PART FOUR – WEDDING BELLS

So the day came when the bells rang and the crowd gathered in one spot to witness a single thing: a wedding of the ‘Match made in heaven’ – as you and him were called. The graceful piano sets the atmosphere as everyone chats among their old friends with a glass of wine.

That atmosphere – that atmosphere I watch over as the only one who feels like being absent from. It’s sad, and a bit shameful, that I haven’t been able to get over you yet. For this though, I do partly blame you for the fact that you decided to marry less than two months since the café announcement.

So here I am, standing at the bottom of the stage, waiting. But for what, I have no idea.

I’m not waiting for you to walk down the aisle and hold the arm of another man, no way. I’m not waiting for those doors to open to see your happy face. I guess… I’m not waiting for anything.

When someone’s whole world is crashed down by the very person whom it surrounds, they have nothing more in life to wait for. Therefore, I just stood and let reality press play.

Finally, all the guests are seated and anticipate the locking of the bride and groom’s lives. The priest makes his way to the stage and that’s my calling. I step on and move to the side where I wait for that despised reality to take over, and tell me, Jin Seokjin, that I’m fated to never be able to hold onto you.

My best friend is nervous; I can see his anxious smile. Damn Jung Hoseok, he doesn’t even know how much I want to be where he stands. Slowly I faded into thought and imagined myself in his position; with the white suit and tie, polished shoes and handsome hair.  

The doors open with a strong push that echoes through the murmuring crowd. You walk in with your father, arm in arm, like a proud King with his little angel. Your beauty stunned me but your gaze told me endlessly that you were not mine, for your eyes were not on me. And with my cue to present the rings, I glance at the two of you – and finally, for once – I seemed to be able to see why you are called the ‘Match made in heaven’. You’re an angel and he’s a prince; you descended to find him. With where I stand, I guess that makes me cupid. And with the kiss that locks this wedding, the shared moment between you and Hoseok becomes known to all humans in attendance. They are like the audience to your earth-bound love story.

When I watch the two of you once again, I understood why cupid takes so much joy in his work – because he ensures that love will last with the right people. The two whom are now wedded, are the right people, and for that reason, I clap with sincerity.

But cupid’s arrow can miss sometimes.