THE MANAGER NIM

31. GRAND WALKERHILL SEOUL

You stretch your fingers to touch those alluring petals of the flowers arranged over the ivory walls of the resplendent hall. The entire hall looks awe-inspiring, decked with thousands and thousands of flamboyant flowers and the musky scent of those luminous gardenias permeates your system and enchants your brain.

This is the most exotic arrangement of gorgeous gardenias along with heavenly lilies and deeper blush shades of roses you've ever seen, even the petals look unusually soft and gay as any silk. The entire hall looks like a dream woven with vivid hues of soft blossoms. Along with those warm and bright candles adorning the exquisite room while welcoming the wishes of the night, the entire setup is just a sweet song for the eyes.

Ryan weds Lisa, the sheeny board is placed in between the giant, artificial waterfalls in the entrance.

"Hey Mr chicken butt, is your ex a crazy rich Asian?" You nudge Joe's elbow, who is standing beside you like a prepossessing model in that grey tuxedo.

Though you've been constantly passing on commands to your brain to quit getting swayed by this guy's striking look in the formals since evening, your heart acts like a rebellious teen and pushes your brain into a trancelike state every time he turns towards you.

"The only heir of the Shinsegae groups." He says while apathetically staring into your enlarged pupils.

A shaky smile builds over your lips as the shock slowly sinks in.

You both elegantly move among the opulent crowd, grabbing Joe's hand with one hand you lift your subtle heavy, rose gold lehenga which you bought for this year's Diwali, with another. Making a mental note to hide the vile fact that you wore your Diwali outfit before the festive day, from your furious mom, you glide over the glimmering floor like a Disney princess with Joe's support.

The luxurious crowd filled in this grand foyer calls you poor in 30 different languages, but yet you could notice many of those heads turning in your direction as you walk past them. Though you don't know whether it's your satiny outfit or the hunky lad walking beside you, the limelight feels quite unusual and swanky.

After what seemed like forever you both reach the ravishingly decorated guest tables and take a seat over there. 

"Are you wearing contacts?" Joe enquires while examining your hazel shade iris, as you sit next to him.

"Yeah, I rarely wear them due to my hopeless memory, because I often tend to wear my contacts to bed failing to remember to take them off, I think I'm stupid!" You pathetically shake your head in self-pity.

"Don't worry I do that all the time!" Joe ensures you while warmly grasping your palm over the table.

"What, wearing contacts to bed?" You ask swiftly while trying to halt the butterflies in your belly.

"No, think you're stupid." He casually says while adjusting his blazer and earns a harsh slap over his arm.

Promptly the mood changes in the hall as the groom walks over the aisle and reaches the main dais. He looks utterly stunning in that brand new suit but still, your brain automatically starts to compare him with Joe and ends up with the final statement saying, it's a dead loss for that girl.

Cursing yourself for judging their values with their mere looks like a typical person, you turn to witness the dreamy entry of the bride. A beautiful goddess walked down the aisle with her father and this time your heart says, one man's loss is another man's gain.

As the ceremony begins you drag your chair near Joe and settle down. You further continue to observe the hues of expression over Joe's face in silence. Wordless emotions start to sear through that stone-cold face. You could feel his heart screaming in mute. This time you grab his palm into yours.

He turns towards you with glistening eyes, a feeble smile tugs at the end of his lips. 

"She looks very pretty, I hope she has a beautiful personality too." You feebly whisper.

"Might be, who knows!" Joe claps along with the crowd while rising from his chair, as the couple begins to seal their lips in a sweet kiss.

You rise along with him, confusion oozing out of every cell and proceed in front of the crowd. He suddenly halts in front of the couple, down the dais and you stumble behind his back.

Without realising where you're standing you kick his leg like a kid for suddenly halting in his path, "ya, chicken butt! Are you drunk on tears or what? Walk like a grown-ass man!" You whisper yell at him while your fingers probe over your skirt, but your head hoists up when you hear the decibel of whispers elevating high and realise the place you guys are standing in.

Legit in the very centre of the foyer, ahead of the newly married couples.

You start to quack in your boots, as the couple eventually shifts their gaze at you. On the other hand, the intensity of Joe's gaze starts to scare the daylight outta your soul. Your hand snakes around his bicep in reflex. Meanwhile, a sharp pang of guilt engulfs the couple's eyes.

His eyes oscillate between both of them for a solid minute eventually, his head turns towards you, his other hand slides over your hand holding his bicep. He stares deep into your shaking pupils with a faint smile.

His gaze gets quite warmer as time passes, minute by minute. Surprisingly his slender arm releases itself from your firm hold and encircles around your shoulder, he softly drags your shuddering frame near him. His gaze swings back to the couple, this time with a hint of calmness.

"Gomavo!" He says in a deep voice, a tone of relief inlaid in it.

_

"So both of them are your best friends?" The blueberry lollipop swirls inside your mouth as you levitate up in the rope swing hanging down the tree.

"We've been best friends since we were ten." Joe shoves forward the swing you're seated in while disclosing his bittersweet past.

"And they cheated on you behind your back?" The rage starts to bubble up in the pit of your stomach.

With a heart-wrenching sigh he continues, "Not really, we three were equally close with each other but after a point, we both realised that we shared something which is more than friendship and that's when we got into a relationship. But I don't know at what point he got closer to her. After all, people come and go, feelings stay and sway, that's life right !" He pushes the swing even harder, letting out a melancholic laugh.

"Do you miss her, Joe?" You solemnly ask him.

"I do. I miss the three of us. I miss those good old times we spent together, bickering and throwing tantrums at each other, lazily snoozing over each other's belly, snatching each other's favourite food, arguing over cartoon characters. I miss the days when my smile used to be real." You could feel his glum state just by his crestfallen voice.

Though you feel helpless as you suck at consoling people, a chunk of your heart feels glad about the fact that this mysterious man is willingly opening up to you, which might reduce the heavy feeling in his heart.

"But I still vividly remember the day he proposed to me, ' I'm kinda in love with you right now. I want to know if you feel the same way too. Please help me out with this one, and that's how he goofily asked me out", Joe continues his love story with a hearty chortle.

"Dude, that's one hella cute proposal! And I guess you're getting pretty confused with the pronouns, dumbo." You pinpoint the error, while softly chuckling at, how a simple pronoun completely changed the story.

"No, I'm not." He says while his hands slowly tighten around the swing rope.

Your swing comes to a screeching halt. 

"What do you mean?" Your head alone turns back in his direction.

"It was not Lisa and me," 

he pauses for a minute, his chest heaves up and down with the effort of letting out his most crucial secret, 

"It was me and Ryan."