Woobin came to my house an hour early for the wedding, dressed up nicely in a black tux. His hair was neatly swept to the side, his eyes completely exposed. His cheeks had sunken in due to his weightloss and his face seemed more angled, though he had always had sharp facial features. I was actually surprised with how nicely he cleaned up since he was always in comfy clothes that just screamed "nerd".

         He definitely looked ier, if you will, since he has grown up a little. He came to my Aunt's wedding with me when we were younger and back then he was awkwardly gangly. We are about the same height now though I hate to admit, he's slightly taller than I am. People always stare because we are taller than average, "model height", as they say.

         "Sorry I came early. My dad had some errands to do so he dropped me off on his way to his appointment. I didn't feel like taking the subway like this," Woobin said, gesturing to his outfit. The fit looked good on him and he only seemed taller.

          As I was about to compliment I heard, "You clean up nicely for a peasant," from my ty younger brother above me. He was leaning against the railing of the second floor. He looked great in his Italian cut suit despite the fact that his pants were starting to get short on him. I had gone and bought that suit with him, maybe not even 3 months ago, and he was growing out of it already. He was already 180cm, does he need more height?

          "I don't need validation from you, you over-previleged prick," Woobin said back nonchalantly, his face the straightest I have ever seen it. My brother stuck his tongue out like a child and stalked his way back into the abyss of his room. Woobin smirked and I grinned back at him. Kyungsuk never was very tasteful when it came to jokes and Woobin always seemed so serious when joking that Kyungsuk would actually become offended. Woobin never means any harm.

         "You look pretty good, over-previleged prick," Woobin said to me and I bowed dramatically. His reponse was a scoff, "You're so shameless."

         "I know. And it's no problem that you came early, I was getting bored anyways. Since you're my date, you have to court me around," I said. I linked my arm with his and I thought he would remove it but he didn't. He just rose an eyebrow. I never noticed how dark and thick those eyebrows were until today because his hair was always down and covering them. 

          "Jongsuk, you're the one who asked me to come with you. You court me, idiot. Get me a glass of water, you don't want me getting dehydrated on you now, do you?"

         I laughed, "Of course not."

         Woobin tilted his head playfully towards the kitchen, giving me an order to get him iced water. He said he won't drink it if it wasn't water from the Alps, filtered thrice. I laughed. He was always so good about playing along with my jokes. What an easygoing guy.

           "Wow," was the only word I could really come up with. The Lee family does not hold back when it comes to extravagence. Everything was glittering and overwhelming elegant, so much so that I didn't even want to enter the vicinity. It seemed too sacred and grand for someone of my social standing. Jongsuk tugged on my elbow and I followed him in, dazed by the sheer number of details that were on the tapistries hanging in the hallway. Jongsuk was all but well suited for a event like this.

          "Oh, Woobin! You came," Jongsuk's grandmother exclaimed. Jongsuk's grandmother, for some reason, really liked me. According to Jongsuk, she absolutely did not like people of lower class (basically anybody who doesn't make billions of Won) but she took a liking to me. Apparently I reminded her of her late husband who was a ruthless businessman. I wasn't sure how I felt about that but I hope he had many great qualities I just didn't know about. For the most part, I heard he was quite Spartan.

          She came close to me for a hug. My eyes immediately went to the huge diamond hanging from her neck. It was so obnoxiously massive that I side-eyed Jongsuk, who was also seemed to be staring at the diamond, and then returned her friendly welcome. She smelled of expensive Peony perfume and equally expensive French wine.

          "Grandmother, are you drunk already?" I asked her in good humor.

         "So perceptive, this one!" She said while fixing my tie. Her wrists glittering with expensive jewels. The light had caught them at the right angle and blinded me temporarily. I pretended nothing happened but Jongsuk caught it and started snickering quietly. "I'm just a little tipsy, that's all. This is my daughter's 3rd wedding, I don't need to be sober for it. She  ruined the sacrity of marriage."

          My eyes grew in surprise, her tone was so condescending. I guess for a woman who absolutely adored her husband, her daughter's multiple marriages probably made her angry. It wasn't too long ago that Jongsuk's grandfather had passed and I sense his grandma was still very much grieving. I didn't know what to do or say but like a knight in shining armor, Jongsuk quickly kissed her cheek as she tried to make another comment. He then whisked her away to an empty seat by Kyungsuk whom seemed angry that his grandmother reeked of alcohol. Jongsuk returned wiping his forehead of sweat.

          "Will your grandma be okay?" I asked.

          "Yeah, she normally doesn't say stuff like that but she's drunk. Oh so very drunk," he said, letting out a nervous laugh.

          I paused, unsure of what exactly to say but I thought that maybe Jongsuk needed some good humor instead of some deep personal . "Well, at least your grandmother knows how to celebrate," I said with a smile.

          Jongsuk laughed a little. I don't think he wants me to think badly of his spunky grandmother nor of his aunt. He doesn't have to worry about that because well, humans are humans. His grandmother's remark only showed that she was greiving and his aunt's marriages showed that all people just want to belong and be loved. There was nothing wrong with those things.

          As I was about to say something to let Jongsuk know that I had no reason to judge them and I can tell he was afriad I was going to; I heard a soft female voice call me. "Woobin, is that you?"

          Jongsuk and I turned around at the same time to see a girl in a dark blue, almost navy, dress. She looked absolutely stunning with long flowy brown hair, her hair bleached at the ends. I think they call that ombre but I'm not sure. It took me a moment to register who she was and then my brain spit out images of when we were little brats together. Only about 7 years old. I hadn't seen her since 1st grade when she moved away. Her father is an entrepeneur who always made the strangest contraptions and then he up and left to pursue that entrepeneur dream.

          "Wow, wait. If it isn't Joo Inhwa!" I said, giving her a quick hug.

          "What are you doing here?" She asked me, her eyes bright. I told her that I was here with a friend and then I introduced her to Jongsuk. She stared at his face and being the womanizer he was, he took her hand and kissed it. She blushed a little and I could see that she was trying to compose herself.

           "I know who you are," she said bluntly, "You're the heir to Diadem Industries. Your mom is such an inspiration. Everyone knows you..." she said trailing off and then blushing harder, probably realizing in hindsight, how fangirl-ish she sounded. "But anyways, Woobin, you look so good! And my goodness, you're so tall! God, it's been ages!"

            "Yeah, it's been too long. How has your family been doing?"

           "Fantastic. I guess you wouldn't know since I moved away but I live in Gangnam now. You know how my dad was going on about being an entrepeneur? Well it happened and we've struck it pretty big," she said giving me a wink.

           We talked for another few minutes until Jongsuk cleared his throat. He had been calmly listening to our conversation without interrupting which is actually quite surprising. He usually always inserts himself into my conversations, just to annoy me.

           "The wedding's starting soon. We should all sit down," he said, giving Inhwa a charming smile. I kind of felt bad towards the girl he was seeing lately. I haven't been keeping track of his aquaintences but I think she was a nice girl from class 2-A. As I recall, she had a massive crush on him since last year but he did not even bat an eyelash towards her until this year. She had come up to me to ask about Jongsuk and her simply talking to me was enough reason for him to pursue her suddenly. I mentally shrugged. I don't understand him sometimes even though I understood him all too well.

           After we saw Inhwa to her seat, we made our way to our designated spots and I smiled at all the unfamiliar faces. Mostly Jongsuk's distant relatives and rich "family-friends". I really felt uncomfortable around the crowd he's always around. I wonder how he even does it.

           "You seemed happy to see her, Inhwa, I mean." Jongsuk said to me as we sat down. His voice was sing-song and I wanted to punch him.

           "Yeah, I guess. I haven't seen Inhwa since elementary school. We used to play together often because our houses were so close. Her dad was a little out there but I guess he made it big with his ideas. I'm happy for her."

          "That's good," he said through a tight smile. "Who knew you'd know someone here," he said. Then he proceeded to make small talk on how stiff I was talking to a girl and that he'd never seen anyone be as un-smooth as I was. Basically, he just teased me for a couple minutes, which I let happen because I wasn't even mad about it. Something else was bothering me about his attitude. 

           I felt my eyebrows raise, "Jongsuk, what's up with you? Is something wrong? I don't know what it is but you seem kind of upset."

          He looked like he was taken by surprise and then quickly relaxed his face, his eyes sly. "Why would I be upset?" he said, flashing his white teeth, "You're imagining things."

          Not even a quarter way through the reception, Woobin insisted he needed to leave so I led him out. The wedding was beautiful and perfect, just like my aunt would have wanted, and Minseok actually seemed to have enjoyed the ceremony. He always did like romantic things like marriage ceremonies.

        "What's so important that you have to go?" I asked him and I could see him hesitate. Even though we are best friends, Woobin was still pretty secretive. I know he is constantly thinking, always gaging the outcome of everything he does and says but sometimes I couldn't help that he did it too much around people who care about him. His hesitance made me nervous because it was obviously something he thinks is important.

        "I'll be honest," he said after a moment, looking me straight in the eye. He took a long breath through his nose in order to gather his thoughts. He always did this when he had something important to say. Call it a "tell", if you will.

        "Someone from Columbia University in New York contacted me a month ago. They want to interview me and they might offer me a full ride for my undergraduate studies in law. At first I wasn't going to go to the interview but I thought I might as well give it a shot. The interview is today and I only made my decision last week to go. I might be going to New York for four years," he said. His face told me he was excited but there was little to no excitement in his voice. He sounded unsure and he looked measuredly at me, like if he wanted to test my reaction. 

         "That's great!" I said to him, giving him a hug. He didn't return it at first but when he did and I could feel him relax. I think he wanted to know what I thought and if I was going to reject this idea, he was probably going to give up on it. Despite how driven Woobin was towards his goal of being a lawyer, I know he is afraid to leave behind his dad and he was probably afraid to leave me behind to. He nor his father had the money to fly back and forth between Korea and New York and... I have my reasons why I can't do that either.

         I think he has this weird sense of responsibility where he has to take care of everyone but he never thinks about himself. He's always been the one who tried to prevent all the bad things and if things went bad, he would fix it. If he's not here, he can't do that. To put it bluntly, he has control issues. He should be excited about this but he goes off and just worries about my reaction. He was so scared he wasn't going to be able to pay for college but now, now he had his chance. Columbia has one of the top law programs in the world and he hesitated with this decision. How could I tell him not to go when I know he probably tossed and turned for a months over it.

        "Thanks," he said, his voice sounded relieved. There was the excitement his voice was missing just a few statements ago. I felt like crying.

        "Well go on then!" I said shooing him out the door. It looked like his little cousin Yeonseo, who was basically his little sister, was waiting for him outside. She was in the backseat of a black Mercedes and I'm going to assume Woobin's wealthy Uncle slash Yeonseo's father had lent it to her. Yeonseo obviously knew about the interview before me. I shouldn't be upset about that, she is his family member, but I couldn't help but feel upset he didn't tell me first.

         "Oppa! Hurry up! We're going be late if you drag your feet like that!" she said, her fierce stare directed at her cousin. She then turned her gaze towards me and gave a little nod of acknowledgement. She doesn't like me much and Woobin explained to me that she thought I was some kind of playboy. He told me not to worry about it because Yeonseo basically didn't like guys unless they were in her favorite boy band.

         As I watched the car zoom out of the long graveled driveway, I finally let out a breath. I had been holding it ever since Woobin left my embrace and it wasn't because I just wanted to hold my breath. It actually really hurt to breathe.

         A lot of people say I'm heartless and I believe it, but today I realized I am completely mundane. I have a heart just like everyone else. But it was broken, the fragments so sharp and intimidating. I had given my heart to Woobin for safe-keeping, completely forgot about its existence, and when he finally tried handing it back, he dropped it. He ing dropped it.

         Woobin may be leaving...