When Kim Joo Won looked up, he was horrified to see. "Yoon Se-Ri!" he exclaimed. Then promptly, he said, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry." Seeing that her forehead was starting to get red, he approached and touched it.
Shyly, she pulled away.
"I'm sorry," Kim Joo Won said again. "Can I make it up to you? Drinks or dinner?"
How he found the courage to blurt that out, he will never know. Unsurprisingly, she declined. "I'm alright. Don't worry about it," she smiled at him kindly.
"Jagiya!" another voice called out.
Kim Joo Won and Yoon Se-Ri looked up. Se-Ri smiled widely at the man and ran into his arms.
Lucky man, Kim Joo Won thought. As he left the party that night, what remained stuck with him was Yoon Se-Ri being engulfed in the arms of a man who wore a sequinned party hat and a bright pink sweater.
Lucky man, he thought.
***
That whole minute felt like the longest in his life.
Kim Joo Won shifted his weight. Did people not know what to do? Won't anyone even say that Se-Ri left?
He stared at the floor for so long, he could make out the prints he was making on the carpet. Why did they have a carpet? He hated carpets.
All of a sudden, he saw a swish of white cloth, followed by feet covered in shining footwear.
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(pinterest)
"Why am I not surprised that you're looking at my sparkly shoes?" Kim Joo Won looked up quickly and saw Se-Ri staring at him. She wrinkled her nose. "Why are you pouting? Aren't you happy?"
"I thought... didn't you... didn't you stop walking?" he asked, aware that his lip was still jutted in the pout Se-Ri had noted.
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Yoon Se-Ri blushed. "I was just shocked that you don't have even just one sequin on you. You were unrecognizable."
"Well, I read that the wedding is the bride's day so I thought I'd let you shine on this day," he said. "I do have a sequinned handkerchief."
Se-Ri laughed.
Before any further conversation could happen, the celebrant asked, "Are the two of you ready to get married?"
The ceremony was standard but quite western. They exchanged vows, saying words that they weren't sure they meant yet. They decided to wear wedding rings and slipped them on each other's hand and shared a smile, glad they didn't have to admit that somehow it felt right.
Then, it was time to kiss.
Se-Ri signalled to him that she was okay for him to kiss her. So, when it was that time, Kim Joo Won approached and cupped her face. "Sure?"
Se-Ri nodded, closing her eyes.
She could feel his lips hovering close to hers but not quite touching. It was their noses that rubbed first as his thumb caressed the skin on her cheeks.
"Thank you for marrying me," he whispered.
Se-Ri opened her eyes again and saw the sincerity in his words. Holding his wrists, she whispered, "Please kiss me."
Their lips met in the lightest of touches, as if Kim Joo Won were afraid she would break. He kissed her top lip, then moved to her lower lip before he started to pull back. Wanting more contact, Se-Ri groaned to complain and pulled on his hand.
Smiling, he opened his mouth and kissed her more fully.
Se-Ri was lost. The kiss made her tingle from head to toe and she was about to angle her head to deepen the kiss... but the hoots and claps from the guests reminded her they weren't alone.
When they faced the crowd, the bride and groom were red in the face.
Stealing glances at each other throughout the ceremony and the party, they thought, maybe... just maybe... this would work.
