Chapter 20

“I do.”

The priest smiled & made a symbol of a cross with his hand. Then he announced loudly for the whole world to hear, “I now pronounce you husband & wife. You may kiss the bride.”

The groom grinned widely as his new wife threw the bouquet into the air & leaped into his arm. Amidst the loud cheer that was reverberating throughout the church, he held her tightly & kissed her passionately enough to make some of the guests whistled in envy.

Suddenly, the door to the church was banged open, giving way to a man striding purposefully down the aisle, “Stop the wedding!” He shouted, like a man possessed as the people in the church froze in their spots, “& stop kissing my girl!" He didn’t even notice the camera rolling in one corner of the room or the group of reporters on the other corner or some grinning faces & accomplished looks.

“You are too late, young man. They are bound in front of god now.”

“I will have to borrow the bride for a moment.” He stated briskly, as if the priest didn’t say anything. Before anyone could move to stop him, he had already seized the groom’s collar, “I’m sure you wouldn’t mind!” He growled harshly, then without waiting for any answer, he lifted him up & threw him aside. In another blink of an eye, he had already had the bride’s hand in his grasps, “Come with me. I need to talk to you.”

It all happened so fast that the bride could only squeal in protests. In fact, the bride’s attendants & most of everyone else in the church could only squeal which was just fine with him. Not caring about some flashing cameras, Yunho determinedly dragged the poor bride down the aisle as he muttered about some heartless jerk of a father who was selling her daughter to marry some gutless bastard but halfway down the aisle, his purposeful, marching footsteps faltered! Something he couldn’t describe was pulling him back. Hesitantly & slowly, he turned around. Among the hundreds pairs of eyes looking at him, his eyes zeroed in on one, locked with the one pair that meant the world to him. The eyes that belonged to one of the bridesmaid.

“Tiffany?” Yunho whispered reverently. His knees buckled at the vision before him. He never knew in his life that he had ever seen anything lovelier than her. Her face looked so soft & dreamy, healthily glowing, even when she looked so shocked at the moment. Her hair was let down instead of being pinned-up. The sage a-line/princess strapless knee-length satin bridesmaid dress she was wearing fit her like a glove, like it was specifically made for her.

Seeing that her dad’s scene was beyond redemption, Tiffany left her place & bounded down to where he stood, “Yunho Oppa.” She called out in amazement, “Is it really you? How come you are here?”

“Uh.” Was the only syllable he could manage with the way he kept gulping his saliva in order not to drool. His eyes roamed the face he missed so much, taking his fill of Tiffany in her glory.

A soft smile curved her baby pink lips at Yunho’s reaction. Playfully, she punched his shoulder, “Hey. What do you think you are doing there, holding that bride’s hand for so long? Are you thinking of robbing someone else’s bride?”

Blushing furiously, Yunho quickly released the hand in his grip, “I’m sorry.” He mumbled, to no one in particular.

Chuckling, Tiffany looped her arms around his, “Now, could you tell me why on earth you came barging in here in such a manner? & luckily, you are just in time, Oppa. If you come tomorrow, we had already be on our way to Seoul.”

Tiffany’s reaction upon seeing him was all the answer he needed. The letter must be fake. Seeing the love, warmth & joy in her eyes when their eyes met was enough for him. No more questions needed to be asked. As if reminded by his purposes for coming there, he took a step closer to her, looked deeply into her eyes & asked gently, “Fany, you do have an explanation about what’s going on, right? I got the impression that this is supposed to be your wedding, that’s why I rushed in here.” Suddenly, he blanched as the fact finally pierced through all the panic, worry & confusion in his mind, “Oh my god, I ruined someone else’s wedding.”

Tiffany grinned & playfully pinched his nose, “Of course it wasn’t my wedding. This is for my dad’s new movie, silly, not a real wedding so don’t worry, you didn’t ruin anybody’s lives. Fact is, I was asked to play the bride in the first place. The real actress couldn’t make it today & I was asked to replace her for this one scene.” She paused & smiled softly, “But when I started to put on the wedding dress, it felt wrong because the first time I want to wear one in a church would be at our wedding, with you waiting for me at the altar. So I took the bridesmaid role instead while the original bridesmaid was bumped up to take the bride’s role.” Smiling, he looked at her adoringly, “I love you.” He whispered, before claiming her lips in a lingering kiss, telling her without any words how much he had missed her & how much she meant to him. Sky could fall down, sea could rise to the heavens, sun could revolve around the moon & they still wouldn’t realize it if not for the authoritative sound of throat clearing. Sheepishly, they drew apart. Then out of the blue, his eyes went wide as he demanded, “Wait! That means I went to jail for nothing?!”

“Jail?” Tiffany’s forehead crinkled at the word, “Wait, you were in jail?”

“Yeah.” The answer came out along with his deep breath, “I tried to break into your house last night. I thought you were being forced into a wedding & I was trying to save you from that fate.”

She promptly added one & one together & turned to her father who was pretending to act innocent the moment he caught the light in his daughter’s eyes.

“Dad, please tell me it wasn’t you who put him in jail.”

“No.” Mr. Hwang said firmly. Then he added more faintly, “It’s your uncle Shiwoo.”

Tiffany’s eyebrow immediately rose, “Without your order?”

Knowing it was useless trying to sneak out of this, Mr. Hwang only grinned & shrugged, “I thought he was a burglar, sweetie.”

She glared at him, “Dad. What were you thinking?”

“Well, he tried to break into our house, sweetie, & got caught by uncle Shiwoo. Since he was breaking the law, he put this crook in jail. Its not my fault, right?”

Tiffany narrowed her eyes. Oh, she had seen that fake innocent look before. Well, an eye for an eye, she decided. Since Yunho couldn’t do anything about it without jeopardizing their future, it’s up to her to even the score out. She stole a glance at the reporters who were watching them with amusement & grinned devilishly. They weren’t close enough, standing beyond the line made by her father’s bodyguards, to hear what they were talking about but close enough to what she had in mind. Just perfect.

Without giving her dad any chance to sense what she was about to do, she suddenly wailed loudly, “Daddy, how could you do this to mom?! To me?! How could you have an affair with Mrs. Flores & still have the nerve to keep her in our house?! Don’t you know how much you have hurtled us all?! Mrs. Flores is thirty years your senior & half-deaf, for god sake! Tell me it’s a mistake! Please tell me it’s a mistake?! Tell me that I’m not the housekeeper’s daughter!”

The room suddenly went quiet & still. Everybody stopped what they were doing & stared incredulously at the renowned director who looked horrified, at the very least. Then what had started as a low buzz became a full-blown blast. As if smelling blood, the reporters suddenly became wild, pushing on the bodyguards to get to their prey even while they were shooting questions & throwing accusations.

After her splendid performance, Tiffany faintly tugged her mother’s hand for help. At the same time, Mrs. Hwang saw her husband’s desperate eyes looking at her, pleading for help, ‘Husband or daughter?’ She wondered, but she didn’t need to think for long; her love for acting made the choice for her, “This is for your engagement present, darling. Congratulations. I can see you have finally found your dream.” Without waiting for any reaction or reply from her daughter, she ran to her husband & pummeled his chest, “How could you do this to me, Joowon? How could you?” Then with a flourish, she dramatically ran out of the church, sobbing broken-heartedly.

“Mr. Hwang, let’s get out of here.” Chanyeol whispered urgently, judging that in their bloodlust condition, the reporters would overwhelm the bodyguards any second.

“Jesus.” Mr. Hwang muttered. Quick as lightning, he quickly pulled Chanyeol & Tiffany, who’s pulling Yunho, who’s pulling his mom, into the back of the church & locked the door. He could still hear the sound of the reporters yelling & knew the inevitable. He would have to deal with them later & he would. Right after he finished what he had started.

“Jung, you have things to answer to me!” He barked.

Yunho squared his shoulder & looked at Tiffany’s dad in the eyes. When he spoke, his voice rang with conviction & sincerity, “Mr. Hwang, I love your daughter & I will do anything in my power to make her mine.”

Mr. Hwang’s smirk was cynical, “Oh? You said you love her? Give me one good reason why I should believe you. Everybody can say so too, when they have lots to gain.” Without any hesitation, he wrenched Tiffany’s hand free of Yunho’s grip & pushed him away from her. Dragging Tiffany with him, he winked at Chanyeol & signaled him to take over.

“Dad!” Tiffany hissed, but her dad hushed her, telling her to keep quiet as he wrenched a door open & pulled her with him. Albeit reluctantly, Tiffany did what he asked her to do. She knew her dad. He wasn’t a unreasonable man. He must have something up his sleeves for him to do this to her, after he promised to give Yunho a chance. If not, she would still have time & chance to fight him & knock some sense into him, “Tiffany!” Yunho shouted, but the door was already close. He wanted to run after them but Chanyeol had already stepped in between him & the door, “Get out of my way!” He snarled, eyes flashing with warnings. Chanyeol sighed & bravely shook his head, “Yunho, listen to me. It’s useless. He has a grudge on you already since Tiffany had stayed under the same roof as you for months & as her father, he’s entitled for that. Only with a good reasoning & a whole lot of sincerity you would be able to win him over. Trust me on this; I know him. He’s like my own father.” Then he smiled comfortingly, “The good news is, by asking me to take over here, he meant to give you a second chance to redeem yourself. I can help you & I will if you had just explain things to me. When we have our plan fixed in place, we will go to Tiffany’s house & make things right okay?”

Yunho looked at his friend sharply & bluntly asked, “Why are you doing this? Are you in love with her?” Chanyeol’s smile was wobbly, “Does it matter? The one she loves is you. Even if I love her, it wouldn’t make any difference, would it? What’s important now is to convince Mr. Hwang & trust me, I can help if you just give me something to work with.”

Yunho seemed to think things over for a second before he nodded his head, “What kind of thing do you want me to give you?”

“Anything that can convince Mr. Hwang. A tape of you two together maybe. I know you always bring your video camera everywhere.”

“But I don’t have it with me now.” Yunho yanked his hair agitatedly, “& I don’t want to go back to Seoul without her.”

“Ah, I know. The letter.” Mrs. Jung suddenly chimed in. She snatched the letter from Yunho’s pocket & handed it to Chanyeol, “Read this. Maybe this would help.”

The moment he finished reading the letter, Chanyeol’s head snapped up as he shot Yunho an incredulous look, “You mean you got this letter that’s supposed to be written by Tiffany?” Chanyeol’s jaw almost hit the ground in his surprises, “A letter saying that I’m eloping with Tiffany? That she was only playing with your feelings? No wonder you asked if I love her.” When another thought occurred to him, Chanyeol looked at Yunho searchingly, “You don’t believe any of this, do you?”

Yunho smiled & shook his head, “No, I don’t believe it. Even though the evidence is damning, Tiffany had given me her word that she would make a life with me! If it’s any other girl, I would probably suspect her like hell but this is Tiffany. Her word is enough for me.” Then his smile turned into a teasing grin, “I know it’s impossible for her to run away with you anyway. Not when she has a guy like me. Why would she settle for less when she already got the finest article safe in her arms, right? It’s common sense.”

Chanyeol punched Yunho’s chest & grinned back, “In your dreams, pal.” Then his expression sobered up, “Tell me honestly, Yunho. You didn’t even have a flick of doubt that the letter is genuine? Not even a thought that she was betraying you? Deceiving you?”

Yunho shook his head, “My first reaction when I read the letter was run out of the house, thinking that someone took her against her will. No, Chanyeol, I didn’t doubt her. I never doubted her & never will.”

Chanyeol shook his head. What had started as a penetrating gaze quickly turned into an admiration when he looked at his best friend, “She’s one very lucky girl, just as you are one very lucky guy. As much as I love her, I don’t think I can do what you did after reading that letter. At least, I would ask for her explanation first before deciding anything. I have nothing to say to the both of you but congratulation & my very bestest wishes.”

“Thanks, man.” Yunho smiled & took the offered hand, “Do you have any idea who might write something like this to frame my girl?”

Chanyeol pursed his lips, pondering the question.

The silence was broken by Mrs. Jung’s gasps, “Oh, that!” She exclaimed, knocking her head, “I swear that my mind has been playing hide & seek with me lately!”

“Tell me about it.” Yunho said dryly, “You let me flounder about for a whole week when you could alleviate my problem in a second.”

With a sheepish grin, Mrs. Jung patted her son’s hand, “I found out that it was Yoona’s doing when a couple of days ago, I found a letter in Chanyeol’s handwriting falling from her pocket. The letter that explained all about Tiffany’s identity & whereabouts & why she took off in the middle of the night. I confronted that mad girl about it & in the end, she broke down & confessed everything but you don’t need to worry your head about her anymore. I have already taken care of her.”

Yunho’s eyes went sharp & burning, “That damn shrew! I trust you have fired her? I don’t want to see her in our house ever again.”

“Oh, I did, don’t worry about it.”

Yunho’s grin lightened his mother’s heart & his hug warmed her soul, “Thanks, mom. You are the best.”

“So, I’m forgiven? You are not angry at my memory anymore?”

Yunho gave her a look, then grinned widely & pecked her cheeks, “Mom, I love you.” Then he turned to Chanyeol, “Now, help me convince Tiffany’s dad or help me kidnap her out of there? One way or the other, she would be back by my side.”

In the broom closet, Mr. Hwang gazed at his stunned daughter as they listened in to Yunho’s statement. She wasn’t struggling anymore. Instead, an expression he had never seen on her before was now illuminating her face, making it so beautiful that he ached from it. The expression full of wonder, surprises & so much love. He, himself, had never thought that this Jung guy loved his daughter that much that he would trust her even when the evidence was pointing the other way. He had no more doubt that his princess had finally found someone who would truly matched her inside & out. Letting go, he opened the door soundlessly & nudged her daughter out.

Tiffany felt as if she was waking up from a dream when she felt her father’s soft nudge, “Daddy?” She whispered, very softly, looking at him with eyes shining with love, asking for his blessing.

He smiled lovingly & nodded his head. The hug he got afterwards ripped his heart to pieces & yet, something akin to joy seemed to glue the pieces back together again, an instant later. His baby was growing up, “Go on in.” He said hoarsely, “He’s waiting for you.”

When he saw his daughter stepped in, when he saw Yunho’s head whipped around as he sensed her presence, when he saw the way they looked at each other, when he saw his baby throwing herself at they guy who caught her & held her so close as if he would never let her go again, he knew he had never seen anything more beautiful. More perfect.

“Cut.” He whispered, with a satisfied sigh, smiling even as a drop of tear dropped from his eye. Taking in a deep breath, he gingerly opened another door, leading outside & then started to run like hell, chased by swarms of reporters.

The End

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

thank you to all the upvoters, subscribers & viewers for checking out my story & thanks to all of those who comment, even though i don't answer some of you guys doesn't mean i don't see your comments :)

stayed tuned to my next fanfic starring tiffany hwang & kim jaejoong <3

- butt3rflyl0v3r