Chapter 11
Seohyun in Distress

"Congratulations!"

"You're a very lucky man, Yonghwa!"

"Seohyun, you're so beautiful!"

Greetings and claps echoed across the hall as the bride and groom entered their reception room. The guests have also transferred there and were already around their assigned tables. Yonghwa and Seohyun walked towards their own table and took their seats; the heiress' face still flushed from Yonghwa's revelation.

Food was already served around by the waiters as well as their drinks. Yonghwa and Seohyun gave a little speech before eating that served as their thank you's and welcome to everyone.

Photographers were present to capture beautiful wedding moments such as the cutting of the cake by the bride and groom, toasts from different people to congratulate them and loads more. It was a good thing Seohyun learned how to go with it quite easily and just followed on with Yonghwa's acts.

As soon as majority finished eating, many left their seats and started to socialize with everyone else. Seohyun too, wasn't an exception as she left hers beside Yonghwa and walked towards her friends who were already happy welcoming her.

"Seohyun! Hey!" Tiffany greeted. Taeyeon and Hyoyeon said their hellos as well and took their turns hugging the bride.

"I'm really happy you guys were able to come," Seohyun smiled. A butler came and offered them champagne and the four of them gladly accepted a glass.

"Yes, of course. We wouldn't miss it for the world!" Taeyeon beamed.

"But you never told us you and Jung junior were an item, you know. You could've mentioned it during your party." Hyoyeon chimed in. This just earned her a nervous laugh from the heiress.

"You're not the only one who's surprised." Seohyun mumbled.

"Hm? What was that?" Tiffany blinked.

Seohyun instantly waved it off and said it was nothing.

"It's also been a while since we talked to you, Seohyun. Where have you been? You haven't been answering our calls and e-mails as well." Taeyeon asked worriedly.

"My life has been beyond complicated, a lot busier than usual." Seohyun answered, taking a sip from her glass.

"But it really is quite surprising for you to get married at such a young age. I mean, who still does at this time?" Hyoyeon asked.

"What's really surprising is that you got married before Jonghyun and Yoona! And they have been together for like, what, 3 years now?" Taeyeon laughed.

Seohyun was about to answer until a familiar arm wrapped around her waist and she could smell a familiar scent as well.

"Hello ladies," Yonghwa greeted. Seohyun swore she could see some of her friends' eyes starting to melt at his sudden presence.

"Yonghwa," Seohyun turned to him. "These are my great friends: Hwang Tiffany, Kim Hyoyeon and Kim Taeyeon."

"Oh Yonghwa, it's a pleasure to finally meet you. Seohyun never bothered to share us with you." Tiffany whined.

"I-It's not that," Seohyun blushed. "I…"

"So what made you suddenly propose to Seohyun, Yonghwa? I don't think we've seen you guys hang out before." Taeyeon asked.

"You're not pregnant, are you Seohyun?" Hyoyeon asked bluntly.

Seohyun almost choked on her champagne while Yonghwa let out a chuckle and just pulled her closer to him even more. "You know Hyoyeon; if I was I wouldn't be drinking champagne now." She answered shyly. Her friends were obviously teasing her and right in front of Yonghwa even!

"Just trying to connect some reasons why Young people in our generation today get married." Hyoyeon grinned.

"Don't worry, I'll make sure to take care of our sweet Joohyun right here and won't force her until she's ready." He gave such a sweet smile that the girls almost swooned at the mere sight of him. Seohyun would've stepped on his foot if it weren't her friends they were in front of right now. "Do you ladies mind if I snatch her for a bit?" He asked.

"No, go on ahead. I think it's already time for your dance anyway."

"Thank you, it's nice meeting you all."

And just like before, Yonghwa led Seohyun to the dance floor as their song started. They got into position and slowly started to dance with the music. Everyone watched in awe at the beautiful couple in front of them, most of them thinking how perfect they looked together. Seohyun's face slowly started to turn red once again, suddenly remembering the last time they danced like this. And how their dance ended that night.

Trying to remove the idea from her head, she bit her lip and looked up at Yonghwa. She had a bit of grimace on her face as she looked at him.

"Do I look pregnant to you?"

This just made Yonghwa stare at her for a second and let out a chuckle. "Of course not," he said then leaned closer to her ear and whispered, "you will be soon though."

"ert," Seohyun said again, her eyes narrowing at him. Yonghwa just laughed at her again, twirling her across the dance floor.

"So I've been told," he said.

"I still won't forgive you for stealing my first kiss like that, Mr. Jung. I bet you were even feigning your sleep that day when I saw you in your office!"

"Ouch, that accusation hurts," his smile suddenly turned into a smirk and added, "Mrs. Jung."

"You—!" but she was suddenly cut off when Yonghwa twirled her around again. As she turned around, her eyes suddenly met her mother's who was still watching them with such worried, sorrowful eyes.

After seeing her mother's reaction, Seohyun's face turned into a sad one as they continued to dance. "I still haven't spoken to her."

Yonghwa knew what she meant and tried to give her a reassuring smile. "You can talk to her later if you want to." He said.

"I'm not sure if I'm ready to. I know she did it for our sake but she could've at least told me."

"Well, maybe not telling you was also her way of showing her protection."

Seohyun's eyes snapped at that remark, her face showing hurt. "How would you know? You don't even—" and she stopped with a gasp, what she was about to say could even be more insulting than ever. But Yonghwa caught on with what she was about to say.

"Yes, I know. I don't have my own mother to experience that," he said with a low tone, twirling her again.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…"

"It's okay," and he smiled again.

Their conversation was cut short when Jessica grabbed the microphone and announced something. She coughed, readying herself for her little speech with a grin.

As she started her speech, the newlyweds stopped their dance and looked at her from the sides, wondering was she was up to.

"Everyone, a lot of you may be surprised by this sudden engagement and may even doubt if their love is real with the little time they got to know each other but—!" Jessica said as she pressed a remote control and turned everyone's attention to the screen. "Here is definitely a proof of their love during Mr. Harrison's ball the other night! Take a look everyone!"

Seohyun gasped. Yonghwa gawked. The whole side of Seohyun's friends and relatives who knew about the deal were so surprised as well. The rest of the audience thought it was a very sweet image though, others as if feeling the emotions emitted by the picture.

It was the picture Jessica grabbed from Yonghwa's desk yesterday.

It was the picture of them kissing publicly during their dance at Mr. Harrison's ball.

"Jung Yonghwa, you—!" Jonghyun was about to launch himself into Yonghwa but Yoona grabbed him swiftly by the waist as to not attract attention. If he did do such violent acts against the groom now, he would see himself being thrown out by the scary bodyguards around. It wasn't his fault though, Seohyun was also like a sister to him so he couldn't help but feel protective around her as well.

"Oh my, I didn't expect everyone to find out like this," Yoona laughed nervously but was happy for her best friend.

"You knew?" everyone from their table was shocked. Kyuhyun, Jonghyun and Jihye looked at her wondering how she knew about it.

Yoona nodded. "She told me about it yesterday."

"EH!"

Then reactions continued to echo across the room.

"That's so sweet!"

"You guys look perfect for each other!"

"Come on, do it right now! You're in the middle of a dance too, anyway."

Yonghwa gritted his teeth towards Jessica who seemed happy about her revelation. Seohyun, on the other hand, was red as a tomato. She never knew someone took a picture of them during that night! If she knew about it, she wouldn't have allowed Yonghwa to kiss her then and there.

"Jessica, you witch!" Yonghwa narrowed his eyes at her. Jessica only stuck out her tongue at him and stared at the picture with awe once again.

As the reception program was coming to an end, it was already time for the husband and wife to give their speech for the celebration.

Yonghwa stood up to say his part first. "First of all, I would like to thank everyone for coming to our wedding even if it was such a short notice. Many of you might be shocked because of this sudden engagement, but I just want to let you know that the first time I laid my eyes upon this beautiful lady right here—" she looked at Seohyun with his gentleman smile again that the latter couldn't help but blush, "—I knew she already was the one for me. I don't know what I'll do without her in my life. I want her to be the person I see first thing in the morning and the last person I greet good night before going to bed. We may have our fights, our ups and downs, but that's what makes me happy—that we have each other."

A series of "aww's" scattered across the room but it only made Yoona almost choke on her champagne and Jonghyun looked at Yonghwa with deadful glares.

"You're so cute, cousin! I've always known you were in love with Seohyun!" Jessica called from a table which didn't go unnoticed by some, especially the pair. Seohyun's blush deepened as she tried to shake it off, darn Jungs actors.

Yonghwa smiled at everyone and sat down, passing the microphone to Seohyun as it was already her turn to say something. The people who knew about the deal sat on the edge of their seats. Those who knew from Yonghwa's side were staring at her intently, watching what she was going to say. A single word of the deal and they knew they'll be done for and action must be done immediately. Those who knew from Seohyun's side on the other hand, namely Yoona and the others, were also waiting for what she was going to say. Was she going to go with Yonghwa's act or was she going to do something different?

"Honestly, I don't know what to say," Seohyun started. "I never really saw myself being married at 20 years old, I just celebrated my birthday a few days ago actually. To say that I was shocked that I was going to marry him, I mean that he proposed to me, is a real understatement. I'm still finding everything right now a dream, actually—but a good kind of dream. No words can express how lucky I am to be here right now, beside Yonghwa and with everyone witnessing it all. I—" she scanned the room and her words stopped when her eyes landed on her mother's whose attention was at her.

Jihye was looking at her daughter with worried eyes and a glint of sorrow and loneliness that it really captured Seohyun's attention, causing her to stop in the middle of her speech. "I…" she tried to continued but failed. She tried to look around the room once more to divert her attention but the next worse thing got her eyes—the Jung senior.

Seohyun gulped.

Even though the air conditioning in the room was working properly, she could still feel sweat forming at the nape of her neck, her voice caught in . She could feel everyone's eyes on her, most were wondering why she stopped. There it was again: the scary gaze from Yonghwa's father who was watching her intently from one of the nearest tables.

"I…"

"Joohyun?" Yonghwa called worriedly.

Seohyun suddenly started to feel sick and a bit dizzy. She silently excused herself and placed the microphone on the table and headed for the ladies' room. Yoona, on impulse, stood up from her seat and followed her friend after Yonghwa stood up from his as well.

Whispers were suddenly heard as the Jung senior leaned back against his seat.

Jihye was about to follow her daughter but Taehwan's hand stopped her from doing so.

"Taehwan, I have to go see her!" Jihye said worriedly.

"Why don't you let her go this time? You can just talk to her later when she's already recovered. I don't think seeing her right now is the best decision." He said.

Jihye became silent and sat back down again. She breathed out, "Did you see the way she looked at me?" and Taehwan nodded. "This is all my fault!" She cried out and the man beside her gently patted her on the back.

"I bet everything's going to be all right."

Instead of running towards the ladies' room, Seohyun found herself back at her dressing room. She entered the room and immediately fell on the ground, her arms surrounding herself as if trying to relieve the pain. She let out choked breaths, her eyes wide with shock and fear—it's as if the whole trauma was playing back on her mind again.

The door opened and she wasn't as surprised as she thought she would be. She knew someone would've followed her one way or the other. She's surprised, however, when it turned out to be Yonghwa.

"Joohyun…" Yonghwa called out in a whisper and neared her, slowly kneeling down to her level. He raised one of his hands up and attempted to push her bangs away from her eyes, wanting to see them. "What happened?"

Joohyun finally looked up at him teary-eyed. Her lips were trembling, as if the words that were about to come out were taboo and she was too scared to say them.

"My mother's here, I saw her. I saw her looking at me and I just don't know how to react! I don't know what I should do or say to her. I'm feeling scared again, Yonghwa, really scared." Her body shook as she rested her head on her folded arms, tears finally falling down.

The door opened once again, and this time Jihye walked in. Apparently she got he