"Is everything okay at work?"

I turned to my side to face Yuri as both of us chilled on the couch that was placed at the back of the bowling alley. We had came down 30 mins ago, from playing in the pool as the girls took turns to change their clothings and dry themselves out. Sooyoung, Hyoyeon and Sunny had already started a game of bowling while Taeyeon was still in the toilet, changing. 

"Everything's okay." I replied as I turned to look at the bowling alley while Yuri continued to dry her hair with her towel. "By the way, Harabeoji and Halmeoni would be attending your wedding."

Yuri had a confused look on her face so I explained to her about the talk that I had with Harabeoji recently.

"That's great. By the way, Harabeoji is right. Communication is very important." Yuri said as she turned to look at me again. "Communication, Eunjin."

A frown appeared on my face as I tried to figure out the meaning behind Yuri's emphasizing of the word communication. She continued saying that one day, we'll be in-laws and we would always have each other's back. I didn't know why but I had a gut feeling about something.

"Did Krystal tell you something recently? Something about work?" I tried to guess as Yuri didn't seem surprised. "Aaahhhhh.. I guess she must have told you about that incident."

"She's worried about you. She can sense that you're stressed out from work. She feels like you're not truly happy at all." Yuri replied as I just nodded my head.

"That's true actually. But it's not like I have a choice right? Someone has to run the company."

"But why does that someone be you?" 

I was a little thrown back by Yuri's question and it made me pause to think about it for a while. I was about to continue talking when Taeyeon came and called both of us to join the other girls at the bowling alley. I pushed the thoughts aside and decided to enjoy myself with the girls instead.

We left the place at around 4am. Luckily for us, Hyoyeon had brought her car along. So we decided to play scissors paper stone, to decide who will ride in which car. We all had a good laugh when Taeyeon and Sunny ended up in Sooyoung's car.

"Boss, if both me and Taeyeon didn't come to work tomorrow, just remember who's car we took tonight." Sunny said with a exaggerated sad tone of voice while Taeyeon just nodded her head.

"Yah! I'll drive slowly and careful. Don't worry. Both you and Taeyeon will reach home safely." Sooyoung said confidently while Taeyeon and Sunny looked at each other before shaking their heads.

"Why don't you just let Taeyeon drive your car? She can send Sunny first, then to her place before you can drive your car back. Your house and Taeyeon's house is not that far anyway." I suggested as I saw Sunny's and Taeyeon's eyes widened before they broke into a smile.

Sooyoung argued about it but since both Taeyeon and Sunny were older than her, she had no choice but to give in. We bid each other goodbye before entering the respective cars.

"You're going to work tomorrow?" Yuri asked just when Hyoyeon had started the engine and was about to move. "I know Taeyeon and Sunny would be coming to work after lunch while Soo might be coming late to the cafe."

"Most probably, I won't be coming in for work. I've already informed Ms Jeon beforehand that I might be coming late to work or not coming in at all. She's aware of it so if there's any emergency, she would call me up." 

Yuri nodded her head as the 3 of us decided to talk about other random topics while trying to keep ourselves awake.

It was 5minutes after 5am when I finally reached my apartment. Grabbing a cup of water to drink before making my way to the bed, I took out my phone and typed a message to Krystal.

Hi sweetheart. I've just reached home and won't be coming to work later. I'm feeling very tired at the moment, most probably just like how you felt yesterday. Anyway, I'm going off to sleep after washing up. Love you. p/s: Me and the girls had lots of fun together. But not to worry, there were no other girls beside us except for Hyoyeon. - Eunjin

Once the message was sent, I went to wash my face in the bathroom before climbing on my bed to sleep. Before I did so, I noticed a blinking light on my phone which meant that there was an unread message.

"Don't tell me Krystal replied my message? She should be sleeping right now." I mumbled to myself as I grabbed my phone to read the message.

Have a good rest everyone. I had lots of fun earlier. Even though I will be starting a new journey in my life, rest assured that nothing much will change. I'll still be the same dorky Yuri that everyone knew except for the additional commitment of being Sica's partner. Thank you for everything. Awesome party. - Yuri

A smile appeared on my face as I read Yuri's message in the group chat. I was truly happy for her for finding her true happiness and settling down with Jessica. Their love had started way back in high school and finally, both of they ended up marrying each other. Thinking about Yuri's wedding, made me think about my own marriage. Imagining Krystal in a wedding dress, I grabbed my bolster and smiled before wandering off to sleep.

***********************

"Is it straight? Why do I feel like it's a little crooked?"

"The only thing that is crooked is your eyesight. Stop fidgeting around. I've adjusted the bow for more than 5 times already."

Taeyeon continued grumbling as Yuri pouted while the rest of us just laughed at the scene of both of them squabbling. We were inside the waiting room of the event hall for Yuri's wedding. Taeyeon, Sooyoung and I were her bestman for the event. 

"Don't worry, Yul. You look great right now. Don't be nervous." I patted Yuri's shoulders, trying to give her some encouragement.

"Luckily, we don't have to wear a bow tie like her. If not, the 3 of us will keep trying to make sure that it's not crooked too." Sooyoung commented before grinning cheekily at Yuri who showed her a fist.

Yuri was wearing a royal blue suit with a bow tie while the rest of us were wearing baby blue vest over our white shirt and white pants. Yuri continued chatting away, trying to calm her nerves when we heard a knock on the door.

Sunny's head popped out from the side of the door as she grinned at us. She was going to be the host for the wedding as she stepped in while holding on to some notes in her hand. She was wearing a pink suit with baby blue shirt as she made her way towards Yuri.

While both of them were busy discussing, I took the opportunity to check on my phone as I had felt it vibrating earlier. There were 3 messages, one from Halmeoni and two from Krystal. Halmeoni informed that Harabeoji and her had already arrived and were already ushered to their seats. Krystal sent a photo of her in the bridesmaid gown with the caption of asking me to send a photo of myself. 

Why are you taking so long to send a photo of yourself? >:( - Krystal

That was her 2nd message after I didn't replied her for the past 10mins.

"Why are you grinning like a pabo at your phone?" Sooyoung nudge my arm with her elbow before I showed her Krystal's message. "Ahhhh... no wonder. Let me help you to take that photo."

I grinned widely and stood up to pose as Sooyoung took my phone. Once she was done with it, she handed it back to me.

"Your girlfriend looks so similar to Yoongie." Sooyoung commented as I nodded my head in agreement. 

"Both of them are beautiful in their own ways." 

The moment Sooyoung nodded her head, Taeyeon chuckled at my remarks and teased me about being a sweet-talker. Soon, Sunny informed all of us to get ready for the ceremony as we made our way to the event hall.

The wedding progressed smoothly as planned and the formalities ended within an hour. It was now time for the feast as everyone was ushered to the dining hall. 

Krystal scurried to my side and gave me a cheeky grin as I looked at her suspiciously.

"Wae? Why are you giving me that look?"

"Nothing." She replied before linking her arms with mine. "Just want to be by your side."

I chuckled at her remarks as I could see through her lie. I knew that she was being possessive and clingy since there was a lot of my workers who had attended the wedding and most of them were ladies. 

"Krystal!"

Both of us turned our heads when we heard someone calling out her name. Krystal's eyes widened as she waved at the 3 girls who were approaching us.

"Kate!! Oh my god. When did you arrive? I thought you said that you won't be able to make it?"

"I thought so too but I managed to grab a ticket so here I am."

I just observed Krystal chatting away while hugging the lady whom I had not meet before. The other two girls, Sulli and Luna, smiled and bowed their head a little at me before joining in their friend's conversation. From a distance, I saw Appa and Omma Jung talking to Harabeoji and Halmeoni as I saw them looking at our direction. I could sense that my grandparents were actually looking for me and was about to inform Krystal when she introduced her friend to me.

"Kate, this is Eunjin. The one that I've been telling you about."

I smiled and nodded my head before reaching out for Kate's outstretched hand for a handshake. 

Krystal's POV

"Krystal had mentioned about you to me before so I'm glad to be able to meet you in person today." Eunjin said before she turned to face me. "By the way, I need to check on my grandparents for a while. So in the meantime, why don't you bring your friends to their table for them to eat first? I'll join you all later once I'm done."

I nodded my head after Eunjin pointed out to where Harabeoji and Halmeoni were already seated. Both of them were chatting with my parents and I noticed that Halmeoni were waving her hand at us as I waved back at her.

After Eunjin walked away, I brought Kate, Sulli and Luna to their allocated table. Along the way, Kate told me that she had noticed that Jongin was also at the wedding so I briefed her quickly about what happened at the airport on the day that we arrived. 

"I can't believe that guy. Why can't he just leave you alone? Anyway, has he managed to talk to you today?" Kate asked as I shook my head, explaining that I had been busy helping out with the event.

"I think he didn't manage to find the opportunity to talk to you alone. But it seems he has seen the opportunity now, because he's making his way to our table." Sulli commented before using her eyes to gesture to the approaching figure.

"Hi girls. You all looked very beautiful today, especially you, Krystal. You look stunning in that white dress. The pink ribbon around your waist adds the sweetness to your already charming personality. I couldn't take my eyes off you when you were standing beside your sister earlier on."

Jongin continued giving praises to me and casually took a seat beside me without anyone asking him to do so as I noticed my friends rolling their eyes at him. I could only thanked him for his compliments while silently praying that he would quickly just go away.

"Jongin, don't you have a table allocated for you and isn't your parents here with you too? You should accompany and stay with them at your table." Luna said as Jongin let out a sarcastic laugh.

"My parents are old enough to take care of themselves. Anyway, this is a wedding. There's no restriction as to where I can sit right. It's a time where everyone is allowed to mingle freely. Furthermore, it's not like there's anyone else seating here besides you girls." Jongin replied before turning to face me again. "By the way, when are you planning to fly back to New York? Maybe we can fly back together."

"We have no intention of flying back with you though." Sulli intercepted before I could answer as I saw Jongin glaring at her.

"Actually, we've not really decided on the date yet. Furthermore, the girls wanted to do some activities first and since this is Kate's first visit to Seoul, we'll be bringing her around for some sight-seeing." I quickly replied when I sensed that the atmosphere was getting a little tense.

"Sight-seeing? That's good. I could help to drive you all around. I've got a big spacious car that can cater to the 5 of us or we could ride in a rented limousine. My family is rich so we could afford all these." Jongin smirked in arrogance as I let out a deep sigh.

"Is everything okay here?"

I turned to the my side and a wide smile quickly appeared on my face when I saw Eunjin smiling at me. I quickly shifted my seat, to allow her to sit beside me.

************************

"Harabeoji, Halmeoni."

I bowed my head and greeted my grandparents as Halmeoni opened up her arms for me to give her a side hug while I was standing. I then greeted Appa Jung and Omma Jung before sitting down beside Halmeoni.

"How's the food? Is it nice? Do you need anything else?" I asked as both of them shook their heads and smiled.

Omma Jung asked me about Krystal's new friend so I told them what I knew about Kate. From where I was seated, I had a clear view of where Krystal was as I saw her ushering her friends to a table. Looking around, I saw that Yuri and Jessica were also eating at the centre stage with Taeyeon and Tiffany accompanying them. Sooyoung, Yoona, Seohyun, Sunny, Hyomin and Hyoyeon were at another table near to us.

"You're not eating?" Harabeoji asked but before I could reply, Halmeoni had answered it for me by saying that I should be eating with Krystal and her friends.

The mere mention of her name brought my attention back to where Krystal was but a frown appeared on my face when I saw a familiar-looking guy approaching their table. I continued to observe Krystal, who was seated with her back facing my direction. Even without looking at her facial expression, from her body language, I could see that she was slightly taken aback when the guy abruptly sat down beside her.

"Halmeoni, Harabeoji. Appa Jung, Omma Jung. Please continue to enjoy the food. I need to get back to Krystal for now." I excused myself as they nodded their heads.

As I made my way to Krystal's table, I noticed the way her friends were rolling their eyes at the guy and how their expression showed that his presence was totally not welcomed by them.

"Is everything okay here?" I asked the moment I stood behind Krystal's chair as she turned to face me before a wide smile appeared on her face and she quickly shifted her seat.

"You're back." 

I chuckled at her cute remarks as if I was gone for days. She patted the seat beside her, placing me in between her and Jongin with a gap of two chairs between me and him. I noticed that the girls have yet to touch their food so I told them to do so before it turned cold.

"So Jongin, right?" I turned to face the guy who nodded his head. "I'm Eunjin, Krystal's girlfriend. I didn't manage to introduce myself properly when we met at the airport that day."

"I know who you are." Jongin replied with a straight face, sounding a little arrogant. "By the way, what do you work as? I heard that Krystal's girlfriend is 4 years older than her so I believed that you're a working adult. Unless you're jobless. That's why you could only afford to own a cheap bike."

I had to refrain myself from laughing when I heard the way he was talking to me. 'No wonder Krystal doesn't like you.' I thought to myself as I felt a tight grip on my thigh, coming from Krystal's hand. I knew she was trying to control her temper and since it was her sister's wedding, she didn't want to create any scene.

"I'm working at a shipping company." I replied as I heard Jongin snorted. "It's easier to move around on a bike. More convenient especially when you are trying to avoid the heavy traffic during peak hours."

"My parents own a big furniture company and they gives out good pay. Most of our workers could actually afford a car so if you need a bigger pay, you might want to consider changing job. Or maybe why don't you work for Krystal's sister? I heard she owns a fashion company. Maybe she can offer you a higher position since you're her sister's girlfriend." Jongin purposely used a mocking tone when he mentioned the word girlfriend.

"I don't have any experience in furniture and I'm a little bit lacking with fashion sense but I'll keep your suggestions in mind. Thank you for your concern though." I replied coolly with a smile, without any tint of anger which seemed to irritate Jongin, who finally decided to leave the table. That reason he left was also because his phone kept ringing as it seemed that his parents were looking for him.

The moment he left the table, Krystal pinched me on my left arm before smacking my shoulder lightly. I turned to face her and pouted while she folded her arms and glared at me.

"How could you remain so calm at his provocations?" Kate asked immediately as I just chuckled and shrugged my shoulders.

"Because she's a Pabo. Stupid. Idiot." Krystal replied before I could say anything as I continued chuckling. "See. This idiot can even continue laughing."

"But Eunjin-unnie was so cool. I could see that it really pisses Jongin off and that was the best part of it." Sulli commented and Luna agreed as both of them gave me a thumbs up.

"He's so snobbish that I almost blurted out the truth about you, Unnie." Luna added on as she said that she would love to see Jongin's expression if he found out that I actually owned a shipping company.

"His words doesn't affect me at all. I've heard far worse things than that before. When you need to handle hundreds of workers of all ages and tantrums, you will learn how to remain calm at every provocations." I replied with a smile. "His behaviour feels childish to me actually. I almost wanted to give him a candy and shoved it into his mouth."

My words made the girls laughed, including Krystal who meronged at me before calling me a Pabo. We decided to stop talking about that guy and talked about other things instead as the girls told me about their plans to go around for a sight-seeing for Kate's sake.

10mins later, Hyoyeon came up to our table and bent down to whisper something to me. I nodded my head before telling Krystal that I needed to settle some stuff for a while. I left the table with Hyoyeon and made our way to the side of the stage where Yuri, Sooyoung, Seohyun and Taeyeon were waiting for us. 

"Is the instruments all set up?" I asked as Sooyoung nodded her head.

"It's all hidden well behind that curtain." Sooyoung pointed out to a corner of the hall as Sunny arrived to approach us. "We're ready. Just go ahead to announce while we make our way to the instruments."

I noticed Jessica and Tiffany staring at us from the centre stage, being confused as what was happening as the five of us made our way towards the corner of the hall. We went behind the tall curtains as Seohyun took her seat at the piano while Taeyeon and I grabbed the guitars. Sooyoung went to the drums and Hyoyeon took a seat at one of the empty chairs. 

From behind the curtains, we could hear Sunny's voice, asking for everyone's attention and informing them that there's a surprise event which had been prepared by Yuri and her friends. Sunny added that the song is specially dedicated to Jessica Jung. As the curtain started to fall, all of us put on our sunglasses and prepared ourselves.

(The song that they performed.)

Everyone listened quietly to the performance but applause was heard after Hyoyeon was done with her rap part. Seems liked everyone enjoyed the performance because when it ended, a thunderous round of claps were heard across the hall. The girls bowed their head and thanked everyone for their attention. When Yuri walked back to the centre stage, she was immediately engulfed into a hug as everyone cheered for the couple.

The other girls started to be mischievous as Tiffany led a chant of asking both of them to kiss. Soon, everyone was chanting the same word and they only stopped when Yuri leaned in to give Jessica a peck on her lips.

When the feast was over, Yuri and Jessica went to stand between their parents near the exit door so that they could say their thanks to the leaving guests. Krystal was also there, standing between her sister and her father. The rest of the girls were helping out to make sure that the tables were cleared and also to show the way out to the guests.

"Eunjin."

I was about to help the girls out when I heard Appa Jung calling my name and gesturing me to come over to where he was standing. I made my way quickly to where he was just as the first group of family guests were about to leave.

"Yes, Appa Jung? Do you need any help?" I asked as he shifted a bit before asking me to stand between him and Krystal.

"What are you doing, standing around and helping to clear the tables? Leave it to the other girls. You're part of this family now." He said as I grinned sheepishly before I heard Krystal giggling softly. 

Turning to my side to face Krystal, I nudged her lightly at the elbow. "You can't run away from me now. Your dad has already acknowledged me as part of the family." I whispered to Krystal.

"So what? I still have the right to decide on my own future. My decision might not be the same as his." Krystal rolled her eyes at me as I pretended to be surprised. "In the first place, I don't have the intention to run away either."

I looked at her and saw a shy smile appearing on her face before we were interrupted by an elderly couple who had appeared in front of us to shake our hands. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Author's note:

I would like to apologise to my readers for taking so long to update. Work has been piling up with internet access being cut off and I've not been well since last week as I was down with high fever. The weather has been hot and humid so do take care everyone. Drink lots of water and have plenty of rest. I've got a new story in mind but I won't start on it until this story ends. (pls: I can't really multi-task. hahaha...) Have a pleasant day, everyone.