the wedding
UNCHANGEABLE"i knew you were just ing each other," says amber, looking up and blowing smoke out of .
seulgi glares at her former comrade. "why do things usually sound bad whenever they come out of your mouth?"
amber chuckles. "when i heard the news about you two hanging out, i knew it's all about . everyone knows this chick of yours has a reputation of playing around."
amber nods her head in the direction of their table where jisoo is talking animatedly to krystal and byulyi. "i'm still asking myself what were you thinking when you got yourself involved with her. i've never seen you as someone who'll take things casually."
seulgi takes a deep breath in, inhaling the fresh sea breeze. "i guess this is my way of trying to live a normal life. this is what all of you wanted, for me to mingle again, right?"
"well, yes, we want that. more importantly, we want you to be happy. are you happy with her?"
seulgi thinks for a moment. "she... she makes me feel things..."
"things..." amber smirks. "that's your libido speaking, man." seulgi throws a dried leaf her way, and she laughs. "c'mon. you won't be joining me here in my cig break if you're really into her. you're not even a smoker."
seulgi sighs. "i don't know... i just... i guess i want to step out here and loosen up a bit. there are many people inside."
amber hums, putting the cigarette back into , inhaling a waft of smoke, before blowing it in the opposite direction. "it's still the milf, right?"
"milf?"
"'mom-i'd-like-to-'." amber quotes with her fingers. seulgi punches her arm. "yah! i'm just trying to lighten up the mood! chill, man!"
"don't talk about her in that way," says seulgi, brows furrowed.
"i know. i'm sorry. she's still hot though," says amber. seulgi raises her hand for another smack. "i'm just saying! on a serious note, it's still the mother of the kid we saved from two years ago, right?"
seulgi says nothing. she turns away from amber and looks far ahead.
"admirable," says amber.
"it , to be honest." seulgi sighs. "it's like i'm stuck in the same place while her life keeps moving. i don't ing know why my brain is still not accepting it's already over for us. it's been like what, nine years?"
they leave the topic hanging in the air for a moment while feeling the blow of the wind and listening to echoes of the sea waves.
"to be honest, i wouldn't blame you for still hoping," says amber. "i've seen how uncomfy she looked when jisoo came. i and krystal were observing her the whole time while you and jisoo pda-ed. you guys ruined her mood.
"i'm not blind. i can tell if someone's faking a smile or not. and she's trying her best to fake a damn good smile when jisoo arrived," amber adds. "maybe you're stuck at where you are now because you know she still feels the same way? why don't you talk to her about it and see what happens?"
"and try to get them to divorce? no, thanks."
"isn't that what you want, to get her back?
"i won't lie that i secretly wish they would break up. but i'm worried about yerim. she's too young to experience something like that. i don't want her to go through that pain. more importantly, i don't want to be the reason for that pain of hers."
amber takes one last puff of the cigarette before throwing the bud in the trash can. "tough..." she grimaces. "you love the mother, but you also love the kid."
seulgi smiles. yeah, maybe she already loves yerim even if they've only met for a short time. who wouldn't? besides, yerim is still a part of joohyun, and seulgi would love anything that's joohyun-related.
"i don't know..." amber stretches out her arms towards the sky. "all i know is that you two won't be like this forever. someday, someone will do something about this, put an end, or put a new beginning--i don't know which for. i hope that by the end of it, i can finally see you smiling, cap."
seulgi glances at her friend, feeling thankful for having people like amber genuinely cares for her.
amber is right, they won't be like this forever. her situation with joohyun is bound to change. seulgi wishes whatever the ending will be, she hopes for a better life for her.
---
they announced the end of the dinner party early as everyone needs to take their beauty rest for the wedding ceremony tomorrow.
seulgi postpones catching up with yerim that night after seeing joohyun's husband carry the sleeping kid in his arms. and joohyun, well, they walk out of the restaurant together with her arm wrapped around his waist.
seulgi smiles and shakes her head.
yeah, what a happy family.
there's no way she'll ruin that, especially if it's yerim who will get hurt the most.
so, she grabs the untouched bottle of wine from the table. then she pulls jisoo out of that place and back into her room.
she came to this island to celebrate and party. she decides she'll do whatever it takes to enjoy it.
---
she wakes up feeling cold-- and cold.
she slept on her stomach with her neck turned to the side. discomfort surges through when she lifts her head to look on the other side, seeing how jisoo had all the blanket gathered up on her.
seulgi sits up, still massaging her painful neck, to glance at the sky from the balcony. she knows it's the crack of dawn as the light is growing after the night.
she gets off the bed to put on some decent clothes: a hoodie and pyjama. she steps out of the balcony, leaving the door opened to let in some fresh air.
the dawn is breaking over the horizon. there is the comforting smell of the cold sea breeze and the relaxing sound of the crashing waves.
it is a great morning. a perfect morning for sooyoung's wedding.
seulgi stretches out, feeling the lingering neck pain. she brings a hand to massage it, only to catch an image of a person on the balcony five rooms away from hers.
it was joohyun in her pj's, who's about to step back inside their room.
they meet eyes, and it was awkward for a second. joohyun raises a hand and wiggles her fingers to say hi--a gesture seulgi's too familiar with. seulgi gives an awkward bow, forgetting discomfort for a moment.
it was almost perfect. seulgi thought they can have this brief time for themselves--just the two of them and the dawn. but a pair of arms appears from behind and wraps around seulgi's waist.
"mmm. what are you doing here?" asks jisoo, sleepy. she presses her cheek against seulgi's back. "it's so early..."
"uh... i was..." the other balcony is empty now. "i was watching the dawn."
"dawn? what for?"
"just to think and appreciate the beauty of it." seulgi glances one more time where joohyun was earlier.
"wow. i didn't profile you as a sentimental one."
seulgi forces a chuckle out, not wanting to explain further.
truth is, watching dawn now makes her miss someone.
she's asking herself if it's the same for joohyun.
---
sooyoung looked perfect in her wedding dress. seulgi couldn't be happier for her friend.
she watches as the couple exchanges their vows, feeling proud of witnessing how these two people grew together despite the hindrances in work differences and the distance.
she feels proud because sooyoung and sungjae are living proof that some people will stand the test of a long-distance relationship, the hardships of it, and the painful times of missing each other.
then her gaze shifts towards the mother-and-child sitting two rows ahead of her. they are talking. the mother looks like she's explaining things to her curious-looking daughter.
as usual, yerim is sitting in between her parents. seulgi can't help herself from admiring how joohyun's back looked y in that off-shoulder dress.
seulgi shakes her head and focuses on fixing her tie to shake the idea off.
then her eyes glimpsed yerim's dad, who's looking at his wife and daughter with a smile on his face.
seulgi takes in a deep breath.
yup. his wife and daughter.
she looks back at the sooyoung and sungjae, wondering how joohyun's wedding went. were they this sweet? was he looking at her with adoration in his eyes like how sungjae looks at sooyoung?
and how did joohyun look in her wedding dress? seulgi bet she was pretty. she'd look pretty in any dress, anyway.
seulgi's thoughts drift back to the event when the officiant announced that sungjae and sooyoung are now officially husband and wife.
---
seulgi couldn't help herself anymore. she's been holding back since last night. she can't think of any reasons she should prolong it.
when she catches yerim looking at her again, and giving a small smile, she finally takes the courage to approach their table and ask for the kid's hand for a dance.
it wasn't hard to get the adults to agree as the kid went ecstatic about it. joohyun's mom even pushed her granddaughter to play along.
seulgi pulls seungwan along with her, saying something around the lines of introducing her to potential lovers on the dance floor.
they danced and danced until seulgi felt sweaty that she had to take her coat off. jisoo joined them for a bit and praised how pretty yerim is. the celebrity had to go back to the table after a little while to talk to other people.
"you're so cool," says yerim as they continue to dance while seulgi carries her around. seungwan finally leaves them after seulgi introduced her to eunji--a former comrade.
"oh, am i? cooler than your mom?"
yerim giggles. "mommy is boring sometimes."
seulgi smiles. "yeah. i know."
"please don't tell mommy that!"
"haha. i won't, kiddo."
yerim looks around, searching for her family before going back to seulgi. "can we play outside?"
"ah. well..." seulgi glances at the table and sees joohyun gesturing for them to come over. "maybe later? your mom's calling for you."
yerim pouts. "i told you. she's boring..."
seulgi pinches the nose of the child. "don't worry, we'll catch up later, okay?" she carries the kid back to her parents.
"mommy, can i play with seulgi later?" asks yerim when seulgi puts her down.
"seulgi might have other plans, baby." joohyun wipes the sweat on her kid's face.
"but seulgi said we'll play later..."
joohyun raises an eyebrow at seulgi.
"well, only if you're planning on doing some island activities this afternoon, i'll be around," says seulgi. she looks around to break the eye contact and noticed one person missing. "where's your mom?"
"she went back to our room. headache." joohyun hands her a tissue. "here, you're also sweating."
"oh. thanks."
"mommy, i want to try the waterski!" says yerim.
"you're too young for that, baby."
"but i saw some kids doing that..."
"yerim, when i say you can't, you can't, okay?"
yerim pouts, looking helplessly between her dad and seulgi.
seulgi raises her palms and shrugs.
"yerim can do that if an adult would accompany her, babe," says junmyeon.
seulgi clears , pretending to be busy wiping her forehead.
"will you be joining her? there's no way you can make me do that." joohyun asks her husband.
"i can. anything for my baby."
"yey! you promise, daddy?"
"yes, i promise, sweetie."
"seulgi, there you are!" jisoo arrives. "i thought you already left. oh, hello there!"
junmyeon, joohyun, and yerim, bow at jisoo.
"are they your parents?" jisoo asks yerim, who nods at her. "wow. no wonder you're so pretty. your folks looked like celebrities too."
seulgi pulls jisoo by her waist. "jisoo, this is joohyun and junmyeon, yerim's folks. and guys, well, this is 'the jisoo'."
jisoo playfully elbows her.
junmyeon stands up to shake her hand. "it's nice to meet you in person. i'm a fan."
jisoo shake their hands. "thank you. it's also my pleasure to meet you here. you have a wonderful kid."
"thank you." joohyun smiles. seulgi is observing if there's any hint of resentment on her face.
apparently, there's none. maybe amber was exaggerating things.
"are you guys sticking around here or are you going home after this?" asks jisoo.
"we're staying until tomorrow." junmyeon pats his daughter's head. "this little person here wants to try the other activities. you know, kids."
"tell me about it. i'm with a child-at-heart here." jisoo links arms with seulgi. "she asked me to stay until tomorrow to play around--her words."
"what's the point of going in here if we won't try the activities, right?" says seulgi. "i wasn't able to try any stuff like this when i was in sau."
"i know. i know." jisoo touches the tip of seulgi's nose. "since you and the other girls wanted to try the ski later, maybe we should head back and take some rest? you need to recharge. i'm sure you and the gang have a lot of energy to spend."
it was the perfect excuse to escape. seulgi turns to the others. "we'll go ahead. we'll catch up with you later."
"see you later, seulgi!" yerim exclaims.
seulgi smiles and pats the kid's head.
"it was nice meeting you," says jisoo. "see you soon!"
seulgi couldn't explain why but she feels a glare on the back of her head as they walk out of the reception area.
in case you missed reading the foreword, this is a sequel story. if you haven't read untouchable yet, i suggest you go over that before proceeding with this.
enjoy!
enjoy!
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