Wedding Bells

13

Last night had been terrible enough, but the agony of my hangover combined with my broken heart made the morning after even worse. I lay crumpled in a ball, wishing I hadn't woken up at all. As you can probably expect, I cried myself to sleep as soon as the car dropped me off at the guest house. I had heard the other girls return from the club at an ungodly hour, so it appeared that Siyeon had convinced them that I was okay and they should continue the night as planned. She really was a master manipulator. Heck, she had managed to pull on my heartstrings like a master puppeteer without even trying.

I was relieved that nobody had bothered me about my sudden departure yet, but I had a feeling that would soon change. Sure enough, I heard a gentle knock at my door. I remained silent, hoping that whoever it was would take a hint and buzz off. I was not in the mood to talk to anybody about last night. Besides, I'd have to lie to everyone except Siyeon, and I hadn't even told her the whole truth in the bathroom. I would sooner die than have to face her again after our conversation. I'm sure she still had plenty of unfinished business with me, and I was fine with leaving things that way. I held my breath, waiting for whoever was on the other side of my door to go away.

"Bora, I know you're in there. You're only silent when something's bothering you and you want to keep it to yourself. If you were still sleeping, you'd have groaned and told me five more minutes. Can I please come in? I'm worried about you," Minji's voice spoke up.

I sighed and got up to let her in. Minji knew me too well for my own good. At least she wasn't Siyeon. Once she made her entrance, the two of us flopped down on my bed.

"I must be getting old because this is the worst hangover I have ever had in my life. At least I'm better off than Yoohyeon. The poor thing can't even get out of bed!" Minji broke the ice before getting serious and continuing, "Anyways, I'm not here to talk about me. I wanted to check on you. It's not like you to ditch when the party's heating up. You were acting way off last night. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, really. I guess I didn't pace myself. Everything hit me and I wasn't feeling well enough to stick around. I'm sorry for ditching on your bachelorette party," I assured her, patting her hand which was resting on my thigh.

Minji furrowed her eyebrows, "You know you can be honest with me, right? I mean, we've been best friends for over twenty years! I don't want you to feel like you have to brush your feelings aside and pretend everything's fine just because it's my wedding week. I was really worried that maybe you were upset about our kiss. I know we all had too much to drink last night, and Siyeon really shouldn't have suggested that game in the first place, but it shouldn't have to change anything between us. I hope I didn't make you uncomfortable. You're my best friend and I don't want anything to ruin that," she pleaded.

My eyes widened at her words. Leave it to Minji to be worried about me when I was being selfish and stupid. She really was too good for me. I quickly grabbed her hands and stared at her with earnest.

"I promise that our kiss is not the reason I was so upset last night. I was probably just drunk and PMSing. To be honest, I barely remember what got me all out of sorts like that. Whatever it was, it's really nothing. You should be worrying about the details of your wedding, not about me. I appreciate the concern though. Anyways, I'm gonna spend all day putting the finishing touches on your rehearsal dinner. I want it to be perfect for you because you deserve nothing short of perfection," I assured her.

Minji smiled at me and squeezed my hands. The gesture got me to smile as well. I was content to lie my face off for her sake. After all, she shouldn't be burdened with my stupid problems when just hours ago I had been actively trying to break up her wedding. I didn't deserve her friendship, but I was going to try and redeem myself by making the rest of her wedding experience the best that I could. I wanted to come clean to her about everything, but that would have to wait.