Ending Page - f(x)

Prologue

Summer of June 18th

The 18th of June had always been quite eventful for Aerin. Every year it was her indication, much like a wake-up call, that summer was just two to three days ahead of her. It was a day where all of her memories suddenly start to rush into her mind like it was just the first time, and just like before, here she was, in a church, being reminded of why the 18th of June became so memorable for her.

“Do you, Benjamin Clark, take Minae Park to be your lawfully wedded wife and live in the holy estate of matrimony? Will you love, honour, comfort, and cherish her from this day forward, forsaking all others, keeping only unto her for as long as you both shall live?”

With a loving gaze towards the bride, the groom answered. “I do.”

It was June 18th, 2000, the summer when Aerin was almost five years old and the day where she first entered a church to witness a marriage ceremony. Every person inside the church was full of smiles--sincere smiles. Everyone was in high spirits. She remembered her grandparents weeping endless tears, but it was not because of sadness or grief. It was tears of joy, tears of unfathomable joy. It was the same joy that Aerin felt when she slowly walked down the red-carpeted aisle in her white sparkling dress, holding her basket full of yellow sunflowers and white rosemaries while making sure she wouldn’t trip on her silver doll shoes bought specifically for that occasion. She would not let her month-long practice inside the hallway of their house go to waste.

Aerin was excited. She was ecstatic, nervous, overjoyed and every other feeling that she might possibly feel. The place was filled with white and shining decorations that brimmed with stargazers and there were veils and even stars hanging on the high coloured glass ceilings. Aerin thought it was lovely place where she could stay forever and just relish the scene laid out in front of her without ever getting tired of it. She enjoyed it, but all those thoughts got overshadowed the moment she saw the bride, dressed in her gorgeous white wedding gown, meeting her groom for the first time that day. The moment she saw the two lovers ready to be united, she realized and understood what it felt like to be happy. It was not because of the beauty of what she saw but the moment shared between the two. It was when everything started, when she first thought that weddings were like fairy tales--a story made out of love that always had a happy ending. She believed that every story ended happily like that, a happy ever after like no other.

She believed that every year it would be the same. The feelings she experienced that day would surely repeat and allow her to relive that familiar state of euphoria and bliss. For Aerin, that day was more important than any other special holiday--more than Christmas, New Years, or even her own birthday. Nothing could compare to that day for she liked that day. Perhaps "liked" would be an understatement. Aerin saw what love was like and thus, she loved it. She loved that Sunday.  

However, it was two years later on the same exact date that she began to realize that what she saw before wasn’t real. Fast forward to Tuesday, June 18, 2002. Aerin wore another white dress except it was simpler and more reserved than the one she wore before. Also, instead of wearing silver doll shoes, she wore black ones—a color she opted to wear on not-so-happy holidays.

With small steps, she was then led into an unknown room. Upon stepping inside, the bliss that Aerin had of June 18th were shattered in an instant. The euphoria and excitement she was supposed to feel didn’t appear. The happy and sincere smiles she was supposed to see weren’t present. Sure, the once lovely bride and handsome groom that she saw 2 years ago were smiling, but they weren’t sincere smiles. They were of indignant and regret.

Was there something wrong? Why would they put on an expression like that when it was the 18th of June? Weren’t they supposed to celebrate? Confused thoughts began to invade Aerin’s young mind because the people that she once celebrated with didn’t act the way they were supposed to. They were supposed to be happy. They were supposed to be laughing. The two most important people in Aerin’s life were supposed to be carrying her in their arms with loving and caring gazes, but all she saw were apologetic ones.

“Kang Aerin, listen carefully because I’m going to ask you an important question. Please answer honestly, setting all prejudice and bias aside, and tell me the answer that’s truly in your heart.”

It was when the large man in a dark suit began to speak to her in a calm and careful manner that Aerin realized that June 18th was gone. It was as if it had never existed in the first place.

“Who do you want to stay with: your father, Kang Heegun, or your mother, Park Minae?”

The 18th of June was just a dream, a fantasy that her naïve and innocent young mind created, just like a self-defense mechanism to prevent herself from being wounded. It was a façade that the two people, who were once the most important to her, made so she wouldn’t get hurt by the reality that fairy tales didn’t exist.

Aerin thought of that possibility before, but she ignored it. She disregarded it for they made her believe that it was not the case. More importantly, she trusted them. She trusted them with all of her heart and yet that trust only ended up being trampled upon. Gone were the happy moments of the past.

She couldn’t blame them though since she was still so young back then. Aerin was naïve and still inexperienced. She knew that they didn't want her to get hurt. They didn’t want her to experience the pain that they felt. But for Aerin, she thought differently. Maybe it was better if they didn’t make her believe in stupid fantasies in the first place. That way, she wouldn’t have expected. She wouldn’t have hoped. It would have lessened the pain.

It was once a secret that was hidden away from Aerin, but she knew that all secrets can’t be kept hidden forever. Nothing lasts forever.

“Do you, Minae Park, take Benjamin Clark for your lawfully wedded husband to live in the holy estate of matrimony? Will you love, honour, com