The day of the wedding was finally here. Everyone got up with a sense of dread instead of joy. Will Lia be coming to the wedding? Or will she boycott it? What about the triplets? What will happen to them?

Dae Sung walked into Ji Yong’s hotel room in the morning to find him nervously pacing about in his suit. “Hyung, are you okay?” he asked his leader softly.

Ji Yong turned to him, a panic look clear on his face. “What am I doing, Dae Sung? I’ll be getting married to Soo-Jin in two hours and yet Lia is taking care of our kids herself! I shouldn’t be doing this. This is wrong!”

Dae Sung hurried to his side. “Hyung, it’s okay,” he said.

“What if Lia doesn’t show up?”

“Can you really blame her?”

He shook his head slowly. “No. But, I want her to come. It wouldn’t be right without her there. She’s my best friend.”

“Do you love her?”

“Lia? Of course.”

“No, I meant Soo-Jin.”

“Oh.” He paused. “Of course I love her or else I wouldn’t be marrying her, right? But . . .” He looked away. “I still love Lia, I guess. I always will. I will always love her more than I love Soo-Jin.”

“But you’re marrying Soo-Jin, not Lia,” Dae Sung replied patiently. “Look, she’ll be there, all right? There is no way she’s missing it.”

He sighed, sitting down on his bed. “Ugh,” he groaned. “Should I have gone after her? Or was I right to let Maknae go after her instead? Should I have told her right there and then that I want to be with her when we found out I’m the father?” He looked at the crib, where they had moved it to his room from Seung Ri. The triplets were outside playing with Tae Yang and Seung Ri.

Dae Sung could only shrug. “I don’t know,” he replied helplessly. “I’m sorry I’m not much help. How did Soo-Jin react? What did you say when she came home yesterday?”

“She was shocked when I told her about it, of course,” Ji Yong replied, shrugging, “but she told me whatever I decide to do with them, it’s my choice.” He looked up. “I’m thinking of keeping them. They’re my kids. I’m not going to give them away for adoption. How’s the maknae?”

“He’s . . .” Dae Sung tried to think of the proper word. “. . . in a bad shape but I guess he’ll survive.”

“Hyung?”

He winced. “He’s in a state. I think he came home drunk.” He shook his head. “I guess Lia leaving hit him hard.”

“It hit all of us hard,” Ji Yong whispered in a hoarse voice. He stood up from where he was sitting. “The wedding must go on,” he said as if he’d decided. “It had to, since the moment when I proposed to Soo-Jin.”

Knock, knock.

They looked up to see Seung Ri by the door. “Can I talk to you?” he asked.

Dae Sung left the room, leaving them to talk alone. Seung Ri sat down on the bed. “Do you still love Lia?” he asked, not bothering to beat around the bush. “Why are you still going to marry Soo-Jin?”

“I . . .”

“Why did you propose to Soo-Jin if it’s Lia that you love?” he went on. “Why didn’t you go after her?”

“I did,” Ji Yong argued back. “I went after her not too long after you. But I saw her talking to you at the park yesterday. I watched as she got in the car with Mir.”

“She’s really something, isn’t she?” Seung Ri asked weakly. “She’s so special to you and me. How did it get like this . . .?”

Ji Yong studied him. He had especially dark rings under his eyes. He looked so low, so sad and depressed. He knew the maknae didn’t get any sleep the night before. “Maknae, I . . .” He hesitated, not sure what to say to make him feel better.

But Seung Ri shook his head. “I lost Lia the moment hyung read that you are the father,” he said bitterly. “If I were you, I’d go after her. I’m sure Soo-Jin would understand.” He stood up and left him.

Ji Yong was feeling hopeless. What was he supposed to have done?

On the other side of the city, Lia woke up and rolled to her sides. She smiled softly when she saw a pair of soft, brown and warm eyes staring right into hers. “Morning,” she said in a quiet voice.

Mir smiled at her. “Morning.” He her cheeks softly. “Did you sleep well?”

She sighed. “I probably should say no, but yeah, I did,” she admitted as she remembered how she was lonely last night that Mir offered to sleep with her to comfort her. “Thanks,” she added, “for all that you’ve done for me. I don’t know what I would have done.”

He shrugged. “You’re one of my friends,” he simply replied. “I’d do anything to make you happy. By the way, you have less than two hours to prepare for the wedding.”

Lia sat up and she felt Mir sitting up next to her. “I don’t know if I should go today.”

“Don’t be stupid; of course you have to go,” Mir said, wrapping his arms around her waist. He shook his head, letting his messy red hair fall to his face.

She turned to him and blushed. “Omo, I’m so sorry,” she said, covering her face.

“What is it?” Mir frowned in confusion. He looked down and saw the problem. “Oh.” He was shirtless. He chuckled and pried her hands away from her face. “Don’t tell me you have never seen Big Bang shirtless before,” he . “Gah, open your eyes!”

She blushed deeper. “Shut up,” she whined and whacked him on the shoulder. But she did open her eyes. When she thought Mir wasn’t looking, she eyed his honey abs.

He smirked. “Like what you see?”

She covered her eyes again, flopping down on the bed. “Yah, Mir Oppa you ert!” she cried out.

He burst out laughing. “You are so cute!” he remarked, pinching her cheeks. She didn’t move. “But seriously you have to get up.”

She groaned. “Can I not go?” She sat up back up and pouted.

But Mir just shook his head. “No. MBLAQ is invited so we’re all going. So you have to come too,” he replied. He pointed to the toilet. “Go, bathe.” He paused. “You did pack the dress you were going to wear for the wedding, right?”

She nodded. “Don’t worry,” she muttered, getting out of bed. She grabbed her towel and headed for the toilet as Mir began to make the bed, shaking his head in amusement.

When she came out, she wearing a white tube dress and her hair was loose. Mir was in his suit, all ready to go. He looked at Lia and his eyes grew wide, blushing furiously. “Ready to go?” he mumbled to his feet.

She had to giggle as she took her handbag and slipped her white heels on. “Sure.”

They walked out of the room into the living room where the rest of MBLAQ were ready to go to the wedding reception.

“Wow Lia, you look really amazing today,” Thunder remarked, nodding appreciatively at her outfit.

“I see Mir likes it too,” G.O teased.

Mir blushed.

“We should go. The traffic here in LA can get kind of busy,” Seungho said and they all grabbed their things and left the hotel room.

As everyone walked out of the hotel room, Seungho pulled Mir back behind. “You didn’t do anything to her last night, did you, Mir?” he asked warily.

Mir was shocked that he assumed it. “No! Hyung, I would never,” he protested.

“Mir, we all know you’ve got a crush on Lia.”

“It’s hard not to,” he muttered. But he looked up to his hyung. “I didn’t do anything to her, I swear. All I did was just hugged her and kissed her on the forehead and cheek. I didn’t do anything else.”

Seungho nodded. “Just checking,” he said. He pushed him out of the door. “Let’s go.”

Mir sighed, shaking his head. Yes, so what if he has a crush on Lia? But he knew it’ll fade away. Lia was meant to be with Ji Yong, not him. He followed Seungho out, shaking his head.

Seung Ri was walking around the area before the wedding. The girls of 2NE1 were in a room with Soo-Jin, helping her get ready for the wedding. Ji Yong was in his own room at the hotel, pacing back and forth nervously. Tae Yang was with him, trying to calm him down. Dae Sung and TOP were stuck with the baby-sitting duties so Seung Ri was free to roam the area. He glanced out at the hall.

A lot of people were already there. He saw the boys of BEAST already there. But MBLAQ and Lia were not to be seen just yet.

Will she come?

He was nervous. He wanted her to come. He had some things he wanted to tell her. He felt his phone vibrate in his pocket and saw he received a new message.

Has she come yet?

No, he typed back. He looked around the place, craning his neck. Where was she?

A few minutes later his phone buzzed with the new message: Make sure you get a chance to talk to her before the wedding ceremony starts.

He was about to reply when he saw that MBLAQ had entered with Lia looking so damn beautiful in the dress — but she was in Mir’s arms. He felt a pang of jealousy as he made his way to her. “Lia, can we talk?”

But Mir stood in front of her. “She can talk to you after the ceremony,” he replied.

Seung Ri was starting to get irritated with him. “You don’t make the decisions for her,” he snapped back. He looked pleadingly at her. “Please, it’s important.”

She hesitated but nodded. She turned to Mir. “I’ll be fine,” she said softly. She followed him out of the hall. “What is it?”

It was his turn to hesitate. “Look, Lia, I love you. I really do,” he said in a rush, “but they’re not my kids. I can’t take the role of the dad. It’s just not right, you know?”

She nodded, trying to take it all in. “What are you saying?”

He shrugged. “I know he’s getting married today, but face it, Lia,” he said softly. “You still love him. No matter what happens, it is going to be him who you turn to; he’s going to be the one who knows you better than anyone else, your best friend. And no matter what, you are always going to be in love with him.” He took a deep breath. “What I’m trying to say is that, I think you should object to his marrying Soo-Jin and marry him today.”

Lia was shocked. She didn’t know what to say. Was he letting her go? She looked up to him and found the answers in his eyes. “I’m so sorry,” she said.

He kissed her, probably for the last time. “I love you, but I understand. Lia, you’re not the One for me. You belong with Ji Yong Hyung. You’ve always had ever since you first met.” He smiled sadly at her.

Suddenly Mir came up to them. “Lia, it’s time,” he said, tugging on her hand.

She let herself being pulled but not before turning back to Seung Ri and giving him a sad smile.

“Goodbye, Lia,” Seung Ri murmured as he watched her go. “But I’m finally letting you go.” He took his cell phone out and sent a new message: I’ve told her. I let her go.

The wedding was happening. Everyone watched as Soo-Jin walked down the aisle to Ji Yong, who looked dashingly handsome. Lia’s heart ached as she replayed Seung Ri’s words in her mind.

“I think you should object to his marrying Soo-Jin and marry him today.”

She shook her head and made her mind focus back on the wedding. She realized they had already exchanged vows.

“Do you, Kwon Ji Yong, take Park Soo-Jin to be your wife, to take good care of her, to love her and to cherish the many years to come with her?”

“I do,” he said, loud and clear.

“Do you, Park Soo-Jin, take Kwon Ji Yong to be your husband, to love him, to be patient with him and to support him no matter what?” the priest asked Soo-Jin.

Lia held her breath like everyone else in the room, waiting for Soo-Jin to say “I do” and then for them to kiss so that they would be happily married at last. Soo-Jin and Ji Yong. Not Lia and Ji Yong.

“No . . . I’m sorry, but I don’t.”