It was a calm winter evening. He spent the entire afternoon in the studio, working on another song he'd stack in his 'unreleased.audio' pile, and he was determined to share his time at home. He cleaned the apartment to ease their shared burdens and made dinner, despite his dislike for cooking. As the two of them watched the favourite series for the hundredth time, the dishes laid ignored in the sink as both were too comfortable to move. Zixuan didn't mind it although he could recite most of the dialogue at this point, all he cared about was the calm heartbeat he felt underneath his palm and Fern's quiet purrs beside him. He was sure that at this point, no matter the time passed, his love wouldn't waver.

For that reason, it was strange to feel so anxious about the thoughts swirling in his head now that he and his partner laid in bed, enshrouded in the moonlight, Fern sleeping in his favourite spot at the windowsill. He felt secure in their relationship, in fact, this was all he could've wished for. So having an engagement ring locked in his nightstand for over a month now felt ridiculous, pathetic even, but the ultimate question of marriage seemed like a whole other step to take, and he wanted to be sure they were on the same page. Drawing a long sigh, he decided to gauge their thoughts. "Love," he murmured, "If I were to propose, one day, would you say yes to me?" Yeah, not as subtle as he should've been.