Chapter 107 Time, in this place...

Time, in this city born of forgetting and indulgence, seems to have lost its original measure. Time slips away quietly in lingering moments. Those heavy topics about the future, separation, and responsibility are tacitly set aside.

But the farewell arrived as scheduled. The second-to-last day of the holiday. Las Vegas remained as extravagant as ever. But anxiety clung to Kwon Ji-ryong like a leech.

He watched Ren Xiyao lying face down on the recliner, her back to him. Her breathing was even and long. He knew she needed rest, complete rest, before returning to that high-intensity, high-pressure world. But the voice in his heart, the voice that had lingered ever since Taeyang's successful proposal in Jeju Island, was now growing louder and more urgent.

"Time is running out."

"The service notice could come at any time."

"Eighteen months, or even longer..."

Will she wait? Should she wait?

He quietly took the velvet box out of the inside pocket of his suit jacket.

The ring I bought at a jewelry exhibition. I brought it from Paris to South Korea, then from South Korea to the Netherlands, and now it's in Las Vegas.

Last night, just as he was carefully tucking the box into his suit pocket, the sun rang.

Are you really going to propose?

"Um."

"Yang Xianshuo knew that he could get so angry that he suffered a cerebral hemorrhage."

"So don't tell him." Kwon Ji-yong looked at his reflection in the mirror—a meticulously dressed man with a resolute look in his eyes—his voice was soft yet exceptionally clear.

There was a long silence on the other end of the phone. Then came a soft sigh: "Have you thought this through? She's an active member of the Chinese national team."

Outside the window, the neon lights of Las Vegas had just come on. Kwon Ji-yong looked at his reflection in the glass, his voice soft, carrying an almost cruel clarity: "It's precisely because she's an active athlete that I need to beg her now."

"......What's the meaning?"

“By the time I finish my military service, she will be preparing for the Beijing Winter Olympics. That’s her home turf.” He said softly, “It will be even less likely then.”

The sun remained silent for a long time: "Do you need me to notify the others for you?"

"No need." Kwon Ji-yong fastened his cufflinks. "It's just the two of us."

He needed a promise, or rather, a symbol. A token to sustain him through his long, tedious, and isolated military service. A reminder for her of the madness and certainty of this moment when facing immense pressure and uncertainty in the future. Even if the engagement was only valid in this absurd desert city, he needed it.

That night, Kwon Ji-yong, under the pretext of "wanting to experience the real Vegas local life," took Ren Xiyao into a dimly lit, noisy bar.

After a few glasses of whiskey on the rocks, the alcohol began to ferment in my blood. All around me was a scene of debauchery and revelry, the air thick with hormones and a decadent, apocalyptic atmosphere.

Kwon Ji-yong held the cold wine glass, looking at Ren Xiyao across from him in the hazy light, and his heart suddenly began to pound like a drum.

Now is the time.

He put down his glass, took a deep breath, and said, "Do Las Vegas have a lot of those... chapels that are open 24 hours a day?"

Ren Xiyao raised her eyelids and glanced at him: "Hmm. What's wrong?"

“It’s nothing,” he said, picking up the car keys from the table and giving a slightly unruly smile. “I just suddenly felt that… since we’re already here, it would be a shame not to experience the world’s fastest ‘wedding’.”

Ren Xiyao looked at him; she didn't drink often. At this moment, the alcohol made her brain a little sluggish.

Kwon Ji-yong stood up and pulled her up. His face wore a desperate, almost reckless smile: "Let's go, Miss Ren. I'll take you to get married."

A small chapel called "Cupid's Wedding Chapel".

Pushing open the door, I found the church to be quite gleaming, with the sound system playing a poorly-sounding rendition of the Wedding March on a loop. At the far end of the pews stood a pastor in a floral shirt, yawning and flipping through a magazine.

Hearing the door open, the pastor immediately put down his magazine and Coke cup with a brisk smile, looking quite energetic: "Welcome! Welcome to Cupid's Church! Ready to tie the knot? Standard package or the 'Eternal Love' deluxe special package?"

Kwon Ji-yong ignored his sales pitch, pulled out a wad of US dollars from his wallet, and said crisply, "The fastest way. Five minutes."

Ren Xiyao stood behind him, watching the scene unfold before her, and finally came to her senses: "Are you serious?!"

“More real than real gold.” Kwon Ji-yong turned his head and looked into her eyes, eyes that had been so pure from the first time they met. They were also the source of soothing his pain countless times over the past three years. Without further hesitation, he took a deep breath and suddenly pulled the dark blue velvet box he had prepared long ago from his suit's inner pocket.

Then, he took a step back, smoothed out non-existent wrinkles, and slowly, yet with unusual determination, knelt on one knee on the carpet. With sincerity, even devotion, just like the day he confessed his feelings.

The Wedding March continued to play tirelessly on repeat in the church. Kwon Ji-yong looked up, and his eyes, which usually held a hint of playfulness, a touch of aloofness, and a dazzling brilliance, now held only a desperate, naked seriousness and... vulnerability.

"Ren Xiyao." He called her name, his voice slightly hoarse from nervousness, yet exceptionally clear.

She looked at the man kneeling in front of her, at the open box in his hand containing a ring that shone with a deep blue light, and her mind went blank.

Her gaze fell on his left ring finger, where he still wore the jadeite ring she had given him; while on his right middle finger, he wore a simple silver band ring. It was a pair with the plain band ring on her right middle finger, the one she had kept in the photo album on her birthday.

"Kwon Ji-yong," she said, her voice a little hoarse.

"Um?"

"You..." She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down, "Have you had too much to drink?"

The pastor standing nearby probably found the scene so amusing that he couldn't help but chuckle, then quickly covered it up with a cough.

"I'm perfectly sober!" He didn't care about anything else. He reached out and grabbed her left hand, which was hanging by her side, holding it tightly as if afraid that she would turn around and run away at any moment.

"Xiyao, listen to me, the military service notice... should be coming down soon. I might... I might be away for a long time..."

But he didn't finish his sentence.

Ren Xiyao suddenly stepped forward, bent down, and with a resolute air of disregard, pressed her lips to his.

The kiss was brief and urgent, yet it struck Kwon Ji-yong like a thunderbolt. She didn't say "I do," nor did she ask anything. She simply extended her left hand, which he was holding tightly, firmly towards him.

"Wear the ring," she said, her voice soft but unusually clear. "Didn't you say it would take five minutes?"

Kwon Ji-yong was completely stunned. A huge wave of joy swept over him, making it almost impossible for him to breathe.

His hands trembled so badly he could barely hold the small velvet box. It took him several tries to finally remove the ring and carefully slip it onto her slightly trembling ring finger.

Just as the cool platinum ring slipped completely onto her finger, the Wedding March, which had been played countless times in the church, reached its climax and most glorious moment.

The pastor standing nearby clearly knew how to create a lively atmosphere at such a moment. He immediately raised his camera, pointed it at them, and shouted in an extremely exaggerated tone: "Alright everyone! With the authority granted to me by the great state of Nevada, I now declare that you... well, whatever you want to be! Now, kiss the bride!"

"Snap!"

A blinding flash suddenly went off, freezing this crazy and moving scene in time.

Just as the flash went off, Ren Xiyao suddenly reached out and grabbed Quan Zhilong's collar, pulling him towards her. Then, she tilted her head back slightly and, with a vengeful, wild force, bit his lower lip hard.

"Ugh!" Kwon Ji-yong groaned in pain, a glint of excitement flashing in his eyes. He suddenly stretched out his arms, tightly wrapped them around her waist, lifted her off the ground, and then, with an almost uncontrollable passion, kissed her back fiercely.

As Kwon Ji-yong carefully folded and tucked the "marriage certificate"—which only counted within this church and bore their solemn signatures—he left the church.

Ren Xiyao raised her left hand and, using the flashing neon lights on the street, turned the ring on her ring finger towards the night sky.

"This... is a commemorative certificate?" Her voice was very soft, as if she was afraid of disturbing something.

"Mmm." Kwon Ji-yong wrapped his arms around her waist from behind, resting his chin on her neck, his voice filled with satisfied laughter: "But for me, it's enough... enough to get me through the rest of my... military quarantine. Then I can find someone legally binding. Anyway, you've already accepted my proposal, haven't you?"

"Two years."

"Eighteen months," he immediately corrected.

She suddenly stopped, and Kwon Ji-yong followed her gaze. In the most conspicuous spot in the parking lot stood a stretched Hummer, painted an extremely garish Barbie pink! The side of the vehicle was splattered with huge, crooked fluorescent paint that read "JUST MARRIED," followed by a string of jingling empty cans and beer bottles tied together with rope. Several young people dressed in outlandish clothes, clearly drunk, were laughing loudly around the car, spraying champagne onto the hood.

The scene was the epitome of "tacky," "ostentatious," and "Las Vegas-style wedding."

"What? Want to try it out?"

"...Too flamboyant."

Five minutes later, they were sitting in the back of the Hummer, champagne sprayed all over the car. Ren Xiyao's ring gleamed blue under the neon lights. Kwon Ji-yong wiped the champagne off his face, turned his head, and looked intently at Ren Xiyao, who was also somewhat disheveled but whose eyes were sparkling. His voice was unusually hoarse from alcohol and lust: "Back to the hotel?"

Ren Xiyao's body trembled slightly at his movement. She raised her eyes to meet his fiery gaze, which fixed on the dark jade ring on his ring finger.

"airplane."

"What?"

"The return flight."

"Reschedule."

"Kwon Ji-ryong".

He lowered his head and gently bit the base of her ring finger, the one adorned with a ring. The touch was light, yet carried a sense of assertive dominance. He spoke indistinctly, his voice filled with deep reluctance and… a promise: “Tonight, I’ll let you go back tomorrow. Go back to being your world champion.”

The sleepless lights of Las Vegas illuminated the warm, dark jade ring on his ring finger and the icy blue ring on hers, their reflections shimmering in the arc of light, like an entanglement of cold and heat, restraint and indulgence.

In Las Vegas, a city of ever-burning, dazzling neon lights, they were like two birds, temporarily freed from all constraints, nestled together, desperately indulging, entwined, until utterly exhausted in this moment of possession. It seemed only in this way could they resist the impending separation, and deeply etch the madness and possession of this night into each other's lives.

As dawn breaks and the east turns white, it signifies that this brief, dreamlike escape is about to reach its end.