This story is fiction
/
" Oppa, marry me"
Walking up to me with dazzling confidence as I came home after school and throwing their arms around me
7-year-old little Kang Taehyun slurring his words so badly it’s honestly not even funny
When that happened, I’d smack Taehyun on the head and snort a little, as if he were cute
"Hng ㅠㅠ Oppa, that hurts"
"Aww, did it hurt?"
"Oppa, I told you to marry me, didn’t I?"
"Fine, let’s get married, little groom. Come back when you’re 20 hahaha"
At my teasing words, he pouted and stuck out his lips, glaring at me with those big eyes
Kang Taehyun glaring at me like that, what are you gonna do if you glare? Useless and cute
I lived for teasing this kid, bahahaha. I grabbed his soft cheeks and stretched them out
"I’m serious, though"
"Baby, why are you so cute? Look at those squishy cheeks"
Taehyun’s face turned bright red, and the mother who had been watching from the side
smacked my back and scolded me
"Good grief, big sis is so good at things, always picking on her little brother!
Take Taehyun home and come back. Taehyun’s mom came by the house"
"Okay, got it. Taehyun, get on my back"
If I crouch down and turn my back, Taehyun climbs on like it’s the most familiar thing in the world
It’s a 10-minute walk to Taehyun’s house. Taehyun’s mom is sick and goes for chemotherapy
so she has basically been living at our place almost every day. At first
it was awkward and I didn’t like it, but now, well, Taehyun’s like someone our family can’t live without
Hmm, should I say it feels like I got a little brother? I was young too, so I’m not really sure
Taehyun must have fallen asleep before long, because he started talking in his sleep. About marrying me, hahaha. I don’t know when it started
but it feels like it’s been like that since about a year ago. I wondered if he even knew what marriage was
and laughed it off because he was so tiny and cute
/
Out of the blue, he kept begging me to marry him. Whenever that happened, everyone would chime in
and tell him to get married. Wow, they only ever sync up this perfectly at times like this, huh?
Sigh, yeah, he’ll stop talking about it once he hits puberty, right? I thought
I was such an idiot. He must be possessed by some ghost with a grudge over not being able to get married
The way he was obsessing over it made no sense! Marriage is something that has to be handled carefully
very carefully. You know you’re supposed to live your whole life with the person you love, right?
Yeah, and that’s why I’m telling you to do it with me. That brat was explaining it so logically for his age
I swear he sounded like a PhD or something. We just couldn’t communicate. He just said he liked me
and that if he liked me, that was enough, that there was no reason for liking someone, and that from the day he was born, after his mom, I was the one he liked most
Excuse me? I’m not interested, you little brat!!! I’m 18!!!!
I started avoiding Kang Taehyun. What a scary little kid!
Don’t let him off just because he’s cute!!
This is how scary elementary school kids are, everyone!!!
"Yeojoo, isn’t that your little brother?"
"Oh, no. He’s just the neighborhood kid"
"Really? I thought he was your real little brother because he looks like you. But, kid, you’re really handsome"
As my friend Mirae showered him with compliments and tried to touch his hair, he dodged her hand, pouted his lips, glared at me, said he wasn’t a little kid, and went on his way. Did he think that would scare me?
A mere elementary schooler! The year I turned 21, Taehyun, who was 16 at the time, moved to a place with cleaner air
for his mother’s sake. Because I was busy with college life, I ended up forgetting about Taehyun too
of course, because his calls became sparse, and by then even his number had changed, so there was no contact at all
So we went our separate ways. Sometimes I laughed at myself for missing his “let’s get married” talk
He’d probably cringe so hard it’d become a black history moment. If we ever ran into each other again
I’d tease him for it, hehe. Time flew by, and I, Seo Yeojoo, turned 25. I’d dated and broken up with people in the meantime too
and now I was single, enjoying solo life while in my second year of working
I was on my millionth thought about quitting. As I was about to head home after work
some dark silhouette from nowhere was covering my shadow. Mom! I took a defensive
stance. Then he laughed?? Who are you? He was even wearing a hat, so
I couldn’t tell who it was
"Seo Yeojoo"
"..!!"
Was there even a man who knew my name? No matter how I thought about it, the only one was my ex?
But this guy’s appearance was way too different. Without saying anything
I just blinked at him, and the man opened his mouth again
"Marry me.."
"..!!"
"Let’s get married, Seo Yeojoo"
Whoa..goosebumps broke out all over my body. The only person who’d ever talked about getting married was Kang Taehyun?
My pupils widened and my heart started racing like crazy
"Why are you so scared? Do you think I’m gonna eat you up or something?"
"...."
"That stupid look is still the same"
"..You..you’re Kang Taehyun?"
"Yeah. Long time no see"
Only then, when I saw Taehyun’s face clearly, did I relax and lean against the wall
Had the streetlamp always been this bright? Or was his face just that bright..? He still looked like he did as a kid
His eyes were still big, and his nose had become even more sharply defined. He really was handsome
Before I knew it, I’d taken a moment to admire his face
"Remember? The thing you told me—when you turn 20, come find you.."
"Hey, that was just a joke. You were 7 back then.."
"I waited until I turned 20"
And that’s how I ended up caught by Taehyun. No, seriously, how was he this pushy?
He’d been hearing that since he was 7, but hearing it from Taehyun, now a grown adult, was
kind of ticklish and strangely heart-fluttering. So he really did come
"I’m not a minor anymore, so it’s possible, right?"
"..W..What?"
"(snort) Marriage"
Was his head actually messed up or what? I was so flustered I looked up at Taehyun
He was smiling brightly, and that made him even scarier
"Dummy, why are you freaking out? It’s not like I’m asking to marry you right this second. Let’s date first"
"Huh?"
/
How did it go after Taehyun’s straight-up confession? How did it go, you ask? It went like this: the now-adult Taehyun’s endless
wooing had me raising both hands and feet in surrender, and now we’re in a sweet relationship. These days I like him more
and whenever I bring up his 7-year-old black history, he freaks out, but he’s only grown bigger. To me, he’s still just cute
"Little groom, please take good care of me again this year"
"What do you mean, little? I’m smaller than you, so that makes you the little bride"
"Tsk, kid, calling a 27-year-old ‘little’ is a bit much, don’t you think?"
"Then have you ever seen a kid bigger than you?"
Hmm..that’s fair, so I can’t argue. Ugh, he won’t even let me talk
"But you keep calling my name, though?"
"Why, Yeojoo, does that make your heart flutter? Yeojoo~~ Yeojoo~"
"Aaaah! Get lost"
"You’ve always been the only one for me. I only had eyes for you. I was worried you might have forgotten me"
"Of course not, how could I forget you? A useless and cute
7-year-old little kid who kept begging me to marry him, hehe"
Taehyun, watching me so intently, was cute, and before I knew it I’d pulled both his cheeks
When my actions made Taehyun’s brow furrow and our eyes met, I got embarrassed and slowly
let go. Then he pulled me into a hug and whispered that he loved me
"Yeojoo, I love you"
"I love you too, Taehyun"
Even if you’re a full-grown adult, you’ll always be my little groom
END
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A short story..is this..right? It’s killing me with cringe
This is my first time writing, and it kind of feels like I only half-pooped??
Secondhand embarrassment🥲I’ll post it as I think of it😏
