3 years later.
•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•
"Passport?"
"Checked."
"Heat packs?"
"Checked."
"Plane ticket?"
"Uhhhh..." Yohan dragged his speech as he quickly ran into the room to grab the plane ticket which was sitting on the desk. He wanted to put it in his wallet but forgot.
"And you're wallet too!" she yelled from the living room. As Yohan scanned the room for the last time, his eyes widened in panic when he saw a circular velvet holder sitting in plain sight. His feet scurried to grab it before shoving it into the lowest depth of his bag.
Things would have been bad if he had forgotten that.
They were finally all set to leave the country for Yohan's competition in Paris. He had been the ace in Korea's national team for the past five years, which was why he got sent to Paris in a first class suite to represent the country.
That didn't stop him from bringing Min along. As much as how he became her pillar for the past three years because of his promise, she had been his strong support as well.
You know what they say, behind every successful man is a supportive woman.
Since it was a rather grand competition, Yohan's entire family came along as well, not wanting to miss out on their brother's golden moment. The relationship between Yohan and his dad had gotten so much better as both males had grew from their past self.
"Unni!" Hana shrieked excitedly before crashing into Min's arms. Hani joined in by opening her arms for a group hug. Yohan's siblings had began treating Min like family and an older sister that Hani never had.
It was easier to click with Min as an older sibling because Hani thinks that Min is way smarter and maturer than her older brother.
"My daughter-in-law is here—"
"Dad—" Yohan glared at his father alarmingly, earning a hearty laugh from the elder. The two sisters froze in their places as well since their father literally almost spoiled the entire plan.
"Okay okay i'm just joking!" The older man put his hands up into a surrender gesture as his children were about to kill him for his slip of tongue.
The plane ride was about 14 hours long and that made the whole family sore to their bones after alighting the plane. Fortunately, Yohan's coach came to pick everyone up before fetching them to a luxurious five star hotel for their accommodation.
The finals took place two days later and Yohan was totally killing it with his best condition yet. The whole family and Min were on the edge of their seats. And she was right, she could never get used to seeing Yohan getting hit even though it has been probably the 20th match she has seen.
Two hours went by just like that and even though Yohan hadn't gotten first place, he still managed to snag the silver medal. A silver medal for such an elite international competition is a pretty impressive feat.
"And we have athlete Yohan Kim with his girlfriend! She must be very proud!" The host hollered in English through the mic as Min immediately went down to give Yohan a great big hug for his new achievement.
The camera man immediately came up to Yohan and passed him a mic to say his ending speech.
"Um, I am very happy and honoured to receive this silver medal!" Yohan recited his winning speech in English, which he had practiced at home. Min's eyes turned into creases as she felt so proud for her man.
"Your girlfriend seems happier than you are!" He innerly panics as he didn't understand a single word besides 'girlfriend'. But he used every knowledge of the language to reply something that Min didn't understand.
"I am going to...propose to her after this!"
The stadium roared in loud cheers all of a sudden, frightening Min. The floor soon filled with roses and flowers that the audience had thrown in. "The man's said that he's proposing!!" The host continued to hype Yohan up while his family literally facepalms to his confession on national television.
Min's probably going to freak out once she sees the replay and understands what he's saying.
"What did you say?" She asked while looking up at him, her arms still around his waist as her face stuck on the cold surface of the silver medal.
Nobody would believe she's almost turning 28.
"I just said I love you." He smiled down at her. Min raised an eyebrow, a little sceptical but didn't bother with it since she knew her command of English had always been bad.
•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•
"Yohan you absolutely suck at photo taking." Min critisized before snatching her phone away from him, earning a small pout from the male. She passed her phone to Hani, entrusting her to capture the perfect picture since she is in front of the Eiffel Tower.
Min took every opportunity she could because it may be the only time she's going to visit Paris. Who knows if she could ever afford coming here without riding on Yohan's success.
"Wooo! Beautiful!!" Yohan yelled at the sidelines as Min posed for the camera, embarrasing the hell out of her.
The lights in the surrounding looked absolutely beautiful, with the Eiffel Tower in the background radiating with golden lights. Yohan stood next to Min for a couple shot before he kissed her on the spot, attracting a few passerby.
Hani looked at her younger sister and her dad before nodding to signal the start of their plan. She scanned the area around and smiled when she saw a familiar face.
"Gazelle, I'm leaving it up to you, thanks." Hani muttered in perfect English. Her friend nodded before taking out a professional camera and signalling everyone to be in the shot.
"Oh? Who's that?" Min pointed out.
"Just a random stranger that wants to take a picture of us." Hani lied casually as she went behind her brother and Min with her father and Hana following suit.
They were posing normally for the first few shots but Min started to feel a little weirded out how nobody was making noise and the person with the camera just kept on taking pictures.
From the corner of her eyes she could see Yohan going down and whipped her head to the side to see what exactly was going on.
The love of her life was on one knee, presenting a diamond ring to her.
Everything seemed absolutely surreal in that spur of the moment and she turned around, only to see Hani, Hana and Yohan's father holding a big banner that spelled out the words,
"Marry me."
Min sucked a big breath, trying to stabilize what she was feeling to prevent herself from going into a crying frenzy as she looked back at Yohan with the ring.
"Yoon Min, I think it's safe to say we're a match made in heaven. So will you marry me?" His eyes sparkled in hope along with the reflection of the golden lights.
Every worry in the world seemed to disappear in that split second. Being over the moon was clearly an understatement.
"Did you really need to ask?" She broke out into a smile but couldn't stop the tears from flowing before nodding her head eagerly.
About eight years ago, Yohan had given her a promise ring when she turned 20, and now that very same promise is going to be fulfilled. He was definitely a man of his words.
Yohan finally slipped the diamond ring onto Min's third finger which was right beside their silver promise ring. What an absolute glow up.
"SHE SAID YES!!!" Yohan yelled out at the crowd before embracing Min tightly. The happiness from achieving his silver medal was nothing compared to finally being able to call Min his fiancee, and wife to be. And he isn't going to let her go again no matter how high or low life takes them.
The people around them cheered and whistled to the successful proposal and even though it wasn't so fanciful, they had each other, and that was enough.
They had spent their youth together through good and bad times. Having the vision of starting a family together felt like pure bliss and everyone knew they were sort of unofficially married as they had been living together since their university days.
They had already promised each other their entire lives and now Yohan had finally sealed the deal.
"Let's grow old together." Min whispered before placing a small kiss on Yohan's cheek, tainting it with her lipstick on purpose.
"Yes, forever and always."
•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•
[ a/n: and that officially marks the end of Yohan and Min's journey! Sorry it took so long for me to post the epilogue. The different time skips could actually be an actual sequel for them, but my brain isn't ready to have that conversation.
Till my next story, annyeong! ]