[Jiyong]

        I hummed softly to myself as I took a look at my reflection in the mirror. Suit and tie...from which designer, for the first time in my life, I don’t really care. Sure, I want to look nice, more than nice actually, when I see my bride walk down the aisle towards me. The corners of my mouth twitched upwards at the thought of that beautiful view. I can already taste it in my mouth...the sweet aroma of being married, which is odd since the idea of it did not attract me before. But I guess everything changes once you found the one you love, and will only love for the rest of your life, right?

        the ring I will be slipping onto her slender fingers in a matter of minutes, I wonder what Dara’s thinking right now, up in her own room to prepare for the wedding. Of course, she will feel nervous, since it IS a huge moment. But...she will also feel excited like me, right? The idea of being married should be the happy ending of a chapter in our fairytale. Good thing she doesn’t have to worry about a thing in the whole wedding preparation, since both of our mothers had already overdid themselves in the entire thing, or else she will probably be more anxious and eating less than before. That reminds me that she’s way too thin, and that I need to constantly make her eat more. I can see it now...both of us watching the sunset from the large window at our mansion, feeding each other with food as we do the cheesy things that all normal lovers do...I had to hold in my childish giggle, and quickly coughed to hide my embarrassment when one of the bodyguards my father hired came running inside.

        “Master!” He panted heavily as he addressed me. “Things have gone...Miss Park...”

        “What about Dara?” I sharply asked. “And I thought I told you already to call her Mrs. Kwon, not Miss Park. How many times do I have to repeat that-“

        “No, master!” He quickly interrupted. “I was referring to Miss Park Bom!”

        “She’s also a Kwon,” I replied irritably. “Call her Miss Kwon-“

        “Master!” He had all but pulled at my pant leg to stop me from correcting his mistakes. “This is not important! The most important thing is that, your sister and Mr. Choi Seunghyun had headed up to Miss Dara’s waiting room without permission!”

        “I know Father has strict orders about not letting anyone in there, but they are our friends,” I assured. “It is only natural that they want to congratulate Dara on our wedding day.”

        The bodyguard looked almost close to exasperated as he painfully gazed at me. “I’m afraid that’s not the case. They did not go in through the only door, but we could hear their voices from inside. There were sounds of a video being played, and we heard your father’s voice being recorded, and saying about the plan to grab Park Enterprise-“

        Without thinking, I sprinted out of the room in the direction of where the waiting room for the bride was. On the way, I passed many guests dressed in their most expensive and luxurious gowns and tuxes. Many of them exclaimed their surprise to see me, but they were only a blur of colors for me. Flashes of lights indicated that the photographers from the press were here, ready to snap the money-making pictures that would show the world what a wedding of the century would look like. They were nothing to me, only another cruel reminder that I had screwed up my chance to come clean when I could’ve prevented this from happening. Please....just tell me it’s not too late...

        “Ji!” I faintly heard what seemed to be Daesung’s voice in the middle of a group of people squeezed in the way to the bride’s waiting room, but I did not stop to see what the commotion was about. If I don’t reach there in time to explain...

        “Dara?” I shouted at the top of my lungs as I ran up the stairs. “Dara!” Yanking open the door, I was received with the sight of my best friend standing alone in the middle of the lavish bride waiting room. TOP slowly turned to face me, with a strange expression on his face like he was going to tell me something I was not going to like hearing.

        “She’s gone.” TOP’s whisper was barely audible, and his voice was shaking slightly. “Jiyong...she’s gone.”

        “You’re a terrible friend, you know that?” I laughed mockingly as I advanced towards TOP, wanting to punch the living daylights out of the guy who I had trusted since childhood only to have him stab me in the back in the cruelest way possible. “I had been counting down the seconds towards the moment when I would be happily married to the girl I’ve been in love with all my li