Yi Jung had been looking forward to this date for a long time and today he finally had got the chance to spend some time with her even though Ga Eul had no idea of his plan because he knew that if he asked for her consent, she would never agree to leave because she had to go with Jan Di to the dress fitting for the 100^th time (it was only the 5^th time really)

He was now standing outside the school building waiting for her to come out after finishing her shift. Ga Eul appeared after 10 minutes wearing a light yellow summer dress with ballerina flats and a brown bag with her hair tied in a ponytail. She didn’t even see Yi Jung and his very noticeable orange sports car as she went in the other direction, texting on her cell phone.

“You dropped something miss” someone said from behind her and when she turned around she saw Yi Jung holding a bouquet of flowers and smirking.

“Sunbae, what are you doing here?”

“I am here to take you out on a date.” Yi Jung replied smoothly

“But Sunbae, I’m not free today, I have to go with Jan Di to her dress fitting; there are only a few days left and her dress still isn’t finalized.” Pointed out Ga Eul

“No need to worry, I have already taken care of it; Mandy-sshi, Ji Hoo and Woo Bin would go with Jan Di to help her out. And you can spend some time with me”

“But ……” Ga Eul was unsure about what to do. On one hand she had to help her best friend but she also wanted to spend some time with Yi Jung.

Yi Jung smiled at Ga Eul as he saw her confusion. He had known that Ga Eul would need some heavy convincing that Jan Di was okay before she went anywhere with him.

He took out his phone and dialed Ji Hoo’s number.

He had anticipated Ga Eul’s indecision and they had planned the previous evening for this.

“Yebeseyo, Yi Jung?”

“Yeah it’s me. Ga Eul’s not convinced that Jan Di would be okay with you guys; could you please tell her”

“Give her the phone, I’m putting mine on loudspeaker.” Said Ji Hoo

“Yebeseyo” Ga Eul said

“Ga Eul, this is Mandy”

“Oh hello sunbae”

“Ok Ga Eul first of all I’m not Your sunbae, I’m Jan Di’s sunbae; so please stop calling me that”

“Then I’ll call you Unnie”

“Call me whatever you want sweetie; but the reason we’re having this conversation is because you are worried about Jan Di, right?”

“We had to go her dress fitting and there are only a few days left and we just want to get it finished as soon as possible.”

“Look, I understand your problem, but trust me when I say this that I and the guys will help Jan Di in every way possible. And also my sister is a designer, so I have a little bit knowledge in that area, so you see you don’t have to worry about Jan Di at all. She will be fully assisted and you should not worry and enjoy your date with Yi Jung, okay?” said Mandy

“OK” replied Ga Eul timidly; she was still not sure but it didn’t look like she had a choice.

“Good girl, now go have fun and we’ll take care of everything here. Bye” and Mandy hung up the phone.

“Have you changed your mind now?” asked Yi Jung

“I think so” she said “Where are we going?”

“That’s a surprise for you” he said while smirking “Shall we go?” he said offering his arm.

Ga Eul interlocked her arm with his and nodded her head. They started towards the orange sports car which was parked a few meters away.

Back in front of the dress shop

“Why did you lie to her? Your sister is a jewelry designer; how can you say that you have knowledge in the clothing area” asked Ji Hoo

“I didn’t lie to her; one of my cousins actually is a fashion designer.”

“Oh”

“Now shall we go inside the shop?”

“Ok” “Ok” said Ji Hoo and Woo Bin in unison

Jan Di was sitting in the shop, waiting for Ga Eul. It was not usual for her to be late; Jan Di took out her cell phone and was dialing Ga Eul’s number when she saw the party of three enter.

“Sunbae! What are you doing here?” she asked Ji Hoo in Korean

“Umm, Jan Di could we please talk in English? Sorry but I cannot understand a word you are saying” asked Mandy politely

“Oh yes of course Mandy sunbae; I am just surprised to see you all here.”

“Yeah well, the thing is that we are substituting for Ga Eul for today; she is occupied somewhere else.” Mandy said

“Yi Jung sunbae?” she asked Ji Hoo and Woo Bin. They nodded and she shook her head and smiled. “It’s good, they needed to spend some time together, but I don’t think you might be able to help me out today” but Mandy didn’t let her finish.

“We know that you are here for your dress fitting and would like Ga Eul’s opinion; but I have bit knowledge in this area as one of my sisters is a designer. So trust me when I say this that you are in good hands.”

“That’s okay but I don’t think the guys would be of much help” said Jan Di unsurely

“Oh, I know that; they are here to assist us in any way possible” and she gave knowing expressions to both the guys “right?”

“Oh yeah. We are personal assistants of Guem Jan Di for today” said Woo Bin half sarcastically and half amusingly. He was himself confused if he was happy or frustrated to help in dress shopping.

“Ok then Jan Di, let’s try on your dress” said Mandy excitedly

“Actually sunbae, there is not one dress but nine dresses. Over the time me and Ga Eul have been here, we have chosen the ones that suit me best and asked the seamstress to make some changes to them. We have narrowed it down to these nine dresses” she said pointing to the rack which hung her dresses.

“Ok then let’s get started” Mandy said

The guys were ‘ordered’ to sit outside and give their opinions on the dresses. What followed was Jan Di doing the ramp walk in her dresses. As expected the guys didn’t have much to say except ‘It’s good’ or ‘It’s nice’. When Jan Di was trying on her 5^th dress, she called out “Sunbae?” from the changing room and Ji Hoo got up from his seat and started moving in the direction of the voice, but was soon stopped by Mandy “Where do you think you’re going?”.

“She called” but soon realized that Jan Di had actually called for Mandy “right, you are her sunbae too; stupid me” and took his seat again.

When Mandy entered, she saw one of the most beautiful brides there ever would be. Jan Di looked radiant in the dress; it was off shoulder with a lotus neckline; the bodice was a mixture of dull silver and white and the tulle skirt that started from the waist was in tulip cut with a layering beneath. Jan Di looked like she had been decorated with fresh snow.

“Oh Jan Di, you look lovely. The most beautiful and elegant bride there ever would be.” Mandy complimented Jan Di

“Oh sunbae, I know I’m not that pretty, so you don’t have to lie to make me feel good” Jan Di gushed

“But you do, so stop selling yourself short. Now where’s the veil? The look is not complete without it”

“Well that’s what I called you for” and she put on the veil. When first Jan Di looked like the epitome of elegance, now she looked like a gauche tentacle queen wannabe.

“What is this thing? Are you sure you have the right pairing?” asked Mandy

“Yes, they come with number tags same as the dresses”

“Omigod, something has to be done to this disaster. You wait here and I’ll return in a few minutes with a solution to this.” And she exited the changing room.

Mandy came out of the changing room, holding something that looked like a dead jellyfish. When Woo Bin raised a questioning brow, Mandy quickly stopped him from voicing his concerns “Don’t ask, not now”. Woo Bin raised his hands in surrender and settled back with the cup of herbal tea he had been served. Only the best service for Korea’s F4

First Mandy went over to the shop assistant and asked her to show her all the veils that they had present in the boutique. First the girl refused, saying that all the veils came with the dress and were not exchangeable. After a lot of coaxing and threatening her that her boss would be unhappy that she refused to help the future daughter-in-law of the Shinhwa household, the girl finally agreed and presented all the veils in a row.

After trying on various veils for half an hour, Jan Di finally came out and everything stilled for a moment.