Say Yes

The wind was calmer than usual that afternoon.

That alone made you feel like something was on your side, but you didn’t trust it enough to relax. The kind of silence this place sometimes had wasn’t empty; it was waiting. 

The ocean below rolled endlessly against the cliffs, steady and unbothered, like it had seen every kind of human decision made at its edge and refused to care either way.

The cliff wasn’t easy to get to, it never was, but that was part of why it mattered. The narrow path, the uneven stone, the way you had to watch every step or risk slipping into distraction or worse. 

You and Asa always came here when the world got too loud. When schedules, expectations, and everything in between started pressing too tightly against your ribs.

Out here, there was only the ocean stretching endlessly below and the sky wide enough to make everything else feel small. It never fixed anything, but it made things quieter inside your head, like someone had turned the volume down on life just enough for you to breathe again.

Today, though, it wasn’t just a place to breathe.

Today, it was the place you were going to change everything.

“Careful with that,” Johnny called out, hauling a box of fairy lights over his shoulder as he stepped carefully over the uneven rocks.

“I’m careful,” you muttered automatically, even though you were clearly not being careful at all, adjusting the floral arrangement that Ruka had insisted needed “more height and emotional balance.”

Ruka snorted. “That means it looks prettier from far away. Don’t overthink it.”

“That’s literally what overthinking is,” you shot back, but you still adjusted it anyway.

Pharita was already laying out a soft blanket near the edge, where the cliff curved just enough to frame the sunset perfectly. She smoothed it down with deliberate precision, like she was making sure time itself wouldn’t wrinkle it.

“Asa’s going to cry,” she said matter-of-factly, as if it were a weather report.

“I’m trying to make her not cry,” you said, though your voice wasn’t very convincing even to yourself.

Pharita glanced at you over her shoulder. “You’re planning a proposal. Crying is part of the package.”

Ahyeon was untangling ribbons with Rami, both of them moving quickly and efficiently like they’d done this a hundred times before, like chaos was just another thing they knew how to organise into something beautiful.

“You’re definitely making her cry,” Ahyeon said without looking up. “But like… good crying.”

“Is there a difference?” you asked.

Rami nodded seriously. “One is panic. One is love. You want the second one.”

Rora and Chiquita were in charge of the final touches, candles in glass holders, photos of you and Asa clipped along a thin string between two rocks, small details that somehow made the whole thing feel alive. Not staged. Not artificial. Just… honest. 

“This is a proposal not a retirement party you grandma” Chiquita said to Rora. 

“I am a couple months older than you.” She retorted. 

Everyone just ignored them and moved on to finish setting up.

Johnny clapped his hands once. “Alright. Timeline check. She’s still thinking this is just a normal ‘we’re going to the cliff for a break’ situation?”

You nodded. “Yeah. I told her I just wanted to watch the sunset with her after work.”

“Perfect,” Ruka said, stepping back to inspect the setup like she was judging an art exhibition. “So she has no idea she’s about to get emotionally ambushed.”

“Romantically ambushed,” Pharita corrected automatically.

“Same thing,” Ruka replied.

There was a brief pause.

Then Johnny added, “Honestly, worse.”

You let out a short breath that almost turned into a laugh, but didn’t quite make it. Your fingers brushed over the edge of your pocket without thinking, checking, grounding, reminding yourself it was there. Still there. Real.

The ring.

You exhaled slowly and looked out at the ocean.

Three years.

Three years of Asa falling asleep on your shoulder during late-night drives when neither of you had the energy to talk anymore. Three years of her stealing your hoodies and pretending she didn’t know where they came from, even when she wore them more than you did. Three years of her laughing at your worst jokes, correcting your worst habits, and staying even when staying would’ve been easier to question.

Three years of arguments that ended with quiet apologies, soft touches, and forehead presses that said more than words ever could.

Three years of choosing each other, again and again and again, without ever actually calling it a decision.

And now. Now you are going to make it one.

Your phone buzzed.

Asa 

I'm finishing up now. i’ll meet you there 💙

Your stomach flipped so hard it almost felt like falling. “She’s on her way,” you said.

The entire atmosphere shifted instantly.

It wasn’t panic, it was focus. Everyone moved faster, sharper, like a scene snapping into place.

Johnny adjusted the last set of lights, checking the angles like they mattered more than gravity. 

Rami crouched to realign a candle that was already perfectly straight. 

Rora smoothed the blanket one final time like it could somehow become smoother if she believed in it enough. 

Chiquita stepped back again, scanning everything with quiet satisfaction, like a director reviewing a final take before saying action.

Ruka nodded once. “It’s good.”

Pharita looked at you, softer now. “You ready?”

You weren’t.

Not really.

Not in the way people ever are for moments that are going to split their life into before and after.

But you nodded anyway.

Because you loved her.

And because love, real love, was never about feeling ready.

It was about showing up anyway.

And that had to be enough.

Before she showed up you were pacing slightly around the proposal spot. 

The fact that you were about to propose made you think back to this exact time last year.

The moment the words had left Asa’s mouth that night, everything had shifted, quietly, almost imperceptibly, but permanently.

It had been nothing dramatic. Just a late evening at home, the two of you half-lounging on the couch, city lights bleeding through the window. 

She’d been absentmindedly playing with your hand while talking about nothing important, something about work, something about a coworker who kept stealing her pens.

Then, like it was the simplest thing in the world, she’d said it.

“I want you to know that if you ask me to marry you, I’ll say yes. With no hesitation.”

You remembered how casually she’d said it. Like she was commenting on the weather. 

Like it wasn’t going to rearrange your entire understanding of time.

You had blinked at her. “Really?”

“Yep,” she’d replied, completely unbothered, eyes drifting down to her left hand like she was already imagining something there. “All I have to do now is wait for you to ask.”

You had laughed softly at first. A reflex. A defense. “That’s not how proposals are supposed to work.”

Asa had just shrugged. “It can be if you want it to be.”

And then she smiled.

Like it was settled.

Like it had already happened somewhere in the future and she was just being patient enough to wait for it to catch up.

That was the moment it stopped being a vague “someday” thought in your head.

It became a plan.

A real one.

One you started building the very next day.

Now, back on the cliff, a year later, your chest felt like it was trying to outrun your body.

“You’re shaking,” Ruka said bluntly.

“I’m not shaking,” you replied immediately.

Johnny raised an eyebrow. “Your hand is literally vibrating against your pocket right now.”

You looked down.

It was.

Traitorous.

You exhaled hard through your nose and forced your fingers to still. “I just, this is fine. This is normal. People propose all the time.”

Pharita tilted her head. “Most people don’t look like they’re about to fight the ocean.”

“It’s just adrenaline,” you insisted.

Ahyeon didn’t even look up from adjusting a ribbon. “It’s fear.”

“It’s excitement,” Rami corrected.

“It’s both,” Rora said calmly, as if she was solving a mathematical equation.

You dragged a hand down your face.

“I know she’ll say yes,” you muttered, more to yourself than anyone else. “She literally already told me she would.”

Johnny snorted. “That’s the most secure proposal safety net I’ve ever heard.”

“And yet,” Ruka said, stepping closer, “you look like you’re about to climb Everest with no oxygen.”

You let out a shaky laugh. “Because I am.”

That got everyone to pause.

Even the wind felt like it slowed down for a second.

You swallowed, staring out at the ocean again, but your mind wasn’t here anymore. It was back in that apartment. That night. Her voice, calm and certain in a way you still didn’t fully understand.

“I’ll say yes.”

“No hesitation.”

“All I have to do now is wait for you to ask.”

You hadn’t said anything right away after that. You’d just looked at her. Really looked at her.

At Asa, who trusted you so completely she’d already stepped into a future you hadn’t even built yet.

And something in you had snapped into place.

Not pressure. Not fear.

Clarity.

You’d stood up the next morning before she woke up and started writing things down. Places. Ideas. Details. The cliff had been the first thing you wrote, underlined twice. Not because it was the most impressive, but because it was yours. Hers. Something that already belonged to both of you.

Johnny’s voice cut through your thoughts. “You’re overthinking again.”

“I’m not–”

“You are,” Ruka said immediately.

You sighed. “Okay, I am.”

Pharita stepped closer, softer now. “Hey. Listen.”

You looked at her.

She nodded toward the setup, the lights, the photos, the little pieces of your life arranged carefully like a memory waiting to happen.

“You didn’t build all of this because you weren’t sure,” she said. “You built it because you are.”

That landed somewhere deeper than you expected.

Rami smiled faintly. “Asa already said yes. In her way.”

Ahyeon finally looked up. “Now you’re just catching up.”

That almost made you laugh properly this time.

Almost.

You turned your gaze back toward the path.

Nothing yet.

Just wind.

Just a cliff.

Just the sound of your heartbeat refusing to behave.

“She’s going to be here soon,” Johnny said quietly.

You nodded once.

Your hand slipped into your pocket again, not to check, just to feel it there.

Real.

Final.

You exhaled slowly.

“Okay,” you whispered, more to yourself than anyone else.

And for the first time that day, your voice didn’t shake.

“I can do this.”

By the time Asa arrived, the sun was already beginning its slow descent, painting the ocean in gold and soft orange streaks that broke apart whenever the wind skimmed across the surface. The cliff looked different at this hour, softer somehow, like the edges of everything had been smudged into something gentler.

She stepped carefully onto the cliff path, hair slightly wind-tossed from the drive over, eyes already scanning the space out of instinct. Asa always noticed everything at once, even when she pretended she wasn’t paying attention.

“Hey,” she called, smiling when she saw you. “You weren’t waiting long were you?”

“Yeah,” you said, her face changed slightly, “I mean no! No, I wasn't waiting that long.” trying to sound normal. 

“Okay.” She visibly calmed a bit.

Trying and probably failing at sounding normal. “I wanted to get the best spot.”

She gave a small hum of approval as she walked closer, like that made sense. Like nothing about this moment was unusual at all. The wind caught the edge of her jacket as she reached you, and without even thinking about it, she slipped her hand into yours.

That simple, familiar gesture almost made you forget everything you had planned.

Almost.

Because your hand tightened slightly around hers before you could stop it, and your heart immediately started behaving like it had somewhere else to be.

“This place is pretty quiet today,” she said, glancing around as she took a few more steps forward with you. “Did you notice that?”

You swallowed. Your mind briefly considered lying. It didn’t stick.

“I might’ve… arranged that,” you admitted.

Asa stopped walking just enough to look at you.

Her eyebrows lifted slightly. “You arranged the ocean to be empty?”

A laugh slipped out of you—too quick, too sharp. “No, I–” You shook your head, trying to steady yourself. “Just… the people part. I told Johnny to handle it.”

That earned a quiet smile from her, like she was filing that away for later teasing.

But then she looked at you properly.

Not the passing glance she usually gave when she was tired or distracted.

Properly.

And that was always her superpower.

Asa didn’t miss things. She didn’t rush past details. She paused on them, turned them over, understood them before anyone else even realised they mattered.

Her gaze softened, but sharpened at the same time, like something inside her had clicked into place.

Then she noticed the change in the air.

The stillness that wasn’t natural.

The way you were standing slightly too rigid, like your body didn’t know what to do with itself.

And behind you. The lights. Soft strands woven between rocks, catching the fading sun and turning it into something warmer.

The blanket laid carefully near the edge where you always sat together, like it had been waiting for her specifically.

The photos clipped along the line, small fragments of time she recognised instantly, even from here.

Her own smile in them. Your hands. Moments she didn’t remember being captured. And the candles, flickering gently despite the wind, stubborn little flames refusing to go out.

Asa’s expression shifted in real time.

First confusion.

Then recognition.

Then something quieter.

Something that made her breath slow without her meaning to.

Her hand, still in yours, loosened slightly.

Not to let go.

Just… because she suddenly wasn’t sure what was going on.

“…What is this?” she asked quietly.

But her voice had changed.

It wasn't a curiosity now.

It was understanding trying to catch up to emotion.

You turned toward her fully now.

And for a second, everything you rehearsed vanished.

The words you had planned, carefully structured and memorized, suddenly felt too small for everything she was to you.

So you didn’t use them.

Instead, you just spoke.

“Asa… I’ve been thinking about this for a long time. About us. About everything we’ve built without even realising we were building it.”

Her breath caught slightly.

You stepped closer.

“You’ve been my calm place since before I even knew what I needed. And somehow… you still are. Even now.”

A pause.

The ocean kept moving behind you.

“I don’t want a version of my life where you’re not in it,” you continued. “Not for a day. Not for a year. Not ever.”

Her eyes were already glassy.

Behind her, you could see your friends watching quietly from a distance, Johnny with his arms crossed like he was trying not to cry first, Ruka already failing at that, Pharita holding Rami’s hand, all of them frozen as the moment unfolded.

You exhaled once.

You dropped down onto one knee.

And for a second, just one second, everything felt like it finally locked into place.

The cliff, the sunset, the ocean below, your friends holding their breath behind Asa like the whole world had paused to watch.

You reached into your pocket.

This was the moment.

This was the part you had rehearsed more times than you could count, late at night, in the mirror, in your head when you couldn’t sleep. Every word had been polished down to something clean and steady.

Except now your hands were shaking so badly it felt like your body had decided to betray you at the worst possible time.

You pulled the ring out.

It caught the light for a split second, gold warm against the sunset.

Asa’s breath hitched.

You opened your mouth.

And then it happened.

It slipped.

Not dramatically. Not in slow motion like some cruel cinematic joke.

Just… gone.

Falling.

A clean, horrifying drop past your fingers.

Time didn’t slow down.

It sharpened.

“NO–” you blurted, lunging instinctively forward.

But it was already too late.

The ring bounced once on a rock ledge. And disappeared over the edge.

Silence.

Then.  

“…Y/n you idiot,” Asa said. And she was laughing…Actually laughing.

Like the entire situation was the funniest thing she had ever seen in her life.

You froze. “I– what– Damn it.”

Your voice cracked halfway through.

Behind her, you could hear it, Johnny making a sound that was somewhere between a choke and a scream. 

Ruka had fully given up on being composed. 

Someone, probably Rami, was whispering “oh no, oh no, oh no” like it was a prayer.

You pushed yourself up properly, panic taking over your entire body.

“Baby, it’s okay,” Asa said through laughter, stepping closer.

But you weren’t hearing it anymore.

“I’ll take you to a jeweler,” you rushed out, words tripping over each other. “I’ll get you one even better, if you don’t like any other I am going to jump after it right now–”

You turned, actually looking over the edge like your brain had fully detached from reality. “I can see it! I’ll get it!”

You were already shrugging your jacket off.

“Y/n, stop!” Asa laughed harder, grabbing your arm before you could fully commit to whatever terrible idea your panic had invented.

You resisted for half a second, still staring down. “It’s right there, I can reach it–”

She pulled you back toward her. Firmly.

Warm hands on your face, forcing you to look at her. “Hey,” she said, still smiling, still laughing, eyes soft in a way that immediately cut through your panic. “Look at me.”

You did.

Breathing too fast. My heart is way too loud.

She shook her head slightly, like she couldn’t believe you. “We can just pick out another, Together.” she said gently. “It’s okay.”

You swallowed hard. “But ”

Asa didn’t let you finish. “It's way too far down, don’t even think about it.”

She stepped closer and cupped your face properly now, grounding you completely. Her thumbs brushed your cheeks like she was trying to physically slow your thoughts down.

And then she said it, quietly, like it was the simplest truth in the world.

“My answer will always be yes.”

A beat.

“Ring or no ring.” she said while failing to hold back her laugh.

Your breath caught.

Everything in you stilled at once, like your panic had nowhere left to go.

Behind her, someone definitely made a noise of emotional collapse. You didn’t even care who.

Asa smiled at you, softer now. “You really thought I’d change my answer because of that?”

You let out a shaky breath that almost turned into a laugh.

“I nearly threw myself off a cliff,” you admitted. While rubbing the back of your head.

“I noticed,” she said, amused.

There was a pause.

Then she pulled you into her.

Arms wrapping around you fully, like she was anchoring you back into your body. You buried your face into her shoulder, still half-laughing, half-horrified.

“I was supposed to be romantic,” you muttered.

“You were,” she said immediately. “Just… aggressively chaotic.”

That got a real laugh out of you this time.

She pulled back just enough to look at you again, still smiling.

Then she tilted her head and raised an eyebrow. “Do you want to continue the proposal or should I just say yes again for emotional consistency?”

A beat.

Then you laughed, properly this time, shaking your head as the tension finally broke. “Yeah,” you said, voice steadier now. “Yeah, I’d like that.”

Behind you, Johnny shouted something like, “HE STILL HAS TO ASK PROPERLY!”

Ruka yelled back, and hit Johnny's shoulder, “HE DID! THE RING JUST COMMITTED SUICIDE!”

Asa laughed, shaking her head at all of them before looking back at you.

“Try again,” she said softly.

You exhaled.

You knelt down on one knee again, Ringless, and you took a hold of her hand.

And as the sunset burned gold over the ocean behind her, you realised something simple.

Even if everything went wrong.

She was still right there.

Still choosing you.

Still saying yes.