SMNTCERR, Special Chapter 8: Propose 5.0 #3.
When they returned to the restaurant, they found the musicians busy collecting their instruments. As soon as Sangwoo sat down at the table, the waiter approached him immediately. Sangwoo asked quietly if they could help with the advance request for the event. Originally, they had planned for Jaeyoung to listen to the music and have dessert together, but Sangwoo had to suppress his desire and ask the staff to start working when the other person returned.
‘This is the worst.’
This is the time when emotions should be at their peak. Sangwoo was restless with external sexual desires, sweating profusely. He was agitated and lucky that nothing had stained his clothes, almost using the bathroom to wash his clothes.
Not long after, Sangwoo’s boyfriend, who he loved more than anything, appeared. He casually walked in, putting his hand in his pants pocket and looked relaxed, as if nothing had happened. Although Sangwoo was frustrated, he tried not to show it and drank several sips of water. He wanted to hold his lover’s hand tightly, have intimate conversations, and share stories about the future. He wanted to see the other person smiling while reminiscing about the most thrilling stories from the past. He wanted to pinch their cheeks and say how cute they were when they pouted.
“I don’t know why when you get angry, you look so attractive.”
The unashamed man who was moving his hand and foot under his chin, looking at him with a floating expression, who was he? The villain who was slowly destroying the event that Sangwoo had been preparing for over a month.
He slowly used the items that he had prepared for over half a month, but still, nothing happened. This made Sangwoo lose confidence.
At that moment, the hotel staff approached, presenting a flower bouquet consisting of red roses to Sangwoo, and placing a cake in front of Jaeyoung, with fresh white cream and icing writing that said, “I love you.”
“Just say it straightforwardly, can this replace anything?”
Jaeyoung seemed unsure of how to feel impressed. Sangwoo handed him a bouquet of flowers with a hopeless feeling. The plan was for him to kneel down and present the bouquet with both hands, but if he did that in this situation, he would look foolish.
“Oh, thank you.”
Jaeyoung took the bouquet and smelled the fragrance. Then he smiled briefly and placed it on the side chair. That was the first normal reaction the other party showed today. Sangwoo summoned a little courage and urged the other party to quickly eat the cake. Jaeyoung used a fork to take a big piece of cake without taking his eyes off Sangwoo, then put it in his mouth and chewed. Then, he spoke up.
“It’s delicious. Not too sweet.”
“Hurry up and eat more.”
“Seeing each other like this is good, it starts to make me feel the same way again.”
Sangwoo sighed. They had been together for sixteen months, going on dates every weekend, traveling together every month, and the sex was as scheduled.
He didn’t know what the problem was that caused turmoil outside.
While waiting for the fork to get caught on something, suddenly Jaeyoung raised his head and took a sip of water.
“I don’t know what I swallowed. Probably a fruit.”
“Oh?”
Sangwoo quickly stood up, stepped forward, and grabbed the other party’s shoulder before examining his face.
“Open your mouth a little.”
As he tried to force the other party to open his mouth, Jaeyoung pushed Sangwoo away and coughed two or three times, as if something was stuck in his throat. Then he made a gesture to drink water again. Sangwoo took the glass from the other party’s hand and placed it far away.
“What’s wrong?”
Jaeyoung just frowned in confusion, but Sangwoo’s face turned pale.
“Stand up. Hurry, you need to go to the hospital.”
“Why?”
“It’s not something to be taken lightly… Get up quickly.”
Sangwoo pulled Jaeyoung’s arm forcefully with his hot passion, but the other side stubbornly refused to budge even a little.
Do we need to go to the emergency room now? If it has passed through the food pipe, do we need to use a camera to examine the stomach? Sangwoo’s head was in a state of confusion and chaos like never before. Whatever the event may be, taking Jaeyoung to the hospital is the most urgent matter.
“Wait, hold on.”
Jaeyoung slowly pulled his hand out of Sangwoo’s grip and looked at him, alternating between his gaze and the cake. Then he picked up a fork and crushed the remaining cake, revealing a golden metal piece underneath.
“…”
Jaeyoung picked up the ring with a blank expression on his face, while Sangwoo stood still, feeling as if he had turned into a statue.
“Damn it.”
This is what they call bad luck – even if he falls and breaks his nose [1], misfortune clings to him [2], the curse of Murphy’s law [3]. Sangwoo was so weak that he had never believed in astrology infiltrating his mind and causing him distress.
In the review blog, it was said that after the proposal, tears of admiration would well up when the proposee found the ring in the cake, but Jaeyoung’s partner put his finger on their mouth, laughed lightly, and used a tissue to polish the ring.
‘But at least it didn’t get swallowed.’
Sangwoo took a deep breath and returned to his seat, slumping his face onto the table without strength.
“Don’t put it on yet.”
With a sigh, his stubborn and adorable partner immediately put on the ring on the ring finger of his left hand.
“Why?”
“I said, don’t put it on yet.”
“No, I will put it on.”
“… Please do as you wish.”
Overall, it was a terrible experience. Even though it shouldn’t have been this devastating, the event that Sangwoo had eagerly anticipated turned out to be a complete failure, with no expected results at all.
After that, what happened? Sangwoo couldn’t remember anymore. Is there more food being served? Or maybe coffee? He had been repeatedly attacked by failure and was in a state of near-death. He sat helplessly and accepted the food given to him. When Jaeyoung pulled his arm, he seemed to have stood up and went to pay. Suddenly, he realized he was already driving back home.
“Damn it!”
As he sneezed, Jaeyoung raised the temperature of the heater and grabbed his jacket from the backseat to cover his shoulders. Despite being a lovable person, sincere and not a bad person, why did it turn out like this? Sangwoo stepped on the accelerator with a desire to cry.
Jaeyoung sat in silence all the way home, and his anger gradually subsided. When he saw the other person sitting silently and holding a bouquet of flowers, he felt sorry for himself unnecessarily. When the car was parked, Jaeyoung unlocked his seatbelt and turned to look for Sangwoo.
“Hey, Sangwooya.”
“Why?”
“Let’s have two or three rounds of makeup sex in the car for a while.”
“Get out!”
Whatever, he would ask for a wedding or something. At this moment, Sangwoo thought about killing the other person.
“…Unfortunately, there is no doctor Jekyll[4.]”
After Jaeyoung put down the bouquet of flowers from the car as if being chased away, Sangwoo eagerly opened the rear door. A loud sound was heard from the outside. Sangwoo laughed when he heard Jaeyoung’s voice and got out of the car anxiously.
Jaeyoung approached him, gently teasing him for not expecting so much preparation, but when Sangwoo saw the other person’s face, he took a deep breath. Colorful balloons filled with helium gas, tied to the back of the skirt with a sign that read ‘Chu Sangwoo ♥ Jang Jaeyoung’, floated in the air perfectly, but Jaeyoung just looked amused. There was no impressive gesture.
“Why is it the font ‘Dotum’? Don’t you like the font ‘Gulim’?”
“We made a promise that we wouldn’t use it anymore, didn’t we?”
“Oh, that’s true.”
Did I choose the wrong font? I should probably consult Yoona.
While Sangwoo stands there dissatisfaction. Jaeyoung reaches to grab the sign and separates the balloons, folding the sign carefully. Then he held it to his chest.
“We have to keep it forever.”
Impressed or not, he couldn’t understand that reaction. Sangwoo said weakly.
“Go ahead.”
“Let’s go together.”
“I said go ahead.”
As soon as he saw Sangwoo’s expression, Jaeyoung understood and went home. When he saw that the other party had walked far enough.. Sangwoo pulled all the balloons down and opened the balloons to let the air out.
‘I wanted to make you truly happy, but it all fell apart.’
Sangwoo manages all the balloons with a bitter heart and closes the rear door.
‘But in the end, sincerity is important.’
Even though every event seen in movies and on the internet has failed sadly, Sangwoo still doesn’t give up hope, after abandoning all the balloons and walking to the officetel [5], he found Jaeyoung waiting in front of the door. Sangwoo felt slightly surprised, thinking that the other party would definitely have to enter the house.
“Why are you standing there?”
“We have to go in together, what’s inside, isn’t it? Like roses or candles.”
“…”
Jaeyoung hugged him from behind and kissed his cheek without realizing how Sangwoo felt. Then he unlocks the door. The other party hums, then sings, “Tam, Ta, Ta, Da, Dam, Tam, Taem, Taem, Taem,” as if implying to open the door. The humming stops briefly when Jaeyoung sees the image that appears in front before continuing, Sangwoo’s lips exhaling breath.
“No, I’m impressed.”
“Don’t say it teasingly.”
Sangwoo released Jaeyoung from his embrace and kicked the rose petal strongly towards the living room, he rudely took off his coat and hung it on a hanger. Then he walked to the refrigerator, poured cold water into a glass, and lifted it to drink all at once.
“…Are you angry?”
“Shut up and sit over there.”
Jaeyoung observed Sangwoo’s posture and walked to the sofa, using his backhand to sweep the petals before gradually sitting down. Sangwoo opened the champagne that Jaeyoung liked the most and handed the other party a glass as a ceremony, “Cheers!” he lifted the glass up to the ceiling and brought it down to Jaeyoung’s side. Sangwoo had hoped for it to fall on the other party’s head, but unfortunately Jaeyoung caught it mid-air.
Sangwoo went to stand in the middle of the table, where LED lights were arranged in the shape of a heart, before turning on the beam projector installed a few hours ago. He had thrown away all the cards that were prepared. Only one thing was left.
Sincerity.
Sangwoo pulled the laser pointer out of his pants pocket, opened the presentation file, and on the screen, countless hearts floated up followed by a photo taken together at the ski resort last year. Originally, he had planned to read the poem written by his father, which was on the front page, for the other party to listen to, but now he wasn’t in the mood for that. Sangwoo skipped to the next slide. [<Table of Content> Existing life plans.
Proposed changes to life plans.
Suitable characteristics for marriage.
Certification of Competence.
Proposal.]
“Powerpoint smells like Choi Yoona doing, distinctly.”
“Because she’s the one who made it.”
“Once in a while, I miss Bonobono [6] too. It’s a shame.”
Jaeyoung hugged the pillow tightly, his eyes looking somewhat gloomy.
“May I make a request? Please, don’t refuse.”
Sangwoo pleaded in his heart, taking a deep breath. He had never been afraid of presenting before, but this time he was trembling.
“I will start the presentation now. If you have any questions, please raise your hand. Don’t interrupt, please.”
“Please wait patiently, Captain Chu.”
“Close your mouth!”
________________________________________.
[1] “Even if a person falls backward, their nose will still break: Jaesoo, eobsneun, nomenu, dwiro, neomeojyeodo, koga, kkaejinda.” This is a Korean proverb that means if something doesn’t go smoothly, it won’t go smoothly like that. It also implies that unexpected misfortunes may occur.
[2] Jinx. It means bringing bad luck, being unlucky, or jinxing someone.
[3] Murphy’s Law. It is a saying that means “Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.” It is also used to express the idea that many things often do not go as planned or go wrong.
[4] Dr. Jekyll and Hyde: The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Hyde. It is a short story by Robert Louis Stevenson. It tells the story of a man with two different identities within himself.
[5] Officetel: 오피스텔. It comes from the words office + hotel. It is a building that combines residential and commercial purposes, with the lower floors being used for offices and the upper floors for residential purposes. It is similar to condominiums in Thailand, but the units are mostly studio-type and do not have balconies.
[6] Bonobono is a cartoon character, a blue sea otter that Sangwoo likes to wear in his slides.
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