(Listen to Candy by H.O.T: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqRv2Md6Slg)

The dress had been chosen and Jae Hyo had promised to keep his blinders on if he ever crossed the room where it was kept. The plan for an outdoor wedding had been confirmed with my parents deciding to trust the weather reports.

“They’re sure about it honey, don’t worry.”

So on my wedding day, all I had to worry about was rain. That could be a distraction, I thought while glancing at the newspaper article about a bride getting cold feet on the big day. Deep inside, I couldn’t really feel it, the anxiety and all. It just seemed too naiive and I had gone through more troubles to be bothered by an event.

An event. No matter how much I loved Jae Hyo—and I sincerely did—this wedding was just another ritual to be performed. By officially changing my name from Saya Park to Saya Lee, I was hoping to move over to another stage in my life. I would never regret it, no matter how many times I looked back. But what made me happy, and probably what wiped away the tension, was the fact that I didn’t look back. There was nothing to wait for.

“Saya!” I turned around and smiled. Jae Hyo winked and motioned for me to go towards him. I furrowed my eyebrows and raised my chin.

“What?” I mouthed. Jae Hyo bit his lower lip and widened his eyes. “Hurry up!” he mouthed back and I chuckled. This was the most juvenile side I had ever seen of Jae Hyo, him hiding behind a curtain and sneaking me out of wedding preparations.

I walked towards him and was about to ask a question when he quickly seized my arm and covered us both with the georgette drapes. I raised an eyebrow when he stretched his neck outside and sighed, quickly pulling us both behind the cover.

“What happened?” I whispered. Jae Hyo took a deep breath in and sighed. “I’m about to leave for Manesar,” he whispered back. I nodded then fell into deeper confusion. “So? You’re going to meet the caterers, right?”

Jae Hyo pursed his lips and rubbed the back of his forehead. “I’ll be gone for two days…” His sentence wandered off and as realization dawned upon me, so did sudden affection. Our eyes met and he smiled.

“I’ll miss you,” he murmured and kept his hands on both sides of my face, leaving a soft kiss on my forehead. “Don’t burden yourself, I trust you not too. And don’t listen to Kairi and her wedding diet, get it?”

I grinned and nodded, standing on my toes to peck his cheek. “Drive safely,” I smiled and a hollow feeling swallowed me as I saw him leave the house. The emptiness satisfied me as I remembered the doubts crossing my mind during our first few months of dating. No more doubts.

Kairi squealed and I spun around, the echo of the noise irritating me. “What on earth—”

I prepared myself to face a box of sushi being held by a gleeful Kairi. Instead, the squeal had been of horror. With her eyes wide open and shuffling between open and close, she pointed at the door and stuttered. “You…You….Wha-”

I followed Kairi’s gaze and blinked in confusion between the two figures. On one end was my friend, the vibrant girl who had suddenly been silenced by a man, whose well-built figure was succeeded by an intervention from his chubby cheeks. The two continued staring at each other, the girl in shock,  the guy in awe. Finally, he smiled.

“Sashibari,” he bowed and stepped forward. Kairi, however, didn’t seem amused.

“Don’t!” Kairi rocked back and forth on her heels and puffed up her cheeks. Her tough look was an epic fail. “You… what….”

Kairi found me standing there as a spectator and hissed, “Yah! Did you invite him here?”

I shook my head and pursed my lips. “This is the first time I’ve heard someone other than your parents speak to you in Japanese. You tell me.”

Kairi took in a deep breath and cursed. The man blinked at me, then grinned. “Oh! Saya!”

I quirked an eyebrow. “I’m sorry,  I don’t know –”

“YAH YANG YOSEOB!” Another man followed him, dragging in two big suitcases. The two looked like gym partners but the moment he turned around, I choked on my breath.

“How many times have I told you not to leave me with the taxi??”

It was Woohyun. The second he saw me, blackness took over.

“…get some water…”

I mentally sighed in relief. So it was just a dream. Slowly, my eyelids fluttered open. I yelped when I saw Woohyun’s face hover above me.

“She’s up.” Woohyun instantly straightened up and turned around, bumping into a scowling Kairi. While the latter muttered incoherent words, the former just shrugged past her. Behind him was his friend, Yang something, who was brightly smiling at Kairi. I scrunched up my nose when she meekly returned the smile, murmuring an apology and bending next to me.

“Who is he?” I whispered. Kairi sighed and whispered back. “I’ll explain later. First, let’s get you up and about before Hoya—”

“SAYA!” As if on cue, Hoya ran down the staircases. “Saya what are you, hi Woohyun, what happened—” Before he could reach me, Hoya froze in his footsteps, slowly moving backwards and jumping out of his skin.

“NAM WOOHYUN!”

Woohyun closed his eyes and opened them, rubbing his ears. “Could you keep it down? No wonder the bride’s been fainting a fortnight before her wedding.” He looked over at me and upon seeing me stare at him, he nonchalantly walked away, calling for his friend to help him.

“Here,” he shouted and I stretched my neck to see him place an envelope on the desk. “In case there are any questions, just read this. It’s from your fiance.”

I cocked my head to my right and slowly stood up, giving Kairi and Ji Hyun a reassuring nod. Woohyun sat on the suitcase, his hands in his pockets and watched me open the letter. It was our wedding invitation with a personal note from Jae Hyo.

“I hope you can make it,” I read to myself. “You were an important part of your life and this is an important step for her.”

I flushed as I recalled myself fainting in front of Woohyun moments ago and before I could apologize, he dragged his suitcase towards the end of the hallway. “Yoseob!” he called out. His friend nodded and followed him, but before leaving he turned around.

“I’m glad we met again,” he grinned at Kairi. Despite being a stranger, his cuteness melted my heart and I was about to giggle to my friend until Hoya’s dark stare stopped me.

“What is,” Hoya muttered in a low voice, “HE doing here and what,” he shifted his glare to Kairi, “on Earth is that creature?”

I shrugged and simply replied. “Jae Hyo invited him, don’t say anything to me.” I pouted and turned towards Kairi. “Whose Yang Yoseob? Wow Kairi, secrets from me?”

The expression on my best friend’s face alerted me. There was a sense of maturity, sensibility spelt across her eyes. She took in a deep breath and with a sigh, said, “Yang Yoseob is my ex-husband.”

It was Hoya’s turn to collapse.