You Can't Always Get What You Want, Pt. 3
Previously:
Part One
Part Two
Disclaimer: True Beauty is the intellectual property of Yaongyi (webtoon) and Lee Shi-eun (drama); this story is based on the drama. “One Candle” (촛불하나) was written and composed by JYP; the English lyrics quoted here (with some corrections) come from a translation by KSECTOR on Youtube. Shin Hye-sun and Jang Hyuk belong to themselves. I only own Na-bi and her friends (and I guess Yoon Se-yeon’s song, which doesn’t really exist).
Technical Notes: The wedding proceedings are a mishmash of what I remember from Google and from dramas. Any mistakes are mine.
Author’s Notes: These chapters just kept getting longer and longer, but I had a lot to cover in this one because of the wedding. Also, I thought this was it, but now I’m working on an outtake (because Na-bi’s friends refuse to stay in the background) and on mapping out what happens next….
Part Three
A light snow had begun to fall when Na-bi got out of her taxi. She smiled and held out a hand to catch a few icy flakes, remembering what Seo-joon had said about snow’s special significance for Im Joo-kyung and her husband-to-be. Surely this was a good omen for their special day.
“Na-bi-ssi!”
She turned and smiled when she saw Seo-joon jogging lightly towards her, his breath forming small puffs of steam in the crisp winter air. “Hi, Seo-joon-ssi. Are you ready?”
“As ready as I’ll ever be,” he answered as he reached her and they started together for the entrance to the wedding hall. “How about you?”
“The same, but I’m sure things will turn out well and everyone will have fun.”
“Yeah, I just need to relax and remember that having fun is the point of all of this.” He looked her over. “You look very nice.”
“Thank you,” Na-bi replied, beaming at the appreciation in his gaze. It made the hours of tromping with Myeong-joo and Ji-ra through Apgujeong and (when everything in Apgujeong seemed too rich for her blood) Dongdaemun in search of her long-sleeved, knee-length violet dress, and of sitting through hair and makeup at the salon that morning, well worth it.
“You look very nice, too,” she added. Unlike a lot of the male wedding guests, who milled about in smart casual clothing, Seo-joon was wearing a proper black suit, black shirt, and silver-gray necktie. “Where is your sister? Did you come here by yourself?”
He nodded. “I came from our dorm. Go-woon and our mother are already here.”
Large LED screens in the main lobby listed the weddings scheduled that day, and directed them to a hall on the second floor. Na-bi began to feel apprehensive as they approached the venue; she knew very few people at this wedding and wasn’t sure which of them she could follow around so she wouldn’t look awkward and friendless.
“Oppa! Eonni!”
She breathed a sigh of relief as Han Go-woon approached, especially since Seo-joon had just enough time to say hello to his sister before being whisked away by a crowd of rowdy guests. “Hi, Go-woon. You look very pretty today.”
“So do you, eonni! I love your boots!” she answered, linking arms with her and holding up her phone so they could take a selca. “I’m so excited for our performance later! Have you dropped off your gift yet? No? Come, I’ll go with you.”
Under Go-woon’s wing, Na-bi dropped off the Cantarella members’ cash gift and claimed a buffet ticket; met the rest of the bride’s family and Ms. Lee, Seo-joon and Go-woon’s mother; and was invited to sit with Go-woon and her mother at the ceremony. (She wouldn’t be displacing anyone, they assured her, even though the son of the Im family didn’t look to happy at the prospect.) She also greeted a few showbusiness acquaintances, mostly fellow clients of the bride, who were also attending the wedding. Introducing Go-woon to them had thrilled the younger girl no end.
“I can’t believe you know Shin Hye-sun!” she squealed, admiring the picture that Na-bi had just taken of her with the actress.
“We’re not super close,” Na-bi clarified. “We see each other when we guest on the same talk shows, that’s all. But she’s very nice.”
The other celebrities were megastar friends of the groom’s father and were way above her level, so she and Go-woon had to settle for admiring them from afar. They were mooning over Jang Hyuk when Seo-joon reappeared before them. “Hey. Having fun?”
“Shhh.” They waved him aside impatiently. “Move, you’re blocking our view.”
That, of course, made him step more squarely in front of them. “Argh, oppaaa!” Go-woon complained, peering over his shoulder and spotting the actor disappearing into a crowd. “What do you want?”
“I’m on my way to say hi to Soo-ho and Joo-kyung,” he answered, arching an eyebrow at her. “You know, the reason why we’re having this whole thing in the first place? Wanna come with me?”
Go-woon elected not to go, saying she had already greeted the bride with their mother, so Seo-joon and Na-bi found their way to the bride’s waiting room. There was already a line of people waiting to greet her, so they took places at the end of the queue.
As they waited, Seo-joon watched Joo-kyung welcome well-wishers from a fancy pink sofa. She wore a wedding dress with long lace sleeves, and a delicate veil over the loose waves of her hair. He guessed it was a good getup for a wedding, judging from the way all the lady wedding guests were exclaiming over it, but he thought the best thing about the way she looked was her smile. She looked-there was no other way to put it-stinkingly happy.
“Seo-joon-ah. You’re here.”
He turned away from contemplating the bride to grin at the groom, who had just shown up like a tuxedo ad come to life. “I wouldn’t have missed it for the world,” he replied, giving Soo-ho a playful slug on the shoulder.
Soo-ho smiled and returned the gesture. “Did you just arrive?”
“No, I was outside for a while. Our classmates caught me-you know how that is. Oh,” he said suddenly, “I don’t think you two have met yet. Na-bi-ssi, this is Lee Soo-ho, the groom. Soo-ho, this is Song Na-bi, who just signed with Move Entertainment.”
They bowed to each other politely. “Pleased to meet you,” Soo-ho said.
“Pleased to meet you, too,” Na-bi answered. “Congratulations on your wedding.”
“Thank you-” Soo-ho began, but he was interrupted when the photographer spotted him.
“Oh, sinlang-nim!” the weedy little man said cheerily. “Why are you just standing there? Could you please come up here and take some pictures with your guests?” With his camera, he motioned towards the sofa.
“Uh… yes, of course.” He smiled ruefully at Seo-joon and Na-bi. “Please excuse me. Duty calls.”
“We’ll talk later,” Seo-joon said, waving him off.
He rejoined his friends some time later, when the last group ahead of him finished having their picture taken with the bridal couple and moved on. “Seo-joon-ah!” Joo-kyung greeted him happily. “I didn’t see you with your mom and Go-woon earlier.”
“I came from the dorm,” he told her. “Congratulations, you two.”
“Thank you. I’m so glad you’re here for the wedding!”
He smirked. “Hey, I had no choice-if I didn’t show up, you wouldn’t have any music.”
Soo-ho arched an eyebrow at the joke, but his bride laughed and turned her attention to the girl standing behind him. “Oh, Na-bi-ssi, you’re here, too!”
“Of course,” she replied, smiling. “I’m here representing Cantarella, since you’ve always taken such good care of us. You look wonderful!”
“So do you! That shade of lipstick…!” Joo-kyung flashed a thumbs-up, then gestured to her husband-to-be. “Have you met Soo-ho yet?”
“Yes, earlier while waiting to greet you. Hi again.” Na-bi gave him a friendly nod and smile.
“How about a picture?” the photographer suggested then, brandishing his camera. “Let’s have a nice one of the two couples!”
Seo-joon and Na-bi exchanged embarrassed looks. “Uh, we’re not together,” she answered. “I mean, we know each other, but….”
“We just happen to be in the same place at the same time,” he clarified.
“Oh, I’m sorry for misunderstanding,” the man replied, fortunately choosing to back down rather than do something awkward like insist that they looked good together. “Weddings tend to make me look at people in pairs.”
“Yes, I can see how that can happen,” Na-bi agreed lightly. “Seo-joon-ssi, why don’t you go ahead?”
“All right.” Seo-joon walked over to the sofa where his friends sat together and contemplated the scene long enough for Joo-kyung to begin looking confused and Soo-ho to look suspicious.
“Ya!” the bridegroom exclaimed when Seo-joon pushed the bridal couple apart.
“You’re marrying her in a few moments,” he reminded Soo-ho as he squeezed in between them. “Just give me this, OK?”
Then, with a huge grin, he turned back to the photographer. “All right, ahjussi, we’re ready!”
After having her picture taken, Na-bi entered the wedding hall. She spotted a madly waving arm that proved to be attached to Go-woon. She and her mother sat at a table on the bride’s side of the room, quite close to the front.
“These are great seats!” Na-bi said as she approached, shedding her coat. “You’ll be able to see everything.”
“Joo-young made sure we got a good table,” Ms. Lee praised the young man, seated at the table between her and Go-woon.
“Anything for such good friends of my family,” he preened. He shot Go-woon a besotted grin.
“Don’t let my oppa catch you looking like that or he’ll rearrange your face!” the younger girl told him, although she didn’t look too mad about being smiled at that way.
The threat made Na-bi remember what she had said to Chen indirectly related to the oppa in question, and a laugh burst out of her before she could stop it. Knowing that everyone at the table had heard it, she apologized quickly. “I was just remembering something funny from work,” she explained.
“A lot of those people at your work have had their faces rearranged,” Joo-young agreed.
“Ah!” Go-woon said suddenly. “Before I forget, eonni-here’s your microphone.” She passed it discreetly under the table. “I made the sound guys give us extra ones so we wouldn’t have to get them from the MCs. Just hide it in your lap for now.”
“Thank you, Go-woon-ssi.” Na-bi stashed it in her lap as instructed. “That was very clever of you.”
“What are the mics for?” Joo-young asked. “Oh, is it for your song later?”
“Yes,” Go-woon told him. “And you had better join in the chorus like you promised!”
Just then, the ceiling lights dimmed, leaving only the central aisle brightly lit. The two MCs for the celebration, high school friends of the bridal couple, took their places at the podium on one side of the stage and announced that the wedding was beginning shortly. The babble of voices in the hall got louder as people rushed to take their seats.
“Where is Seo-joon?” Na-bi heard Ms. Lee wonder.
“He messaged to say that he’s going to sit with his classmates,” her daughter replied.
In a few minutes, the noise in the hall died down, but the excitement in the air did not. “Ladies and gentlemen,” one of the MCs (the one with glasses) intoned as classical music began to play, “it is now time for the moment you have all been waiting for-the entrance of the bride and groom!”
“Let’s all turn to the back and give them a big round of applause!” said the other MC (the shorter one).
Obediently, Na-bi turned towards the back of the room in time to see the doors open dramatically, revealing Joo-kyung and Soo-ho standing arm-in-arm. Both were smiling as they proceeded down the aisle, bathed in applause as well as flower petals being thrown at them by people on the sidelines. There was a basket of them at Go-woon’s table, too, and Joo-young nailed his sister with a healthy handful.
There was a literal snag when Joo-kyung’s skirt caught on something just as they reached the stage, but Soo-ho dealt with it efficiently. Beaming at each other, they turned to face their guests and more thunderous applause.
“I wonder why Joo-kyung’s father didn’t walk her down the aisle,” Na-bi remarked as the MCs instructed them to bow to each other.
Ms. Lee pointed to where the bride’s parents were sitting. Mr. Im’s shoulders were visibly shaking. “He’s not going to make it down that aisle without crying,” she said. “He was like that at his older daughter’s wedding, too.”
There was a loud sniffle at their table. “These are tears of joy,” Joo-young announced, dashing at his eyes. “Because now both my noonas are married and I’m finally rid of them.” (Whatever the reason, the tears earned him a hanky and an arm rub from Go-woon, both of which he was only too delighted to accept.)
The bridal couple’s bows to each other and their parents were followed by a blessing by Mr. Han, Director Im’s husband. “Besides being Joo-kyung’s brother-in-law,” he told the crowd, “I also had the honor of being her and Lee Soo-ho’s high school teacher. And I must tell you, it feels absolutely right to stand here today and celebrate their marriage.”
Na-bi’s eyes misted over as he delivered a touching speech praising bride and groom in turn. She laughed at his funny stories about their school days, and at how Director Im mostly agreed with his earnest advice about married life. Partway through the blessing, little Han Yeong-ho ran onstage bellowing a song about the solar system and refused to leave despite his parents’ best efforts. Mr. Han had to finish the blessing holding his son in his arms. (He probably also had to answer some awkward questions from the precocious toddler when Joo-kyung and Soo-ho sealed their union with a kiss right in front of them.)
Go-woon grabbed Na-bi’s arm as the newlyweds took seats next to Soo-ho’s father and the MCs announced the congratulatory song, “courtesy of Saebeom High School’s very own, the one and only Han Seo-joon.” “We’re up next!” she whispered excitedly.
Seo-joon took the stage and bowed to the applauding crowd. “Thanks,” he said. “I’ll be doing a song by Yoon Se-yeon, who was like a brother to Soo-ho and me. Soo-ho-ya, even though he can’t be here physically, I’m sure he’s here in spirit and wishing you both a long and happy life together.” He shot his friend a crooked smile. “You had better like this.”
Na-bi’s heart began to beat faster as the music began to play. (The adrenaline rush was because she was preparing to perform, she told herself. It had absolutely nothing to do with him.) Seo-joon chose to sing “One Heart,” one of the late singer’s most popular love songs.
She-and, she was sure, practically every other female in the room-sat transfixed as his low, smooth voice washed over the room like a wave, singing of fate and everlasting love. Unlike many who were eager to show how well they could sing, he didn’t waste time with vocal calisthenics and concentrated instead on putting heart and soul into his words. For a moment, Na-bi forgot that this was supposed to be a wedding song until Seo-joon passed the microphone to Soo-ho, allowing his friend to sing the last verse to his new wife. (He also had a very nice voice, even if it was obvious that he was more than a little choked up.)
“Thank you, Han Seo-joon!” the shorter MC said over the applause that followed the performance. “That was great. I was moved. Weren’t you, Ahn Hyun-kyu-ssi?”
“I was very moved, Yoo Tae-hoon-ssi,” answered the MC with the glasses. “How about all of you?” he asked the audience. “Were you also moved by our Seo-joon’s singing? Do you want more?”
“YES!” the crowd cried back.
“Well, you’re in luck, because there’s a little more entertainment in store for all of you this afternoon.” He placed one hand over his heart and extended the other towards Seo-joon. “Our friend here thought we could all use something to cheer us up, especially given the state of the world we live in today. And what kind of world is that, Yoo Tae-hoon-ssi?”
“In this world,” Tae-hoon recited gravely, quoting the introduction to “One Candle” as its familiar intro began to play, “there are many people who have less than we do.”
“For those who are struggling even now,” Hyun-kyu concluded with a grin, “we sing this song. Say strong!”
The group that Na-bi now recognized as the Saebeom High contingent burst into catcalls and applause as the music grew louder and Seo-joon began to rap the first verse. She got to her feet, her heart beginning to pound in earnest now. “I have to go,” she said to Go-woon. “I’ll come in from the left side of the stage. You can come up from this side.”
The younger girl nodded, squeezing her hand. “Eonni, fighting!”
Na-bi moved quickly to the spot she had chosen, making eye contact with all her celebrity acquaintances on the groom’s side as she moved past their tables. While making small talk before the ceremony, she had mentioned that there would be a surprise number and she hoped they could join in.
As she came to a crouch by the stage steps, Joo-kyung spotted her and whispered, “Na-bi-ssi?”
She had just enough time to give the bride a wink and check her microphone before Seo-joon’s verse ended. Jumping to her feet, she lifted the mic to her mouth and took a deep breath.
Don’t say that, don’t crumble under the pressure
Whatever life gives you, whatever you receive….
Seo-joon had felt a moment of panic when he glanced at Na-bi’s seat partway through his verse and didn’t see her there, but there was no mistaking that voice coming in just when it was supposed to. The words tripped easily from her lips as she swaggered onstage, offered him a fist bump, and waved her arms at the excited audience, preparing them for what was to come next.
I will always be by your side
Lean on me when you’re tired and exhausted….
A fresh cheer arose as Go-woon joined them for the chorus, her voice soaring gracefully above those of the people beginning to clap and sing along. Seo-joon was so preoccupied with listening to his sister that Na-bi had to nudge him to do his second verse.
It’s too dark, I can’t see the road
All I have on me is one match and one candle….
His Saebeom High classmates had started rapping along. He was only too glad to motion for them to get up onstage, hoping that their voices were drowning out any mistakes he was making. Na-bi was quick to follow suit with the other side of the room. Like the candles lighting up in the song, people across the hall were getting to their feet and joining in.
And two becomes three
Three becomes four
And the darkness disappears….
There was a crowd onstage with them now. They clapped and whooped as Seo-joon and Na-bi rapped the last verse together, grins on both their flushed faces as they worked towards the big finish. Just like they had agreed, he performed by himself the lines about not having a father. He turned to his mother and blew her a kiss as he did so, in silent thanks for her hard work in giving him and his sister a good life. She smiled back at him, her face shining with love and pride, and sang along enthusiastically as Go-woon led everyone in the final chorus.
So you never feel alone in this world
I’ll be by your side, holding your hand…!
“You were a-MAY-zing!”
“No, you were a-MAY-zing!”
“No, you!”
Na-bi smiled at the exchange as she dug into her beef rib soup. The surprise number had been a resounding success, and everyone involved was immensely proud of their part in it. It was all the younger guests could talk about during the buffet dinner that followed the wedding ceremony, and since she had been invited to sit with Seo-joon and his classmates there was a lot of self-congratulations going on.
“I didn’t know our Seo-joonie could rap like that!” a stocky guy sing-songed, reaching across the table to pinch Seo-joon’s cheek.
“I didn’t, either,” he answered, swatting away his friend’s hand. “But I thought it was a good song to do and wanted to give it a try. Lucky for me, Na-bi-ssi agreed to help.”
“I thought you were great, too, Na-bi-ssi!” enthused one of the girls seated across from her, a bubbly one with a bob haircut who had introduced herself in the buffet line as Choi Soo-ah. She seemed to be the social directress of the bunch. “It was just like watching a Cantarella concert!”
“And to nail your part as well as teach someone else…” added the classy-looking girl seated beside Soo-ah (her name was Kang Soo-jin, Na-bi recalled). “I can’t imagine how much talent that takes.”
“Thanks,” Na-bi answered. “Though it did help a lot that Seo-joon-ssi is a musician to begin with. He picked up the rhythm and flow easily. After that, all he needed was practice.”
“Ooooh!” Seo-joon’s friends looked impressed, but he complained playfully, “Why didn’t I hear any of this from you over this past month?”
“We didn’t have time to go into the technicalities then,” she explained.
“So she’s telling you now!” Soo-ah broke in.
Seo-joon opened his mouth to say something back, but Tae-hoon, the shorter MC seated on Soo-ah’s other side, held up a hand to cut him off. “Take it from me, Han Seo-joon, and my many, many, many years of experience-if a woman is telling you something now, do not argue.”
“I wasn’t going to-” he protested as many of the guys around him started voicing their agreement. A number of the girls around the table (presumably the girlfriends) looked on approvingly.
“If you value your life,” Tae-hoon went on, his voice throbbing dramatically, “you will hold up your hands-like so-and just say ‘OK, I got it.’”
Seo-joon made a wry face at him, but slowly raised his hands in surrender and parroted, “OK, I got it.”
Soo-ah beamed at Tae-hoon. “My Hoon-ie is so smart!” she simpered.
“That’s because my jagi-ya trained me well!” he cooed back.
“She did,” Soo-jin confirmed to Na-bi as everyone turned away from the overt PDA.
“Can I put my hands down now?” Seo-joon demanded.
The noise in the dining room had largely died down when people finished their meals and began to trickle out. Seo-joon’s mother and sister had departed together with the Im family, but there was still a lot of activity at the Saebeom High table. He knew it wouldn’t last for much longer, though, because people were putting on their coats and debating on where to go next.
“Seo-joon-ah, you sure you don’t wanna come with us?” Choi Man-shik asked him. His coat was already on and one arm was around his girlfriend.
“Yes, I’m sure,” he answered with a rueful smile. His high school classmates were a friendly bunch, but they were also best in controlled doses. Moreover, the adrenaline rush from the wedding performance was gone. “Singing those songs took a lot out of me and I am just about to crash.”
Man-shik nodded understandingly. “Well, it was worth it. You did great.”
“Thanks. Let’s get together another time.”
They slapped a high-five to seal the deal. “You got it.”
Further down the table from him, Na-bi was saying her farewells to the girls and posing for some final selcas. “Don’t forget, you’re one of us now!” Choi Soo-ah told her. “I don’t care what your real high school says, you are an honorary member of Saebeom High School Class of 2020!”
“I’m from way outside Seoul, so they don’t have to know,” Na-bi laughed. “It was great meeting all of you. Take care, OK?”
“You, too! Bye-bye!”
Seo-joon watched her wave the last of his classmates out the door and begin to collect her belongings. He truly was tired, but he also wasn’t ready to just go home and have to be alone with his thoughts.
“Ready to go, Na-bi-ssi?” he asked as he hoisted himself to his feet and donned his coat.
He cringed inwardly the moment the words were out of his mouth. It sounded like the kind of thing people asked each other when they went somewhere together (instead of just happening to be in the same place at the same time).
Fortunately, she didn’t seem to take it that way. “Just about,” she answered politely.
They joined the stragglers streaming towards the exits, and he watched her dig around in her bag for her phone. “Are you going anywhere else from here?”
“Me? No.” She shook her head as she launched the taxi-hailing app on her phone. “I’m just going home. Why?”
He took a deep breath. “How about we go somewhere for a nightcap first?”
“To be honest,” Na-bi said sometime later, “I thought we were going to go for something like chicken and beer.”
They were sitting at the bar in the basement of a swanky Gangnam hotel. Its dark gray walls, cherrywood fixtures, and modern decor made it a popular backdrop for TV dramas. At one end of the space, past the sparsely occupied tables, a musician picked out a quiet jazz tune on the grand piano.
“I do owe you big-time,” Seo-joon reminded her as the bartender brought their drinks and some complimentary snacks. “We’re of legal drinking age, it would be a shame to let these nice clothes go to waste, and I thought it would be nice to go to someplace like this for a change. But if you want chicken and beer, we can go get that, too.”
She laughed. “No, no, this is absolutely fine. More than fine, it’s very nice.”
“Well,” he said then, raising his Scotch in a toast, “here’s to you. For the millionth time, thank you for all your help.”
“And for the millionth time, I was happy to do it.” Na-bi clinked her glass against his. “The number turned out really well, didn’t it? Practically everyone joined in, even Soo-ho’s father and his celebrity friends. And Go-woon has a beautiful voice.”
“Runs in the family,” he preened.
“Does she want to sing professionally?” she asked, selecting an almond and putting it in her mouth.
“I’m not sure. But she has said that she wants to finish college while she figures things out.”
“Smart girl.”
She stole a glance at Seo-joon as they sipped their drinks in companionable silence. A lot seemed to have gone out of him now that the wedding and their song number were over, but then they had been building up to it for a month. Even she was feeling a bit drained.
“I didn’t know you were close with Yoon Se-yeon,” she ventured after a while.
He nodded, looking down into his tumbler. “We were trainees together until he got picked to debut.”
“I met him a couple of times when he and Cantarella were promoting at the same time. We all sort of had a crush on him,” Na-bi admitted.
“You did?” Seo-joon asked, arching an eyebrow.
“What can I say? We didn’t know many boys outside our agency, and he was always very nice. He was a great singer, too. We were… very sorry when he died.” Congratulations on killing the conversation, you idiot, she told herself as his expression closed up.
“It was a waste,” he agreed in a quiet voice.
“I’m sorry I brought that up,” she apologized hastily. “I really wasn’t sure if I should mention it, but I didn’t think it was right to ignore the fact that Se-yeon-ssi is gone.”
“It’s OK. It was nice to remember him today, both the good and the bad.” He smiled then, leaning his chin on his fist. “So,” he continued in a more conversational tone, “if all of the Cantarella members had a crush on Se-yeon, does that mean all of you like guys who are very nice and sing well?”
They ordered another round, but they could stretch their drinks only so much until closing time. “I never thought I would close down one of these places,” Na-bi remarked, slipping a few bills into the bartender’s tip box. (She had declared that she would take care of that since Seo-joon had paid for the drinks.)
“Now we can both cross that off our bucket lists.” After donning his coat, he picked up hers and held it out for her. Unlike his, which seemed to have soaked up all the smells of the wedding buffet, her coat still smelled a bit of her flowery-citrusy perfume. “Here.”
She eyed it for a moment before slipping her arms into the sleeves with a self-conscious laugh. “Thanks.”
They exited the bar and made their way to the main lobby. Fortunately, there were a few taxis waiting at the stand outside the entrance. Na-bi pumped her fist in triumph when she saw them. “Assa…! Hey, you try waiting for a ride on a winter night while wearing a skirt,” she said when he chuckled.
“No, thanks.” Seo-joon helped her into the cab at the front of the line. “Text me when you get home.”
“You, too.” She smiled at him as she arranged her coat over her knees. “Thanks for… well, all of this. It was a lot of fun.”
“It was a lot of fun for me, too.” It had certainly kept him focused on doing something good for two of his very best friends. “Maybe we can collaborate on something for work this time.”
“Sure, I’d like that. Good night, Seo-joon-ssi.”
“Night.” He shut the car door and waved as the taxi drove away.
Part One
Part Two
Disclaimer: True Beauty is the intellectual property of Yaongyi (webtoon) and Lee Shi-eun (drama); this story is based on the drama. “One Candle” (촛불하나) was written and composed by JYP; the English lyrics quoted here (with some corrections) come from a translation by KSECTOR on Youtube. Shin Hye-sun and Jang Hyuk belong to themselves. I only own Na-bi and her friends (and I guess Yoon Se-yeon’s song, which doesn’t really exist).
Technical Notes: The wedding proceedings are a mishmash of what I remember from Google and from dramas. Any mistakes are mine.
Author’s Notes: These chapters just kept getting longer and longer, but I had a lot to cover in this one because of the wedding. Also, I thought this was it, but now I’m working on an outtake (because Na-bi’s friends refuse to stay in the background) and on mapping out what happens next….
Part Three
A light snow had begun to fall when Na-bi got out of her taxi. She smiled and held out a hand to catch a few icy flakes, remembering what Seo-joon had said about snow’s special significance for Im Joo-kyung and her husband-to-be. Surely this was a good omen for their special day.
“Na-bi-ssi!”
She turned and smiled when she saw Seo-joon jogging lightly towards her, his breath forming small puffs of steam in the crisp winter air. “Hi, Seo-joon-ssi. Are you ready?”
“As ready as I’ll ever be,” he answered as he reached her and they started together for the entrance to the wedding hall. “How about you?”
“The same, but I’m sure things will turn out well and everyone will have fun.”
“Yeah, I just need to relax and remember that having fun is the point of all of this.” He looked her over. “You look very nice.”
“Thank you,” Na-bi replied, beaming at the appreciation in his gaze. It made the hours of tromping with Myeong-joo and Ji-ra through Apgujeong and (when everything in Apgujeong seemed too rich for her blood) Dongdaemun in search of her long-sleeved, knee-length violet dress, and of sitting through hair and makeup at the salon that morning, well worth it.
“You look very nice, too,” she added. Unlike a lot of the male wedding guests, who milled about in smart casual clothing, Seo-joon was wearing a proper black suit, black shirt, and silver-gray necktie. “Where is your sister? Did you come here by yourself?”
He nodded. “I came from our dorm. Go-woon and our mother are already here.”
Large LED screens in the main lobby listed the weddings scheduled that day, and directed them to a hall on the second floor. Na-bi began to feel apprehensive as they approached the venue; she knew very few people at this wedding and wasn’t sure which of them she could follow around so she wouldn’t look awkward and friendless.
“Oppa! Eonni!”
She breathed a sigh of relief as Han Go-woon approached, especially since Seo-joon had just enough time to say hello to his sister before being whisked away by a crowd of rowdy guests. “Hi, Go-woon. You look very pretty today.”
“So do you, eonni! I love your boots!” she answered, linking arms with her and holding up her phone so they could take a selca. “I’m so excited for our performance later! Have you dropped off your gift yet? No? Come, I’ll go with you.”
Under Go-woon’s wing, Na-bi dropped off the Cantarella members’ cash gift and claimed a buffet ticket; met the rest of the bride’s family and Ms. Lee, Seo-joon and Go-woon’s mother; and was invited to sit with Go-woon and her mother at the ceremony. (She wouldn’t be displacing anyone, they assured her, even though the son of the Im family didn’t look to happy at the prospect.) She also greeted a few showbusiness acquaintances, mostly fellow clients of the bride, who were also attending the wedding. Introducing Go-woon to them had thrilled the younger girl no end.
“I can’t believe you know Shin Hye-sun!” she squealed, admiring the picture that Na-bi had just taken of her with the actress.
“We’re not super close,” Na-bi clarified. “We see each other when we guest on the same talk shows, that’s all. But she’s very nice.”
The other celebrities were megastar friends of the groom’s father and were way above her level, so she and Go-woon had to settle for admiring them from afar. They were mooning over Jang Hyuk when Seo-joon reappeared before them. “Hey. Having fun?”
“Shhh.” They waved him aside impatiently. “Move, you’re blocking our view.”
That, of course, made him step more squarely in front of them. “Argh, oppaaa!” Go-woon complained, peering over his shoulder and spotting the actor disappearing into a crowd. “What do you want?”
“I’m on my way to say hi to Soo-ho and Joo-kyung,” he answered, arching an eyebrow at her. “You know, the reason why we’re having this whole thing in the first place? Wanna come with me?”
Go-woon elected not to go, saying she had already greeted the bride with their mother, so Seo-joon and Na-bi found their way to the bride’s waiting room. There was already a line of people waiting to greet her, so they took places at the end of the queue.
As they waited, Seo-joon watched Joo-kyung welcome well-wishers from a fancy pink sofa. She wore a wedding dress with long lace sleeves, and a delicate veil over the loose waves of her hair. He guessed it was a good getup for a wedding, judging from the way all the lady wedding guests were exclaiming over it, but he thought the best thing about the way she looked was her smile. She looked-there was no other way to put it-stinkingly happy.
“Seo-joon-ah. You’re here.”
He turned away from contemplating the bride to grin at the groom, who had just shown up like a tuxedo ad come to life. “I wouldn’t have missed it for the world,” he replied, giving Soo-ho a playful slug on the shoulder.
Soo-ho smiled and returned the gesture. “Did you just arrive?”
“No, I was outside for a while. Our classmates caught me-you know how that is. Oh,” he said suddenly, “I don’t think you two have met yet. Na-bi-ssi, this is Lee Soo-ho, the groom. Soo-ho, this is Song Na-bi, who just signed with Move Entertainment.”
They bowed to each other politely. “Pleased to meet you,” Soo-ho said.
“Pleased to meet you, too,” Na-bi answered. “Congratulations on your wedding.”
“Thank you-” Soo-ho began, but he was interrupted when the photographer spotted him.
“Oh, sinlang-nim!” the weedy little man said cheerily. “Why are you just standing there? Could you please come up here and take some pictures with your guests?” With his camera, he motioned towards the sofa.
“Uh… yes, of course.” He smiled ruefully at Seo-joon and Na-bi. “Please excuse me. Duty calls.”
“We’ll talk later,” Seo-joon said, waving him off.
He rejoined his friends some time later, when the last group ahead of him finished having their picture taken with the bridal couple and moved on. “Seo-joon-ah!” Joo-kyung greeted him happily. “I didn’t see you with your mom and Go-woon earlier.”
“I came from the dorm,” he told her. “Congratulations, you two.”
“Thank you. I’m so glad you’re here for the wedding!”
He smirked. “Hey, I had no choice-if I didn’t show up, you wouldn’t have any music.”
Soo-ho arched an eyebrow at the joke, but his bride laughed and turned her attention to the girl standing behind him. “Oh, Na-bi-ssi, you’re here, too!”
“Of course,” she replied, smiling. “I’m here representing Cantarella, since you’ve always taken such good care of us. You look wonderful!”
“So do you! That shade of lipstick…!” Joo-kyung flashed a thumbs-up, then gestured to her husband-to-be. “Have you met Soo-ho yet?”
“Yes, earlier while waiting to greet you. Hi again.” Na-bi gave him a friendly nod and smile.
“How about a picture?” the photographer suggested then, brandishing his camera. “Let’s have a nice one of the two couples!”
Seo-joon and Na-bi exchanged embarrassed looks. “Uh, we’re not together,” she answered. “I mean, we know each other, but….”
“We just happen to be in the same place at the same time,” he clarified.
“Oh, I’m sorry for misunderstanding,” the man replied, fortunately choosing to back down rather than do something awkward like insist that they looked good together. “Weddings tend to make me look at people in pairs.”
“Yes, I can see how that can happen,” Na-bi agreed lightly. “Seo-joon-ssi, why don’t you go ahead?”
“All right.” Seo-joon walked over to the sofa where his friends sat together and contemplated the scene long enough for Joo-kyung to begin looking confused and Soo-ho to look suspicious.
“Ya!” the bridegroom exclaimed when Seo-joon pushed the bridal couple apart.
“You’re marrying her in a few moments,” he reminded Soo-ho as he squeezed in between them. “Just give me this, OK?”
Then, with a huge grin, he turned back to the photographer. “All right, ahjussi, we’re ready!”
After having her picture taken, Na-bi entered the wedding hall. She spotted a madly waving arm that proved to be attached to Go-woon. She and her mother sat at a table on the bride’s side of the room, quite close to the front.
“These are great seats!” Na-bi said as she approached, shedding her coat. “You’ll be able to see everything.”
“Joo-young made sure we got a good table,” Ms. Lee praised the young man, seated at the table between her and Go-woon.
“Anything for such good friends of my family,” he preened. He shot Go-woon a besotted grin.
“Don’t let my oppa catch you looking like that or he’ll rearrange your face!” the younger girl told him, although she didn’t look too mad about being smiled at that way.
The threat made Na-bi remember what she had said to Chen indirectly related to the oppa in question, and a laugh burst out of her before she could stop it. Knowing that everyone at the table had heard it, she apologized quickly. “I was just remembering something funny from work,” she explained.
“A lot of those people at your work have had their faces rearranged,” Joo-young agreed.
“Ah!” Go-woon said suddenly. “Before I forget, eonni-here’s your microphone.” She passed it discreetly under the table. “I made the sound guys give us extra ones so we wouldn’t have to get them from the MCs. Just hide it in your lap for now.”
“Thank you, Go-woon-ssi.” Na-bi stashed it in her lap as instructed. “That was very clever of you.”
“What are the mics for?” Joo-young asked. “Oh, is it for your song later?”
“Yes,” Go-woon told him. “And you had better join in the chorus like you promised!”
Just then, the ceiling lights dimmed, leaving only the central aisle brightly lit. The two MCs for the celebration, high school friends of the bridal couple, took their places at the podium on one side of the stage and announced that the wedding was beginning shortly. The babble of voices in the hall got louder as people rushed to take their seats.
“Where is Seo-joon?” Na-bi heard Ms. Lee wonder.
“He messaged to say that he’s going to sit with his classmates,” her daughter replied.
In a few minutes, the noise in the hall died down, but the excitement in the air did not. “Ladies and gentlemen,” one of the MCs (the one with glasses) intoned as classical music began to play, “it is now time for the moment you have all been waiting for-the entrance of the bride and groom!”
“Let’s all turn to the back and give them a big round of applause!” said the other MC (the shorter one).
Obediently, Na-bi turned towards the back of the room in time to see the doors open dramatically, revealing Joo-kyung and Soo-ho standing arm-in-arm. Both were smiling as they proceeded down the aisle, bathed in applause as well as flower petals being thrown at them by people on the sidelines. There was a basket of them at Go-woon’s table, too, and Joo-young nailed his sister with a healthy handful.
There was a literal snag when Joo-kyung’s skirt caught on something just as they reached the stage, but Soo-ho dealt with it efficiently. Beaming at each other, they turned to face their guests and more thunderous applause.
“I wonder why Joo-kyung’s father didn’t walk her down the aisle,” Na-bi remarked as the MCs instructed them to bow to each other.
Ms. Lee pointed to where the bride’s parents were sitting. Mr. Im’s shoulders were visibly shaking. “He’s not going to make it down that aisle without crying,” she said. “He was like that at his older daughter’s wedding, too.”
There was a loud sniffle at their table. “These are tears of joy,” Joo-young announced, dashing at his eyes. “Because now both my noonas are married and I’m finally rid of them.” (Whatever the reason, the tears earned him a hanky and an arm rub from Go-woon, both of which he was only too delighted to accept.)
The bridal couple’s bows to each other and their parents were followed by a blessing by Mr. Han, Director Im’s husband. “Besides being Joo-kyung’s brother-in-law,” he told the crowd, “I also had the honor of being her and Lee Soo-ho’s high school teacher. And I must tell you, it feels absolutely right to stand here today and celebrate their marriage.”
Na-bi’s eyes misted over as he delivered a touching speech praising bride and groom in turn. She laughed at his funny stories about their school days, and at how Director Im mostly agreed with his earnest advice about married life. Partway through the blessing, little Han Yeong-ho ran onstage bellowing a song about the solar system and refused to leave despite his parents’ best efforts. Mr. Han had to finish the blessing holding his son in his arms. (He probably also had to answer some awkward questions from the precocious toddler when Joo-kyung and Soo-ho sealed their union with a kiss right in front of them.)
Go-woon grabbed Na-bi’s arm as the newlyweds took seats next to Soo-ho’s father and the MCs announced the congratulatory song, “courtesy of Saebeom High School’s very own, the one and only Han Seo-joon.” “We’re up next!” she whispered excitedly.
Seo-joon took the stage and bowed to the applauding crowd. “Thanks,” he said. “I’ll be doing a song by Yoon Se-yeon, who was like a brother to Soo-ho and me. Soo-ho-ya, even though he can’t be here physically, I’m sure he’s here in spirit and wishing you both a long and happy life together.” He shot his friend a crooked smile. “You had better like this.”
Na-bi’s heart began to beat faster as the music began to play. (The adrenaline rush was because she was preparing to perform, she told herself. It had absolutely nothing to do with him.) Seo-joon chose to sing “One Heart,” one of the late singer’s most popular love songs.
She-and, she was sure, practically every other female in the room-sat transfixed as his low, smooth voice washed over the room like a wave, singing of fate and everlasting love. Unlike many who were eager to show how well they could sing, he didn’t waste time with vocal calisthenics and concentrated instead on putting heart and soul into his words. For a moment, Na-bi forgot that this was supposed to be a wedding song until Seo-joon passed the microphone to Soo-ho, allowing his friend to sing the last verse to his new wife. (He also had a very nice voice, even if it was obvious that he was more than a little choked up.)
“Thank you, Han Seo-joon!” the shorter MC said over the applause that followed the performance. “That was great. I was moved. Weren’t you, Ahn Hyun-kyu-ssi?”
“I was very moved, Yoo Tae-hoon-ssi,” answered the MC with the glasses. “How about all of you?” he asked the audience. “Were you also moved by our Seo-joon’s singing? Do you want more?”
“YES!” the crowd cried back.
“Well, you’re in luck, because there’s a little more entertainment in store for all of you this afternoon.” He placed one hand over his heart and extended the other towards Seo-joon. “Our friend here thought we could all use something to cheer us up, especially given the state of the world we live in today. And what kind of world is that, Yoo Tae-hoon-ssi?”
“In this world,” Tae-hoon recited gravely, quoting the introduction to “One Candle” as its familiar intro began to play, “there are many people who have less than we do.”
“For those who are struggling even now,” Hyun-kyu concluded with a grin, “we sing this song. Say strong!”
The group that Na-bi now recognized as the Saebeom High contingent burst into catcalls and applause as the music grew louder and Seo-joon began to rap the first verse. She got to her feet, her heart beginning to pound in earnest now. “I have to go,” she said to Go-woon. “I’ll come in from the left side of the stage. You can come up from this side.”
The younger girl nodded, squeezing her hand. “Eonni, fighting!”
Na-bi moved quickly to the spot she had chosen, making eye contact with all her celebrity acquaintances on the groom’s side as she moved past their tables. While making small talk before the ceremony, she had mentioned that there would be a surprise number and she hoped they could join in.
As she came to a crouch by the stage steps, Joo-kyung spotted her and whispered, “Na-bi-ssi?”
She had just enough time to give the bride a wink and check her microphone before Seo-joon’s verse ended. Jumping to her feet, she lifted the mic to her mouth and took a deep breath.
Don’t say that, don’t crumble under the pressure
Whatever life gives you, whatever you receive….
Seo-joon had felt a moment of panic when he glanced at Na-bi’s seat partway through his verse and didn’t see her there, but there was no mistaking that voice coming in just when it was supposed to. The words tripped easily from her lips as she swaggered onstage, offered him a fist bump, and waved her arms at the excited audience, preparing them for what was to come next.
I will always be by your side
Lean on me when you’re tired and exhausted….
A fresh cheer arose as Go-woon joined them for the chorus, her voice soaring gracefully above those of the people beginning to clap and sing along. Seo-joon was so preoccupied with listening to his sister that Na-bi had to nudge him to do his second verse.
It’s too dark, I can’t see the road
All I have on me is one match and one candle….
His Saebeom High classmates had started rapping along. He was only too glad to motion for them to get up onstage, hoping that their voices were drowning out any mistakes he was making. Na-bi was quick to follow suit with the other side of the room. Like the candles lighting up in the song, people across the hall were getting to their feet and joining in.
And two becomes three
Three becomes four
And the darkness disappears….
There was a crowd onstage with them now. They clapped and whooped as Seo-joon and Na-bi rapped the last verse together, grins on both their flushed faces as they worked towards the big finish. Just like they had agreed, he performed by himself the lines about not having a father. He turned to his mother and blew her a kiss as he did so, in silent thanks for her hard work in giving him and his sister a good life. She smiled back at him, her face shining with love and pride, and sang along enthusiastically as Go-woon led everyone in the final chorus.
So you never feel alone in this world
I’ll be by your side, holding your hand…!
“You were a-MAY-zing!”
“No, you were a-MAY-zing!”
“No, you!”
Na-bi smiled at the exchange as she dug into her beef rib soup. The surprise number had been a resounding success, and everyone involved was immensely proud of their part in it. It was all the younger guests could talk about during the buffet dinner that followed the wedding ceremony, and since she had been invited to sit with Seo-joon and his classmates there was a lot of self-congratulations going on.
“I didn’t know our Seo-joonie could rap like that!” a stocky guy sing-songed, reaching across the table to pinch Seo-joon’s cheek.
“I didn’t, either,” he answered, swatting away his friend’s hand. “But I thought it was a good song to do and wanted to give it a try. Lucky for me, Na-bi-ssi agreed to help.”
“I thought you were great, too, Na-bi-ssi!” enthused one of the girls seated across from her, a bubbly one with a bob haircut who had introduced herself in the buffet line as Choi Soo-ah. She seemed to be the social directress of the bunch. “It was just like watching a Cantarella concert!”
“And to nail your part as well as teach someone else…” added the classy-looking girl seated beside Soo-ah (her name was Kang Soo-jin, Na-bi recalled). “I can’t imagine how much talent that takes.”
“Thanks,” Na-bi answered. “Though it did help a lot that Seo-joon-ssi is a musician to begin with. He picked up the rhythm and flow easily. After that, all he needed was practice.”
“Ooooh!” Seo-joon’s friends looked impressed, but he complained playfully, “Why didn’t I hear any of this from you over this past month?”
“We didn’t have time to go into the technicalities then,” she explained.
“So she’s telling you now!” Soo-ah broke in.
Seo-joon opened his mouth to say something back, but Tae-hoon, the shorter MC seated on Soo-ah’s other side, held up a hand to cut him off. “Take it from me, Han Seo-joon, and my many, many, many years of experience-if a woman is telling you something now, do not argue.”
“I wasn’t going to-” he protested as many of the guys around him started voicing their agreement. A number of the girls around the table (presumably the girlfriends) looked on approvingly.
“If you value your life,” Tae-hoon went on, his voice throbbing dramatically, “you will hold up your hands-like so-and just say ‘OK, I got it.’”
Seo-joon made a wry face at him, but slowly raised his hands in surrender and parroted, “OK, I got it.”
Soo-ah beamed at Tae-hoon. “My Hoon-ie is so smart!” she simpered.
“That’s because my jagi-ya trained me well!” he cooed back.
“She did,” Soo-jin confirmed to Na-bi as everyone turned away from the overt PDA.
“Can I put my hands down now?” Seo-joon demanded.
The noise in the dining room had largely died down when people finished their meals and began to trickle out. Seo-joon’s mother and sister had departed together with the Im family, but there was still a lot of activity at the Saebeom High table. He knew it wouldn’t last for much longer, though, because people were putting on their coats and debating on where to go next.
“Seo-joon-ah, you sure you don’t wanna come with us?” Choi Man-shik asked him. His coat was already on and one arm was around his girlfriend.
“Yes, I’m sure,” he answered with a rueful smile. His high school classmates were a friendly bunch, but they were also best in controlled doses. Moreover, the adrenaline rush from the wedding performance was gone. “Singing those songs took a lot out of me and I am just about to crash.”
Man-shik nodded understandingly. “Well, it was worth it. You did great.”
“Thanks. Let’s get together another time.”
They slapped a high-five to seal the deal. “You got it.”
Further down the table from him, Na-bi was saying her farewells to the girls and posing for some final selcas. “Don’t forget, you’re one of us now!” Choi Soo-ah told her. “I don’t care what your real high school says, you are an honorary member of Saebeom High School Class of 2020!”
“I’m from way outside Seoul, so they don’t have to know,” Na-bi laughed. “It was great meeting all of you. Take care, OK?”
“You, too! Bye-bye!”
Seo-joon watched her wave the last of his classmates out the door and begin to collect her belongings. He truly was tired, but he also wasn’t ready to just go home and have to be alone with his thoughts.
“Ready to go, Na-bi-ssi?” he asked as he hoisted himself to his feet and donned his coat.
He cringed inwardly the moment the words were out of his mouth. It sounded like the kind of thing people asked each other when they went somewhere together (instead of just happening to be in the same place at the same time).
Fortunately, she didn’t seem to take it that way. “Just about,” she answered politely.
They joined the stragglers streaming towards the exits, and he watched her dig around in her bag for her phone. “Are you going anywhere else from here?”
“Me? No.” She shook her head as she launched the taxi-hailing app on her phone. “I’m just going home. Why?”
He took a deep breath. “How about we go somewhere for a nightcap first?”
“To be honest,” Na-bi said sometime later, “I thought we were going to go for something like chicken and beer.”
They were sitting at the bar in the basement of a swanky Gangnam hotel. Its dark gray walls, cherrywood fixtures, and modern decor made it a popular backdrop for TV dramas. At one end of the space, past the sparsely occupied tables, a musician picked out a quiet jazz tune on the grand piano.
“I do owe you big-time,” Seo-joon reminded her as the bartender brought their drinks and some complimentary snacks. “We’re of legal drinking age, it would be a shame to let these nice clothes go to waste, and I thought it would be nice to go to someplace like this for a change. But if you want chicken and beer, we can go get that, too.”
She laughed. “No, no, this is absolutely fine. More than fine, it’s very nice.”
“Well,” he said then, raising his Scotch in a toast, “here’s to you. For the millionth time, thank you for all your help.”
“And for the millionth time, I was happy to do it.” Na-bi clinked her glass against his. “The number turned out really well, didn’t it? Practically everyone joined in, even Soo-ho’s father and his celebrity friends. And Go-woon has a beautiful voice.”
“Runs in the family,” he preened.
“Does she want to sing professionally?” she asked, selecting an almond and putting it in her mouth.
“I’m not sure. But she has said that she wants to finish college while she figures things out.”
“Smart girl.”
She stole a glance at Seo-joon as they sipped their drinks in companionable silence. A lot seemed to have gone out of him now that the wedding and their song number were over, but then they had been building up to it for a month. Even she was feeling a bit drained.
“I didn’t know you were close with Yoon Se-yeon,” she ventured after a while.
He nodded, looking down into his tumbler. “We were trainees together until he got picked to debut.”
“I met him a couple of times when he and Cantarella were promoting at the same time. We all sort of had a crush on him,” Na-bi admitted.
“You did?” Seo-joon asked, arching an eyebrow.
“What can I say? We didn’t know many boys outside our agency, and he was always very nice. He was a great singer, too. We were… very sorry when he died.” Congratulations on killing the conversation, you idiot, she told herself as his expression closed up.
“It was a waste,” he agreed in a quiet voice.
“I’m sorry I brought that up,” she apologized hastily. “I really wasn’t sure if I should mention it, but I didn’t think it was right to ignore the fact that Se-yeon-ssi is gone.”
“It’s OK. It was nice to remember him today, both the good and the bad.” He smiled then, leaning his chin on his fist. “So,” he continued in a more conversational tone, “if all of the Cantarella members had a crush on Se-yeon, does that mean all of you like guys who are very nice and sing well?”
They ordered another round, but they could stretch their drinks only so much until closing time. “I never thought I would close down one of these places,” Na-bi remarked, slipping a few bills into the bartender’s tip box. (She had declared that she would take care of that since Seo-joon had paid for the drinks.)
“Now we can both cross that off our bucket lists.” After donning his coat, he picked up hers and held it out for her. Unlike his, which seemed to have soaked up all the smells of the wedding buffet, her coat still smelled a bit of her flowery-citrusy perfume. “Here.”
She eyed it for a moment before slipping her arms into the sleeves with a self-conscious laugh. “Thanks.”
They exited the bar and made their way to the main lobby. Fortunately, there were a few taxis waiting at the stand outside the entrance. Na-bi pumped her fist in triumph when she saw them. “Assa…! Hey, you try waiting for a ride on a winter night while wearing a skirt,” she said when he chuckled.
“No, thanks.” Seo-joon helped her into the cab at the front of the line. “Text me when you get home.”
“You, too.” She smiled at him as she arranged her coat over her knees. “Thanks for… well, all of this. It was a lot of fun.”
“It was a lot of fun for me, too.” It had certainly kept him focused on doing something good for two of his very best friends. “Maybe we can collaborate on something for work this time.”
“Sure, I’d like that. Good night, Seo-joon-ssi.”
“Night.” He shut the car door and waved as the taxi drove away.