"Interloper at ten o'clock," I said to Sehun. "Want this one?"

"Sure," he replied, moving over to intercept an older man making a beeline for the buffet despite our repeated reminders that we'd going by tables. My mom hated the long snaky line of hungry guests, but there were always the few who tried to avoid the system. I watched, somewhat proud, as he politely redirected the man to his seat. When he flashed me a thumbs-up, I only nodded.

Two hours into the event, I had to admit my mom had, again, been right. He was a fast learner, with the charm that bugged me actually being an asset at times like this. If you're going to come between someone bold enough to jump the line and the prime rib, you have to do it with a light touch, and Sehun had that charm. So I'd let him do the heavy lifting while I kept the lines of people who were actually supposed to be eating moving smoothly. Half the room down, half to go. This was me being optimistic, I realized, taking note of it for once. And just like that, the universe noticed as well.

"Excuse me." I turned to see a woman in a purple dress approaching, a child with pigtails on her hip. She was thin and angular, with black-framed glasses you just knew cost a fortune. "Have you seen my son? He's the ring bearer?"

"Vivi?" I asked. She nodded, switching her daughter to her other side. "I haven't seen him since the wedding party came in."

She turned. "I thought he was with his cousins, over there at the kids' table, but they haven't seen him either. Where is he?"

I scanned the room: no sign of a kid in a tight-fitting suit. "Let me check the lobby. Maybe he went to the restroom?"

"Not my himself," she replied, gesturing to what I assumed was her husband, a blond guy at the nearby bar. Now, she mouthed, and he walked over.

"People are hungry," Sehun said as he walked back up to me. "I just almost came fist fighting with a woman. She was holding a plate and prepared to use it."

"Hey, have you seen Vivi?"

"Little dude?" I nodded. "No. Why?"

"He may be missing." I said in a low voice: the last thing we needed was unnecessary panic. "I'm going to check the lobby. You take outside."

"Vivi!" the mother yelled. So much for staying calm. "Has anyone seen my son?"

I walked quickly to the lobby, Sehun right behind me. As I turned to a nearby hallway, he headed for the outside doors. Older couple, group of teens probably up to no good, staff member pushing a cart. No Vivi. Outside the men's bathroom, I knocked, hard, then pushed open the door. "Vivi? Are you in there?"

"Who?" Someone yelled back.

"A kid in a suit. Do you see him?"

A pause. "Nope. Just me, as far as I can tell."

I let the door close, then pulled out my phone. RING BEARER MISSING, I texted my mom and Wooyoung. IN LOBBY LOOKING. Then I headed back toward the ballroom, scanning around me as I went. Outside, I could see Sehun in the parking lot, his hands cupped to his mouth.

"Vivi!" I recognized Wooyoung's voice before I took a corner, almost crashing into him. He said, "Definitely not in the ballroom. Soojung's starting to freak."

"Ballroom's clear. I'll go help Sehun outside."

"Your mom's looking in the kitchen. I'll ask the desk and do another pass through here."

We took off, neither of us running. Yet. As I pushed open the heavy doors to the parking lot, I could hear Sehun. "Vivi. Buddy! You out there?" Somewhere, a dog barked.

I heard my phone beep and grabbed it: my mom, to all of us. NO SIGN YET. ANYONE?

Aish, I thought, just as a big truck drove by. Hearing a voice behind me, I swung around, but it was only a couple in formal wear, obviously late, hurrying toward the front entrance. "Vivi!" I called. The dog barked again.

"He's not in this lot," Sehun reported, jogging toward me. "I've went around the whole place. Twice."

"Eomma says he's not anywhere they've checked either," I said. "This could be bad. Vivi!"

Another dog bark. Sehun turned toward the sound. "Vivi!"

Bark.

"Vivi!" I called. Bark.

"This way," he said, starting to walk again. I followed him, checking between cars as I went. My phone beeped again. MOM WANTS POLICE, Wooyoung reported. Uh-oh.

"Vivi!" I called again, hearing a small woof as I followed Sehun's shirt around some bushes to a streetlight. Now I was running, my flats slapping the pavement. We passed a Dumpster and some smelly garbage cans before I spotted Sehun's dog, tied to a drainpipe. Beside him was Vivi, patting his back.

"Oh my goodness," I sighed, slowing to a walk as I pulled out my phone. FOUND HIM, I texted. "Vivi! What are you doing all the way out here?"

He turned, looking at us. The dog, seeing Sehun, immediately got to his feet and began wiggling. "I saw a dog," he explained. "I love dogs."

"Of course you do," I replied, walking over to a nearby door and pulling it open, startling a table of people talking just on the other side. I scanned the ballroom until I found my mom, then gave her a wave. As she started walking over, Vivi's mom following, I said, "You hungry? There's kimbap."

Score: his eyes widened. I stuck out my hand, he took it, and I led him inside.

"Vivi! Where have you been? You scared Mommy to death!" his mother cried when she saw him. "Come here!" 

He dropped my hand. "I want kimbap," he announced as he walked over to her.

My mom, smiling calmly at the onlooking table as she passed them, said to me, "What happened? If we'd had to call the police I never would have lived it down. Can you imagine?"

"He just wandered out the door," I said, pulling it shut behind me so she wouldn't see the dog. "Next time we'll know to keep an eye on it if there are kids here."

"Next time I'll keep the ring bearer on a leash," she grumbled, then looked at her phone. "Wooyoung is reporting everyone's going crazy at the buffet. He needs muscle."

"I'm on it," I said.

"No, you just found the lost child." She squared her shoulders, readjusting the diamond necklace she always wore to the center of her neck. "Take five minutes. Then go find the caterer to talk cake cutting."

"Okay."

She squeezed my arm, then started over to the buffet line, which had indeed become snaky and fidgeting in our absence. I opened the door again, slipping out into the lot. Sehun was crouched down in front of the dog, scatching his ears. "Who's a hero? That's right, you are! Good boy!"

"I thought you and I just saved the day."

He glanced at me. "Because Vivi here told us where to look. You heard that bark! It was like wolves through the forest."

Of course it was. "You're calling him Vivi now?"

"It's his name." He said, still scratching. "That was his way of telling us."

"The barking," I said, clarifying.

"Yes."

"Vivi!" I called out. The dog didn't even look at me, much less bark. I looked at Sehun.

"Do you always answer to your name?" he questioned.

I sighed. Even without the drama of a lost child, this wedding felt longer than others. "I have to go deal with the cake. Are you coming?"

I walked back around the building, having decided to take the long way for some extra fresh air. A moment later, he was beside me, brushing his hands against each other. "I have to hand it to you. This job is harder than it looks."

"What does it look like?"

"Standing around while being bossy," he replied. I raised my brow. "Suzy. You literally dragged me into my mother's ceremony by one arm."

"You were holding up the schedule," I said, hating how prim I sounded.

"My point is, there's a lot behind the scenes the layman or guest would never know about. Like a secret world."

I rolled my eyes. "You make it sound magical."

"You don't think it is?"

"I think it's work," I replied.

"Magical work." He laughed at the face I made, then added, "You know, you can act the part all you want. But my thought on you is you're not as cynical as you make yourself out to be."

"You have a thought on me?"

"I have thoughts on everyone. I'm an observer, a witness."

"Usually those people listen more than they talk," I pointed out.

"Maybe." He slipped his hands into his pockets. "My point is, I've been around you a lot the last few days and I've seen things."

"Well," I said. "That doesn't sound ominous at all."

"A cynic," he continued, as if he didn't hear me, "would not have looked as relieved as you did when we found Vivi. Also, a cynic would've made sure the boss knew whose dog caused the lost child to wander off in the first place. You, instead, covered for me and Vivi, the dog."

"I think you're confusing a cynic with an ," I said.

"Maybe. But I saw how your reacted, both times. You're not that hard to read yet, even if you prefer to think otherwise."

A car drove by us, the bass thumping. I said, "The key word is yet."

"Mhm," he agreed. "Because you still have a choice in the matter."

"Or it's only a matter of time," I countered.

"Okay, now you sound like a cynic." He looked up at the stars above. "But you're not fooling anyone. I know what I saw."

To that comment I said nothing. What was the point? It wasn't like I was proud of my hard little rock of heart. Everyone's life shapes them in their own unique way. No one could really understand how the events of the last year, highs and lows, had shaped me into what I was now, sharper in places, more calloused in others. And of course I'd been worried about a lost child. I wasn't a monster. Yet.

We were back at the front door to the building now, where a large party was exiting the reception. As we approached, two men in suits rumpled and rosy cheeks, opened a door for us at the same time. In reply, Sehun spread his arms, clearly loving an entrance. before he stepped in, though, he turned his head, cupping a hand to his mouth.

"Vivi!" he called out. Of course, the dog barked.