It all started when you opened your door to find him standing there. He was shuffling his feet with his hand running through his hair. Behind him, a car honked its horn twice before driving away and that made Taekwoon turn to wave at the departing car. When he was facing you again, he was in the position he was in when you had opened the door with him avoiding your eyes. While he was looking away, you took the opportunity to appraise him in the dark fitted suit he was in. It somehow made his shoulders even broader and his height taller with the way it was hanging on his figure.

You felt yourself getting pink as you stepped to the side and waved him in but he was still looking away from you and didn’t see what you were gesturing him to do. Without thinking, you reached out to grab his arm and then tugged him in from the doorway.

You just closed the door when a throat was cleared from behind you and your head whirled around to see your mother smiling her brightest smile. She quickly moved forward, “Ah! Mikyung-ah’s classmate is here!”

Taekwoon looked up at her once before doing a full bow to her. You were soon pressed into the wall when your father appeared at your mother’s other side. “Welcome.”

Taekwoon did another bow and he lingered in the position for a second longer. Your eyes were darting between the two sides and that’s when Hwangin joined the welcoming ceremony by standing shoulder to shoulder with your dad.

All the while, Taekwoon had a blank face and there was a falter in his gaze that you wanted to alleviate. You stepped in front of him and the three adults directed their attention to you.

“This is Jung Taekwoon. He is in my class and he,” you paused before looking your father directly in the eye, “He is my boyfriend.”

You mother squealed and jumped up and down while Hwangin smirked. You and your father were in a face off and his eyes narrowed at you which you reciprocated. Your mother hit his shoulder with a loud thump, “Enough of that!” She turned to you and Taekwoon, “Come in! Come in!” she took a step back and gestured him in. She placed a hand on both your dad and Hwangin’s shoulders to pull them back. Both men crossed their arms at the same time while taking your mother’s hint and took two steps back. You let go of Taekwoon’s arm and cautiously moved forward with Taekwoon following you in while your mother continued to talk, “It’s so nice of my Mikyung-ah to finally bring someone home to introduce to us! I’ve been waiting for this day since she was in middle school!”

Your father frowned at her, “Middle school is too young to have a boyfriend.” He lowered his voice, “So is high school.” He glared over at Taekwoon.

He received another hit from your mom, “Go check on my mother. She said you’ve been avoiding her this morning.” No one missed the grimace he tried to hide causing your mother to hit him once again.

“Fine, fine,” your father glared one last time at Taekwoon, “Fine.” With that he turned away and dragged himself to the kitchen.

Hwangin took the chance to step forward with his hand held out, “Thanks for taking the time to come to my wedding.”

Taekwoon nodded before bowing. He used both of his hands to hold Hwangin’s.

“Nunji is just about finished getting ready.” Your mother had a sharp glint in her eyes when she looked at you with her smile, “Why don’t you go check on your sister Mikyung-ah? I think she was getting Mieunnie ready too. She might need your help.” Each sentence was punctuated with that glint in her eye getting brighter and brighter.

You looked over at Taekwoon and he shook his head at you once.

Next to your mother, Hwangin smiled at her, “I’ll go get Mieunnie ready.”

That glint faded as she looked at her son-in-law, “You don’t mind Hwangin-ah? I’m sure more guests will be arriving shortly and it is tradition for the groom to welcome them.”

Hwangin obliviously shook his head, “No, it’s fine. My family is still on their way over and my friends will meet us at the church.”

Your mother’s smile lost a shade of its former glimmer before she nodded at him and he eagerly took off for the stairs to be reunited with his daughter. When the door shut to your sister’s room, your mom looked over to you two. “I still have things to get together for the reception so I’ll leave you two in here to get comfortable.” Now that things weren’t going her way, she was pouting. She took a step forward and reached out to Taekwoon. She patted his shoulder twice before summoning what was left of her smile, “It really is so nice to have you here as Mikyung’s guest. There is still the whole day to get to know you more.” With that small warning, she turned around to go to the kitchen.

Once the door closed behind her fading footsteps, Taekwoon grabbed your hand and let out a big sigh.

You nudged him and pulled him over to the living room. You looked at the limited choices before pulling him over to the couch. Once settled on the couch, he leaned forward and placed his head on his free hand while the other gripped your hand tighter.

You couldn’t help the fond smile creep up on your lips as you looked at him. You scooted closer to him and leaned your head onto his shoulder. This made his already tense posture stiffer and you felt his head turn to look at you. You didn’t bother to lift your head to look at him but chose to squeeze his hand twice instead. It was a while before he relaxed and you two sat in that position for a few blissful minutes.

He kept sighing and that made his shoulders go up and down. After his fifth sigh, you lifted your head and looked over at him. He was staring down at your clasped hands. When he looked up to meet your gaze there was a much higher pitched squeal your mother’s squeal had no hope of achieving that echoed throughout the room you two were situated in.

“Where is my maid-of-honor? I saw her dress still on its hanger in her room! I still have to do her hair and make-up too! Mimi-ya!!”

You froze and eyed the comfortable sweatpants you were wearing. There was some stomping down the stairs and your sister appeared. Her eyes immediately locked on to you and she stalked over to you.

“Annoyng Taekwoonie!”

With that greeting she hauled you away from your spot by him and then you were stumbling after her. You had to catch yourself three times from tripping over the steps leading to the second floor and then you were shoved into your room with your sister slamming the door shut.

You made a face at your sister and in turn, she rolled her eyes before she clasped your shoulders and pushed you over to your mirror. She dragged your desk chair over and you were unceremoniously deposited into it before she pulled out her make-up bag from somewhere you don’t want to know.

Your mind was still back downstairs sitting next to Taekwoon so you didn’t try to resist while she got to work. Next door, you heard your niece start to cry and you really did see your sister’s ears perk up before she shook her head and leaned down to you.

“Look down,” she ordered and your automatic glare came on before she pinched your shoulder which made you glare harder. “Look down.”

You just directed your glare down to your lap and she huffed.

It took her a little longer than usual for her to finish then she pulled a hair curler from behind her back. You grimaced when you saw that but stayed still while she heated your hair. You idly wondered what Taekwoon was doing when you finally realized he was downstairs by himself.

Alone.

Where your father only had to wander out from the kitchen and see him. Alone. Your mother could do the same and your grandma. Your grandma!

Nunji pulled you down when you stood up abruptly, “Sit down! I could have burned a good three inches off, you crazy!”

You looked at her through the mirror with wide eyes, “Unnie! Grandma!”

Your sister went back to damaging your hair, “So what? She came last night.”

“Taekwoon.”

When you muttered his name, your sister paused and an understanding look passed over her face. She gasped, “Grandma!”

She yanked a bunch of your hair up and quickly curled the ends and you winced. In record time, she was ushering you off the chair and then she pulled your dress off of its hanger and threw it at you. “Hurry up and change and go save your boyfriend!”

With that, she quickly put her things away while you threw your door open and dashed down the hall to the bathroom. With a peek over the banister, you could only see the small hallway that lead to the kitchen but you were in a hurry. You shut the bathroom door and locked it with a click once you were inside. Careful of your makeup and hair, you slipped into the dress. There were three knocks on the door and you reached over to unlock it.

Nunji was already in her wedding dress with her veil perfectly in place. You took a few seconds to be impressed with your sister’s super ability but she shoved your shoes into your stomach. You sat on the edge of the bath tub while she put more products into her hair and spritzed perfume all around the key points of her body.

With your shoes firmly clasped on your feet, you stood up and Nunji grabbed a different perfume bottle and attacked you with it. You coughed when she was done.

You were pushed out the door with your sister shouting, “Fighting Mikyungie!”

You had to hold the banister, still not trusting your balance with the added height from your shoes, even after the hours of practice inflicted on you by your mother and sister.

You knew you had to get to Taekwoon as quickly as possible but you didn’t want to embarrass yourself by tripping and falling down the stairs when he was in your house.

“Mimi-ya!” you slowly turned around with a firm grip on the banister to see your sister strut down the stairs even with the long train of her gown. She had something glittery in her hands and you suspiciously eyed it. “We don’t have time for that!” She yanked you over to her and pinned the glittering thing into your hair.

With that she walked down the remaining steps but jumped over the last few with a smirk at you with a graceful landing. You glared at her as you took careful steps down the remaining few and followed after her while bending down to pick up her train.

Your sister ente