The next two weeks you spent in a haze. Kwangmin didn’t put any effort into keeping you around, he already knew he had you. If anything, he was worse. At least before he pretended to still be in love with you. A couple days after the confrontation, he went to meet Jihyun for dinner. He didn’t bother to even be polite about it. You found out how frequently they went out. Most of the nights he used to say he was working were actually spent with her. But you couldn’t be hurt by him anymore.

You continued to take care of the wedding details, though without the same enthusiasm. You no longer cared if everything matched the theme or how arrangements looked. The wedding planner didn’t say anything about it, probably chalking it up to pre-wedding jitters. Jihyun didn’t pretend to help anymore either, not that you cared.

Byunghee’s efforts to contact you were abundant. It was everything you could do to avoid him. Seeing him would make everything harder. You loved him. You wished you had just run away with him that day. That you could’ve said goodbye to everything and just left.

A week before the wedding you finally decided to go out on your own. You couldn’t stand to be in your apartment anymore. You went out to the park you had visited with Byunghee. You found a bench along the path the two of you had walked hand in hand. You hadn’t let yourself feel much the past few weeks, but now that you were here, you were as ready to face it all as you ever would be. You stared out across the lake and let the long pent up tears escape from your eyes.

You weren’t sure how long you sat there crying, but you felt a hand on your shoulder and you spun around. To your surprise, your father was there. When you asked how he knew you were here, he said he had been coming to see you at your apartment when he saw you walking here, so he followed you. He sat down on the bench next to you and put his arm around your shoulders. He gave you the look that told you start explaining why you were crying.

You started telling him everything that had happened, though leaving out you had slept with Byunghee, he didn’t need to know that. He had an analyzing look as you recalled the story for him. When you finished, he nodded.

“So that is why that young man came to the house.” You looked up at him through your tears.

“What young man? Who came to the house?”

“Your Byunghee. He was very curious about your relationship with Kwangmin. He had a very interesting story to tell us. We were rather surprised when we heard about Kwangmin’s true character. Why did you not come talk to me?” You took a deep breath before you were able to speak.

“I was worried about mom. I know the money for her treatment came from Kwangmin’s family, and I thought he did it because of me. So when he brought it up, I was afraid he would go after you for it. We would never be able to afford to pay him back.”

“Kwangmin didn’t pay for your mother’s treatment. Your mother and I never told you this because Kwangmin’s father asked us to keep it to ourselves. Do you remember when you were all still young and Kwangmin’s mother got very sick and died?” You nodded, watching him intently.

“At the time, there wasn’t a good treatment for her illness. The doctors didn’t know much about it and caught it far too late to try what few options they had. All the money in the world couldn’t save her. Your mother had the same illness. When I told Kwangmin’s father about your mother, he instantly offered to pay for the treatment. He didn’t want you to lose your mother the same way Kwangmin had. He said Kwangmin was different after the death of his mother, colder. He didn’t want to see you turn out the same way.” He paused at smiled down at you.

“What I’m saying, is that you don’t owe Kwangmin anything. You are not tied to him. If you don’t love him, don’t marry him. In fact, based on what you’ve told me, I forbid it. I may not have been able to give my little princess a castle, but she deserves a prince.” There were tears in your father’s eyes now as well. You threw your arms around his neck and cried into his shoulder. He spoke quietly as you hugged him.

“Go find your prince.”