Saint Anthony’s was a beautifully designed gothic cathedral. The exterior was so pristinely white that Seulgi nearly blinded herself when she glanced up at its twin spires. With its intricately carved statues lining the exterior, smooth marble face, and elegant flying buttresses, Saint Anthony’s looked like the dwelling of angels on earth.

        She paused in front of the giant bronze doors, listening to the sound of the bells as they sang, calling out towards the heavens themselves. It was meant to be a glorious, lifting sound, and yet Seulgi felt the weight of the world crashing down on her shoulders, threatening to pummel her into the ground.

        This would be the kind of place Joohyun would get married, Seulgi thought, shaking her head with a swirl of bittersweet emotions. She hadn’t even glanced at the wedding invitation, even after Joohyun’s coaxing. Rather, Seulgi merely requested for her secretary to make the arrangements for her, sparing her from more hardship.

        Consequently, she had no idea that the location would be here – somewhere where the gap between the celestial and the mortal was erased, intertwined. Somewhere just as achingly beautiful to look at as the bride herself. It suits the occasion perfectly, Seulgi thinks.

        Without sparing another moment, Seulgi took a deep breath, and headed for the door. When she stepped inside the interior of Saint Anthony’s cathedral, it felt as though she were walking straight into a vacuum of muted silence, or perhaps a beautifully constructed trap in disguise. The door boomed shut behind her, echoing throughout the room.

        The melody of the bells were softened considerably, and the only sounds were of soft murmuring and the scuffling of shoes against the marble floor as workers set about with the decorations. People flitting back and forth behind her in a rush. There were places to go, people to see, and though Seulgi needed to find the way towards the dressing rooms, she stood there, transfixed by her surroundings, hardly paying anyone else any mind.

        Large expanses of stain glass windows cast vibrant hues throughout the giant room, sparkling with reds and blues and pinks and yellows. The ribbed vaults of the ceiling struck a kind of awe within her, as if she were a child discovering the wonders of the world for the first time. A welcome distraction to the events that would no doubt occur within the next two and a half hours.

        She fought the urge to run her hand along a nearby column and feel the cooling sensation of the stone against her skin, the exquisiteness of the design was mesmerizing. A set of timid, clicking footsteps and a gentle voice interrupted her quiet admiration.

        “Are you Kang Seulgi? Joohyun’s maid of honor?”

        Just like that, the spell was broken. The author turns and plasters a smile across her tired features, turning on her charming socializing skills with the flip of a switch. “Yep, that’s me,” Seulgi replied with a small chuckle. “Could you point me to where she is? I’m running a bit late and she’s probably about to wring my neck for it,” Seulgi continued.

        The two women share a laugh, but both know that Seulgi’s words hold a seriousness to them. “Follow me,” the wedding organizer replies, waving a hand over her shoulder. The pair of them set off down a long corridor near the side of the church, past rooms filled with bridesmaids and worried parents all talking loudly and changing and getting their makeup or hair done.

        The very air itself in this corridor should have felt lighter, with the sound of laughter and excited tones filling the air. She catches snippets of conversations, a bridesmaid asking her friend if her hair looked okay, someone asking if anyone knew how to tie a tie properly, 

        They stop near the very end of the hall, at a room with its door closed. Seulgi feels a rush of sickness overtake her for a moment as she takes in the gravity of the situation for the millionth time since she’d woken up. I’m at Joohyun’s wedding and I’m not the one she’s marrying. I’m about to cut our strings forever.

        The words repeated themselves in a kind of mantra, but for once, Seulgi didn’t cry. “Here we are!” The wedding organizer announced. “Seungwan’s room is in the corridor adjacent, at the very end if you wish to visit her beforehand. Miss Yeri and Miss Sooyoung have asked me to let you know they’ve got her covered until the wedding begins.”

        Seulgi nods her head in understanding. She felt her heart leaping in her chest, burning against the case of the thread cutting snippers in her pocket. “Thank you,” she told the organizer. She watched as the other woman bowed politely and began walking off, no doubt to smooth out another kink in the wedding plans.

        After making sure that no one was watching, Seulgi looked at her watch. One hour, forty-five minutes until the guests started arriving. Knowing this, Seulgi felt a breath of relief. It would all be over soon. She’d get her makeup done and her hair straightened, which would take at least a decade, and she’d be at Joohyun’s beck and call for whatever time was left of that.

        It’d be over like ripping off a Band-Aid. Or at least, that’s what she hoped for. Seulgi took a shaky breath, smoothing out the folds of her suit, and rapped her knuckles twice against the thick wooden door. She waited for the sound of the love of her life’s voice to ring out to grant herself entry. But nothing every came.

        After another moment’s pause, she decides to press her ear against the door. As soon as she does so, Seulgi hears nothing but the chatter of a plethora of voices and swings open the door unannounced. Instantly, she’s greeted by a flurry of frantic movement in every direction.

        The dressing room is overflowing with more bridesmaids who paid Seulgi no mind. They were too busy stumbling about the large space in their stiletto heels, attempting to fix their makeup and long, flowing dresses in the rows of mirrors lining the wall as best as they could.

        Makeup artists and relatives fluttered about the room, dusting off faces filled with makeup, helping with putting up the women’s hair. In the center of it all, Joohyun’s own relatives hovered around the bride to be. Four of her aunts fluffed Joohyun’s veil, tightening the dress, fawning over her elegance.

        She’s all that Seulgi can see, a crystal vision clad in an ivory wedding gown fit for a princess, and it’s like Seulgi’s falling in love all over again. Her long dark hair tumbles down past her graceful shoulder blades and well defined collarbones, framing her pale, porcelain face. In spite of all the years they’ve been friends, Joohyun hadn’t seemed to have aged a bit.

        The bride still looked just as she had, all those years ago, when Seulgi had shyly sat across from her in their old high school cafeteria for the first time. Just as she began traveling back in time, reminiscing on the days before Joohyun and Seungwan and Joohyun and Suho and Joohyun and Bogum, the bride looks up.

        Joohyun’s stony expression transforms the moment their eyes meet in the mirror before her. “Seulgi! You made it!” The bride exclaims joyously, gesturing for Seulgi to come closer as she waves off her relatives. The other women mumble about fixing Joohyun’s hair later, and disperse throughout the room to assist other struggling bridesmaids.

        Abiding to Joohyun’s wishes, Seulgi picks her way towards Joohyun’s chair through the chaos surrounding them. She narrowly avoids a bridesmaid stomping her heel into her shoe and a puff of hairspray to the face as she maneuvers across the room. “Good morning,” Seulgi replies, resting an arm over Joohyun’s chair.

        “So, what do you think?” Joohyun asks giddily, whirling around to face her as she approaches. There’s a gorgeous smile spreading across the bride’s hopeful face, ruby red lips pulling away to show off a set of pearly white teeth.

        Seulgi tries to fight off the tears she feels boiling at the corners of her eyes. “You look as beautiful as ever, Joohyun-ah,” the younger woman confesses, choking back a chuckle. Joohyun giggles and rolls her eyes.

        She swats at Seulgi’s arm playfully. “Not me, silly. What do you think about the venue? Have you seen the display yet? I haven’t been able to leave this room for hours.” Joohyun sends a playful glare towards her aunts, narrowing her eyes at them as they mill about the room. “They’ve been keeping me prisoner in here!”

        Seulgi barks out a laugh, shaking her head at the older woman’s antics. “Everything’s absolutely wonderful, Joohyun. I saw them setting up the altar and it’s going to knock everyone to high heaven, I guarantee it. This has to be one of the most beautiful churches I’ve ever seen.” Relief flooded Joohyun’s tense countenance and it was then that Seulgi saw just how worried the bride was about the wedding.

        It was strangely easy to pretend everything was okay when Joohyun was by her side, almost as if the presence of her soulmate was soothing away the pain. But it dawned on her again, the glinting of Seungwan’s ring on her left hand and the shining of red on the other, the veil adorning Joohyun’s brow, the worry shining in the bride’s eyes, this was really happening. Joohyun and Seungwan were getting married, and Seulgi was going to cut her string.

         “You know, there’s still time to back out,” Seulgi says lamely. She was desperately trying to keep up the appearance of being upbeat, to conceal the way she suddenly felt so weak that her knees were threatening to give way beneath her. Her hands had become balmy, so she clasped them together behind her back. Joohyun laughs as she stands, fixing her lipstick, not hearing the despair in Seulgi’s defeated voice.

        Seulgi could feel her pores glistening from perspiration as she looked around Joohyun’s dressing room, surely making her look as if she were some sort of sick hospital patient. “Are you okay?” Joohyun asks, worriedly pressing an open palm to the taller woman’s forehead as one of her mother’s friends began fixing her wedding dress from gaining any more wrinkles. “You seem a little pale, Seulgi.”

        Seulgi’s stomach lurched at the contact. She felt the grazing of Joohyun’s string against her skin, searing at her soul. “Perfectly fine,” Seulgi replied with a forced laugh, “It’s probably just nerves or something.” A knowing glint flashed through the bride’s eyes, and she lowered her voice as she murmured into Seulgi’s ear.

        “You can do it, I believe in you, Seulgi-ah,” her soulmate murmured quietly, breath fanning against Seulgi’s neck. She eyed the room cautiously, ensuring that no one was listening in on their conversation. When Joohyun seemed satisfied none of her aunts or makeup artists were eavesdropping, she continued. “After all these years, you’ve never let me down before, and I know you won’t fail me now, not when I need you the most.”

        When Joohyun pulls away, she remains hovering within Seulgi’s personal space, nose to nose with her, knowing she has Seulgi’s full attention. “Are you sure you want this? Cutting your string…choosing Seungwan?” Seulgi whimpered, one last desperate attempt of hers to make Joohyun call off the one wish she’d promised to make come true.

        She watches the crinkling of the corners of the bride’s eyes, the parting of her cherry red lips into a brilliant white smile, and her heart sinks. “I’ve never been surer in my life, Seul,” Joohyun confirms, pressing a kiss to the author’s cheek before turning around to finish her makeup. She doesn’t notice the way Seulgi freezes again, h