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Two weeks later and I signed the secret contract that would make me Hongjoong’s designer again, binding me for the following five years and he pressed a small kiss on my hand as the truck lasted off all of his things again into the storage unit I still owned.
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Three months later and I introduced him to my family just after Christmas. My mother almost had a heart attack when I showed her the ring on my finger, one hand dramatically over her chest and she scolded me with a glint in her eye for never telling her anything.
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Six months later and it was summer again, Ateez had topped list after list and in the speed they were proceeding, they were going to reach the stars within two years. Hongjoong was over the moon with joy, everything he’d been dreaming off and working towards was finally paying off ten folds and much quicker than any of them had expected.
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Four months later and we celebrated our first-year anniversary of being engaged, walking hand in hand down the Han River again, down the same patch we’d been walking a year ago, the same one that almost ruined us. Stronger and more in love than we’d ever been. The same photos as last year was on the front page of nearly every K-pop fan site the following day, but we denied any sort of dating rumour that surrounded us. Management could only curse at Hongjoong for making the decisions he did, knowing that they couldn't do much since Ateez was basically a money bank ready to burst, photographers was on them the very second they walked outside and no punishment would ever be unseen.
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One year later, and Eunji took contact with me, apologizing and explaining her behaviour two years ago. That she'd been blackmailed by a daughter of one of the higher up in the company, a clever girl who'd formed her conclusion in a similar way that I'd done. With the help of what she'd seen herself as she had access to the company and what her mother had told her at home. She'd forced Eunji to spy on us for her, with a promise that her secret would be safe if she found any sort of proof that spoked of our relationship. The daughter had simply been jealous of Hongjoong's attention on me, and in the end, just a few days prior to her phone call, admitted that she was a fan and she wanted Hongjoong for herself, proudly exclaiming that he had time to see her now that he dressed himself and the stylist he had worked at home rather than coming with them on tour. Management got word of it and fired both the daughter mother and Eunji herself because the relationship with Hongjoong's manager made their relationship official, just after she’d given birth to a healthy baby boy. Many thought that it was immoral to date within the company and that was the rule on the contract that wore both of their separate signatures. I forgave her of course, when I'd heard the whole story and we joined forces to fight the dating ban among artists and company workers, me more as a supporter in the eye of the public. We got lucky. More and more couples resurfaced through our campaign and the public was on our side, mostly because many of them was or had been in similar situation and there wasn’t much KQ and other companies could do when fans swore to boycott them. Me and Hongjoong officially came out as a couple a few weeks after the campaign as well and even though the news was received mixed reactions, most of them were happy for their leader, happy that he had someone that he loved.
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Another year and Ateez had taken over the world, much like a similar boy group from a small company from years ago had done. Selling out concerts in seconds and held interviews all over the world. Me with a hand on Hongjoong's shoulder now, supporting him with everything he did.
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Another year and the plus on the pregnancy test confirmed what I’d felt in my gut for the past week. Hongjoong cried when I told him, smiling bright through the tears as he placed a hand on my belly.
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We brought that house we’d been dreaming about for years just after New Year’s. A big villa with a pool, a big master bedroom and enough space for a family to grow. Just outside Seoul with a fifteen minutes car ride to the company building.
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The beginning of August that same year, just three months before Hongjoong’s 26th birthday, and I held a baby girl in my arms. Hongjoong was still in his stage clothes after rushing to me in the same moment the concert they’d held was over. He looked at the small bundle of joy in my arms with a love that made my eyes swam over with tears and I sighed deeply as he placed a hand on my shoulder and kissed the crone of my head before he reached forward and planted his lips on the forehead of our child,
“Good job you two”
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Our wedding was in spring, cherry blossoms falling as we promised to love each other, to be faithful and always be there for each other.
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A promise I kept for the following decades. As Ateez retired, and our house filled up with grandchildren. Lived, laughed and loved. Until Death finally did us apart and those brown eyes I loved, even though they’d became duller with the years, closed for one last time. His hand soften in mine and I smiled with tears clouding my vision as he went, as graceful as he’d done with everything else he’d done in his life.
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I knew it was my time before the weekend was over, heard him calling my name on the other side, the vision of him as I met him, all those years ago, appearing next to my bed. With that messy blonde hair over his forehead, apologizing for a blood red jacket I’d been sewing back together in a meeting that changed our life.
The machine that counted my slowed down heartbeats beeped as I grabbed his hand, feeling how my body got younger again as I sat up and followed him into the light.
Into a new life, always together, by his side and loving him, always.