//
Jisoo sighed as soon as she left the immigration queue. She had returned to Korea, it was time to face the real world again. She sniffed and wiped her runny nose. It's a good thing that she was wearing Yixing's hat right now; she wanted to put it away since it reminded her of him, but because it perfectly hid her swollen eyes she had no other better choice. That hat that she wanted to put away so much was the only thing that could perfectly hide the fact that she had been crying for the whole flight back to Korea.
She didn't want to go home, to be honest. She didn't want to face the reality that lay before her eyes. She hated to face the reality that she had said yes to Yixing's proposal when she was supposed to reject it. She felt so stupid to fall into it for a kiss, like an easy girl with no pride and dignity. And Jisoo knew better, she was supposed to be better than this. Falling hard into his charm was a mistake, saying yes to his proposal was a big mistake. And she regretted it.
But now that she'd made the deal, she didn't know how to back out. She had been so preoccupied with this problem that she had wasted so much of her sleep time contemplating how to get herself out of it. How would she explain it to Yixing? It had been difficult to call off the wedding in the first place, and Yixing appeared to have no intention of doing so either, which was a great cause for a change. But she had been distressed, and she had been working quite hard to maintain her professionalism while in this situation. She wanted to talk to Minseok, but he had been unreachable since Monday morning and hadn't been replying to her call since then. She wanted to talk to Sehun, but he would probably just make fun of her. Even though he was one of her favorite persons, Sehun was just not the person she would call for a heart-to-heart conversation. Especially when he was self-convinced that she had fallen hard on Yixing since the family dinner.
There was one other person who might want to hear her and have this serious conversation, but Jisoo had lost contact with him when she returned to Korea, and for a good reason she would like to keep it that way. So, she only laughed to herself knowing that she had no one to talk to about this. One of the things she had to give up to become the person she is now was the lack of close relationships. It was bittersweet, but now she despised it.
Jisoo pulled the hat lower when her eyes were brimmed with tears again. She walked fast despite the weary, holding her waist with one hand with her other pushing her suitcase. She wanted to have a hot shower and sulked over the night, maybe she would inhale a big bowl of Haagen Dazs like when she was morose over her breakup with Baekhyun. The ice cream was always the best heal for distress. She had planned all those things she wanted to do right when she got home she was a bit shocked when she finally passed the exit gate⁠—there stood the very last person she wished to see tonight.
Yixing was standing behind the railing with a bouquet in one hand and holding a sign with 'welcome home' written on it in his other hand, he waved his hand to greet her with that typical dimple smile of him. In normal times, she would be falling for it with sparkles and stars in her eyes seeing how sweet it was, but tonight all those thoughts just gone in a blink. Why would he stand in front of her when she was willing to avoid him the most? But brushing him off would be rude, so she pulled her best-tired smile and walked up to him in reluctance.
"Don't tell me you're going to do this every time I fly home from a trip," she said as she stood before him.
"Don't worry. I was sending my mother back to Beijing, so I figured why not pick you up along the way." He went on to give her a floral arrangement. "They gave out 20% off for the flowers since they're closing up, and the sign just came with it. Nothing special."
"Is there anything behind the flowers' choice?" she said, holding the flower arrangement to her nose and smelling its fragrances. She had no notion what those blossoms were.
"Well, those are white poppies. They said it promotes peace, so let's say it's a peace offering I'd like to give you."
Peace offering? What did he even mean by that? Jisoo meant to ask, but she was too tired to have this conversation so she just nodded and took the flowers with her while Yixing took her suitcase from her.
"Are you okay?" Yixing then asked a few moments later as he walked her to the parking lot. She was aware that he'd been watching her face, and of course, her pale complexion with the swollen eyes wouldn't be left unnoticed.
"Yes, I am." She wiped her face with both hands, flowers on her chest, and blew a deep sigh.
"I'm just tired is all." 
He didn't seem to buy it, but even with that, he didn't hover. And for once, she was thankful for that. "Okay, let's take you home," he said then.
There was only silence filling the air for the rest of the walk. As they got to his car, he opened the door to let her in first before he put her suitcase in the trunk. He started the engine and drove off right away without further ado.
Jisoo leaned back in her seat, tilted her head, and stared out the window. The awkwardness was thick, and Jisoo felt a bit strange even though this was soothing. Being in silence like this was what she needed sometimes, especially when she didn't feel like facing him like now. So at this time, she was so thankful that Yixing gave her time for herself and didn't force her to speak at all.
Although only a few moments.
"Are you sleeping?"
Jisoo sighed inaudibly, she just knew that it wouldn't last long. She replied to him with a hum.
"I have something to tell you, can you listen to me?"
"If it's about the wedding, I don't want to hear it," she admitted candidly. Couldn't this talk wait until tomorrow or next week, when she'd be ready and sane enough not to scream her heart out in front of him?
"Well, it is. But I still have to tell you this, and I promise you it will be worth your time." 
Jisoo didn't say anything after that, but she knew that Yixing took it as a sign of her resignation.
"I'm sorry, Jisoo." she heard him say. 
Sorry for what? she thought. For kissing her? For disregarding her feelings? For making her feel like a cheap toy? For crushing down her dignity?
"I'm sorry for everything I did, all of the unpleasant things that I have made you feel." 
She was still silent but listening.
"I should have listened to you.As the potential person in your future, I should have understood better that you will suffer the most if we force this awful thing over us. I've neglected the notion that you, like me, may have things on your bucket list, and I've been really selfish in not considering your best interests. I've been using you to satisfy my desires and using my pulling ability to get on your weakest side when I kissed you. I have been raised better than this. It's inappropriate; it was wrong, and I apologize." Yixing waited for a time, turning his head to see how she reacted. Jisoo could see it from her peripheral vision, but she was determined to remain silent and see where this would lead.
"And, well, I had a conversation with my mother. And I apologize again; I know I should have had this discussion from the beginning, but I was simply too clueless to do so. But I wanted to let you know that the scheduled wedding has been canceled. We won't be married until you say so, and I realize it's a little late and I probably seem unreliable but you're right. I don't want to have a sinking ship; it's better to prevent it than work hard on fixing it. I'll give you as much time as you need. If you desire more space, I'll give you as much as you need. And if you want to talk, I will lend you my ears. I will listen to you, cherish your opinions, and promise to do it better from now on. I am not an immoral individual who solely wants to exploit you for personal gain. Because it's a marriage, and even if it won't be all sunlight, I want to share an umbrella and weather the storm beside you."
She didn't know what to say or do. But evidently, all she felt right now was relief. She was pleased to hear it, for it meant the end of her agony. She was pleased that this marked the end of her restless nights. Finally, she might be able to sleep well beginning tonight.
She was thankful. At first, she was almost desperate to think there was no way other than throwing away some of her dreams because of this marriage, she was almost desperate because she thought she didn't have anyone who would take her seriously, but Yixing offered his ears. He listened to her complaints, and requests, and their marriage would not be happening until she was ready to do so. And that was far more than enough.
Jisoo didn't know what to say, so she broke down because her tears wouldn't stop.
"Hey, you're okay?" Yixing remarked when he noticed tears streaming down her cheeks. "I'm sorry."
He pulled over and parked his car on the side of the freeway. Pulling himself behind the seat, he took up a box of kleenex and placed it on her lap.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Okay? I didn't mean to make you tear up. Please don't cry," he urged.
It's truly funny. Yixing was shocked and panicked, as if he had never seen somebody weep out loud. He seemed eager to do something, but perhaps he was afraid that anything he did would offend her, so he halted his hand in the air and bit his thumb instead.
"I'm so tired." Jisoo stated later, between sobs. "I couldn't sleep or eat. And even though they said I delivered a wonderful speech, I knew I messed up. It was the worst speech I've ever given in my whole career, and it was all because I couldn't stop thinking about that kiss."
She sniffed back a tear as she looked up and threw her gaze outside her side window avoiding his eyes, "It felt so good, but I couldn't help thinking that it was wrong. I shouldn't have liked it, because it made me feel so undignified. And I," she inhaled deeply for the umpteenth times, "And I regretted saying I would marry you on January, because the truth is, I hate it. I hate the fact that we'll have to rush it. I can't."
"I'm sorry." Yixing reached out to wipe her tears, his gaze were apologetic.
"And you're right. It's a bit late, you're supposed to say this last Sunday because it would save me a lot of troubles." she threw a punch on his upper arm, which he took willingly.
"I know, I'm sorry," he said while brushing his aching arm.
"But thank you. Thank you so much for listening. You have no idea how much it means to me. I appreciate all the things you've done, it means a lot to me." She sobbed again, "Oh God, I'm so exhausted, but I'm relieved. It's happy tears."
"Okay." Yixing nodded, and he bit his lip now. Seemed like he was still worried despite her last remark.
"And I'm hungry now. Can you stop by the street tent when we're off the expressway? I want to have some tteokbokki after this."
And that's when Yixing started to chuckle. "Alright." He didn't say anything more as he took of the handbrake off before taking the car back on the road.
Jisoo was glad, even though it's too much to take and she had no strength to think about it more. But she finally got what she wanted, and she couldn't be happier than this. Minseok was right, Yixing would listen to her. And she was glad that he finally did it even though it took some time, but say, the tears were worth it. 
And even though it would also take some time for her, Yixing would be probably worth to fight for.
And she'd like to try to open her heart again for him.