Luhan  had wished to speak with Seohyun but he knew the situation between Park Chanyeol and Zhang Yixing could get serious if left uninterrupted. He found the two men in a heated argument.

"May I ask what the problem is?" Luhan quickly intervened before Chanyeol threw the first punch.

Luhan ignored the onlookers who had crowded the parlor. He was well aware that fifteen guests watched them.

"I‘m sorry, Luhan," Chanyeol apologized as he cooled down. "I let my emotions get the best of me. I didn‘t intend to cause a scene."

"You really should be more careful when you‘re inviting people to your dinner parties," Yixing remarked.

Luhan turned to Yixing. One look at Yixing‘s date notified him of the problem. Yixing had brought Park Chorong despite Luhan‘s request for him not to. Chorong had married Chanyeol three years ago but was recently discovered in an adulterous relationship with Yixing. Upon discovering his wife‘s infidelity, Chanyeol divorced her, and there had been tension between him and Yixing ever since.

"May I speak with you gentlemen in private?" As private as possible considering the many guests. Luhan led them out of the parlor and onto the veranda where there was a secluded spot. The three men stood silently for a moment as Luhan thought of how to begin. Finally, he said, "I can appreciate the sensitivity of this issue." He turned to Yixing. "Mr. Zhang, I specifically asked you not to bring Chorong here tonight."

"I know you did, Mr. Xi," the man replied. "She assumed I was with another woman, and in order to reassure her that I wasn‘t, I had to bring her. She‘s insecure. I can understand her feelings."

"What would either one of you know about insecurity?" Chanyeol spat. "She was my wife and both of you dismissed the marital vows."

"If you had treated her better, she wouldn‘t have sought comfort in my arms," Yixing argued.

"I treated her just fine!"

"You constantly put work first. A woman needs to be appreciated."

"Please, gentlemen," Luhan intervened, aware that their emotions were running high. "Mr. Park, you are having dinner in the dining room with me. Mr. Zhang, please eat out here with your date. In the meantime, please find separate rooms to be in. I am sorry but this is the best I can do given the circumstances."

Yixing turned to Chanyeol. "Will you be dancing tonight?"

"No. You know very well that I came alone," Chanyeol pointedly responded.

"I will be in the entertainment room," Yixing told Luhan before he left to go back into the house.

Luhan breathed a sigh of relief. "I‘m sorry, Chanyeol. I did tell Mr. Zhang to come alone or bring someone else. I had to invite him because he‘s Shimin‘s son and my uncle does business with Shimin on a regular basis."

"I don‘t fault you for this," Chanyeol assured him.

Baekhyun announced that it was time to eat. Luhan was relieved that the emergencies from earlier had finally been resolved.

"Which seat would you like at the table?" he asked Chanyeol as they went into the house.

He wasn‘t sure if Chanyeol felt like sitting close to him and Seohyun since engagement parties and weddings were most likely upsetting to him with his own heartache still fresh.

"Since I‘m the best man, I suppose I should sit across from Seohyun. You‘ll be at the head of the table and she‘ll sit at your right, correct?" Chanyeol asked.

"Yes. That‘s the plan. Do you feel up to being my best man?"

"As long as Yixing isn‘t at the altar on Saturday, I‘ll be fine."

"There‘s no danger of that. Yixing is sitting in the back of the church."

"I hope that Seohyun is good to you."

"I don‘t see why she won‘t be."

"Well, good luck."

Only the immediate family and friends of the bride and groom were seated at the dining table. The rest of the guests were outside. Luhan had to hire additional servers for the event but he wanted to make everyone comfortable so it was worth the expense. The wedding and reception on Saturday would be even more elaborate. His uncle was paying the bill for that event since Mr. Seo went bankrupt. Since no one knew of his bankruptcy but a select few, Seohyun was spared the humiliation of people knowing her father couldn‘t pay for the wedding.

Luhan supposed that most men in his economic class would be dismayed to marry a woman who came into the marriage without a cent to her name, but he had secretly entertained romantic notions for Seohyun since her family moved to town when he was fourteen. Though he knew Jun Young very well, he never got up the nerve to have more than a two sentence conversation with his sister. Usually, he managed to tell her hello and asked her how she was doing or what she thought of the weather. He was too nervous to figure out what else to say.

She was beautiful. He often stole glances her way when they attended the same dinner parties. They usually sat on opposites sides of the room. It seemed that the more he saw her, the more beautiful she got. He supposed other men didn‘t find her as attractive as he did, but they weren‘t in love with her either. She was shy, so it was no wonder that more men hadn‘t taken notice of her.

Before the dinner, he stood up and gave the official engagement announcement. Then he sat down as the guests started eating. He couldn‘t help but notice that Seohyun wore a black dress. It was the same dress she wore at her mother‘s funeral. He wondered why she chose that particular dress to wear when he had seen her in more festive colors in the past. He dismissed his questions and tried to think of something she might find interesting to discuss.

Currently, she was quietly eating her meal. Her father sat next to her on her right. Her brother, who was the groomsman, sat next to Chanyeol on the opposite side of the table. They talked about automobiles. Luhan had recently acquired an interest in motorized transportation, so he had to fight the urge to join the conversation.

Instead, he turned to Seohyun. He cleared his throat before he began to speak. "Do you wish to discuss the issue that was on your mind earlier?"

She seemed to be surprised he spoke to her. She glanced at her father who looked over at her. "Perhaps later," she replied, barely looking at him.

He cut another piece of his steak as he tried to think of anot