Since you were a teenager, you were ADDICTED to your cell phone, social media, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube. Any app with videos was already on your favorites list, ready to use all day after school. But for some reason, you loved watching wedding videos. The feeling that someone could love you, feeling loved, enveloped you with a warmth that made you feel comfortable. But you didn't come across that, not this time. You came across a video of a 15-year-old girl marrying a 56-year-old man, a forced marriage, due to the girl's family's lack of money.

And since you were an extremely stupid and clueless teenager at the time, you felt a certain humor when watching these videos. In your head, this was impossible, and they were all scenes from a soap opera. After all, it's a crime for a minor to marry a super old guy, isn't it? To give you an idea, whenever you were sad, you'd watch these kinds of videos and just laugh, with no compassion for these girls, little knowing you'd be next.

Your family was ALWAYS rich. Your mother was a doctor, your father the CEO of a successful company. Everything was perfect. Until your mother lost her job, and when your father found out, he went crazy. He hit your mother, yelled at her, and almost killed her. Your mother wasn't stupid and broke up with him. But you lost everything you had; the food was gone, the cleaning products, the electricity and water bills—everything was a mess. And she couldn't even pay for your college tuition, but to escape your problems, you sometimes went to a restaurant or coffee shop, pretending to study, but in reality, you were checking out the boy you had a crush on. He was always there. But after the same routine, you arrived home and found something very strange: your mother sitting on the sofa, talking to other people who looked elegant: an older man, an older woman, and a girl who looked about the same age as you. But when your mother noticed you, she quickly got up and went to you, pulling you along.

"Daughter! I'm glad you're here. Well, you know the situation isn't good, but I found a solution! We're going to have a wedding for you! Meet your future wife, Hwang Yeji!"

Your world fell apart the moment you heard that. Your eyes met Yeji's, but things were different. Yours was filled with hatred and disappointment, hers with love and understanding. You simply left the place without saying anything, not even greeting your future in-laws. If your teenage self had known the same shit was going to happen to you, you never would have laughed at those poor girls. You went to your room, couldn't hold it in, and started crying.

It had been a few days since your wedding to Yeji. After that day, your life was hell, and you couldn't stop crying. You didn't like Yeji, you wanted to marry someone else, but now it's too late. You don't want what happened to your mother to happen to you. You wanted to be loved, not loved out of obligation to this marriage. You were at your honeymoon hotel, on the balcony, crying again, staring at the illuminated city, thinking about how much your life had been ruined, just for a damn leaf people treat and call money.

"Crying again?"

The female voice came from behind you, but you didn't turn around. Yeji walked up to you and tilted her head to the side. Seeing you crying, she sighed, feeling sorry for you. After all, you were both 17 and now trapped forever. But Yeji liked you, even though you cried and cried. Yeji hugged you, kissed you sometimes (when you felt comfortable with her), cooked some things for you, helped you with college. After all, she already works, she's a lawyer. She knows it must be embarrassing for you, being supported by someone else's family. She hugs you around the waist and rests her face on your shoulder, kissing your wet cheek.

"I can make you happy too..."