Chapter 3

By the time Jason and I decided to leave, it was almost noon and I wasn’t even remotely tired. As we were walking out to the bike, my phone started ringing. I pulled it out and looked at who it was. Dad.

“Hello?” I said, answering it.

“Hey, you should come home and start getting ready. I was just informed that you’ll be meeting your husband at the party. And Zelo.” There was something off about Dad’s voice. I looked over at Jason then nodded, not taking my eyes from his.

“Alright.” I hung up and put my phone back in my pocket. “So, um, I’m meeting my husband tonight.”

The expression on my brother’s face was priceless. But it only lasted a second before his face went expressionless. He put my helmet on for me and placed his on. We got on the bike and drove off. I would’ve given anything to figure out what my brother was thinking in that moment.

We made it home by quarter after twelve. There were hair, makeup, and clothing people waiting up in my room. The room was filled with dresses of all sizes and colors. It was any girl’s dream. Besides mine. I knew what was coming.

People would have their hands all over me soon. There would be someone doing my hair, someone else doing my makeup, someone else doing my nails, someone else doing my toes, and after all that, someone choosing what I was going to wear.

One of the ladies noticed that I walked in and jumped up excitedly. It was the dream of anyone going into fashion or cosmetology to work on someone like me. She started speaking in Korean and I stopped listening as she dragged me into the bathroom where everything was set up.

And so began preparing for the party.

I was finally finished after the party had already started downstairs. There was a knock on the door as the final piece of jewelry was added, a sparkling new necklace that was probably worth more than most people’s houses.

“Come in,” I called then looked at myself in the mirror. I was wearing a long metallic dress. It was tight until my hips than flowed out, a broach on my left hip that made it look like it was tightened around my body and clipped in place. It was a halter top and was beaded around the top and around the halter. I was on a diamond bracelet and my hair was flowing down my back and curled.

“Wow,” Jason was standing in the doorway, eyeing me. “You look beautiful.”

I looked down at the dress and laughed lightly. “Oh, this old thing? I just put it on.”

He laughed and gestured for me to come to him. “Come on. It’s time for you to make your grand entrance.”

I smiled and walked over to him. He held out his arm and I linked mine with his. Someone else held the door open for us. I took a deep breath, “Let’s go meet my husband.”

We walked to the grand staircase. At the bottom there were people chatting and drinking fine wine. Suddenly, everything grew silent and all eyes were on me. I looked around and spotted my father, smiling his proud, that’s-my-daughter smile. I smiled back at him and my brother led me down the stairs.

I felt like a princess, no matter how cliché. I was used to wearing fine dresses from top designers and going to only the finest parties but this was different. I hadn’t been to Korea in almost four years. I was only fifteen at that time. I’d grown so much since then. I’d matured.

I was greeted by my father, who kissed me on the cheek and took my hand. “You look wonderful, Grace.”

Throughout the night I greeted people I hadn’t seen in a long time, met new people, and got complimented more times than I could handle. After a couple hours, I finally met the people in charge of We Got Married.

“Hello,” I bowed slightly to them and smiled. We introduced ourselves and got straight to business.

They explained to me that my husband was waiting out in the garden. All I had to do was go out and find him. The only problem was that there was a maze in our garden. He was hiding in there. The cameramen were already outside waiting for me to come out.

I nodded and took a deep breath. “I’ll be going then. I’ll see you guys after.”

I hadn’t met Zelo yet so I knew I would have to meet him after my husband.

I walked out into the crisp night air and took another deep breath. The cameras were already rolling. And so it began.

I entered the maze with a smile. I was actually getting excited. Going through the twists and turns made the anticipation rise. The dead ends made me anxious. After about 15 minutes, I got a glimpse of someone. I quickly hid and peeked around the corner.

All I could see was his back. He was in a black suit and had blonde hair. I took a deep breath and walked out.

“Excuse me,” I said nervously in Korean. Everything moved in slow motion after that.

The man turned around, revealing who he was. I was taken aback. My heart just about stopped. It was the one and only Huang Zitao of Exo. I couldn’t help but to smile, covering my mouth with my hand.

He replied to me, nervously. “Hello,” He spoke formally and bowed then held out his hand. “I’m Tao.”

“Hi,” I gave him a smile and placed my hand in his. “I’m Grace.”