"Bold of you to choose the same place again," Seolhee said, walking over to where Hyunjae was sitting. "And it seems like you rented out the entire place this time too. Don't you learn your lesson?" she sighed, shaking her head at him playfully.  

He laughed, eyeing her carefully. "You don't hate me anymore?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at her. 

"Hm... only a little bit?" she teased, making him laugh again. 

"You succeeded in calling off our engagement," he said, folding his hands on the table. "Congrats. I honestly wasn't expecting you to be able to pull it off. And your mom called off her wedding too. Truly, your family is in the news a lot lately." 

"We are quite popular," she said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear and grinning at him. "But yeah, I pulled it off. It wasn't looking good at times but... it worked."

"The power of love?" he teased. 

"Yes," she said seriously. "Don't you believe in it?" she asked, putting her elbows on the table and cupping her face in her hands, peering at him intently. 

"I'm not in a position to believe in something like that," he scoffed. "I'll marry whoever my father wants me to, and that's that. I accepted that reality a long time ago." 

Her heart softened, and she realized that their situations had never been that different after all. "That's sad," she murmured. "I don't think you should just accept it. I don't think you should go down without a fight," she told him. "Isn't there anyone who makes your heart beat faster just by thinking about them? Isn't there anyone you feel like you can't live without having them by your side." 

At those words, his confident and carefree demeanor changed, a shadow crossing his face. "She's way out of my league," he murmured, frowning at the table. 

"Huh? You're so rich, and attractive, and have literally everything. How could anyone possibly be out of your league?" 

"She's perfect," he sighed, dragging a hand over his face, distress written all over him. "She's smart and hard-working and beautiful, but she's poor. My father will never allow it. You know that as well as I do." 

"But you can try," she said softly. "I suggest you try, before you regret not doing anything." 

Hyunjae looked thoughtfully at her. "You're pretty smart," he said after a moment. "Yeah, maybe I'll consider it. Who knows. But I honestly think I'll just end up ruining her life, so there's that." 

Seolhee put her hand over his, trying to be of some comfort. "Whatever you decide, I'm cheering you on," she told him sincerely. "Just be happy." 

"Be happy," he mumbled, looking at her. "You're pretty smart," he said again, a small smile coming to his face. "You'd be a good friend." 

"Would you like to be friends?" she asked, grinning at him. "Won't the media get a kick out of that?" she said, laughing just at the thought of the articles that might come out about them. Somehow, the idea of more rumors and more articles didn't bother her as much as they did before. 

"They definitely will," Hyunjae agreed, laughing too. "What do you say we hang out next weekend? I'll buy you some clothes or something to make up for stressing you out with this whole engagement business, and we can drive the media crazy." 

"Sounds like a plan," she agreed. 

And just like that, she'd made a new friend.