Here and Now: Hyojeong Diaries

Chapter 8

Rainbow colored clouds filled the sky, matching their reflection on the San Francisco Harbor.  

Sejeong had never seen such a beautiful sunset before.  The view gave her a sense of peace, and a feeling of calm and serenity that she desperately needed in such a busy time in her life.  

She quickly pulled out her phone to snap a photo.

"Stand over there, let me take a picture of you in front of the sunset."  Hyoseop said.

Immediately after he took the picture, his phone began to rang.

"OK dad.  Don't worry, we'll be fine.  See you later."  He responded.

"My family went to Santa Cruz today for a day trip but there seems to be some unexpected road delays, so they won't be back until later this evening.  I'll have to cancel our group reservation at the restaurant. How about we get some takeout?"

"That's OK.  I'm here for the next two days so there is still plenty of time to meet everyone."  Sejeong said, "So let's think of what to eat.  What are you craving this evening?"

Hyoseop playfully pulled Sejeong towards him.  

"You."  

He pressed his lips against hers, as his hands gently wrapped around her small face.   She closed her eyes, savoring the moment.

She remembered how difficult it was to film kiss scenes with him during their drama last year.  They usually had to film each scene from different angles, and this meant kissing repeatedly for an awkwardly long amount of time.  However, as the two of them became closer, the kisses became more comfortable and more authentic.  By the time they filmed the last few episodes, she was no longer able to differentiate whether the passion they felt towards each other was really just an act or based on true feelings.  

Both of them could not deny the spark they felt deep inside whenever their lips met and it was a sublime connection that neither of them had felt before.

As Sejeong ran her hands along his waist, she felt a hard box-like object on one side of his pocket.

"What's this?"

Hyoseop took out the iconic Tiffany blue box from his pocket.  

"I was going to wait until after dinner to give this to you."  He said.

He opened the box to reveal a Tiffany Lock ring.  It was a ring with the functionality of a padlock.  Half of the ring was surrounded by brilliant round diamonds, and the other half was a smooth and thicker white gold band.  It was similar to the Tiffany Lock bracelet that he endorsed and promoted back in January, but in ring form.

He then took out another ring from his other pocket.  They were identical except this one was bigger in size.

"Are these... our couple rings?"  Sejeong said.

"Yes."  He slipped the larger ring onto his ring finger, and the smaller one onto hers.  

"Let's just say it's something to celebrate our 15-month anniversary, and the release of your new album and all the hard work you put in."  He continued,  "Also, after meeting you, I realized that there is a lock in my heart that cannot be unlocked, and you are my soulmate and the only one that holds the key to my heart."

Sejeong laughed as she placed her palm on top of his, aligning the rings together.  

"You sound like you are in a Tiffany commercial!  But seriously, I love this!  This is such a meaningful gift.  Thank you."  She paused.  "For a brief moment there, I almost thought it was marriage proposal."