"JAGIYA, do we need milk?" He asked, looking at the milk cartons stacked neatly in front of him.

"Yes, baby, get some."

He obeyed, putting two milk cartons in the shopping cart. He turned to look at the next aisle, which had meat refrigerators.

"Can we get some meat?"

She nodded, looking up from the phone in her grip.

"Yeah, get some," she glanced at the plates of meat, "but make sure there isn't a lot of fat in it. You know I hate those."

He picked up two packets of meat and put them in the cart before turning to look at the aisle across from them.

"Oh!" He gasped in surprise as he saw the shelves stocked with different types of Korean ramen. "Can we please get some? I really miss those!"

She looked up from her phone once again, a smile forming on her face as she realized his enthusiasm.

"Give me a kiss first."

He turned to her, his enthusiastic expression changing into surprised, "you want a kiss in public? Aren't you embarrassed?"

She shook her head.

"Of you?" He nodded. "Of course not."

He sent her an innocent smile and leaned in to peck her lips for a brief moment, before she captured his lips in a longer, deeper kiss.

They broke away a few seconds later.

"Now go get some ramen! I want to try it too."

He jumped up and down in enthusiasm before skipping to the aisle that was just a few steps away and grabbed one package of ramen.

"Get ten."

He smiled and obeyed.

"Thanks, jagiya," he said while putting the packages in the cart, "really. It means a lot."

She reached up to caress his cheek for a moment, staring into his deep brown eyes.

"You mean a lot to me, baby. There's no need to thank me."

He muttered a similar statement and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"Now," she spoke, rubbing his back, "we need to buy snacks. A lot of snacks."

He giggled and they both headed to the snacks aisle. Mal stretched her hand out and spilled the stacks of snacks into the shopping cart, making Hyunjin laugh.

"Do we really need all that?"

She shrugged, "meh. Why not? We can eat them while watching a movie."

He nodded with a smile.

"Yes, I'd like that."

"Can we go home now?"

She nodded with a smile as they both headed to the cashier.

"That would be five hundred dollars, miss."

Mal sent the woman behind the counter a smile and fumbled through her purse to pull out a credit card. The woman grabbed it gently from her hand and ran it through the machine.

"Thank you for shopping with us."

The couple smiled. "Welcome!"

The two then walked out of the place with shopping bags in their hands, towards their fancy, blue BMW.

"Come on, baby, let's go home."

❆

"Now that we got to try ramen, what did you think of it?" Hyunjin asked, slurping a fork of his plate. She smiled and looked up from her own plate, her mouth filled with food.

"I love it! This is low-key the first time I try a new kind of food and actually like it that much." She spoke delightfully. "I still need a while to get used to Korean food, and just so you know, I don't like meat that much."

He nodded and let out a small giggle.

"I know that, jagiya. But I know that you will like meat when I make it, won't you?"

"Of course, beautiful," she replied, "I love your cooking."

It didn't take her long before she zoned out with the image of her beautiful husband in front of her eyes. Her mouth curved into a slight smile, his giggle echoing in her ears.

"Jagiya?"

She let out a soft smile.

"You're really so beautiful," she spoke, unconsciously ignoring his call, "have I told you how much I'm proud of you?"

His cheeks turned red. He glanced down at his feet to avoid her piercing gaze while his eyes sparkled.

"Really, jagiya?"

She nodded happily. "I'm really proud of you, baby. I always will be."

Would she?

Would she, really?

"You know," she began, reaching for his hand from across the dinner table, "I saw your dancing in the videos with your group. I have never been so proud of someone in my entire life."

The thought brought tears to his eyes.

Was she really?

Didn't she know that he was excluded because of the rumours? He couldn't dance or sing with his group because of all the rumours. And, in all honesty, he thought that no one would like to be with a bully anyway. Even his friends from the group.

Wasn't she ashamed?

That was what she should have been.

Was she lying to him?

He reached out to grab her hand and squeeze it gently, tears threatening to escape from the corner of his eyes. He held onto her hand as he gathered his courage to look her in the eyes. Her caring, loving eyes stared back at him. Then, she leaned in to plant a kiss on his forehead. He closed his eyes for a brief second to enjoy the kiss, butterflies erupting in his stomach.

Because he was lying to her, wasn't he?