ꜱᴛᴏʀʏᴛᴇʟʟᴇʀꜱ | ɢ. ʏᴜᴍᴇɴᴏ

date

"it feels a tad bit nostalgic, doesn't it?" gentaro asked [name] who was peacefully walking beside him.

"just like that night..." [name] noted with a content sigh.

snow was hitting the pavement, slowly piling up. the ever present lamppost still glowed a warm white color. the moon still lit the path ahead of them.

a decade has now passed, gentaro was now an established novelist while his girlfriend of seven years was his trusty proofreader and the owner of the publishing company he gladly works for.

together, they changed each other's life for the better.

the smell of hot chocolate wafting through the air did nothing to calm gentaro down. in this cold winter night, he was nothing but a bundle of nerves eagerly awaiting for the perfect moment.

beside him, he noticed [name] shiver a little from under her layers of clothing. knowing that he has noticed, [name] turned her attention to him,

"taro, would you–” [name] started out, which gentaro cut off before she could even finish.

"no, i would not lend you my coat. you did tell me you didn't need to bundle up, didn't you?"  gentaro replied.

"but..." [name] trailed off which made gentaro chuckle in return.

"that was, of course, nothing but a lie." gentaro added as he unclipped the brooch that was holding his cape together.

he removed it from his shoulder, one at a time and draped it over [name]'s shoulder. yet before he can properly put them in place, [name] wrapped her arms around him.

there, they stood embracing each other in the middle of the uncrowded walkway.

"mhm, you're so warm." [name] commented which was muffled by gentaro's layers of clothing.

gentaro hummed in response as his fingers brushed her hair, guiding her head to lean on his shoulder. gentaro loved how she faintly smelled of her favorite scent.

gentaro remembered the first time he felt this kind of weird, not having any idea that this is what people called love.

yet, that has changed. he knew what love was. it was waking up next to [name] every morning. it was having breakfast together. love wasn't something that could be defined by a mere dictionary. it was something that everyone deserves to feel at one point of their life.

their embrace felt like the heat that can be felt when opening the oven after baking a fresh batch of bread, like flipping over the pillow to the colder side, like sunlight peaking through the room's blinds.

it was something nice.

gentaro's younger self would have asked himself, "do i deserve this?", yet now? gentaro's unsure if he does deserve this. what he knows is that he's happy right where he is.

then and there, gentaro finally made up his mind and swallowed back his nerves.

what do you want meaning for?
life is desire, not meaning.

and his biggest desire was to stay by her side, forever.

"your shoelaces are unlashed." gentaro stated.

"huh? but my shoes doesn't have shoelaces?" [name] said as she broke free from the embrace and looked at her own feet.

"of course it isn't, it was a lie." gentaro playfully stated which made [name] sigh.

"mine actually are undid, though." gentaro said as he got down on one knee to lace up his boots again, only to find them untouched and still knotted together.

"ah, that must be another lie." he said which made [name] giggle. despite having no other business on the ground, gentaro didn't stand up.

"taro? why are you–? are you okay?" [name] asked worriedly as her boyfriend hasn't moved an inch yet.

"you're so worried about me." gentaro noted with a laugh as his hand reached out for hers.

[name] held gentaro's hand and expected him to stand up yet the latter didn't. instead, be kissed the back of her hand, making her cheeks go red by a shade of two.

"o-oi! taro what are you doing?" [name] asked, obviously flustered his made gentaro chuckle whilst he reached for something from his pocket. when he finally pulled out the tiny item that he was hiding, he then stated,

"[name] [last name], marry me."