Liu, having finished all his preparations to leave for the airport, stood at the kitchen counter. He intended to share one last cup of coffee with Ihyeon.

As his fingertips guided the hot water over the filter in the dripper, the aroma of coffee spread throughout the studio.

Their home in Seoul was equipped with a fairly serious espresso machine. When the mood struck him, he would often brew coffee quite deliberately, starting by grinding the beans with a manual grinder. And yet even in Paris, he had never bothered to buy so much as a capsule machine, always preparing his coffee by hand pour-over.

He placed the filter paper in the dripper, wet it with hot water, then added the finely ground beans. He brewed the coffee by slowly pouring the hot water—boiled in a dedicated pitcher rather than an electric kettle. Drip coffee made this way had a charm entirely its own, quite apart from espresso.

He also liked the fact that he could make something for Ihyeon using only his own hands, from start to finish, without any machine between them.

"Kun, the Van Gogh bear."

"Huh?"

"The teddy bear from the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam."

"Oh, right."

"You packed it, didn't you? Juhan hyung kept saying it was a special request."

Liu, who had just finished pouring the first round of water over the dripper, glanced back over his shoulder. Ihyeon stood stock-still in the middle of the studio, wearing Liu's sweatshirt over his jeans, hands on his hips. He had been pacing around anxiously like that for an hour. It was unlike him.

Liu deliberately kept his tone relaxed.

"It's already in the carry-on."

"Are you sure? Should I open it up and check again?"

"Ihyeon-ah."

Ihyeon, who had been about to walk toward the carry-on propped by the front door, stopped and turned. Liu held up two mugs at eye level.

"Coffee's ready. Come sit for a bit."

"But... Kun forgot the tablet last time too."

"That was once. And there was no problem because you sent it to me via FedEx."

"Now that you mention it, did you pack the tablet? You were looking at it this morning."

Ihyeon moved to rummage through Liu's Boston bag resting on top of the carry-on.

"Seo Ihyeon."

"......"

Liu, who had already gone to sit at the table, turned his left wrist to check the time. The car to the airport was scheduled to arrive in fifteen minutes.

"Come here and spend a little more time with me."

Though his face was still reluctant, Ihyeon withdrew the hand that had been reaching for the bag's zipper and approached the table. Liu placed Ihyeon's mug not across from him but at his own side—a signal to sit there. Ihyeon let out a small laugh, circled the table, and sat down next to him.

Liu gripped the seat of Ihyeon's chair and dragged it close with a slight grating sound, then turned his whole body toward him. He carefully brushed back Ihyeon's messy bangs and pressed his palm to his forehead.

"The fever still hasn't gone down."

Ihyeon, who had been savoring the warmth and aroma with the mug cupped in both hands, chuckled softly.

"How much could it drop in ten minutes?"

Ten minutes earlier, Liu had stopped Ihyeon, placed his palm on his head, and said the exact same thing. And ten minutes before that, and ten minutes before that.

Since transferring trains in Dijon the day before, Ihyeon had been showing mild flu-like symptoms. A car had been waiting at Lyon Station to take them to Room 601. But Liu had headed straight for the clinic with Ihyeon instead.

It just feels like a mild cold.

Ihyeon had been reluctant to go.

It could be a symptom related to the manifestation.

I'd rather just go home and rest...

We promised that if anything felt even slightly off, we'd see a doctor immediately.

The director probably isn't seeing patients today.

That's exactly why we pay for the expensive package—so they'll see you when something like this happens. Don't worry about that.

In the car, Liu had been plagued by anxiety the entire time. He couldn't even lean his head comfortably against the headrest. Ihyeon, who had slept soundly on the train, leaned against the window again—perhaps from the fever—and drifted off. Liu moved to the middle seat and carefully supported Ihyeon's head, letting him rest it on his shoulder. He prayed that this fever had nothing to do with the manifestation, that nothing was wrong.

Fortunately, the attending physician diagnosed it as a common cold.

Only then could Liu finally relax his shoulders, let out a long breath, and manage an awkward smile.

"You were right. I'm sorry for dragging you all the way out here when you have a fever."

That was what Liu had said in the backseat of the car as they headed to Room 601. Ihyeon, taking his hand, rested his head on his shoulder and replied,

"As long as Kun is relieved, that's all that matters."

His voice trailed off listlessly, and he soon drifted back to sleep.

Although his fever had risen slightly overnight, his condition was significantly better by morning. It was a low-grade fever, hovering between 37.5 and 38 degrees Celsius. Even so, Ihyeon had skipped his morning work to stay with Liu. It was extremely rare for him to take time off for something this mild—even immediately after returning from a forty-day trip.

"I'm glad you're better than yesterday."

"This is just a slight fever. People will tease us for being overprotective."

"Let them tease. It's the truth."

At Liu's candid admission, Ihyeon chuckled faintly, staring down into his mug. Unlike Liu, who had turned his entire body toward him, Ihyeon hadn't looked over even once.

"Seo Ihyeon, are you not going to look at me?"

"..."

"I wanted to see your face at least one more time before I go."

Only then did Ihyeon hesitate and turn his head. Though he was much better now, his face was still blotchy from suffering through a fever all night. Liu gently brushed his thumb across the cheek reddened by the heat. Despite his worry, looking at him kept making Liu smile.

"Why are you smiling like that?"

That smile clearly displeased his lover.

"How am I smiling?"

"It's the smile you make when you're having sneaky thoughts."

"That's right. I was having some sneaky thoughts."

"You're thinking that, looking at me in this state?"

Ihyeon sounded incredulous. Liu leaned his upper body further toward him and pressed his entire palm against his cheek.

"Your eyes and the tip of your nose are all red... you look exactly like you do after I've really worn you out."

"......"

At the close distance, Ihyeon's gaze wavered. His pressed lips gave away his embarrassment. Liu leaned in even closer on purpose.

"So? What do you think you look like right now?"

"A mess."

"You're all flushed and dazed... honestly, it's even sexier than usual."

"You're unbelievable."

Ihyeon let out a laugh and pushed at Liu's chest. Liu only chuckled, catching his hand.

"Even that slightly stuffy voice—kind of nasal—is so cute I could die."

Then he bit the tip of Ihyeon's fingernail, gently, without causing pain.

"Whose boyfriend is so cute and lovely even when he's sick? Huh?"

"That's because Kun loves me."

Wrapping his hands back around the mug after quietly reclaiming it, Ihyeon spoke quietly, almost to himself—as if embarrassed to put Liu's love into words.

Having had his hand taken back, Liu rested his elbow on the table, propped his chin up, and watched Ihyeon drink his coffee, tilting his head slightly.

"I'm glad you know."

"......"

"That I love you that much."

Ihyeon laughed briefly, as if resigned to Liu's persistence, but soon gazed at him with a warm and earnest expression.

"How could I not know?"

And he added,

"You convey it every day, every moment, with your whole being."

"......"

"No matter how dull I am—how could I possibly not know?"

Liu pressed his forehead against the curve of Ihyeon's shoulder. Then, rubbing his lips along the line of his neck, he moved up toward his ear. He could feel Ihyeon's shoulders tense. It was a sexual tension. Nuzzling his nose against the earlobe where a familiar, tender scent lingered, he lightly caught the soft lobe between his lips.

"Ha…."

A sweet sigh escaped Ihyeon. His trembling eyelashes were briefly visible.

"Is it because you're in pain? Your scent is stronger than usual."

"Do I smell?"

A worried face turned toward him. When Ihyeon turned his head, his nose was close enough to brush against Liu's cheek. Looking down at his lips, Liu enveloped the back of his neck with his palm.

"Don't be silly. It's not a smell—it's a fragrance."

Then, without another moment's hesitation, he turned his head and pressed his lips to Ihyeon's. He pressed them together gently—lips warm with the scent of coffee—and savored the fullness as he moved them ever so slightly. Smack... smack. He repeatedly parted and then held their lips together amid soft, ticklish sounds. Then Liu's tongue slipped between Ihyeon's lips. As it pressed deeper, the inside of his mouth—dried by the fever—felt so hot it seemed ready to melt.

"Mmm..."

Liu was so completely absorbed in the kiss that he momentarily forgot Ihyeon was sick. That flushed heat, more intense than usual, felt wonderfully intoxicating, and he didn't want to leave it. He relentlessly chased after Ihyeon's tongue as it retreated and shrank away, pushing his own beneath it. Seizing the moment when Ihyeon's tongue was inevitably pushed up over his own, Liu sucked it into his mouth.

"H, haa…."

Ihyeon moaned from deep in his throat, pleading, as his tongue was drawn in.

As intense as the desire he felt for Ihyeon in that moment, Liu gripped his shoulders and pulled him closer—hard enough that his fingernails went pale and the veins on the back of his hand beneath his watch stood out blue. He kept up the pressure, kneading and coaxing Ihyeon's hot tongue between his own and the roof of his mouth, until finally he sucked it in so deeply it went numb. It was a kiss perhaps a little too much for someone who was sick.

"Hhh, hhh… uh-hmm."

Just as Ihyeon's breathing grew ragged, Liu eased the pressure. Still holding him close, watching him, he continued with light kisses until the gasping had settled completely.

Then, pressing their foreheads together, he spoke in a voice laced with a hint of apology.

"Was that a little much?"

"A little."

"Why? Were you worried your pheromones might leak out?"

"......"

Ihyeon couldn't answer.

His lips, dry moments before from the deep kiss, were now moist. Pressing the back of his hand against his mouth, Ihyeon glared at Liu with resentment.

Liu felt the same slight jolt. He wanted to deliberately release his pheromones to provoke Ihyeon. But this was a situation he couldn't take responsibility for right now. If he pushed things any further, he felt he would genuinely earn Ihyeon's hatred this time.

Glancing sideways at Ihyeon drinking his coffee, Liu brought his own mug to his lips.

"I'm sorry. I can't help it when you're wearing my clothes."

"Isn't that a strange fixation?"

"A fixation? Would you call it love?"

"How is that love?"

"I like seeing you in my clothes, I like you coming here to stay when I'm away, and I like that you use my things so freely."

"......"

"Yours, mine. It feels like those boundaries are dissolving."

Ihyeon looked at Liu with an expression of deep emotion, clearly regretting having dismissed it so lightly. Liu set his mug down, leaned in close, and whispered against his ear:

"Just like when we have sex."

Drrrk. At that moment, Liu's phone on the far side of the table buzzed briefly. Liu stretched his arm out—nearly collapsing across the table—to grab it. It was a message from the driver announcing his arrival. Having missed the moment to chide Liu, Ihyeon simply watched him.

"I should get going now."

Liu said this in a voice tinged with reluctance and stood up from his chair. Suddenly, Ihyeon grabbed the front of his shirt. It was an uncharacteristically urgent movement.

"......"

When Liu looked down, Ihyeon himself seemed startled and flustered by his own action. He let go of the shirt, hesitated, then stood up from his seat.

"I'll walk you out."

"You're not feeling well—why don't you just see me off at the entrance?"

"It's not that bad. I'm just a little groggy."

Ihyeon slipped a light coat over his sweatshirt, grabbed his keys, and followed him out.

In the elevator descending to the first floor, Liu held tightly onto Ihyeon's shoulder. As he always did when they parted, Ihyeon wrapped both arms around Liu's waist and was generous with his affection—more so than usual.

"I'm worried about you being alone when you're sick."

"You know me. I take good care of myself."

"That's true. There's nothing to worry about with you, Seo Ihyeon. I know there's nothing to worry about... but I'm still worried, you know?"

"If I feel even a little bit worse, I promise I'll call you right away. Okay?"

It was exactly the kind of answer one would expect from Seo Ihyeon. Only then did Liu relax and manage a smile.

The afternoon in Paris, transitioning from late autumn to early winter, was quite chilly. It wasn't cold enough yet to make you hunch your shoulders, but Liu was concerned.

While the driver loaded the luggage into the trunk, the two exchanged their final farewells. Liu carefully buttoned Ihyeon's coat up to his neck and cupped his face with both hands.

"Don't overdo it, alright?"

He gave a quick kiss to the lips that nodded in agreement, then pulled him into a tight embrace. The words I don't want to leave rose to the tip of his tongue, but knowing they would only make his lover suffer more, he swallowed them down.

"We'll meet again in three weeks. It'll be fun catching up with Morae and Yeehan after so long. I'm looking forward to it."

A nod.

"Three weeks will fly by."

A nod.

It was impossible to tell whether Liu was saying those words to soothe Ihyeon or to hypnotize himself. Though they would soon spend countless hours together again, this parting felt unusually difficult. They had been inseparable every day for forty days. It wasn't easy to let go. Even the Parisians, who generally paid little attention to others, glanced at the pair as they passed. That's how long the hug lasted.

"Sir, you need to leave now."

The driver, who had loaded all the luggage and was waiting, urged him on carefully. Liu loosened his arms but couldn't pull them completely away from Ihyeon's body.

"Hurry and go inside."

Again, Ihyeon responded only with a nod.

Liu joked, pointing his fingers upward toward Room 601.

"Call me when you get home. I'll worry otherwise."

Fortunately, Ihyeon managed a smile.

The driver approached and opened the rear door—a silent pressure to let go and get in. Liu got into the vehicle while still holding Ihyeon's hand. The moment those fingertips finally slipped free, he felt as if his own heart had dropped.

Thud. The driver shut the door, splitting them apart. Liu rolled down the tinted window.

"Hurry up and go inside. You look pale."

Ihyeon, with both hands shoved into the pockets of his overcoat, nodded with a face that was neither crying nor smiling. Liu's face, trying hard to smile for him, was no different.

"Shall I depart, sir?"

Liu reluctantly nodded at the driver.

He waved, trying his best to smile as brightly as possible. Ihyeon took one hand out of his pocket and waved back.

Ihyeon gradually receded in the side mirror. Liu couldn't tear his eyes away. Ihyeon was still standing there facing him, unable to take a single step.

"This is inhuman."

Liu muttered, dragging a hand roughly over his face. He was shaking his head without realizing it—and still couldn't look away from the mirror.

The limousine had moved about a block from Room 601. Liu, staring intently at the mirror, furrowed his brow and leaned forward. Ihyeon in the mirror had slowly begun to move his legs. Then, picking up speed, he started running after the car.

It wasn't a full sprint. His steps were clumsy—as if he were chasing after something lost, unable to do anything else—far too slow to catch a moving vehicle. He looked like a small child separated from the person who kept him safe, lost in an unfamiliar place and utterly at a loss.

"Stop—stop the car!"

Liu urgently shouted, tapping the back of the passenger seat.

As soon as the car stopped, he leaped out. He didn't even have the presence of mind to close the door. He ran back at full speed along the road the car had just taken, toward Ihyeon. It was the first time since becoming an adult that he had run like this anywhere outside of a treadmill.

As Ihyeon's face came closer, it looked like he was crying. Liu, nearly losing his mind, sped up until the soles of his feet were burning. The moment he was within reach, he pulled Ihyeon into his arms. Sob, sob. Ihyeon was weeping. Liu gasped for breath and held on tighter.

"It's okay, Ihyeon-ah. It's okay...."

He didn't ask why he was crying, why he had followed, why he was doing things he'd never done before. He simply held him, lowered his head, pressed his lips against his ear, and tried to soothe him with his body, his scent, and his voice.

"Can't you... stay a little longer before you go?"

His trembling voice barely managed to push the words through his sobs.

Liu squeezed his eyes shut.

"Tomorrow... no, even the next flight... that would be fine."

"Ihyeon-ah."

Ihyeon's hands gripped the back of Liu's jacket tightly.

"Don't go... I'm scared."

He couldn't believe he had made Ihyeon say those words to him again.

· · · · ·

Liu sat on the edge of the bed and looked down at Ihyeon's face. Sleeping, he looked peaceful. But Liu's heart and expression, as he looked at him, were anything but peaceful. They couldn't be.

After sending the driver away, the two had gone up to Room 601 together.

For a time, Ihyeon refused to let go of Liu. He kept his forehead buried in Liu's shoulder and wouldn't lift his head. Liu had to hold him even while canceling the plane ticket.

Liu thought he knew the person named Seo Ihyeon well enough. At least, Ihyeon was the other person Liu knew best in the world—he had never taken that much interest in anyone else.

This was something the Ihyeon he knew until now would never have done. Yet it had happened.

At the end of a brief meeting, when it was time to part, Ihyeon would be wistful—but he never begged Liu not to leave. It wasn't that partings didn't affect him. Liu knew that Ihyeon ached from separation just as much as he did.

But Ihyeon wanted a love that built firm trust and growth, not one that collapsed into overwhelming emotion and impulse. If Ihyeon wanted it, Liu wanted it too. That was why they endured together.

And yet, this Ihyeon had clung to him—and in such a heartbreaking way.

These were neither words spoken easily nor sentimental demands.

Liu gave Ihyeon another fever reducer, changed him into pajamas, and got into bed with him. Ihyeon tried hard not to close his eyes, afraid Liu might disappear while he slept.

"I already canceled all my flights. I haven't booked the next ones either. I'll stay here until you're better."

Liu reassured him like that several times. Nevertheless, Ihyeon—still trying to stay awake—fell asleep in less than ten minutes. He was probably mentally and physically exhausted.

Even if Ihyeon were to wake up and say, I'm fine. I just got a little sad and said that on impulse. You can go now—Liu had no intention of leaving this time.

While holding Ihyeon in the middle of the street and reassuring him, a scene from the past had flashed through his mind.

A summer night when the rain was pouring down.

Around the time they had become conscious of each other—after their first night together in Hong Kong and returning home.

Even during the "Phantom" company dinner that night, Liu had been present only in body, thinking of no one but Ihyeon, who wasn't there. He hadn't been able to hear a word anyone said.

A Beta who had indiscriminately demolished the defensive walls that no Golden Omega could shake. Pheromones with a destructive power so intense they rendered knotting and Changing impossible to suppress. His first experience of being utterly helpless before another person's pheromones.

When the call came from Seo Ihyeon, Liu had to hide a smile by pretending to rub his lips. He hadn't attended the dinner, but he had hoped—perhaps—that Ihyeon was calling because he too couldn't stop thinking about him.

["I apologize for the late hour..."]

But the voice on the other end was trembling, as if terrified. Liu unconsciously lifted himself away from the back of his chair.

["You were the only person I could think of... Director."]

["Where are you right now?"]

As he asked, Liu was already bolting from the dinner party.

["I'm... I'm outside your house right now, Director. In front of the gate."]

When he spotted Ihyeon shivering and soaked by the rain in front of the main gate, Liu understood. He had been turning away from it himself, but some part of him had known all along: that he would fall in love with this person. That perhaps that love had already begun.

He had almost leaped out of the car, running over to wrap his jacket around Ihyeon's shoulders and pull him into a silent embrace. Even then, Liu hadn't asked anything. Then as now, Ihyeon's wellbeing came before his own worries or questions.

"I'll, I'll paint... I'll paint again."

As Ihyeon repeated those words, asking for help, Liu pulled him tighter—already knowing he would refuse no request this person ever made of him.

He had sensed he would fall in love with this person. A devastating love, the kind where you stake everything, leaving nothing behind.

That night came flooding back to him. The Ihyeon of right now was no more in control than he had been then.

Was this a symptom caused by hormonal imbalance during the manifestation process? It was certainly possible. Liu replayed Ihyeon's behavior—so unlike his usual self—over and over. It resembled the instinctive yielding an Alpha develops toward an Omega whose pheromones they've shared for a long time, or perhaps the anxiety an Omega shows when separated from their Alpha during pregnancy.

Pregnancy? No. Absolutely not.

Even if Ihyeon was Diamond Dust—a special, unpredictable case—pregnancy was impossible when he hadn't fully manifested as an Omega yet. Besides, the clinic hadn't flagged anything when they were there the day before.

But whether it was hormones or something psychological, the fact remained that Ihyeon had reached that state. It clawed at Liu's heart.

He couldn't shake the image of Ihyeon stumbling toward him like someone unmoored from the world.

He wanted to make him happy.

Not out of some arrogant belief that Ihyeon couldn't find happiness on his own without him.

There are many kinds of happiness in life.

Happiness from personal achievement, from family, from friendship, from travel or extraordinary experiences; the everyday happiness of a good cup of coffee or a view seen on a walk. And among them, the happiness of building something rare with another person—nurturing love, sharing a life.

He was prepared to do anything to ensure Ihyeon would never lack that particular kind.

And looking down at him now, Liu thought that perhaps he had already failed at that.

Ihyeon had spent the entire morning pacing the studio, anxious about whether Liu had packed properly.

He had skipped his morning work—rare enough to be remarkable—just to stay with him.

Even Ihyeon's hand, which had instinctively caught Liu's shirt as he tried to get up.

All of those small, unlike-him moments had been signals. Or perhaps the signals had come much earlier than that.

Their last night of the trip, in Basel.

"Don't go. Stay with me."

During their knotting session, Ihyeon had already said the same words.

A deep crease formed between Liu's brows as he looked down at Ihyeon's sleeping face. He touched his left ring finger out of habit. He had made a half-proposal with the ring on that finger, saying he would wait as long as necessary and marry Ihyeon whenever he was ready. So he had waited. He had believed that was the way to let Ihyeon choose freely while also proving his love.

That idea had been wrong.

At least now, it had proven to be wrong.

Liu got out of bed, picked up his phone from the table, and walked to the window—a position where he could check Ihyeon's status simply by turning his head. Without hesitation, he scrolled through his contacts and placed a call.

It was his mother.

"...It's me."

A rather stiff and awkward beginning. Suki Kim's reaction was not much different.

Since he kept up regular contact for obligatory check-ins, his parents had known about this trip. She asked how it had gone. It was a ritual question.

"The trip went well. I returned to Paris yesterday."

[How is Ihyeon? Is he healthy?]

"Yes, he's fine. He's taking his suppressants regularly and is healthy."

In truth, he wasn't entirely healthy—but this wasn't the time to go into that.

[He's different from those whose abilities are manifesting naturally. You always have to be especially careful. I wonder if this trip was too much for Ihyeon.]

"How could I possibly put Ihyeon in danger?"

Liu snapped back sharply without meaning to, then immediately pressed a hand to his forehead and shook his head. Ihyeon wasn't healthy right now, and it was possible that Liu himself had pushed him too far.

"I'm sorry. That's not what I meant to say..."

With a deep sigh, Liu lowered his gaze.

The view spread before him was unchanged from the day he had first come to see this apartment with the agent, standing right by this same window. The supermarket across the street was still there. He remembered two men walking out of it side by side—a couple, one carrying a baby, the other with a shopping bag slung over his shoulder.

At the time, they had seemed to Liu like a vision of dazzling happiness. People enjoying something he felt he could never reach, a happiness he had let slip away.

But now, Ihyeon was asleep in the bed of this house.

"I didn't mean it that way either. I'm just glad you're both healthy. Thank you for calling."

Suki Kim, assuming this was just another routine check-in, was about to hang up. But Liu still had something important to say.

"I misspoke. I apologize. More importantly—I called today because there is something significant I need to discuss with you."

[......]

"The necklace Father gave you for your twentieth anniversary—you still have it, don't you?"

[Of course I do. Why are you asking about that necklace suddenly...?]

"Could you give it to me? No... could you give it to Ihyeon?"

At the time of their twentieth anniversary, Liu's parents had been legally divorced—though it was a divorce in name only, and their love had remained solid. To commemorate that love, his father had given Suki Kim a special diamond.

From the moment Liu made up his mind, he couldn't think of anything else.

"Liu Weikun, are you perhaps..."

Suki Kim's voice was rarely agitated. A faint joy and excitement radiated from her.

Liu turned his head and looked at Ihyeon, buried under the covers. The pure white duvet rose and fell subtly with each breath. Liu's gaze lingered on that quiet, steady movement for a long time.

It was a statement that had been ready within him for a long time. He had only been waiting for Ihyeon's permission. There was no reason to hesitate.

"That's right. I'm going to propose to him."

· · · · ·

Sunday, April 7th. Seoul.

The high for the day was 23 degrees Celsius, higher than average. Humidity 42%. Chance of precipitation 0%.

The weather was perfectly pleasant for outdoor activities.

Today, the garden at 'Phantom' was decorated differently than usual. Plush outdoor sofa sets and large parasols casting wide shade had been arranged throughout, and a long table was laid with tea, champagne, and an assortment of visually appealing cookies and finger foods.

And a generous quantity of flowers—enough to fill the garden with fragrance—richly adorned the space: light pinkish Jana roses, lavender, ranunculus, and eucalyptus. These were the same flowers Liu had chosen when he proposed to Ihyeon at the Ritz Hotel in Paris.

Whether they were in season or not didn't matter. Liu had stressed to the wedding planner that cost was no object—the garden had to be lavishly decorated with those specific flowers.

Guests began arriving one by one after lunchtime, greeting each other warmly. They settled into small groups on the sofa sets scattered around, spending a lively afternoon recalling memories tied to today's couple.

They were all guests invited to the wedding of Seo Ihyeon and Liu Weikun.

There were only about twenty guests.

The wedding planner, Javier, had repeatedly emphasized that this was truly the smallest wedding among all the small weddings he had ever organized—adding each time, with a slight smile, that the cost certainly wasn't small.

The couple hadn't wanted this wedding to become a social event. They wanted to be surrounded only by people who could genuinely celebrate them and truly cherish them. Once they decided that, finalizing the guest list was simple.

Ihyeon's father, uncle, and aunt, along with Liu's parents, were the first to be invited. Liu's closest circle included Marcus and Ellen, who were like family, their son Jonas—who had grown up like a brother to Liu in his younger years—and Jonas's fiancée. From among the colleagues at 'The Hands' who had shared everything with Ihyeon, the closest were Ben and Jun. Baek Yuni and Michelle were invited as well. Lim Morae and Seo Yeehan, who lived in Bali, were there too. And of course Manager Han, Choi Inwu, Shushu, and Kwon Juhan.

Most guests had traveled specifically to Seoul for this wedding—Hong Kong, Boston, Paris, Bali. Fewer than twenty people, living in different cities, and Liu and Ihyeon had arranged both plane tickets and accommodations for them.

They had booked several rooms at a hotel in Gwanghwamun, not far from 'Phantom,' and organized meals so the guests could mingle. Sightseeing tours were arranged for Marcus's family and Ihyeon's colleagues from 'The Hands,' for whom this was their first visit to Korea. In the process, the guests had grown closer quite naturally.

Ihyeon's aunt and uncle had found it difficult to take several days off due to their work. They arrived in Seoul the afternoon before the wedding. But thanks to the rehearsal that evening, they were able to mingle comfortably with the other guests today. Liu's parents, in particular, took great care of them.

Even now, while the younger guests chatted noisily among themselves, the four of them were absorbed in their own quiet conversation in the cool shade of the garden. Liu's father, William, led the discussion. He was an energetic, humorous person who constantly made everyone around him laugh with his varied expressions and gestures. Thanks to him, Ihyeon could feel at ease even while attending to his own guests on the other side.

This gathering came after Liu and Ihyeon had promised to marry each other and announced it to those close to them.

Liu's parents had come to Korea to meet Ihyeon's family elders. Ihyeon, who had been in Paris at the time, made a temporary return for the formal meeting, prepared various gifts, and visited the East Sea with Liu first.

At the time, the aunt and uncle had been extremely anxious, even before the meeting.

'Such an incredible family—it would knock your jaw out. Everyone in the neighborhood found out before we did and made a fuss....'

'I suppose I can wear the clothes Ihyeon bought for me... but how am I supposed to act around people like that? I worry we'll make you fall out of favor with your in-laws.'

Ihyeon had tried to calm them patiently.

"They're very polite people too. You just need to be yourselves around them."

"I wonder if people like us—who didn't have much of an education—will even be able to hold a conversation with them..."

"They aren't the kind of people who judge others by that standard. You'll see when you meet them."

Rather than a private room at a high-end restaurant, Liu's home in Seoul became the venue for the meeting—a choice meant to make things a little more comfortable, and it seemed to work.

Liu's parents had been just as nervous. Knowing they were no different seemed to put Ihyeon's uncle and aunt slightly at ease.

As the meal progressed, the stiffness gradually relaxed. Contrary to their worries, conversation flowed without pause. As could be guessed from Liu's own Korean, his father William was also fluent, so there were no barriers in communication. Moreover, William and Suki Kim showed genuine interest in the in-laws' fishing business and the natural landscape of the East Sea, steering the conversation there.

The previous winter, during the off-season, Liu's parents had even invited Ihyeon's family to Hong Kong. It was the first time his uncle and aunt had ever traveled abroad.

Ihyeon and Liu had not joined them that time—they weren't even invited, since it was meant to be time just for the elders. It was clearly a thoughtful consideration from the adults so that no one would feel awkward. From the photos and videos the aunt shared afterward, it was easy to imagine they'd had a wonderful time.

After this wedding, Liu's parents were scheduled to visit the East Sea. William was already excited about the prospect of sea fishing on the uncle's boat.

He had brought up the exact same topic with Ihyeon during last night's rehearsal.

"Ihyeon, have you ever eaten fish as sashimi right after catching it on a boat?"

"Yes, once or twice."

"You went with your uncle?"

"That's right."

William called Ihyeon's uncle Geun-sadon—"Great In-Law"—a title he had proposed at their first family meeting, since the uncle was Ihyeon's family elder. His uncle and his wife had readily agreed.

"When we go to the East Sea this time, Geun-sadon has promised to take us out on his boat. He says flounder is in season. Ah, what was the Korean word for flounder again? Something like doraji... Do... Do..."

"Dodari."

"Right, dodari! It's still hard for me to remember the names of fish I don't eat often, in Korean."

William said this with a boyish flush. In moments like that, he faintly resembled Liu.

"Compared to my English, your Korean is already excellent, sir. I still get nervous whenever I have to speak in English."

At Ihyeon's words, William looked as though he had heard something completely absurd. He even set down his glass and replied with full sincerity.

"What are you talking about? You speak English and French both. That's truly remarkable. I've tried learning French several times myself, and I still can't manage more than a simple greeting. French pronunciation is especially tricky, you know."

William finished in the tone of a suffering student, then looked at Ihyeon the next moment and smiled warmly.

"But Ihyeon's French sounds like listening to Alfred de Vigny's poetry."

It was a compliment that left Ihyeon entirely at a loss for words.

William was an energetic, optimistic person who expressed his emotions freely, and he adored Ihyeon. Sometimes Liu even had to step in and pull his father away, telling him to stop teasing Ihyeon so much.

But Ihyeon didn't dislike William's warmth and cheerfulness. He was especially grateful for how kindly and attentively both William and his wife treated him—a debt he felt he could never fully repay.

Ihyeon's uncle and aunt. Liu's father and mother.

The four of them were like childhood friends from the same hometown.

Friends who left their village, and friends who stayed. Though their paths had diverged and they seemed, on the surface, to be people from different worlds entirely, the underlying tone was the same—and they could mingle without pretense.

Laughter continued to pour from the sofa where they sat. While moving among his own guests, Ihyeon glanced over from time to time, but the four of them appeared completely fine and needed no worrying about.

"Why are Mom and Dad so excited? Have they been like this since last night?"

Yeehan appeared at Ihyeon's side, chuckling. He looked quite pleased himself.

"Are they that happy that Seo Ihyeon's getting married? They're glowing. Well, I suppose it would move anyone to see that little kid who used to scribble all over the cement yard with crayons finally grow up and get married."

"Hey—when was that?"

Ihyeon grew slightly sullen at the mention of his childhood mischief.

"When was it? You were eight. Exactly eight—the summer vacation when you turned eight."

"You have a good memory, hyung."

"I may not be great at academics, but my memory isn't bad. Do you remember when we fought and Mom hit us both with a broom?"

"I remember. We were older then."

It had happened after Ihyeon started living at his uncle's house in the East Sea. He and Yeehan, who rarely fought even as children, had raised their voices over something trivial. When the argument escalated, the aunt grabbed a broom and went after the both of them.

She hadn't treated Ihyeon with any special consideration. He was hit on the thigh and backside just the same as Yeehan. And Ihyeon, who rarely showed emotion, cried so hard the house seemed to shake. Not because he felt wronged. It was quite the opposite.

He cried because he was relieved. Reassured by the simple fact that there was still someone in the world who cared about him, corrected him when necessary, and looked after him with affection.

"Don't tell Liu about the fight, okay?"

"Why?"

"If he finds out you got smacked around back then, I think he'll try to get revenge."

Ihyeon burst out laughing at the sheer absurdity of it.

"What are you talking about? That was ten years ago."

But Yeehan just clicked his tongue.

"You still don't know that man at all."

"Don't know him? I'm marrying him today."

"Stubborn kid, getting defensive. That's part of why you can't see things clearly. He's the kind of person who would track down and get revenge on anyone who ever gave you a hard time—even if it happened thirty years ago, not just ten."

"It's not to that extent."

"I mean it's a good thing you're marrying someone like that, you idiot."

Yeehan raised his hand to mess up Ihyeon's hair but stopped himself. He carefully avoided the perfectly styled hair and instead patted the shoulder of his cousin's tuxedo, then threw an arm over it.

The two cousins stood shoulder to shoulder, looking toward where Liu's parents and Yeehan's parents were seated.

"My father isn't usually this talkative. He must have really hit it off with Liu's parents."

"They've traveled together and everything."

"I think he likes them more than his own in-laws."

"Weren't things better between them now?"

"Well, 'better' is relative. It just means things aren't awkward anymore. For my father-in-law, that's actually a significant change."

Morae's father, who had fiercely opposed the relationship between Morae and Yeehan, had finally relented a few years ago. Thanks to that, the two no longer had to live in hiding. Now they came back to Korea about once a year to see family.

What if Morae's father had never opposed them? Ihyeon suddenly wondered.

If that were the case, she and Yeehan wouldn't have needed to flee to Seoul on that rainy night.

And if they had fled, what if they hadn't taken Ihyeon with them?

What if he hadn't crossed paths with Manager Han during that part-time job at the moving company?

If even one of those countless connecting threads had snapped, he might never have met Liu. The thought sent a chill through him.

He had met a man named Liu Weikun, started painting again, hurt and been hurt, and yet they had moved forward and found their way back to each other.

He couldn't claim that standing where he stood today was solely the result of his own strength. The influence that countless people and their choices had on him was undeniable.

Liu, Manager Han, and Suki Kim, who had pushed him to paint again. Baek Yuni and Michelle, who had stayed by his side through his lonely years in Paris. His colleagues at 'The Hands.' And Kwon Juhan—as warm-hearted as he was jealous—who had kept the threads of their friendship alive even across the distance.

I did this all on my own; I'm remarkable. No matter how much time passed, Ihyeon didn't think he would ever be able to say those words.

These were the people who had guided the man named Seo Ihyeon to this place today.

Only those precious, valued connections were gathered here.

Here at 'Phantom'—the very place where Liu Weikun and Seo Ihyeon had first met.

Here to celebrate the wedding of Liu and himself.

The sound of voices and joyful laughter filled the garden.

Ihyeon looked around and felt it anew. He couldn't have been happier or more grateful. And yet—amid all that bright, radiant fullness—he could not ignore the deep, dark shadow at its edge, like a sunspot in brilliant light.

He knew exactly what that darkness was.

At the formal family meeting, during his uncle and aunt's trip to Hong Kong, at last night's rehearsal—Ihyeon's father had always been absent.

He hadn't expected otherwise.

His father was a man who had turned his back on the world—present in body but long gone in spirit. Still, the accompanying ache of regret and emptiness couldn't be helped.

"Don't be too upset that your father won't be here. It's not because he doesn't think of you."

At last night's rehearsal, his uncle had come up to Ihyeon, patted his back, and offered that quiet consolation.

"He even hung the suit you and Director Liu gave him up on his wall where he can see it clearly, you know?"

"Father did?"

"Yes. He probably doesn't have the courage to wear it out, but he must be happy."

"I expected he wouldn't be able to come. He's been there for so long. Just traveling up to Seoul is probably a burden for him."

Even as he said he understood, Ihyeon's gaze kept drifting toward the entrance of the garden. He knew it was absurd to think his father would leave the East Sea alone and make his way all the way here.

Surrounded by people he loved, immersed in happiness, he still couldn't erase the absence. A single dark shadow stands out all the more sharply against brilliant light.

· · · · ·

"Is that true? Liu actually did that? I can't believe it."

Shushu tilted his head, giving a perplexed smile.

"Have you been living under a rock? I'm telling you—the Director actually got down on one knee on the Pont Neuf!"

Yuni stressed the point again, looking exasperated.

She was passionately recounting the details of the proposal on behalf of the day's couple—since the person most directly involved was so tight-lipped about it.

"But he was the one who hated that kind of old-fashioned proposal the most. Director Liu."

Manager Han also seemed incredulous. As the audience's doubt persisted, Yuni turned to Ihyeon.

"Ihyeon, say something."

"Me?"

"These people don't believe it. You have to be the witness. Did the Director propose on the Pont Neuf while kneeling, or didn't he?"

Ihyeon hadn't expected the proposal itself to attract this much attention. Everyone was staring at him with eyes that demanded the truth. He had been standing behind the sofa, listening as though he were a third party, and the concentrated gazes felt like pressure. Liu had stepped away briefly at the wedding planner's call, leaving no one to rescue him.

"Uh… yes. He did."

Ihyeon finally nodded, slowly.

"See? I told you so."

Yuni surveyed the group with a smug tilt of her chin. Choi Inwu, who had been listening with a conspicuously bored expression—unlike the other guests hanging on every word—shook his head and muttered.

"I can't believe it. I really can't believe it."

It was then that Liu reappeared.

"Well, I am a bit of an unbelievable guy."

He had slipped back up behind Ihyeon without anyone noticing and inserted himself into the conversation with easy nonchalance. He had only been gone about five minutes, but Ihyeon was visibly relieved to see him. His expression brightened the moment he turned, without him even realizing it.

"Why did Javier call for you?"

Javier was the wedding planner Suki Kim had recommended. Originally from Spain, based in Hong Kong, he had perfectly understood the vision the couple wanted and brought it to life. Thanks to him, they had been able to prepare smoothly for this day, even while split between Paris and Seoul.

"He wanted me to take a look at the arch on the second floor."

"Why? Is something wrong?"

Ihyeon immediately looked anxious, and Liu looped an arm around his waist and smiled.

"Nothing like that. You know what Javier's like. He just wanted us to check it because he's thorough. Everything is perfect—please relax."

Choi Inwu, seated on the sofa diagonally across from where the two stood, was giving Liu a sideways look.

"You knelt on the Pont Neuf and proposed?"

"I did. What about it?"

Liu, who had lightly wrapped an arm around Ihyeon's waist from behind and rested his chin on his shoulder, raised an eyebrow as if asking what the problem was.

"Liu Weikun's past dates would faint if they heard that."

"Hmm… did the Director ever even see someone more than ten times? He wasn't exactly generous with his time."

As Manager Han joined in after Choi Inwu, Liu playfully covered Ihyeon's ears.

"Are you going to do this to me too, Manager Han? I'm the groom. What if I get kicked out right after the wedding?"

Choi Inwu grimaced as if he had just witnessed something deeply unsettling.

"To say the word 'groom' about yourself. Excuse me—who are you, really?"

Then he caught Ihyeon's eye and gestured toward Liu with his chin.

"Ihyeon, is that man actually Liu Weikun?"

Before Ihyeon could answer, Kwon Juhan cut in.

"He's certainly not the Director I knew. That much I can say for certain."

Everyone had been teasing Liu since the rehearsal the night before—the sort of harmless ribbing often aimed at someone marrying a younger partner across an age gap. Both Liu and Ihyeon understood that. Which was why Liu was tolerating more than usual. And even though Ihyeon knew perfectly well it was a joke, he still felt a faint, protective prickle of annoyance.

He glanced back at Liu to check that he was all right, but Liu's smile looked genuinely happy. Sensing the gaze, Liu met his eyes, then wrapped an arm around the waist of the man who would soon officially be his, and pressed a brief kiss to his temple.

"So he got down on one knee at the Pont Neuf—fine. What happened next?"

Kwon Juhan urged Yuni onward, and Choi Inwu shrugged.

"What do you think happened? Ihyeon said yes, so here we all are."

"No, no—that's not the whole story."

Yuni shook her head, wagging her index finger. Then she looked at Ihyeon with a meaningful smile.

"Actually, Ihyeon had also prepared a proposal that day."

A ripple of surprise went through the group. Choi Inwu, who had been lounging loosely against the sofa, straightened up.

"Seo Ihyeon? Is that story true, Ihyeon?"

His expression was even more disbelieving than before—bordering on slightly offended.

Not just Choi Inwu—everyone gathered there was surprised. Everyone, that is, except Kwon Juhan, who wore the expression of someone who had seen this coming all along.

"I thought Seo Ihyeon would propose first."

"Don't make me laugh. Nobody here thought that."

Choi Inwu denied it emphatically.

"Why not? Even if Ihyeon seems passive, he's the type to act when it counts."

"That's true, but—what I mean is, Ihyeon didn't need to propose. After being proposed to, couldn't you have played hard to get for at least a week or two? Awi would have been withering away from anxiety."

"I couldn't wait any longer."

"......"

At Ihyeon's words, everyone—including Choi Inwu—fell quiet. The weight of all those eyes felt like pressure, but Ihyeon wanted to express his love for Liu openly, at least for today.

"I wanted to get married right away, so I rushed the preparations. Though Kun was a bit quicker about it," he added.

Liu's arms, wrapped around his waist and lower abdomen, tightened. Warm lips pressed firmly against Ihyeon's temple. He could feel those lips smiling.

Across from them, Choi Inwu threw up his hands like a gambler walking away from a table after losing everything.

"I lose. I lost."

· · · · ·

The day he had chased after Liu's limousine as it headed for the airport.

After taking fever medicine and sleeping soundly, Ihyeon felt, belatedly, a creeping embarrassment at his own actions. He couldn't even understand what state of mind he had been in to do such a thing. It hadn't come from thought.

The usual Ihyeon would have told Liu to go back after waking up. He would have said he was fine, that Liu could leave, that there was nothing to worry about. But that Ihyeon hadn't done that. Because he hadn't felt like he would be fine.

"It must be due to hormonal imbalance. It makes you suddenly anxious, or makes you act impulsively. It's a natural phenomenon."

There's no need to blame yourself for acting unlike yourself, Liu had reassured him, gently, as always.

Liu's words about the hormonal imbalance might well have been true. But the commotion had led Ihyeon to a clear realization, whatever the cause.

Watching the tail of the departing car, he had felt an indescribable anxiety take hold—instantly, without warning. The intensity of it was unlike anything he had experienced before, something close to a threat against his own life. His legs had moved before his mind could catch up. Like a drowning person flailing to survive, it had been pure instinct.

And in Liu's arms, after he had run back and pulled him close, Ihyeon had finally seen the emotion that had risen so clearly within him. An emotion too vivid to dismiss or misread.

Ihyeon had already decided to propose, right there in that moment.

Liu was reluctant to leave Ihyeon alone even to go grocery shopping. Ihyeon was surprised by his own reaction to that—but Liu was even more so. He called Yuni and asked her to come stay, only heading out with his shopping bag once she arrived.

This time, Ihyeon reacted differently than before. He didn't insist he was fine and could be left alone. On the contrary, he welcomed it. He had something he wanted to ask Yuni—a secret from Liu.

As though he had been planning it for a long time, Ihyeon laid out the whole scheme without hesitation. As she listened, Yuni's eyes welled up. It wasn't often they saw her cry. Yuni herself seemed surprised by her own reaction.

"Is it because I've watched you and the Director come so far together? Why am I tearing up like this?"

"Thank you—for all the grief you must have gone through because of us during all that time, nuna."

"So you do know?"

Yuni wiped her tears with the tissue Ihyeon handed her and gave him a look that was almost a glare, though not an unkind one.

"Just know that when you two broke up, I thought I was going to die. Okay?"

"I know. I'm sorry."

"Don't forget that I was there the night you got completely wasted, either."

"Yeah."

"I stayed up the whole night, thinking maybe—just maybe—you'd finally admit how much you missed him while you were drunk. But you never once mentioned the Director."

"I guess I'm just stubborn."

"Not stubborn. Strong."

"Maybe so."

"I could see you still loved him, and I couldn't understand how you were holding on. But now I think I do."

"......"

"From the beginning, neither you nor the Director ever intended for it to end like that. Because you didn't believe it was the end, you held on. With hope."

Yuni's words felt true. They had only needed time and distance—neither of them had ever actually said the words let's break up. He had never doubted that the other was thinking of him, that both of them were trying to understand what that time apart was meant to mean.

If he hadn't done that—if he had let the incident fade away unresolved because he couldn't bear the distance—they wouldn't have been able to look at each other without reservation today. He didn't doubt that for a moment.

"To think the little bee who used to just follow Manager Han around when he first came to 'Phantom' is getting married."

"I know, right? I still can't believe it myself."

"And to Liu Weikun, of all people."

Yuni and Ihyeon looked at each other and laughed again.

"The Director better treat you well."

"He already does. You know that, nuna."

"I know. I know he'd lay down his life for you. But I can't figure out why I still end up so firmly on your side."

Yuni was laughing and shrugging when she suddenly burst into tears again. After a long stretch of crying and laughing both, she seemed to think of something, and she grabbed Ihyeon's shoulders with an expression of sudden gravity.

"Ihyeon. Seo Ihyeon. You're not... pregnant, are you?"

"......"

"Is that why you're rushing the wedding?"

"Nuna, my manifestation isn't even complete yet."

"I know. I know, but..."

"......"

"It just feels like anything might be possible with the Director."

The look in Yuni's eyes, her face entirely pale, was so dead serious that Ihyeon couldn't even laugh this time.

After Yuni left, Ihyeon ate the pancakes Liu had made and suggested,

"Kun, why don't we take a walk to Île de la Cité tomorrow?"

"If you're feeling up to it, I'd love to."

"I'm not sick—I just want some fresh air. I feel cooped up after two days inside."

"Alright. But if you feel like you're getting a fever, we're turning back immediately."

Ihyeon was worried Liu might notice how strangely excited he was, but Liu accepted the suggestion without any suspicion. A walk in Paris was routine for them—when the mood struck, they would walk all the way to the Luxembourg Gardens and back, a round trip of over two hours.

The next day, the slightly cool weather was perfect for walking.

They headed south along the Boulevard Saint-Martin, then turned into the Marais district, wandering past various shops.

Before reaching the Rue de Rivoli past the Place des Vosges, they stopped briefly at a flower shop. Liu had spotted a basket of Jana roses with large, lush buds.

"They'll be so pretty when they bloom fully."

Liu asked for a small bouquet—two Jana roses mixed with ranunculus, small enough not to be a bother to carry.

Up to that point, Ihyeon had no idea the flowers were being bought for a proposal. Liu gave him flowers often. And he never passed Jana roses without buying at least one for Ihyeon—those were the flowers that had decorated the terrace during the half-proposal at the Ritz Hotel. So there was nothing unusual to question.

Besides, Ihyeon was so preoccupied with his own nerves, consumed by the need to make his proposal succeed, that even if Liu had bought a hundred roses, he wouldn't have thought anything of it.

As they reached the bridge, Ihyeon grew impatient. His steps quickened, pulling Liu along. Liu, oblivious to his state of mind, was unusually unhurried that day.

"Ihyeon, look. The sunset is prettier than usual."

At the tug of Liu's hand, Ihyeon turned around. Liu had stopped right there, looking at him and smiling.

In that moment, a shiver moved through Ihyeon for no apparent reason. Before Liu could kneel, before he could open his mouth to speak, Ihyeon already knew what was about to happen. As if someone had whispered it to him.

Their eyes met, their hands still clasped, and Liu lowered himself onto his right knee.

Everything around them seemed to slow. It wasn't an illusion. Many of the people crossing the Pont Neuf slowed their steps and watched from a distance.

"I'm sorry for being an impatient man."

He started with a joke, smiling—but his facial muscles were completely rigid, betraying just how nervous he was.

"I said I would wait for your decision, yet here I am, asking again. But this time is different. This time, I know for certain. I have to say this to you now. Or perhaps I should have done it sooner. Perhaps I was just foolish."

Then he held out the bouquet from his left hand toward Ihyeon—looking up from below, as if offering his own heart.

"Seo Ihyeon, let's get married."

His voice trembled violently within those few short words.

Ihyeon's mind couldn't keep up. He had been rushing headlong toward his own destination—and then he realized he had already arrived. He couldn't help but be bewildered.

But before he could even process it, tears fell.

Just as his legs had run toward Liu before his mind could tell them to.

Ihyeon's hands, receiving the simple, small bouquet, were trembling. The onlookers cheered and applauded, and Liu rose and pulled him into his arms.

"I said it too late, didn't I? I'm sorry."

Wrapping his arms around Liu's waist in return, Ihyeon shook his head firmly.

"Now is the right time. This is when it was meant to happen. Kun knows it too."

"Yes. You're right. It's now. It's now, Ihyeon-ah."

Ihyeon's hot tears spilled from between his tightly closed eyelids and soaked Liu's shoulder. When they looked at each other again, Liu's eyelashes were damp as well. He carefully wiped Ihyeon's wet cheek. Both of them smiled at each other through tears.

Someone passed by offering congratulations, and Liu nodded with a smile in acknowledgment.

Having gathered himself somewhat, Ihyeon gently stroked Liu's fingertips with the hand not holding the bouquet. Then he took Liu's hand and led the way forward. The people who had applauded dispersed, walking again toward their respective destinations.

On the Pont Neuf, they descended via the stairs behind the equestrian statue of Henri IV toward the Square du Vert-Galant. Liu followed, still entirely unaware of what was ahead.

Ihyeon led him to the abutment at the far end of the square, beneath the piers of the bridge on the opposite side. A small boat was moored there. A middle-aged man standing watch spotted them, removed his hat, and greeted them with a polite smile.

"I asked Yuni nuna to arrange it. She put it together with Ben and Jun."

"This is... why you wanted to take a walk?"

"Didn't you know? Didn't you notice?"

Ihyeon's voice came out higher than usual, nerves making him chatter.

The boat, finished in dark wood, had a charming, understated elegance. It could be rowed at leisure or run by motor.

Toward the stern, a small table held a red-and-white checkered tablecloth spread with simple snacks—crackers, jam, honey—along with white wine, all arranged with care. Tea lights burned beneath transparent covers to keep the river breeze from extinguishing them. It was clearly a boat prepared for lovers.

"It's not a grand cruise—but it's wonderfully charming, don't you think?"

"It's more than charming. It's perfect."

"Kun has a boat license, you know. That's what gave me the idea. Though this one can just be rowed."

They sat facing each other across the table. The middle-aged man helped them on board, handed Ihyeon the key, and waved them off warmly.

Without any need to row, the boat began drifting slowly downstream—from the Pont Neuf toward the Eiffel Tower. Golden light shimmered across the waves of the Seine as if someone had scattered tens of thousands of diamonds across the water.

"So while I was out shopping yesterday, you and Baek Yuni cooked up this plan?"

"That's right."

"Is this your way of making it up to me because I couldn't go to Seoul?"

Instead of answering, Ihyeon offered an enigmatic smile. He rose from his seat and moved to sit beside Liu. Liu held his hand to help him keep his balance. They settled side by side at the stern, watching Paris unfold slowly around them.

Leaning his temple against Liu's shoulder, Ihyeon took his left hand. He fidgeted with the ring on his left ring finger and spoke.

"At the Ritz Hotel, when you gave me this ring, you said..."

"......"

"...that you wanted to propose in a place where you were certain it wouldn't disappear for a very long time."

"You remember."

"Of course I remember. That's why I chose here, too."

Lifting his head from Liu's shoulder, Ihyeon looked up at him. The man who had proposed a second—no, a third time—just minutes ago was looking down at him with only a warm smile, still entirely unaware. Whenever their eyes met, even the beauty of Paris faded into backdrop.

"Because the Seine isn't going anywhere, at least not while we're alive."

"......"

"I wanted to propose to Kun in a place that wouldn't disappear either."

"Ah..."

Liu let out a breath of awe and gripped Ihyeon's hand tightly, without realizing it.

"You asked me to marry you, remember?"

"......"

"This is my answer."

As if in a trance, Liu reached out and cupped Ihyeon's cheek. Their lips met as naturally as the flow of the river. The boat passed beneath the Pont des Arts. The kiss continued—past the Louvre, the Tuileries Garden, the Place de la Concorde, until the Alexander III Bridge. The Seine and time itself seemed to slow.

· · · · ·

Yuni did most of the storytelling about the proposal. Though the couple themselves were present, they were either reluctant to recount it or simply too shy—and the guests were eager to hear it. So someone who had heard the story firsthand had no choice but to step in.

Revisiting the memory of that day through a third party's telling, Liu and Ihyeon found they were holding each other's hands without either of them having consciously reached out first.

The proposal had been roughly five months ago. Those past five months had been filled with a sweeter anticipation than anything before. And yet they had also been a painful stretch in which time seemed to drag slower than ever.

"So you were both secretly preparing to propose on the exact same day?"

Shushu said this to the two of them with a moved expression. Ihyeon glanced sideways at Liu, his face faintly flushed, and replied,

"It just... happened... by chance..."

"It couldn't have been by chance. How could you both arrive at the same thought on the same day? You two are simply destined."

Shushu seemed to want to believe that some kind of telepathy had passed between them—but there had been a clear catalyst. The incident where Ihyeon had run after the car had shaken them both and set everything in motion. They preferred to keep those particular details to themselves.

"Even as someone who doesn't believe in fate or destiny, there is something uncanny about the relationship between the Director and Ihyeon."

All eyes turned back to Yuni.

"It's extremely rare for someone to manifest after already becoming an adult—something like a 3% chance, wasn't it? And yet Ihyeon manifested after meeting the Director. That 3%. On its own, that's not ordinary. It's like a sign from the heavens—get married, start a family, have children."

As Yuni understood, and as most of the people here knew, Ihyeon had not manifested naturally as an Omega. Liu's grip on Ihyeon's hand tightened. He looked down at him and gave a faint smile—a complex smile whose full meaning only Ihyeon, only Diamond Dust, could truly read.

Very few people in the world knew that Liu was Ghost and Ihyeon was Diamond Dust. Even Shushu and Manager Han only knew that Liu was Ghost.

Choi Inwu—one of the very few who knew the whole truth—glanced briefly at the two of them.

"If Ihyeon hadn't become an Omega, at least a legal marriage between the two of you would have been impossible in Korea."

"Exactly. And on top of that, you two overcame a notoriously difficult long-distance relationship. Believe it or not, the odds of a long-distance relationship succeeding are said to be 50 to 70% lower than for conventional ones."

"Well, surviving a long-distance relationship is certainly something."

Choi Inwu uncrossed his legs, picked up his champagne flute, and continued.

"When the two of you decided to get back together, I honestly expected Liu Weikun to drop everything in Seoul and fly straight to Paris."

"I wanted to."

Liu agreed immediately.

"You held back because you wanted to make a good impression on Ihyeon?"

"This person right here can't stand irresponsible men."

Liu held up the hand joined with Ihyeon's and shrugged. Light laughter moved through the group, and for a brief moment, Choi Inwu's gaze drifted to Ihyeon's left hand—the one holding Liu's right. The simple couple ring was still there.

"But surely he didn't propose with just one bouquet. That would be irresponsible."

"Would the Director do something like that? This is Liu Weikun. Ihyeon received a diamond."

"A diamond?"

Choi Inwu asked Yuni again to confirm, furrowing his brow as if he couldn't trust his own ears.

"Yes, a diamond. A truly mysterious and elegant blue diamond."

Gazing into the distance as though she could see it again before her, Yuni stared into the middle distance with an expression of almost reverential wonder.

"I have no interest in jewelry whatsoever, but I stared at it for a long time—I was just mesmerized. Setting aside the price, it was genuinely beautiful. Like it held the water of a sea so deep no human has ever reached it. Or like a crystal that shows you the future. In any case, it was a work of art."

"Oh... really. A diamond. He proposed with a diamond—that rare blue kind, no less."

Choi Inwu looked at Liu with a distinctly wicked smile—the kind a villain wears when the enemy's greatest weakness is finally in hand.

"What? Did I say something wrong?"

"Back in the day, there was a classmate of Minton's who was agonizing over what diamond ring to buy for a proposal. I remember exactly what Liu Weikun said in front of him."

"Oh? Did something like that happen?"

And yet Liu showed not the slightest sign of discomfort. He merely shrugged and calmly took a sip of champagne.

"Then allow me to refresh your memory in detail."

Choi Inwu set down his flute and adjusted his posture. Then, without missing a beat, as if recalling something from the day before—or reciting a poem memorized so thoroughly it rolled off the tongue—he began.

"The notion that a diamond symbolizes eternal love is nothing more than an illusion manufactured by De Beers' marketing strategy. Diamonds may be hard, but they aren't particularly durable—they scratch easily, and you can crush one like a piece of candy with a hammer. Furthermore, they are thermodynamically unstable; at this very moment, every diamond on earth is slowly turning into graphite. So diamonds are neither eternal nor unchanging. Even the custom of proposing with a diamond ring is merely a trend, driven by De Beers' famous slogan—its history doesn't even reach a hundred years. —That's what you said, wasn't it?"

Kwon Juhan slapped his knee and burst out laughing.

"That's brutal—genuinely brutal. I know perfectly well the Director was prickly before he met Ihyeon, but this is something else entirely. Didn't anyone throw hands?"

Manager Han chuckled and nodded.

"Now that you say it, I remember too. His classmates were used to Director Liu's prickliness. They just took it in stride."

Yuni, who had been listening, looked at Liu with an amused expression.

"And yet, the Director proposed with a fifteen-carat diamond? That is a little outrageous, isn't it?"

"What?!"

Kwon Juhan nearly shouted, causing Yuni to almost spill champagne down her new dress.

"Oh! You scared me—why are you yelling?"

"F-f-fifteen carats?"

Kwon Juhan awkwardly half-rose from his seat, then—as if his throat had gone dry—downed his champagne and announced with the gravity of a man delivering a verdict.

"Beyoncé's engagement ring from Jay-Z—that was five million dollars, for certain. An 18-carat white diamond."

"Your memory for these things is remarkable."

"Even though it's three carats smaller than Beyoncé's, what Ihyeon received was a blue diamond—which is rarer and more expensive than white. Which means it's worth at least five million dollars, possibly more. You expect me not to shout?"

"My, look who's become a great detective."

"This much is just common knowledge."

"I wasn't exactly complimenting you. And the story about Beyoncé's ring being five million dollars is gossip, not common knowledge."

Ben and Jun, following the conversation through the delayed translations of the Koreans around them, had gone pale. They had caught enough to understand what was being said about the price. Jun, in particular, looked almost frightened.

Liu immediately checked Ihyeon's expression. As expected, Ihyeon looked uncomfortable. Liu wrapped an arm around his shoulder and gave it a reassuring stroke. Meeting Ihyeon's eyes when he looked up, Liu offered a calm smile.

Kwon Juhan, momentarily pausing his bickering with Yuni, looked back and forth between Ihyeon and Liu with a puzzled expression.

"But where would Ihyeon even wear a fifteen-carat diamond? A ring the size of a fist doesn't suit him at all."

"It's not a ring—it's a necklace."

Yuni replied.

"A diamond necklace for Ihyeon? Shouldn't he be wearing an evening gown or something?"

Kwon Juhan chuckled to himself, apparently picturing it. Yuni, frowning, jabbed him in the ribs with her elbow.

"Enough. It wasn't given as an accessory—it's symbolic. The meaning matters."

"Symbolic of what?"

Liu stepped in directly.

"It was my mother's. A gift from my father on their twentieth wedding anniversary."

At least the people gathered here weren't the type to gossip about the price of a wedding gift. They were also close enough that there was little to hide. It would have been better if Kwon Juhan hadn't brought up the five-million figure—but at this point, Liu felt it was better to explain it himself, if only for Ihyeon's sake.

"Oh... that truly does carry something in it."

The playfulness left Kwon Juhan's face. He grimaced and rubbed the back of his neck, visibly embarrassed by his earlier fixation on the diamond's value.

"The moment I decided I had to propose, that necklace was all I could think about. When I told my mother I wanted to propose to Ihyeon with that diamond, she agreed right away—right there and then. She was genuinely happy."

Upon hearing Liu's decision, Suki Kim had immediately contacted a specialized high-value security and delivery service and had the necklace shipped to Paris. In the early hours of the following morning—Paris time—while Ihyeon was sleeping, Liu retrieved the necklace safely. After returning from the walk, he presented it and formally reaffirmed his proposal.

The mood among the guests shifted. Interest moved away from the diamond's price and toward the story it carried.

"Ah, so you even proposed with your mother's diamond? Isn't that precisely the kind of sentimental, old-fashioned gesture you used to find so distasteful?"

Only Choi Inwu kept at it, still cheerfully merciless. He appeared to have resolved to tease Liu thoroughly for the entire day. If that was part of the price of Ihyeon becoming his partner, Liu was more than willing to pay it. Nothing seemed capable of ruining his mood today.

Liu nodded with a smile that conceded the point gracefully.

"Yes, I was ignorant. I said all of that—and then I fell in love anyway, and I found I wanted to give my partner anything. Diamond or otherwise."

"What's wrong with that? People's thoughts change."

Someone took Liu's side. It was Michelle. Like Ben and Jun, she had been following the conversation half a beat behind, relying on those around her to interpret.

"Proposing with something that carries the story of your parents—that's my idea of romance. It doesn't even have to be expensive. A turquoise bracelet passed down from a great-grandmother, a 0.1-carat ring a grandfather gave a grandmother in lean times—that's wonderful. It feels like being welcomed by not just your lover, but by their whole family."

When she finished, Michelle looked warmly toward Yuni beside her. Yuni returned the same warm smile.

"When you put it that way, it does sound romantic."

Everyone looked fondly at the couple—everyone, that is, except Kwon Juhan, who was still quietly nursing his long-standing jealousy over Michelle.

Sensing the right moment, Liu set down his champagne glass and drew everyone's attention.

"Well then... have all your questions about the proposal been answered? We'll be stepping away briefly. Just a few last things to check."

"Oh? Is it already that late?"

"There's less than thirty minutes until the ceremony!"

The guests were more flushed and excited than the couple themselves. Liu set Ihyeon's glass on the table and led him by the hand toward the main building of 'Phantom,' where the ceremony would take place.

The sight of the two of them—dressed in their formal attire, walking hand in hand—made it feel as though the wedding had already begun. Everyone gathered here had witnessed the full history of their love. It was a love strong enough to stand on its own even without a legal seal—and every person there believed without reservation that these two deserved to be recognized as each other's partners. Even Choi Inwu, who had been teasing Liu relentlessly all day, felt exactly that.

As soon as the two rounded the corner of the building and were out of sight, Kwon Juhan raised a question.

"Inwu hyung—what exactly is that famous story, anyway?"

"What story?"

"The diamond one. You said the whole trend of proposing with a diamond ring started because of some company's slogan."

"You don't know that slogan?"

As if this were unbelievable, Choi Inwu set his glass down with a sharp clink and stared.

"We're not old-timers like the Director or you, hyung."

"What does age have to do with it? It's one of the greatest advertising lines of the twentieth century. It's common knowledge."

"Less lecturing, more answering. What was it?"

"A diamond is forever."

A diamond is forever.

As the words left his mouth, Choi Inwu realized something. No matter how thoroughly Liu Weikun had been undone by love, the object of that love was Ihyeon. Ihyeon wasn't someone whose sincerity needed proving with a diamond. So why a diamond, then?

The reason was Seo Ihyeon.

Lifting his glass to conceal his expression, Choi Inwu smiled—not in the teasing way he had all afternoon, but with something quieter behind it.

A diamond, for a Diamond Dust. What better reason could there be?

· · · · ·

Being half-pulled along by Liu, Ihyeon asked in an anxious voice.

"Didn't we just finish the final check?"

"Come here."

Liu pressed the heavy main door open with his shoulder, pulling Ihyeon's hand—looking exactly like a mischievous boy slipping away from the group to find a quiet corner alone with the person he loved.

"Did Javier really call for you?"

"No. I just said that."

The interior of the building was as richly decorated as the garden—Jana roses, lavender, ranunculus, and eucalyptus. The banister of the gracefully curving staircase was a cascading bed of flowers from base to top.

The lower floor was deserted. Only Javier's voice and a few others drifted down from the second-floor hall above. Liu stood facing Ihyeon and gently lifted the tip of his chin.

"You looked too nervous. I brought us out here for a moment to breathe."

"How did you know I was nervous?"

Liu let out a low laugh.

"I'm the man you're marrying today. What would I be worth if I couldn't tell that much?"

Keeping his hand beneath Ihyeon's chin, he gave him a quick, light kiss.

"Hey, grooms! What are you two doing down there? Save the kissing for the ceremony."

Javier's voice called down from the railing above.

Liu had asked him for ten minutes alone with Ihyeon. Since all the preparations were complete, Javier ushered the waiting staff away and left them to it.

Silence settled around them. It felt as if they were the only two people left inside this grand, still space.

Liu fiddled idly with Ihyeon's bowtie, a contented smile spreading across his face.

"My husband is just too charming."

The two had chosen elegant, creamy white tuxedos for their wedding attire. Neither wore black while the other wore white—the color and fabric were the same, only the cut different.

Liu had emphasized a classic formality with a double-breasted jacket and wide satin lapels, while Ihyeon had chosen a single-breasted cut that suited his long limbs and composed manner.

"That's not the first time you've said that today."

"Saying it this many times isn't nearly enough for how I feel right now."

"......"

Ihyeon's chin dipped down again, and Liu gently tilted it back up until their eyes met.

"Are you really becoming my husband now?"

"I really am. If I weren't... it would be embarrassing for me too."

Liu smiled at Ihyeon, who wore shyness and sweetness in the same breath. He touched their noses together lightly and spoke in a voice that came out like a slow exhale.

"Does it feel real? That in thirty minutes, we're getting married right here."

His lips hovered close enough to touch, then slid toward Ihyeon's ear. The warm breath pierced through, and Ihyeon's shoulders tensed.

"Tonight, we're having our first time as a married couple."

At the whispered words, Ihyeon bit down lightly on his own lower lip.

"Sleeping with Seo Ihyeon as a married man. I'm genuinely looking forward to it."

Rather than scolding him out of embarrassment, Ihyeon laughed and gave his shoulder a light shove. Liu, pushed back with a smile that was somehow boyish and assured and happy and a little dangerous all at once, returned to his side and held out his hand.

"Shall we go up the stairs first—just the two of us?"

"......"

Ihyeon looked up at the grand, curved staircase leading to the second floor.

Unlike usual, the two of them would be walking up the carpeted stairs together today. Guests would be waiting on the second-floor balcony to celebrate their arrival. At the top, in a hall flooded with light from the skylight—in the very place where they had first met—they would exchange their vows and kiss. They would become husbands in front of the people they loved most.

Ihyeon understood what it meant to go up these stairs first, just the two of them—and what Liu intended by suggesting it. A rite that belonged to only them.

Ihyeon smiled at Liu and clasped his hand in return.

Holding hands, they began climbing together, matching their pace.

Though 'Phantom' had undergone extensive renovation, its bones remained the same. As Ihyeon climbed hand in hand with Liu—both of them dressed in the same cream-white formal wear—he felt as though the spring of time was being wound backward.

He was returning to the moment he had first seen the man beside him.

He had appeared on these very stairs. From his perfectly styled hair that seemed to float lightly, to his striking features and sophisticated suit—he had been a grand and dazzling figure. He was the first person who had made Ihyeon think, perhaps this is what a Golden Alpha looks like.

He remembered the first words Liu had spoken to him—issued with the guardedness he showed toward any outsider.

"How do you know Manager Han?"

Just as Kwon Juhan had said. Liu back then was undeniably prickly.

Not because he had particularly disliked Seo Ihyeon—he treated everyone that way until he had fully accepted them as his own. Baek Yuni and Kwon Juhan had comforted Ihyeon at the time, saying they had all gone through the same thing. He understood now that this was true. But it hadn't been comforting to hear then.

It wasn't as though Ihyeon was typically the kind of person to be bothered by coldness or distance. Yet every time that man's gaze swept past him without pausing, he had felt like a puppy that had been entirely overlooked. He had wanted Liu to look at him with warmth—the way he looked at Juhan, at Yuni—to look after him even while pretending to be annoyed, to joke with him.

Because he had liked him.

At the very least, because he had started to feel something for that man.

"Why are you smiling?"

"I was thinking about the day we first met here."

"Ah... if we start on that particular chapter, I wouldn't have enough mouths to apologize."

Ihyeon smiled at Liu, who was already wincing preemptively. And he thought back over the path they had walked together.

Liu no longer put up walls with strangers. He wasn't cold. Elderly people stopped him on the street to ask for directions; children in supermarkets tugged on his sleeve asking him to reach cereal from the high shelf. Despite his height and build, there was nothing intimidating about him anymore. He looked like the kind of person you could ask anything of. The journey they had made together had left its traces on his face, in the subtle warmth of his expressions.

"I haven't lived very long—but I think life is truly unpredictable."

"Tell me about it."

As the two of them reached the top of the stairs, the second-floor hall opened before them. At its center, light poured down from the skylight onto a low platform surrounded by a flower-covered arch. It also looked, somehow, like a magnificent birdcage.

They stood side by side at the railing and looked out at the empty hall. It didn't feel real that this was where their wedding would take place. It felt more like arriving early to someone else's ceremony.

"What if we had never found each other?"

Ihyeon murmured the question in a dazed voice.

"That couldn't have happened."

Liu's reply was resolute. Ihyeon could have predicted it.

"How can you be so sure? At first... you weren't even interested in me..."

Ihyeon's gaze drifted down toward Liu's chest—toward the floral boutonnière marking him as one of today's grooms.

"How many times do I have to say it? The only time I wasn't genuinely drawn to you was that very first meeting."

Liu gently cupped Ihyeon's cheek and tilted his face up. His steel-blue eyes—full of tenderness and certainty both—met Ihyeon's without flinching.

"Maybe it wasn't love at first sight. But I became more and more aware of you, and the more I came to know you, the more I wanted to know. Do you dislike a love that started like that?"

Pressing his cheek into his palm, Ihyeon shook his head. Liu Weikun was the only person to whom Ihyeon would ever show this kind of vulnerability.

"I have never once lost control of my pheromones. And yet, even after taking dozens of suppressants, I was helpless before yours. That is the pull between us."

His voice, low and weighted, carried the feeling of inevitability.

"Through countless coincidences stacking one on another, the distance between us kept closing. We were always going to meet."

Listening to him, Ihyeon found himself believing it. Liu smiled quietly, without showing his teeth.

"I have proof that this pull existed long before we ever met."

"Proof?"

"Alienation."

"Ah..."

"You painted it in Seoul when you were sixteen. And I, living in Hong Kong, became its owner—without knowing who painted it, or that it was Diamond Dust."

"......"

"Our story had already begun."

Liu's thumb traced Ihyeon's cheek. His expression grew solemn as he drew closer, eyelids lowering. Ihyeon wrapped his arms around Liu's waist and gently closed his eyes. He could feel the pulse beating in their lips as they met.

This moment—giving thanks for each other's existence, solemnly swearing their future—was their true wedding, the one that belonged only to them.

Tears slipped from beneath Ihyeon's closed eyelids. It was only a soft kiss, barely more than lips touching and then parting—yet Liu's lips were trembling. He drew Ihyeon carefully into his arms. Their cheeks and ears pressed together. If it wrinkled the tuxedo, if Javier nagged him later—he didn't care in the slightest.

"Ihyeon—it's okay even if he can't come."

Ihyeon's hands, wrapped around Liu's waist and clutching the back of his jacket, gave a small flinch.

"After the wedding, we can go to the East Sea together to visit him."

"......"

"We can show him the photos of the wedding, take a walk with Father, and visit Mother's columbarium. Okay?"

No one had noticed what Ihyeon was feeling. Everyone had assumed that today, Ihyeon was entirely happy—that he had already made his peace with his father's absence.

Only Liu understood what was moving through him.

Ihyeon didn't ask how he knew. It would have been a foolish question. He simply nodded, swallowed his tears, and tightened his arms. It was then that Yeehan appeared.

"Ihyeon! Seo Ihyeon! Where is Seo Ihyeon?"

The heavy main door burst open, and Yeehan's urgent voice rang out from below. Ihyeon pulled back from Liu's arms and called down toward the first floor.

"Yeah, I'm here, hyung."

As he did, Liu quietly wiped the traces of tears from Ihyeon's face.

"Hey, get down here! Your father is here!"

Liu and Ihyeon looked at each other.

Yeehan's uncle was Ihyeon's father.

Without a word between them, they ran down the stairs together. Ihyeon was faster. He burst out through the front door Yeehan held open. The unfiltered April sunlight made him squint for a moment.

The guests who had been in the garden were all gathered at the entrance of 'Phantom.' The uncle and aunt were surrounding someone. Ihyeon, who had paused just inside the main gate, took a step forward without thinking.

His uncle and aunt saw him and stepped aside.

It was his father.

His father stood with a canvas wrapped in kraft paper and tied with twine tucked under his arm.

He was wearing the new suit that Liu and Ihyeon had sent him, his hair combed back somewhat neatly. At the sight, Ihyeon laughed and cried at the same time. No explanation was necessary. No words were needed.

"Father!"

He ran straight to him without a moment's hesitation.

He couldn't even guess how many years it had been since he had last been held by his father. And yet he was surprised by himself—that there had been no hesitation at all.

Even now that Ihyeon had grown into a young man, his father was still taller. Once called Julien the Artist for his striking height and handsome looks, he had been a passionate art student who had given up everything to love Ihyeon's mother fiercely.

"Even though I knew you probably couldn't come alone, I kept feeling like you would show up..."

Ihyeon pressed his cheek against his father's shoulder and burrowed into his arms like a child.

Thank you. I was waiting for you.

He didn't say the words aloud—but his father pulled him close in return, arms tightening around his back. He patted the back he held, just as he used to when Ihyeon was very small.

It was the moment all the preparations for the wedding were complete.