Chorong calmly applied the rosy-pink coloured lipstick onto her lips. As she smacked them together and checked her reflection on the mirror, she couldn’t help feeling his intense gaze on her back. She casually glanced at his reflection on the mirror, and true enough, he was staring at her with an unreadable expression on his face.

She sighed.

Checking the time on the wall-clock hung above him, she grabbed her plum purse from the top of the drawer. As she was about to take a step towards the door, she heard him speaking up in a voice so low, that it chilled her even.

“If you walk out of that door, it’s as good as goodbye.”

She froze. For a moment, it seemed as if she was having second thoughts.

But remembering everything that was at stake, she couldn’t risk it all.

Without turning back to look at him for the last time, her heels made loud thumping sounds as she hurried to get out of there. The sooner, the better.

But just as she was about to reach for the knob, she felt him grabbing her wrist harshly from behind.

She whirled around, meeting his eyes for the first time that evening. She could see how badly he was hurting, she could see how tormented he was by this whole break-up.

No...they haven’t actually broken up yet.

So what should she call this?

“Let go,” she said quietly. He didn’t, and instead, tightened his grip on her.

“Let go of me!” she raised her voice as she tried to yank her hand free. He wasn’t going to let her.

“Why are you doing this?” he asked, his voice shaking with rage. “Why are you doing this?!”

“You know I don’t have any other choice left!” she shouted back, fresh tears stinging her eyes. “You know that there’s no other way out!”

“Yes, there is!” he yelled directly into her face. “There’s always a way out! But you chose to give up – you chose not to fight for us!”

Her lips quivered. “Stop it, Minhyuk. You’re hurting me.”

He just looked at her through his angry, glaring eyes.

“Minhyuk...” she whimpered and tried to wriggle herself free. “It hurts...”

But instead of letting her go, he released her hand just to capture her again by cupping both of her cheeks. Before she could react to what was happening, he crashed his lips onto hers forcefully.

She tried to push him away, but that only tightened his arms around her petite frame as he deepened the kiss even further.

Alas, Chorong gave up trying to fight him off, and she felt herself weakening under his control. She relented, and returned his kiss with as much passion and intensity.

As he devoured her lips, he tried to tell her how he felt – his pain, her grief, his disappointment, his agony, his burning love for her...

Chorong felt it all. She did; and that was why, with one mighty push, she shoved him off her.

A tight slap flew across his face.

“Stop this,” she said, in a voice barely above a whisper. The tears in her eyes were dangerously close to falling over. “You know...that I’m getting married tomorrow.”

He stared at her in disbelief, shocked to what she had just done.

She slapped him. She actually hit the man she had once loved.

The man who she will most probably continue loving for the rest of her life.

Without another word, Chorong her heels and ran out of the room – leaving Minhyuk behind even more broken than before.

As she walked up the aisle, wearing her wedding dress – she couldn’t help thinking if she was really doing the right thing.

Her thoughts went back to the kiss which they had shared the previous night. She would be lying if she said that she hadn’t felt anything.

Because she felt everything.

Every single thing.

She tried to force out a smile as everyone around her stood up and clapped for her. She saw her to-be husband grinning at her at the front of the room.

Why was she deluding herself this way? She didn’t feel anything for him. Absolutely, nothing.

She bit her lips hard to stop herself from crying out loud.

Even in this life and next, Minhyuk will be the only guy she would ever love.

She was already halfway across the room, when the doors to the chapel suddenly opened.

She stopped.

And slowly turned around.

The bouquet of red roses dropped from her hands instantly.

“M-Minhyuk?”

He kept his gaze on hers, as he slowly made his way towards her, ignoring every other presence in the room. Chorong, on the other hand, was frozen on her spot – too surprise to even move a muscle.

As he neared her, she saw how red and puffy his eyes were. He looked like he hasn’t slept the whole night, and it broke her heart. It shattered her to see him in that kind of condition.

He didn’t say anything. He didn’t need to.

It was as if, time had paused momentarily. Everyone and everything else had simply faded into the background, leaving only the two of them in the room.

Slowly, he leaned in his face close to hers and tilted up her chin slightly. Chorong closed her eyes, knowing exactly what was happening next.

A second later, she felt his lips collapsing onto hers. It was like déjà vu, as they reminisced their kiss from the previous night once again.

Only this time, she was crying. He was crying.

Without pulling away, he breathed the words, "I'm taking you away."