“Whoa, noona. Taekook-hyung’s going to die when he sees you.”

Jimin let out a short chuckle at Hoya’s words before she turned her full attention to the full-length mirror that was set against one side of the room. Hyona and Inmi had rushed up to her the moment she exited the changing room and the two were now fawning over the dress and how perfect her wedding was going to be. The bride-to-be, however, was still staring at her reflection and eyeing the dress with a thoughtful pout.

“Soeun-ssi, did you make that dress yourself?” Sungjong asked.

Soeun nodded quietly and could only blush when the band threw compliments her way about how beautiful and lovely the garment was. Although she did not know how to respond to compliments and praises and they made her feel embarrassed sometimes, it was still nice and heartwarming for Soeun to hear that others appreciated and liked her designs.

Jimin, however, still found something to be lacking in the already amended dress.

She turned towards Soeun and fiddled with the silk sleeves that billowed over her wrists loosely. “Soeun-ah, do you think it’s possible to trim the sleeves up to my elbows?”

The prick of annoyance quickly bubbled back up to the surface. Soeun frowned up at Jimin and looked at the dress. “Is there something wrong? The sleeves look fine to me.”

“I know, I know.” Jimin replied, turning back to the mirror. She folded her right sleeve up to her elbow and compared it to her left one critically. “It’s just, I think the dress will look better with shorter sleeves. More… spring-like and playful.”

“But… the design’s main point are the sleeves and the lace train.” Soeun argued weakly. The lace train had already been taken away, and now Jimin wanted to snip off the sleeves as well? Soeun was beginning to regret selling the dress to her. “It’ll look like a tea-dress if they were to be made shorter.”

“It matches the theme of my wedding, then.” The stylist bit back stubbornly, obviously not wanting to back down from their argument.

Soeun could only watched in stunned silence as the Bridezilla in Jimin came out and reared its ugly head at her. Being in the wedding industry for two years, she was used to dealing with clients who were demanding, stubborn and unreasonable. But because it was an online store she ran, she only had to exchange courtesies with her clients via the Internet.

Now, she finally got the taste of what a true Bridezilla is as Jimin glared down at her with a sculpted brow raised, silently daring Soeun to challenge her.

‘Just this once,’ Soeun thought as she tried to compose herself despite the red-hot anger bubbling under her skin. ‘She’s the bride, she has to be happy.’

Quietly, she reached for the small notebook in her bag before looking up with her shoulders slumped in defeat. “How short do you want it to be?”

“I’m glad you see my point,” The hostile demeanour of the stylist was quickly replaced by a bright grin. “I’d like to have them altered to just below my elbow. Leave it wide and billowing, please.”

“Anything else?”

“That’s all.”

Soeun nodded curtly just as her phone buzzed with the signal of an incoming message. She tucked her notebook back into her bag and pulled her cellphone out, clicking a few buttons quietly as she pulled up the new message.

From: Hana-Banana

Crisis down at the shop! Come quick!! xo

Her eyes widened at the vague but urgent text message as her thumb moved up and down the screen to see if there was another part of it that she had missed. When she didn’t find any, possible scenarios of what could have happened to the shop flashed through her mind, sending her into a panicked frenzy.

Soeun typed a quick reply to Hana and another message to Lou to get him to pick her up. She really needed a license. Badly. Having to call Lou to fetch her was never going to work, especially during situations such as today.

“Jimin-ssi, I’ve got to go now, could you take the dress off quickly so I can bring it back and alter?” she said, zipping up her bag and giving Dubu another fond ruffle on her head.

When she looked up, she realized everyone in the room was now staring at her. They had broken up into quiet conversations amongst each other and had looked up when she had spoken, breaking the comfortable silence.

Soeun didn’t think she was that loud.

“Is everything okay?” Jimin asked.

“Um, yeah. I hope so. I’m not really sure, just that I’ve got to rush back down.”

The bride-to-be nodded her head in understanding and moved into the changing briskly. Soeun picked up Dubu from the floor and planted the cuddly puppy into her lap when it started pawing on her knees once more. The puppy then reached up and stretched its lithe body before starting a prompt routine of the young woman on her face playfully.

“Wah, Dubu is such a traitor.” Dongwoo commented, pointing at the two. “She’s usually so chic and cool to us but when she sees Soeun-ssi she turns into a needy baby.”

Soeun laughed and pried the puppy from her face. She used the sleeve of her thick sweater to wipe away the saliva from her neck and cheeks while Dubu settled comfortably in her lap. “They’re yours right?”

“For now.” Sunggyu explained. “We’re their foster family before they get adopted once they’re older.”

Sungjong nodded as he played with the black and tanned puppy. “We’re recording a show too, to raise awareness of animal abandonment.”

‘Fostering? Idols? Show?’ The memory of Hana introducing her to adopting the dogs on a show called ‘Birth of a Something’ popped into her head.

“Oh, you must be one of the groups that my friend told me about then.” Soeun said. “She said there was a show where celebrities looked after abandoned puppies.” She smiled at them kindly. “That’s very nice of you guys to do.”

The men seemed flustered at her sincere compliment as every one of them (except Woohyun who settled for grinning at Soeun proudly) mumbled out a humble reply sheepishly, causing Soeun’s smile to stretch even wider. She couldn’t help but compare the celebrities in Korea to the stars of America.

“Alright, here you go,” Jimin passed the dress to her, along with a familiar champagne coloured envelope that had Soeun’s name written on it in a neat script. “I figured the designer of my dress should at least have the honour of attending my wedding.”

Soeun blinked up at Jimin in shock at her gesture. This was the first time she had been invited to a client’s wedding, and the mere thought of that left her speechless.

“I – this – thank you!” She placed Dubu back onto the floor gently and stood up, giving Jimin a nice, tight hug in return for inviting her to her ceremony. All misgivings from before between the designer and the bride were forgotten as they rejoiced over the impending wedding. The two then broke apart as Soeun tucked the invitation into her bag and slung it over her shoulders.

“I’ve got to go now,” She smiled and bowed to everyone in the dressing room politely. “It was nice meeting all of you. Have a good day!”

She then bent to give Dubu a scratch behind her ears and a kiss on the top of its head before moving towards the door, bowing and smiling at the band as she passed.

“Yah! Sunggyu-ah, walk her down, will you?” Jimin all but demanded as she walked towards Dongwoo with a disapproving glare on her face when she noticed the condition of his make-up.

Soeun shook her head with a smile. “It’s fine, I know the way down.”

“It’s alright, I’m free anyways.” Sunggyu stood up from his chair just as Dubu trotted towards the leaving young woman. The singer picked up the puppy into his arms and opened the door, gesturing for Soeun to move through it first before letting the puppy down and allowing her to walk alongside Soeun.

An awkward silence hung over the two as they made their way down the corridor. Quick glances and slow footsteps were taken while the two thought of ways to break the tension between them.

“So!” Sunggyu finally said. He turned towards the dress on Soeun’s arm and looked up at her. “You’re a bridal designer?”

Soeun shook her head. “Not exactly. I mainly design bridal accessories and paper goods. Dresses are a once in awhile thing.”

The idol nodded his head and hummed. “You’re talented. The dress is really pretty.”

“Oh, um, thank you.” Soeun stammered. She could almost feel the heat of the blush piercing through her flushed cheeks. “You’re good in what you do too.”

“So you’ve heard of us?”

“Uh, no. I haven’t really gotten the chance to know the Korean music industry yet. But I’m sure you’re great in what you do, judging from the fans I saw just now. Not that I thought you weren’t great or anything before but because I haven’t listened to your band –”

Sunggyu laughed at her ramble, causing her to stop abruptly and flush further in embarrassment.

“Sorry,” Soeun mumbled. The elevator doors opened with a sharp ding as they moved into the metal box. “I tend to ramble. A lot. It’s a bad habit of mine. Can’t seem to kick it.”

Sunggyu bent to pick up Dubu and shrugged in response. “It’s fine, I do that sometimes too.”

Another round of silence blanketed the two once more, though this time, it was slightly less tensed than when they had just started the journey down. Sunggyu broke the silence again, only this time he did it with a loud sneeze.

“Are you okay?”

Sunggyu nodded and sniffled, eyes watering from the sneeze he had just let out. A hand appeared in front of him, holding a packet of tissue paper as he took it from Soeun.

“Get well soon,” She said simply, and turned away to exit the elevator when the doors slid open once more. The two passed by the security post and reached the front entrance quickly, where the same group of girls Soeun had passed by before were still waiting at. Upon seeing Sunggyu, they were immediately provoked into a round of excited squeals and boisterous greetings as they fought to grab the singer’s attention.

Soeun blinked in surprise at the onslaught of demands and camera flashes that were thrown their way. Even Dubu was barking at her feet due to the commotion.

“Oppa! Oppa! I love you! Please be my husband! Oppa!”

“Sunggyu oppa! Tell Dongwoo oppa to marry me!”

Although most of the girls’ attention was on their ‘oppa’, there were still some girls who were curious about the pretty stranger that had walked out of the building with Sunggyu. Their dark eyes scrutinized Soeun carefully and muttered among themselves, cooking up various reasons about what she would be doing with the singer.

Soeun fidgeted under the bold stares of the fans and turned towards Sunggyu who had noticed the exchange. He smiled at her softly, a hint of apology present in his eyes as he scratched the back of his neck sheepishly.

“I’ll make a move first, Sunggyu-ssi.” Soeun said, returning his smile. She bent to give Dubu one last round of doting before straightening herself and bowing to the man politely. “It was lovely meeting you! Have a good day.”

Sunggyu nodded and returned her bow. “I’ll see you at the wedding,”

“Happy holidays,” She said and turned to walk in the direction of the car park, determinedly ignoring the whispers and glares that burnt into her back. Soeun fidgeted with the beanie on her head awkwardly as her feet picked up the pace; desperate to get away from the unwanted attention from the girls.

A bark made her turn back one last time, only to see that Sunggyu was no longer in sight and that the bunch of fangirls were crowded into a tight circle around where he had been standing.

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

When Sunggyu returned to the dressing room, he realized there was a reason or a motive rather, why Jimin had chosen him to walk Soeun down.

Upon entering the room, he was immediately pounced upon by the vivacious stylist, who sat him down on one of the chairs quickly before planting herself down on the free one beside him. The other members were getting ready to start filming for the second time that day, now that their break was almost over.

“So? How was it?”

Sunggyu sent her a confused look and picked up Dubu who had trotted back to him when she was done with the defecating mat. “How was what?”

“You know, how was Soeun?” urged Jimin. “What did you two talk about?”

“What do you me– no. Noona! Don’t!”

Jimin tutted at his refusal before reaching towards for one of the foundation palettes. “What do you mean no? I’m helping you!”

“Aish, noona! I don’t need you to match-make me with every single girl you know!” Sunggyu argued, ruffling the back of his hair in frustration, only to have his hand slapped away by Jimin.

“What? Match-make?” Woohyun made his way over to the two quickly and planted himself into the seat Jimin had vacated. “Eh, noona, why don’t you ever introduce girls to me?”

Jimin rolled her eyes and pushed Woohyun’s forehead with her finger, causing the young man to let out a whine in protest. “You’re greasy enough to get your own girls. Your hyung, however, is not.”

“Yah! What’s that supposed to mean?”

Jimin merely stared at the annoyed singer with a brow raised in challenge. Sunggyu slunk back into his seat and mumbled to himself while the stylist and Woohyun continued arguing about how Jimin was biased towards Infinite’s leader. It was then that his phone lit up with a new text message.

From: Jihye

Gyu-oppa! How are you? It’s been a long while since we’ve last spoke. I miss you <3

Sunggyu’s heart raced.

His dark eyes scanned the short message over and over again, ingraining each and every letter into his memory.

A rough sigh escaped his lips. It was funny how words can turn your entire world upside down, how it can mess you up with just a few letters and some meaningful phrases thrown in it. Words were lethal if you knew how to use them well, and Sunggyu was a testament to that.

“Who’s that?” Woohyun asked, noticing how downtrodden and troubled his friend looked after opening the message. He had a rough guess on whom it could be, and he’d rather his guess to be wrong.

“What? Oh, um, just a text from the credit card company.” Sunggyu lied, plastering a fake grimace on his face. “I might have gone a little overboard last month.”

“Huh.” Woohyun replied with a skeptical nod of his head. His sharp eyes studied the band’s leader before he looked away, taking note to watch out for his behaviour from then on.

(bows deeply in apology)

This is late. Very, very, very late. Please forgive me OTL

hugs and kisses and rainbows and unicorns for all of you!