1. The Letter

”Oh. My. God.”

Chaeyoung was holding an envelope she had just picked up from the ground. We had arrived from a shopping spree just minutes ago. ”What? What’s that?”

Her eyes were glued to the open letter, concentrating on reading the text on it. ”An invitation.”

”To where?” I jumped over the bags of groceries (and clothes) and peeked in to see what she was so shocked about. Immediately when I saw the cursive letters saying ”wedding” -something, I ripped the letter from her fingers. ”It’s a wedding invitation!”

”I know!” Chaeyoung screeched as excitedly. ”Look at the initials! in finally!”

D and L. There was only one couple I knew that had those initials in their names. And the invitation wasn’t exactly a surprise, at least not for me. ”Jesus christ, it’s next month?”

”What?” Chaeyoung exclaimed. ”How the hell am I supposed to get an appointment for my hair? Or nails? Or-”

”Oh come on. With your connections…”

Chaeyoung grinned and took out her phone. ”Still. Better start booking. I suggest you do the same.”

I rolled my eyes. I was perfectly happy doing my own hair and nails. I wasn’t an actress like she was.

”I should probably get a stylist too…”

”Really Chae? Shouldn’t you be more worried about what to get them? As a wedding gift?”

”Honestly, I think Lisa would be more than happy if we arranged her bachelorette party, what do you say? Isn’t that kind of like a wedding gift, if we pay for everything?”

I had never in my life been to a bachelorette party, and even the idea gave me the chills. Partying and straight up drinking just to get hammered weren’t really my thing. Unless I was in a small harbor town just with my boyfriend Hanbin and it was eight in the evening and all they played on the jukebox were good old country ballads. Because I was more than happy to redo that scenario.

”I don’t know, don’t you think Lisa’s close friends should arrange it?”

”Uhh, we are her close friends. We even have a group chat. And we talk there like daily. Plus we’ve seen each other -”

”How is that relevant?” I huffed.

”Because, it makes people closer, that’s why you’re so close with your partner didn’t you know?”

”I’m pretty sure you just made that up but okay.” I dragged one of the grocery bags into the kitchen and emptied it on the table. Then I did the other one.

”I heard it somewhere”, Chaeyoung said and started to unpack the bags with me. ”Anyway, we should start planning as soon as we can. Oh, and let’s decide who we want to take along because, you know, it’s supposed to be just girls but Lisa doesn’t get along with girls that often, right? I think we’re pretty much her only female friends.”

”What about Hanbin’s mom?”

”Jesus Jennie, it’s not that kind of a party. There’s an age limit.”

”She’s youthful.”

”I think we should ask Minho though, poor guy’s still single. Maybe he’d get some action.”

”Oh I’m pretty sure he has action. He’s just not into dating.”

We kept talking about the topic and preparing a dinner for three. It had been two years since my book had blown up on the market, and still I couldn’t afford to live on my own in Seoul. Sure I had some savings on my bank account, but I had decided on keeping them there until a better idea came along - such as moving in with a particular young man. Chaeyoung however had insisted on getting a bigger and better apartment, so we had moved to a slightly better flat with a nice balcony and enough space for the boys to visit us as often as they could. Even Hanbyul had stayed there for a week during the Christmas holidays. Chaeyoung hadn’t been a fan of that, since she didn’t really connect with young children. She pretty much couldn’t stand them sometimes. So it was a fair statement to say that the week had been quite interesting. On behalf of Hanbyul and Chaeyoung.

We had two bathrooms now, which was honestly a blessing, considering that Bobby liked to stay with us almost one month at a time - things had gotten a little crowded in our last flat. He just enjoyed his morning-, after-gym- and night-showers. Plus he always stuffed his fishing equipment into the shower, so whenever he’d been out with his rod, the entire bathroom reeked of sea creatures. Although if I was being completely honest, it was kind of nice to be reminded of Hanbin; he also had a habit of putting his fishing stuff in the shower.

Bobby had stayed with us now since August… and we were half way through September. His job as a tour guide had ended because of the nature of the working contract, so he'd decided to stay with us as long as his savings lasted. He was in no hurry to get back to Sanggang-ri. And because Chaeyoung didn't have to worry about money anymore, there was really nothing to worry about. If Bobby got short on something, she was more than happy to pay for it as long as she could have her boyfriend by her side. Bobby had felt bad about it at first, but Chae had managed to talk him into it - in the end both of them just wanted to be together, so money wasn't really the biggest issue. Plus, it wasn't like paying for Bobby's train tickets was going to get Chae bankrupt.

Hanbin had gone back South after staying in Seoul for four miserably short days. He never stayed longer than a week, and I could rarely go and see him because of my work. I worked for a publishing company that dug out ”masterpieces” that hadn’t been discovered yet. It was an office job - and I had agreed on working from the office rather than home after hearing people’s opinions on working from home. Apparently it didn’t do good to anybody. And we were in a good place with Hanbin. Sometimes I even thought of it as a good thing that we didn’t live close to each other. It was, in a way, effective on my behalf - I was able to focus on my work rather than being constantly affected by his presence, even though I loved it more than anything in the world. Yes, we were in a long-distance relationship, but it had worked. For now at least. I wasn’t sure how long I could do it, but as long as I felt the way I felt about him, I was willing to try. And I hoped he was too.

After Bobby and Chaeyoung had teamed up together, I’d been the one who had to sit alone on the living room floor while the lovey dovey couple spooned on the couch. That was definitely a minus point about Bobby almost living with us. Every time I saw them fast asleep on the couch, tangled to each other, I couldn’t help but to feel lonely and vulnerable and sad at the same time. Even calling Hanbin couldn’t really ease up the yearning that I felt. It was too extreme. Still, I always made it to the day when he came back to me and I could only say I loved him more and more as time went by.

Maybe it was the absolute trust that we had in each other that made it possible for us to make it work long-distance. For example in Bobby’s and Chae’s situation, they didn’t trust each other completely. There was a fracture in their relationship, that required a bit more time spent together. Bobby was afraid he would lose her if he stayed away too long, and Chae felt the same. Yet neither of them could ever betray the other’s trust. Only an outsider like me could see it.

I was still sitting at the kitchen table, watching Bobby and Chae filling the dishwasher while bumping their hips together playfully, when I got a text from Hanbin. He had also gotten the wedding invitation and was asking whether I’d checked the mail today. I replied saying we were already planning the bachelorette party.

 H:  really now? whos invited?

 J:  Lisa, Chae, me and Minho.

 H:  lisa and mino together is not a good idea.. she wouldnt like it

 J:  Who should we invite then?? She doesn’t have many girlfriends.

 H:  maybe just arrange something fun between the three of you? go to a concert or jump off a plane

I chuckled. The thought of us three at a festival really did excite me a little bit. Jumping off a plane did not. Just a thought of falling through the sky made me feel a little nauseated. I was not built for the heights.

 J:  What was that festival thing you talked about a few weeks ago? It was in Seoul, right?

 H:  omg take her there she would love it

Hanbin was typing.

 H:  she deserves something like that.. something to make her all relaxed and take it easy you know

I glanced at Bobby and Chae who were arguing over who would wash the pan. The two were already like a married couple.

 J:  I’ll talk to Chae.

 H:  should I tell lisa? Or do you wanna surprise her or smth?

 J:  Don’t tell her.

***

It was only two days before the festival, when we finally decided to call Lisa and tell her about our plan.

Chaeyoung and I were sitting at the kitchen table. It was already past nine in the evening, since we had been busy with all the arrangements for the party all day. Chae was holding her phone on the table, dialing Lisa’s number from the catalogue. My entire body was already buzzing - I couldn’t wait to hear the response from Lisa. Frankly, I didn’t know her as well as Chae did, so I had no idea what she was expecting, or if she was expecting anything at all. From what I did know about her, she certainly had a way of reacting to surprises.

”I bet she freaks out”, Chae said quietly while starting the phone call. The tunes buzzed in the dimly lit kitchen, only the light of the screen igniting our eager faces.

”In a good way I hope”, I replied. Chae just grinned and concentrated on the screen.

Lisa picked up after multiple annoying beeps. She sounded tired and extremely cranky. ”Rose, the hell, it’s ten in the evening-”

”Shut up, we’ve got some exciting news for you”, Chae interrupted Lisa and leaned in to talk closely to the phone. ”I hope you haven’t planned anything for next week.”

I smiled and waited for the answer. Chae glanced at me. Then turned back to the phone.

”No, why?”

”Cause you’re coming to Seoul tomorrow evening”, I blurted smiling. ”Better start packing your bags.”