[A/N: Story is quite complicated. It contains 'mature' content. There's a sequel and pre-quel to this. =)
Italicized parts are flashbacks]

Seohyun’s POV

It was a promise of love—a promise of forever and eternity, a promise I have meant from my heart and soul. It was a promise of giving away my own happiness. It was a promise I swore to God before my family and friends. It was a promise I left for the world.

To love Luhan with all of me and with all the time I have. Till death do us part.

But life is short. Life is unpredictable. Life is difficult. Life is a struggle. Life is a challenge. Everything about life is beyond our capabilities of handling things in our own. Sometimes, we’re strong. Most of the time we’re nothing but weaklings. The more we fight and keep strong, the weaker we become. No matter how old we are, we can never learn how to live life to the fullest. We’ll never really know what life means. We love and lose.

I have loved and lost. I have died and given another chance to live. But part of me remains dead.

Because when that promise was broken, my heart did not just break. A part of me died.

Everything in my life was shattered into pieces. From then on, it’s not just my heart, not just those promises that were broken. Even the smiles I make are broken.

“Good morning—“ The delivery boy brought me back from my trance. “I’m sorry, did I scare you?” He vivaciously apologized. He then smiled at me, “Come on, ahjumma. I’m here to pick up the deliveries.” I glared at him but then focused on putting the toppers for the cupcakes I just baked. I delicately put them inside the boxes and filled the cards with the names.

“Stop calling me Ahjumma. I’m not that old.” I said as I handed him the boxes. I piled them on the desk and checked the list of orders. “Be careful with these pastries, they’re going to be witnesses to special occasions like birthdays and weddings so please, don’t mess with them, Oh Sehun.”

“You know, I can get all of these boxes delivered on time if you’ll give me a bonus.” He requested and made puppy eyes. This boy never really give up. I like the way he is—for making me remember what it’s like to be a youth, clueless of what life really is about. I wish to have his life. If only…

“Unless you leave now, you won’t get them delivered on time. Clock is ticking, go now.” I said without even looking at him as I checked the next list of orders. “What are you doing?” He was still just standing in front of the counter, looking at me as if I have no more chance in life. As if he pities me. “Fine, I’ll give you more credits if you’ll be back here in two hours.”

He then took the first pile of boxes into his arms. “I don’t need the money, ahjumma. I just want you to flash me a real smile. A smile that’s from your heart.” I was left with no words as Sehun left the store. I only heard the little bells on the door made sound as he left.

I watched him arranged the boxes inside the delivery van from my store. Aside from the fact that he may not know anything about my life… what saddens me more are the memories that keep on appearing inside my head whenever he’s around me.

“I like your smile a lot.” Luhan told me as he held my hand while we’re walking together.

“I do smile a lot.” I said. “But do you know I have different kinds of smile?”

“Really?”

“A lot actually. I also have different kinds of cry, laughter, smirks… every reaction I have, actually!”  We shared a soft laugh then he stopped and faced me. I just looked at him and smiled. His eyes that sparkle and perfect nose, lips and everything about him. Luhan is just perfect.

“When you smile like this, what kind of smile is it?” He asked me.

I looked into his eyes and saw nothing else but sincerity, passion and admiration. “I have gazillion smiles but when I’m with you, you’ll only see one kind of smile. And that’s a real smile. A smile that’s from my heart. And I smile a gazillion times when I’m with you.”

He smiled at me, “And this is my smile that means I love you.” he then leaned in and kissed me shortly on the lips. Then he took my hand again, “Come on. Let’s get going.”

I wanted to follow him but he has to know something. “What is it? Is there something wrong?” He asked when I stopped him from walking.

I shook my head and smiled a little. “Luhan, I have to tell you something.”

He frowned a little, “What kind of smile is that? That’s definitely my first time to see it, hon.”

“Luhan, this smile… means I’m pregnant.” It was as if he stopped breathing for a second. Then he flashed me a big smile, a smile that reaches his ears. He pulled me into his arms and embraced me as if we’ve never seen each other for years. He was extremely happy. We were both happy.

This marriage and the love we’ve shared have taken us this far. The road to forever is just about to begin.

“Ma’am?” One of my workers shut me out of my trance. It was Krystal. She’s one of my closest workers here in my bakeshop. She gave me a pity smile. “Do you want me to just finish the cake you’re working on? I’m pretty sure you can use some rest.”

“I—I’m fine, Krystal. You don’t have to worry about it.” I told her and continued to fix the container of the icing. I could still feel she was watching me closely. She knows what I’ve been through. Too bad both of us couldn’t do anything about it anymore.

The thing about love is it’s more painful than how it can make you happy.

“You’re still young, unnie.” Krystal suddenly said. I looked at her, “People you know love you. And there are still so many people out there who don’t know you yet, but if you just give the world a chance, someone out there will love you more than how Luhan did.”

The mention of his name almost burned my heart into ashes.

I couldn’t say anything. I just pretended to be finishing the icing of the cake I baked.

“I don’t know what it feels like to be you, unnie.” She said and stepped closer beside me. “But I do know you deserve more than this. We care for you, and we’ll always be here to help you get through this. If only you’ll let us.”

I looked at her. I know tears may come out anytime but I tried my best to hold them back and pretend, even just for once, that I am strong enough. “I appreciate that a lot from you, Krystal.” I smiled a little. “But when I lost my child, I didn’t know I was going to lose him too. And until now, I couldn’t find a reason to bring back the life I had. All I have right now is baking. This is all I’ve got and I don’t want to deny that anymore.”

But when pain comes, tears follow.

Krystal embraced me, “Both of you will find your ways in separate roads. Life goes on. Life will always go on.” She comforted me. I quickly wiped my tears when Sehun entered the kitchen’s baking area where Krystal and I were.

He stood there astounded as if he wanted to comfort me too. As if I’ve known him from before. I ignored that thought and gave him a paper with the list of orders. “You made it back early. Help me check the orders—Amber has the finished products. She’s there.” I pointed Amber to him and walked back to the cake for a baby shower and put the final topper—a small figurine of a baby.

All I could do is sigh for all the memories that keep on coming back.

Hundreds of them flash back inside my head in a span of twelve hours just baking here in my pastry shop. And in the remaining twelve hours of the day, as I rest, comes the other hundred memories.

“Luhan,” I called him before I could panic. “Luhan!!!” I called him once more before he rushed towards me from the other room. “I think my water just broke.”  I told him. Before I could panic, he already did. He gushed around the room and quickly took whatever I needed in the hospital. He was literally just everywhere and kept on running inside the room. When he passed beside me, I held his arm. “Luhan, your baby’s about to come out. Calm down, you’re not the one who’s going to labor.”

He looked pale and nervous. It was kind of cute, actually. He’s going to be a father. Officially.

He nodded and helped me walk. We hailed a cab and asked the driver to be as fast as he could. Everything was a blur inside the cab and all I could remember was when I was already placed on top of a bed and rushed towards the emergency room or the delivery room.

As soon as I was placed on the hospital bed, everything turned gray.

And when I woke up, Luhan was stared beside my bed with his eyes all puffy. When he saw me woke up, he only squeezed my hand and kissed my forehead. He did not smile. He wasn’t happy.

“Where’s our baby?” I asked him. His expression already answered my question. But I did not want to hear it. There’s no reason for my baby to die. That child was the upshot of this healthy marriage. It was the only dream I had with Luhan. It was the ultimate goal of this marriage. That baby that I bore for nine months already played a huge part in my life. I ate for that baby boy. I practiced healthy living for that baby boy. And now, he was unborn and dead? What kind of cruelty is this? “Luhan, what happened? Tell me?” I said as tears escaped from my eyes.

Luhan started crying but his expression remained calm. He just cried and cried and kissed the back of my hand repeatedly. He couldn’t say anything. He just cried. Those tears told me that Luhan was once scared too, no matter how manly he always was.

Our baby died. I lived. And it all sounded so wrong.

After a few weeks, Luhan and I were always fighting. We weren’t talking but if we did, we’ll just end up shouting at each other.

“What do you want for dinner?” I asked him as I was already cooking.

“You’re asking me? You’re already cooking.”

“I was just asking, that doesn’t mean I’ll cook something for you.” I turned off the stove and prepared the meal.

“What is your problem?” Luhan asked. “I know you lost the baby, but I lost him too. And the only thing we have left is each other.”

“We used to have each other, Luhan.” I faced him. “But since then—when you decided for my life, we already lost each other.”

“What the hell is wrong with you?” Luhan’s eyes became as teary as mine. But he was even madder than me. “I chose you to live, Seohyun. Because I love you but that doesn’t mean I don’t love our child. Don’t you get it? Was it my fault that the car we were riding in crashed into an eighteen-wheeler truck? We’re lucky to be alive right now. We’re lucky to survive.”

“Oh yeah? But we already promised each other, Luhan. During my conception, that we’re going to choose what’s best for this child and you chose for him to die.”

Luhan turned his back on me with his hands on his hips. “You don’t know what I’ve seen. You don’t know what it feels like to see the person you love the most lying lifeless beside my injured body. I wanted to come close to you that time, stand beside you. But I couldn’t.” He sighed and wiped his tears—the tears he was hiding from me. “When the doctors and nurses were rushing towards you, pumping your heart to beat again… for the first time in my whole life, Seohyun…” He turned and faced me. “I was scared to death of losing you.”

I cried so hard the moment he said it. He loved me this much but I was still fighting for the right of our unborn baby—of our baby who could have given a chance to live.

“I have lived long enough, Luhan. You could have given a chance for our baby to live. You could have watched him grow. You could have been a good father.”

“And what? A bad husband and watch our baby grow without a mother? Seohyun, I was given a choice between you and our baby to live. I chose you because life between the two of us will go on. We can have another one when we’re both ready again. It’s not like I planned all of this.”

I shook my head. “You don’t understand, Luhan.” I shook my head harder and sobbed. “The love we share is different from the love we should give to our baby. You should have chosen the baby to live. You should have…”

 That was the last night I saw Luhan. The next morning, all I saw was a letter from a lawyer and a note from Luhan posted on the door of the fridge.

It says, “When I asked you to marry me, when you said yes, when we got married, when you told me you were pregnant, when we were thinking of a name for our baby—those are the mornings I will always miss. I love you and now’s your second life. Live it the way you want to. Goodbye.”

I did not just lose the baby. I also lost Luhan.

Then I heard someone clear his throat. It was Sehun again. “That cake’s included in the delivery, right?” He awkwardly asked. I nodded and took a box. “I’ll help you with that.” He said and stepped forward. He helped me pack the two-layered cake for a baby shower.

I stepped aside and looked for the inquiry for this cake. I finally saw the envelope for this so I can write the name on the box. But then my heart skipped a beat when I saw the name. Tiffany Hwang? Tiffany Hwang’s baby shower for her baby.

Tiffany was Luhan’s ex-girlfriend before me. I haven’t heard of Luhan or of Tiffany, and now she’s having a baby. I’m guessing who the father is… I know she was Luhan’s first love. Who knows what she is now to him?

I handed the envelope to Sehun and he looked at it. His expression changed but then smiled at me, “At your service, ahjumma!” he saluted and then carried the box outside the kitchen.

When Sehun left, Krystal and Amber went inside the kitchen with a few customers, “Come in, come in.” They said. “Chef Seohyun-shi, here are your interns.” Krystal said and Amber helped me out in training the new interns.

Sehun’s POV

I sighed when I got outside Pastel and Pastries’ Shop owned by Seohyun. I flipped the envelope she gave me—it was Tiffany’s name written at the back.

I gritted my teeth but then inhaled to calm down. What the hell is wrong with my brother? I got inside the van and delivered the other items and purposely took Tiffany’s cake the last. I reached the venue of her baby shower just in time. I delivered it well.

But that’s not my agenda for coming here.

From a distance, there in a corner, I saw Luhan-hyung standing. He’s an event organizer. He’s a big time event organizer. He organizes a lot of events—parties, ceremonies, formal events, basically, everything that the elites celebrate—he organizes them. I strode towards him. He just nodded at me and went back writing something on his notebook.

I gave him the envelope of Tiffany’s invitation to Seohyun. “What is wrong with you?” Luhan was surprised with the question.

“W-what do you mean what’s wrong with me? Everything’s going smoothly with my work. I’m busy, let’s just talk at home later.” He said and completely ignored me.

I stopped him by his arm. “Hyung—“

“Don’t get me started, Sehun.” He warned. “Just go back to your work, and I will go back to mine.”

I sighed. “You still don’t get it, do you?” he then slowly faced me. “I’ve been working for her because you asked me to. But hyung, you don’t know what it’s like to see her every day with a frown on her face. Then there I go pretending like I don’t know anything at all.”

Luhan sighed and looked away. I know he doesn’t want to talk about this, but we have to. This has to be fixed in one way or another. “I only asked for you to watch over her, and not intrude with what happened between the two of us. Our marriage is over. We’re over. Everything is but a memory.”

“But why do you have to burden me with this, hyung? I can’t do this anymore. I can’t pretend anymore. I just can’t.” I shook my head. “If you want to know how she is every single day, you should figure it out by yourself.”

“You know that’s not possible anymore.”

“Oh yeah? Why? Because you left her?”

“I did not leave her!” Luhan raised his tone. He noticed it as he glanced around and he stepped closer to me once again. We’re just standing a foot apart. “Literally I did. Because she needs it. If I stayed with her, will her dreams of being a baker come true? Will she be this successful? We were both so young then. We can still choose another path. I left her for her own sake. But my love will always stay. It’s never gone, Sehun.”

“Then face her.” He fell silent. “Hyung, you can’t just be fooling around and putting me in this kind of situation. I know part of it was my fault—“

“It was your fault, Sehun! It was!” When Luhan said this, I swallowed and just ignored his statement.

“Seohyun-noona is too good for that. Does it make you feel better? She’s going on with her life without you?”

“It’s the same with me. We’re just the same.”

“Sooner or later, she’ll find out I’m your brother. And she’s going to see how miserable her life really is.”

“Miserable?”

“Because the person she loves the most couldn’t man up to face her, and you’re the man behind the man she’s seeing through me.” Before Luhan could ask more, I stepped back. “I’m going back to work—but if you want to stick to this plan of yours, make sure your events don’t order at Seohyun’s shop.”

I was a part-time taxi driver when I was in college. I used to fund my dance trainings by my own earnings and I help my father in driving a cab. All the morning until afternoon, he’d be the one driving and at night, in the wee hours, I would drive. That’s when I luckily saw Luhan-hyung hailing for cab with Seohyun, his wife, holding her belly. She’s going to give birth.

I stopped right away and gave them a ride.

But when I glanced at the rear view mirror, I saw Seohyun’s face—she was calm, she was happy, she was waiting for her baby—for this moment to give birth. She looked so pure, so innocent, so perfect. What a glance was turned to be a stare—and that’s when I didn’t notice a truck was coming our way.

Basically, it was my fault. What happened between Luhan and Seohyun, their separation—the root was all my fault.

I did put their lives at stake because of the accident. While I got my own minor injuries, with blood spilled on my clothes, there in the hospital… I couldn’t do anything but just stand there, watch Luhan-hyung and Seohyun-noona battle for their lives. Worst part of it all? Seohyun-noona was battling for two lives—hers and their baby’s. Moreover, I saw how devastated hyung was. As soon as his wounds got stitched, he hesitated no more but talked to the doctors and had to make the biggest decision in his life—not for his life, but for the two people he loved the most in his life, Seohyun and their baby.

He was given the choice between his wife and baby. But if I was him, I would definitely choose the same—to let Seohyun live. She deserves a second life. I’m praying that night for them to be blessed with another son soon.

But soon came and they split.

Maybe some things are not as easy as we think they can be. Luhan asked me right away to leave. But I couldn’t stay away for long. I am guilty for what I’ve done and I never stopped blaming myself for what happened. To pay back, Luhan asked me only one thing—to make sure Seohyun’s doing well every day and for that, I had to work in her bake shop. Luhan was a good husband, but more than that? He’s a good brother. Always. He chose to protect me in the end. He chose to bear the pain from Seohyun. I can’t say anything against him. But sometimes, like right now, I wish he could have fought harder for Seohyun than run away.

Everything could have been easy but what makes it hard is that Seohyun doesn’t know I was the one driving that night—that it was me, my fault why she lost her baby. If she finds out, she’ll curse me until I die.

And that’s what I’m scared of.

When I returned to the bake shop, everybody else was done cleaning up. Seohyun was just sitting there in a chair and stared. She had a cup of coffee in front of her, but it seemed untouched. She wasn’t just sad. She’s lonely. I quietly walked towards her and sat across the table. She did not even bother greeting me.

I cleared my throat but I could just stare at her forever and study her features. “Shouldn’t you be at home right now?” I looked around and Krystal glanced at Seohyun. She sighed in frustration and turned off the lights in the kitchen or baking area and left the two of us alone. “I know I’m just a delivery boy, but can I request for my boss to rest?”

Seohyun just shot me a look.

I sighed, “You know when I was in high school, I used to be a loser at school. I always get bullied. People laugh at me, people judge me.” The thought of it makes me sad. I looked at Seohyun then looked away and continued, “I’m a loser at school. That’s something I accepted young as I was. But right now, letting them win over my entire being back then was my biggest regret. You know, that feeling of knowing how to fight for myself but never got the courage to do so… it’s regretful.”

“That’s… a pity.” She plainly said. At least, I was relieved she did not ignore me.

“I have a half-brother. We went to the same school. But he was the popular one, everyone liked him, he was everything someone would dream about. Someone like you will definitely like him.” I smiled a little but looked down and cringed at the thought of the differences between Luhan and me. “He was a kind brother, but people did not know about us. If people only knew I was this person’s brother, they will respect me. but I did not want that courtesy just because I was his brother. I want to be someone of my own… have my identity as mine.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

“Because I never really told anyone about this.” For a few seconds, we just looked at each other. “I don’t know, maybe I kept it for so long and I just have to tell someone about it.”

“Well, thanks…” She said softly. “For letting me be the first to hear it, but I feel sorry for you.”

I looked down, “Problem is I still feel like I’m someone who belongs to my brother.”

“You don’t owe your brother anything. Just be who you want to be, and win everything that can be yours.” She suddenly said. I suddenly looked up and saw how supportive and kind she always was.

“It’s not that easy because I owe him so much of my life.” She did not say anything. “I owe him a life.” Their baby’s life. “Our mother used to say, ‘love your brother for he’ll be the only one in this world’ but when she died, it didn’t feel like it. We’re only half-brothers and now that she’s gone, it feels like we’re not brothers anymore.”

“She said that?” She asked, almost surprised.

“Problem is my brother never really did anything against me. It’s… it’s just that it feels like he’s lacking something as a brother to me.”

She fell silent. It suddenly feels like I said something wrong. But she was Seohyun. She is Seohyun. She will always be Seohyun. No one knows how much I know her even from the very start. If people will ask why I agreed with Luhan to work and watch over her, it’s more like my personal decision.

“I—I have to go.” She suddenly stood up, but it was too sudden that I had to stop her. She looked at me and pulled her wrist from my hand. “Let me go.” And I had to.

“I—I’m sorry. Did I do something wrong?” Her expression changed into something.

“I have to get something from the office.” Was all she said and she went inside her office. I waited for a few minutes but I swear to God they were the longest minutes of my life. After a while, she’s back with a thin pile of papers in her hand. Her eyes looked teary.

“You’re Luhan’s brother?” She threw the pile of papers on the floor—my application files. I couldn’t say anything. I just couldn’t. “How can I not know it?” She asked herself. “What are you doing here? What do you want? What—“

“Calm down, please. Just calm down.” I approached her slowly. She stood there, looking at me with tears in her eyes.

“Why? Why are you here?”

“Trust me, no one has to tell me to care for you, I have always cared for you.” I said.

“No, you don’t. Your brother just asked you to do so. He always has his ways. He always has! He manipulates people. He leaves people. He’s cruel—“

“My brother is not a bad person.” I cut her off. “I know he left you. I know I don’t always like him but he will always be my brother. I know him. I know my brother.” I said. I stopped for a second to catch up with my heavy breathing. This was the moment I never wanted to come. “Seohyun—“

Seohyun suddenly looked at the door and there we saw someone standing.

“How long have you been there?” I asked my brother.

“Long enough to make me doubt you as my brother.” He said. His expression shows how painful my words could have described him.

“What are you doing here?” Seohyun suddenly asked. Her voice was firm. I stood there, just being invisible again at the picture of this couple.

“I came to bring you the papers for the divorce. You just need to sign so the judge can finally approve this in the court.” He said. Seohyun took it, but I saw pain in the expression on both of their eyes. Both of them don’t want this to happen. But what are they trying to do? Before I can find the courage to enlighten the two of them, Seohyun already signed the papers. And I saw just how it broke Luhan’s heart—to see how willingly Seohyun signed the papers. But is Luhan that blind? Seohyun clearly doesn’t want this! “The trial will be in the next few months. But right now, we’re clearly… separated. Good as separated…” Luhan said.

Seohyun looked at me first, before leaving the bakeshop with just Luhan and me.

Luhan’s POV

 I couldn’t bear the sight of Seohyun leaving. I avoided looking at her when she left the bakeshop, leaving me with Sehun. I fixed my eyes on Sehun who couldn’t seem to look at me. He just looked down. I still see him as my younger brother, but he’s already matured from the last time that I can remember. We have different fathers. Our mom died years ago, we moved on, and our fathers decided to take us away from each other leaving our dead mother of no custody.

Sehun and I are very much different from each other. We grew up from different neighbourhood. As much as I want to live in an elite class, I feel more pity to myself. Sehun was always lucky. He was not just aware of it. He was blinded by the differences we have. He always is.

“What do you think you’re doing?” I asked him. He looked at me too. Pain covered his eyes. While I’m in pain on my own, he was too. While Seohyun’s in pain, he surely was too.

“I should be the one asking you that.” He answered.

“Sehun-ah, stop being like this.” I pleaded. “Shouldn’t we just move on? Everything’s in the past. Let’s give each other a chance. We’re brothers, aren’t we?”

Sehun just scoffed. “Brothers? We’re only brothers when our mother was still alive. But now that she’s gone, I’m not sure anymore.”

It was a typical summer afternoon when I heard someone opened the front door. I was not waiting for anyone—but all I know is my father left to buy something. He told me not to wait for him. It was vague, but I did not wait for anyone as told. It’s been a while since I’ve been playing alone in this house. Then I realized, I should be waiting for my father.

I ran towards the door—but found Mom, a little boy and a different father.

That’s when I realized my father left me for good. With my mother and her new husband, and her child.

That’s Sehun.

My father always taught me to be think of others. Understand others before I consider myself. That’s the only thing I did for Sehun, his father and Mom.

I was not close with Sehun, but I never bothered him. We live under the same roof, but I never accepted him, nor his father. The only thing I did was to do nothing. This, I thought, was not harming any relationship. All I focused on was myself—I studied hard, participated in several on and off-campus activities. I may be miserable inside, but I never showed this to anyone. I wanted to be successful and find my father someone. I could only careless about Mom, her new husband, and Sehun. For years, I felt like living alone even when I was under the same roof as them. I wasn’t part of this family—it’s theirs. My family is my father.

When we grew older, in high school, girls swarmed whenever I would pass by. But I wasn’t a kingka—I wasn’t one of the bad boys. I was just outstanding. I’m hardworking. I’m intelligent. At least, that’s what Yoona told me. Yoona was my first love. I have always loved her.

My world basically revolved around her.

But I was with Tiffany. If only I met her before Tiffany, I could have ended up with Yoona before. I love Tiffany, but it was odd that I like Yoona. Soon Tiffany found out and broke up with me. I was devastatingly sad. And then I saw a box of cookies infront of the door at home. There was none written on it.

I just took it. Took a bite.

And swore to myself that I will find the mystery girl who gave it.

Sehun came home and saw me eating the cookies. I was delighted. Years I haven’t spoken to him, I finally came to senses, and asked, “You know, we’re brothers right?” He just nodded. “Can you help me find the girl who left this in the front yard?”

Sehun could not answer at first. “The one who put it there?”

“Yes.” I nodded.

“You’ll find her in a red dress tomorrow night at the prom.” That was the only thing he said. Seems like he knows the girl, or saw her.

Then the night came… It was prom that night…

Under the spotlight, in the center of the dance floor, there I saw the girl of my dreams. Im Yoona, in red dress. I slowly approached her, and her eyes sparkled under the beam of the lights. She glowed like a goddess. She was extremely beautiful.

I took her hand and asked her for a dance… I glanced around to thank Sehun, but I saw him following, running after a girl in a red dress as well.

I looked back at Yoona, she smiled at me. But with curiosity, I asked her, “Were you the one who left the box of cookies in front of my house?”

She chuckled, “Yes. Did you like it?” I nodded. “I did a favour for my friend that day. She wanted to leave the box as a thank you gift to a man named Oh Sehun. Is it you?”

I stopped dancing with her. She looked surprised. But so was I.

“Wait, aren’t you Oh Sehun?”

“N-no. I’m Luhan. You mean—that box of cookies was for my brother, Oh Sehun?” She nodded. “I’m so stupid—“

“What’s going on?” She asked.

“It doesn’t matter—tell me. Tell me you baked it.” I held her arms but she stepped back. “You—you didn’t?”

“I told, I was only doing a favor to put that box in front of your house. My best friend baked it. It was from her. It was for Sehun.” Yoona looked around, “She should be here anytime soon.”

I thought deeper and sighed. “And she’d be wearing red dress?” Yoona nodded. And that’s the moment I ran after Sehun and left the dance floor.

My heart was a playground. Fate always plays with it.

But when I saw that lady in red dress, that beautiful woman I never laid my eyes on years ago… my life changed. I just knew, that moment, it was her for me. The only one for me.

“We’re only brothers that moment when you were looking for her. But now, look at yourself. You’re looking for her, to divorce her? To leave her?” Sehun was angered—I know he let go for me. It was so many years ago, but that pain never subsided in his heart. But it never left my mind either. “How can you call me your brother right at this moment, huh? How?!”

I looked down. “Is it wrong to fall in love? To fall so deeply in love that everything else did not matter but her?”

“It is wrong to fall so deeply in love and leave that person alone in the end.” Sehun walked past me and left me standing in the middle of Seohyun’s bakeshop.

I stood there alone with the memories of being with Seohyun. The love we shared. The love we treasured. The love that was always there. But now it’s gone.

Was it my fault?

Was it wrong to think of her dreams? Her dreams that was broken because of me?

This bakeshop—it only came to life when I left her after our baby died during her delivery. When I chose her to live, instead of the baby, I wanted for her to chase her dreams in life. When we got married, she left everything for me. and now, I was only thinking, to let her live the way she was supposed to. It’s never too late.

And if those dreams can’t come true with me, I would sacrifice just for her.

Her dreams have to come true because I have broken her heart.

There’s nothing but shame left in me.

I looked at the divorce paper in my hands and did not realize tears were already blurring my eyes.

We love and lose.

We fight and lose.

This is how life is… it breaks you, tears you to countless pieces, shatters you like you’re worthless. But when you love, you stop worrying about yourself. You have to make sure that person’s happy, with or without you. She matters more than anything. And when you’ve broken her dreams, you have to make up for it. Even if it takes leaving her.

I broke my promise.

To fulfill another.