Soonbok pouted as she stared at her reflection in the mirror. Her eyes darted towards her eyelids painted with shimmering peach eyeshadow and accented by brown eyeliner. She bit her lip, contemplating what lip colour to opt for. Should she go for soft and dainty peach to match her eye makeup for an overall muted tone or bold burgundy to make a statement? Twirling a loose strand of hair with her freshly manicured fingers Soonbok pondered heavily. Her eyes landed on the wedding invitation left discarded by her desk. Recalling whose wedding she was attending, her lips curled into a smirk.

“Statement bold burgundy it is.”

Satisfied with her choice, Soonbok stood in front of the full-length mirror to take in her overall look. She straightened a crease on her gold sweetheart neckline empire waist dress embroidered with nightingale details. The dress reached just above her knees, giving her a charm of playful elegance. The darker tone of the embroidery details unintentionally matched the golden strands that peaked through her faded red hair gathered in a loose French braid. Giving herself a final nod of approval, Soonbok grabbed her coat and purse before slipping into a pair of simple heels. She listlessly opened the door of her flat to find Jongin standing opposite her, his hand raised in the motion of knocking.

“Since when do you knock and not just barge in?” Soonbok mused.

“Since I didn’t want to walk into you getting dressed,” Jongin deadpanned. “Don’t want to taint my pure eyes.”

“Or has your goldfish brain memory deteriorated so badly that you’ve forgotten the code?” Soonbok blinked at Jongin innocently. “You want me to do a memory assessment on you?”

“The day I let you conduct any form of medical assessment on me will be my deathbed.”

Jongin rolled his eyes though could not swallow a chortle rising from his throat. He instinctively reached for Soonbok’s purse while she proceeded to lock the door behind her.

“Aw, you’re so certain I’ll outlive you?” Soonbok smirked whilst putting on her oversized coat.

“Villains always outlive heroes,” Jongin declared with certainty, his eyes filling with mirth as he stared at her getup. “You look like a kid wearing her dad’s coat.”

“I like to keep warm,” Soonbok sneered, purposefully bumping Jongin’s shoulders, causing him to trip his way into the lift. “What kind of psycho has a wedding in the middle of winter? Oh right I forgot. It’s the psycho that dumped you back in uni when she caught the attention of a med student.”

“Right. Rub it in further why don’t you? Remind us all yet again how a mere nursing student like me had my girlfriend stolen by an aspiring surgeon.”

Jongin puffed his cheeks out in annoyance, refusing to even glance at Soonbok as they made their way towards his car. Once inside and settled down, Soonbok stared at Jongin through the rear-view mirror.

“If it makes you feel better, he was rejected by the UCLH programme. This is trustworthy insider’s information from groom’s side of guests.”

Keeping his eyes on the road, Jongin tapped his fingers thoughtfully on the stirring wheel. A playful smile had returned to grace his face.

“Whilst you were accepted, my Bokkie-bok dearest. So I’d say I’m the one who won.”

“Win what?”

“Your wonderful company of course.”

Letting out a hearty chuckle, Jongin tickled Soonbok’s chin before quickly focusing fully on driving again. Soonbok sneered at him but said nothing else.

・・・

The wedding venue was nothing short of grandiose. The reception area alone was decorated to levels comparable to Versailles.

“He must be banking in good money.” Jongin let out a low whistle. “What took them this long to get married?”

“Guess she waited for him to become an established surgeon before agreeing to tie herself down to him,” Soonbok commented in a bored tone.

A snicker could be heard and when Soonbok turned around, she was greeted by none other than Sehun. Seeing the face of the person who had made the remark regarding the bride, the jest slipped off of Sehun and confusion arose instead.

“Doctor Oh?” Jongin claimed in surprise. “Right, you transferred from Gangnam General Hospital. You know the groom then?”

Sehun cleared his throat, unsure of where to look. Seeing Soonbok