Joohyun is not a big fan of weddings. She's used to being asked if she was going to get married anytime soon for the past decade and it doesn't really bother her anymore, but at weddings, the question hits a little different as people also look at her almost with pity; as if being single is a big tragedy, as if people forget that she's rich and successful. People also don't care that she's rather happy with her life just the way it is. All they care about is to see her with a husband and children, making a perfect little family that fulfill their fantasies.

Their fantasies. Not hers.

Yet here she is in Jeju, for a wedding.

She just celebrated her 39th birthday earlier this year and she can already feel people dying to ask the same old question again and again with the big 4 soon approaching, now probably with additional seasoning of the fact that her body clock is ticking, the window is getting narrower for her to be able to bear children; as if she ever planned on having one.

Yes, she's already numb to the questions, but she has to admit that sometimes it still bothers her. Less because she hasn't found the right person yet, but more because even if she did, she still can't marry that person in this country. Yes, it's almost 2031 and same- marriage is still not legal in this damn country.

Well, at least she's in Jeju. The moment she steps her right foot outside the airplane doorway, she can feel the refreshing air and see how blue the sky is. It instantly brings peace to her heart. The island always has that effect on her. It's probably one of her favourite places on Earth.

After checking into the hotel, she puts her luggage in her room and heads downstairs to the lounge. In there, her friends are already waiting, scattering around the place. A lot of them used to work in SM, some are even from the early days of Red Velvet. She's still closely in touched with a few, and friendly with the rest, especially the dancers, stylists and makeup artists. Greetings and hugs are exchanged.

She orders a glass of old fashioned and sits down among them. Gossips are already being passed around; A is banging B, C is cheating on D, E is moving to a rival company, this and that. She's already shaking her head, chuckling to herself, never really fond of hearing gossips, especially about people that she knows personally.

"Can't believe Danbi is finally getting married tomorrow," someone finally comments on the main character of this trip. "I thought she said she didn't believe in marriage."

Danbi is one of the dancers back from her solo days, who is finally getting married after a 10-year long relationship with her handsome Canadian beau. It's going to be a western style wedding; something she actually has never experienced before.

"No, it wasn't her. It was the boyfriend who was skeptical about marriage," another denies. "I suppose she finally changed his mind."

"There are only two reasons why people who have been together for so long finally get married," Nabi, another dancer, says cooly while sipping her drink.

People automatically lean in, wanting a bit of the juicy tea.

The dancer continues after getting everybody's attention. "One, the relationship was getting boring and they were trying to create a spark. Two, one of them ed up, was too scared of losing the other and proposed to tie them down."

Some people laugh, some people groan.

"Jesus, you never changed. You have no filter whatsoever."

Joohyun laughs. She likes Nabi precisely for this reason, because she's very straight-forward, always saying what's on her mind without fear of repercussion.

She uncrosses her legs and sees that her shoelaces came untied. She takes another gulp of her drink before bending down to tie them. That's when she hears a familiar name being called and greeted by the people in the room; a name that immediately puts a smile to her face. She unties and reties the other shoe just so she can have a little bit more time down there. She then feels a hand on her shoulder and a familiar scent hits her.

"Hi, Joohyun-unnie," a voice greets.

She secures the laces one last time before looking up, face to face with probably her favourite person in the world. "Hi, Kang Seulgi," she greets back.

They look at each other, smiling, before Seulgi comes in for a hug. She breathes in; it feels like.. home.

"It's been a long while. I missed you, Unnie."

"Yeah, I missed you too, Seul."

They haven't met in a while, the longest period of time since their first encounter over 20 years ago, and it was mostly her fault.

The younger woman sits next to her as people start to fill her in on the latest gossips. Joohyun sighs and sits back, listening to things she has already heard minutes before. She opts to observe Seulgi instead.

Kang Seulgi looks even more mature than the last time they met. Her cheeks are no longer as chubby as before; the baby fat has completely gone away. Her hair looks much healthier now that she has been sticking to the same hair colour since the last time they met; black, which really suits her. And there are early hints of wrinkles in the corner of her eyes, which she somehow finds really charming. Most celebrities their age have botox as their best friend but Seulgi seems to be steering clear from it. She's 36 years old now and still somehow looking more fit than ever before; must be the results of those hardcore choreographies she does for her performances.

Joohyun herself is more active these days in acting, but she still sings from time to time, mostly for her own movie soundtracks and a few singles here and there as a gift to her fans. She always loves performing. Being on stage is a very addicitive feeling and she tries to do that as often as she possibly can.

Seulgi is the only Red Velvet member, apart from her, invited to this wedding. Danbi doesn't really know Seungwan, Sooyoung and Yerim as she has never worked with the group and only worked with Joohyun and Seulgi's solo projects separately. It's too bad they won't have some sort of a reunion here, but at least Seulgi is here. She really, really missed her.

Red Velvet has gone completely inactive for the past years. They all remain good friends and have been keeping in contact but communication between them have been very minimal. It all started about three years ago when the application they used for their group chat suspended services before closing down entirely and no one really bothered to make a new one elsewhere. Instead, they just message each other privately.

They did however have a fan meeting last year for their 15th anniversary, but that was the last time she saw Seulgi until today; more than a year later. Even so, there's no awkwardness between them. She always feels comfortable being around Seulgi.

There's just this one thing...

But she prefers not to think about that right now. This trip is solely for the wedding.

-

After a nice massage at the hotel spa, Joohyun thought she would be getting a very good sleep. Instead, the crashing and rumbling sounds are keeping her awake. Especially the lightning that somehow can still be seen even with the curtains being drawn shut. The sky was so clear and blue just a few hours ago and now thunderstorms are rocking Jeju, as if someone did it on purpose to annoy her.

She pulls the blanket over her head when a particularly loud thunder strikes, scaring her. She feels pathetic to still be scared of thunderstorms at such mature age. This is really embarrassing.

Half an hour has probably passed when she hears soft knocks from the door. She peeks out from inside the blanket and listens more closely, making sure she's hearing it right. It's almost midnight and she wonders if she was just hearing things. But she wasn't, because the knocks get louder. Hesitant, but louder; as if scared to disturb but still wanted to be heard.

She kind of has an inkling who that could be, but she's too scared to leave her bed and walk all the way to the door. The thunder could hit at any moment and she feels unprotected without the blanket around her. It's when the knocking can no longer be heard that curiosity powers her to go to the door. Opening it, she sees nobody. She steps out, looking at the corridor and there Seulgi is, looking over her shoulder at her in her pyjamas. The raven smiles and turns around, walking towards her.

"Unnie, I wanted to check on you. Are you still afraid of thunderstorms?"

She puts up an act. "Kang Seulgi, I'm almost 40 years old."

Seulgi raises an eyebrow. "Meaning..?"

"Thunderstorms don't scare me no more," she says confidently.

"Oh." There's a mix of relief and slight disappointment on Seulgi's face. "So my help is not needed then?"

All of a sudden, a big thunder strikes and she flinches. A smug smile appears on Seulgi's face as she immediately invites herself in and shuts the door behind her.

"Can I sleep here tonight?" she asks kindly instead of gloating over that perfectly-timed gotcha moment. Not should I, not do you want me to, but can I? As if she's the one needing the favour. That's how sweet and subtle and thoughtful Kang Seulgi is.

She sighs, walking back to bed with Seulgi tailing behind her. Relieved, if she has to admit, but she won't.

"Are you still sleeping on the left side of the bed?" The raven asks.

"It doesn't matter."

Seulgi goes to the right.

They lie down side by side before one of them turns to the side and the other follows.

"Don't worry, your knight in shining armour is here to protect you," Seulgi teases.

She rolls her eyes, only slightly annoyed, more at herself because of how humiliating this is. And as if the universe is punishing her, a loud thunder strikes again, making her jump and whimper. She has her eyes shut tight, in distressed.

Seulgi pulls the blanket up to cover them both up to their necks before putting her hand on Joohyun's arm, rubbing her comfortingly. "It's j