“I’m sorry. I can’t do this.” That one person said in one breath before dashing away, leaving the garden.

All the people froze, static, rooted to their seat. Their faces went slack, mouth slightly open, body unmoving, and color draining from their faces as they stare wide-eyed with each other. They were too shocked to a point where they hardly seemed breathing.

TIFFANY’S STORY

RUNAWAY BRIDE

Marriage.

Two souls but a single thought, two hearts that beat as one.

And the wedding ring goes on the forth finger from the thumb of your left hand.

Do you know why?

Because it’s the only finger that has a vein which is directly connected to our heart.

I hastened my steps as fast as I can. I wish with all my heart so that I can get away from that guy. I seriously, absolutely, extremely want to get away from him. I wish that I won’t see his face again. I wish that I have a time machine so that I can travel back in time to avoid meeting him at Soo Young unnie’s café.  I wish that a genie will appear right in front of my eyes and says ‘tell me your wish, I’m a genie for you girl’ so that he will grant all my previous wishes. If only I have a genie… If and only if….

The white high heels didn’t stop me even a bit from my escapism. I didn’t even give a damn to all the eyes of the passersby who watched me walking along side of the road with my wedding gown. Their minds must be spammed with the words runaway bride now.  Argh!! What the heck! Tiffany Hwang, ignore all those orbs and just find a freaking place to hide! Don’t let him find you! Hide! Is there any cave or valley somewhere near here? It might be the best escapism for me.

After almost 15 minutes walking like a mad woman, I finally reached a playground. Well, not the cave or valley that I wanted but I’ll take whatever is laid in front of me. I went to a swing set and sat on the swing. The playground was empty. It was chilly and obviously there was no kid running around, shouting and playing with each other. Their moms would never let them play outside in this kind of weather. The breezy cold wind blew sending chills to the core of my bone. Damn! How the hell did I forget my coat?

I threw my gaze to the seesaw near the swing. The tears that I tried so hard to control finally came down raining on my cheeks. I wiped away the tears with my bare hand. I knew my makeup would smudge but what do I care. I’m too heartbroken to even care about my appearance.

“Haish… Tiffany Hwang, you’re the one who chose this path. So why are you crying?” I said out loud, talking to myself. If someone were to walk nearby and saw me talking to myself, that person must think that I have a mental disorder. I let out a heavy sigh. Feel like pouring everything out the pain inside my heart to someone, but to whom can I confide? I didn’t even have a clue on how to begin describing the ache that I am feeling. Fuh! I shut my eyes, hoping the darkness will bring serene to my chaotic heart.

“Why?”

One husky voice made me open my eyes immediately. I turned my head and I saw the one figure that I was wishing hard to avoid, came walking towards me. “You…” I said in a slow voice till it might even be considered as a whisper. Truth been told, my soul almost left my body when my eyes first laid their sight towards his figure. Did I officially become the most ‘noob’iest person in the game of hide and seek? I thought I hid farther enough to never let him find me. How the heck did he find me? Did he implant a detecting chip or put a GPRS somewhere on my body?

“Why did you run away?” Seung Hyun asked as his lips curved with a smile. He was no longer wearing his tuxedo. No more black jacket fitted on his body nicely like a model ready to walk down the runaway, no more vest or tie to make him look like a groom. He rolled up his sleeves before he took a sit on the swing next to me. “If not, we would be officially Mister and Mrs. Choi.” He teased me; a smile was still plastered on his face.

The tears once again rolled down like a feast on my cheeks. I gritted my teeth hard. The rage that I felt for Seung Hyun can no longer be contained. His cool smiling face just made my anger surpassing my limit. “Do you have any idea what the hell I am feeling right now?!”

My blasting deafening question was answered by a single shook from his head.

“You don’t have any idea right?! Then let me enlighten you, mister!” My right hand formed a fist while my left hand gripped tightly on my wedding gown. I tried to gather as much courage as I can before I explode in front of him. “I feel like throwing punches straight on your face so you would have bruises all over! I feel like cutting you into fragments and throw them into the sea so that sharks can eat you up! I feel like kicking you out of the Andromeda galaxy so that I won’t ever see your face again! I feel like running you over with steamroller so that you’ll be flatten, bones crushed into thousands pieces. I feel like pushing you down from the Niagara fall so that you would drown to death. I feel like ripping your hair apart so that you become bald! I feel like dumping you into Mount Vesuvius so that your body will become the sacrifice for the lava. I feel like…. Like…” The sadness made me stuttered my words. “…Like…Like… killing you... but… but…. But…”

“But you don’t have the heart to do it right?” Seung Hyun helped to finish my words when he saw me tilting my head down, loss of words to continue my rants.

Obviously I don’t have the heart to do it! Because…..

“Because you love me…”

How the hell did he know? Is he a mind reader? I raised my head; my orbs went to meet his.

I stared long and hard into his eyes. “What actually do you want Seung Hyun? Why are you doing this to me? What did I ever do wrong to you? Are you holding a grudge against me till you have the heart to treat me like this?? Tell me so that I understand… please…” Hot torrents of grief coursed down my face, my eyes leaked with sadness.

“What did I ever do to you?” He asked.

“What did you ever do to me?!” I was vexed. “Tons of things! You dared flirt with Park Bom in front of me, you dared called Park Bom with a sweet nickname; you dared left me hanging these past few days without any news, messages or a freaking phone call whatsoever, you dared disappear from my life, leaving me clueless of your whereabouts! And now you freaking made me cried my heart out! Let’s end this Seung Hyun. Enough is enough! I’m done. I’m tired! I’m tired of playing this arranged marriage game with you! I reached my limit already. I don’t have any strength left to pull through this stupid set up. I just wish for one thing right now. Please disappear from my life permanently! Don’t ever show up in front of me anymore! Stop making my world jumbled, shaken, and turned upside down anymore!” I clasped my hands together. “Please… just go away… away from my life… I’m begging you… find someone else for you to fool around. I don’t want another heart break. Please…”

“I love you Tiffany Hwang.”

Again, hearing those words uttered straight from his mouth made the soul out from my own body. I felt like I was lifeless. My brain numbed, my body paralyzed, my heart skipped a beat and I ceased to breath.

“I love you. You’re the only one that I have ever loved. I swear…” Seung Hyun rose up his right hand. “I swear with my own life that from the first time that I met you until the end of my life, you’re the only one that I would love. There’s no else besides you…”

His words made my body shivered. I felt like thousands of electric shocks jolted through my whole body. I want to answer him back, but I can’t seem to find the right words for me to reply.

“To be honest, I don’t have the words to make you feel better. But I do have the arms to give you a hug, ears to listen to whenever you want to rant and I have a heart that’s aching to see you smile, always…” He wiped away my tears. “I love you…”

I still sat on the swing, dumbfounded. His face felt closer to me, but I didn’t have the time to blush. My mind kept telling me that this is a reality but my heart was convincing me hard enough so that I would believe that this is just a dream. I slapped my cheeks. Ouch!

My action brought laughter to Seung Hyun. “Aigoo… missy, this is a reality. Not a fantasy.”

“I. Don’t. Understand. You.” I spoke the words one by one. Confusion was written all over my face. I didn’t even believe my own ears. Did I just hear him confessing his love to me?

“I. Love. You. Just try and understand that. That’s all there is to it!”

“Ha. Ha. Ha. Do you think I would believe you? Mind you, after all that you’ve done to me, you had the courage to blurt out this confession and you expect m