The One With Wedding Plans, a Song, and a Bit of Happiness

Irene stared down at the heart in her latte foam, rubbing the handle of the cup as she waited for Joonmyeon to return from retrieving the soup they both ordered. She squirmed in her seat as she looked around the old café, wondering when the last time they thoroughly cleaned the velvet couch in the middle. She took a tentative sip and crossed her legs, debating how she was going to tell Joonmyeon about how she felt about the wedding.

When he returned and set the colorful and hearty soup in front of them, she bit her lip in thought before looking up at her fiancé, who gave a smile she knew was forced. They sat in silence taking a few spoonfuls and wondering what happened to the cute and romantic affection they had earlier. Why did it suddenly feel like it was their first date and a business meeting.

“I like that sweater on you,” Irene blurted, watching his face look at her in surprise. She blushed, “You don’t usually wear sweaters, and blue is a nice color on you.”

He nodded before wiping his lips with a napkin, “I kind of don’t like it. I think I look a bit like a college student again.”

She smiled, “Do you think we would have met if we went to the same university?”

“Probably,” Joon smiled, thinking about how it would their meeting would have been picturesque. He imagined tracking down the location on his arm, which he believed would have been a professor’s office, and think she was gorgeous in the school colors and sweatpants. “I still think that any other time we would have met, I would have knocked you up on the first time.”

“You need to stop watching those dramas,” Irene smiled, pushing the soap away just a bit as she rested her elbow on the table, placing her chin on her fist. “Though… I agree, simply because I wasn’t on the pill in college. I also would like to assume we did it at my dorm.”

“Of course, your dorm. Why would you want to have my fraternity as an audience at the walls?” he joked, heart fluttering with how adorable she looked when she looked out the window next to them. He slide his foot forward and placed his ankle next to hers, watching her smile bloom as he felt her lightly his own. “I know when I was college, I had an idea of what my first time would be like… and the setting always changed but I do know I would have said I love you for the first time during .”

She covered her face with her hands and giggled, “I think you’re going to do that anyways because you think it’s romantic.”

“Well…” he blushed, “Is that what women want to hear?”

Irene shrugged, “Personally, Joon, when the day comes, I hope you don’t do any extravagant. I would much more love it if you said like… on my way to work, or if I did something goofy, or just as I’m falling asleep. I prefer the more… natural and simple approach. Like when you asked me to marry you.”

“I didn’t plan it that way,” Joonmyeon chuckled, playing with the veggies in his soup. “Honestly, the way I was gonna propose was something I made up when I was fourteen.”

Irene’s eyes sparkled as she looked at him with an expecting aura. “Oh?”

Not looking at her, he just stared at his soup. “Um… well… I was going to take you to the planetarium… We would have a picnic and watch what the sky looked like on the day we met… Then I would pull out the ring and ask…”

Irene was practically laying on the table, eagerly waiting for the man to continue. The sound of the café seemed to soften, and her latte was going cold. She didn’t care for the soup anymore, but she found her fiancé really attractive right now.

He sighed, finding his revelation now to be corny and embarrassing. “‘Want to spend the rest of your life star-gazing with me?’”

Her smile widened and she felt like her face would break. “You’re too cute. Why didn’t you go with that plan? I would have still said yes.”

“Because I asked you about children and emotions took over,” Joonmyeon shrugged, his blush brightening when he looked up at the woman. “You don’t think that’s too cheesy?”

“Don’t be embarrassed about your cheesiness now,” she sat up, sipping the latte. “I want you to be proud of it. I want you to use your cheesiness to such an advantage. I want you to embarrass me and show our children what being in love with your soulmate looks like. I sure as hell also want to hear them scream in terror when you kiss me.”

Joonmyeon stared at his fiancé with a tilt of his head and let a small smile grace his face, watching with affection and charm that he held for the woman, who he now realized seemed to shine brightly when it was between the two of them. “Oh trust me, I plan on being extremely cheesy around them.”

“The more the better,” she chuckled, taking a larger sip.

“Then I guess before we do that, let’s discuss the wedding.”

“Okay,” she nodded, and against her anxiety, she said quickly, “I want to postpone the wedding.”

Joonmyeon stared at her, and his silence told her he was shocked, and let the word vomit spew. “Don’t get me wrong, I still don’t want the wedding and really only agreed because you want it, but I know you’re holding back with all that you want to do. I still want a budget, and there are somethings I think that we absolutely don’t need to do, but it’s also just such sudden planning that you’re stressing yourself and everyone else out. Not to mention, you’re stressing me out. And my dress is more suited for spring or summer anyway, and although the museum is a nice idea, I’m not objecting to a wedding maybe outside… And no offence but the pink is a bit too much, and I don’t want it to match your mother’s.”

When he still wasn’t answering and just staring, the women blushed. “I just… needed time to warm up to the idea and allow myself to think about it. I still much prefer going to the courthouse, but… I think we need to have the wedding later.”

He still just stared, and Irene squirmed in her seat. “We don’t need to get married so soon, anyways. We’re soulmates! We want to spend the rest of our lives together! I think we can wait a while on the wedding.”

He pushed the soup away from him, the dishes clinking, before he rested his elbows on the table and leaned a bit over the table. “So… did you just say you wanted to postpone the wedding?”

“I think it would make everyone happy,” Irene mimicked his position. “And… we can have a medium-sized wedding and reception as long as we still go on that long honeymoon you keep talking about.”

“Are we going to postpone the honeymoon too?” he asked, a bit of a pout on his face, “Do… do we have to wait that long?”

“We agreed, and out of the changes we’re discussing,” Irene bit her lip and looked like she was going to regret saying it, “I think we need to keep that one.”

“Can’t we… can’t we just do a few things?”

“Like what?”

Remembering they were in a café, Joonmyeon leaved over to whisper, “Like… just some more. Like… you know what I mean.”

“Do I though?” she smirked, a glint in her eye, “Joon, I feel like it would be okay if we did a bit more, but we can’t entirely get .”

“So what I’m hearing is if I kept my socks on…”

She made an amused face before she sat up straighter, “Anyways, back to the wedding. At this time, I’m thinking let’s not rush into it. Let’s enjoy the process so we both can enjoy looking back at the wedding.”

Joonmyeon looked down at the table and made his thinking face before looking up at Irene with a smile and reaching out to offer holding his hand. She graciously place her hand in his, and they both looked down at the antique engagement ring. “I think that’s doable… but… I guess I should have you help with the planning.”

“Well, duh,” Irene said rather flatly, “It may be your wedding, but the bride is always the center of attention.”

Shaking his head with a smile, he rubbed a thumb across her fingers, “So then when should we have it?”

“Next year?
 

Jongdae made it a point to sit in the very back of the auditorium so he could escape as soon as Wendy was finished with her performance. He didn’t know how what his plans were, but all he knew was that he was there to support his best friend, even though he figured that he was the last person on Earth that she wanted to see. He was wearing his favorite hoodie that she had stolen at some point, but it suddenly turned up one day on his bed, along with a lot of t-shirts he knew and didn’t know were missing from his wardrobe. Seeing it felt like a stab in the back and he didn’t want to believe that she was making her first steps in ignoring him; in encouraging him to forget about her.

His hand, unconsciously, was playing with the tape he had placed over his new watch, frayed even more, it still buzzing every so often. He couldn’t remember the reason why he did that, but he did know that he wouldn’t be able to handle the information if he saw a different name. He could feel himself