Epilogue:

Between the then and the now, I realize that what Baekhyun told me on the night of my engagement was true--looking back, I could no longer really recognize myself. So many things happened, so many people had come into my life in such a short amount of time that I had grown and changed so quickly that I was pretty much a new person.

Prior to everything, the only things that mattered to me were education and my family. Friends weren't really on the list since Seohyun had always felt like enough company, and my brother's friends spiced up my life enough. That kid's such a social butterfly unlike me. But now, I'm standing at that point where the people around me mattered more. Instead of education leading to people, it became people leading me to education.

My father-in-law, may his spirit rest in peace, was a truly wonderful character. I had not enough time to really get to know him as I would have wished. Half the time, we barely had time for each other since he was busy with the affairs of the state and I with schoolwork. Petty, don't you think? But that's the sad thing about life. It lays down everything you need to be happy right in front of you and lets you pick the pieces that you think will make you happy.

When you take a step back, you realize, you're not really happy. All this time, you've been fooling yourself, chasing after the kinds of things that will never last. But then again, life is kind. It gives second chances, even if the second shot will never be as beautiful as the first. And if you get happiness this time around, you feel like an idiot for not seeing it the first time around. But at least... Now you know, and you know you're never going to go looking for the things that never last again. And those that do last, you keep in your heart so they can last even longer.

These things... They seem meager, don't they? But I hope that I'll be able to pass these things to my children.

"Yoona, love, I'm sorry to have to bail on you like this right now, but there's a matter I must attend to at Shanghai," Lu Han said as he entered the room, a bit flustered.

"I understand," she replied as he wrapped his arms around her and their unborn child. "Don't worry, Lu Xun will take good care of me. He takes after you a lot, and Baekhyun's here. I swear those guards of yours have become puppies at your child's beck and call."

Lu Han chuckled. "Yes, well, I guess that's what happens, eh? Don't worry. Those guys know when to stop."

"Take care, okay?" she asked.

He nodded. "Oh, by the way, I'll be dragging Kai there with me."

"What's that boy going to do? Dance for the crowd?" she asked in shock. Kai had not gone for his dream of becoming an ambassador when Suho went and became a talent scout and scouted his friend first.

"I'm not entirely sure what I'm supposed to do with him, but your friend--Suho--insists that since he's your brother and he's a superstar--is he really?--he's bound to grab people's attention. But there's no riot there, so I don't really see the point..."

"Just say it already," Yoona said. "You're handsome enough to catch people's attention without my brother."

"I could never," he said. "Anyway, I'll be back in a few days. Don't worry about a thing, love. The guys will worry about them for you."

"What am I supposed to do, then?" she asked.

"Keep the people mesmerized with your natural beauty," he replied.

And so, Lu Han and I learned together that it's all about balance, and learning to be content with what we have. You may think that it's easy to be content when everything you can have is at your fingertips, but it's not. Because even with all the treasures of this world, you can never buy love, loyalty nor faith. And when you have everything, it's easier to want more than you can have because there's something about people that naturally makes us greedy little creatures. But when you learn to tame that, everything seems to be just right.

The End

A/N: Here it is. The ending of 'Of Desires and Dreams'. Thank you for standing by this story for so long. :) If you have any questions, comments, qualms, violent reactions and what-have-yous, feel free to drop them in the comment section down there. I'll answer them for you. :)