"Alright, class, silence!" Nari tapped the desk for emphasis. "I said raise your hands for questions, not shout them!"

They fell silent—for about a minute. "Would you rather I don't take questions?" she asked when she got them to quiet down again. "Come on, guys, work with me. There's plenty time to talk later. I promised half of the class would be for you, but that's only if you behave! And no sarcastic remarks, please."

"Sorry," said the girl she was very pointedly looking at. "I got carried away."

"As I was saying..." she turned back to her lesson, and for once, the class listened. Her class was pretty noisy for a bunch of middle-schoolers, but most of them knew her well from her time as an assistant teacher with them the year before, and knew when she was reaching the end of her patience.

Being a teacher was extremely frustrating at times, but she loved the job. She loved that she was teaching what she knew to students. She loved the feeling that she was helping to prepare from the real world, which was seriously tough.

More than that, she loved the kids. Some of them acted tough, reckless, confident, whatever, but most of them had come to her with many, many problems, and she saw that underneath the image they projected, they were just kids, in pain and aching and needing some kind of direction and guidance.

It resonated with her, reminding her of her own childhood. She did all she could to help them, suggesting meetings with the school counsellor if they didn't want to go a psychologist just yet. It took a bit of work those times, since they needed their parents' confirmation and permission, but she didn't give up any of those times.

She remembered what it was like because she had refused help until she was nineteen. That wasn't something she wanted her beloved students to go through, or anyone else. She had argued with parents, pleaded with them, done all she could. In the end, her efforts always paid off and she was happy that it did.

"Alright, that's it, but wait!" she held up her hands to silence them again. "I want to see those questions answered by Monday. Okay, now go on and do whatever you like but don't shout or scream. Use your talking voices, not your shouting voices."

The class naturally descended into chaos, and she let them off the hook. It was the end of the day, anyway, the start of the weekend. They had worked hard that week and deserved a break.

She sat down to complete some lesson plans for the following week, but her phone rang. She absently picked it up, thinking it was her mother who always called around the end of the school day.

"Hello," Taehyun's voice said, sounding incredibly nervous. "Please tell me this is Kim Nari."

"Well, it is," she made her voice sound dignified, but her face probably looked like she won the lottery. She saw a few of the students start to get excited and waved a hand at them, shooting them a stern look. "But if it wasn't, what would you have done?"

"I don't know, walked inside your class? You look delighted enough."

"What?" her expression changed to confusion and she looked up, and saw what had her students excited. "How—?"

"I asked for you," he said with a sheepish smile outside the classroom. "Though the look on your face is making me regret this, kinda."

She put the phone down and marched towards him, meeting him at the doorway, suppressing the crazy grin that threatened to erupt across her face. "Why are you here?" she demanded, almost reaching out to hug him tightly. "You literally couldn't think of a better place?"

"Hey, you said 'come find me,'" he objected. "I promised to do exactly that."

"Just—why are you so wonderful?" she asked, finally giving in and smiling huge at him.

"I practice being the perfect boyfriend material," he grinned back at her.

"Go wait in the main office," she ordered. "We are not doing this until they all go home."

"See you soon!" he said cheerfully, strolling off towards the stairway. Nari exhaled, wondering why the boy had these crazy ideas so often. She remembered one day when she had gone to the library straight after school and thought she'd beaten him to it. Until he leaped out from behind a shelf and scared her half out of her wits. They had both gotten scolded by the librarian but he remained very smug about it.

"Is that your boyfriend?" a boy called out. Nari gave him a severe look.

"No," she said firmly, "and I thought we discussed why we should not ask such questions of teachers, mister."

"It is a fair question," a girl said teasingly, knowing Nari wasn't really annoyed. "I mean, how many boys come to you when you're in class?"

"Apparently just him," she sighed. "Class, pack up! Time to go home!"

***

When the last of the students had gone, Nari picked up her laptop bag and slung it over her shoulder, going downstairs. She had originally intended to stay late, but she could just as easily finish everything at home.

Some of her colleagues asked her where she was going, and she replied with 'home.' She had found a home in Taehyun and she was going to her apartment afterwards. While some part of her was overflowing with happiness and excitement that Taehyun had come back at last, another part of her was desperately sleep-deprived and wanted to take an hours-long nap.

She pushed through the doors of the main office and saw Taehyun sitting on the sofa, scrolling through his phone. "Hey there," she said. "Care to wait a few more minutes?"

He looked up, startled, then a smile spread across his face. "I don't," he said, "but do I have a choice?"

She wagged a finger at him. "You're crossing the line between charming and insufferable, you know," she teased as she signed out. "How do you ever hope to have me say yes to an insufferable brat?"

The receptionist stifled a giggle. Nari looked at her with a grin.

"Alright, let's go then," Taehyun stood up and Nari realized that he had grown taller in the past year. Why are these boys such giants? she wondered. She was now firm friends with Yeonjun, Soobin, Beomgyu and Kai, and those four towered over her. She wondered if she was just short and the rest of the world decided she wasn't allowed to catch up to them.

Nari followed him out the door and he led her to a car. "Choi Beomgyu," she crossed her arms when she saw who was in the driver's seat. "I should have known you would be in on this whole arrangement."

He held his hands up in surrender. "When a lovesick man asks for help, you can't just deny them of it, can you?"

"Yes, by bringing him to my workplace," she said dryly. "How smart and convenient."

"Exactly!" Beomgyu agreed.

"I am blessed with an idiot for a friend. Sohyun's blessed with an idiot for a husband."

"If idiot is a synonym for 'wonderful, amazing person' then yes, you're absolutely right," he smirked.

"Why are all of you like this?" she shook her head, climbing into the backseat. Taehyun slid in beside her, shaking with laughter. "And how are you two even friends?"

"You know how I entered college late?" Beomgyu asked, and Nari nodded as he started to drive. "Well, turns out he takes dance as a minor too and we met in class. He had a picture of you in high school as a wallpaper like six months ago and that's how we found out we both know you well enough."

"What's your major?" Nari asked Taehyun.

"Psychology," he said with a grin. "I've always wanted to help people and I took the chance by taking psychology. It's by no means easy and it's literally just the first year, but I'm not giving up."

Nari swallowed, reading between the lines. She whispered quietly, right in his ear, "is it because of that day?"

"Yeah," he admitted. "Until then I never actually knew serious that could get, but now I do. Are you proud of me?"

"Very," she promised. Beomgyu wisely kept his nose out of their whisperings. "Hey, where are we going, anyway?"

Their self-designated driver grinned wickedly. "We are going to his apartment. He wants to show it to you."

Nari gasped, turning to Taehyun. "Is that why you took so long?" she demanded. "Getting into university, finding a place to live?"

"And getting a part-time job at that very bakery?" he pointed to the storefront they passed. "Yes, yes, that is why. I wanted to make sure we both had stable enough lives before we could focus on a relationship aside from jobs and education and all that."

Nari stared at him. "You...how do I even..." she waved her hands helplessly, lost for words. "Taehyun, you really..."

"Are you disappointed?" he asked, looking scared for the first time.

"No, of course not!" she exclaimed. "I'm so happy, Taehyun, I really am, but you defy belief sometimes. What did I do to deserve someone like you?"

"Nothing but being yourself," he said, linking their hands. "All I'm doing is trying my best."

"Here we are!" Beomgyu announced, arriving outside a small apartment building. Taehyun got off first, holding the door open as Nari stumbled out of the car. She was never very able-footed when it came to cars.

"Come on," Taehyun said, taking her hand and her inside. She held tightly onto it, relishing in the warmth and surety of his grip; a solid reminder that he was here to stay now. A sure reminder that he had finally come back, never to leave again.

They climbed up two flights of stairs, coming to a stop in front of a door. Taehyun didn't let go of her hand even as he fished his keys out of his pocket, even as he unlocked the door. He held onto her hand even as they stepped over the threshold and closed the door behind them.

Their fingers were still interlaced as Nari took in the simple apartment. The room was sparsely furnished, with just a sofa, a table and chairs, and a refrigerator standing near the kitchen in the corner. To the side, a few feet away from the windows that let sunlight streaming in golden shafts of light, was a bookshelf crammed with books—everything from fantastical, historical, science-fictional, scientific, to even mathematical. Volumes on psychology and biology, everything a college student needed to study and pass the time when he was bored.

On the opposite wall, there was a door that was thrown wide open, revealing a messy bedroom—clothes thrown over the back of a chair, books scattered across a bad. And just next to it, there was a door that was closed.

"Go on," Taehyun said. "Open the door."

Her heart was suddenly beating wildly, but she let go of his hand and edged toward it, pushing it open to reveal a bedroom with a bed and another bookshelf across from it, waiting to be filled. Next to the shelf, under the window with black curtains, the side that let in most light, stood a table and chair.

"You're joking," she breathed, hardly able to believe it as Taehyun came to stand next to her. "Oh, my god, Kang Taehyun, you're insane!"

"Maybe," he said, looping an arm around her waist, "but I did it for you. I learned from Beomgyu hyung that your apartment is pretty small, and that you're lonely sometimes."

"So you fixed a whole room for me?" she cried in disbelief. "Are you insane? Why would you go to so much trouble?"

"Because I love you," he said firmly. The feeling of warmth, happiness, delight, all of the feelings that came with being with Taehyun finally bubbled to the surface with those three words, the ones she had longed to hear the most. She showed it by bursting into tears and throwing her arms around him, similar to the year before.

"I love you too, you lovesick fool," she said through her tears.

"But I'm your lovesick fool," he said, rubbing away her tears just as he had done before. "Your book-loving lovesick fool who would give up the world for you."

"What did I do to deserve you, Kang Taehyun?" she asked again, leaning her head into his touch. "After all that happened over the last few years..."

"Hey, hey, no bringing up those messes," he ordered. "All of that happened in the past. Now it's time to embrace the present and look forward to the future."

"You're literally the greatest thing that's ever happened to me."

"And you, to me," he said with so much sincerity it almost hurt to hear. "You know what I'm going to ask, but I'll ask anyway. Will you move in with me? It doesn't have to be now, or that soon; I can wait as long as you want."

"Yes," she said, hand going to touch Taehyun's hand on her face. "Yes, I'll move in with you – one day. I think I'd like to wait a few more months, get more used to being together before making that step. Besides, it's nearly the end of the school year and things are getting more and more hectic. Can we wait until then?"

"Of course we can," he agreed. "This room is here to stay, just for you. It doesn't matter how long it takes."

"Thank you," she said. "But aren't you forgetting to ask me something?"

"What?" he blinked, confused. "What is it?"

She waited for him to realize what she meant, tapping the third finger on his left hand with her own, hinting at it without actually saying it. Then it hit him like a thunderbolt and he smiled that familiar smile at him.

"Kim Nari," he said with infinite tenderness and love, "will you be my girlfriend?"

The words sent a jolt through her, and she blinked back a fresh wave of tears. She hadn't realized just how much she wanted to hear those words. She hadn't realized just how much she wanted to be called his, to call him hers.

"Took you long enough to realize," she laughed. "Yes, I'll be your girlfriend."

Then he took her by surprise by kissing her all of a sudden. She relished in it; she hadn't realized that this was something she wanted, too. Loving Kang Taehyun came with its perks—like the fact he set up a whole room for her—and it came with its unexpected surprises, too—like the fact he was so wonderful and patient. She wanted the moment to last forever.

She wouldn't trade this for anything in the world. Not ever.

WORD COUNT: 2502

A/N: so i wrote this while i was crying emotional tears bc i watched our summer after months and i literally mean months and cried. THEY GREW UP SO FAST OMG. and they're so adorable it's literally not fair like you can't just make me cry like this every time i see them in their fetus days