Back for Good

Chapter 3

"Do you, Lisa Manoban, take this lovely woman as your lawfully wedded wife? To love and tohold, in sickness and in health, for richer and for poorer, 'til the day you both shall live?" 

"I do, and always will." 

"And you...?" 

"I... I—I'm sorry, Lisa."

"Are you sure about this? Lisa?" 

Seulgi worriedly furrowed her eyebrows at her best friend when she saw where the Kim-Park Nuptial will be held. 

"Of course," Lisa said as she zipped her luggage, "It's been four years, Seul. I'm quite sure I'd be able to do my job properly without sobbing." She chuckled. 

"Want me to go with you?" 

"Oh no, buddy. You're not going to use my tragic past and bail out of YOUR client, no matter how crazy and demanding they are." Lisa gave her best friend a warning glare before continuing to check her cameras and equipment. 

"Besides, it's just for two weeks. It can also serve as a short vacation for me and I seriously need to unwind anyway. It just so happen that it's on that beach." 

"Lisa-ah."

Lisa heard the softness on Seulgi's voice and stopped what she was doing. She approached her best friend and held the latter's hands before giving them a reassuring squeeze. 

"I'm fine, Seul. I really am. I know I haven't been doing a good job moving on, and I know that it has been years, but... I love her, I still do. I meant what I said on that altar, until the day we both shall live, together or not..." 

Lisa unconsciously reached for the pair of rings on her necklace as she returned to her luggage. Seulgi didn't miss the gesture but decided to stay mum. To say that her best friend was hurting was an understatement. Lisa is broken and is beyond repair, no matter how good she hides it with her smiles and grins. 

"Okay. Just... call me as soon as you arrive there, okay? And call me if anything comes up, and I mean it Lis. Anything." 

Seulgi held her best friend in an embrace, which the latter immediately returned.

"Yes, mom," Lisa chuckled. 

Seulgi rolled her eyes as she hit the back of her stubborn friend's head.

-------

"Hey, you made it!" 

Lisa saw Jisoo sprinting towards her in her flip flops. She reached out her hand to shake the latter's but almost fell onto the sand as her client-turned-friend pounced on her with a hug. 

"Baby, release the poor girl," Jisoo immediately released the awkwardly standing Lisa at the voice of her fiancée and scratched her head shyly. "Please forgive her; she doesn't know how to control herself. Hi, you made it." Chaeyoung approached Lisa slowly and gave the latter a gentler hug and a pat on the back. 

"I'm glad to be here," the Thai girl whispered as she returned the hug. 

The three had managed to build a more friendly relationship despite starting off as mere clients. They had been meeting weekly for three months that turned to almost every day as they shifted from discussing the wedding to just plainly hanging out. To say that they had passed the handshaking stage is a perfect description of where their friendship is now, too bad Lisa wasn't given the memo, at least not until Jisoo decided to attack at the sight of her.