Chapter 4 (1/1)

The couple arrives at the house. Bom opens the door."Surprise!" Bom, Seunghyun, Dara and Jiyong shouted together. They clapped their hands as the parents entered the foyer."Happy Anniversary eomonim and abeonim!" Seunghyun greets."Congratulations abeonim, eomonim!" Says Jiyong. "I love you eomma and appa. Happy Anniversary." Bom says as she hugs and kisses her mom and dad."Wow, this is a surprise." Hyunsuk says with glee.Eunju doesn't say anything. She stares at her daughter Bom and she could tell that there's something her daughter's hiding."Eomma, Appa, Happy 30th anniversary." As Dara hugs her dad then mom, Eunju notices the sadness in her daughter's eyes.They walk towards the dining room and was surprised to see the Italian setting."We thought about giving you an Italian theme party since it holds fond memories for you both." Bom explains. "This is great, honey. We love it.""Why don't you guys get seated and me and Dara will start serving dinner."The couple takes their seat. Seunghyun and Jiyong get the drinks ready while the two sisters get everything from the kitchen.Eunju looks at towards the kitchen. Mianhe yeobo, sometimes there are promises made to be broken. She feels a hand grasp hers and she looks at her husband."Don't even think about it. You promised."She smiles sweetly at her husband and says, "Happy anniversary sweetie." BOM'S POVIt seems like my parents liked our surprise. Me & Seunghyun have hosted other parties and dinners in our home before but this is the most special one in my opinion. It's my parents' 30th anniversary. After all these years, they still act like they've only been married a year instead of 30. Me and my sister have been planning this dinner since last month. Now that dinner is over, I think I can say, everything's going smoothly."Bom, that pasta carbonara was delicious.""Kamsahamnida appa.""Remember that night jagi?""Yeah the waiter tripped and spilled wine all over my lap.""Well, your napkin got the brunt of it. And he even took it off our tab so on our meager budget then, it was a good thing. It was tart, and sweet. So delicious."I saw my mom blush. I don't know if they were still talking about the wine or something else. I love how my parents are still loving after all those years. I felt my husband squeeze my hand under the table, He winked at me. It seems like he was thinking the same thing."Well, I have a special dessert for you guys. Hope you like it. Just sit tight eomma and appa, me  & Dara will bring it here."Me and Dara gathered the dinner plates and made our way to the kitchen."Mom and Dad enjoyed the dinner right, unnie?""It looked like it." I lied. I saw the way mom looked from Dara to Jiyong then to me and Seunghyun. I think she's noticed that there's something in the air. That there's something we're not telling her. And here I was looking forward to a night of sweet surprises. Oh well..."So did you enjoy it? I noticed you barely touched your dinner." I asked my sister."I guess I ate too many breadsticks while we were cooking earlier."I took out the tiramisu from the fridge while my sister started to rinse out the dinner plates. I noticed how she's a bit shaky. I remembered our conversation earlier. I guess she's trying to be strong right now. Jiyong, if you don't fix this soon, I will hurt you.I gathered the crystal glasses we're gonna use to serve the dessert. Dara finished rinsing the plates and was currently drying her hands on a dish towel. She picked up a glass and said, "Are these the ones halmeoni gave you?""Yeah. She gave half to me on our wedding day. She said she was gonna give the other half to you when you get married."I noticed my sister tremble. Tears forming in her eyes. Before I can even console her, she turns around to leave."You know what, I'm gonna get eomma and appa's gift basket from your office."And with that she walks away. If only I could scream or bash pans to release these stress, but sadly that's not the way I am. So I just sighed and pressed my face to my hands. I hear someone walk into the kitchen."Hey, I thought Dara was here with you."Ah... here he is. The reason why my sister is so miserable right now. Grrrr....if only I can shake him."She went to get our parents' anniversary gift from my office."I noticed him putting his hands in his pockets and rocking back and forth on his heels. "Can I help you with anything?"Make my sister smile right now. "Coward.""I know. C'mon...there's must be something I can help you with. I'm feeling antsy right now.""I guess you can pour the coffee."I noticed his hands were shaky too, the way Dara's was earlier."Relax. Now you're making me antsy. You're making Dara nervous too. You know Dara inherited my mom's drama queen tendencies. Right now, she doesn't understand why you're acting the way you're acting.""It's gonna be alright, right?"I looked at Jiyong and noticed how polar opposites he and Dara were. Dara was a bit more outgoing while Jiyong was a bit more shy and reserved. They've been dating for 3 years and everybody could see how in love they were. Tonight it's different and I know why. I wish Jiyong would step up already. The suspense is killing me."Whether or not it will be alright depends on you, On how long it will take you to pop the question." I whispered."Well, I was planning on making everything perfect. I already got advice from hyung. Do you have any other ideas, noona?"Your girlfriend thinks you're breaking up with her, babo. Nah, I can't tell him that. It's not my place to tell."Ok Ji, you want my advice. Here it is and listen carefully. It doesn't really have to be the perfect proposal. The place and the how is irrelevant. It's the timing that counts. And in your case, I suggest you make it sooner than later. Before any misunderstandings can occur. One time when me and Seunghyun were still going out, he said something that I totally misunderstood. But instead of talking to him about it, I let it stew. Until I blew up at him."I close my eyes remembering that particular moment. I exhaled and looked at Jiyong again and continued what I was saying."Let me tell you something. Here's what happens. You ask what's wrong, she'll say it's nothing. Then you insist on asking again and she'll still say it's nothing. The next thing you know, there's a gap between you that you can't cross. It doesn't matter how much you love each other. Trust is an important thing in a relationship. Once, it's broken, it's hard to get back. Then your relationship will start to crumble. Maybe it will take days, weeks, maybe even years. Once it happens, there might not be anything to fix.""But you guys got through it. You're still going strong.""Yes. But we almost didn't. We're one of the lucky ones.""How did you do it?""You put a smile on your face and then work it out when it's just the two of you. So no one else will be involved.""You don't ask your eomma for advice? Maybe she could've given you some insight since her marriage is going strong too."I smiled. "I love my eomma Ji. There's no one like her. But she would be the last person I ask advice from."