Even before the wedding...

In the days that followed, an almost frenzied busyness enveloped G-Dragon.

In public, he's the GD who's made a comeback, whose every appearance elicits cheers from fans who say he's "back to his best." His smile is languid, and in one livestream, dozens of shoeboxes were piled up like a small mountain in the background, leading fans to jokingly call him "Giant Shoe Vendor Star." Even his occasional absent-mindedness or furrowed brows are readily interpreted as "My brother is definitely brewing up a big surprise for his new album!"

However, outside the public eye, he was simultaneously operating two parallel "battles".

One event was the grand wedding preparations. A top-notch planning team frequently visited the Hannam-dong apartment, piling up wedding dress designs, venue renderings, and floral samples in the originally minimalist living room. He personally handled everything, from selecting the menu to choosing the font for the invitations, with an obsessive attention to detail, as if he were polishing a masterpiece. He would even bring two samples of roses of different shades of white and ask Su You's opinion during a late-night video call—although Su You's response was always simple and calm, despite the time difference: "It's up to you."

The other was an absolute secret. Deep inside an apartment in Hannam-dong, a space converted into a makeshift recording studio was always lit up late at night. He and several absolutely trusted musician partners huddled inside, the walls covered with fragments of melodies and drafts of lyrics. He was polishing a mini-album, a "surprise" that belonged only to Su You. Sometimes, he would play a newly formed melody and ask his old friend beside him, "Does this sound like... an apology?" His friend would smile without answering, and he would fall into deep thought, his slender fingers unconsciously tapping the keys.

Su You flew back to Beijing to continue her studies. Kwon Ji-yong took care of all the wedding arrangements, allowing her peace and quiet to focus on her final classes and Harvard application. Their contact, due to geographical distance and their respective areas of focus, became sparse and regular, like a tacit truce.

Just as the wedding was taking shape and an auspicious date had been tentatively set, the official military service notice, which had been briefly forgotten but had always hung over their heads, arrived with unquestionable authority, like a bolt of lightning, shattering all the carefully constructed plans.

All preparations were forced to come to an abrupt halt.

In the apartment in Hannam-dong, the cheerful atmosphere left by the departing planning team had not yet dissipated, replaced by a heavy silence. Kwon Ji-yong and Su You sat facing each other across the coffee table, with the document bearing the official seal placed between them.

After a long silence, G-Dragon took a deep breath, his voice hoarse from days of staying up late and the tension he was under: "The wedding... has to be postponed."

Su You looked at him, her face showing little surprise, more like a sense of relief that "it's finally here." She nodded.

“But,” he leaned forward, his gaze intense and urgent, “we can’t just let this go. Su You, let’s get engaged first.”

Su You was slightly taken aback.

“Not publicly,” he said quickly, as if afraid of being interrupted by her, “just my closest family and a few friends, a simple ceremony. So that I… have a proper status before I go in.” He tried to mask his seriousness with a joke, but the uncertain vulnerability deep in his eyes betrayed his earnestness. Perhaps this was the most tangible rope that this superstar, accustomed to controlling everything, could grasp in the face of an inescapable fate.

Su You remained silent. Her gaze swept over the guitar casually placed in the corner of the living room, caught a glimpse of the faint light shining through the crack in the recording studio door, and then returned to Kwon Ji-yong's face, etched with weariness and anticipation. She understood that this was not just a ceremony; it was his clumsy attempt to give her a sense of security.

After a long while, as G-Dragon waited anxiously, she gently nodded.

"good."

The light that flashed in G-Dragon's eyes instantly dispelled the gloom that had lingered for days.

And so, everything took a dramatic turn. The grand wedding plans were temporarily shelved, replaced by an extremely low-key and highly confidential engagement ceremony.

The location was chosen to be a secluded courtyard of the Kwon family's private residence. There were no media cameras or crazed fans; only close relatives and a handful of friends of over ten years were present. Su You wore a simple, light pink knee-length dress, not a wedding gown. Kwon Ji-yong, on the other hand, wore a well-fitting dark suit, unusually dignified.

The ring exchange was simple. As the exquisitely designed platinum ring slowly slipped onto Su You's left middle finger, Kwon Ji-yong held her hand, his fingertips trembling slightly. He looked at her, a thousand words churning in his throat, ultimately condensing into a whisper, drowned out by the restrained applause and blessings of family and friends:

"Wait for me to come back."

Su You looked up to meet his gaze, a gentle smile curving her lips. She nodded, her eyes sparkling, "Okay."

The lights in the courtyard flickered gently in the night, casting the smiling, whispering shadows of the guests onto the bluestone slabs. The champagne tower shimmered with sparkling bubbles, and a small cake was cut and shared. Warm, perfect, it fulfilled all the beautiful fantasies about an engagement.