~*~

"How was Japan, you two? I heard our Taeyeon enjoyed herself in the concert," Jiyong's mother very excitedly asked as she put down on the table the beef casserole she prepared.

The Kwons and the Kims were in full reinforcements for a luncheon in the Kwon's Itaewon residence. The mothers helped each other in preparing a 5-course meal. Meanwhile, the fathers and Jiwoong oppa busied themselves with the grilling of the meat. My baby sister Hayeon baked pastries and pies with Dami unnie for desert. To see the two families comfortably bonding somehow bothered me. It would be much more difficult to come clean to them that the wedding was off.

So I kept quiet in the meantime. During the entire meal, we shared stories about our Japan trip. For some reasons, our parents were very much updated about the whole thing. Did Jiwoong oppa, Hayeon and Dami unnie tell them about the news and articles regarding the Love & Peace encore? The elders were very moved by what happened. If only they also knew of the great GD-Kiko live show that took place after, they wouldn't be so touched.

"Thank you Jiyong for taking care of our Taeyeon. I was told you made that trip possible for her," my mother told Jiyong, even holding his hand and squeezing it. We were now walking towards the living room, where the deserts would be served. "We're very lucky to have such a responsible man taking care of our daughter."

Responsible? More like a coward who's great at covering up. I almost slipped up, but I fought myself and stayed quiet. Jiyong looked at me meaningfully, as if measuring my next move. I knew he was just waiting for me to bring up the confession. But just as I was about to...

"By the way, one thousand guests already confirmed their attendance to your wedding," Kwon Dami declared, carrying the huge tray of pies as she came from the kitchen. She was still wearing her apron. "Gosh, we didn't realize you two have that much friends."

I had almost forgotten that the ladies in our families toiled in the last two weeks to prepare the wedding. Being in Japan with Jiyong for three days, I never realized that the invites have been sent out, or that the wedding preparation yielded any results. Until I heard about the thousand people participating in the event. One thousand? Seriously? Who are those one thousand guests?! I don't have that much friends and family! I was surprised, because the last time we discussed the wedding, we agreed that it would be a private event.

Mr. Kwon invited all three men for a drink outside. Before leaving, Jiyong made sure to look at me, as if asking my permission. With all the wedding talks going on, there was no way for me to find the opportunity to say my piece. I was going to talk to Jiyong, but when I looked back at him, he already left the house to join the drinking session outside. How cowardly. What happened to talking to them together? What happened to the mutual decision?

"Since you two requested not to have a Church wedding, we respected your request," Kwon umma added to the wedding updates, gaining back my attention. I decided to let Jiyong off, but I could still see him from the window, laughing and drinking with my father and brother outside. "I didn't know we are members of different sectors of Christianity. But that's besides the point. What matters is, our baby Kwon would be God fearing, no matter what religion she picks."

"Judge Jang Kiseok agreed to marry you two off in Seoul Highland Gardens. He's flying from Jeonju tomorrow," my mother said, sitting beside me in the living room sofa.

Judge Jang was the regional leader of the Jeonju court, and he was great friends with my parents. But wait, did umma just say Seoul Highland Gardens? The Seoul Highland Gardens, only the most expensive and most sought-after venue in the whole metropolitan city?!

"The weather's really nice this weekend too. The guest will enjoy the garden contract-signing program so much," Kwon umma muttered, pulling out a brochure from her Hermes bag. Jiyong obviously pampered his mother very much, judging from all Kwon umma's branded things. Even her wallet was Gucci. "Here's a photo of the venue. Isn't it beautiful?!"

Heck yeah, it is beautiful. The place was amazing, costing $75,000 per hour! How in the world did we get that place? And why in the world? This was supposed to be a quick and simple wedding. Why were all the details so grandiose? When Jiyong said they'd take care of it, and that I need not worry, I was confident they were only registering us in the city hall, and preparing a simple dinner after. But this? Oh God help me. I was speechless as I gazed at the glossy brochure showing me just where I was supposed to exchange vows with Kwon Jiyong.

"After the ceremony, all the guests will be escorted to the Lotte Grand Ballroom. We could only reserve the garden for two hours, so we picked another great place for the reception," my mother told me, also handing me another brochure, this time of the $100,000 per hour Lotte Grand Ballroom. "We hired specialists to take care of the program, so there will be fun games, presentations, and intermissions numbers. The wedding party will last about four hours."

I was getting overwhelmed with all these updates, and it took me a while to process the information. Did the venues alone already cost half a billion won? Holy crap. This was NOT private. This was NOT a family affair. This was NOT small, NOT simple.

Worst of all, this was NOT easy to cancel.

Just how do you unreserve the Seoul Highland Gardens and the Lotte Grand Ballroom? Just how do you uninvite 1000 guests? I looked up to Jiyong, expecting help and support. But he was laughing so carefreely with my brother outside, getting drunk to his heart's content. Kwon Jiyong, look this way. I'm gonna kill you, bastard! What kind of wedding is this?!

"Your Vera Wang wedding gown also arrived today unnie!" this time, my sister Hayeon was the one who shared her update. She came from the second floor of the Kwon residence, holding in her hands a huge white box that obviously contained the wedding gown. I also forgot that I jokingly asked Jiyong to buy me a Vera dress. But there it was, being unpacked by my sister in front of me.

"As you requested, my generous brother provided. But they tweaked it a little to fit your size. A Vera Wang associate personally hand-delivered it in my office. Gosh sis, it's so pretty," Dami unnie excitedly told me, pulling the wedding gown up for everyone to see.

Holy cow. It was magnificent. Glorious. Absolutely breath-taking. I felt my heart skip a beat at the sight of the most perfect wedding gown I have ever seen. Did Jiyong choose this? Looking at the window, I saw that Jiyong was also looking inside, seeing the wedding gown. His face was calm, and I could tell he almost smiled at me. But I didn't buy it. Although I was very awestruck with the beautiful gown, I was only reminded that Kwon Jiyong spent lavishly to stage the most pretentious wedding for the whole world to believe. All of these, they were all a lie. A manifestation of his cowardice.

"My God! Jiyong spent $45,000 on a wedding gown?!" umma exclaimed, holding her chest dramatically while she looked at the gown's invoice.

"Anything for the bride of course. My son is very generous," Mrs. Kwon proudly answered.

"These shoes, my Lord! They cost $8,000?!" umma exclaimed more, now reviewing the invoice of the box of shoes that Hayeon was holding.

"It's Mahnolo Blahnik mom. Of course they're expensive. Unnie, can I have them after you use them?" Hayeon cutely begged. Again, I was caught speechless at the pair of beautiful white satin shoes.

"Yves Saint Laurent also sent you this bro," Dami unnie shouted so that Jiyong could hear. He did, so he opened the window to peak at the white coat that his sister was holding. "Custom-made, expedited, tailor- fit. And it just cost you $25,000. Cool, yo?"

"Very cool," Jiyong commented, giving his thumbs up.

How can you rejoice this, ? I gave him a repulsed expression. We were supposed to stop this wedding tonight! Yet there he was, leaving me out here to bleed dry while I tormented myself into telling the whole family that this million dollar wedding should be cancelled.

"Since the wedding is a part of the Apology Project, SM Entertainment agreed to let their people attend. There are 150 guests from SM, including all your friends!" my mother very cheerfully said, but I just couldn't be as elated as her.

"What do you mean this is part of the Apology Project?" I clarified, because this was brand new information to me. So conveniently, no one told the bride that the families and the companies were cooking something up.

"Didn't Jiyong tell you? The wedding is incorporated in the media management program that YG pitched to SM. SM agreed with the whole thing, thus, a grand wedding," umma answered, obviously shocked at my cluelessness.

"No, he did not. Actually, Jiyong seemed to have hidden so many things from me," I commented, loud and powerful enough for him to hear outside. I was sure he did, because his face was covered in a little bit of discomfort.

"He clearly wants to surprise you! Isn't he romantic?" Kwon umma asked me giddily. By now, I could already tell she was suffering a bad, albeit cute, case of my-son-is-so-perfect motherly disease.

That's why. Shoot. No wonder the grandiose plans came about, why Jiyong's pushing for the wedding, and why Jiyong's resisting my refusal to marry. All this time, he wanted to show the world how caring, how loving, how responsible he was for pampering me and giving me a great life. That way, the public would stop believing he ruined my life, my future, my career. This only angered me more. These were things I should have seen from the very beginning. But I became blinded by the Prince Charming who saved me. I felt even more pathetic that I let my pitiful state cloud my rational mind. Because I was vulnerable during this whole ordeal, I had been so oblivious of Kwon Jiyong's true intentions.

"Here is a copy of the invitation. I just received mine today. They were mailed expedited last weekend, so your guests should be receiving it now," Kwon Dami added, handing me the cream-colored envelope.

No. Wait. It wasn't an envelope. It was a case. A case for a vinyl disc. Our wedding invitation was a vinyl disc! How cool is that? I opened it, to see a vinyl disc that was printed with the words Jiyong & Taeyeon on it. On the page where the album details were printed were the entourage list.

Seeing the names on our entourage somehow soothed my angry heart. I was suddenly moved, very touched, at the names that I was reading. In fact, a small smile formed on my face.

Maids of Honor

Kim Hayeon

Hwang Miyoung

Best Men

Lee Kyuksoo

Dong Youngbae

Bridesmaids

Lee Soonkyu

Jung Sooyeon

Kwon Yuri

Kim Hyoyeon

Choi Sooyoung

Im Yoona

Seo Joohyun

Groomsmen

Daniel Lee

Yang Seungho

Harry Kim

Teddy Park

Choi Seunghyun

Lee Seunghyun

Kang Daesung

Flower Girls

Choo Sarang

Park Haru

Yang Yoojin

Noh Hareum

Ring Bearer

Noh Harang

Coin Bearer

Maden Moon

Wedding Singers

Kang Daesung

Jung Sooyeon

Seo Joohyun

Event Hosts

Lee Seungri

Choi Sooyoung

Hwang Miyoung

Sponsors of the Bride & Groom

Mr. and Wife Yang Hyunsuk

Mr. and Wife Park Jinyoung

Mr. and Wife Lee Sooman

Mr. and Wife Kim Hanjoo

Mr. and Wife Han Juno

"Are these... the sponsors? Is this for real?" I blurted out in shock.

Because to see the honorable CEOs of not just one, but all five, of the major entertainment moguls in the country -- SM, YG, JYP, CJ, and Loen -- I couldn't believe it.

"SM's CEO Kim Youngmin drafted the entou