Lisa was fond of wedding receptions because of the free food but at the same time, she dreads going to wedding receptions too because it reminds her how single she is. She was one of the bridesmaids of her close friend Jennie, who was going to get married to her college sweetheart, Jongin. She adored and loved the couple so much, so when she was asked to source out couple bracelets for the guests, she did not hesitate to look for suppliers. Although, she was weirded out by the idea of the couple on how to make their guests mingle with each other. At the back of her mind, she was sure that the couple wanted to play cupid for some of the guests but they insisted that they just wanted their reception to be fun. 

In the end, she ended up with 4 designs of bracelets each in silver or gold with a word or a single letter. These bracelets come in pairs so you need to find your pair so that you can go eat at the buffet. Lisa thought it was a genius way to get the guests to find their partners but she wasn’t as excited when she learned that she needed to get a bracelet and partner too. Before entering the reception hall, they were given a bracelet. Lisa was given a gold bracelet with the word Epilogueon it. She was delighted since she liked this design a lot although she would’ve preferred it if she got a bracelet with initials instead. 

She went to the designated bridesmaids' table and she went to the vacant seat next to Rosie, also one of her close friends. “Where’s Jisoo?” She asked as sat down beside Rosie. 

Rosie flashed a grin. “Maid of honor duties. Jennie accidentally ripped a part of her dress.” 

Lisa paused for a while to think, and after a few seconds she let out a small gasp and chuckle. “Don’t tell me what I’m thinking right now is the reason why.” 

Rosie laughed and said, “Oh it’s definitely what you’re thinking right now.” They continued chatting with each other as well as with the other bridesmaids until Jisoo arrived at their table looking stressed as hell. 

Jisoo sat down next to Lisa who went to pat her on the shoulder. “What happened?” Rosie asked while handing Jisoo a glass of water. 

Jisoo just shook her head. “I just can’t understand why they couldn’t wait until after the reception?” 

Rosie and Lisa laughed uncontrollably, with tears forming in their eyes. Jisoo just rolled her eyes but couldn’t help but smile at her two friends. After a few minutes, they calmed down and drank water. “Woah, I haven’t laughed that long in a long time,” Rosie said trying to catch her breath. 

“It was probably just their wedding high, cut them some slack,” Lisa said to Jisoo with a teasing grin. 

"They’re acting as if they won’t spend 2 weeks at the Maldives for their honeymoon,” Jisoo said with an exasperated sigh. “They’re lucky that it was a rip that can be mended and covered up easily. If it wasn’t I’ll just let Jennie parade in her lingerie.”

Lisa and Rosie burst into laughter. “What’s funny about it is that Jennie might not mind,” Rosie said in between giggles. 

Lisa loved her best friends a lot, they’ve known each other since they were kids and they’ve been together through thick and thin. She was thankful that even amidst their busy schedules and adult responsibilities, they always find time for each other and they were always a call away. They continued to chat until the host’s voice echoed throughout the reception hall. 

“Good evening ladies and gentlemen, please settle down as we are going to begin in 10 minutes thank you.”

Baekhyun, the emcee of the reception and a good friend of Jongin’s said through the microphone. “No matter how hard Baek tried to refuse, he just couldn’t say no to Jongin right?” Rosie asked as she glanced at Baekhyun who was fixing his tux behind the podium. 

Jisoo shook her head, “Correction, he couldn’t refuse Jennie. You know his friends would refuse Jongin in a heartbeat.” 

Lisa laughed at that statement. “Of course, he would always be the one bullied in the group. Remember how he was bullied to ask Jen out?” 

Rosie chuckled. “Yeah, he looked like he would be eaten up by Jen. But our friend surprisingly has a soft spot for shy and soft boys.” 

“They’ve come a long way haven’t they?” Jisoo asked softly while staring at the empty wine glass in front of her. Lisa and Rosie hummed in response, not knowing what to say next. They were witnesses in Jennie and Jongin’s roller coaster of a relationship, from almost being inseparable in college to when Jennie had to move to New Zealand for work, and Jongin almost dying from an accident; it was one heck of a ride for both of their friends. Thank the stars that they finally arrived here, because they deserved it so much. 

Lisa cleared . “Anyways, what do you think about the bracelets?”

Rosie raised her right arm to show the bracelet. “It’s really pretty, I can’t wait to meet my match so that I can taste the food.” 

Jisoo rolled her eyes playfully. “You’re acting as if you weren’t there at their taste testing.” 

Rosie ignored Jisoo’s comment and continued, "I'm still excited to eat, that's why Lisa and I love going to wedding receptions.”

Lisa nodded in excitement. “Plus, it’s Kyungsoo’s catering business and they recently added new items on the menu!” 

Jisoo could only shake her head in amusement. “If only you guys can marry food, you would’ve been married years ago.” 

“True, but honestly I feel like Rosie will be the next one to get married—“ Lisa was cut off by Jisoo. 

"3 o'clock, Lisa's college crush just entered,” Jisoo half-whispered. Lisa and Rosie's eyes travel to their right and right there was Lisa's senior by a year, and her ultimate crush in college, Sehun Oh. It's been years since Lisa last saw him since he moved to another country right after his graduation. He was manlier now, sporting a clean-cut look as opposed to his long wary hair back in college. He didn't look like the carefree senior she knew, he now had this air of being reserved; one who has boundaries surrounding him.

He was still handsome no doubt, but he has changed, whether for better or for worse. Lisa’s bubbling excitement was suddenly dying down, as the reality was starting to settle; that she was no longer the girl who had an enormous crush on her senior, nor was Sehun the golden boy of the university; they were now both adults who have lived their lives separately and will continue to do so and that's where it ends. Lisa certainly didn't have time for crushes anymore, so she diverted her eyes away from sehun and focused on the empty stage.
 

“C’mon Lisa, don’t act as if you aren’t interested.” Rosie turned to Lisa with curious eyes and a teasing smile. 

Lisa wanted to roll her eyes but decided against it, knowing that Rosie would more if she knew that she was annoyed. Lisa looked at Rosie with the most uninterested expression she could muster and said, “I’m not. It’s been years.” 

Lisa said it as if it was the most obvious thing in the world which made Rosie narrow her eyes at her friend and doubt everything that she would be saying from that point on regarding Sehun. Jisoo also turned to Lisa with curiosity and doubt after hearing her statement. ”I’m pretty sure you just lied to us. You would always be interested in Sehun Oh until he gets married or you get married.” 

Jisoo said it so casually that it almost made Lisa fall off her chair in surprise. She looked at Jisoo with disbelief. “I am not interested in him,” Lisa said with so much conviction that she hoped it would convince her friends, but most of all, herself as well. Jisoo and Rosie just shrugged. Lisa wanted to huff out in frustration but she can’t. Knowing her friends won’t believe her, Lisa decided to just act on her words. Proving that she isn’t interested would be the only way to convince her friends, and it would also help her divert her attention to anything else other than Sehun. 

Lisa nodded ever so slightly as if to reassure herself that she had a good plan. It was the only plan that she believed would help her get through the entire reception without any of her friends teasing her. Ignore Sehun Oh and this would be a relatively peaceful event for her. 

Rosie wasn’t letting this die down easily and said, “I didn’t see him at the church awhile ago, was he there?” 

Jisoo shook her head and watched Lisa closely to see her reaction. “He wasn’t, he was late at Kyungsoo’s wedding remember?” Jisoo watched as Lisa slowly turned around to listen to the conversation. 

Lisa wasn’t able to attend Kyungsoo’s wedding because she needed to attend a conference overseas. Her friends forgot to mention that Sehun attended so Jisoo knew she would be interested. 

Jisoo tried her best not to smirk and just continued, “I heard from Irene that he’s moving back here and she offered him a job at the firm.” 

Lisa was curious as ever and she was itching to ask questions but held herself back. She promised herself that she would act uninterested the whole night and she would see this through by hook or by crook. 

Rosie replied with a soft “Oh.” and turned immediately to Lisa with a knowing look on her face. “If he accepted the job offer then you guys would be working together.” 

Jisoo couldn’t help but smile, knowing that Lisa would be forced to respond.