Chapter 15: The Best Man

Heechul’s best man was the most admirable guy that Youngmi has met; Hankyung –as she prefers- had met up with them at his mother’s restaurant and so many female customers were wooed by the hallyu stars while she sat down quietly as they both signed autographs for the girls and some guys.

After awhile of signing and some photo taking, the fans finally left them in peace.

“Sorry about that Youngmi-noona”

Hankyung apologized; she waved her hands infront of her

“Ani, its fine!”

She awkwardly smiled. Heechul couldn’t help but pinch her cheeks in adornment, he didn’t know why but he found her adorable today.

“Isn’t she adorable?!”

He asked his bestfriend, Hankyung chuckled and nodded in agreement.

“So, you’re still not married yet you went on a honeymoon here in China?”

The couple abruptly stopped sipping their drinks and coughed out. Heechul rubbed his throat as he turned to his friend.

“Aniyo!”

He reached over and slapped his shoulder but Hankyung avoided it.

“Then what?”

Heechul elbowed Youngmi, she glanced at him then turned to Hankyung

“Heechul wants you to be his best man for the wedding”

It was quiet for a moment.

“Really?”

Heechul nodded with a smile on his face

“But! You have to go back with us to Korea! Don’t worry about anything of your schedules, I talked to your manager and stuff plus Youngmi already booked up a ticket for you!”

The Chinese guy was stunned for a moment;

“Heechul-ah”

He started

“You know I can’t go back to Korea... yet”

Youngmi couldn’t believe what Hankyung just told his bestfriend; Heechul ran a hand through his hair as he puffed out a sigh and leaned back on his chair then in a few seconds he rested his elbows on the table, cupped his cheeks and battered his lashes at Hankyung paired with puppy eyes.

“But it’s for my wedding day ~ !”

He whined, pouting his lips; Hankyung sighed and turned to Youngmi

“Noona, is he always like this?”

She laughed

“You tell me, you’re bestfriends with him”

“Can I think about it first?”

He asked Heechul, tapping his finger on the table. Heechul got up from his seat, clasped his hands together and nodded his head with a bright smile.

“Ofcourse! But think fast, we’re leaving tomorrow!”

-

The day went on for the three of them; Hankyung personally toured them around Beijing and other parts of the country nearby. For a while they were able to forget about the wedding and just focus on having fun in Beijing. Heechul & Hankyung conversed like there was no tomorrow and never once did Youngmi bother to break them both up from talking so she basically just talked to Hania along the trip from place to place.

“They sure miss each other a lot”

Hania smiled seeing the two take selcas. They were at the Great Wall and Heechul just didn’t want to leave; Youngmi sat at the foot of the stairs with Hania, taking a rest after the tiring walk.

“You must be very lucky to marry Kim Heechul, Dr. Nam”

Hania said turning to Youngmi. The doctor’s cheeks flustered upon hearing her comment, she clasped her hand over the lower half of her face and laughed quite awkwardly.

“He’s actually quite hard to deal with”

“Han Geng-ssi finds it hard going back to Korea even though he badly wants to see his old group”

Youngmi looked at the two who was now sitting on the side leaning against the wall.

“He’s still part of the group Hania-ssi; everybody knows that”

The doctor smiled; Youngmi got up, patted her bottom to remove any possible dirt and offered a hand to Hania.

“We should get going”

Hania smiled and took the doctor’s hand afterwards walking towards the two boys who seemed tired. Heechul looked up at his fiancée then pouted, reaching his hands up towards her.

“Umma, I’m tired ~”

He said like a little child making Youngmi smile; Hankyung lightly slapped his cheek making him gasp and turned to Youngmi with wide eyes

“Umma! He hit me!”

The three laughed at Heechul’s childish yet adorable whine. Youngmi sighed and crossed her arms over her chest.

“C’mon Heechul-ah we have to get going”

With a heavy sigh, Heechul got up and so did Hankyung.

“So have you made up your mind yet?”

Heechul asked, sticking his hands inside his coat as they walked to the exit. Hankyung let out a sigh and stared at the cloudy sky, puffing up his cheeks before nodding his head sideways. Heechul rolled his eyes.

“C’mon, it’s only until the wedding”

“Hey, relax... the day still hasn’t ended”

-

After getting dinner, the group had decided to grab some drinks. Heechul was tipsy and Hangeng was a little bit buzzed and Hania left earlier so Youngmi was left with her non-alcoholic drinks.

“I’m just gonna go pee”

Heechul said and got up from his chair, making his way to the restroom leaving Hangeng & Youngmi alone. Hangeng sighed as he watched his bestfriend stumble a bit on his way and took a sip of his drink.

“Heechul was really excited to come here and see you, Geng”

She told him, leaning back on the leather seat and taking a piece of meat in . Hangeng swallowed hard and faced her.

“I don’t think I can come to the wedding noona... it’s just –I don’t think I can even go back to Korea”

Youngmi was quiet for a moment but then smiled.

“Korea will welcome you with open arms Geng but I’m sure Heechul will understand”

Hangeng chuckled and drank up the remaining liquid in his glass before setting it down on the table and ordered another one.

“It’s not that I don’t wanna go to the wedding, I just can’t face the past anymore”

Youngmi’s smile remained on her face as Hangeng buried his face in his palms. The doctor sighed and reached over to pat his shoulder in a comforting manner.

“I can’t believe my bestfriend is already getting married”

“Well you have to believe it Geng; going back to Korea for the wedding isn’t about facing your past, it’s just about being there for your bestfriend on one of the most important days in his life”

Heechul arrived momentarily and took his seat, placing an arm around Youngmi’s shoulders as Hangeng puffed out a sigh. He took another glass into his hand and drank up the liquid, his face scrunching up a bit as he swallowed the drink and then turned to Hangeng.

“That’s enough Heechul”

Youngmi warned him but he ignored what she said. As he reached for another glass, Youngmi ‘tsked’ and snagged the glass away from his hands. Heechul sighed.

“Have you made up your mind Geng?”

They all fell quiet. The only sound heard were from the other people in the same restaurant conversing with each other. Youngmi smiled at Hangeng and gestured him to go ahead.

He sighed.

“If I say no, who will take my place?”

Heechul fell in quiet thoughts for a moment then spoke

“No one”

The two of them were confused even though Youngmi never showed it. Heechul smirked.

“No one could replace your place Geng”

Hengeng didn’t know what to say. Truly, Heechul was his bestfriend and despite the different paths they were both taking now he was and always will be his bestfriend.

“Sorry Heechul”

Heechul quickly got the message and sighed, he turned to Youngmi.

“I knew it; we should have stayed in Korea”

-

The following day;

The couple had checked out of their hotel and began their journey back to the airport where their flight would be waiting. Youngmi noticed that Heechul was extra quiet today, she had asked him to go shopping around the city before going but he said that they should just get to the airport and see if there are any early flights.

He was disappointed and she knew. She knew how badly he wanted Hangeng to be there by his side when he ended his official single life and to hear him decline the invitation must be quite a big disappointment for Heechul.

“Are you sure you don’t want to go shopping? The flight’s 3 hours away Heechul”

She asked as they sat inside the car, waiting for the traffic to move. Heechul sighed and nodded his head sideways before leaning his head back and closed his eyes.

Youngmi noticed the third plane ticket peeking out of her handbag. It should’ve been for Hangeng.

“Were you serious? When you said that no one could ever replace Geng’s place?”

She asked as she kept staring at the ticket that was peeking out.

“Ofcourse... when you’ve been with someone who has become an important person in your life, they could never be replaced because it’s never the same”

The car came to a stop as Youngmi had ordered; she opened the door and stepped out.

“Are you coming?”

She asked Heechul, he sighed and nodded his head sideways possibly annoyed by the sudden stop. She closed the door of the car and told the driver to wait for her; she buried her hands inside her coat’s pocket and entered the building. She was greeted by the security guard’s and some staff along the way. She entered the elevator and pressed a floor.

The elevator doors opened and Youngmi walked out, heading straight to a certain room on the floor.

She knocked on a door and as it opened, there stood...

“Hey Geng”

She casually greeted.

“Noona, what are you doing here?”

-

Heechul & Youngmi sat down, drinking coffee and eating cookies as they waited for their flight. There was no free seat for the earlier flights so they had to wait. Heechul was just quiet and took occasional sips of his coffee, ignoring the crowd of girls that were waving at him from now and then.

Out of the blues, his phone rang making Youngmi smile.

“Yeoboseyo?”

He answered in a low voice.

“Where are you?”

“Huh? Who is this?”

“I’m on my way to the airport –I’ll be there in a bit, wait for me, okay?”

“AISH! Who is this?! YAH! YOU GOT THE WRONG NUMBER!”

“It’s your best man”