POV: Female Lead (Jung Ha-neul)
The wind carried a faint chill as Ha-neul sat beside Min-jae, her fingers laced with his.
She knew this wasn't over.
Min-jae's pain wouldn't disappear overnight.
But the fact that he was still here, still holding her hand despite everything, meant more than words could express.
And then—he spoke.
"I have a proposal," Min-jae said, his voice steady but unreadable.
Ha-neul turned to him, heart hammering.
"What kind of proposal?"
Min-jae looked straight into her eyes.
"Marry me."
---
A Love That Defies the Past
Ha-neul's breath caught.
"What?"
"I know this isn't the most romantic way to do it," Min-jae admitted, "but listen to me."
He took a deep breath.
"I spent so many days pushing you away, thinking space would solve this. But it didn't. It just made me realize something."
Ha-neul swallowed hard. "What?"
Min-jae's grip tightened.
"That I'd rather suffer through the pain with you than be at peace without you."
Her vision blurred with unshed tears.
This was Min-jae.
Not the charming CEO, not the ruthless businessman, not the broken boy carrying years of grief.
Just Min-jae.
The man who loved her enough to fight his demons instead of running from them.
The man she loved enough to stand by, no matter how difficult the road ahead.
A slow smile spread across her lips.
"Ask me properly," she whispered.
Min-jae let out a soft chuckle before kneeling on one knee.
There was no ring.
No grand setting.
Just him, on the cold ground, staring up at her like she was the only thing keeping him alive.
"Yoo Ha-neul," he said. "Will you marry me?"
A tear slipped down her cheek.
"Yes," she breathed.
And as Min-jae pulled her into his arms, she realized something—
Love wasn't about avoiding pain.
It was about choosing each other, despite it.
---
A Father's Wrath
But happiness was short-lived.
The moment Ha-neul returned home, she found her father waiting.
And he did not look pleased.
"Are you out of your mind?" he snapped, slamming his glass onto the table.
Ha-neul stood her ground. "Appa—"
"Don't call me that when you've clearly chosen a stranger over your own blood!"
She clenched her fists. "Min-jae is not a stranger."
"He's the son of the woman I—" He stopped, gritting his teeth.
Ha-neul's heart pounded. "The woman you what?"
Her father exhaled sharply, looking away.
"That woman was going to ruin everything," he muttered. "If I hadn't delayed the surgery, someone else would have."
Ha-neul's stomach turned.
"You… you knew she wouldn't make it?"
A long silence.
Then—
Her father looked at her, completely unrepentant.
"Yes."
A sharp gasp left her lips.
It wasn't an accident.
It wasn't just a mistake.
Her father chose to let Min-jae's mother die.
Her hands trembled.
How could she defend him now?
How could she ever make Min-jae forgive this?
For the first time in her life, Ha-neul saw her father not as the man who raised her—
But as the villain in someone else's story.
---