Daniel was groggily digging through his kitchen cabinets and fridge for instant food (he had reluctantly agreed to give Jihyun a few days off from kitchen duties due to an upcoming wedding she had to organize), when he had received a call from his panic-stricken best friend, Ong Seongwu earlier that afternoon begging him for a last minute favour. Thanks to a crazy liquor-filled bachelor party the night before, the groom’s best man had ended up unconscious at the hospital after a severe hangover and vomiting episodes. His close friendship and availability on the wedding day, made Daniel the next best candidate to replace the bedridden best man, and without a doubt Seongwu dialed his best friend’s number to ask him to become his substitute. Daniel was originally part of the guest list and would certainly be attending his friend’s wedding, but instead of asking the normal ‘Will you be my right-hand man during my wedding?’ question, Seongwu urged him to arrive an hour before the time stated in the wedding invitation and asked if he owned a grey coloured suit in his closet before sending him the GPS location of the wedding hall.

Before he knew it, Daniel was ushered to the dressing room by a boy who introduced himself as the wedding planner’s assistant, immediately after saying hi to the groom and receiving the wedding ring, “So, this is the wedding you had to organize today? What a small world,” Daniel had to admit, setting his eyes on the familiar girl gazing pointedly at his reflection in the mirror, had taken his breath away in more ways than one.

A mischievous smile graced his lips, seeing how the girl was obviously trying to hide the shock of noticing his sudden presence in the room. She acted nonchalantly by checking her appearance in the mirror and smoothing out her dress. Daniel simply leaned against the wall by the door, hands tucked into his pockets as he watched her dismiss all the other attendants in the room, leaving only the chatty assistant to help finish getting her makeup done, “Tell me something, have you studied at Hogwarts before?” Jihyun finally spoke once the last attendant closed the door behind her. It seemed that only Daehwi found her statement funny as the assistant stifled a giggle while trying his best to assist Jihyun with her dress.

Dismissing the humour in her question, Daniel walked towards her at a slow and relaxed pace, but was rendered speechless when she turned around and faced him. It was then he had realized, Yoon Jihyun’s appearance was more than decent. She looked delicately beautiful and glowing, so much so that he felt as if someone had knocked out all the remaining air in his lungs. He couldn’t find words enough to describe how she looked right then. He also couldn’t take his eyes away as he watched Jihyun swipe her loose black curls to one side of her shoulder, and securely pinned them with bobby pins before putting on a pair of diamond drop earrings on her earlobes, giving him a glimpse of her milky skin and sharp collarbones. The intricately designed lace added a modest touch to the eye-catching sleeveless gray gown she was dressed in. Only when he felt blood rushing to his ears did Daniel notice that he was staring, and he looked away so that he could stop his thoughts from running wild at her breathtaking beauty. Recalling back her question earlier, he quickly came up with a reply, “What makes you say that?”

“Because you have a knack of appearing in front of me out of thin air,” Jihyun retorted. She did a quick scan of him from head to toe (being mindful not to drown into Daniel’s hypnotic handsomeness from her previous experiences), and signaled Daehwi to assist the best man so that he would look more formal and presentable. She sat on a white chair facing the dressing table, doing the finishing touches to her makeup with coral shade lip tint as the younger boy scurried towards Daniel.

“I did get an envelope with a red wax seal from an owl, but I turned down the offer,” Daniel played along by giving a witty reply, “Their only sport was Quidditch,” he continued and Lee Daehwi failed to restrain himself at the childish exchange of words between the pair as he chuckled quietly while shaking his head. The pair was back to their usual witty banters, but this time instead of driving each other up the wall, there was a dash of playfulness thrown into the mix and it made Daniel have the craziest idea of wanting to flirt with her, if only her assistant wasn’t present in the room.

Jihyun didn’t need to be mindful about her relationship with Daniel in front of her trusted assistant Lee Daehwi, who had been working with her since she started this line of work. Aside from her best friend and cousin, he was well aware of the series of events she had to go through ever since she moved into the new apartment. In fact, Daehwi was the one responsible in helping Jihyun find a suitable apartment that was both affordable and close to her workplace. He proceeded to help Daniel into his suit jacket and pinned a boutonnière to the left lapel, before brushing lint off the best man’s shoulders and arms, “I didn’t know wedding planners get to doll themselves up like the bride for their work. You’ll ended up confusing the guests,”

Jihyun lost her grip and nearly applied the lip tint to her chin at the unsuspecting yet subtle flattering remark that casually slipped from Daniel’s lips. The pink tinge on her cheeks was surely not from the blusher that was still sitting nicely on the dressing table, untouched. She wondered if Daniel too had had too much to drink the night before the wedding, for him to be throwing praises directed at her. Saved by Daehwi’s coughing, reminding the pair that there was a third person in the room with them, Jihyun composed herself and responded, “This is my cousin’s wedding and I’m the maid of honor,”

“This is my best friend’s wedding and I’m the best man,” Daniel rephrased, he had least expected the response as his eyes widened in surprise, before realizing the current situation they were in, “Should the best man be using the same dressing room as the maid of honor then?” he asked amusedly.

Jihyun abruptly stood up and decided to proceed to the real reason she had instructed her assistant to bring Daniel in, “This is an emergency. You’re a substitute to the best man, and since you didn’t attend the rehearsal, do you even know what are your responsibilities today?”

“That’s easy, hold the wedding ring. This is not the first time I’ve attended a wedding,” Daniel replied matter-of-factly.

Jihyun and Daehwi exchanged looks before chuckling lightly, “Amateurs,” they both chorused.

Daniel wondered if he should be offended by that remark, but as he was looking for the right witty comeback, Jihyun had swiftly left the room with bouquet of flowers in her right hand and her assistant in tow. He followed her short but quick strides until they stopped in front of the large double doors to the hall, and he could hear the echoes from the wedding MC welcoming the guests, indicating that the wedding ceremony had begun, “The couple wants a simple ceremony, so we will be entering together,” she explained, slipping on the pair of beige heels prepared by Daehwi, “Once we reached the altar, stand beside the groom and hand him the ring after the vows are exchanged. Do not ever, I repeat, ever lose the ring. Or I will kill you,” she gave a stern warning.

Daniel smirked, seeing the serious and professional side to Jihyun was rather refreshing and fascinating, “Who do you think I am? The ring’s safe with me,” he pulled out the velvet box Seongwu had slipped into his pocket a few minutes ago and showed her the sparkling diamond ring tucked safely inside. Standing an arm’s length away from each other with colour matching formal attires, holding a wedding ring in his right hand while making eye contact with a stunning beauty such as Jihyun was ironic. Daniel had never thought of Jihyun romantically, but the irony of the whole situation actually made his heart race as he started to grow worried whether he’d last until the end of the ceremony before all those crazy buds of thoughts start to plant their roots deep into his brain.

“Cases of the best man losing the wedding ring are very common,” Daehwi chipped in, interrupting Daniel’s train of thoughts, “As the groom’s right-hand man you are not only entrusted with holding the ring, but also being the date for the maid of honor,” he reminded before dismissing himself to get the bride and groom ready for their grand entrance.

“Look, I know that this is a lot for you to take in, but this is my cousin’s wedding,” Jihyun stated earnestly when they were left alone, hoping that they could be on the same page before walking through the door into a room filled with watchful eyes, “So, I think it’s best that we put our differences aside and try to work together. When the ceremony is over, we can go back to what we were before,” she reasoned.

He could see her nervousness by how tight she was clutching the bouquet and nodded, “I don’t plan to ruin my best friend’s wedding either,” Daniel assured as he tucked the ring back into his jacket pocket and adjusted the boutonnière on his left chest neatly, “Do we have a deal?” he held out his left arm to her and smiled.

“Deal,” she returned the smile and linked her arm with his.

After convincing Jihyun for the last time that he had triple checked his pockets for any holes and tears, the pair gracefully glided into the hall as soon as the MC announced their cue to enter a few minutes later. The path towards the altar looked distant and every step that they took seemed heavier than the last, as the best man and maid of honor had become the center of attention under the curious gazes of the wedding guests. They could clearly hear the guests whispering and asking each other about the wedding couple’s relationship with their best man and maid of honor