At last, my love has come along

My lonely days are over

And life is like a song

Oh, yeah, at last

The skies above are blue

My heart was wrapped up in clovers

The night I looked at you

I found a dream that I could speak to

A dream that I can call my own

I found a thrill to rest my cheek to

A thrill that I have never known

Oh, yeah when you smile, you smile

Oh, and then the spell was cast

And here we are in heaven

For you are mine

At last

 

 

The groom and his bride danced to the tune of the band’s version of Etta Jame’s “At last”. All eyes were on them as the two swayed as one on their first dance as husband and wife. The heaven was as blue as the ocean, looking over them with its divine glory; the flowers bloomed in different colors, surrounding them like patches of colorful fabrics, its scents were as divine as the day; and the birds chirped in sync, adding up to the beauty of the music that echoed across the vast garden. Everything felt like it came out from a fairytale book, especially towards the four year-old little Sandara Park. 

 

 

 

 

 

Her long dark brown wavy hair tumbled over her shoulders as it heaved down as she sighed. Her small chubby face tilted to the side as she watched the scene in front of her with so much amazement, her round brown eyes twinkled in bliss as her innocent mind imagined herself as the bride and her pink plump lips slowly curled into a sweet smile as her imagination continuously dragged her away from reality. Just then, like a bubble, it suddenly burst as she felt someone tugged on the ribbon that was draped around her head, freeing her hair over her cute little ears. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The doe-eyed little girl had her eyes wide open as she spun her head towards the culprit. There he saw a black-haired boy grinning at her, holding on to the red ribbon that was once holding up her hair away from her pale chubby face. Her pink lips pouted and her beautiful face twisted as she gazed her friend in annoyance, how could he abruptly wake her up from her blissful imagination?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Kwon Jiyong.” She spoke his name with a sharp tone as she folded her short arms across her chest. The little boy, on the other hand grinned at her more, showing his megawatt baby teeth that was still in complete set. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“What are you thinking about?” Jiyong asked, still holding on to the ribbon. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sandara tried to snatch her ribbon back, pouted as she would ask her mom for the nth time of this day to tie it for her for apparently, this naughty little boy couldn’t keep his hand to himself and kept on pulling it off of her. But the boy held his hand up, laughing his heart out as the little girl struggled to reach it, they both almost tumbled off of their chairs if not for the adults on both of their sides caught each of them. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The pout on her lips soon turned into a frown as she turned to her friend after receiving a good scolding from her mother who apparently was the adult beside her. Jiyong only laughed before he slipped the ribbon inside his pants’ pocket and reached for her hand and locked it with his. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Come, I’ll show you something!” He said enthusiastically as he started pulling her down from her seat. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

She immediately shook her head no, glared at her friend as she wouldn’t want another scolding from her mom. Jiyong eyes turned into tiny slits and Dara almost thought he will give up from whatever he was planning when she felt him loosened his hold on her hand, but her relief was short-lived as Jiyong, with all his strength forcefully pulled her down. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Her eyes widen as she shrieked. Jiyong caught her and planted his feet on the ground, stopping them from falling. She on the other hand, immediately spun her head around to see if her mother saw them and grateful that she was too engrossed in watching the bride and groom. And her frown grew deeper; she wanted to watch them too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The ends of her rose pink dress swayed as she ran behind her friend, she held it up so that she won’t step on it. Her pink sandals dug on the soft soil of the garden as she kept up with the fast feet of her mischievous friend and her hair flowed like water down her back, some strands stuck on her small pale face. It was so unlady-like, as she described it. But when her gaze landed on the back of her friend, all uneasiness was swept out from her.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Her pale chubby cheeks flushed upon the sight of little Jiyong in tuxedo, running with all his might with his hand locked with hers, dragging her with him. She didn’t know her friend could be this cute or clean for he was always had dirt on his face from playing so much outside; or sometimes all sweaty from fooling around. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Here…” Jiyong’s high-pitched voice suddenly brought her back from her trance, he let go of her hand and walked a couple of steps away from her and watched her. And as if she was still in a trance, the scene in front of her had her heart flutter in bliss.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Her small mouth gaped wide open; she felt the hair on her nape stood up as she found themselves inside a big pavilion. Vines with colorful flowers draped around the pavilion itself; the sunlight peeked through the small spaces, reflected against the dew of the petals, making it as if tiny colorful pearls glistened above them. And as she gazed down on her feet, she saw herself standing on a bed of flowers. She twirled around… small giggling sounds came out from her lips as she spread her arms and continuously twirled in the middle of the pavilion. Like a small beautiful rose she was. After a while she stopped, panting a bit; she immediately turned to her friend, a wide smile dragging on her lips. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Oh Jiyong… it’s so beautiful!” 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The little boy nodded in approval before he approached her and grasped her hand once again, dragged her with him for the second time. Her brows arched in anticipation and once they reached the other way out of the pavilion, her eyes widen as big as a saucer. When she thought that the pavilion was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen, the scene outside was breathtaking. In there was a small fountain lay in the middle of yet again bed of flowers.  And as if tiny diamonds were flowing from it, because the water glistened under the sun, creating tiny sparkles of what seemed like gems twinkling. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The little girl was silent for a while, too speechless to say something; rather… she was too lost to even think of a word. On the other hand, little Jiyong watched her intently, a wide grin slowly curved on his tiny handsome face as he felt proud and contented from the reaction he got from his friend, apparently he was more satisfied into watching the little girl before him than to admire the place. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

She was too busy to gaze around that she didn’t feel him walked up to her. The little boy placed a hand on her shoulder, causing her to turn around and face her friend. A big sweet smile flashed across her face, her eyes filled with wonder as she gazed her friend… anticipating another surprise. How could her friend be suddenly be so sweet like this? It was making her restless and thrilled at the same time. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And just then, the little boy grabbed both of her hands. She looked down on it before she raised her gaze, meeting his. Jiyong smiled at his oblivious friend, enjoying the confusion that was flowing in her expression. The music from the party continuously played but all the little girl heard was the loud poundings of her heart. And it was all so sudden, as her heart suddenly pounded against her chest, following the beats of the song that played behind them. Her innocent mind started to drift her again into a deep imagination, saw herself dancing under the same music, wearing the same dress as the bride but unlike earlier, his groom didn’t have a blurred image of his face for it was her friend’s face that gazed upon her.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“I, Kwon Jiyong…”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The little girl gasped as her friend suddenly spoke off the familiar words she heard earlier at the wedding, the words which both the groom and the bride recited to each other as if they were promising to each other while inserting each other’s finger with a ring. And just what she had in mind, she suddenly felt something being wrapped around her hand; when she gazed down, she saw Jiyong wrapping her finger with her ribbon that he took from earlier. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“-will take you Sandara Park to be my wife when we grow up. I will cherish you, defend you from the bullies, buy you lots and lots of candies, build a house for Dadoong and I will stay by your side for better or… uhhmm… for poorer… I… uhmm… sick? I can’t remember what uncle Hyun Suk said earlier. But I promise to marry you when we grow old, is that okay?” 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Little Dara looked at him in puzzlement, her chubby cheeks were still flushed red from what she heard from him, but she couldn’t help but wonder. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Why would you want to marry me? I thought you don’t like me?” She was about to frown as she remembered him always teasing her, when suddenly she felt warm soft lips pressed against hers, stopping her from frowning, or better yet… stopping her little innocent world. She had seen her parents kiss, Hyun Suk ajhussi and his wife kiss and a lot more people kiss and she thought it was disgusting, but when Jiyong, her best friend kissed her… it felt so different. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“You don’t want me to marry you? No one will ask you aside from me. Think about your cat, who will make his house aside from me?” The little boy told her with a smug look on his face as he folded his arms on his chest. The little girl on the other hand blinked a couple of times before her brows knitted together. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Really?” She asked him in horror. The boy nodded in return. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“So… you promise to marry me? Are you really going to?” her voice sounded with so much hope. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“I will. I already gave you the ring. Didn’t I?” The little boy said as he reached for her hand and raised it on her face, showing her her finger tied with her red ribbon. After a while, the uneasiness on the little girl’s face slowly vanished as a wide sweet smile curved on her lips.