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64. BYONG'S WEDDING - I

Each day of the past two years was filled with a lot of activity. But when I thought back about the events of Seollal of 2024, it felt as if they’d happened only a day ago. In fact, our house was a beehive of activity as we spent the January and February of 2026 in a frenzy of wedding preparations. Byong and Duckie were finally getting married in 9 days, on 28th February. Everyone was busy packing and lining up large pieces of luggage in the living room.

We had booked Taemin’s entire resort for one week for the wedding guests and celebrations. The guests would be staying for varying lengths of time. Some would stay for the full week, while others would come and go on the day of the wedding, and some a day or two before that.

Once again, Puppy refused to let me know how much we were spending on the wedding. I would eventually come to know, but he preferred to keep me away from the accounts till the wedding was over. I knew it was not going to be cheap booking a 100-room resort even with family discount.

Puppy had only one answer to my questions, “Yeobo, we can have ten such weddings and still not feel the pinch. Anyway, half the wedding costs are shared by Super and Hee hyung. Don’t ask me again as I won’t tell till after the wedding is over.” And, then he would laugh when I’d pout in response.

The best part of it was that we had all our time free to enjoy with our family and guests. Taemin, Kai and Amber had already left for the resort to make sure that everything was well set up for all our political, business, and international guests, not to mention some of the unwanted relatives that we very unwillingly extended the invitation to. Thankfully I didn’t have to make our huge guest list, which again Puppy had taken over and prepared with the help of Siwon, DongHae, Heechul and Kibum. The five of them were also personally inviting each guest.

I was given the charge of our wardrobes and transporting huge amount of luggage to the resort and back. I roped in Hyukkie, imo, Minx, Soo, Ji and Hyemi noona for deciding the wardrobes and making sure all of our family was coordinated in terms of the clothes we wore the entire week. Sehun, and Beagle were roped in to help me plan the transportation without losing a single item. Yesung insisted on helping us out. Uncle and Minho’s task was to look after the children and ensure none of them got lost during the transit. I had never been more thankful to Puppy’s taking over the wedding plans and chartering an entire aircraft to ferry our family and close guests to the resort. There was no other way to get our insane amount of luggage to Jeju Island.

Everyone was given the choice of inviting a few friends, most had declined. Junsu and Jaejoong invited their neighbors Yoochun, Yunho and Changmin whose names Puppy had added to the list even without asking anyone. Byong’s college friends were added and so were a few friends of Duckie.

Puppy’s parents had invited their brothers and sisters who had agreed to come only because they could meet political bigwigs during the wedding. Puppy grimaced every time he thought about entertaining his bigoted uncles and aunts who till date hadn’t accepted us as a couple. He kept muttering about the bunch of freeloaders who wanted to attend all the wedding celebrations to eat, drink and poke fun at us in one of the most expensive resorts in Jeju.

From the police agency, all the top rung officials were invited with family. Rooms were booked for Commissioner General of KPA, all the Senior Superintendent Generals, the Director of Cyber Crime Investigation Agency, and apart from DongHae, two other Deputy Directors were also added. Puppy had invited some of his team members as well. Mayors of Daegu and Seoul were attending with their families. Minister of Public Administration was coming as well. The Prime Minister was a friend of Siwon and would join us the day before the wedding.

This was not counting Kris and Luhan’s entire family and all our international friends that we had made over the years. Jiyeon had invited the heads of leading media houses. Sehun’s brother Kiwoo was flying in from US. Add to that some of our hagwon administrators and head office staff and Sehun’s two work colleagues. Though Puppy didn’t tell me, I had seen him and Siwon plan out and book everyone’s travel tickets. Many others had been given courtesy invitations for the day of the wedding, without the plane tickets. We had no idea how many of them would actually attend, but the wedding planners prepared for everyone.

What do you get after that?

A big headache. Because that was exactly what I got every time I thought about all the things that could go wrong over the week with such a huge wedding party. Not to forget all the security arrangements. According to Hyukkie, Amber had beefed up the security at the resort for the event and gagged the staff against any media leaks as well.

But Amber couldn’t gag the Daegu media. Byong’s Jeju Island wedding was mentioned daily in the newspapers. Just the previous Sunday, a full editorial page was dedicated to Duckie and Byong’s wedding dresses and accessories. According to the media, the personal invitations to the wedding, which included plane tickets also, were highly coveted.

I sat down on the bed that was covered with bags and clothes, in the middle of packing our wedding hanboks, and wondered what had happened to my very private life. Where had the anonymous Jonghyun and Jinki, who did not have two wons to rub together, gone?

“Yeobo, don’t forget to pack my formal uniform. Never know when I would need it. Though why I should in the middle of our son’s wedding escapes me. But I don’t want to be caught without it handy. Better be prepared than sorry is-,” Puppy entered the room and stopped in the middle of his reminder when he saw me sitting immobile on the bed.

He rushed to me and enveloped me in his arms, “Are you alright yeobo? What happened? Why are you sitting like this? Are you feeling unwell?” He began rubbing my back, “Does it hurt any where? Are you in pain? Talk to me yeobo? What’s wrong?”

I wrapped my arms around his waist and put my head over his heart, soaking in his voice and heart beat. I placed a kiss atop his beautiful heart and mumbled, “I am fine jagi. Momentarily overwhelmed by our life.”

Puppy kissed my hair repeatedly, partially relieved that there was nothing wrong with my health, “What about it yeobo? Did something happen to worry you?”

“No, my love. Stop fretting. I just wondered how the two of us, who used to move around on your motorbike and did not have enough money to bear the cost of Byong’s pregnancy, can now afford his lavish wedding.” I lifted up my face to look at Puppy. He leaned down and gave me a long tender kiss.

“Through everyone’s good blessings yeobo and your hard work. How many times has Mayor Hong told us that you and Hee hyung keep missing out on the Citizen of the Year award because of our lifestyle. You have put your heart and soul into your business yeobo. Success was bound to follow,” Puppy kissed me again.

When he lifted his face from mine, I beamed happily at him. He really knew how to get my mood back on track. “Don’t keep extolling about me. We have to finish the packing.” I tried to get up but Puppy pushed me down again.

He looked back at me with those adorable eyes and locked the door, “First you owe me some personal time to tide me over till tonight.”

“How many personal moments do you need? At this rate our packing would never get done,” I mock pouted while my fingers worked to open my dress shirt.

“I am a man in my prime yeobo and so are you. I need all the attention you can give me and still want more,” His fingers joined mine to remove my shirt.

“Insatiable Puppy,” I began working on his clothes.

“Always, for you.”

We had a quick break from packing, standing up. The bed was littered with stuff to pack. We were leaning against the wall, softly kissing to catch our breath again, when Byong rattled our door handle. On finding the door locked, he loudly rapped the door and yelled, "Umappa have you packed my tie pins? I can’t find them anywhere?”

“Yes they are in imo’s bag with all the other accessories,” I answered our frantic son.

“Open the door this instant. I can’t believe you two have locked it in the middle of all the chaos. Think about your age. Think about my wedding. Think about your soon-to-be daughter-in-law. Think about your future grandchildren. It should be Duckie and me behind locked door not my fathers,” Our son began nervously ranting.

We were dressed again by then and opened the door before he alerted everyone in the neighborhood about our interlude. Puppy wrapped our tall son in his arms and rubbed his back, “Calm down Byongie. There is nothing to be nervous about. You have waited to get married for many years now. Don’t begin to fret now.”

“Easy for you to say,” Byong leaned down and put his head on Puppy’s shoulder letting his father soothe his frayed nerves. He soon began whispering his darkest fears, “What if I make a bad husband? What if Duckie is not happy with me? What if she leaves me because she cannot tolerate living with me? Appa what will I do with my life if she is no longer in it?” I couldn’t stand the misery in his voice. His whole body was screaming his anguish. I wrapped my arms around him from behind, enveloping him completely in our loving embrace.

“You know you love her,” Puppy began to put his fears at rest. “Have confidence in your love to guide your actions. When you dedicate your life to keeping her happy, there is no way for her to feel otherwise. Trust yourself. Trust her. Above all trust your love for each other.”

“There will be mistakes by both of you. Work to overcome your imperfections and ignore hers. Cherish her and cherish her love for you. Happiness will never leave you then,” I kissed his hair, glad in my heart. Someone who worried so much would do his best to not fail his partner.

“Marriage-,” Puppy was interrupted when we heard a loud scream from the bottom of the stairs.

“Ummappa? Where are you? I need to talk to you,” Duckie was hollering for me at full volume.

Before we could react, Byong shot out of our arms and bolted down the stairs. We rushed after to him to make sure he did not fall and to check if Duckie was alright.

“Sweetheart? Are you okay? What happened? Is everything alright?” Byong’s concerned shouts reminded me of Puppy.

Duckie stood in our living room looking at Byong with quivering lips and misty eyes, “I want ummappa.”

We hurried downstairs on hearing her tearful voice. I called out in a calm voice, hoping to soothe her with my words alone, “I am coming baby.”

Byong wrapped her in his arms but she pushed him away and rushed up the few steps to hug me instead. Byong stood immobile in confusion at her actions. Puppy moved ahead of me to embrace him and make him sit down in the living room. I followed slowly because Duckie refused to unwrap her arms from around my waist. I sat down near Puppy and pulled her to sit in my lap so I could soothe her troubles away.

Duckie’s tears soon overflowed and began to wet her cheeks. Byong moaned when he saw her silently crying in my arms. He moved to sit on our other side and wrapped his arms around Duckie again, only to be pushed away once more. Puppy and I crooned lovingly and patted her back to make her stop crying. After about ten minutes, she’d calmed down enough to speak.

“I want to cancel the wedding,” Duckie hiccupped.

“What? Why?” Byong began blabbering in shock. “You don’t want to marry me? But what did I do? You were so happy when we talked on the phone in the morning.” Puppy moved to sit next to Byong and embraced him in reassurance.

Duckie began crying loudly. Her beautiful face all red and splotchy with tears. “Umma says I have to listen to everything Byong says once he becomes my husband. He says I should not do anything without my husband’s permission. I should do everything Byong tells me to do. I must follow his instructions faithfully. As a wife it is my duty to be my husband’s shadow. I must not refuse him anything. To fulfill his needs and desires should be my aim as a good wife.”

We had to strain to understand the words Duckie threw out in deep anguish, “What if I am not a good wife? What if I don’t want to do what he tells me to do? What if I want to eat bulgogi and he wants chicken stew for dinner? What if I want to work after getting my degree and he wants me to stay home and look after the babies?” Duckie’s crying gathered more pace and we could hardly understand her garbled thoughts, “Ummappa, I don’t want to marry anyone. Why didn’t umma tell me all this before we got engaged? Why didn’t he warn me before we dated? Ummappa I love my moron so much. I don’t know how to live without him. But I don’t want to marry him and become his shadow.”

Huge tears fell from her eyes, quicker than I could wipe them away. When Byong’s hand joined mine to rub her back, she was too lost in her misery to brush it away. Puppy went to get some water for her and make a pot of sweet tea. He knew Byong and I would stop her from crying more.

Byong looked at me and when I nodded, he began to speak in gentle whispers to his distraught fiancée, “Sweetheart, listen to me. Did I ever ask you to do anything you didn’t want? In all the years you’ve known me, did I ever do anything to make you unhappy? I would die for you sweetheart. You do not know how much your tears are hurting me right now. Please don’t cry sweetheart. Don’t you know me? Can you really believe I will be such a bad husband to you? Come on baby have I not fulfilled your every wish as your boyfriend? Please sweetheart. If you love me even a little bit stop crying.”

Byong moved to take Duckie in his arms and I shifted her onto his lap. She buried her head in his neck and her crying eased off to sniffling. Puppy handed her water and watched her drink it between hiccups. When I nodded that we had the situation under control he left for the kitchen again. Duckie buried her face in Byong’s neck once more and he began to kiss her hair, holding her lovingly in his arms.

“Sweetheart, I hope you know how much I love you. I don’t know why Hee umma said what he did to you, but-,” Byong did not get to finish because Duckie mumbled in between, “Umma said his father, harabeoji Kim, advised him the same when he accepted appa as his husband.”

“What?” Byong almost unseated Duckie from his lap when he jumped up in shock. Duckie held on tight to his neck. I tsked to myself at the old-fashioned ideas that Heechul continued to hold on to and had without a second thought imposed on sweet Duckie.

Byong sat back again and held Duckier tighter to him. He buried his lips in her hair as he began explaining to her, “Sweetheart that’s not the kind of marriage we’d have. I want you just as you are today – bold, sweet, soft, ferocious, smart, intelligent, beautiful, and loving me with your every breath. Why should you be my shadow when you are equal to me in everything? Why should you blindly listen to me when you have a gifted brain of your own? And I could also be wrong in what I say. You are not a kid to need my permission at any time. You just need to keep me informed, like I will tell you about myself. You are going to be my wife, not my slave. I want you to hit me like you do now when I do something you don’t like. Maybe simply punch me once in a while for no reason at all just to keep me habitual to it.”

Duckie giggled when she heard that and gave Byong a very soft punch on his arm, “Moron.”

“Always, sweetheart. Always, for you,” Byong whispered and I looked at him in surprise.

Our boy looked more like me than Puppy, was even taller than me at six feet, but in his behavior he was completely Puppy’s son. Puppy brought the tea and I handed everyone a cup. Byong and Duckie preferred to share one. We wrapped an arm around each other and watched our children imitate us when drinking the sweet broth. I was glad that both Uncle and imo were out doing some last minute shopping for imo.

After some time, Puppy cleared his throat and addressed the young couple, “You know Duckie, Byong does not want a puffball for a wife. He loves you and has always treated you as his equal. He is not going to change just because you take the wedding vows a few days later, like you won’t change overnight. The way both of you are, a marriage of equals will work best for you.”

“Like you and ummappa?” Duckie asked, lifting her eyes to look at us.

I nodded, “Yes, and like Jiyeon and Chan Yeol. Even Kai and Amber, Sehun and Minx.”

Both Duckie and Byong nodded at the examples given to them. Duckie buried her face in Byong’s neck again, seeking his warm comfort. Byong had his head bent into her face, rubbing their cheeks together.

Puppy smiled and explained more, “Even your parent’s marriage is more equal than you realize. Can you tell me one thing that Super ever refused Hee hyung? There is nothing that he has done without taking Hee hyung’s opinion into consideration. He has never spent a day apart from your umma. He urged Hee hyung to spread his wings to explore the world of business and supported every step of the way.”

“A happy and successful marriage takes a lot of effort, from both partners. If you do it with love, than it’s a piece of cake. Just remember three things – love, trust, and respect. They are the magic that every good marriage needs,” I patted Duckie’s hair as I spoke to both her and Byong.

Puppy picked up where I paused, “As long as you don’t lose any of the three, you will be happy with your partner.”

I brought Puppy’s hand to my lips and placed a soft kiss on each of his fingertips, “Remember no one is perfect. We are humans and we make mistakes. Learn to forgive each other’s mistakes and move ahead. Look beyond the imperfections to find the joy in each other.”

Puppy rubbed his thumb over my lips. The young couple was still absorbed in each other though listening keenly to every word we said. “You are not the other half of each other, but the better half. As husband and wife you should not only complement each other but also complete one another.”

“Live each day as if it’s your last together and-,” I was interrupted when my phone rang.

Heechul’s frantic voice rang in the room, “Jinx, I can’t find Duckie anywhere in the house. I think she has run away. She was very upset with Simba and me. And now Simba is upset with me.” Heechul sounded almost in tears.

“No baby, I am not upset with you. How can I ever be upset with you?” We heard Siwon’s soothing baritone gently comfort his husband. “I am upset with the outdated ideas that your father put in your head and you tried to transfer into Duckie’s. Shhh, don’t cry baby. I love you no matter what, and can’t stand to see you cry.”

Heechul began wailing in distress, “Simba our little princess has run away from home. What do we do? What do we tell Jinx and Puppy? Byong? Oh god, what about Byong? He will never talk to me again. Oh Simba, what do we do?”

“Calm down Cinder. Duckie is at our place, sitting next to me. Stop crying like a drama queen. What a load of nonsense you told her!” I couldn’t even be upset with my best friend, so just sighed deeply.

“Key told me to have a talk with Duckie before we left home. He said, his mother had told him all of this when he got married to Taemin,” Heechul sniffled and somehow managed to speak coherently. I could well imagine his red-rimmed eyes and running nose that Siwon would be wiping clean with tissues.

“And Hee hyung what about your father?” Puppy was always very curious.

“Ah him? Well my father had pretty much said the same things Key’s mother said. I don’t want anyone in your family to think Simba and I didn’t raise our daughter well,” Heechul started to sob again. “Simba our little baby is getting married. What do we do?”

“Super read my message,” Puppy had quickly sent a message to Siwon while Heechul had rambled.

After a silent moment, Siwon gave an embarrassed squeak, “Oh! If it will help I will try Jjong. Bye!”

Puppy showed me the message he had sent to Siwon.

What you both should do is lock yourself in your bedroom for the rest of the day. Remind Hee hyung that he still has you to love. Rediscover the joy of having the house all to yourself to moan and scream as loudly as you want.

We smiled and got up, “We are going back to our packing. Duckie you are staying till whenever you want to.” Byong and Duckie just nodded their heads.

We left the young couple alone to assure each other that their wedding was the best thing to happen to them.