The Not So Epic Plan…

“Marry you? That’s your plan?”, I asked Minhyuk, disappointment in my voice. My words seemed to have stung him, as he flinched slightly. We were seated at the picnic table facing the lake. It was late evening, there was an orangey glow to the scene as the sun was setting.

“Yes..”, he replied, I could feel the irritation in his voice.

“Do you realise we have never fought during our brief, I don’t know, whatever it is we have”, I stated, anger evident in my voice. His irritated tone pissed me off.

“What we have is sacred”, he said loudly, while he took both my palms in one of his. I could see the anger on his face.

“This is our first fight”, I stated. He grinned and leaned in for a kiss. But I turned away so he kissed my cheek. I couldn’t help but blush, even though I was still irritated.

“Min, how can marriage be the solution?”

“Yes, we get married, you move here and we live happily ever after”, he said.

I laughed, sarcastically.

“What?”, he asked, irritated.

“C’mon dude, it’s been like a week. This isn’t some romance novel”

“I know that! I am serious, I want to spend my life with you”, he yelled at me.

“Have you ever dated anyone before me?”

“Of course! Many girls!”, he said exasperated.

“How many?!”, I was angry, I did not expect to get irritated with hearing about his exes.

“A few…”, he said, trying to backtrack.

“We will get back to this, or maybe we won’t have to go there. Let’s just end this”, I said, tearing up.

“Why Danniella, why can’t you just marry me”

“Minhyuk, I have a life back home. I can’t just pick up leave”

“Babe, I’m not saying we go through this overnight. We go through the motions – we’ll meet our families, we will sort out everything”

“Oh…”, this took me by surprise. He seemed to have read my mind as I was worried about all of it.

And honestly, I did want to be with him. Not sure about marriage. But I did not want to leave him.

Then again, it was too far-fetched, marriage so soon. I would want to date him for a year just to be sure.

I couldn’t believe it would work though. I knew a break-up would be the best.

“Minhyuk, let’s end this”, I said and got up to leave but he pulled me back onto the bench and wrapped his arm around me tightly.

I tried to push him away. I was leaving the next night. I didn’t want to continue something that had no future to it. I didn’t have the strength to go through another heartbreak. This kind of breakup would be painful enough.

“Min, let me go…I leave tomorrow, we can’t do this”, I said and this time I pushed him away roughly and made my way to the house.

He followed me and once we reached the front door he stopped me.

“Give me your address, email, Twitter, Instagram, everything! We’ll make it work”, he said as he cupped my face in his palms and locked eyes with me.

I quietly noted down everything on his phone. Once done, I handed back his phone and stepped into the house.

“Bye”, I said without looking back and shut the door.

“Love you”, I heard him call out.

And that was it. I did not let myself break just yet, I had to pack and I went into bot-mode and started the routine of winding up after a holiday.

Callie knew what was going on. But she didn’t ask about it. What a sad ending to such a happy trip.

The rest of the trip was a blur, I was dazed. Callie handled everything and without knowing it, we were at the airport.

I did not see Minhyuk after last night. It was better this way I told myself.

We were standing in line to check in our baggage when an announcement was made.

“All flights have been cancelled. The virus that has been affecting the world has arrived in South Korea. No flights until further notice. Please follow our staffs’ instructions and exit the airport. We have set up counters to help with your stay”

For about five minutes Callie and I were just standing in line confused. We had no idea about the virus. We weren’t really keeping ourselves updated with the news.

Then my phone buzzed, “Dannie!, where are you’ll?”

It was Minhyuk.

“The airport, all flights are cancelled”, I said, still in a state of shock.

“I know babe, I’m at the airport too. I’m at the exit, just follow the exit route set up, I’ll be there”

“Ok”

“Callie, Minhyuk is at the airport, Let’s go meet him”

“Dannie, what do we do”

“I think we should get out of here before it becomes chaotic”

“What about going home?”, I could hear panic in her voice. I was dead inside, the breakup and now this, I could feel nothing. This helped me just follow steps.

“Let’s get out of here first”

And right enough, we met Minhyuk at the exit. He helped us with our luggage and packed it into his Hyundai Venue.

Suddenly Miinyuk hugged me. I wrapped one hand around his waist as I was holding hands with Callie too. She was on a call with her family, letting them know the situation.

“Don’t ever break up with me”, he said as he placed his palms on either side of my face and wiped away the tears that were running down my cheeks with his thumbs.

He kissed me, a light kiss but he held it for a little longer than usual. That moment felt like home.

And so, Callie and I were back at Lake 192 but this time it was the upper house.