Jeon Segye rushed outside and immediately waved down a taxi.

“Airport, please! Take me to the airport!”

-“Nah holy shit, I think I’m getting attached to this taxi driver now LMAOOO”

-“HE’S BACK AGAIN TT_TT”

-“I’m seriously gonna memorize this ajusshi’s face at this point LMAOOOO”

Jeon Segye stared anxiously out the window.

But the road was completely jammed.

His eyes shook as he checked the time.

“Sir, please... as fast as possible.”

“Ah, the roads are blocked solid. What am I supposed to do about it?”

“Still... please....”

Segye’s voice trembled.

Watching him through the rearview mirror, the taxi driver cheerfully asked,

“Why? Someone you gotta meet?”

“...Yeah.”

“If you can’t see ’em now, you can just see ’em later. Don’t get so worked up.”

“It has to be now.”

Jeon Segye spoke as if he’d made up his mind about something.

“No, seriously, what kinda person are they?”

At the driver’s question, Segye answered,

“The person... I love.”

It was the first time he had ever said it aloud.

The end of Segye’s voice trembled as he confessed that he truly was in love.

“I only realized it now. But I have to tell her....”

Right then—

the completely frozen traffic slowly began to clear.

“Tighten your seatbelt.”

The taxi driver gripped the steering wheel tightly as he spoke.

“I’ll make sure you get there somehow!”

Beyond Gayang Bridge, the Han River sparkled brilliantly beneath the sunlight.

As if the entire world was cheering with all its might for the path Jeon Segye was running toward.

Segye was desperately trying to reach Pyeonghwa.

* * *

“What a shame.”

“I know....”

“But do well over there, okay?”

At the airport, Nam Pyeonghwa stood beside Hanseong’s heir, holding Emily and Daniel’s hands.

Even though it had only been a short time, they’d grown attached.

As if he had noticed Pyeonghwa’s eyes searching for someone in the crowded airport, Hanseong’s heir spoke.

“Then we’ll get going. Boarding time’s coming up.”

“...But the CEO still hasn’t come.”

“I told you he’s busy.”

At Hanseong’s heir’s words, Nam Pyeonghwa finally started walking.

* * *

“I’m sorry! Sorry!”

Jeon Segye shoved through the crowds filling the airport as he searched for Nam Pyeonghwa.

He had long since abandoned the composed demeanor he always tried to maintain.

His tie hung loose in a mess, and his hair was completely disheveled.

Jeon Segye ran and ran again.

Every footstep echoing across the massive airport carried desperation.

-This is a boarding announcement for Air France flight AF267 bound for Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport. Boarding will close shortly. Passengers who have not yet boarded are asked to proceed immediately to Gate 25.

His chest felt like it was going to burst.

Jeon Segye ran frantically.

But Pyeonghwa was nowhere to be seen.

At that moment, outside the window, an airplane lifted into the sky.

Watching the plane disappear into the blue horizon, Jeon Segye pressed his lips shut tightly.

The sweat gathered on his forehead looked almost like tears.

Clenching his fists hard, Segye could do nothing except stare blankly up at the sky.

That this was for the best.

He couldn’t lie to himself like that anymore.

“....”

Just then, while he stood frozen in place—

“CEO?”

A voice like a miracle reached him.

-“AHHH FUCK YES THIS IS IT”

-“Boseok-sensei 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭”

-“I TRUSTED YOU FOR REAL”

The comments exploded instantly.

When Segye turned around, the Pyeonghwa he had wanted so desperately was standing right there.

Segye blinked in disbelief.

Then he strode toward her with wide steps.

“Ah...!”

And immediately pulled her into his arms.

With a trembling voice, ragged breathing, and a face tight with nerves—

he held the back of her head carefully and made the world’s clumsiest confession.

“I like you, Intern Nam.”

“....”

“I’m sorry I couldn’t say it before. T-truthfully, nobody’s ever liked me before... and I didn’t know how long you’d keep liking me either....”

Segye squeezed his eyes shut and finally confessed the feelings he knew he could never say if not now.

“But honestly, I was happy. I wanted you to keep liking me. So I cowardly pretended I didn’t feel anything. I’m sorry for hurting you.”

Still dazed inside his arms, Pyeonghwa carefully wrapped her hands around his back.

The moment she hugged him back, Segye’s sorrow overflowed and tears streamed down his face.

“This time, I’ll wait. I can wait until you like me again, Pyeonghwa.”

“....”

“I’ll wait months, years if I have to. I’ll stay exactly the same, never changing even a little. So....”

Holding Pyeonghwa tightly in his arms, Segye spoke as if putting a period at the end of a sentence.

“If your l-love fades someday... will you think of me then?”

“Huh?”

Pyeonghwa pulled away from the embrace after hearing Segye gather all his courage to say those words.

“What are you talking about right now?”

“I know! I know this is wrong. Doing this after you already became someone else’s woman... sniff....”

“Someone else’s woman? Me?”

“Then who else here is Nam Pyeonghwa?”

“Whose woman am I?”

“H-Hanseong....”

“Excuse me???”

“Y-you’re studying abroad together....”

“Studying abroad?”

Though they stood only half a step apart, the two still remained close enough to touch.

Pyeonghwa lightly punched Segye’s chest with both fists.

“I seriously don’t understand what you’ve been saying this whole time... why are you calling English Village ‘studying abroad’?”

“Eng?lish? Vil?lage? But you said you were quitting the company and leaving. D-Daniel and Emily said....”

“I do want to study abroad eventually, but right now my English isn’t very good. The company said they’d support me through an English training program, so I agreed. It’s just a one-month English Village course.”

“But you said you wouldn’t be able to contact anyone?”

“They said it’s an intensive program where we have to hand over our phones for a month and only speak with native speakers.”

“And when you said to take good care of Elizabeth too....”

“That’s because I can’t leave the place for a month.”

Jeon Segye tilted his head back in utter disbelief.

At the second-floor railing, Daniel and Emily were watching them.

“...!!!”

When Segye pointed at them speechlessly, the two drew giant hearts over their heads before running away.

Pyeonghwa sighed and smiled.

“I did think... they gave me way too much money for English Village registration fees....”

“No, seriously, you made me misunderstand everything! Then why the hell did you even come to the airport?!”

“I got kind of attached while working with Hanseong’s heir... and we all came to say goodbye together.”

“Attached?! W-why are you getting attached to random men so easily, Intern Nam?!”

-“English Village is fucking insane T_T LMAOOO”

-“They’re destroying every cliché till the very end holy shit”

-“They’re so cute TT_TT these idiots are perfect together...”

“Then... then....”

Jeon Segye kept circling around his words, unable to say them properly.

Realizing what he meant, Nam Pyeonghwa hugged him again.

“I still like you, CEO.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Really.”

“H-how much....”

“A lot.”

As Segye wrapped his arms around Pyeonghwa, who was clinging tightly to his waist, his heart pounded with emotions he couldn’t even explain.

It felt like he had the entire world in his hands.

Resting against his chest, Pyeonghwa lifted her head to look at him.

The two stared into each other’s eyes for a moment.

So many things had happened.

The moments their hearts pounded so hard they had to look away.

The days they pretended not to understand their own feelings anyway. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

The nights they stayed awake trying to become someone helpful to the other person.

The countless times they circled around each other, wanting desperately to confess the love overflowing inside them.

And now—

they both knew those moments would all become memories.

Because.

-“KYAAAA”

-“->//< FINALLY HOLY SHIT”

-“This kiss scene is fucking amazing ahh Byeon Juhwa you perverted genius”

Their love had finally begun.

The man who was always perfectly composed was now hopelessly disheveled.

The woman who had always been calm was now shy and blushing.

Inside the wide airport flooded with blue sunlight, their lips drew close.

Even while kissing, Jeon Segye’s lips kept curving upward because he was so overwhelmingly happy he couldn’t stand it.

Not wanting to pull away even for a second, he kept giving her several more light kisses with tiny smacking sounds.

“Can you maybe....”

“Why....”

“If I say stop, then stop.”

It wasn’t until Pyeonghwa, too embarrassed to endure it any longer, pushed him away that Segye’s lips finally stopped chasing after hers.

The two left the airport and grabbed a taxi to head home.

-“Holy shit the ajusshi STILL hasn’t left?”

-“This is actually insane TT_TT LMAOOOOO”

-“I’m crying laughing how many times are they gonna recycle this driver LMAO”

“Why won’t you let me kiss you?”

“No, it’s just....”

“Is it because I look like this right now? Now that you finally got me, are you starting to regret it a little?”

“Shh. Why would you say something like that?”

Right between Jeon Segye’s squinty-eyed sulking and Nam Pyeonghwa trying to calm him down, a familiar voice suddenly cut in.

-“The number one thing people starting their first relationship absolutely need to remember!”

Relationship influencer.

From lifelong singles to serial cheaters, A to Z.

It was none other than Mobaji.

The moment they recognized Mobaji’s voice, both of them abruptly fell silent and listened.

-“You need to talk to each other a lot. Nothing’s more frustrating than misunderstandings piling up.”

Outside the window stretched the same bridge Segye had crossed earlier.

Wide, blue, sparkling water spreading endlessly beneath it.

-“Talking about the things you want to do together is also a great way to grow closer.”

At Mobaji’s advice, Segye spoke first.

“I want to get married.”

“Huh? Marriage?”