Chocolate Hearts | Jongin

Epilogue

Chocolate Hearts
Epilogue
Better than Chocolate

- Three Years Later -

Nari licked her dry lips then, upon realising what a bad habit she was slipping into, she grabbed the nearby lip balm and smeared it on to her lips. Her feet continuously tapped rapidly against the floor. She held her guitar in a vice-like grip and checked the chords one last time.

Everything was in tune. Nari let out a shaky breath and leaned back, going over the relaxing techniques Wendy and Seulgi had shown her the other day. Her heart rate slowly reduced to a normal rate, though butterflies still rested in her stomach.

Just then Jongin appeared, dressed in a white shirt and black trousers, a microphone attached to his head for his performance.

Their performance, Nari corrected herself, eyes glancing down at the heavy white dress she wore. 

"You ready for this Nari?" he asked.

She chuckled nervously. "As much as I'll ever be."

It has been just over three and a half years since she and Jongin had started dating, and three years since SM had officially proclaimed to the public that they were dating. Since that day Nari hadn't shaken off all the hate, but she she read over the comments now with a roll of her eyes. She'd grown a thick skin over the last few years, and comments that would have once shattered her now bounced off her like they were nothing. They were just jealous, Nari knew, but they should be able to deal with it.

The last three years really had been some of the best of Nari's life. There were no more secrets or hiding from the world; she and Jongin could do whatever they wanted, though with a few restrictions for security reasons. They'd gone to advanced screenings of movies, eaten out in private high-quality restaurants, gone for early morning walks together with Jongin's dogs. Baekhyun, Chanyeol, and Sehun also had fun snapping pictures of the two and uploading them to various websites, accompanied with teasing comments. Nari had to laugh each time, especially when she caught the laughing, mischievous glints in her friends' eyes. She really did love them all.

Over the past few months Nari thought that age and Jongin might have unofficially started living together; he had several of his clothes and belongings left at her place, and she had left some of her things at their dorms. They didn't have one place they slept at more often; it depended on the circumstances.

Of course, three years wasn't perfect. There were times they'd disagreed, times they'd fought, and times where they hadn't spoken to each other for days. But they always made up in the end, and Nari thought those few fights had strengthened their bond rather than fracture it; they'd understood each other more each time.

In three years, Nari's dancing had improved leaps and bounds, and though she did it more for fun, fitness, and to spend time with Jongin, she'd been invited to take part in spur-of-the moment group practices from time to time. It was exhilarating, and enjoyable still.

Somehow, she was able to juggle that life with the patisserie. By now people had figured out Sweet Delights was the patisserie Kim Jongin's girlfriend worked at, and their popularity had gone through the roof. It wasn't just Nari, Yumi, and Hye-Ja that worked there anymore; they'd had to hire several others to cope with the booming business. It was frantic, but Nari still found the same love and solace in baking as she always had done. The environment she worked in may have changed, but her passion and love for baking hadn't.

Neither had her love for guitar; she'd learnt every Exo song that could be played on guitar, and songs from many other groups, too. Ever since she'd written her song for Jongin, she'd experimented with songwriting during her free time, and continued to improve and develop her interest with it.