It was almost time for Sora, Sooyoung, JB and Youngjae to leave for the wedding. They needed to wait for Junior to show up so they could all leave together.
In the meantime, Youngjae was still doing his hair in the bathroom while singing loudly. With the angel-like voice he had, nobody told him to shut down.
Sora and Sooyoung tried to help each other with their dresses and makeup. We could hear them bicker at times; they were still the same.
JB was all dressed up, ready to attack the wedding day. Right now, he was just trying to log in into his account for the JYP auditions, but his memory was not functioning quite well.
The site showed this: Username or password incorrect.
"Well, at least, tell me which one it is. Aishh, jebal (please)! I'm in a hurry now. Stupid Korean site... Need to do another one." He lost patience and just rested his head on his desk. He abandoned.
His mom entered the room, half ready. "Jaebeom-ah, can you keep that for me? I'm busy. It's the card for the couple."
JB didn't budge, still hiding his face. He only hummed as a response.
Sora continued in a sweet tone, "I'll put it on your bed, okay?"
JB hummed again. Sora left the room quietly. Since the emotional speech of JB a couple of days before, Sora tried to be more gentle and attentive to her son. But, JB stayed unresponsive to her efforts because he reproached her so many things. He held grudges for years. Therefore, Sora had no choice to wait longer so her son can completely love her again.
"Hyung, you're already tired?" Youngjae chuckled when he entered the room. He sat on the bed.
"No, I'm just discouraged. Anyway-Whoa! Youngjae!" he exclaimed when he finally looked at him wearing his fresh suit on. "Jal-saeng-gyeoss-eo! (You look handsome!)"
Youngjae guffawed at his reaction. "You're not too bad, Hyung!"
"Just not too bad?" JB emphasized. He wrapped his arm around Youngjae's neck to keep him under his trap. They jokingly played together; like an older brother bothering his younger brother.
"Aideul-ah, kaja. (Hey kids, we should go.)" Junior appeared and leaned against the door frame coolly with his two hands in his pockets.
"Oh, Junior?!" JB called while walking to him. "Ohhh, meosisseo (you're good looking), but you should stop showing off. What's with that bossy pose?" And, JB just passed by in his chic disposition, going downstairs. Junior chuckled and followed behind along with Youngjae.
They prepared themselves to leave.
"Mom, you should take out your high heels to drive." JB gave her a safe piece of advice.
Underneath her trendy fur jacket, Sora wore a gold dress and she kept her black 4 inches high heels in her feet. "You think so? I'm used to it, though."
"I don't wanna die today," he replied in all seriousness.
"Nae, adeul. (Yes, son.)" She took out her shoes and decided to drive with her bare feet.
Her sister, Sooyoung, was on the seat next to her and tried to hide a smile of amusement. It was the first time to see Sora being ordered to do something. In other words, the first time she took into consideration her son's point of view.
Saturday afternoon, 1:00 p.m. and the streets got busy with countless of cars. Basically, It took 45 minutes to arrive at the Notre-Dame Basilica for the ceremony. The church venue was decorated with a large range of white bouquets. A touch of soft pink here and there made the scene more romantic.
Sora sat next to where the bride would parade with elegance. Next to her was Sooyoung, and then Youngjae, JB, and Junior at the end.
The place started to be crowded with people quite fastly. The groom appeared in the front with his groomsmen, waiting for his woman. He seemed pretty nervous; his sweaty face gleamed under the lights of chandeliers. A couple of minutes after, the priest told everyone to stand up and the bride marched in along with the music.
The ceremony lasted half an hour. After that, Mr. and Mrs. Kim were off for their photo shoot schedule while the guests headed to the cocktail venue, 15 minutes of driving again.
Once arrived at the designated place, some people were already filling the place. Family, relatives, and friends talked and enjoyed the good atmosphere. The boys, along with the two women, served themselves some drinks and appetizers. They greeted the others and chatted about this and that.
A certain number of girls stared at the boys with their charming eyes, but they mostly scanned Junior. It was comprehensible, who wouldn't? However, those girls could lose hope; not even one of the guys returned the favor. They weren't interested. They just sip on their glasses coolly in their corner.
JB nudged Junior. "You should go court one of these girls," he teased.
"Wae? (Why?)"
"Because it's been a while since I've seen you with a girl," JB explained.
"Why don't you go yourself?" He asked him without a second thought.
JB's face became stiffed. "My mom is here, and I don't feel ready to," he admitted.
"I'm also not ready. It will happen in due time... How about you Youngjae?"
"I..."
JB cut him off, "Aye, he's too young and his English is a quarter comprehensive."
"Aren't you too harsh, Hyung? I'm not that bad in English!" Youngjae defended.
"Okay, then go talk to a girl."
Youngjae glanced at the girls and hesitated, his face turning slightly red."I can't do this, I'm too shy." He laughed awkwardly.
From afar, Sooyoung watched with contentment. Youngjae shined with happiness next to JB. She reminisced the past when they were both younger and played with each other like two siblings. People kept saying they resembled each other so much. They were the happiest when together. Sooyoung was overjoyed to see them reunited, but at the same felt terribly guilty. She missed her JB so much and hoped things could change.
Sora passed by and Sooyoung grabbed her wrist.
"Not now Sooyoung. I need to ask JB something first."
Sooyoung followed her sister until they met with their boys.
"Jaebeom-ah, have you put the card I gave you earlier on the gifts table?"
JB seemed confused. "Uh, which card?"
Sora's face slowly changed color. "Which card? The card I gave you earlier at your room. I said to take care of it for me. I put it on your bed. There's money in it."
JB was thinking... Money in it? Uh-oh. "Ah, yes, that card. Don't worry, I already gave it," he said in his confident manner.
His mom took a deep breath, she could relax. She put her hand on her chest. "You scared me. Well, the reception's doors will be opened soon, don't get too far." She left and returned to some of her acquaintances.
Sooyoung remained on the same spot for a moment while looking at them.
"I wanted to tell you, you guys look handsome today." She beamed.
"Thanks!" They answered in sync.
She fixed JB a little too much and he noticed. "Auntie, are you okay?"
Sooyoung came back to her senses and pinched his soft cheek. "I'm fine sweetheart. See you later." And, she patted Youngjae's face gently, waved at Junior, before leaving them alone.
"My mom is weird sometimes," Youngjae said.
JB simply hummed. "Anyway, there's still a problem."
"Mwo? (What?)" Junior and Youngjae asked curiously.
"I forgot the card at home." He stayed still while thinking about a solution.
Youngjae looked scared for him while Junior showed concern. He whispered, "What are you going to do now that you lied?"
"I'll... ask someone."
"What? To come here? I hope you're kidding? We're like at least 45 minutes away from home and now we have to enter the reception's hall."
"I said I'll ask someone." He checked his contact list and dialed the number. "I hope she'll answer."
~
"What?! You couldn't call Jackson or Mark?!" Melanie yelled through JB's ear, causing this last one to moved it away.
"Jackson has fencing practice today, you know that. And Mark wouldn't be able to. You're my only hope."
Of course, Melanie wanted to help him; he sounded so desperate. He's lucky enough that she was free today.
"Fine, I'll do it."
"For real?! Oh, you're truly the best!" He cheered. Melanie couldn't help but grin at this rare and cute side of him over the phone.
"I'm going now!"
"Wait! You have to be dressed, though," he advised her.
"Eh? I'm just going there to give you the card and bye-bye, sayonara! (goodbye in Japanese)"
"But, I mean you can't come all casual in the reception's venue. Just put on something simple but classy at the same time."
"Alright..."
"I'll text you the address."
Melanie rushed to the bathroom to clean herself a little and grabbed the first dress she saw. A simple tight black dress with straps and black vintage strappy heels. The color black was always perfect at any occasion. When finally all dressed up, she hurried to go outside. She jogged to JB's house in the cold and lifted up the flower pot in the garden where JB hid a copy of the house's key.
When she unlocked the door, the house was completely quiet. She didn't loose more time and headed upstairs to his room. Her eyes laid on the card displayed on the bed.
"That was easy," she smirked while taking the envelope. She noticed his laptop was still on and shook her head. "This guy doesn't know how to manage his laptop properly. You can't just waste your battery like that."
She moved the mouse to turn on the screen to be able to shut down right after. However, curiosity came first...
"JYP Entertainment 2015 Auditions? Log in..." She moved back on the chair with her eyes still locked on the screen. She closed the tab and another appeared right next. He hadn't logged out from his Hotmail account. He was in a hurry, she thought.
"You have been successfully registered to the JYP Auditions of Toronto. Please check your account for furthermore information to come." She slid through the whole message in a quiet mode. This sudden news made her realize few things and one in particular; she might lose a friend, like in her past years. A friendship slowly vanishing and the culprit was going to be 'distance' once again.
Her phone buzzed in her purse.
Chic Jae: Do you have the card? Are you on your way?
Melanie: Yes. I'm coming.
She exhaled and shut the laptop down feeling a little moody. Once she left the house, she searched on Google Map for the destination.
"What a good day, really. Are you kidding me, an hour and a half to get there by subway?"
She lingered in front of his house, trying to look for a good and reasonable solution. She did the sign of the cross and crossed the streets with her heels. In five minutes, she found herself breathless in front of Mark's house. A good and reasonable solution, uh? Well, most likely the faster and nearest one. The cars were there so it was a good sign. She pressed on the doorbell.
"Hi," she responded when her eyes met with the person in front of her. Right at this moment, she regretted what she said yesterday, bitterly. If she could, she would jump in his arms again right now. His warm embrace, oh she missed it dearly. But, the little devil whispered in her head: he hurt you, he deserved it. Just stay strong.
"Hi," Mark replied. A tone of surprise could be heard in his voice. The thought of her coming to his house since a while gave him light butterflies and his heartbeat sped up waiting for something.
"Is your father or mother here?" she asked.
The butterflies inside of him crashed into despair.
~
Hey everyone, Happy New Year 2016! I wish you all the best for this new year. I hope for the best only! I've come back with another update, but a short one this time. The second part will be published maybe next week, not sure. My new semester starts this Wednesday and I have already a lot to do, so I might not be as punctual. I'll keep writing in my free times and come to you with new chapters whenever I can ;)
In the meantime, if you want you can check out my other story, The Last Bite of Life, a 4-chapter story I did during the Holidays... It's with Mark again ;)
Malory xox