Hi everyone, 

Sorry I haven't updated in probably half a year. I had many many things that came into the way. 

I had this chapter written up for a while now, I was just amending bits of ideas. 

Anyway, I hope to be able to write more of this fic soon. My Friend is getting married next Saturday (I am so so so excited). Hopefully I get inspiration from that. 

Until next time, 

Happy reading, all the best

XX Jang Minyoung 

PS I changed my username which I should have done long ago, since I permanently jumped ship adn anchored myself to this one. I was young and naive back then, I finally found my true love. I fell so hard for Changyoon my heart literally hurts. and I miss them so so much. I have been living off the tiny little ninja moments that have had. Anyways, Changyoon ftw. 

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The afternoon sun shining in through every glass door that make up the perimeter of the marquee lends the perfect lighting to the SM wedding team as they put the finishing touches.  There is an almost airy feel that lofts inside the reception venue – a warm yet undisturbed serenity.  From the elaborate wall of blooms lining the far end of the marquee to the fine details of the bonbonniere that are inked with gratitude, nothing is out of place. Twenty round tables lined with linen of immaculate white are attended to by wait staff of the venue, lighting the candles that stand on mirrors in the centre of the table. The candles surround a bright array of blooms in shades of white, purple and pink that rest in low glass vases, creating a perfect interior flower garden.  At the far end of the hall, in front of the wall of blooms, a few miniature tables placed next to each other await with cups of crayons, paper and activities for the younger guests.

Above this scenery, a satin draped ceiling - a white canopy lined with endless chains of fairy lights waiting to perform their magic. Chandeliers of modest glass hang equidistantly along the ceiling.  In the centre of all the white satin, a section of the glass ceiling is left undraped, leaving a perfect view to the sky to the perfectly polished dance floor down below. It, is also lined with fairy lights. Just a little off the dance floor, in front of the table where the bridal party is to be seated, on a lone table draped in soft satin, stands an elegant three tiered cake, decorated with a waterfall of blooms resembling the colour of the blooms residing on the guests’ tables.

Next to the entrance, a white painted tree ornament, hangs with cards with the names of the many guests. Beside this, the reception table, on top of it is a sign kindly asking people to find their name and to replace it with a polaroid photo of themselves.  There is also a seating map guarded by two teddy bears dressed in wedding attire.

Behind the scenes, Yoona and Hyoyeon are in the bridal room with the bridesmaids, securing a French bustle to the back of Hyosung’s dress so that she can move more comfortably around without the concern of getting her dress torn off or stepped on.

“The veil comes off after your first dance.” Yoona says while checking the bride’s hair after Hyoyeon secures a small crystal tiara in front of the veil comb.

“Trust us, the effect the veil adds to the photographs of the first dance is close to magic” Hyoyeon reassures as she passes the bride her bouquet after Yoona dries the remaining moisture from its rest in the vase.

“Today happened so fast it’s like magic. It feels like I can’t catch my breath.”  Hyosung sighs and takes a deep breath in.

Yoona is about to reply but Sunhwa beats her to it.

“Maybe try kissing less” the comment causes a round of laughter and Yoona’s loss of what she was going to say. They look at Yoona with one hand up and the other on her hip, only having merely recovered from her giggling, waiting for her to speak. She doubles over before she finds the words.

“Oh that’s right, usually Hyoyeon unnie makes those jokes.” She comments, then returns with a seriousness in he as she places her hands on Hyosung’s shoulders. “That’s why you really need that break in between. Just you and him so you can catch that breath.”

“CPR” Hyoyeon whispers.

The girls all start laughing again especially with Hyoyeon’s suggestively raised eyebrow.

“Take it that way, if you want.” Yoona joins along defeatedly.

“But really, you’ll need it. So we’ll make sure to fit that in somewhere between the cake cutting and your first dance.” Just as Yoona finishes off, she catches the way Hana and the other bridesmaids communicating with hand gestures indicating they should sneak out after them. 

***

The guests slowly drift in, ladies wrapped in light shawls, gentlemen now with their suit jackets on. The enchantment slowly starts to happen when the sun slowly makes its descent, the brilliant orange flooding through the glass windows. The fairy lights now happily slowly take over the job as the only remaining natural light is the afterglow of the sun in the distant skyline. The reception is well on its way after Tiffany introduces the bridal party who make their entrance to the song ‘unbelievable’, tear-jerking speeches are made on stage and the entrees are served.

Changmin and Yeonhee as special guests are seated with the bride and groom’s friends at the generosity of the newly-wedded couple. Yoona catches a glimpse of them as they enjoy friendly mingle with the guests and the well selected love songs DJ Yuri plays for the crowd. She takes note of the way his lips do kind of almost reach the point of a smile at the jokes that the guests are probably sharing. It's the closest to a smile he has managed (or so she has witnessed). 

He must be happy. She thinks, unconsciously pausing in her tracks before making her way to the childrens’ table to check on Sunny who is kindly taking care of their youngest patrons.

Changmin uses the time when downing his drink after clinking glasses with their new acquaintances to quietly pay attention to something else. His eyes follow the familiar girl making her way across the other side of the room towards the end where the tiny table of youngsters are. It is only when he hears Yeonhee call his name that he makes up an answer to Yeonhee’s curious tilt of her head. He points to the kids table with his glass still in his hand.

“that’s pretty smart isn’t it? So that the children don’t get bored.” Changmin suggests as Yeonhee turns around to look. He takes another chance to look at the girl who is now holding a little girl’s hand and helping them draw.

“it is” Yeonhee agrees with an impressed smile. Changmin nods with a slight smile creeping onto his cheeks. He smiles into his glass. Yeonhee drinks from her own glass before noticing this odd behaviour. She stops to stare, placing her hands in her lap and wait patiently. Changmin finally senses someone is staring. He looks up

“What?” he asks in his usual bluntness.

“You were smiling” she points at his lips with an amazed expression.

“What smiling?” he widens his eyes before frowning and looks away.

“Was it my heart stopping beauty?” Yeonhee jokes as she cups her own cheeks. Changmin looks away after rolling his eyes, his eyes distracted by the same target his eyes were on before all this started. Yeonhee insists and pats him to make him look at her. Just then, Yoona straightens up and looks directly in his direction, and he immediately looks away, only happening to look directly at Yeonhee. He manages to frown so that Yeonhee gets the message.

“Fine fine fine” Yeonhee removes her hands feigning defeat, “you never smile. That’s all.” She folds her arms across her chest. Changmin sighs having her finally letting it go.

But by the time Changmin looks at the spot where he last saw Yoona, there is no trace of her.

Yoona leaves the newlywed couple to their privacy in the garden after leading them there. She retreats but decides not to re-enter the lively celebration just yet. Instead she opts for solitude – a decision she is unable to regret in time. Being alone, it is only her and her thoughts (and the gnawing feeling somewhere in her chest which she does not recognise). She tries to force the image out of her mind, the little moment of affection between someone she didn’t belong with and the person he really belonged with. In the moment, she did not know how to react so she proceeded, continuing to do her job like she was supposed to.

“nothing happened. Nothing was supposed to happen between him and you, Yoona, wake up!” she whispers to herself under her breath. Pacing, near the glass door leading them back to the heart of the celebration, she takes all measures to avoid looking inside decide the many opportunities that present themselves. It is an excruciating few minutes and she is grateful yet resentful for it to be over. Grateful that she can engage herself in her role, retrieving the couple so that they can prepare for the first dance instead of pondering on useless thoughts. Resentful that she would have to enter and face whatever it is, her confused feelings, him.

There is a murmur of anticipation as the lights are dimmed, everybody in the room gathers around the dance floor with their devices ready and waiting. The two main characters stand in the middle of the dance floor directly under the shine of fairy lights and the glass ceiling – a direct view of the stars blessing them from above. Hyosung looks over at her uncertainly, biting her lip. Yoona nods encouragingly with a nurturing smile. Hyosung takes a deep breath and nods, finally smiling as well as she lands her eyes back at her husband, partner for the dance, partner for life.

The first few magical notes from the piano fill their ears, the excitement is palpable. Kikwang leads his wife proudly, with a hand on her waist taking the first step. Their interlaced fingers convey utter trust and affection. But it is their locked gaze that tells it all.

Yuri works the magic of the piano as her fingers dance on the keys producing an elegant ensemble of ‘beauty and the beast’ until Luna lends her touching song conveying the lyrics.

Tale as old as time

True as it can be

Barely even friends

Then somebody bends… unexpectedly

The dance marks the start of fun, finally letting the hair down. It also marks in a planners mind, the evening is coming towards a close

 From the sidelines, Yoona tries to ignore the swelling feeling behind her eyes, as she immerses herself in the first dance. Countless thoughts and emotions tangle themselves as she appreciates every moment of it. She is proud of the couple, seeing how hard they had practiced to finally pull it off. The song they are dancing to sums up their love story entirely, which Yoona pieces together from what they had told her over the many briefs. Looking at the way he guides her across the dancefloor it seems like nobody else is there. She is happy for them, they have made it through everything with tightly linked hands reaching this moment here.  And Yoona is admittedly envious, envious of when she will ever find her someone that she can share the same with her. Her thoughts linger in a rather undesired area – one she has been trying to avoid for most of the evening. So she immediately pushes it away, shaking her head. She closes her eyes and shakes her heads, only realising now that tears are now starting to escape. She dabs the corners of her eyes with her fingers, and during this she notices something or rather someone – a pair of eyes focused on her from across the dancefloor. She does not miss the dark orbs nor could she misrecognise them. She blinks rapidly, training her gaze towards the dance floor. After a few moments, she looks back up and to her surprise, his eyes are still on her and he seems to have no intention on removing his gaze. For a fleeting moment amid all the confusion, she dares herself to bring up the courage to stare back. With just a blank expression, she seems to be asking a hundred questions. They stare across the dance floor, past the waltzing newlyweds and remain undistracted by anything surrounding them. As the song comes to an end, Yoona realises her actions and tears away her gaze immediately, scolding herself for her own behaviour

You are here to prove to him that you can manage his wedding and there would be nobody better she reminds herself.

With that, she weaves back through the audience and disapears into the wings of the party once again. 

***

Yoona enjoys how the breeze tousles her hair as she puts her thoughts to paper, rewriting the moments of the wedding down – the look on Hana’s face when she caught the bouquet, the constellation she spotted through the glass ceiling during the first dance and the ending of the night with a sea of sparklers formed by the guests as the couple runs through. The garden bench positioned perfectly facing a view of the ocean gives her the perfect privacy and place she was hoping for since the wedding finished earlier this evening. The enchantments of the jeju night does nothing to disappoint (as of yet).

She is almost onto recording the thank you message that the bride conveyed to her before she left when she turns around on a slight instinct. At first, she is only to make out that there is an approaching person coming from the hotel. Instead of returning to her previous enjoyment, when she clearly identifies the person, her first movement is slamming her diary shut straight away. Getting up immediately, she heads left, away from the person but realises that the way back to her suite is to pass the inevitable.

She pauses, looking between the two paths and praying for a judgment. However, a moment of impulse decides her fate to take the courageous path towards danger. Avoiding to look at him at all costs, she holds her breath as she reaches almost 2 metre distance to Changmin – their potential client when she tells herself mentally that she is doing well. But as she almost successfully passes, to her surprise, his footsteps come to a stop when he speaks. From his body language, it appears he is speaking to the air in front of him, but he then turns around to find Yoona twisting her body to meet his gaze curiously

“Aren’t you curious to what we thought of the wedding?” Changmin occupies the spot on the bench next to where Yoona was before, without waiting for her answer.

“Why are you here?” She follows him to the bench and sits back down in her spot. Once she sits down and faces him to wait for a response, he answers with one of his smart mouthed questions. 

“Why can’t I be here? Everybody deserves peace and quiet and a bit of fresh air”

“You can get all the peace and quiet up in your hotel room, why do you need to come down here?”

“Miss Im, you speak as if you own these hotel grounds. But to my knowledge, that’s not the case” he is secretly amused at how Yoona’s nose twitches a little. “and also to my knowledge, you could be in your room too.”

“I need…” Yoona realises her rather hypocritical answer midway through her sentence “peace and quiet and… a bit of fresh air” she mumbles while avoiding his eyes.   

“Ah…of course” Changmin nods sarcastically, pointedly raising his eyebrows. She folds her arms across her chest defensively and tries to ignore his triumphant smirk. Unable to take the silence after ten seconds, Yoona places her diary in her lap and turns to Changmin again. He glances at the book and back at the girl who is about to speak to him.

“Curious about what we thought of the wedding?” he speaks first

“No, we never fail to impress.” Yoona says confidently

“Alright” Changmin says coolly, folding his arms casually across his chest and leans back on the bench again. Out of the corner of his eye, he catches Yoona taking a deep breath and is about to open

“So…”

“I thought you’re uninterested.” she answers with pleading eyes. Changmin caves in and is about to reply when a call disrupts their conversation which he takes quickly. 

“Hi Jonghyun, you got it?” Changmin picks up promptly, while Yoona tries to distract herself with the surrounding view. “Can you please send it to me?”

Yoona takes a peek at Changmin and almost forgets to look away.

“Oh, that’s ok, you can just tell me then” He says “just a sec.” Changmin reaches for his pockets but fails to find what he needs. Just when he turns to Yoona, she has already removed the pen from the clasp in her diary and is holding it out in front of him along with a torn page from her diary. He mouths a brief thanks and takes it gratefully. Yoona unknowingly smiles to herself while waiting for him to finish his call and he does

“Thanks Jonghyun. Drive safely” he adds before ending the call. He scribbles something at the top of the information he had written down.

Yoona spots something silver peeking out of Changmin’s pocket. As he turns back around to her, she points to the cap quizzically.

“oh” he pulls out the pen from his pocket and hands it to her. She admires the lid and the word engraved at the top of the cap ‘심’. “Shim.” She breathes. She looks up at him “it’s beautiful” he forces something close to a smile with a touch of something she cannot seem to work out.

“You had it and you didn’t use it?” Yoona asks only receiving a prod of his head urging her to test it. So she does, opening the cap and trying to draw a line in her notebook. But what comes out is just the imprint of where the pen touched. Finding her answer, she caps it again and passes it back to him.

“It must be important since you keep it with you”

“It is.” That is it, two words sums it all but what really tells her the depth of the meaning of the pen is the look in his eyes when he says those words.

It must be from Miss Yeonhee. Yoona lets the answer settle and comes to her senses.

“Well,” she brushes herself off as she stands up. “I shall leave Mr Shim to his peace and quiet.” She says, excusing herself. Changmin looks at her curiously.

“Didn’t you want to know the answer?” Changmin asks, sitting straight.

Yoona shrugs, and replies with a tone that lacks any playfulness “I told you right? You can call it sheer pride, but I have faith in Sooyoung and my own preparation skills.” She says while looking straight into his eyes “it’s ok, you’re not the first ones to doubt us… I hope we proved ourselves worthy Mr Shim” she bows and is about to turn, just when she takes her first step, he speaks up amid his stun.

“You know, I’m s…” he stutters as if he is trying to find the right words as he stands up, s. “that time I didn’t me...’ she turns back and meets his eyes which makes him swallow it all back

“we’ll let the company know once we go back to Seoul.” He says as if back in business mode. 

“Thanks.” She says curtly, forcing a smile and nodding. “I hope you enjoy your peace and quiet.” She says without looking back before leaving her client, Mr Shim Changmin behind.