I was all hearts and candy when I first set eyes on the one whom I thought was my prince. I had always imagined it to be puffy dresses, red roses and glass slippers once we were together. It wasn’t until much later did I start cursing Disney for giving innocent young girls false impressions and shattering all my wonderful hopes and dreams.

It all started off like some clichéd romance movie, where the hero and the leading lady are brought together by fate one fine day. We met at a bookstore the old fashion way, where the both of us made a grab for the same book from different sides of the bookshelf. After a brief tug-of-war match which I eventually won, I triumphantly pulled the thick sci-fic novel from the shelf and nearly gasp when I was met with a pair of stunningly beautiful hazel eyes.

He stared back at me from behind his thick-rimmed glasses, an amused expression on his face. Standing at a little over six feet, he had short dark hair, broad shoulders and a strong jaw – my exact definition of tall, dark and handsome. Fireworks were going off in my head, as I conjured up an image of him whipping out his shiny sword, standing there looking majestic in all his royal glory, while a huge neon sign that said ‘Prince Charming’ hung above him and I instantly knew – he was the one.

“I-I’m sorry,” I said, handing him the book. “You can have it.”

It was stupid, considering how persistent I had been just a few minutes ago. He seemed to think so too, because he smiled and said in the sweetest voice, “No, it’s ok.”

“But-“

“I insist.”

I swooned. He was such a gentleman! Then he asked me out for coffee, and I had to refrain myself from squealing out loud. After paying, I followed him out into the busy streets and into the nearby Starbucks store. We introduced ourselves, and he told me his name was Shim Changmin. I told him it was a beautiful name, and he just laughed shyly and stared down at his cup of coffee. How cute!

We chatted like old friends, when we barely knew each other. He was so sweet, so kind, it was all too good to be true. Ahh I should have known…

We started dating two months later. He confessed to me outside the seven-eleven store across the street. Not the most romantic place in the world, but I forgave him. The way he said those three words were sincere enough to make my heart flutter. I instantly imagined the both of us holding hands, watching the sunset together, dancing and staring into each others eyes… I just couldn’t wait to share those moments with him.

But oh how wrong I was.

Shim Changmin was far from the perfect image of Prince Charming I had portrayed in my mind. He was snarky, sarcastic, hot tempered, stubborn- ok I’m starting to sound really mean. But having been with Changmin for almost two years now, I could easily compile a list of the young man’s flaws. Just watch me.

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1. He eats too much.

On our first date, there was no romantic candlelight dinner or stroll along the beach. Instead, he took me to an all-you-can-eat buffet.

The food spread out looked mouth-watering, but I wanted to play the lady and only took small amounts of food. But when I got back to our table my eyes bulged out in horror. Every inch of the table was covered with food of all kinds, and there was Minnie, eating like he hadn’t eaten in years (although I had to admit he had very good table manners, ironically).

He looked up at me and grinned sheepishly, mismatched eyes and all, and said, “I’m a growing boy.”

Soon I was laughing and giggling like a mad fool, all annoyance and embarrassment gone as I dug in with him. He made the food seem a hundred times more appetizing.

2. He acts like a kid.

“Minnie-ah, can you pl-“

“Call me oppa,” he said for the thousandth time.

“No way!” I exclaimed. “It’d feel so weird!”

“I’m older than you!”

“Yeah by ONE year!”

It was true. Coincidently, he was only older than me by one freaking year. Ever since we got together he had been pestering me non-stop to call him ‘oppa’. It was so gross, imaging myself calling ‘oppa’ in a high pitched voice. I shuddered involuntarily.

“Is that so hard?” he scowled.

“I don’t call anyone that,” I said, crossing my arms.

“Yes you do! You call Jerry hyung ‘oppa’!”

“That’s because he’s my real oppa, Minnie!” I rolled my eyes. “I’d think of Jerry oppa every time I call you 'oppa'! Freaking ewww.”

“That’s not a very good excuse,” he huffed, and turned his back on me childishly.

And because of that, he didn’t speak to me for three whole days. In front of others he was always playing the smart mature manly man, but he wasn’t aware of how childish he could be sometimes. I was just as stubborn, but in the end, it was I who would always give in to him.

I walked up to him and sigh. “Oppa,” I said dryly.

He caught me by surprise by whipping around suddenly, a huge Cheshire cat grin stretched across his face. “Thank you. That makes me feel very special.”

And there I was, grinning with him, all feelings of annoyance evaporating into thin air.

3. He’s such a nerd.

He was studying medicine, a field far more complex and advanced than what I was studying. But being the smart ass that he was, he always had the time to assist me in my work. He practically forced me to study at least three hours a day, and it annoyed me to no end.

“Yah, stay awake. You have an exam next week!” he poked my side as I was just about to doze off.

I grumbled, sitting up straight in my seat and forced my tired eyes to focus on the book laid before me.

“Here’s some extra notes I searched up. I’ve already assembled them in alphabetical order for you,” he said, while shuffling the stack of papers in his hands. I whined, cursing him under my breath. He just smirked and said, “You’re gonna thank me someday.”

I hated to admit it but all the studying did pay off when he accompanied me to school to get my results. A crowd had formed around the notice board, but being the super tall guy towering over everyone else, Minnie easily saw the name list and his lips immediately twitched into a grin.

“Congratulations!” he told me, looking like a proud father.

Disbelievingly, I stood on tiptoe, trying to see, and sure enough, there was my name, on the very top of the list. My jaw dropped. What the hell I topped the class! It was something I would never have dreamed of.

I let out a shout of joy and Minnie pulled me into a hug, twirling me in the air as I laughed out loud at my success, which I knew I would never have achieved if not for my nerdy boyfriend.

4. He hangs around weird people.

“I want you to meet my family,” he said to me one day, and like how every sane person would react, I freaked out. What?! I’m going to meet my in-laws so soon?! Sure he knew Jerry hyung but that was really too sudden! I remember Minnie mentioning once that his parents were overseas. ‘They’re back so soon?!’ I panicked.

I fumbled around as I prepared myself for dinner at Minnie’s. I imagined myself being scrutinized by a stern looking woman, and questioned by an older-looking Changmin. I made sure I was at least decent looking when Changmin picked me up at seven that evening, and soon we arrived at a luxurious apartment building. Minnie pressed the doorbell and I shrunk back in fear when the door swung open. A tall (though not as tall as Minnie) handsome man smiled widely at us, and I was momentarily blinded by his pearly white teeth.

“Hey appa,” Minnie greeted cheerfully. The man ushered us in, and I was even more confused when I saw four other young men in their twenties standing there in the living room, glancing curiously at me. Minnie pulled me towards them, and introduced us to one another. Kim Jaejoong. Jung Yunho, Park Yoochun and Kim Junsu, he told me. I studied the four of them, glancing back and forth from one to the other, and felt my breath catch in my throat. ‘Huh, good looking people do tend to stick together,’ I thought.

We all sat around the kitchen table and started to eat. I felt a little awkward, being the only female among the group. Dinner started off a little too quiet, and several times I shifted uncomfortably in my seat. I nearly had a heart attack when I caught Jaejoong-sshi and Yunho-sshi holding hands underneath the table, and tried my best not to stare when Yoochun-sshi spoon-fed Junsu-sshi. I nervously threw a sideway glance at Minnie. As expected he was gobbling down his food like there was no tomorrow.

And then all of a sudden, Junsu-sshi started singing, and Jaejoong-sshi started clapping along. Soon enough the entire group broke into a chorus of the Wonder Girl’s ‘Nobody nobody but chu~” and to my utmost horror, I found myself unable to resist the temptation of joining in.

It wasn’t long before I realized how extremely delicious Jaejoong-sshi’s cooking was. I found Yunho-sshi’s fatherly aura safe and comforting, Yoochun-sshi’s smile very charming and Junsu-sshi’s unique high-pitched laughter oddly contagious. By the end of the day, I knew I was officially out of my mind when I actually found myself thinking how cute the two couples (Yunjae and Yoosu, Minnie called them) were. I could practically feel the love radiating from them.

As I leaned against Minnie on the couch that night, he looked down at me and cracked a smiled, muttering the words that made me feel warm all over.

‘Welcome to the family.’

5. He never says ‘I love you’.

When Minnie first confessed to me, he didn’t say ‘I love you’. He said ‘I like you’. Those two four-letter words had a huge difference, but at that time, I couldn’t complain. At that stage I didn’t expect him to say that he loved me either. But as the days went by I was starting to grow frustrated. Throughout our relationship I was the only one constantly muttering those three magic words, wistfully hoping that he would too.

I was much too embarrassed to confront him about it, so instead I talked to Yoochun-sshi, because among Minnie’s family members, I had the feeling that Yoochun-sshi had the most experience in this field. He chuckled lightly when I told him about it. He made me a cup of coffee and asked me to sit down.

“Minnie-ah is not very good at expressing himself through words,” he told me. “Do you feel that he loves you?”

I frowned slightly. “I don’t know. He never told me.”

“I think you misheard my question,” he said kindly, gazing at me with his brown eyes. “I asked you whether you feel that he loves you.”

I pursed my lips and thought about it. The hugs and kisses we shared filled my mind, followed by the memories of the both of us ever since we met. There was the time he stayed up with me till 4am in the morning just because I failed my exam and couldn’t stop crying, and the time when he made the effort to pre-order the book I had wanted for me because it had been out of stock, and those times when he allowed me to drag him around the mall even though he clearly didn’t enjoy shopping.

I smiled. “Thank you, Yoochun-sshi.”

He grinned and shrugged. “I didn’t do anything, but you’re welcome.”

6. He can be a little too.......................................

“Yah, what are you doing?”

My eyes widened as I dropped the pen I was holding, my other hand automatically scrunching up the piece of paper on the desk before me.

“Nothing!” I replied hurriedly, turning around to see Minnie standing by the door.

I walked up to him and threw my arms around him, and then stood on tiptoe to give him a light peck on the lips. “I love you Minnie!”

He looked down and eyed me suspiciously. “Why are you so nice all of a sudden?”

I threw him a glare. “I’m always nice.”

“Yeah right…” he mumbled, wrapping his arm around me and holding me close.

So I didn’t get to finish my list, but having written up to number five, I realized how beautiful my Minnie really was, despite his obvious flaws. It wasn’t as though I hadn’t known it all along, but the realization hit me hard. I realized how sweet he was beneath the sarcasm, how much he had done for me, how incredibly patient he had been while dealing with my mood swings and the number of times I had taken him for granted. He was always there, silently supporting me, holding my hand and walking with me.

Labels: by: Lyshim [sexy_green]