The wedding had successfully passed. Well as successful as I had pictured it my head but the fact that Jinri had come home crying, with her mascara tainting her painted, rosy cheeks, I had assumed that it hadn't been the fairytale wedding she had imagined as a 4 year-old.

It had started out perfect. Jinri had walked in, latched onto her father, radiant in her beaded corset, ball gown dress. I could swear that my heart had stopped beating at that moment, my eyes fixated on her beauty, her almond eyes that smiled at me through her veil, her snow white skin that was crystal clear. I was breathless. Breathless and undeserving. She was too kind, too beautiful, too humble, too care free for a stupid man that had hurt her, countless times, to call his wife. But she had told me that she loved me and if it was love that made her happy, I would be the embodiment of her happiness. 

I swallowed my anxiety down, as she came nearer, smiling with those plump cherry lips that I would soon kiss. She made my heart jitter, my fingers tremble, my eyes water.

I was lucky.

She was finally beside me, inches away, her father remorsefully handing her off to me, the boy who had hurt her. I took her hand and she stood on the pedestal with me.

"You look beautiful," I whispered quietly, just loud enough for her to hear.

"You look handsome," she whispered back, blushing pink and all smiles. She scanned the area around her, greeting the bridesmaid and groom's men with a kind smile.

But when she looked back at me, her expression was anything but kind.

"Where's Jongin and Soojung?"

I was so caught up with the moment that I had forgotten about our best man and our maid of honor.

I whispered "I don't know" as she watched me with worry. The way the color rushed out of her face and her eyebrows furrowed, I thought Jinri was going to faint. She almost did when our daughter, Shinae, came in with a soiled dress, chucking the flowers wherever she pleased and when Jinri had asked her if she had the wedding rings like we had practiced, she opened up her fists to show us a collection of mud and rocks she had dug up. No rings.

"I buried them in the dirt so no one could steal them. You told me they were really expensive, isn't that right mommy?" She looked up at Jinri for some sort of gesture of acknowledgement but all Shinae got was a horrified expression from her mother as tears brimmed her eyelashes.

Sometimes I wondered if our daughter was dumb like me or so extremely cunning that neither of us would be able to understand.

"Honey, wasn't Aunty Soojung supposed to be taking care of you?" I had whispered to our child, my eyes scanning for our maid of honor in the room. I had a feeling she and her husband had bailed on us for unknown reasons.

"Aunty Soojung felt sick and left me alone outside."

I looked over at Jinri who looked paler than the yellow in her bouquet of flowers.

I held her by the hand with the other caressing her arm.

Our priest had started the ceremony, clearly not noticing the tension and worry on our faces.

Half way through it, Jongin opened the front doors, panting heavily as he stared at us. He approached Shinae, and bent down to her height before handing her the rings, laughing at her cunning ways. He gave her a small, quiet lecture and when she calmly nodded, he patted her head. As he got up, he gave Jinri an assuring smile and patted my arm before walking off to blend in with the other groom's men.

My heart went out to Jongin. He was a good man. He was kind like Jinri. Handsome like me but he was better. To me, he was the one friend that would always have my best interest.

The ceremony continued shortly, with our vows that were so beautiful from Jinri's part and even though mines were cheesy, Jinri had somehow still managed to cry.

Our lips met, Jinri wrapped her arms around me, I could feel her smile on my lips. People clapped and cheered. We bowed to our audience before I picked up our bratty little Shinae in my arms and walked off. Jongin met us a few minutes later while we were scolding Shinae.

"Congratulations," he chanted to both of us as he patted me and hugged Jinri.

"Thank you for saving our wedding, Jonginnie-oppa," she expressed her gratitude as she pulled back from their hug.

He modestly said that going out of his way to dig up our rings and missing half of the wedding ceremony, was nothing.

A few minutes later, when the question about Soojung's whereabouts had hit my conscience, that same girl walked out of the bathroom, looking horribly tired and sick.

Jongin held her by the waist as he helped her approach us.

"Congratulations," she said with a tired smile. We both expressed our gratitude. Her smile faded quickly.

"It's okay, Soojung. You don't need to push yourself if you're sick." Jinri approached her, rubbing her back. There was worry in Jinri's eyes, the type of worry when you wish you would do anything to be in your friend's place, instead of letting them suffer. She gave a weak smile before asking us if she and Jongin could talk in private.

I was very unaware of what had occurred in the past three years due to my absence to the extent that I just mimicked Jinri's expression.  I felt a tinge of disappointment and regret for missing out on so much that I was no longer able to comprehend the situation, though it wasn't like I ever was able to in the past either.

I had always been the dumb/innocent one in our circle of friends. Jinri was the cute, bubbly girl who could transform into a beautiful, elegant lady the moment she wished to. Jongin was the quiet, composed type that I always somehow managed to annoy with my questions. He understood things when I failed to even gather pieces of the puzzle. Although sometimes I envied his personality and his compassion for others, he was still my best friend. As for Soojung, she had always been a chic beauty, cool, calm yet she could be adorably cute at times. Soojung once told us that she learned to be cute from Jinri. My Jinri.

I don't know when I fell for Jinri but I believe it was the time my mother had pointed her out to me amongst the trainees. I think my feelings began stirring up as I neared puberty and she had taken an interest me from the very beginning. She called me oppa before she even knew my name, followed me on stage, laughed loudly while no one else laughed whenever I told dumb jokes, always smiled prettily whenever she greeted me. She became a bud to a blooming flower before my eyes and pretty soon, I had fallen hard for her.

I was glad every moment I spent with her. I had wanted to shadow her like a sun, protect her, but she became my giant ball of sunshine instead. I had been devastated when I made the decision to end things. I knew I wasn't good enough for her so I ran away, to fulfill my duty in the army, leaving her and our soon-to-be daughter which I hadn't known was in her belly until after our break up.

But as I had watched her on her wedding day, worrying for Soojung, comforting our daughter and smiling at me, I am glad I vowed to spend my entire life with her.

After Soojung went to talk to Jongin in private, he shortly left the building. I told Jinri I loved her about 20 times, that I would be the best man I could possibly be, but despite the smiles she gave me, she was solely focused on Soojung and Jongin.

Half an hour later, Jongin came back and handed Soojung a bag before she rushed into to the bathroom again.

He waited outside her door, leaning on it, his hands near his forehead. He was praying. We both quietly walked over to him. I didn't know what was going on but I gave Jongin's shoulder a squeeze nonetheless. He was brought out of his praying stance and forced a smile for us.

Shinae, being the cunning but sweet child she was, grabbed onto his leg and hugged it tightly. That brought out a very Jongin smile and he ruffled her head. Sometimes I felt like Jongin was a better dad to Shinae than I was, but I didn't let that bother me. It was nice to know that some other man other than me, was so protective of her. For Shinae though, I felt like she had somewhat of a crush on him and not your typical father-daughter bond.

Soojung opened the door moments later, tears b her weary eyes. Jongin turned around immediately and held her in his arms as she cried softly. Moments later as I continued to look at them completely confounded, she dried her tears and looked up so lovingly to Jongin that I felt like I was watching a movie. I heard her quietly whisper "It happened."

It was the first time I had seen Jongin at a loss for words. He wasn't his composed self. His eyes glistening, he brought Soojung closer, hugging her tiny figure tightly, his head in the crook of her neck, whispering "thank you" countless times.

I still didn't understand what was going on.

I looked over at Jinri for some answers.

She was crying too.

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A/N: That's chapter 1. I know it's short. Sorry guys. Next update will be at the beginning of August and then quickly after that, the other chapters will be up as well, hopefully within a month's span. I hope you guys are enjoying the adult version of taelli, as they head into marriage and take care of their devilish child (who obviously got that characteristic from taemin XD). Please comment, upvote and subscribe! Thank you, my lovelies.

If you haven't read the oneshot prequel to this, you can do so here