The cheers erupted, a deafening wave of applause that reverberated through the Queens Group hallway. Cameras flashed, phones were raised, and a sea of employees, lawyers, and executives clapped and cheered, their faces alight with a mixture of shock and sheer delight. In the center of the hurricane, Hyun-woo, still on one knee, held Hae-in's hands, his eyes only for her.
Hae-in was a vision of tearful, unbridled joy. The cold, impenetrable CEO was gone, replaced by a woman whose heart was so full she thought it might burst. The weight of two years of grief, of silent pain, and of unspoken love was finally lifted. She looked down at him, her vision blurred by tears, and a soundless sob escaped her lips.
A few feet away, the silence was shattered by two very different reactions. Hong Beom-ja, her face a mask of pure, unadulterated triumph, let out a loud, proud whoop. She clapped so hard her hands turned red, a boisterous and unapologetic celebration. Kim Seon-hwa, on the other hand, stood frozen, her jaw slack, her eyes wide with a horrified disbelief that verged on apoplexy. She was a woman who lived for control, and in this moment, every ounce of her control had been ripped from her. Her carefully constructed facade of a perfect family was shattered, replaced by a spectacle of raw, public emotion. Her own son, Hong Soo-cheol, and his wife, Da-hye, stood by her, a mixture of bewilderment and awkward embarrassment on their faces. They had never seen anything like it.
Hyun-woo, ever aware of their surroundings but more focused on the woman in front of him, slowly stood up. He carefully slipped the ring onto her finger, a perfect fit, a silent testament to a love that was meant to be. He then gently wiped her tears away with his thumb, his gaze unwavering, and pulled her into a long, loving embrace. The crowd's cheers only grew louder. This wasn't just a proposal; it was a public declaration of war against the past, a final, unyielding vow to the future.
He held her close, a shield against the chaos. "Hae-in-ah," he whispered, his voice thick with emotion, "I love you. I love you so much."
She clung to him, her head buried in his chest, her sobs finally giving way to soft, contented hums. "I love you, you lunatic," she whispered back, the words a raw, honest confession.
He gently pulled away, took her hand, and guided her through the now-parting sea of people. He walked with a determined, confident stride, his head held high, a man who had faced his fears and won. He led her back to her office, her sanctuary, and once inside, he closed the door behind them, the click a final punctuation mark on the public spectacle.
Hae-in, still a little shaky, leaned against the closed door, her hand still holding his. Her eyes were red, but they were shining with a brilliant light he hadn't seen in years. She looked at him, at the confident, loving man standing before her, and a fresh wave of tears came.
"Baek Hyun-woo," she said, her voice a soft, disbelieving whisper, "what did you just do?"
He walked toward her, his face a picture of sincere devotion. He reached out and gently cupped her face in his hands. "I just promised you forever," he said, his voice a low, tender murmur. "In front of the whole world. I wanted everyone to know. I wanted to tell the past to be silent. I wanted to tell the world that we are not broken. We are not a failed marriage. We are a love story. A love story that is finally getting its happily ever after."
He saw the old pain in her eyes, the lingering grief of their past. He had to address it. He had to be her hero one last time.
"Hae-in," he said, his voice dropping to a serious, heartfelt whisper, "I know what you're thinking. You're thinking about the first time. The first proposal. It was a beautiful memory, but it was just a moment. It was a beginning that was taken from us. This... this is different. This isn't just a moment. This is a promise. This is me fighting for our future. This is me making up for all the pain and all the silent years. I'm not just asking you to marry me again. I'm asking you to trust me. To let me love you. To let me be your partner, your hero, your everything. To let me be a new man, a new husband for a new you. A new us."
Hae-in's tears flowed freely now, but they were tears of profound joy. He had understood. He had seen the unspoken truth in her heart, the fear that this was just a repeat of a past that had ended in heartbreak. But he had put her fears to rest. This was not a re-do; it was a reclamation.
She reached out and gently touched the ring on her finger. "It's not... It's not the same," she whispered.
"It's not," he agreed, his voice a soft, loving hum. "The old one was a symbol of our beginning. This one... this one is a symbol of our future. A future that we're going to build together, one day at a time. It's a promise that I will always choose you. That I will always fight for you. And that I will never, ever let you go. This ring is a final goodbye to the divorce papers. A final goodbye to our silent, painful past. A final, loud promise to our beautiful, messy, and loud future."
He pulled her into his arms again, a secure, loving embrace that was her true home. He held her for a long time, the only sound in the room being their steady heartbeats. They had come so far. From cold indifference to fiery jealousy, from a silent chasm to a dramatic public display of love. They had gone through it all, and in doing so, they had found their way back to each other.
"I love you, Baek Hyun-woo," she said, her voice a low, raw whisper against his chest. "I love you so much. I'm sorry for all the years that I pushed you away. I'm sorry for all the pain."
"No apologies," he said, his voice filled with a deep, abiding affection. "We were both lost. But we're found now. And we're going to be okay. I promise. This time, our love will be so loud, so bright, that it will chase away every single shadow. Now, what do you say we go home and have a long, long talk? And maybe a cuddle?"
She laughed, a joyous, beautiful sound that was the new soundtrack to his life. "Only if you promise to tell me all the details of what my mother and Beom-ja were saying. I have a feeling that was a whole other drama I missed."
He chuckled, a low, contented sound. "Oh, my dear wife, you have no idea. But I'll tell you all about it. We have a lifetime to fill with these stories now. A lifetime. And it starts today."