Chapter 43

After that journey ended, everything went by so fast. Tian had his exams and got a high mark in all of them, Taria kept supporting him all the time, Josephine and Kai kept their relationship a secret, and everyone was enjoying their lives.

After approximately one year, it was Taria's turn to attend college entrance exams. She was always anxious, yet she was brave enough to move on even with that anxiety, and she did so well in her exams. The surprise was that the university Tian got in sent Taria an acceptance letter only three days after she sent an application, or to be exact, Tian was the one who sent the application, hoping that the two of them would attend the same university.

Tian took Taria to the university with him as she had an interview with the admission committee, and after almost two hours, she went to the place Tian told her he would be at

"What happened? Why do you look sad?" Tian said, surrounding Taria's face with his hands

"Don't worry, I got accepted", Taria said

"That's great, why are you unsatisfied?" Tian said

"I'm fine, I'm fine. I was just worried", Taria said

"About what?" Tian said

"Money", Taria said

"But you got a scholarship, why would you worry about money?" Tian said

"I'm worried about the fact that you know I got a scholarship even when I said nothing about that", Taria said, giving Tian a sharp look

"I asked the secretary while I was waiting..", Tian said

"TIAN, I'm not a fool. My marks aren't high to get a full scholarship at a university like this, I even doubt that I got here by my marks", Taria said

"Hey hey hey, ok I admit that I'm the sponsor for your scholarship, but I swear you were accepted by your marks", Tian said.

Taria felt angry, but she didn't shout, nor her face got red as usual, she only turned back and walked away silently. Tian grabbed her wrist, but she snapped his hand away, giving him a broken deep look

"Taria give me a chance to explain myself", Tian said

"Shut up, Tian. Why do you always throw the fact that I'm poor and you are wealthy on my face? Do you like treating me like your pit and spending money on me?" Taria said

"Who said that I'm giving you that money? I'm only lending it to you, you can return it back after you start working. You will need three years to return the whole amount, but that will guarantee that you would stay with me for four college years and three years after that, so it's basically a win-win situation, add to that that Ve knows about this and he threatened to kill me if you refused, do you won't your boyfriend to be killed?" Tian said

Taria wasn't sure about accepting Tian's offer or rejecting it, however, Tian held her hand softly, and looked into her eyes with a look that melted her heart

"You once told me you want to become a teacher, right? You would become the best teacher ever, and everyone would look up to you in the future, don't let your concerns destroy that dream, Taria, let me help you make that dream a reality", Tian said, and his words got directly into her heart

"Ok, thanks for helping me to achieve my dream, but you have to promise that you would take your money back", Taria said, holding up her pinky in order to have their promise completed, yet Tian pulled her towards him instead of holding back her finger, and kissed her lips softly

"Pinky promises are not enough, I only make lips promises", Tian said

"DO YOU KISS EVERYONE YOU WANT TO MAKE A PROMISE WITH???" Taria shouted, but Tian poked her nose while giggling. Taria paused for a moment, and she touched her nose softly while smiling

"I missed those pokes on my nose, you stopped doing that since we became lovers", Taria said, then Tian held her hand again with a smile on his face and took her to celebrate.

Four years went by after that, peacefully and filled with love. They fought sometimes, and they even cried because of each other, yet they held their relationship out of the reach of all these incidents. They got jealous, but they trusted each other more than letting that break what they have. However, they were happy most of the time, and they believed that as long as they could feel each other's warmth, they could get through every obstacle they faced.

After her graduation party, Tian tied a ribbon over Taria's eyes, and asked her to follow him without cheating. The red satin dress she was wearing and the heels made it hard for her to walk, especially when the ground they were walking on wasn't straight but rather uneven. However, Tian was holding her hand, and walking slowly to make it easier for her. Taria could hear the tree rustle, and she could feel the sunshine over her skin.

"Tian, where are you taking me?" Taria asked

"You will know soon, don't open your eyes yet", Tian answered

His sweaty hand holding hers made her realize that he was nervous, so she preferred to follow him silently as she didn't want to burden him and make him more tense, however, her chest tightened.

After a while of walking, Taria could feel the breeze got stronger as if she was on the ceiling of a high place, and that breeze blow away the heavy feeling she felt

"You can take the ribbon off now", Tian said

When Taria opened her eyes again, she was on the high cliff they once came to when they were at high school. Lights were hanging down in the air as if they were fireflies, and red rose petals were covering the ground, making it a romantic place after it was just a normal cliff.

"TAAAIII THIS IS SO WONDERFUL, thank you so much", Taria shouted, hugging Tian tightly

"Wait, I have something to say", Tian said, holding Taria's hands and looking into her eyes. He started talking, but he kept stuttering and he wasn't able to hid his blushing face nor control his shaky voice

"this is not working, please close your eyes again", Tian said, looking at the ground to avoid her eyes, yet still holding her hands

"Why are you so nervous? Ok here, I closed them", Taria said

Tian stared at her while she was closing her eyes. Her brown hair that was straightened seemed so pretty over her shoulders and back, the red dress she was wearing matched well with the petals under her feet as if she was the flower, and her warm hands were holding his heart as well as his hands. Tian took a deep breath, then he cleared his throat and started talking again, but smoothly this time as her eyes weren't distracting him any more

"Taria, this place was where I realized my feeling for you for the first time, that's why I decided to start our new chapter here in this place. You were different from everyone else since the first time I saw you, and while trying to discover the reason for that, I fell deeply in love with you without noticing. Your bright smile became my sunshine, and your sparkling eyes became my stars. Taria Park, will you give me your heart to be my one and only shield and take mine as yours? Will you become my infinite universe that I will love forever? Will you take me as your husband and become my wife?"

When the word (husband) came out of Tian's mouth, Taria's eyes got wide open. He was kneeling in front of her, yet it felt different than all the other times he was kneeling, and a silver ring with a diamond in the middle was between his fingers. He was breathing fast, but on the other hand, she wasn't breathing at all. Taria froze, she couldn't feel the cold breeze anymore, and she wasn't able to hear the rustle of the trees nor her heartbeats that were so loud.

Her hands covered her mouth automatically, and a tear came out of her eyes, getting her back to real life after his words drowned her with memories.

"Idiot…. my heart is already yours…Yes, yes I will", she said, not knowing how words got out of her mouth.

His heart skipped a beat, then he let out a laugh and stood up fast to hug her again

"YAAAAAAAA I LOVE YOU SO MUCH, HUS.BEN.D", Taria shouted

"I was about to die waiting for your answer", Tian said while smiling, then the lively look in his eyes got replaced with a deep one. He put his hand on her face, wiping her tears with his thumb, then he kissed her lips, ruining her makeup.

"In this cruel world, I will always love you", Tian said

"I will always be your lighthouse when you need to escape this cruel world you are talking about, but Tian, your lips aren't completely covered with my lipstick yet, let me fix that", Taria said, then she printed another red kiss on his lips before he could understand what she meant.