//
"Oh, Zhang Yixing. I should have expected nothing less." When he hugged her and allowed the receptionist to draw a chair for her to sit on, it was all she could manage to say. The man excused himself and said their waiter will be there shortly to serve them.
Maintaining his cheerful expression, Yixing adjusted his jacket suit by unbuttoning the cuffs for more comfort.
"Surprised?" he asked.
"Very much," she responded, "Why didn't I think of it sooner? I should have realized this was just your style."
If only Yixing knew she was hyperventilating within. She was thrilled to see him again; she had missed him so much. However, she remained silent since she had to seem appropriate and composed. After a week of no communication, he emerged with stunningly short hair. Her preferred bangs were gone, and his hairdo merely revealed his lovely forehead, which was not a bad thing at all. Instead, it enhanced his attractiveness and masculinity. He was dressed in a black heart printed shirt and a black jacket suit, and he looked stunning as always. She completely swooned over him.
"You're so pretty," he remarked, his voice smooth and cool, but the smile on his face never faded. Jisoo waved her hand, returning the praise.
"When did you arrive? How did you bring me here? The committee informed me that I would be eating dinner..." she paused. She hadn't realized it before, but she did now, and she couldn't believe what she was thinking.
"I arrived about two hours ago, and I got here with a car and a driver, and yes, you're having dinner with me."
Jisoo struggled to breathe because she couldn't stop smiling, a very silly smile. "But how?" she said.
Yixing pursed his lips before shrugging, "Well, let's just say I have my way." He smiled and gently lifted and lowered one eyebrow as though he was pleased with how well he had executed his strategy, as it appeared to have worked.
She let out a long sigh. Why did Yixing have to make it so difficult for her to restrain herself? It was too adorable.
They went silent for a bit until a waitress came and took their order. Jisoo let Yixing complete her order as she leaned her chin on her hand and watched the night view outside the window. They were currently above the sky, and the vista from where she sat was very spectacular.
"How was the reunion?" Yixing resumed the talk as the waiter left them to their private moment.
Jisoo returned her gaze to him and arched a brow, "It's great, we had so much fun." and before he could question her more, she shifted the subject to something else, saying, "You cut your hair."
"Yeah," Yixing ran his fingers over his hair. "Do you like it?"
She wanted to say that she loved it a lot, but she just nodded.
"I cut my hair thinking about whether you'd like it or not, so I told the hair stylist to style it the way a not-easy-pleased female would like it. And he played it safe." Laughing to himself, he seemed embarrassed to even confess how dumb he felt. Jisoo couldn't help but chuckle with him. If only Yixing realized how easy she was to please. Actually, she always got off easy as long as it was something about him.
"So, how was the trip?" she asked once again.
"Great, everything is going nicely. Please wish me luck. My buddy is finishing his PhD program next year. He informed her, "And I'm now trying to convince him to accept my offer to take the Vice President position in my office.
"What an amazing offer. What is his deal?" Jisoo took a drink of the champagne that the waiter had just poured for them.
"Simply said, there is fierce competition. I am not the only one offering him the job; he's one outstanding talent on the field. Large companies would spend a ridiculous amount of money to hire him, and I don't want him to consider my offer just because we're close friends back in school. So wish me luck."
Yixing's smile was different today as he spoke about this friend of his. Though she had heard him discuss his work several times, she had never seen him look so happy like this. Jisoo was amazed to discover how quickly he could speak Korean after only two years of learning the language. And when he couldn't utter the Korean terms for what he was trying to communicate, he switched to Chinese instead. But, in the end, he attempted to interpret the things he uttered in Chinese back into Korean so that she might comprehend what he was saying. He had no idea she understood all he said in both languages, and she didn't want to spoiled the mood, so for the second time, she remained silent about it.
"Good luck, Yixing. I sincerely hope you can work this out." she remarked.
The conversation about work went on, but then he expressed interest in knowing more about her activities. She responded by telling him about the conference and the subject she would be speaking on as the keynote speaker. They also talked about how much she appreciated the dinner and how she truly didn't think he would simply show up and pay her a surprise visit to celebrate her birthday. The dinner meant a lot to her even if it was not a particularly romantic one.
She also enjoyed the dinner he had prepared for her. She discovered after three months of dating him that Yixing enjoyed showing his woman his undivided attention. It was difficult at first since she was used to being independent and doing everything on her own. However, now that Yixing was taking care of everything for her, even small tasks like this, she began to become accustomed to it. She had to admit that she enjoyed the sense of dependence she had from having someone to look out for her. In all honesty, she hadn't set high expectations for this relationship, but Yixing had exceeded her expectations in many ways thus far.
"Baobei," Yixing quietly cried out while they were eating their dinner in solitude.
With a reflexive grin, Jisoo turned her head back to face him as she took in the nighttime surroundings, thinking how much she like the way he addressed her by name. She didn't really remember when he started calling her with this; if anything, it seemed to have happened on their first date. However, she had been appreciating it and responding to it as though it were her own name. It just sounded lovely to her ears.
"Hm?"
"Do you have a plan for the lunar new year holiday?" he was wondering.
Jisoo tilted her head as she tried to recollect the schedule's specifics. Three days of vacation were granted to the university for it, and she was certain she had nothing important to do at work or attend other than spend it at her grandparents' house as usual. She then informed Yixing about this.
"I don't think I've repaired anything. Why are you asking?" She asked back, knowing that the question would lead to something. Yixing would never start a conversation that was irrelevant to them.
"My parents invited you to Beijing for the lunar year vacation, and I told them that I would ask. The company would be on prolonged vacation beginning on the 24th, so I planned to take you there on Thursday evening and return to Seoul on Sunday. We normally have a dinner buffet with our extended family on New Year's Eve, so it would be nothing special. I was also invited to a charity gala on the 25th, and I'd want to take you as my date." Yixing pursed his lips, waiting to see whether she would respond. Seeing that she was only focusing on her dish and not speaking, he said quickly,
"However, you don't have to say something to it right now. I'll give you some time to consider it since I know that bringing you to the Gala means exposing us to the public, so I can understand if this isn't something you're comfortable with. And it's okay if you decide not to go; I'll discuss it with my parents as well." Yixing grabbed her hand and gave her a shooting squeeze. At that moment, Jisoo managed to lift her head and display an appreciative grin.
Yixing was so sympathetic that she began to feel bad for him. She didn't even know about his family, but he had already met them and had made an effort to engage with them. She had only ever met his parents, who were the only relatives she knew, and she didn't even make a favorable impression on them when she chose to reject their marriage proposal.
She was thinking to accept the offer; if Yixing had suggested it, she would have given him a laundry list of reasons why she preferred to put off the visit for as long as possible. Yet since it was his parents, declining the invitation seemed impolite for whatever reason.
Jisoo simply sighed. Let's just shrug it aside for now, she reasoned. She made a mental point to take this into serious consideration.
After their dinner, Yixing brought her outside to take the elevator back. They ascended to the 'O' floor and arrived on the obsevatorium deck, as stated. As they arrived to the ring deck of the glass wall, Jisoo was experiencing altitude sickness, and she heard some squeals from the few guests inside who were most likely just as uncomfortable as she was. Yixing extended his arm to receive her hand, and she placed hers into the bend of his elbow.
"It's okay, trust me, it's safe," he told her as they walked up to the edge of the deck for a night view of the city.
Jisoo now noticed the deck was moving in a circle. She was mesmerized.
After a short while of stargazing, she began to become accustomed to the height; she was so taken in by the stunning nighttime view of the cityscape that she began to release Yixing's arm and stroll around the deck to use the binocular telescope.
"I thought this thing will only work on the day time, but it's actually quite good in the night time too." She said to herself as she moved the telescope to aim at any structure and had a better view. She told Yixing she could see the Tokyo Tower from here and even joked that her hotel was visible, despite the fact that she had no idea what she was looking at.
Yixing, on the other hand, merely chuckled at her side and watched her get excited about the breathtaking view before her.
"Hey, by the way, I have a present for you," she heard him say a minute later.
Jisoo dragged herself out of the binoculars and glanced up when she heard the word 'present'. With the dinner and the cool revolving observatory, she believed Yixing had given her all she wanted for tonight, but he had more? She didn't anticipate this.
She watched him slide his hand into the pocket of his slacks and get something as she waited. She was truly astounded by what she saw. Yixing withdrew a little black suede box, but she could tell it had a certain object. There must be a ring within.
And, as she had predicted in that split second, he opened it, revealing a ring. The stunning French pavé diamond ring left her speechless.
After a lengthy pause Yixing eventually said, "Happy birthday," suppressing a smile as he saw her stunned by the gift's scenario. Jisoo was returned to reality at that point.
A diamond ring. Yixing gave her a ring for her birthday, and a guy giving a lady a ring could only imply one thing. However, it was essentially three months ago that he proposed to her in front of his family, and she accepted his proposal to marry him in the future. So, what was it? A birthday present? Engagement ring?
With bewilderment, she said, "Yixing, is this what I think this is?"
"First and foremost, would you like to take this or not? As it takes energy to hold this out."
"Oh, okay, sure." Yixing followed her instructions as she held up her hand to ask him to put it on her. He removed the ring from the box and placed it on her right ring finger. She was so happy with how well it fit on her finger that she couldn't take her eyes off of it. She couldn't help but wonder, "What is this for?"
"TMI, I designed it myself, specially for you."
Jisoo lifted an eyebrow, impressed, despite the cringe.
You are free to interpret it anyway you see fit; I made it as a birthday present for you. I've never given us a label because I didn't believe it was that significant. But eventually, people will start asking questions and you might want to let them know about us."
She copied his grin as she raised her head to once again meet his.
"It's your choice to wear it or take it off if you're not ready. "Even though I foolishly wish that you won't mind keeping it and letting them know that Kim Jisoo is taken," he hesitated before adding, "To me." Yixing glanced aside after clearing his throat and putting his hands back in his trousers pockets, as if he was embarrassed about what he had spoken to her.
She was unable to stop thinking about how lovely the ring was and how well it fit her finger as she raised her hand to admire it. It must have cost Yixing an enormous amount of money to create himself. And no lying, she would forgive him for this one since who wouldn't like a diamond. Even though she wasn't really fond of the idea of his spending his money on things for her?
On top of that, he wanted everyone to know that she was his, and that for her, it was a checkmate.
"I'll keep it," she said. "I'll let them know that this person," she pointed at her nose, "belongs to Zhang Yixing."
She gently pulled him down and kissed his cheek. "And, well, let's go to Beijing. She said to him, "I think I'm ready to meet your family." Yixing's expression brightened when he heard that.
"But please save me when they start talking about the wedding," she said as he held her.
"I will, Baobei. Don't worry, I'll just tell them not to bring it up at all. Thank you very much." She put her chin on his chest as he placed his lips to her forehead, and that one simple act melted her heart like a fondue of chocolate.
There, in his warm embrace, was all she wanted to do was stay in his arm forever. She inhaled deeply and let out a big sigh at that same moment.
That in addition to this tenuous belief that she could have—she wasn't certain, but it was possible—that she, irreversibly...
was starting to fall for him.
* * *