that tiny Brownie's ass." Roseanne faked an evil laugh.
"Mostly because it was you who got it for me." The girl replied, smile not leaving her face for a second.
"Gosh, come to think of it, this is actually the first thing I've ever given you."
"And I really, really appreciate it." Jennie's attention was still fixated upon the soft toy in front of her.
"Yah, is this Little toy alien going to get more love from you than I am? Because I'm sending it back if that's the case."
"No Rosie! Fine, fine, I'll stop looking at it for now..." So long as Roseanne was gonna get envious, Jennie delicately clutched the toy with her left arm before grabbing the girl's hand with her right.
"You know what? Let me hold it for you." It was funny to see the girl struggling to carry a doll that huge, and Roseanne hurriedly picked it up from in between her arm.
"Be gentle!" Jennie cautioned.
"Okay, that's it, we're turning back." Roseanne suddenly halted in her tracks.
"Oh, Rosie... come on..." The shorter girl dragged her to move on, which she did with a light-hearted smile.
The conversation went on whimsically as they walked off, with Roseanne still trying to tease Jennie.
-----
"Hmm... let's see now... favorite thing to do on a rainy day?" Jennie asked, popping another grape into her girlfriend's mouth.
There was a beautiful purple fleece picnic rug on the grass where the couple was resting. Roseanne's head was propped up on Jennie's thigh as she revelled in the feeling of being fed.
"Cuddling up with you." This made Jennie scoff.
"Yah! You've been saying that for the past five questions." She lightly jabbed at the side of Roseanne's head with her finger.
"But it's the truth! Can I have a cherry, please?" The taller girl opened her mouth readily.
Jennie picked up a cherry and hovered it over the girl's mouth only to devour it by herself eventually.
"Hey!"
"If you want your cherry, stop giving me the same old answer." The girl responded as she chewed away.
Roseanne stuck her tongue in her cheek with a scowl before sitting up abruptly.
"I'll get my own cherry then." As she reached for the box, Jennie attempted to block her, which resulted in a little tussle.
They subsequently ended up tangled on the ground, with Roseanne on top of Jennie.
"I win." She smirked triumphantly before leaning down to kiss the girl playfully. She was about to pull away but Jennie was ahead of her, wrapping her arms around her neck to draw her closer as their kisses deepened.
Jennie tasted indistinctly of cherries much to Roseanne's pleasure as her tongue explored the girl's mouth. She somehow couldn't get enough of the sweet taste. Jennie's hands gently ran through her hair as she trailed kisses all over the girl's neck before sucking at a particularly sensitive spot.
Roseanne worked away busily at her girlfriend's neck and collarbone, leaving the girl beneath her slightly breathless. She was about to take things further and was reaching for the hem of Jennie's blouse when two rowdy boys dashed across the grass patch, knocking over their picnic basket in their chase.
Indeed, they couldn't have chosen a better time. Roseanne sat up at once but before she could stop them, the rascals had already sprinted off, laughing loudly as they did.
"Yah! Come back here!" The taller girl picked up a can of soda and was about to hurl it in their direction but Jennie stopped her with a swipe of her hand.
"Dear me, Rosie! You did not just want to do that. They're just kids! Let it go. Let's pick these up..." The girl shook her head before gathering the stuff, still kind of appalled at what her girlfriend tried to do.
"Ugh, if they were my kids, I'd break their legs." Jennie's eyes widened at her comment.
"You don't like children very much, do you?" After a quick evaluation of the short series of events, Jennie concluded.
"Do you?"
"I love them! I was thinking we could have five or six next time, you know? Maybe even seven." It was Roseanne's turn to enlarge her eyes. Sometimes it seemed as though Jennie spoke without even thinking.
"Are you trying to scare me? It's working."
"Rosie, are you more of a dad or a mom?" Jennie put the basket aside before interlocking fingers with the other girl.
"I don't know. What does it look like to you?"
"In view of your violent tendencies and occasional childishness," Roseanne nearly cracked up at her girlfriend's attempt at implying that she was immature when it was clearly the other way around, "I would consider you to be more of a dad. Then again, it's also because I would like to be the mom. Moms are nice. I think."
"Nini-yah, that's gonna be a good five to ten years down the road... right now, I just want us to treasure all the time we have together." Even though Roseanne wouldn't mind having a truckload of kids as long as it made Jennie happy, it was a little early to be discussing such issues.
"I know... it was just a random thought... but we always have the liberty to plan for the future, right?" Jennie was staring up at the sky, daydreaming away.
"Yes, but... how do we even know if--"
"Yah, Roseanne Park, don't say anything. You're gonna spoil the moment." Jennie's grasp on the girl's hand tightened as she shifted to lean her head against her shoulder.
"I'm just a little scared... what if things changed later on?"
"Rosie, nothing's going to change. Not if we both know how important we are to each other. And I know we already do. Time is going to show us exactly that. I promise I'm going to be by your side and that's how things are going to remain... until we're a hundred, perhaps more."
"If you live to be a hundred, I want to live to be a hundred minus one day so I never have to live without you." It sounded cheesy but it was the bare truth. To have to go on with life without Jennie by her side scared Roseanne to an unimaginable extent.
"I love you, Roseanne."
"I love you too, Jennie."
"And since we're allowed to talk about our time to come now, can I just ask you one question?" Roseanne turned to face the girl beside her.
"What is it?"
"Could we maybe stand up for a moment?" Roseanne got up on her feet at once, dusting her attire and clearing her throat as she did.
"What? Why?" Jennie chuckled but did as she was told.
As she did so, the taller girl got down on one knee, grabbing onto her hand tightly as she asked, "Jennie Ruby Jane Kim, will you marry me?"
"Rosie..." Jennie bit her bottom lip as she felt a sudden urge to cry.
"I meant to save this question for later when I've finally gotten my career and life sorted out but you know what, scratch all that. In all honesty, I have nothing now. And you can't even begin to fathom how grateful I am to have a person as wonderful as you by my side. Jennie, you've done so much for me and you've transformed my life so much. I wouldn't be where I am now if it weren't for you. With your permission, I want to be that somebody who would make a difference in your life as well. I know perhaps this isn't the best place or situation for this and I assure you completely that I will do better. I just want to know your answer in advance. So Jennie Ruby Jane Kim, will you marry me?"
By this time, tears were already running down Jennie's cheeks, and she nodded a while later, "Yes I will, Roseanne Park. Of course I will."
There were no words at all that could describe Roseanne's happiness there and then as she rose to pick the love of her life up into her arms before they shared a prolonged kiss.
The End. Thank you for reading this story. ☺️