Wedding Bells

14

You know all those cliches people having about being nervous? The heart beating right out of the chest, the unceasing butterflies fluttering in the stomach, et cetera? Multiply all of those by a thousand and you'll get the way I was feeling before the rehearsal dinner. I was about to drop a bomb on everybody, and who knew what the consequences would be. I doubted I would have many friends left by the end of the night. I had accepted my fate, though, and had mentally prepared myself to be kicked out of the wedding and on my way home tomorrow morning rather than standing by Minji's side at the altar.

Everyone had gathered in the dining room of Yoohyeon's family's mansion for the festivities. Her mother had insisted that the rehearsal dinner be held in her home as her way of thanking all of us for serving in her daughter's wedding. I hadn't had much to do with Momzilla coordinating most of the affair, but I'd worked my hardest to make sure that everything would go well. Today was the home stretch, the final night before Minji and Yoohyeon would say their vows and be joined eternally in the bond of matrimony. I wanted the dinner to be perfect for them so they could feel ready for what was to come. Even if I was about to possibly ruin everything, I wanted the events leading up to my confession to go smoothly.

The actual wedding rehearsal before the dinner went well, from what I remember of it. For most of the time I was wrapped up in my thoughts about my toast, but there was one thing that stuck out to me. When I watched Siyeon perform her song for the ceremony, I was overwhelmed with the urge to run out and give her a big hug. Even though she would sooner hug a cactus than me after the way I treated her, I was still soft for her. I could tell that she was hurting, probably because the rehearsal made the wedding all too real. It must have killed her to have to sing a song about two other people loving each other when she had feelings for one of them. Still, she kept her word about staying out of the rehearsal. In fact, I had not seen her do any scheming since the bachelorette party. I guess she was coming to terms with the fact that Yoohyeon and her would never be a thing. Regardless of how much I wanted to take her in my arms and tell her everything would be okay, I knew that was out of the question. It was in her best interest for me to give her space for now. With that in mind, I made it a point to avoid her for the entire day. Anytime we approached being in the same vicinity, I made myself scarce so that she could have her run of the place. I figured that was what she'd wanted.

The dinner had started, and the sounds of clinking glasses and scraping silverware filled the room along with the din of upbeat chatter and the music played by an orchestra Yoohyeon's mom had hired for the night. I could hear all of these sounds from outside the dining room, where I was preparing myself to deliver my toast. I frantically sorted my notecards for the umpteenth time, and tried not to to have a nervous breakdown. I was in the midst of doing breathing techniques when Siyeon approached. I was surprised to see her voluntarily seeking me out. Maybe she was planning to give me a nice shiner to match my purple dress. I certainly deserved a punch to the face after the way I'd treated her. I tried to act natural, leaning against the wall and tucking my notecards under my arm.

"Hey there. Is everything alright?" I asked her, unsure of what else to say.

"No, it's not. Bora, I know now is not a really good time, but I need to say something. I know you think I'm a pathetic excuse for a human being, and I said some really hurtful things to you, but I miss you. I don't even care about the wedding happening anymore. You made me realize that it's useless to keep pursuing Yoohyeon. Besides, I'm not even really sure what I want anymore. All I know is that when we started getting to know each other, I was the happiest I've been since Yoohyeon announced her engagement. Can we please be friends again?" Siyeon pleaded, twiddling her fingers like a nervous child.

I was dumbstruck. She really did consider us friends! Also, she claimed to be over Yoohyeon, but if that was true, then what was with her performance today at the ceremony? That was not the face of a happy wedding singer. It made me giddy to think that maybe the reason she was so sad was because she missed me. Correction, Bora, my inner self chimed in: she missed you as a friend. I knew I didn't have much time before Yoohyeon's mother would be announcing my toast, so I frantically tried to whip up an answer to her question.