Zal stopped kissing her the second his phone rang. The guests were still applauding at their engagement ceremony. He looked at the screen, and his face went pale. “Men says she’s dying,” he said.
“I have to go. ”
He left her on the stage. Just like that. Ying stood in her white dress, the ring still on her finger.
Five years of her life. Five years of loving him, helping him build a company from nothing, forgiving every time he dropped everything for Men. This time she didn’t cry. She took off the ring, walked out of the venue, and went home.
Grandma was waiting in the living room. “You were right, Grandma,” Ying said. “That man is not worth my love. I accept marrying Gu.
”
Grandma studied her for a long moment. “Gu is the child I saw grow up. Your families are close, and your social positions match. But I need to be sure you are not making this choice out of anger.
”
Ying lowered her eyes. “I have only ever seen him as a brother from the neighborhood. But from tonight, that changes. I don’t want to hear about Anzial anymore.
”
Gu had waited years to hear those words. He came home as soon as his grandmother called. Before the wedding, Ying still had to untangle herself from the company she had built beside Zal. She had poured months into the resort project.
Then, without warning, Zal gave it to Men. “You’re too cold,” Ying told him. “I dedicated days and nights to that project. And you just handed it to her.
”
Men spoke from behind him, smug. “Brother Zal knows I need training. Don’t be so upset. ”
Zal didn’t argue.
“She’s new. It’s just a project. Don’t be difficult. ”
Ying looked at him and understood that no matter what she did, she would never be the person he chose.
She handed in her resignation the same day. She didn’t have time to fall apart. The next morning, she fainted at the company gate. When she woke, Gu was sitting beside her hospital bed.
“You still don’t take care of yourself,” he said softly, pressing a cup of water into her hands. “Your fever just broke. You need to eat. ”
“Thank you, Gu.
”
“You don’t have to thank me. You only have to let me take care of you. ”
Ying looked at him. He had always been there, quiet, steady, waiting.
She had never let herself see him clearly. Now she did. A few days later, Men appeared. Ying was having coffee when Men sat down across from her, smiling.
“Brother Zal will never marry you, you know. While you were gone, we already did everything you never dared to do. He only kept you around because no one else was available. ”
Ying stirred her coffee.
“Then he’s yours. I’m not fighting. ”
Men’s smile flickered. “I’m just warning you.
Don’t waste time buying rings. Brother Zal has no room for you in his heart. ”
“Anzial and I are over,” Ying said. “The only one who doesn’t understand that is you.
”
The engagement banquet with Gu was held in a ballroom full of family friends. Gu stepped forward and held up a blue diamond necklace. “Ying, thank you for being willing to look at me again. Thank you for choosing me.
” He paused. “My princess, will you marry me? ”
Ying looked at his face. The patient devotion in his eyes felt so different from the pain she had carried for years.
“Yes,” she said. The room filled with applause. Then the doors burst open. Zal stood there, out of breath, with Men behind him.
He crossed the floor, grabbed Ying’s wrist, and pulled her away from Gu. “This is an actor you hired, isn’t it? ” he said. “You can’t marry another man.
Stop this act and come home with me. ”
Gu pulled Ying behind him. Then he punched Zal in the face. “With what right do you touch her?
”
Zal staggered back. “She is my girlfriend. ”
Ying’s voice was cold and clear. “Your girlfriend?
You left me alone at our proposal because she called. You handed the work of my life to the woman who mocked me. Every single time you had to choose, I was the one you abandoned. I wasted five years on you, Anzial.
I will not waste another second. ”
She turned to the security guards. “Throw them out. ”
Zal kept shouting as they dragged him away.
“Ying, you’re just angry! I’ll apologize! Don’t do this! ”
Men screamed too.
“She’s lying! She knows brother Zal loves me! ”
The doors closed. The music started again.
Gu took Ying’s hand, and she didn’t pull away. But Zal didn’t give up. He waited outside her apartment at night. He called from new numbers.
He stood in the rain and shouted her name. “Ying, if you don’t come down, I’ll stay here until you see me! ”
She opened the window just enough to answer. “Do what you want.
It changes nothing. ”
Grandma watched her from the doorway. “You gave that man everything, and he threw it away again and again. Some people are not worth the tears we spend on them.
I’m glad you finally see it. ”
“I do, Grandma. I already found someone worth loving. ”
One afternoon, Zal blocked her on the street.
“Ying, listen,” he said, holding up a small metal bottle cap. “Do you remember this? I used it to confess to you. It brought me luck.
I’m going to use it again, to win you back. ”
Ying looked at the thing in his hand. It had once meant the world to her. “I remember,” she said.
“I was stupid enough to believe you back then. You wore that trust out, Anzial. Don’t hold it in front of me now. ”
She turned and walked away.
Behind her, the bottle cap fell into the gutter and stayed there. Zal’s company started falling apart soon after. Contracts were canceled. Partners stopped answering.
His assistant told him, “It’s Gu. He says anyone who hurt Y King isn’t welcome in his world. ”
But Men was the real danger. She showed up at Ying’s house at night, soaked from the rain.
She fell to her knees on the doorstep. “I know I ruined your relationship with brother Zal,” she said, crying. “I did it on purpose. Because I love him.
Please don’t take him away from me. ”
Ying tried to pull her up. “Get up. I’m engaged to Gu.
There is nothing between me and Anzial anymore. ”
Men’s face twisted. “You’re lying. As long as you are alive, he will never look at me.
Why should you get to be happy? I want you to die. ”
Before Ying could move, something pricked her arm. The world blurred.
Her knees collapsed. When she woke, her hands were bound. She was in a small room. Men sat on the floor beside a bed, stroking the hair of a sleeping Zal.
“Don’t wake him,” Men whispered. “When he opens his eyes, he is going to marry me. ”
Ying looked at Zal. His chest was still.
“You drugged him. ”
Men smiled. “Yes. And now you’re here too.
Since we are both going to be his wives, maybe we should have a joint wedding. We can sincerely wish each other happiness. ”
Ying forced herself to stay calm. “Men, if I die, the police will catch you.
You’ll never have a wedding. ”
Men’s smile disappeared. “Then I will die happy. Without you, brother Zal will only have me.
He used to only see me. You stole him from me. I hate you. ”
She pulled a knife.
“Why do you deserve to live? I want you to die. ”
The door burst open. Gu was there, bloodied from forcing his way in.
“Men! Put the knife down! ”
Men lunged at Ying. Gu threw himself in front of her and took the blade.
Gu fell. Men stood frozen, staring at the blood on her hands. Security and police poured into the room. Men was pulled away, still screaming and laughing.
Gu was rushed to the hospital. The doctor said the knife had missed his heart by inches. Anzial was found unconscious on the same bed, drugged and barely breathing. His condition became critical before they got him into surgery.
Ying stayed by Gu’s side until he opened his eyes. He looked at her and smiled weakly. “Don’t cry. ”
She realized she was crying.
“You could have died. ”
“Better me than you. ”
A few days later, someone brought a letter from Anzial. “He says he doesn’t have the face to see you.
He left money in his account. The rest of the company is transferred to you as compensation. ”
Ying didn’t touch the envelope. “Sell the company,” she said.
“Donate the money. I don’t want anything from him. ”
Gu watched her from the hospital bed. “Feelings are the one thing that cannot be forced,” he said.
“I’m just glad you chose me. ”
Grandma walked in with a thermos of soup and looked at them. “Enough sweetness,” she said. “When are you two going to register your marriage?
”
Gu looked at Ying. “I follow Ying. ”
Ying looked at Gu. “I follow you.
”
“Then go now,” Grandma said. “It’s almost dawn. No more waiting.
”
They went.
