EPILOGUE Part  15

“…Damn it all.”

“Pfft!”

At the perfectly expressive words from the bride’s friend, Junhee, who was sitting with his arms crossed and slouched, spat out the wine he had half-sipped like a sprinkler.

Could there be any words that more accurately expressed what he was feeling right now than “damn it all”?

His friend and business partner, Taejun, had gathered the bridesmaids and groomsmen for a dinner party at his penthouse a week before the wedding.

‘Of all people, Baek Taejun is hosting a party at his home.’

It was an earth-shattering event.

Rehearsal dinners were usually held the day before the wedding. However, Taejun and his bride-to-be were scheduled to fly out on a private jet the next day to bring their family from Korea and then head straight to Hilton Head Island, the wedding venue, three days later.

The purpose of the party was supposedly to meet each other before the couple left for Korea, to get acquainted, decide the order of entrance, and inform everyone of their roles on the wedding day. But upon arrival, it was clear that everyone was busy mingling with their partners.

‘If that’s the case, they might as well just go on dates.’

Among the four couples seated at the table, the only ones not in a romantic or marital relationship were Junhee and the bride’s friend sitting next to him.

Baek Taejun, who seemed to want to become conjoined with Minhee, couldn’t keep his hands off his fiancée for even a moment.

His younger brother, who seemed to find everything she said hilarious, to the point of being unable to eat from laughing with heart eyes.

Luca, who had just started a fling and was acting coy, and his partner, who was thrilled about it.

Caught between them were himself and the bride’s friend with the unique name and style, Miho.

The three couples were so engrossed in their own world that just watching them made him chuckle in disbelief.

Ignoring their own hands, they fed each other, blushed, squirmed, and occasionally kissed.

“Sigh, this is too much…”

A sigh escaped naturally.

‘I’m not someone who gets treated like a ghost anywhere I go.’

For the first time in his life, Kim Junhee found himself an outsider on the fringes.

His brother, Jaehee, could be excused for inheriting the lovebird gene from their father.

Luca was… well, Luca.

But he never imagined that even the rational and emotionally stable Taejun would show such a foolish side, floundering in the swamp of sticky love.

Thinking back, when Taejun had randomly asked him and Jaehee how to woo women, he should have anticipated this day would come.

At a gala hosted by his sister-in-law, with company people watching, Taejun had brought Minhee along. When he saw Taejun dragging Minhee out with a fierce expression after she danced with another man, he couldn’t believe his eyes.

Minhee, who was being dragged away, looked too innocent and pure to be the woman he had mentioned before, so he was unsure.

Not long after, he heard that Taejun had been shot while rescuing his niece and Minhee from kidnappers, as if filming an action movie. And the very next day, Luca was spreading news of their engagement everywhere.

His business partner, who had been so flawless and cold that he seemed inhuman, had become a person with several screws loose.

Separate from that, the rumor that Taejun had taken down three kidnappers with his bare hands was mixed with his special forces background and grew uncontrollably with each retelling.

Employees viewed Taejun as some kind of superhero. Especially the employees in their twenties, fresh out of college, looked at him with awe and admiration whenever he passed by.

They seemed to expect Taejun to pull out a submachine gun from his coat and take down a villain in the office. After Taejun passed, they pretended to wield Jedi lightsabers, making “pew pew” sounds, and rolled on the floor imitating gunfights.

What expression would those employees have if they saw Taejun, wrapped around the slender pinky of a petite young woman?

‘Even my brother was like that, and now Taejun too. What is it about love that changes people so drastically?’

With a deep sigh, Junhee decided to indulge in the fine liquor stocked in this house, gulping down wine with the mindset of squandering it.

Then he witnessed Taejun cutting steak into small pieces and feeding them to the bride-to-be. When the sauce dripped down her lips, he smiled broadly, revealing dimples he’d never shown before, as if it were the cutest thing, and wiped the sauce with his own lips by lifting her chin.

At that exact moment, “damn it all” slipped out.

And the wine, halfway down Junhee’s throat, reversed course, triggering a fit of coughing instead of laughter. Once the coughing subsided, he burst into laughter.

The bride’s friend sitting next to him glanced at Junhee with a slight disdain in her long eyes, as if she were looking at something dirty. Then, with her slender thumb and index finger, she picked up a corner of a paper napkin and dropped it onto the table like a robot hand.

“Erm, ahem. Thank you!”

Junhee cleared his throat and thanked the bride’s friend in a cracking voice.

The bride’s friend, with an expression that clearly said, “What a bunch of fools,” sat crookedly, chewing on some dried pollack strips from who knows where. Without even looking at Junhee, she casually raised her hand in acknowledgment.

The bride’s friend sitting next to him was also unusual. Junhee was used to women clinging to him whenever he found himself in a one-on-one situation with them.

But this friend seemed to have as much interest in him as a drop of wine. In fact, it was a relief. If there had been a woman clinging to him like a leech in this situation, it would have been a complete disaster.

With a wry smile, Junhee poured wine into his empty glass.

Noticing the empty glass next to him, he tilted the wine bottle toward it as well.

“Press it down tight and pour it. I’m trying to drown my sorrows in alcohol.”

A smooth voice with a slightly lower tone made a request that sounded like a command.

“Press it down tight. Alcohol is the answer to ‘damn it all.’”

Junhee smiled as he poured wine into Miho’s glass until it was full.

***

It was a brilliant spring day, one that naturally elicited a satisfied sigh.

A wedding arch adorned with tulips and a large reception tent were set up in front of the beachfront mansion where the wedding was taking place. As the warm spring breeze fluttered the tent flaps and the scent of blooming flowers wafted toward the sea, the gentle sound of waves responded by tickling the ears.

A little girl, dressed in a fluttering pink dress like cotton candy, announced the start of the wedding by scattering handfuls of petals along the virgin road. The chubby-cheeked girl giggled as she tossed petals over her head and waved leisurely at familiar faces, bringing smiles to those watching.

“Rose, come stand here!”

At the softly calling voice, Rose trotted over to stand beside the arch.

Next, a girl of a similar age to Rose, wearing a dress of the same design, entered holding a cushion with the ring box on it.

“Yoonseo, slow down! Walk slowly!”

Yoonseo, who had been walking briskly, slowed her pace and stood next to Rose. The two children looked at each other and whispered, giggling as if sharing a delightful secret.

Next came the Best Man and Maid of Honor, dressed in navy blue tuxedo and blush-colored dress, walking in arm in arm.

The Best Man had a glamorous appearance like an actor. Even standing still, the hot energy radiating from his presence was almost tangible.

The Maid of Honor, with a model-like lithe figure, slowly lifted her eyes that had been gazing down indifferently. Her long, slightly upturned eyes and thin, distinct lip line made her a captivating, cool beauty.

Junhee and Miho parted at the arch and stood facing each other.

The second pair was a male-male couple. The Groomsman wore a tuxedo identical to the Best Man’s, while the Bridesman wore a blush-colored suit.

The Groomsman bore a remarkable resemblance to the Best Man but had slightly bolder features. Guests murmured and snapped photos of the man entering with a fresh smile. He glanced evenly at the guests seated on both sides, blowing kisses toward a woman seated among the guests.

The Bridesman, a medium-height Latino man, was impeccably groomed from head to toe. His large lips parted to reveal a bright smile of perfectly aligned white teeth, and he waved his hand, adorned with blush-colored nail polish, elegantly like royalty.

Jaehee and Luca, who had walked to the arch, stood beside Junhee and Miho, respectively.

Next was the groom’s entrance.

The groom, wearing a white tuxedo that suited the beach wedding, was larger than the men who had entered before him. His sharp nose and thick eyebrows formed a perfect symmetry, leaving a strong impression, accentuated by a scar crossing his forehead and eyebrows.

Taking a deep breath, Taejun shrugged his broad shoulders once and strode in with his long legs, standing before the wedding arch.

At that signal, the piano began to play the wedding march, and the guests turned their heads in unison to clap.

The bride entered slowly, arm in arm with her father. Wearing a delicate floral crown made of small flowers on her head, a sheer veil over it, and holding a tulip bouquet, the bride looked so beautiful it could bring tears to one’s eyes.

When the bride’s father handed her hand to the groom, Taejun and Minhee finally stood side by side under the wedding arch.

The wedding was officiated by Ben Anderson, the principal of the school where the bride worked. Although he had officiated several weddings before, there were unusually many people crying at this one.

On the bride’s side, her father shed tears from start to finish, while the Maid of Honor, surprisingly, silently dabbed at her eyes with a handkerchief.

On the groom’s side, when the groom’s grandmother and uncle began to cry while hugging each other, the family from Korea collectively reddened their eyes and sniffled.

Under the wedding arch, the bride with the floral crown and the tall groom stood facing each other. The groom carefully slipped a ring onto the bride’s finger, and the bride did the same for the groom. The afternoon sunlight, sparkling like gold dust, settled on the rings on their clasped hands.

[You may kiss the bride.]

As the officiant’s words fell, the groom lifted the bride’s veil with trembling hands. It was a moment the guests had been holding their breath for. When the couple’s lips met, cheers erupted along the quiet beach where the sun hung low.

The shocking event happened right after. The bride stood on tiptoe and whispered something into the groom’s ear. The large man turned pale and noticeably staggered.

As the guests collectively gasped in surprise, the groom’s knees buckled, and he knelt before the bride. Then he hugged her waist and buried his face in her chest, sobbing.

Startled, the bride held his head and gestured for the flower girl to come closer. The bride bent down and whispered something into the flower girl’s ear.

Not only the guests but even Ben Anderson, who had never seen a groom kneel and cry at a wedding before, was flustered and at a loss. Suddenly, the flower girl shrieked and scattered petals, spinning around the couple.

“Ladies and gentlemen! Rose is getting a sibling!”

A moment of silence followed. Then, jubilant cheers spread all the way to the horizon. The warmth of the setting red sun on the horizon shimmered hotly over the waves.

* * *

“Minhee! Happy twenty-sixth birthday!

It’s hard to believe you’re turning twenty-six when you’re still just an eleven-year-old kid.

I wonder what our grown-up Minhee looks like?

As I imagined you while writing this birthday letter, I ended up dreaming about your wedding last night.

It was such a wonderful wedding!

There was a beautiful silk flower path on the sandy beach, just like in a movie wedding. You, wearing a wedding dress and a floral crown, were walking toward the groom in a white tuxedo.

You looked so beautiful that even in the dream, I couldn’t stop crying.

When I woke up, I cried tears of joy.

I was so happy to be able to attend your wedding in my dreams since I can’t be there with you.

I met your dad when I was twenty-six. Looking back, I was so young, but I don’t know why I was in such a hurry to get married quickly.

Believe it or not, your dad was the most popular male teacher at school back then. I was eager to make him mine before someone else did, so I pestered him to marry me.

I wonder if you’ve found someone you love by now, Minhee?

I hope you have.

Since coming here, my biggest worry is that you might end up alone here someday. That thought makes me sit up in bed at night.

So, I hope that our Minhee meets a partner she can love and rely on for life a little earlier.

Ah! Maybe that’s why I dreamed about your wedding.

Happy twenty-sixth birthday, Seol Minhee.

I hope you love passionately and are passionately loved.

XOXO,

Your mom, who loves you more than the days I have left.”

― Epilogue Fin