The air in the room was thick, as if the very walls were closing in on them. Minho's heart raced, and he could feel the tension rising with every second that passed. Kitty stood beside him, her hand in his, and her choice still ringing in his ears. "I choose you." It was a declaration that made his chest feel lighter, but at the same time, he couldn't shake the feeling that something was about to shatter.

Then, without warning, the door creaked open. Minho's gaze snapped to it immediately. The door had been locked. How—?

Stella stepped into the room, a smirk twisting her lips. The key. It was her key. Minho's confusion was instant, and the weight of the situation crashed down on him. What the hell was she doing here?

"You..." Minho started, his voice low and tinged with irritation, but his words faltered when he saw who was standing right behind her. Dae.

His chest tightened. Dae had been his friend. But now, seeing Dae stand beside Stella—his jaw clenched, his eyes hard—Minho felt a pang of betrayal cut through him.

"How did you get in?" Minho demanded, the tension in his voice unmistakable.

Stella didn't flinch. "I have my ways," she said with a sharp, dismissive wave, as if the answer was irrelevant. "But that's not the point. We need to talk, Minho."

Before Minho could reply, Dae's cold voice interrupted him, each word dripping with bitterness. "I think it's time you realized what you've done, Minho."

Minho turned to face Dae, his brow furrowing. "What are you talking about?" he asked, genuinely confused.

Dae's eyes were locked onto him, the fury behind them unmistakable. "You stole her, Minho," he spat. "You think she's some kind of prize, but she's not. You took Kitty from me, and I haven't forgotten that."

Kitty squeezed Minho's hand, her eyes flicking between him and Dae, unsure what to say, but she didn't speak. She had seen Dae's feelings for her, had known they had been more than just friends, but this? This was different. This was personal.

Minho's breath caught. He could feel the anger in Dae's words—so raw, so real. But it still didn't make sense. Dae had known. He had known about their relationship, their bond. Minho turned to Dae, his voice firm but laced with the weight of everything that had happened. "Dae, I never stole her. Kitty's not anyone's to take."

"You don't get it, do you, Minho?" Dae's voice cracked as he took a step forward, his fists clenched at his sides. "You had everything. You always got what you wanted. But this time, you went too far. Kitty wasn't some game to play with."

Minho's chest burned with frustration. "I didn't play with her, Dae. I care about her."

Dae's gaze never wavered. "That's funny coming from the guy who—" He stopped himself, his nostrils flaring as if restraining the words that wanted to escape. "Who used to say the same thing about Stella."

Minho froze. Stella. He had tried to forget their past, the games they played, the lies they'd told each other. He had been a different person then. A player. A flirt. He didn't want to admit it, but he couldn't deny it. He had hurt Stella, too. But he had moved on.

Stella, seeing the opening, stepped closer, her voice a snake's hiss. "It's funny, isn't it? How Minho can be such a charming guy when it suits him. He had everything with me—everything he could ever want. But when he got bored, he moved on to the next thing. To you, Kitty."

Minho's fists clenched. He didn't want to hear this. Not from her. But Stella continued, her voice rising with each word. "You think you're so different now, but you're not, Minho. You were a player back then, and you still are. The only difference now is that you're playing with her heart. But you won't keep her. You'll get bored, just like you always do."

Kitty stepped forward, her voice trembling but strong. "Shut up, Stella," she spat. "You have no idea what you're talking about."

Stella's smile was venomous as she turned her attention to Kitty. "Oh, I think I do. After all, I was with him before you. And I know exactly what he's capable of. All the late nights, the promises he never kept, the way he made me feel like I was the only one—until I wasn't. That's who he is, Kitty. He's never going to change."

Minho's stomach twisted with guilt, but that didn't stop the anger from bubbling up inside him. He stepped forward, his voice a growl. "That's not who I am anymore. I'm not that guy."

Stella chuckled darkly. "Keep telling yourself that. But deep down, you're the same, Minho. And deep down, you know it."

As Minho turned to face her, ready to argue back, his eyes met Dae's, and for a moment, the room felt like it was closing in. Dae had been in love with Kitty. Minho realized now that all the tension, all the bitterness, had been Dae's pain spilling out. It wasn't just about him and Stella anymore. It was about everything that had been left unsaid.

Dae stepped forward, his voice low and trembling with rage. "You think you can just take what you want without consequences?" he sneered, his eyes narrowing. "You think you've won, Minho? You haven't. I'm not going to stand by and watch you ruin her like you ruined everything else."

Kitty looked at Dae, her heart pounding in her chest. "Dae, stop," she said softly, but Dae didn't listen. His anger was too great.

Minho was done. "Dae, you need to wake up," he growled, his patience finally snapping. "You're blinded by your own feelings. You're angry at me because I'm with Kitty, but you're not seeing the bigger picture. This isn't about me and you. This is about you and your own jealousy. This isn't about Kitty at all."

Dae's fists trembled, every muscle in his body coiled tight like a spring ready to snap. His breaths came fast and shallow, the anger bubbling inside him, hot and uncontrollable. He couldn't look at Minho without feeling the bitter sting of betrayal. His eyes narrowed, pupils dilating in a desperate attempt to contain the fury threatening to explode.

"You took her from me, Minho," Dae spat, his voice thick with resentment. "And that's something I can't forgive." The words felt heavy in his throat, but they were the only thing he could say. He wanted to strike out, to make Minho feel the weight of the hurt Dae had carried all this time. But there was more than anger in him...There was the wound of loss, the gnawing ache of something he'd never truly gotten to have.

Dae had spent so long buried in his feelings for Kitty, fighting a quiet war inside himself. For months, he had told himself that it didn't matter—that it wasn't supposed to be, that she deserved better than him. But the truth, raw and painful, cut through him now. He had been in love with her. He still was.

The thought of her with Minho, the man who had never really earned the right to hold her heart, ate at him. How could he take her away so easily? How could Minho—someone who had been through the motions with so many girls, someone who had treated relationships like they were disposable—get to have her? Dae had never expected to be the one to win her, but he had never thought it would be Minho who would so easily claim her.

Stella stood off to the side, watching the exchange with a predatory gleam in her eyes. She wasn't part of this, not anymore. But she relished in the chaos, in the destruction of the bond that had briefly held them all together. She had always seen Minho for what he was—a charming, manipulative player who didn't care about the damage he left behind. And now, here he was, with Kitty—her Kitty—as if nothing had happened, as if their history didn't matter.

Stella's lips curled into a smile, malicious and sharp. She had won. In a way, she had always known she would. She had been with Minho first, after all, and she had seen every side of him, the flirty, charming facade, the arrogance that bordered on narcissism, the self-centered desire to always be the one in control. And Kitty... Kitty was just another conquest in Minho's long line of conquests.

She tilted her head, letting the words fall from her lips like venom. "This is just the beginning, Minho," she said coolly, watching his every move, savoring the discomfort she was causing. "You and your little player routine, you won't escape it forever." The words hung in the air, lingering like a threat, a promise of things to come. You can't change, Minho. You never will.

Minho's jaw tightened, his eyes narrowing as he watched Stella turn on her heel and walk away. The weight of her words hit him harder than he'd expected. She was right. He couldn't erase his past. No matter how much he tried to change, no matter how hard he worked to prove himself to Kitty, there was always a part of him that had been that person. A player. A liar. A man who had never truly committed.

As Stella walked out, Dae's glare never left Minho. His eyes were seething with a mixture of hatred and disappointment. The anger was still there, sharp and vicious, but something else was surfacing beneath it—something deeper. Hurt. Betrayal. Dae had believed in Minho. He had trusted him as a friend, had thought that maybe—just maybe—he could count on Minho to do the right thing. But now he realized, with a cruel clarity, that he had been fooling himself. Minho had never been the friend he thought he was. He had taken Kitty from him without a second thought.

And the worst part was, Dae wasn't even angry at Kitty. She had made her choice. But the real betrayal, the real ache, was that Minho—his so-called friend—had taken something Dae had never gotten to have. And now, there was nothing left to do but walk away, leaving behind the friendship, the connection, and the faint hope that things could have turned out differently.

Minho watched Dae's back as he followed Stella out of the room. The space between them had collapsed, and it was clear now that the rift wasn't just about Kitty, it was about everything they had never said to each other. Everything that had been left unsaid.

The tension in the room still felt suffocating, and as Minho stood there, his mind raced. Had he really been that guy? He knew he had done things in the past that he wasn't proud of. He had hurt people, used them, broken hearts without even looking back. But standing here now, with Kitty beside him, he realized something. He had changed. He wasn't that person anymore. Not when it came to her.

Kitty stood quietly beside him, her presence grounding him. She hadn't spoken much throughout the confrontation, but he could feel her warmth beside him, a silent reminder that the choices they made mattered now.

Minho pulled her into his arms, the world outside disappearing as he held her close. Her body was warm against his, her breath steady, as though the chaos of the moment hadn't fazed her at all. And for a moment, he felt everything in him relax.

"It's over," he whispered, the words more for himself than for her. "No more running. No more games." His hands gripped her tighter, his chest swelling with the weight of what he was about to say. "We choose each other, Kitty. There's no going back now."

Kitty nodded slowly, a faint smile tugging at her lips. She knew. She had known for a while now. Her fingers slid up to his neck, pulling him down to her level. Her voice was barely a whisper, but it felt like everything in that moment. "I choose you," she breathed, her words sealing the fate of everything they had just faced.

And for the first time in what felt like forever, Minho felt like he had made the right choice. Not because it was easy, but because it was the only one that truly mattered. The world outside them could keep spinning, but in this moment they had each other.