Hanbok || 2Shin (English version)

Epilogue

"Are we ready?", she asked Chaeryeong.

"Yes," Chaeryeong replied. "In fact, we have half an hour to spare. I'll call to check on the place."

Ryujin nodded, being left alone soon after when Chaeryeong went to another room, phone in hand.

"Half an hour. We are on time," Ryujin thought.

She stood in the same spot, opening and closing her hands nervously. To shake it off, she walked over to the windowsill to look at the scenery. She was staying on one of the top floors of the hotel, which helped make the view that greeted her admirable.

The first thing Ryujin's eyes took in was the large patch of green that stretched diagonally across the hotel's position, crossing the intersection of Queen Street and Oxford Street. Centennial Park conveyed an elegant air and, even from where she stood, Ryujin was reminded of how peaceful it was. It was perfect for strolling, as Sydney's climate resembled Seoul's, temperate.

With great effort, she looked away from the park and focused her gaze far, far beyond. She could see the coast of the Tasman Sea, nothing more than a bluish blur at such a distance.

Ryujin's gaze did not linger there. She looked elsewhere, interspersed with glances at her ring in between. She reached out of the window until the sun kissed her fingers, infusing the sapphire with brilliance. It sparkled, and the feeling of longing in Ryujin grew stronger than ever. It came over her as soon as the preparations had begun. When she found herself thinking about how she would miss that ring, she almost burst out laughing. Five years with it, seeing it day and night on her left ring finger, and now she was going to miss it.

However, the sense of longing was overpowered by a stronger one. The almost fulfilled longing to replace it with another. Euphoria that the day had finally arrived.

On that day, September 2, 2028, 27-year-old Shin Ryujin would marry.

She would marry her fiancée Shin Yuna.

Ryujin leaned her elbows on the windowsill, letting a big smile take possession of it. She felt nerves, so many that they made her want to vomit, but she also felt joy, pride, satisfaction... Above all, she felt fulfilled.

It had not been easy to reach this September 2, 2028.

During the entire year 2023, Ryujin had not even had time to think about a wedding. All her attention had been focused on ITZY. At that time, Ryujin imagined that her first comeback after the news of her relationship with Yuna and the attempt on her health was going to be a very stressful one, and it was. Day and night she was promoting her new songs with her colleagues and friends. No sooner had she finished the promotions when others came out, this time focusing on the Japanese market. All this without counting the advertisements with the brands they had contracts with, the videos they were constantly uploading to their YouTube channel, solo projects... When Ryujin wanted to realize it, they were already in the second half of 2024.

When she told herself one day that he had to start looking for information about the wedding, a part of her burst out laughing at her own expense.

How was she going to plan a wedding in a country that didn't allow equal marriage?

"We're screwed," she had said aloud as she realized this.

Her cats looked at her when Ryujin spoke, and that Ryujin could have sworn they looked at her with pity. She didn't blame them if that was the case: getting optimistic, Ryujin estimated that equal marriage would be legal in South Korea in at least fifteen years. That's being very optimistic, Yuna-level optimistic. Now, if she thought with her cynical self, she came to the following conclusion, not at all flattering: "we'll be old ladies in our fifties by the time they legalize it."