-Chapter III-

Yong Hye scanned the room, looking at all the people. She wasn’t necessarily looking for anyone in particular, she was just watching people “have fun” in a “high class” way.

Everyone was dressed up, and nearly everyone had a glass of the best champagne in their hands. The women were wearing long designer dresses that even Yong Hye admitted looked like it could fit in on a red carpet event, and they were laughing at whatever the men, dressed in tuxedos just as expensive as the women’s dresses were, said.

Waiters—dressed well themselves—darted through and in between people as they brought full glasses of champagne and wine (No one drank beer, they’re too classy for that.), and took the empty glasses away.

Secretly, Yong Hye wanted to join them. Being a waitress, she knew that in the kitchen, they were laughing and joking, most likely about the people they were serving, and that sounded a lot more enjoyable to Yong Hye than standing around in uncomfortable heels and a tight dress, being polite that she would much rather have smacked.

But Yong Hye couldn’t. Not only was she a guest at the party, but the people throwing the party were her future in-laws, who probably wouldn’t find it a good thing if their son’s fiancée went off to work with the wait staff they had hired for their extravagant get together.

The Lees were a very famous family in the medical field throughout the country. Most of them were currently working at a hospital or as administrators of hospitals. The ones who weren’t working in hospitals were either enlisted, pregnant, or currently working to become a doctor or surgeon, like Taemin. Now, America had recognized their fame and a few well-known hospitals had offered a few of Taemin’s relatives job positions as the heads of their respective fields at their hospitals.

And in the Lee family, that meant it was time to throw a party.

Yong Hye was used to these sorts of events. Her parents had thrown them periodically for different reasons throughout her life, and she had been friend with Taemin for as long as she could remember. However, before she and Taemin started dating, it had been an option for her to attend his families events. But now that they were engaged, she had to go. Not because his family told she had to or would think of her as rude if she didn’t-- they had known her long enough to know that she wouldn’t act that way—but because she was now a part of the family, and she felt that it was her duty to go.

Taemin knew that she didn’t particularly like going, but he appreciated that she did. He stayed by her side, talking to her more than anyone, trying to distract her from how boring the party was, and how she would rather have been sitting on the couch in baggy sweats and a t shirt, writing on her laptop. In fact, he would rather have been home as well.

But he wasn’t going to tell his parents that.

“Ah, here they are!” a booming voice cried, interrupting Yong Hye and Taemin’s conversation. “The lovely couple!”

“Dad!” Taemin hissed, gripping Yong Hye’s hand tighter as she turned bright red and anxiously glanced toward her parents, hoping they wouldn’t take Taemin’s dad’s cry as a reason to announce their engagement.

Mr. Lee chuckled and sapped a hand on his son’s back. “I’m just messing with you, son. You know that tonight is about your cousins.”

Taemin nodded. “Yes,” he said. Turning to Yong Hye, who was still blushing, he said, much quieter, “We wouldn’t want to take away from that, now would we?”

Yong Hye tried to suppress a giggle, but only managed to compress it into a snort, earning her a bemused look from Mr. Lee.

“We certainly wouldn’t,” Yong Hye said quickly. “It’s a marvelous achievement!”

“It certainly is,” a new voice said, joining their circle. “Not a lot of doctors are specifically asked to come to America to work, you know,” Taemin’s mother said, taking a sip from her wine glass. “Most of them have to go to them.”

Taemin and Yong Hye nodded. She had been saying that since the party started, and probably long before then as well. Everyone was tired of hearing it now.

“And next will be our Taemin!” Mrs. Lee suddenly cried, throwing the arm that wasn’t holding a wine glass around her son’s neck.

“Mother…” Taemin almost whined, looking at his fiancée, who was standing beside him, trying very hard not to laugh. Despite being a doctor and knowing its effect on her body, Taemin’s mom liked to drink, and she tended to get quite unstable very quickly.

Mrs. Lee released her grip on her son and looked at him as she downed the rest of her wine glass. Looking at Yong Hye, she said, “It’s such a shame you won’t become a doctor.”

“Mother!” Taemin hissed, trying to keep her from saying anything she would regret later, when she was sober.

Undeterred though, Mrs. Lee continued. “You would have done very well, I think,” she told Yong Hye. Both Taemin and his dad sighed. Obviously Yong Hye would have known that if Mrs. Lee had said anything mean, it was the alcohol talking, but they were all glad they managed to avoid a situation where Mrs. Lee would be apologizing nonstop to Yong Hye.

A waiter passed by, and Mrs. Lee caught his arm, taking four full wine glasses from his tray.

“Ah,” Yong Hye said, taking the glass of wine from Mrs. Lee’s hand. “I may not be a doctor, but I know when it’s time to stop, Mrs. Lee.”

Mrs. Lee didn’t try to put up a fight as Yong Hye took the glass of wine from her, instead mumbling about Yong Hye being too formal.

Yong Hye went after the waiter who had given them the wine in the first place. He wasn’t very hard to find; he was probably the tallest guy in the room.

“Excuse me,” she said to his back once she caught up to him as he served a few other guests. “Can you please take this—”

Yong Hye stopped, and nearly dropped the wine glass she was holding. The waiter had turned around to face her, and Yong Hye couldn’t move.

It was the man from the alley.

Even though she had seen him in bad lighting before, it was obvious it was him. He was the same height, same build, and the same cheekbones. Plus, he smiled once he registered Yong Hye’s face, as though he recognized her too.

When she didn’t start talking again, the waiter, still smiling, took the wine glass. “Of course,” he said. When Yong Hye still didn’t do anything, he smiled even wider. People were starting to stare, wondering why Taemin’s fiancée had suddenly lacked the ability to function. “My name’s Taecyeon, by the way.”

Thanks for reading/subscribing~!