jaebum doesn't think of proposing to seulgi so soon until he does one night. they're in their new apartment, sitting on the floor and browsing through the netflix archives for something to watch or rewatch. it's bordering an hour long struggle, but seulgi doesn't seem close to surrendering. she's determined, tongue clamped between her teeth as she searches through multiple tags and hundreds of titles. legs sprawled, and her crossed-legged between, jaebum merely nibbles on popcorn he microwaved earlier. his back is rested on the edge of the bed, waiting for her to decide on something, anything.
bored, he picks at a plastic ring of a bear in the pocket of his joggers. got it from a kinder surprise when he was buying nails and screws for their new place. he twirls and twirls, tries to slot it onto his smallest finger but even then it doesn't fit. he gives up much easier than she does.
hair to one side and neck exposed as she's in one of his too big shirts that practically hang off her body, jaebum tries not to bother her on her mission, but he can't help but be lured to the exposure of skin. he leans to circle his arms around her waist, nuzzling his face in the crook of her shoulder. scent of lavender lotion wafts, and he smiles.
"are you done?"
seulgi sinks onto him, stretching her legs out, too. "not yet. i'm stuck between mindless action like transformers, birdbox that everyone and their mum's are talking about or the new ghostbusters remake. what do you think?"
granted that jaebum knows very well he won't be able to focus, the choice is easy. "transformers. pretty sure it's the same as the others. fighting cars and more explosions than necessary."
she laughs, confirming the movie selection, anyway. "you're mean. they're not that bad."
they get comfortable—more so when the title rolls, and the opening scene begins. jaebum still has his face nestled against her skin as she brings the bowl of popcorn to her lap. he feels every chew and swallow, times butterfly light kisses with them. in his embrace, she squirms, easily tickled.
"are you even watching?"
for a second, he actually looks at the screen. "no." then noses the slender line of her neck before planting his lips on the base, gently sucking. at least he's honest.
"but baby, it's movie night." she whines.
movie night hardly means anything to them. all it is is an excuse to keep up to date with their friends, like sooyoung and yugyeom, when they rave about the new releases on the megalodon streaming provider. most movie nights are unfinished, and neither really mind. they have better things to do on friday, anyway.
he eyes her for a second, stopping. "well, if you really want to watch it..." withdrawal is slow, his breathing still fanning onto her flesh as his hands start to recede as well.
she grabs onto his fingers before they can get any farther and loops his arms around her middle, burrowing her back to his chest. "you're supposed to put up a better fight."
laughter falls, his head thrown back. "i like to respect your wishes. but tell me..." he nudges her ear with the tip of his nose, tone low. "what do you want?"
bated breath, she chews on her lower lip. "you know, we should totally break this place in."
kissing her cheek to muffle more laughs, jaebum squeezes her tight. meanwhile, seulgi bursts to giggles and makes sure the popcorn is far enough that they won't accidentally tip it over and cause a buttery mess. the movie continues to play, robots continue to fight and explosions continue to go off where there shouldn't be any. she turns, draping her calves over a thigh of his to get a better look at him. he's smirking, cocky and victorious as she thumbs his jawline. her mouth opens to say something, but her legs feels something abnormally hard on his side.
"what's that?" she digs into his pocket and pulls out the cheap, toy ring.
"oh, i got that from the chocolate you ate."
"why didn't you give this to me, then?" seulgi slips it onto her left middle finger, but it doesn't get far, stuck at the centre.
"don't know." his shoulders hitch. "i was hoping it'd be a toy car or something." his view is on the ring and how the purple compliments her hand.
she tries to remove it, pulling hard until he swoops in and saves the day. a wriggle here and there, a spin, and he is able to slip it off. a mark remains on her digit as a sign that kid toys don't work well with adults regardless of how young they are at heart. jaebum rubs small circles over the blemish in hopes to get rid of it.
"see, it doesn't even fit you." he brings her hand to his lips and kisses the middle one tenderly. "it might fit your pinky." so next, he puts it on there.
seulgi stretches out her hand to admire the piece of costume jewellery, snickering as it spins because it's much too loose on her. "oh, i know!" giddy, she removes it and slides it onto her left ring finger with no second thought or apprehension and holds her arm back out, waving her fingers.
it hits jaebum then. how pretty and complete her hand seems. how pretty and complete she looks. how complete he feels with her by his side.
words tumble out unintelligently. "where will i put a ring on it, then?"
"huh?"
initially, they're both dumbfounded. seulgi can't quite tell if she hears right, and jaebum can't quite tell if he actually says it aloud. they kinda of just stare at one another, a lot of blinks exchanged in place of words.
"i mean..." he clears his throat. "if i were to propose, i have no room."
"if?" her face seems to drop a bit.
jaebum hurriedly fixes himself. "not if but when i do..." voice breaking, he's panicking. "i'm not good at this.
sitting up, seulgi gives his chest a reassuring caress. "it's okay, we never really spoke about marriage on a serious note before. we were always kidding around."
"yeah, but i think i was always serious. deep down." he holds her gaze.
glancing at her finger, she nods. "me, too. i just... didn't really know how to bring it up properly. marriage? it seems so adult."
"it is adult. but i honestly can't see myself with anyone other than you. i think, maybe, we were just certain our future is together that we didn't feel the need to confirm something we already knew." his nose wrinkles. "do i make sense?"
"you do. i understand! you and i were never really the walking down the aisle kind of people."
"but i do want to walk down the aisle with you." jaebum intertwines their fingers, looking straight into her eyes unabashed. "jump over that broom together. be pelted at with rice."
she can't keep a straight face and begins laughing, swatting his arm with her free hand. "we aren't good at this, huh? getting engaged?"
"no," he agrees, laughing, too. "but i think that's our charm. having it unplanned makes it all the more genuine, i think."
because they are very much so the kind of people who do things on whims. they met by accident in college. a starbucks barista got their orders confused, and they had to scour the establishment for the person with their drinks since neither wanted to cause a fuss with the employees. they knocked into one another in classical meet-cute fashion. they hit it off since, which surprised their friends since jaebum is introverted, and seulgi can be timid when dealing with strangers. you can also say that's their first date. again, nothing planned. even buying a new place came out of nowhere. jaebum saw a listing online once and texted her the link. after getting a tour of the one bedroom apartment in the middle of gangnam, they signed the papers and the keys were given less than a week later. now here they are, probably doing the only thing they ever schedule aka movie night but still surprisingly one another nonetheless.
"so, what do you say?" he momentarily eases the ring off her finger. "will you marry me?"
tears of joy pearl, and seulgi nods her head. "mhm, yes!"
and the ring is back on before she throws her arms around his neck and peppers his face with kisses. jaebum almost cries, too as he wipes away her tears. but maybe he just doesn't notice when they press their lips together, sweetly, the first time as an engaged couple.
"when do you think we should tell everyone?"
"after i buy you a proper ring. so during the housewarming, maybe?"
"i like this ring, though."
"it's... a toy for kids."
"and?"
"seul, no. tomorrow, we're going to a jewellery store."
"well, i can still keep this, right? it has all the memory of tonight!"