The One with Photoshoots, Carnitas, and Desperation

Irene woke up, worried and feeling like something was off before she looked over to the alarm clock and saw it was the middle of the night. She bite her lip, gulping; the nightmare of her in the ugliest wedding dress playing in her head. She shook her head at the absurdity of it; after all, she didn’t want the wedding.

And yet, Joonmyeon hasn’t contacted her in three days. She realized this as she looked at her arm in the pale of moonlight, and then at her phone, pretending in her own ignorance and wondering why he wasn’t answering any of text messages or answering her calls.

Getting up from her bed, she walked out into the coolness of her living room and sat on the couch, staring at a spot on the floor, recalling his proposal. She sighed and brushed back her bedhead, still finding it unbelievable that she was going to marry her soulmate, finding that nearly the past month has been a whirlwind of experiences. She hugged a pillow to her chest when she stared at her phone, wondering if he would answer at this time of night. Biting her nail, she stared at her phone and wondered if why he wasn’t answering, as nothing seemed to come to mind.

Glancing around the coffee table, she took a marker and wrote on her arm: please talk to me.

Then she waited a few minutes, and when nothing happened, she wrote again: please don’t ignore me.

Another few minutes: why won’t you talk to me?

And another: I don’t know what I did wrong…

Sighing turned into sobs as she stared at the ink on her arm. For a moment, it felt like being back in the system, where she had to be taken away from one foster family she hoped would adopt her and given to another. Tears dripped on her arm as she felt those familiar emotions of brokenness and confusion bubble back into her life. She felt unwanted and unloved; something she never thought she would feel because of her soulmate.

Unable to control her sobbing, she picked up her phone and called the first number she saw.

It was about an hour later that Irene felt rather awkward at the presence of Mrs. Kim in her apartment, who was dressed in sweatpants and a hoodie, compared to her the usual garb Irene saw her in. She didn’t even realize she had called her until she heard her voice on the other end, trying to comfort her and tell her everything is going to be okay before she hung up, outright uncomfortable hearing the older woman treat her like a daughter. Next thing she knew, the older woman was outside her apartment thirty minutes later, smiling and asking her if she could come in.

Mrs. Kim, on one hand, could really see how uncomfortable the woman was as she rolled herself into a ball, eying her, on the only chair in the living room. In front of her was a thermos of barley tea, and was poured into a polka dot mug, which was Irene’s favorite, untouched. Trying to be positive, she told Irene about how the tea was supposed to help her calm down a bit.

After another attempt to get her to drink, Mrs. Kim sighed and relaxed against the couch, a grown on her face. “Joonmyeon is so lucky he’s no longer under my guardianship, otherwise he’d be certainly grounded. Treating you like this… he and Mr. Kim are going to have a long talk. He’s never dated before, so he’s probably acting like a brat somewhere.”

Irene’s lip curled up just the slightest before she rubbed at her already sore eyes once again. “I think… he’s upset that I don’t want a wedding.”

Mrs. Kim’s brows shot up in surprise, hearing the news for the first time. “Well, why didn’t you say anything?”

“Well, one, it’s Joonmyeon’s wedding as much as it is mine, and two, I don’t know how to approach you comfortably,” she sniffled.

Mrs. Kim snorted, nodding and slapping her hand against her thigh. “Ah, Joonmyeon told me you were rather blunt… but no, that actually sounds rather like Joonmyeon; he used to get what he wanted when he was a kid, and now, when he’s butting heads, he doesn’t know how to compromise.”

Irene shook her head and leaned back in her own chair, moving her hair out of her face. She had an empty smile on her face, “I know both of your have been dreaming of the big day, but I never did. It was never a thought that occurred to me because I was busy dealing with other things, and if this is a deal breaker, then I’m willing to compromise. I just find a lot of the details both of you discussing to be really arbitrary and useless. I could care less about scalloped napkin edges and flower pieces; I don’t even want a dress. I rather just go to the courthouse and get married there.”

“Would you still want a honeymoon?” Mrs. Kim smiled, trying to add some lightness into the conversation. “You know, enjoy married life with some relaxation and fun before returning to your normal lives.”

Irene shrugged, before curling herself back into a ball, thinking she may have accidentally ruined a chance of happiness for speaking her opinion. “At this point, I don’t think that’s going to be an option if he continues to not answer my calls.”

When she left the apartment twenty some minutes later, Mrs. Kim was livid, and as soon as she left Irene’s apartment, making sure the woman drank the tea before she left, called her second born, who answered right away.

“What is it mother? I’m a bit busy—”

“Kim Joonmyeon, I’m disowning you if you don’t console your grieving fiancé.

There was a pause. “Why is she grieving? Who died? Was it one of her students?”

“You are, apparently,” Mrs. Kim huffed, rolling her eyes as she walked down a flight of stairs and towards the car, where a chauffeur was holding open the door. “She might as well think you’re dead if your ignoring all her attempts in contacting you. She called me, in tears, wondering if she had done anything wrong and if it was her fault that you no longer are in love with her. I just went over, and she looks like such a mess. I honestly can’t believe you, Joonmyeon, you go on for hours about her hair and smile, and you talk to all my colleagues and the maids about how she’s just the most perfect woman and you’re so thankful you have a beautiful soulmate and found her at last, but as soon as she has a different point of view, which may I add, is quite reasonable from her end, you ignore her. You’re not a child anymore, so don’t act like one.”

There was another pause, a bit longer this time, accompanied with the sounds of shuffling. “Does… does she really think I don’t love her?”

Mrs. Kim sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. “I don’t know, son. I do know that if you don’t call her or do something, that beautiful woman is going to turn into a shell.”

Jongdae couldn’t stop staring as he watched one of the beauty students paint his best friend’s face, his hand always holding hers as another worked on curl her hair into soft waves. She was wearing a blue blouse with jeans, and for a moment, the man wondered if it was birthday as he watched the woman turn from her normal goddess self into a made-up goddess.

She sighed when all the brushes and attention was off her for a moment, before she looked at her best friend, and asked him what he thought. He was taken back by how the eyeliner made her eyes look sharper as she stared at him, feeling a chill run down his spine. He gave her a charming smile regardless and kissed the back of her hand. “No matter what, you look gorgeous.”

“It’s just a small photo shoot,” he reassured her when she looked back into the mirror, showing worry. “You were chosen to be the face of the music department pamphlete. You’re going to to help inspire furture music students who are looking at our university to help them move forward.”

“I don’t want to be an inspiration,” she pouted before looking back a