At seventeen, Shuhua had stopped being loud and the possessiveness had tempered to a simmer. Now she was just plain stubborn. 

"Shuhua, you can't quit school."

"Why not? I can get a job, audition for acting roles. I can take care of us." 

Laying on the floor, Shuhua's cheek pressed into her stomach, Soojin sighed. "We've already talked about this. You're parents-" 

"Love you and they love me." The declaration was filled with the same certainty as the day they met and Shuhua screamed her brazen declaration of marriage four inches from Soojin’s face. 

Rolling her eyes, Soojin pressed the tip of Shuhua's nose until it caved." You can't quit school." Cheeks blazing like an inferno, Soojin added, "I won't marry a quitter."

Shuhua was laser focused at eighteen, a young woman with a mission. 

Soojin had gone to the city to dance. Her days were long and her free time sparse. 

"Dude, why do you care so much?" Shuhua’s chemistry partner asked, face down in his text with his arms hanging listlessly by his side. "This is lame. Don’t you want to be an actor… actress… whatever." 

Igniting the Bunsen burner with her partner's blank notebook, Shuhua spoke with enough conviction to be elected Student Council President despite never having run. "My future wife won't marry a quitter." Shuhua slapped the back of the boy's head, "Yah, get up! I need to practice my vows after this!"