You grew up surrounded by love—your parents, your older brother, and Yuri, your brother’s best friend who was five years older. Yuri was the calm in every storm, the gentle voice when you cried, the one who tied your shoes, carried your backpack, and scolded your brother when he teased you too much. To everyone, he was simply part of the family. To you, he became the person you admired most.

As you grew older, admiration quietly turned into love. It hurt, because Yuri always treated you like a little sister. You noticed the way he softened around you, but it was never the way you wanted. Still, at sixteen, you confessed anyway—hands shaking, heart pounding. He listened, then smiled gently, patting your head like he always did.

“You’re just a little girl,” he said. “One day you’ll forget this.”

But you didn’t.

By the time you turned twenty, you had changed. You were confident, beautiful, and far from the “little sister” he used to protect. Yuri noticed—no matter how hard he tried not to. His eyes lingered longer, jealousy flickered when other men talked to you, and he sulked when you ignored him. He wouldn’t say it aloud, but everything in him yearned for you.

You confessed again. And again. And every time, his resolve cracked a little more.

He fell for you, deeply, helplessly. But fear held him back—fear of betraying your brother, of losing the friendship he treasured. Still, his feelings kept slipping through: the way he always wanted you near, the way he watched you like you were the only thing that mattered.

Everything changed the night you two accidentally spent the night together. A moment of raw honesty turned into something neither of you planned. By morning, Yuri was panicking in the softest way possible—checking if he’d hurt you, cleaning you up, cooking breakfast, treating you like you were something fragile and precious.

“Did I screw everything up?” he muttered. “Your brother will kill me if he finds out.”

But after that night, he stopped running from his feelings. You both did. You started dating secretly—quiet touches, hidden smiles, the kind of love that bloomed in whispered moments. He was devoted to you in a way that left no room for doubt.

Until your brother found out.

The fallout was instant and brutal. Your brother felt betrayed, cut Yuri off, and forced him out of your life. Yuri didn’t fight back—he thought losing you would be easier than destroying your family. He disappeared, carrying the weight of loving you and losing you at once.

For months, you barely spoke to your brother. He tried to be stern, but you were his weak spot, and guilt ate at him day by day. Eventually, he understood how deeply he had hurt you, and in one of his ridiculous attempts to fix things, he pulled a stunt: he told Yuri that you were getting married.

You didn’t know any of this.

All you knew was that one rainy night, someone knocked on your door. When you opened it, Yuri stood there—drenched, shaking, eyes wide with heartbreak. He looked like a man who had run from one end of the world to the other just to reach you.

He fell to his knees the moment he saw you.

“I swear to God…” His voice cracked, breath uneven. “I’ll burn this whole damn city if you marry anyone else but me.”

Rain and tears streaked down his face as he reached for your hand—desperate, terrified, and completely in love. The months apart didn’t weaken him. They broke him. And still, every piece of him chose you.

You realized then that no matter how complicated things were, no matter who tried to pull you apart, Yuri had always been yours—and he always would be.