Anytime Ever After [IU & KimSoohyun Fanfic]

19. knot

"Marry me."

Alex was still munching tteokbokki when she heard those words from him, she wanted to make sure she heard it right so she asked again, "Pardon? What did you say?"

"I said, marry me."

"Are you serious?!" She choked when she heard those words from him clearly. She instantly had a hard time breathing that she was gasping for air.

Sage immediately stood up from his seat and gave her water, worry and panic were written all over his face.

Alex instantly gulped water in one go. She started tapping her chest to clear herself.

"Mr. Sage Kim, WHO TOLD YOU TO PROPOSE THAT WAY? You almost choked me to death! I was busy pigging out in front of you, not looking my best. I even have sauce in the corner of my mouth, in other words, I look messy and you propose out of the blue?"

"Hey, this look is the kind that I want to see for the rest of my life. The look that is only exclusive to me. I won't get tired of looking at you in this what you consider your unpleasant form. I am serious Alex, I want to marry you, anytime, when you are ready."

Alex became dumbfounded when she heard him, then a moment after, she became teary-eyed with his confession. She could not believe that in her chipmunk image right now, stripped off with all the celebrity glamour, she would receive a proposal from the man who knows her best and doesn't mind all her flaws.

She couldn't imagine herself with any other man to spend the rest of her life with other than him.

So instead of saying yes, she stood up from her seat, walked in front of him, and kissed him on the spot which shocked Sage. Her lips lingered longer than usual then she withdrew, looked at him in the eye, and said,

"Anytime."

Sage hugged him in response and when all the adrenaline rush he felt a while ago, he forgot he did not bring the ring.

He closed his eyes tightly as he felt so embarrassed like never before.

He suddenly caught sight of the red string that was tied to the long-stemmed rose on the vase of their dining table. He then smiled. He broke free from the hug and took the string.

"Alex, I'm sorry. I forgot the ring, but please accept this temporarily. I was not supposed to propose tonight but I suddenly felt this was the right moment to do so."

He tied the string to her finger forming a tourniquet knot.

"This may be just a simple ribbon but my intentions are pure. I am happy that you said yes even if there was no actual ring yet, and the people dear to you weren't here too. Thank you--."

"No, in fact, thank you for doing this in the most spontaneous way. I said yes not because you had the rarest and biggest diamond ring, not because you had the most romantic setup and there was no audience to pressure me to say yes. I said yes because it is you who was asking me and not because of anything else, Mr. Kim."

Then he gave her another kiss in gratitude.

After the short kiss, Alex then hugged Sage and rested her face on his chest.

Even though it was not her dream proposal, as she had envisioned it before, this is still the best proposal for her

Then, Alex glanced at her "engagement ring", and thought, the intention should be purer than the diamond and maybe, this is their red string of fate.

She won't trade this ribbon for anything in the world. It's the person who asked the "question of a lifetime" that matters more.

A/N: *Alex's ring. Just imagine that this is color red*