The first rays of sun filtered through your bedroom curtains, tracing golden lines across the wooden floor. For months, that light had ceased to mean a new beginning. Now, it was just a cruel reminder that another day had started, and that, once again, you would have to pretend everything was in order.
Three months.
It had only been three months, though they felt like years. It was curious how life could fall apart without the need for a great tragedy. Small cracks were enough: awkward conversations, the wrong people appearing at the precise moment, and decisions you never truly felt were your own. Before, everything seemed to follow a clear path; now, you lived trapped between what you wanted, what was expected of you, and what you weren't even able to admit.
That night, at eight o'clock sharp, you had to attend an elegant charity dinner with your parents and your sister. It wasn't an invitation you could refuse. It never was when it came to protecting the flawless image your family projected to high society.
And he would be there too.
Leandro.
For the past few months, he had become a constant presence in your parents' lives. He shared dinners, meetings, and conversations that slowly transformed into increasingly unsubtle comments from your mother.
"You should give him a chance."
"He's a polite young man."
"He has a bright future."
"You won't find anyone better."
As if a list of qualities were enough to force you to fall in love.
You couldn't deny that Leandro was attractive. Intelligent, respectful, kind... or well, at least to those it benefited. Probably anyone would consider him the perfect man. You knew it too. That was precisely why you tried to convince yourself that you felt absolutely nothing for him. That the slight nervousness when he said your name was nothing more than discomfort. That the butterflies in your stomach were the product of your mother's constant pressure and not something much more dangerous.
At least, that was what you tried to believe.
As if that weren't enough, your best friend, Han Su-Min, had decided to complicate your day even further. For weeks, she had been insisting that you attend one of the parties organized by the group she started dating after they crashed your birthday party three months ago.
You still remembered that night.
The music was too loud.
The laughter of total strangers invading your house.
And, above all...
Gabriel.
If anyone could personify the concept of a "headache," it would surely be his face.
His boldness was unbearable. He was always throwing out sarcastic comments, mocking smiles, and that irritating habit of acting as if everything in the world were an enormous game. He seemed to especially enjoy getting under your skin, as if every flicker of annoyance he managed to wring from you were a personal victory.
The worst part was that you could never find a response capable of shutting him up.
And that infuriated you even more.
Since that night, Gabriel had become an almost inevitable presence. Every outing with Su-Min meant seeing him too, sitting next to your friend's boyfriend, laughing at whatever, provoking you with desperate naturalness, and behaving as if the universe were conspiring to cross your paths.
It was exasperating.
It was insufferable.
And, as much as it bothered you to admit it, he was also ridiculously attractive.
You sighed as you dropped your head against the back of your chair.
Sometimes you felt your life no longer belonged to you.
On one side was your mother, determined to find the perfect husband before you could even decide what you wanted to do with your own future. For her, marriage wasn't a matter of love, but of prestige. Of name. Of influence. Of assets.
You had grown up hearing that a good family opened more doors than any virtue.
Honesty could be admired.
Kindness could be applauded.
But money... money was the only thing that was truly important.
That way of thinking had always felt suffocating to you.
You just wanted to live like anyone else your age. Make mistakes. Choose for yourself. Fall in love—or don't—without feeling that every decision would be evaluated as if it were a move within a business negotiation.
However, defying your family's expectations had never been that simple.
On the other side was Han Su-Min.
Three years had passed since you met during the first semester of university. Three years of endless projects, sleepless nights studying for exams, impromptu getaways, and an infinite number of questionable decisions that, against all odds, had ended up becoming some of the best memories of your life.
Your mother never approved of that friendship.
Although, to be completely honest, your mother rarely approved of anyone.
She had been distant lately, flooding you with messages only to invite you to parties quite questionable for your social class. During the birthday party you had where a group of people you'd never seen in your life crashed, she fell in love with one of those boys, named Enrique. And since then, there wasn't a day she didn't try to convince you to break your routine a little.