Few months later

“Will you marry me?” Yongguk says.

“Ay, that’s not how you do it. You have to be more enthusiastic. You’re asking for her hand in marriage! Be more gentle and natural,” Daehyun interjects.

“Then how am I supposed to do it?” his deep voice turns deeper –if that’s even possible- when he realizes that he’s starting to sweat.

“Dude, stop sweating and relax. She’s going to be here real soon, and it’s not polite to ask her to marry you when you’re sweating like crazy. She’s a lady, and she would want something more natural.”

“Ah, I don’t know man…”

“Here,” Daehyun gives him his handkerchief for him to wipe the sweat. “Relax, don’t be too nervous. I know she likes you very much so she’ll probably accept even before you’re able to finish your sentence, but of course, we want a flawless execution. Talking about her, here she comes…” Daehyun dives into the nearby bushes, “I’ll be right here, and remember, I want to be your best man.”

“Hey, sorry I’m late, I had something to do,” Jiyoon utters.

“It’s… it’s fine. You… look beautiful. I mean, you always do.”

Jiyoon’s wearing a simple white t-shirt, jeans and sneakers. She blushes shyly and says, “Remember when you said that your ideal girl is someone who looks good in a white t-shirt and sneakers?”

Yongguk raises an eyebrow and gives off his gummy smile. “Well, that’s true… but you’ve always been my ideal type, ever since the beginning.”

Daehyun who’s listening to their conversation, almost laughs at the cheesiness, but he doesn’t want to ruin their moment. From behind the bushes, he sees Yongguk getting down on one knee, and taking out the ring. Almost naturally, he pronounces, “Park Jiyoon, will you marry me?”

Jiyoon, without seeing this coming, blushes and nods meekly. She presses her lips together and when Yongguk stands up, she hugs him. Daehyun who’s seeing everything, finally decides he can’t take it anymore, gets out of his hiding place.

“Here are the pictures during your proposal,” Daehyun throws Yongguk’s phone to him, with Yongguk just catching it in time. “That was real smooth, dude. I never thought you could be so romantic,” he jokes.

Jiyoon, who had no idea Daehyun had been hiding behind the bushes, shout out almost instantly, “Yah, Jung Daehyun, you-“

Though before she gets to finish off her sentence, the young man sprints off, waving madly and shouting, “I’m sorry for interrupting! Yongguk, remember that I want to be your best man.”

Yongguk and Jiyoon laugh, before turning to face each other again. Yongguk slides the ring into her finger and she reaches up to kiss him on the cheek. Yongguk cups her face, looks into her eyes and kisses her on the lips. It’s what he had been waiting for a long, long time. He finally had the chance to do so, and he feels as if he doesn’t want to let go.

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

Jiyoon tiptoes, loops her arms around him and kisses him again. Yongguk deepens the kiss and this time for real, he’s going to hold onto her. He doesn’t want to let her go anymore. A tear escapes as Jiyoon feels his soft lips against hers, grateful that everything leads to this. It may be late to salvage the past, but it’s never too late to start over.

…

“Daehyun, remember, don’t be late.”

“For what?”

“I told you yesterday that we’re holding the interview to find you an assistant. I see that you’ve had a lot of work lately so I think it’s time for you to have someone to help you,” Jiwook frowns, not believing that his younger brother actually forgot about it. It’s the only thing he’s been reminding him since yesterday.

“Ah, right. Sorry, I’ve been busy with Yongguk’s proposal.”

“Talking about his proposal, how did it go?”

“It was smooth, I never thought he had that in him. All I thought he could do was save lives and talk with that low voice of his.”

“But look who’s getting married, maybe you should find someone.”

“I don’t think it’s time, but I’m starting to feel kind of lonely after being the third wheel all this while…”

Jiwook hits the back of his brother’s head and says, “There are a lot of girls waiting to be your girlfriend, you just have to choose. It’s easy for you because all of them are lining up, just for you.”

“Why, are you jealous, hyung?”

“Jealous? Hah, please, I have my own worries, okay.”

Daehyun proceeds to finish his work, and at 4 p.m., he makes it right in time to the meeting room, where the interview will be held. He steps inside, and sees that his brother is already there. He takes a seat next to his brother. Jiwook pushes the files containing the interviewees’ information to him and says, “Look through, and see whether someone has already caught your attention.”

Daehyun flips through, and stops at one candidate’s profile. He stares at that one, the longest, unsure on whether he’s actually imagining it or it’s really true. He reads the details of the person. He looks at the candidate’s picture for a long time until he feels as if he could see right through the paper. He spreads the file in front of him, staring intensely.

‘Maybe I should wait until I see the candidate with my own eyes.’

The interviewees come in one by one, but none catches his attention. He’s still gripping that one candidate’s file, waiting for her to come into the room.

“We have one last candidate,” Jiwook’s secretary announces. Jiwook nods, allowing the last person to enter.

Sure enough, his eyes didn’t lie. It’s the candidate he’s so curious about, that he’s been waiting for since the very beginning.

She looks exactly like Sooyoung.

Well, maybe saying she looks exactly like Sooyoung is a bit exaggerating, but he likes to believe that when he sees the girl with his own eyes. It’s like he’s seeing a copy of his late girlfriend. Strangely enough, his heart starts to beat fast when they make eye contact. As if he’s staring into Sooyoung’s eyes, but the ‘Sooyoung’ in front of him doesn’t know him. He doesn’t know whether it’s because she looks like Sooyoung, or because of something else, but he feels his cheeks start to get hot.

The candidate smiles slightly, which makes Daehyun feels as if his heart is going to burst through his ribcage. He doesn’t hear what the interviewee is saying; all he caught was her name: Nam Eunjoo. Without even thinking, he stands up, announcing, “Congratulations on becoming my assistant.” He gathers up the files, put them to one side and steps out of the room.

Jiwook, amused by his brother’s weird ways, says to the confused candidate, “Looks like my brother made up his mind already, welcome to our company.”

…

Daehyun looks up to the night sky, enjoying the view of stars scattered across the sky. He leans against the balcony, sipping the canned drink in his hand and taking in the air. The night is chilly, and even though he’s wearing his hoodie, he still feels chilly. He looks below, remembering everything about his vivid dream.

He remembers that the last ‘call’ he received was from Sooyoung, telling him to not do it. But he slipped anyway, and the next thing he knew was waking up in the hospital. Everything was actually a dream; his brother put him into a coma just because he was jealous of everything Daehyun had.

Daehyun sighs; he still thinks everything is so surreal. He feels as if he should still be thankful to Hyunshik, no matter how much his brother hates him. If Hyunshik didn’t meddle in their lives, he probably wouldn’t have met Yongguk, and ultimately he wouldn’t have known who Jiyoon is.

Maybe it’s a sign that he should start over, but at the same time he should still remember his late girlfriend. Maybe it’s a crazy coincidence, but it’s still amazing how the last candidate looks like Sooyoung.

He’s not meant to be with Sooyoung, and he’s not meant to be with Jiyoon.

If Jiyoon’s happy, then why shouldn’t he be? He has grown closer to Yongguk for the past few months, and of course he wants to see them happy together. He smiles at the thought of Yongguk-Jiyoon babies, and laughs when he realizes it’s ridiculous for him to think about it.

After everything, he’s really grateful towards Sooyoung. She may not be here physically anymore, but to him, she’s always there.

“Thank you for everything, Kim Sooyoung. Thank you for bringing all of us together and thank you for making me realize that money is not everything. Thank you for letting me love you and be by your side. Although I’m not always the best boyfriend, I hope that you’re happy. Last but not least, thank you for saving me.”

In the distance, he can see a star shining brightly, standing out from the rest.

“I will always love you, Kim Sooyoung.”

FINALLY! The last chapter is here. I just want to say thank you to every single one of you who commented, upvoted and subscribed along the way. I really, really, really hope that you guys enjoyed reading this story as much as I enjoyed writing it. I'm sorry if the story doesn't really meet your expectations, or you're bothered by my style of writing as I'm just writing as a hobby. I still can't believe I managed to finish writing this story; it definitely took a long time but I'm still glad I was able to finish it. Also, I'm sorry for my slow updates. This story, has finally come to an end! Thank you for the wonderful journey :)