"...I now present you, husband, and wife," declares the priest. "You may now kiss."

My lips automatically curve up, as the couple now leans in, for their lips to seal their future together. The crowd is shouting with cheers of approval, and enthusiastic clapping, for the newly wedded pair. Once they pull away, I see them lovingly smile at each other, and my heart instantly warms up for them even more. The genuinely happy feeling in me, progresses on, now that the two flower girls, are sprinkling pink petals into the air. And it's as though the roses aren’t enough to highlight this beautiful scene, because a million tiny pieces of confetti, now rain down from the ceiling, and over the couple, as well.

The cheering eventually comes to quiet down, as the pair are once again, congratulated for their marriage, and I feel myself softly sigh, with a small smile. Although I have no idea who these two people are, and have only just met them a month ago, as they contacted me, in hopes of having me here today, to sing for their special day, I sincerely cannot stop smiling, and quietly wishing for them all the best. Weddings are a beautiful thing, and no matter how many times I watch, or am asked to attend one, they always cause my chest to swirl with a huge fuzzy mixture, of joy.

And even though I sometimes wonder when it will be my turn to stand on the alter, I usually just end up brushing that thought away, as it's probably just not my time as of yet.

A light nudge brings me out of my thoughts, as I now direct my gaze over to my right, to see a dark haired male, show me a kind smile.

"Come on, we have to get ready," informs Woohyun. "They're about to dance soon, so lets hurry."

I return the warm gesture, with a nod of agreement. "Alright, let’s go," I say.

Ever since Woohyun had asked me to help him perform in Sunggyu's spot, people just started to place our voices together, when it came to formal functions, such as engagement parties, and weddings. I'm not really sure why they liked this combination so much, since Sunggyu's voice is just as wonderful, when composed with Woohyun's. So with the addition of fancier places to sing at, I eventually came to put my waitressing days to an end. I sometimes get to work with Yongguk, but his DJ-ing and music has expanded by a lot, so it's only now and then.

And although dating is something that I'm not so concerned about right now, I often try to get him to start seeing someone, as I'm worried that his career might make him lonely.

But because Yongguk also feels the same way with me, the two of us eventually stopped trying to match-make the other with another, as we slowly came to an agreement, that we're just content with our lives the way they are—and that we shouldn't force ourselves to rush into something, that we don't feel anything for.

Like usual, me and Woohyun's performance goes by very quickly, as we're occupied with doing what we like to do the most. We start off the night with a soft, heartfelt song, which allows the husband and wife, to have their first dance together, as one. Other couples soon join in around them, and it was a really touching sight to view. Afterwards, Woohyun decided to bring up the romantic atmosphere, with something a bit more upbeat, which resorted to us singing a trot song. He managed to make a lot of the females cheer very loudly, with his flirty winks and smiles, to the boppy music.

Laughing, I just let myself be surrounded by the entertainment of our singing, and the dancing from the crowds, throughout the night.

———————————————

"Once again, thank you so much for your service," bows the bride.

A warm smile curls on my lips. "Not a problem," I politely assure. "I wish you and your husband all the best."

The woman thanks me once more with a grateful expression, just as Woohyun now approaches the two of us. He exchanges some words with her, as I do the same with her husband, and when all of our thanks and good luck wishes have been said, that's when the dark haired male and I, begin to make our way down the stairs, and out of the building. It's now half past midnight, so the guests have been leaving bit by bit, with the thought of their homes in mind. Woohyun's car isn't parked too far away, and we reach the vehicle within a bit.

As I sit myself down into the passenger's seat, to then click in my seatbelt, I feel as though the tiredness from us having fun, now hits me, making me ache for my bed. Woohyun can probably see this, as he lets out a soft amused chuckle, while turning on the engine. He asks if I'm tired, and I tell him "yes", along with how I also think that it's a 'good' kind of tired, as I sense that I will be having a peaceful sleep tonight. A hum of agreement comes out from him, as he too, feels that he will also be having a decent sleep, and with that content thought in mind, the two of us eventually fall into a peaceful silence.

"Hey," speaks up Woohyun, as he now slows us down, in front of the red traffic light. "Just out of curiosity...but why are you still single?"

Not really thinking much about it, I just give him an expression of indifference. "Well, why shouldn't I be single?" I lightly say.

Woohyun shrugs his shoulders. "I don't know," he replies. "I guess it's because you're a beautiful woman, so I'm just a bit confused at why you're not with anyone."

His compliment makes me let out a trifling laugh. "Really?" I amusedly say. "And which part of me is the 'beautiful' part that you're talking about?"

"Everything," is Woohyun's simple reply. "I would be lying if I said that I don't find you attractive...and if someone were to hear this conversation right now, without understanding how we're just friends, then they would be thinking that I'm confessing to you or something, huh?" A chuckle falls out of him, and it makes me smile along to it, too. "Subin seemed to be certain that you were going to end up with Yongguk," he says. "But the point is—oh, speaking of Subin, if someone as childish as her can manage to get engaged, then it really boggles my mind, with why you're not tied down with a kid or two already."

A tiny sigh breathes out of me. "You know, you're starting to sound like my father..." I blandly say. "But anyway, I guess Subin's love life just worked out faster than mine did?"

Woohyun blinks a little. "Did?" he curiously says. "Are you saying that something happened, but it didn't turn out the way that you want it to?"

I'm taken aback by his question, but manage to keep on a straight face. "What? No, of course not," I quickly fib. "Ah, and speaking of Subin's engagement...I need to find something nice to wear, to the engagement party. It's soon, right?"

Now occupied by the new topic, Woohyun thankfully continues on with that, until my house comes into view. I thank him just before getting out, and giving him another goodbye wave, when I eventually step into my home, to watch him slowly reverse out of my driveway. Taking off my shoes, my feet then make their way over towards the bathroom, for me to switch on the lights, to remove my makeup. After that's done, I then step into the shower, to strip and peel off my clothes, for a relaxing warm bath. When I'm finished, and am comfortably dressed into suitable sleeping garments, I then happily make my way into my room, to let myself be immersed with the comfort of my bed.

I think I'm lucky (or at least I try to think that I am), for finding this house, and being able to purchase it, as it's suitable for me. My apartment was getting a little smothering, and because I felt the need of a change, this luckily appeared. The house would be nice with another person or so, so because of that, I try not to think about how small I sometimes feel while inside. Instead, I just try my best to enjoy the peacefulness like how I had once did, and most of the time, it ends up working, as I find myself soothingly breezing by the things that I do.

And thankfully, this appears to be one of those times, because the serene stillness of the place, lets the tiredness in me, slowly drift me off to a comforting sleep. 

———————————————

The next time when I go to open my eyes, I see that it's morning, so I begin to leisurely stretch out my limbs. After several minutes of allowing for my mind to wake up, I then get out of bed, to proceed over into the bathroom. I wash up, and when I come out, I decide to put the dirty clothes into the washing machine, just before making something for me to eat. My stomach eventually gets filled, and that's when I gradually do the dishes. The laundry soon gets hanged up, and because my home now consists of tiles, (and not carpet) I go to sweep the place, to rid all of the dust and dirt.

When my list of cleaning is completed, I let myself sit and relax for a bit, until the sight of Subin's engagement party invitation, comes into view. It makes me do a mental check of my closet, and the things that I could possibly wear to it, but I just frown with uncertainty. In the end, my mind tells me that it won't hurt to browse a couple of shops, to get an idea of some sort. Not only do I have to pay for the water bills, but a part of me just wants to go shopping, for the sake of my own personal enjoyment—I can't quite explain it, but something in me is making me feel exceptionally good about today, and although I have no idea what it is, I hope it continues to stay with me.

Changing myself out of my pyjamas, and into a nice outfit, I then grab my essentials, just before getting into my car, and driving out towards the city.

———————————————

Since it's now the afternoon, (it's almost lunch time, to be exact) the traffic is a little crazy, and the parking is just as insane. Vacant spots are tough to find, unless you stare everyone down, and race over to the person leaving, as fast as you can. I just ended up really lucky, to have this nice middle aged woman signal for me to follow her, when she was making her way over towards her car, with a few shopping bags. So with my car now smoothly parked, I can now start to make my way towards the shopping mall, and across all the levels that I feel like climbing.

My shopping adventure goes by fairly well, as I end up finding a really nice pair of leopard printed heels, for half the price that they usually are. I buy them on a whim, before sticking to my goal, in conjuring up some dress ideas, from all of the dresses that are in season right now. Everything looks great, but when the corner of my eye, catches sight of a midnight purple dress, my body automatically pivots itself towards it. The elegance radiating from it, and that familiar high-low design of the dress, makes my eyes, bit by bit, enlarge, as a nostalgic feeling, gradually wraps itself around me.

"Wow," I hear him suddenly murmur. "You look—" His tender gaze meets with my slightly irked expression. "You look beautiful."

The stunned expression on my face eventually softens, as I quietly exhale out.

It's been a while since I've thought about him—three years have passed by, and because I know that a lot can happen within that time frame, I'm now rather curious, as to how he's doing.

Hopefully, well.

I now force myself to shake those thoughts away, where my feet ultimately take myself into another shoe store. It makes me mentally sigh to myself at first, (since I'm supposed to be looking at dresses, and not shoes) but because this seems like a shop that I haven't really been in before, the discovery of it, distracts me, into trying on all the other kinds of exquisite footwear. From wedges with spikes, to hot pink pumps—my level of enjoyment increases, with the more shoes I try on, to see if they will suit and flatter me, or look absolutely disastrous.

"Is that size okay?" queries a female worker. "We have them in black as well, if you're interested."

"They're fine," I politely answer. "I'm just having a browse, but thanks for letting me know."

With a smile, the worker shows me a nod of courtesy, just before making her way over to another person, to offer them her assistance.

Seeing as there isn't really a pair of shoes that I would like to purchase, I decide that it's now time to return that one that I've just tried on back, and move on. My eyes casually examine the bottom row as I do this, and due to that, I feel myself almost walking into someone, who seems to have appeared out of nowhere. I'm thankful that I'm able to manoeuvre myself out of their way, without physically making contact with them, but that didn't stop my shopping bag, from slightly grazing itself on their black coat. I apologise for that, and am about to exit the place, when something very familiar, about their facial structure, makes me do a double take on them.

His eyes are hidden by a pair of sunglasses, but that nose, and those lips—they strike a resemblance, and although his hair is not black any more, and is a reddish-chestnut brown instead, I can recognise his identity, through his height and built. My heart is now thumping with anticipation, as a part of me is itching to reach out, and take off those designer glasses, to confirm my guess, while the other part of me, wants to hurry out. I will never forget the intensifying stare, burning through me on that day at the hospital, and that deep down inside, a small, insecure piece of me, is actually still quite wary, (and afraid) to wonder if he still thinks of me like that.

Or if I have even crossed his mind at all.

Even though what I did was really bad, the tiny glimmer of hope within me, prays that a small percentage of him, is somehow thankful to have met me, as I had temporarily made him happy.

Because the fact that I've acknowledged how he has made me smile within the past, is how I had been learning to change my hurt into gratefulness.

It feels as though time has finally unfrozen itself, because when I see him actually take a step forward, I feel myself tense up. He takes another step, until he's now in front of me, and no matter how much I want to take a step back, I’m just too flabbergasted to do so. It's crazy—this whole thing is crazy, I think, because I'm just supposed to be shopping for a dress idea, and continue on with my life, with him drifting further, and further away from my mind. It feels as though it's been an eternity, since we last saw each other, and I can only guess that he must think the same way, with how his lips had formed into a temporary, startled, expression.

And the beating in my chest only happens to intensify, now that he at long last, removes his sunglasses, for me to have a full view of his face.

Because now that our eyes are properly locked onto each other, I suddenly feel that familiar tingle, run down my spine, as every thought and feeling of the past, comes reeling back into my mind.

My chest feels tight, but that's only because of the breath that I'm currently holding, and not the nostalgic yearning feeling that I have for him—or so I’d like to believe.

Mentally preparing myself, I keep my composure clean, and decide to finally say something. "It's been a really long time..." I quietly start off. "Have you...been well?"

Himchan gently nods his head at me. "Yeah..." he murmurs, in an equally soft voice.

And because I want to keep this sudden encounter as safe as it can be, I force myself to shake off the nerves, as I now hold out my hand, for him to shake.

Will we be able to start over again?

"That's good to hear," I say, with a minor smile. "We haven't seen each other for...?"

My voice trails off, from being somewhat distracted, by the way that he's staring at my hand—analysing it, almost—as if wondering if he should shake it or not.

The thought of him not responding to it makes me a little sad, while the other half of me is quite upset that aside from a polite nod of acknowledgement, this is the only other way for us to greet to each other.

Because when I see him start to hold out his hand, so that he can shake mine with it, I can't help but feel disappointed.

I then scold myself for thinking like this, because it is to be expected, from two strangers.

Strangers...

I feel as though using that word in the same sentence with us, makes my heart ache a little more than it should.

Although, the sinking feeling in me, is now abruptly replaced with shock—because instead of shaking my hand, like how I thought he was going to, I'm caught off guard, as I feel myself, suddenly being yanked forward.

And because I’m shocked about this sudden movement, my free arm instinctively makes its way around him, as he now holds me, in this warm embrace.

"Hey, isn't that director Kim's son?" questions a (not-so-quiet) voice.

Another one joins in. "Whoa, that's him?!" they exclaim.

"Omo, who is he hugging?" asks another curious individual.

"She looks familiar..." ponders someone else. "I feel like I've seen her at my dongsaeng's wedding?"

The inquisitive voices continue to hush amongst themselves, but Himchan doesn't seem to care. Normally, I would probably feel a little awkward, with so many pairs of interested eyes, gluing themselves onto us, for our close contact, but I feel myself too overwhelmed by the comfort, of perfectly fitting into his arms. I feel relief burst through, spreading itself all over me, and it's only then, that I've come to notice just how much I've missed this. Not only do I miss him holding me, as though he just wants to stay by my side forever, but I've also missed being able to hold him, to show him how I also want the same thing.  

With his chin snuggly resting on top of my head, his entertained chuckling, allows me to feel the vibrations of his deep, teasing voice, tingling throughout my whole body.

"Got'cha."