Se-Ri's POV
I woke up to sunlight bleeding through linen curtains.
The sheets smelled like marigolds. And him.
My skin was bare. The pillow beside me was not empty.
Leo Wu.
Still asleep. One arm folded under the pillow, the other resting where I had once been. Shirtless. Calm. Blissfully unaware of the chaos building in my chest.
Oh no. Oh no. Oh no.
I sat up too fast. My head spun. The room tilted. My stomach flipped.
This didn't happen. I mean, it did. But it couldn't... linger. Not with the wedding in motion downstairs and half my family already wondering why I wasn't for breakfast.
I slipped out of bed and grabbed my kurta from the floor.
He stirred.
"Se-Ri?"
"You should go."
He blinked. "What?"
"Please. Before someone sees."
He sat up slowly. No protest. Just a steady nod. He got dressed quietly, while I fled to the bathroom and locked the door behind me.
My hands wouldn't stop shaking.
An hour later, I met Rhea and Amisha behind the guesthouse, at the old banyan tree that had been our childhood fortress.
Rhea had curlers in her hair and a clock in her voice. "You have sixty seconds. I have to get married."
"I slept with Leo," I blurted.
Amisha's coffee nearly exploded. Rhea stared like I'd just confessed to arson.
"Wait," Rhea said. "Like actually—"
"Yes. Fully. Entirely."
"Wow," Amisha breathed. "Okay but... was it bad?"
"Amisha!"
"It's a fair question!"
I exhaled. "It was... incredible. That's the problem."
Rhea softened. Sat beside me. "Then why the freakout?"
"Because I don't do this. I don't get messy. And now I can't even look at him."
Amisha shrugged. "So don't look. Talk."
"Not today," I said. "Not with all this."
And it was all too much.
At the wedding, I avoided Leo like it was a tactical mission. I relocated during group photos. Pretended urgent tasks. Once, I ducked into the catering tent and knocked over a tray.
He saw me every time. Calm. Quiet. Watching. Not pushing.
Just... there.
And that was somehow worse.
Even Amisha raised an eyebrow. "You know he's not a ghost, right? He's not going to disappear."
"Exactly," I muttered.
Rhea didn't push, but her eyes followed me all night like she already knew the ending.
And maybe she did.
Because by the time the music started and the champagne flowed, I was barely holding it together.
Leo was still there.
Still watching.
Still waiting.
And I didn't know what to do about it.
Epilogue
Leo's POV
She said it softly. "You should go."
No anger. No warmth either. Just boundaries. Snapped back in place like armor.
That was Se-Ri.
I didn't argue. I dressed. I left.
But the way she wouldn't meet my eyes — like last night had been a breach, like her skin hadn't shivered under mine — stayed with me.
I spent the morning doing nothing. Just listening. Waiting.
By noon, I knew. She was avoiding me.
At the wedding, I saw her everywhere — ducking behind cousins, changing direction mid-step. Her shoulders would stiffen when I was near, like she could feel me looking.
She was scared.
Not of me. Of what it meant.
And I understood. I didn't chase her.
But I didn't forget.
Because last night wasn't a mistake.
It was real.
And rare.
And watching her laugh too loud, arms folded too tight, I wondered if she felt it too.
And how long she'd keep running from it.