The grand halls of the Lee family mansion were always suffocating. Woozi sat stiffly at the dinner table, his fingers curled into a fist under the polished oak surface. His parents were discussing yet another potential suitor, oblivious to the storm raging inside him.

“This time, the Choi family’s son has studied overseas. He’s charming and well-mannered,” his mother said, a hopeful smile on her face.

Woozi forced a tight-lipped smile, hiding the frustration burning in his chest. “I told you already—I don’t need a blind date.”

His father sighed, setting down his wine glass. “Woozi, you’re not getting any younger. You need someone respectable beside you, someone with a strong family name.”

But Woozi didn’t want a “respectable” partner. He already had someone.

And they would never approve of him.

Outside the grand estate, Seungcheol—better known as S.Coups—waited by the old stone fence. His hands were tucked into his pockets, his dark hoodie a stark contrast to the world Woozi came from.

Woozi slipped past the gates undetected, his heart pounding as he spotted the familiar figure waiting for him.

“You’re late,” S.Coups teased, a smirk playing on his lips.

Woozi exhaled, shaking his head. “You know, I think my parents are trying to marry me off before I even finish my tea.”

S.Coups chuckled, reaching out to brush his fingers lightly against Woozi’s. “Still rejecting them for me?”

Woozi met his gaze, serious now. “Always.”

It wasn’t easy, sneaking around, keeping their love hidden behind closed doors. S.Coups came from nothing—his family had no status, no wealth, nothing the Lees would ever deem “worthy” of their son.

And yet, Woozi had never cared about any of that.

He cared about the way S.Coups made him laugh when he was exhausted from business meetings. He cared about the way S.Coups held him when the weight of expectation felt unbearable. He cared about him, not his background.

But love alone wasn’t enough—not in his family’s world.

And the moment they found out, they made sure S.Coups knew it.

The confrontation came sooner than expected.

Woozi returned home one evening to find his father standing in the grand foyer, expression unreadable. Beside him, his mother clutched her pearls, eyes filled with quiet disappointment.

“Who told you?” Woozi asked, already knowing the answer.

His father didn’t flinch. “That doesn’t matter. What matters is that you end it.”

Woozi’s jaw clenched. “No.”

His mother stepped forward. “Woozi, be reasonable. He can’t give you the life you deserve. He has no future, no connections—”

“He has me.”

His father exhaled sharply. “Then you’re choosing a life of disgrace.”

Woozi had never hated the expectations placed upon him more than in that moment.

And yet, despite the heartbreak in his chest, he stood his ground. “If loving him is a disgrace, then I don’t want this life.”

Weeks passed. Woozi stopped attending family events, rejecting every call, every invitation. His parents refused to acknowledge S.Coups’ existence, treating Woozi’s silence as nothing more than rebellion.

And S.Coups? He stayed. He stayed even when Woozi told him that fighting his family was exhausting, that he wasn’t sure he could take much more.

“You don’t have to prove anything to me,” S.Coups whispered one night, pulling Woozi into his arms. “I don’t need their approval to love you.”

But Woozi wanted more than secrecy. He wanted a future.

And one day, against all odds, that future came knocking.

It was Woozi’s father who finally called for him.

S.Coups arrived at the Lee estate expecting another fight, but instead, he was met with Woozi’s father sitting in his study, staring at him with unreadable eyes.

“I know the kind of man you are,” his father said, his voice firm. “And I know that no matter how much I disapprove, my son isn’t going to stop loving you.”

S.Coups remained silent, bracing himself.

Woozi’s father leaned back. “So tell me—what exactly do you intend to do with his heart?”

S.Coups met his gaze head-on. “Protect it. Always.”

A long silence stretched between them before Woozi’s father let out a slow sigh. “Then don’t disappoint me.”

It wasn’t an approval wrapped in warmth, but it was something.

And that was enough.

Woozi’s eyes were red when S.Coups found him later that evening. “I can’t believe it,” he murmured, fingers gripping onto S.Coups like he was afraid he’d disappear.

S.Coups smiled, tucking a strand of hair behind Woozi’s ear. “Told you I wasn’t going anywhere.”

Woozi let out a shaky laugh, leaning in. “We made it.”

S.Coups grinned before pressing a kiss to Woozi’s forehead.

“No,” he whispered. “We’re just getting started.”

The Lee estate had always felt more like a museum than a home—cold, distant, filled with wealth but empty of warmth. But today, as Woozi sat in the grand dining room, his fingers intertwined with S.Coups’ beneath the table, it felt different.

His parents still sat with their usual composed expressions, his mother sipping tea while his father observed S.Coups carefully from across the table. It wasn’t hostility anymore—not exactly—but the air still carried the weight of everything they had fought against.

S.Coups, to his credit, looked calm as ever. Woozi knew better, though. He could feel the slight tremor in the fingers holding his own, the unspoken nerves he tried to hide behind his confident demeanor.

Woozi squeezed his hand gently. I’m here.

His father set down his cup, clearing his throat. “I won’t lie and say this is what I wanted for my son.”

Woozi stiffened, but S.Coups’ grip didn’t falter.

His father continued, looking directly at S.Coups now. “But I’ve watched you. I’ve seen how much you’re willing to fight for him. And most importantly, I’ve seen how much my son loves you.”

Woozi’s breath hitched, his heart pounding in his chest.

His mother sighed, setting down her teacup. “We only ever wanted the best for him. Can you promise us that you’ll take care of him?”

S.Coups straightened, looking them both in the eye. “With everything I have,” he said, voice steady. “I don’t come from money. I don’t have a powerful name. But I do have love. And I’ll spend my life proving that it’s enough.”

Silence hung in the air for a long moment. Then, Woozi’s father finally nodded.

It wasn’t a grand declaration of approval, but it was the closest they would get. And for the first time, Woozi felt like he could breathe.

Later that night, they sat together on Woozi’s balcony, the city lights stretching endlessly below them. The cold air bit at their skin, but neither of them moved away.

Woozi leaned his head against S.Coups’ shoulder, their hands still tangled between them. “I never thought they’d come around.”

S.Coups chuckled. “Me neither. But I told you—I wasn’t going anywhere.”

Woozi smiled, closing his eyes. “I know.”

For so long, he had feared that love wasn’t enough. That no matter how much he wanted S.Coups, the weight of expectation would crush them both.

But now, sitting here—no longer hiding, no longer running—he knew the truth.

Love was enough. It always had been.

And as S.Coups pressed a soft kiss to his temple, Woozi knew that no matter what the future held, they would face it together.

Against all odds.