twenty-four

  “And… Ta-da!”

  Sulli exultantly hopped out of the dressing room, wearing the wedding dress she had previously chosen for the wedding itself. Like an ecstatic little child, she skipped to the mirror, clutching the hem of the dress to prevent her from tripping as she gazed at her reflection. Watching Sulli intently was Krystal, rather bothered, yet at the same time, her eyes were fixated on the white dress with much interest.

  “It looks... alright.”

  Krystal forced out a positive word, the most positive one that she could say. Truthfully speaking, even with that one word, she said it rather begrudgingly. She had to contain her mixed emotions, on one hand she was immensely happy for her best friend, and she truly wanted to shower her with compliments. But Krystal, with the countless problems that lay in her mind, she found herself barely able to utter a decent praise.

  Sulli threw Krystal a wry look. “Alright? Just alright?”

  Krystal heaved a sigh, flopping onto the couch. “Do you really want to hear the truth?”

  Sulli nodded, bracing herself. “Yeah.”

  “…It looks beautiful on you, too beautiful, almost like it was made for you.” Krystal blurted out, speaking rather emotionally. “You look absolutely perfect in this dress, and I think that there’s truly no better dress for you! It’s just that you look too perfect, Ssul… It’s too ideal.”

  And in an instant, Krystal burst into tears, weeping loudly. She cried, she sobbed, she blubbered, very much unlike her usual self. She howled out all the depressing feelings she held within her, her sad emotions coming out of her in the form of glimmering tears, rolling down her cheek, drop by drop.

  Sulli, however, was rather unfazed. Not that she was heartless, but rather, it was something she had expected. There were many events that had taken place over the course of the past seven to eight months, and those events, those events did not hinder her from truly being able to understand Krystal. She knew what was occurring, and she knew what there was to be solved.

  She let out a small sigh, gently taking a seat next to Krystal, being careful not to cause creases to form on the white wedding dress she wore. “…Krys… I know… I know things have been rough on you, with Sehun and all…”

  “Rough? Rough?” Krystal raised her voice, particular emphasizing her words with her furious intonation. “I thought I had it tough when I was dating Minho, because I thought that he just didn’t match me on some points. But Sehun, not only is he my complete opposite, but he actually has no actual form of feeling for me within his heart!”

  Sulli attempted to comfort Krystal by patting her back, but it proved to be futile. “Krys, I’m sure that’s not true, I mean, he does love you a lot.”

  “What would you know?” Krystal was enraged, venting out her feelings rapidly. “He actually loved you for one period of time, Ssul! And you know what he did? He took you up the roller coasters when you were being cranky, he constantly worried about you, and he even left me, discarded me to chase after you! And with all of those facts, you can still say that he loves me? In what way can you call that love?”

  “…Krys, this is exactly the reason why I wanted you to come for the dress-fitting with me, and no one else.” Sulli drew her breath. “I think… We need to solve this. It’s eating us up, Krys, the both of us, and I think it’s still not fully solved.”

  “It’s not your problem since you’re already going to marry Taemin-“

  “But it is! As much as it is your problem, it’s mine too!” Sulli persisted, despite being slightly exasperated. “Krys, you do know how much I wavered before coming to this decision, right? And because of what happened between us, I’ve caused everyone else to waver as well, to the point that you, even you are wavering-“ She stopped Krystal, continuing with her words. “-You barely notice it Krys, but you’ve developed this thinking that I still love Sehun and Sehun still loves me-”

  “That’s how things still are, Ssul!” Krystal bellowed, finally interrupted Sulli. “If he doesn’t think of you, then who else does he think of, huh? Why can’t he shower me with love the same way he does to you?”

  “Because I’m not you, Soojung!” It was the last straw for Sulli, and she wasn’t going to tolerate any longer. “He doesn’t think of me the same way he thinks of you! Not every guy will be exceptionally loving, caring and sweet to the person he loves – have you ever thought that there might be certain exceptions! He’s comfortable with you, Soojung, and that comfort he feels when he’s with you, it’s not something he can achieve when he’s with me.”

  “Ssul-“

  Sulli inhaled slowly, before speaking up once more. “Look, Krys, I just wanted to say sorry. I want to say sorry for being the root cause of this problem. But I’m going to get married, married to the person I love, and before I do, I want to make sure that my best friend knows that.” She reached out and grasped Krystal’s hand. “…I want you to be happy with Sehun, and I know you will be… Only if you try a little harder.”

  And Krystal somewhat understood. There were many little problems that lay between her and Sehun, many of those problems were little misconceptions and misunderstandings that both of them had refused to properly understand. Since neither had wished to come to a compromise, both of them had begun drifted apart. But the worst thing was, she remembered, even when he had tried to patch their differences, Krystal had blatantly refuted him.

  Then there was also the issue of friendship. As she gazed over at Sulli’s face, the way she had that pleading expression, it was like she was transported back in time, to the first time she had met Sulli in the training room. That sweet, innocent girl who had willingly shared her lunchbox with her, danced with her, sang with her; and that sweet, innocent girl who had became one of the people she trusted most, one of the people she shared happy memories with…

  …The girl who was her best friend.

  Tears streamed down their cheeks as they soon hugged each other tightly. “…I’m sorry too, Ssul, I want you to be happy.” Krystal admitted. “…No, you will be happy – I know it.”

  “Thank you, Soojung.” Sulli grinned as they released each other, smiling. “…Fix things with Sehun, alright? Don’t worry, with time, you’ll wear a pretty dress just as beautiful as this one.”

  “No, prettier.” Krystal was back to her snobby self. “…Absolutely a lot prettie