Chapter 117 (The End)
"The weather's bad, so I came to pick you up."
What was it about those words? Just hearing "I came to pick you up" made her face flush and her chest tingle.
'I have someone like this too.'
"I was worried my little deer might get swept away by the blizzard."
There was someone who looked out the window for her, fretting, and rushed to her side. Unable to hide the sudden surge of emotion, she offered a faint smile. Jae-gyu, as if that smile was the greatest thing, blushed like a boy, his neck turning red.
"You look like a real fairy, all dressed up and smiling like that. And here I am, looking like a beggar from a Pumba show."
Bom scanned Jae-gyu from head to toe. His hair was a mess, and his tight-fitting athletic shirt looked far too thin for the cold. His luxurious lambskin shoes looked completely out of place with the rest of his outfit.
It was certainly an odd ensemble. But she didn't dislike this look at all.
"Mr. Jae-gyu, you said it yourself at the soy sauce marinated crab restaurant. That you can't always show only your pretty and cool side."
Jae-gyu's downcast eyes widened and sparkled at her words. It was funny. All she'd done was repeat his own words back to him, and he was making such a face.
Bom wanted to go home with Jae-gyu right away. She longed to spend warm time together in their own space. She took Jae-gyu's hand. His usually warm hand was like a block of ice.
"Why are your hands so cold? Are you okay?"
First, she needed to get him into the car. Then, they'd quickly go to Cheongseol-eup, turn up the boiler, and she'd warm him a glass of milk. They could even watch the reunion reality show Jae-gyu had recently fallen for.
"Do you want to go to my place first? Get in."
She took his hand and started to lead the way, but her steps faltered. Turning her head, she saw Jae-gyu hadn't moved an inch from his spot.
"Mr. Jae-gyu?"
Why was he like this? His eyebrows were drawn into a tense, straight line, and his lips were pressed together. His other hand, not holding Bom's, fidgeted with a bulging pocket.
As if having made a decision, Jae-gyu took a breath, then slowly, yet suddenly, knelt on one knee.
"Bom."
The tremor in that short address made Bom's heart plummet to her toes.
'Surely not...'
Her plummeting heart pounded fiercely within her chest. She had realized what Jae-gyu was about to do.
Jae-gyu reached out and took Bom's hand. His large hand was trembling.
In that position, Jae-gyu lifted his chin slightly and gazed intently at Bom. Thanks to his large build, making eye contact even in this posture was not difficult.
Looking into his eyes, she could tell. She could tell just how nervous Jae-gyu was.
"I have a letter I've been preparing for almost a month."
With his free hand, Jae-gyu fumbled in his back pocket and pulled out a crumpled, folded piece of paper. The moment he unfolded it, a strong gust of wind swept through.
"Oh no!"
"..."
The paper fluttered away towards the school gate. A startled Bom looked from the flying letter to Jae-gyu and back again. But Jae-gyu, as if unfazed, remained calmly in place.
"Just like that letter that just flew away. So much of what I prepared to stand here right now has vanished as if by magic."
As Jae-gyu spoke with a newfound gravity, even Bom-sik, who had been circling around, settled down and sat quietly beside Bom.
"But it's strange, isn't it? The words I want to say to you today haven't disappeared. My gut tells me to speak now. Ms. Bom, will you listen to me for a moment?"
Looking down at Jae-gyu, Bom quietly nodded her head.
"Until I became an adult, I didn't know what a proper family was, or what affection meant. I just barely scraped by, day by day."
Bom had keenly felt that when they went to Haechon Village together. Now, Jae-gyu no longer hesitated to speak of those times. This fact was, once again, striking.
'I, too, I changed Mr. Jae-gyu.'
Bom swallowed back the tears that threatened to fall and nodded repeatedly. It was her way of telling him to keep talking.
"After I became an adult, I raised Han-gyeol here in Shinsu-eup, ran a company, and tried to live a decent life."
Jae-gyu took a deep breath, as if recalling those times, then squeezed the hand holding Bom's.
"But living like that, I think I was a little lonely."
He had never spoken of such things before. Bom knew that Jae-gyu was now unearthing everything he had buried deep in his heart.
"Even when others talked about love, I couldn't understand what that feeling was like. I'd never received anything like it before."
His sincere voice squeezed her heart. Slowly, her eyes blurred, and Jae-gyu became indistinct. She hadn't meant to cry, but why were tears flowing on their own?
"Then I met you, Ms. Bom. When something good happens, I want to tell you first, and even when something bad happens, I want to confide in you. I want to tell you everything about me, and I want to know everything about you... That's when I realized this was love."
Love. He had never directly said the words "I love you." But Bom had felt it. His eyes, his voice, his actions—they all spoke of love.
"I love you, Ms. Bom."
But hearing it expressed in words brought a different kind of flutter and emotion. The man, who had whispered his love with a trembling voice, nervously swallowed, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down.
He, his entire hand shaking, fumbled in his pocket. After slipping several times, his hand finally managed to grasp something and pull it out completely.
The familiar black box was in his hand. Jae-gyu opened it, revealing its contents for Bom to see.
"Mr. Jae-gyu, this is..."
The sparkling proposal ring was so beautiful it sent shivers down her spine.
"Will you allow me to be by your side for the rest of my life, Ms. Bom?"
More than the perfect proposal ring, something else caught her eye. It was Jae-gyu's appearance right now.
In this very outfit, the man asking to spend a lifetime together shook Bom's heart more than anyone in a three-piece suit holding a bouquet of flowers.
When had it started?
When this man had taken hold of her heart.
Even tracing back through her memories, there was no definite point where she could say, 'This was it.' Perhaps it had begun from their very first meeting.
From the moment she first encountered him in the faculty office, ripples had disturbed her calm life. The man who had slowly permeated her daily routine was now asking her to spend a lifetime with him.
'Marriage...'
Bom hated marriage. Ever since she became an adult, her parents had pushed it on her like a chore, and she found it repulsive. To her, it was merely a means to gain their approval and, at the same time, escape.
But if it was with Jae-gyu, if she became this man's family...?
As her answer was delayed, Jae-gyu's lips visibly trembled. Bom cleared her throat.
"Mr. Seon Jae-gyu."
"...Yes."
"You're the first man I've ever met like you."
"..."
Bom decided to be honest in this moment.
"From your strangely mixed dialect, to your unique fashion sense, to your abrupt dad jokes..."
"..."
"But those things made me laugh. They moved me. My life changed after I met you, you slightly strange man."
She tried to speak calmly, but her tears grew larger, and her chest trembled uncontrollably. Was this how it was supposed to be? She didn't know, but Bom continued to speak.
"You know, Mr. Jae-gyu... Thank you for approaching me first."
"Then..."
Jae-gyu's eyes darted about, trying to confirm if her words meant she accepted him. Bom's eyes crinkled, and her lips curved into a soft smile.
"So, then, does that mean..."
"It means I want to marry you, Mr. Jae-gyu."
Jae-gyu, feeling a thrill run through his entire body, held his breath for a moment before finally collecting himself.
"Bom... Bom. Is it true? No, the ring. The ring first."
Jae-gyu, flustered, took the ring out of the box, then carefully took Bom's hand again.
Jae-gyu gently cradled Bom's hand in his own and slowly slid the prepared ring onto her slender left ring finger. The ring fit perfectly and its design suited the shape of Bom's hand.
The rectangular-cut diamond ring, flanked by two smaller center stones, sparkled dazzlingly.
Jae-gyu gazed at the ring he had chosen, shining on Bom's hand.
"It suits you well."
"Stand up, let's take a picture here."
Bom wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and helped Jae-gyu stand up. The ordinary road next to the sports field, leading out to the school gate, had become a romantic spot for the two of them, thanks to the proposal.
"One, two..."
Jae-gyu, with Bom in his arms, stretched out his arm to take a selfie. Bom quickly spread her fingers, making sure the ring Jae-gyu had given her was visible. At that, Jae-gyu proudly curved his lips into a wide smile.
Click.
The two, having captured the moment with the camera, looked at each other and smiled. This moment, like melting snow, would be fleeting, but what did it matter?
Jae-gyu would bring up today's story at every opportunity, and occasionally pull out the photo to recount his struggles.
And she would undoubtedly burst into helpless laughter at his characteristic exaggerated gestures.
It would be the same on other days, and all those days would remain, layered as memories, steadfastly supporting the two of them.
As Bom, still in Jae-gyu's embrace, strolled through the now-clear school grounds, she suddenly stopped.
"Oh, right. I forgot something."
"Oh, what is it?"
"I love you too."
She didn't know when it started, but that's how it turned out.
【The End SR】