MISSION: Love

+ thirty-four +

The day of Jay and Yurin's wedding finally arrived. I dusted off my dress and glanced at the invitation card on my nightstand. Their names written in cursive made my stomach feel like it was tied into a knot. I didn't know why they invited me. Were they trying to mock me? Laugh at me? Just because I was the only one all alone.

I picked up the invitation card and went straight to the kitchen before burning it on the stove.

"I shouldn't go," I breathed out and watched as the fire started getting bigger.

Hana, Yurin is your friend. And she had never done anything bad to you. Shouldn't you support her and be there for her at her wedding?

My inner thoughts kept dancing in my mind. I turned off the stove and dabbed the burning card with a towel until the fire was put out.

I had endured so much these past ten years, I didn't think I could trust anyone anymore. "I should go," I muttered and stared at the card for one last time before running to the entrance door and picking up my car keys.

As soon as I arrived, two people were greeting the guests. Maybe they were Jay's relatives? I approached them and smiled. They grinned and one of them asked, "Do you have the invitation card?"

"Oh," I rummaged through my handbag and showed them the burnt card. They both gave confused looks at me before standing aside to let me in. The wedding had an elegant white floral theme. It was exactly like how Yurin described to me her ideal wedding. I couldn't help but chuckle at the precious memory we both shared.

I examined the whole room and realised I was the only one alone. Some of my old classmates were glaring and laughing at me secretly as they whispered to each other. My heart started beating due to the nervousness that was spreading inside me. I felt my hands trembling as I tightened my grip around my handbag.

As soon as I saw Heeseung, I sighed in relief and started making my way towards him until I saw Sunghoon. My heart started fluttering as I felt the guests' conversations becoming muffled. I halted when I finally saw a woman clinging to his arm and laughed at Heeseung's remark.

Is that Na Jinae?

Sunghoon had a soft smile plastered on his face as he admired how his fiancée talked to Heeseung. I immediately turned around so that they wouldn't see me. I hurried out of the venue and went to the terrace to get some fresh air.

"Isn't it too quick for him to be engaged? Does he not want to listen to what I have to say before getting engaged to that woman?"

I could feel my words trembling as I tried to comfort myself.

"No, but what if I want to confess to him? He should listen to it first before dating someone else."

"Wait a minute. Why am I planning to confess to him? He's a jerk and he left you for someone else. Even if you're not dating him, he made it clear he doesn't have feelings for you anymore."

The words were stinging my throat as I let it out. I hit my chest continuously and closed my eyes to stop the tears from falling, "Pull yourself together, Hana. This is someone else's wedding and you should not ruin it."

I sobbed alone and kept wiping my tears until my eyes became red and puffy. I planned to sit outside for a while until my eyes were okay again.

"Crying?" I heard a familiar voice ask as the door to the terrace opened. I turned around and saw Sunghoon with his hands buried in the pockets of his trousers. He chuckled before making his way to stand next to me, "You should move on. Jay is going to marry someone else."

"It's not about Jay."

"Then, who is it about? Heeseung?"

I rolled my eyes and exhaled heavily, turning back around to look at the city scenery beneath me. He took out a cigarette and lit it up before putting it into his mouth.

I felt annoyed and snatched it before putting it into my mouth and inhaling it. "Hana!" He immediately snatched it back and watched as I coughed badly due to the unknown smoke entering my throat.

"Why did you do that?! You have asthma! You can't smoke!"

He gently patted my back and threw the cigarette away. "You should go," I said and scooted away from him. He was about to follow me when the door opened, revealing his beautiful fiancée. "Sunghoon-ah," she chuckled awkwardly when she saw me and him standing so close to each other.

"Hana, meet my fiancée. Na Jinae, this is Yoon Hana. My friend from high school," he introduced us. Her eyes brightened as she shook my hand, "Hi! I heard so much about you from Heeseung!"

"Hey," I stood there awkwardly. "Sunghoon, the wedding is about to start. You should sit with us, Hana."

Her invitation made me uncomfortable. I looked into her eyes and there were only glints of sincerity and politeness. I gave in and smiled, "Sure."

💌

I watched as Jay and Yurin danced together on the dancefloor. All the guests were cheering for them as they enjoyed their champagne and food. I silently drank my champagne and admired Jay's loving expression as he stared into his wife's eyes. I couldn't help but laugh at myself after recalling how in love I was with him.

Jinae glanced at me for a while before scooting closer, "So, what do you think? I think Jay and Yurin had the most beautiful wedding I've ever seen."

"Really? I think it's romantic. Yurin did a great job at planning it. This is the dream wedding she always talk about when we were young."

"What about you? What is your type of dream wedding?" She asked again. I thought for a while, "I would love a wedding in a beautiful garden. There will be chandeliers hanging with flowers above the guests. Like a fairytale wedding."

"That's so nice! Just imagining it makes my heart melt."

I smiled and saw Sunghoon watching us having a conversation. Seeing him with another woman ached my heart. But I really couldn't hate her because she was a nice person and she didn't know things that happened between me and her fiancé.

Thinking about it made my chest heavy and I drank another glass of champagne, hoping to get drunk so that I could forget everything that stressed me out.