Sooyoung was staring absentmindedly out of the glass windows; her eyes following the colorful spectrum of the passing cars speeding on the highway. Her stomach gave a small rumble, pulling her back on earth. She shifted her gaze and began looking for Shim Changmin.

The boy was relatively easy to spot and Sooyoung frowned upon seeing him still waiting for his turn on the long queue of people ordering for food. She gave out a sigh and started playing with the bouquet lying motionless on the table.

Changmin had a brief talk with Atty MinSuk and Dong Guk-nim right after the wedding. The two elderly men then left immediately; Atty Minsuk, to work on the marriage certificate, and Dong Guk-nim, for matters he had discussed with Changmin (to which Sooyoung was intentionally left out of). The boy then led her outside the building, across the street to McDonald’s. So there she was sitting patiently, playing inattentively with the flowers when her fingers found a cardboard-like object stuck between the stems. She pried the stalks apart and pulled out what was actually a Polaroid picture. It was the picture, Sooyoung blushed upon remembering, of their kiss.

“I now pronounce you, husband and wife.” Atty MinSuk beamed brightly as he ended his speech.

The newly-weds said nothing and remained rooted to the spot, as if caught in the momentary shock of the fact that they are now officially married. The district lawyer looked at the two and upon noticing that nobody’s going to move, he declared rather excitedly.

“Well, you may now kiss the bride.”

The sentence somehow stirred them awake. Sooyoung was still trying to get over from the shock upon hearing the command when she felt Changmin’s hands on her shoulders. He turned her around gently until they were facing each other. She looked up and saw him looking back at her. It seemed as if time slowed tenfold as Changmin moved his face towards her.

His right hand traveled from her shoulder down to her waist. She felt Changmin’s other hand on the back of her head, slowly closing the gap between them. Sooyoung barely heard the loud click of Atty MinSuk’s camera; eyes closed serenely and a sudden feeling of tranquility washed over her as she felt Changmin press his lips gently on her forehead.

“Sorry, I took too long.”

Sooyoung woke up from her reverie when she heard Changmin approach the table. He put down a tray laden with two huge cheeseburgers, mounds of fries, and a large cup of soda.

“Wait a sec, I’ll just get my order.” He whisked around and half-ran into the counter as Sooyoung stared at the pile of food in front of her.

“Am I supposed to finish this?” she asked aloud when she saw the boy walking towards the table, his arms carrying another tray with almost the exact amount of food as the one he gave Sooyoung.
“Yep. I thought you might need some extra servings since you hadn’t eaten your lunch. We left the house at around eleven and it’s past two in the afternoon already. I’m famished, in case you’re wondering.”

He sat in front of her and immediately attacked the cheeseburger. “I love American Food!” he chirped happily. The tall boy then stuffed his face with a handful of fries. He was about to take a huge gulp on his soda when he noticed that the girl in front of her hadn’t even touched her food.

Changmin gave out a sigh before he put down his glass. He looked at the girl in front of him with a concerned expression on his face. “Sooyoungie… are you fine?”
“Huh?” She put the photograph down on the table upon realizing that she was still holding it in her hand. “I… I guess.”

“Oh.” Changmin’s eyes fell on the picture, to which Sooyoung hastily pushed beneath the bouquet.

She looked up to see him looking worriedly at her. He reached out to touch her free hand resting on the table.

“You seem lost. It’s okay. Tell me. What’s bothering you?”

Sooyoung stared at Changmin’s hand on hers and she felt a sudden plunging feeling on the pit of her stomach. She took one last look on his face before the words came spilling out.

“I-I don’t know… I don’t understand. I’m confused. I’m still not used with this kind of set-up.”

Changmin’s worried expression was replaced with a look of understanding. “I guess you’ve been waiting to tell that to me since yesterday.”

“No, wait. I don’t mean that. I mean, I thought that I’m sure of this. But…” she looked outside the window and sighed. Changmin followed her line of vision and saw that she was staring straight into the city hall building.

“I get it.” His hand never left Sooyoung’s. He took her hand and held it with both hands. “I know this is something big. And I’m not even sure that I have fully understood the weight of the situation I put us through…” he paused and held her hands tighter. “…but I promise, when everything’s over, it would all be back to normal. Trust me.”

He was looking intently at her and Sooyoung felt that she simply has to believe what he was saying.

TIFFANY stared at the pile of documents atop her table. She had went down the archive sections and started reading through old files of city ordinances just to let her mind off the complications of her “weird lovelife”, as Taeyeon quoted it, but she just ended up staring at the pile for about half an hour now. She took a deep breath and went back to her latest conversation with Taeyeon.


“Again?”
She only sighed in reply.
“Why? How? What happened?” Taeyeon looked at her with curious eyes.
“I… I don’t know. He just… started talking to me...” She let the words trail off.
She looked up to see Taeyeon looking at her as if telling her to continue her tale.
“He just talked to me. And… ugh, I don’t know.” She put her hands on her face and sighed helplessly.

Taeyeon looked at her friend; and after what seemed like an hour, she spoke.

“Fany… I think you never really fell out of love with Siwon-oppa.”
Her best friend’s word hit her like gunshots and she felt the sudden urge to cry. Frustration. She can feel it clawing at her insides, eating her up, driving her crazy. She buried her face on her hands and sobbed tearlessly.

“Taengoo…” it sounded more as a plea and the shorter girl understood the call.
“Fany…” she went near Tiffany and put her arms around her. “Don’t blame yourself. It is never a bad thing to fall in love.” At this, a tear fell down her friend’s cheeks and Taeyeon found herself Tiffany’s hair and whispering words of encouragement. “Let it all out. Cry. Don’t bottle things up. It would hurt you more.”

“Tae-Taeyeon...” Tiffany was now sobbing hard that her words come out partially unintelligible. “I am mad at myself. I-I don’t know how I should feel. I am happy. N-now that Si-Siwon…” she paused and cried harder. “I-I am happy and I am angry because I’m not supposed to feel this way. Cha-changmin… we are engaged. I-I feel terrible.”

Taeyeon kept her hair. “Do you love Changmin?”

Tiffany stopped crying upon hearing the question. She remained silent for a few more seconds. “Yes. But…”
“But, you’re not in love with him?” Taeyeon finished the sentence for her.

“Y-yes.” The word came out before she could control it and she started crying harder than before. “Taengoo…I-I love him. But I don’t know. I-I’m supposed to be in love with him, right?”

“Fany… Love is not