Chapter 13: I Thee Wed…and Bed? – July 25 – August 14, 2021
Yun stared at her sister’s reflection in the mirror.
“Yuni, you’re beautiful,” she whispered breathlessly.
Yunyeong’s eyes met hers in the looking glass. “So are you.”
“What you mean is that I manage not to look like a beached whale in this dress.”
Yunyeong giggled. “Yun, you barely look pregnant. And I think, even come December, it will be impossible for you to look like a beached whale.”
Yunseong scrutinized her own appearance. She looked all right. The color was still good on her. And the fabric was light enough that she wasn’t burning up. A definite plus.
“Thanks for agreeing to this dress. I’m mostly comfortable in it.” She glanced at her sister’s full bell skirt. “Aren’t you hot in that contraption?”
Yunyeong giggled. “I’m fine, and I adore this dress,” she purred.
Then she spun around. As though she wasn’t dragging thirty pounds of material with her. Yunseong smiled at her.
“Jungkook won’t be able to take his eyes off you.”
—
Her prediction came true. Jungkook stared in absolute awe at his lovely bride as she walked down the aisle an hour later. Their history replayed itself in his head as he watched her make her slow journey towards him on her appa’s arm.
For a little while two years ago, he had doubted his ability to win her affection. Yunyeong had hidden herself so deep down inside of her own heart that the only way he could see to reach her had been through their garden. His labor of love, along with a lot of gentle patience, had worked wonders. Yuni had opened up to him and told him the black truth that she had entrusted to no one else. It still left him awestruck. That she had chosen to trust her heart to him. He vowed to cherish it always. She was so precious to him.
As she strode softly down the aisle towards Kookie, her face lit up like a beacon. There was an answering light in his eyes. She was so in love with this tender man. She was melting just looking at him. Truthfully, she was terrified about spending the night with him tonight. But there was nothing she wanted more in life than this gentle boy. His captivating smile. Those gorgeous eyes. Those strong arms. That beautiful heart.
Kookie was one of the rare gifts life had given to her, and she planned to take very good care of him for the rest of their lives.
—
Tae glanced over at Yun. She looked absolutely ravishing in that deep green dress. He wanted to pull her behind a pew and kiss her pert lips. He sighed. Of course, he couldn’t do that. He wouldn’t do that. But it didn’t stop him from wanting to.
And watching Jungkook and Yunyeong get married made his heart burn for a similar day for him and Yun. Would it ever happen? Would he ever be able to convince her that she was the light of his life? And that he was truly her knight in shining armor?
She glanced into his eyes accidentally then, and he surprised a look of such intense sorrow that his heart felt pierced as though by a blade. Their eyes locked for several long seconds, and he lost the ability to breathe. Whether from the pain piercing him through her or from his desire for her, he was unsure. But one thing was for certain, she was in pain. And he longed to relieve her of it.
—
“Yuni?”
She turned towards her husband. “Why, hello, Mr. Jeon.” A sweet smile curved her lips.
“Hello, Mrs. Jeon,” he responded as a similar smile teased his own lips.
“Is it time for our dance?” she queried.
He nodded as he drew her gently into his arms. “Yes,” he breathed that one word, but his eyes were speaking so many more.
She was tumbling into that gaze, losing herself in the deep obsidian waters there. Hoping that she’d never find her way out again. She wanted to be lost in Kookie’s eyes. Always.
“I can’t wait to get you alone,” he murmured as he began to lead her around the dance floor.
He felt her tense. He bowed his head near her ear.
“Don’t be scared, Yuni. Remember, we don’t have to do anything tonight. I’m just looking forward to holding you in my arms all night long.”
Now her heart melted. And so did her expression as she gazed into those beautiful eyes of his. “Kookie…”
“Only what you’re comfortable with, Yuni. I mean it. We have all the time in the world. Besides,” he whispered in her ear, “we don’t want you to get pregnant too soon. We have a whole year of school to finish yet.”
He nuzzled the side of her neck, his nose sliding over her skin. His breath trespassing there too. Melting her into a big puddle in the middle of the dance floor. It was a good thing his arms were holding her up.
He admitted, “I’m just looking forward to spending the week with you in our garden.”
They were spending their wedding night at his grandparents’ house while Gran and Pop stayed with his parents. They had happily surrendered their property to the young couple for the first night of their marriage. Kookie was going to drive her out to their garden as soon as the festivities ended. He couldn’t wait to be alone there with her.
He knew his Gran had baked all sorts of goodies for them too. His mouth was watering just thinking about it. Yes, several wonderful things awaited them tonight…even if Yuni couldn’t bring herself to go all the way with him just yet. He knew they’d get there eventually.
—
“Yun, may I have this dance?”
Tae’s breath tickled her neck. And caused painful echoes to resurface. She turned around, and her eyes collided with his. The last time he’d asked her to dance, he had broken up with her.
“We don’t have the best track record dancing together,” she murmured.
Was that a commentary on the vagaries of their relationship?
He closed his eyes, and a spasm of pain rippled across his face. She was instantly sorry she’d said anything.
“Tae, I’m sorry—”
“No. Quite right. I won’t bother you again tonight.”
Her heart released a pang as he turned away from her. She reached out and snagged his hand with her own.
“Tae…”
He turned back towards her with tears in his eyes. “It’s all right, Yun. I don’t want to make you feel uncomfortable. I thought…I just thought two friends could dance, that’s all.”
“These two friends can dance. Forgive my ill temper. Please.” Her eyes were beseeching him. “Today has just been difficult. And I’m so tired. Watching Yuni get everything her heart has ever desired has been wonderful. And…”
“Difficult.” His eyes caressed hers. “I understand. Come here.”
He opened his arm to her, and she melted into him until her chest bumped his. He drew the hand holding his towards his chest as his other arm encircled her waist.
“You look absolutely beautiful tonight, Yun,” he breathed into her ear. “Not that you don’t always look wonderful,” he mumbled under his breath a moment later.
The second sentence actually did more to melt her heart than the first. She smiled up into his eyes.
“Thank you, Tae,” she murmured.
For a moment, her eyes fell to trace his lips, then she pillowed her head over his heart as she let him lead her around the dance floor. They didn’t talk anymore. They simply reveled in the feel of the other’s arms surrounding them.
That embrace was like coming home.
—
Stepping into their garden always felt like coming home. Kookie opened the gate and led her in, his fingers securely laced with hers. She was nervous about tonight, but she was blissfully happy to be here…in their secret garden…with Kookie.
The moon was nearly full tonight. It had just completed yesterday morning. They’d missed it by a day. But it was still beautiful. And it illuminated their garden.
Kookie led her to their bench. He sat down and pulled her onto his lap. She wound her arms around his neck and bent her head to surrender her lips to his. They kissed sweetly for several moments before he deepened their kiss.
He wanted to move very slowly tonight. He was going to test her responses every step of the way. He knew she’d been nervous about their wedding night for months.
“Thank you,” he whispered against her lips, “for taking a chance on me. For trusting me enough to take this leap with me.”
She smiled. “Kookie, I know I’m safe with you. I love you so much. Thank you…for your patience.”
“You don’t need to thank me, Yuni. You are worth all the patience in the world to me. I’m just thankful you’re here with me. That you let me be the one to win your heart.”
Her lips found his again. After a blissful while, she stood up and tugged on his hand, leading him back inside his grandparents’ house.
“I love that we’re here. Where you spent a good deal of your childhood.”
“You really don’t mind that we’re staying at my grandparents’ farm?”
“Mind? Why would I mind?”
He glanced around. “Well, it’s an old house. It’s not very romantic.”
“Romantic? Kookie! Need I remind you that a boy who barely knew me built me a beautiful, walled, rose garden in the backyard of this old house? What’s more romantic than a secret garden?”
He smiled at her as he chuckled. “That is why I wanted to stay the night here.”
“I love your grandparents’ house. I always feel like I’m coming home when we come out here. Your Gran feels like my own. Your Pop too. Kookie, you’ve given me so much!
“You gave me back my sense of self after he raped me. You made me realize that I could still feel good things in life. Not just bad. And you gave me a whole new family to love. Yours. But best of all, I got your sweet self. Your heart is the most beautiful one of all. I love you so much.”
She tugged on his hand again. It was funny. She seemed in a hurry to take him to their bedroom tonight. He was more than happy to linger in the garden. Under the moonlight. Just enjoying soft kisses together.
Yet she seemed almost…impatient.
“What’s the hurry, Yuni?”
“I’ve psyched myself up for this. I don’t want to lose my nerve.”
“It’s okay if you lose your nerve,” he murmured softly.
Her eyes met his, and hers began to leak tears. “I want to give you this gift, Kookie. You deserve it.”
“I can’t deserve a gift, Yuni. And you’ll give it to me when you’re ready. And not one moment before. Up until the very last second, you have the freedom to tell me no. I can handle it.”
His words broke something in her then. And her fear fled. He really understood her. He really loved her. Suddenly, she had complete confidence that they were going to have a beautiful life together.
“Come, Kookie, let’s go to bed,” she murmured. “I want to taste your lips some more.”
Those lips curved into a sweet smile as he allowed his wife to lead him off to their bedroom. Tonight was bound to be interesting…
Even if he was shaking like a leaf. Unbeknownst to her, he was battling his own fear. He didn’t want to do anything that would hurt his precious Yuni. He was going to make sure they took things nice and slow. He would confirm that she was enjoying each step of the process, or they wouldn’t proceed any further.
A few moments later, she paused on the threshold of the bedroom. She turned back towards him.
“Kookie, what’s wrong? You’re trembling.” Her eyes slid along his form as her heart turned over.
“I…I don’t want to hurt you, Yuni.”
That heart shifted violently now. “Oh, Kookie! That’s impossible. You don’t have it in you to hurt me. Come, my love. Kiss me.”
So Jungkook lowered his face until his lips brushed hers in the most tender kiss Yunyeong could ever have imagined. His touch that night would be every bit as gentle as his mouth was on her own right now.
—
“Jimin?” Jumi asked one night in early August as they sat on her bed together.
He was playing his guitar and singing softly.
“Hmm?”
“Are you nervous about tomorrow?”
His fingers continued to strum the strings as his eyes shifted to meet hers. His lips curved into a sweet smile.
“Not at all. I can’t wait! I feel like I’ve waited forever to marry you.”
Her eyes slid away from his. She glanced down at the comforter underneath her. He watched as her fingers picked at it.
“Are you?” he asked as his fingers stilled on his guitar. Then he bent to set it on the floor before he turned back towards her.
She nodded. In a tiny voice, she whispered, “I hate being the center of attention.”
“Is that why you were so prickly with me that first day in class when the teacher dragged us up on the stage?”
She glanced sharply at him. “You know exactly why I was prickly with you!”
He laughed. “Because I was trying to look up your skirt?” His eyes were teasing her now. As were the corners of his lips. They kept quirking up and down as though he was containing a great deal of laughter. But at the expression on her face, his own fell.
“What is it, Jumi?”
Her lip trembled, and a tear invaded her eye. She closed her eyelids then in an attempt to hide from him. She didn’t want to tell him what was hurting her heart. They’d had this conversation too many times already. She just couldn’t seem to get over it.
She had gone shopping for a wedding dress with Jungkook’s fiancé back in the middle of July. Jumi had found one that Yunyeong swore made her astoundingly beautiful, but Jumi still wasn’t secure in her own body. It was just that it had never pleased anyone. Her appa had used it as a punching bag every time she’d displeased him for so many years. Even her first boyfriend had found her face so ugly that he’d broken it. Jumi had then piled weight on in an effort to hide from anyone else’s unwanted attention. But when she had finally decided she wanted to lose that weight, she’d found it almost impossible to shed those pounds. She’d been stressed out by school over the last three months too, which hadn’t helped. She’d indulged in too many bags of chips and too many cartons of ice cream.
“It’s just that I wanted to look beautiful for you tomorrow, Jiminie. But I disappointed myself,” she murmured.
Puzzled, he furrowed his brow. “What are you talking about?”
“I wanted to slim down before our wedding, but I was so stressed the last few weeks that I binged on food instead of dieting.”
“Jumi,” he frowned, “are you afraid that you’re going to disappoint me?”
She nodded her head as her tears spilled over.
“Well, you won’t disappoint me,” he whispered. “Jumi, you could never disappoint me. Whether you weigh a hundred pounds or two hundred. I love you just the way you are.”
Her eyes popped open, and she stared at him in confusion. She was sitting next to him, her legs stretched out in front of her, and her loose skirt didn’t quite reach her knees. His hand came to rest on her left knee. Then his fingers slowly inched their way upward, past her knee. The pads of those fingers brushed the silky skin on the inside of her thigh a few times, and Jimin’s eyes fluttered shut as he enjoyed the satiny feel of her beneath his fingers. Then, his glorious eyes opened and collided with hers as he spoke.
“You’re so soft here. And no matter how much you weigh – whether you lose weight over the next year or you put on fifty pounds while you’re pregnant – your skin will still tempt me to touch you.”
As she stared into those beautiful, chocolate depths and listened to that sweet, melodious voice, she melted. Also, under the kind touch of those fingers which refused to travel too high but still managed to release tremors under her skin.
Then his hand moved to cup her cheek as he turned fully towards her. His fingers skimmed her skin as his eyes burned into hers.
“And your eyes will be just as captivating ten years from now as they are right now. Their light has nothing to do with the number on the bathroom scale. But it is the indefinable thing that draws me to you.”
Next, his eyes fell to caress her lips. “And your delicious mouth will always beckon me to embrace it with my own. The softness of your lips, the allure of your mouth, isn’t dependent upon your weight, Jumi.”
He leaned towards her and took her mouth with his own. And he decided to kiss her more deeply than he ever had before. He had always held himself back because he respected her too much to hurt her or pressure her. But today he was realizing that perhaps she needed to know how very much he desired her. So he poured all of himself into that kiss, and Jumi drowned under the heat of his ardor.
In the middle of that kiss, she opened her eyes in shock. Did Jimin really want her? He wasn’t going to grow tired of her? Or bored with her? His eyes weren’t going to wander towards some prettier girl someday?
She pulled away. “You won’t regret marrying me, Jimin?”
“What? No! Of course not.”
“Even if someone prettier comes along and flirts with you?”
He stared at her in consternation.
“All I’ve ever wanted is to be beautiful. And wanted,” she whispered to herself.
But, of course, Jimin heard it.
“Jumi,” Tenderness dueled with exasperation in his voice. “I do want you. You are beautiful.”
Her eyes met his. “You keep saying that.” She glanced towards the doorway as though a mirror had materialized there. “But I just can’t see it.”
Jimin climbed off her bed and left the room. His departure physically hurt her, and she felt a sob bubbling up from deep within her soul. She had just made herself extremely vulnerable to him, and he had walked out the door. Without a word.
She was tired of weeping. Of feeling weak. Before she’d met Jimin, she had developed a hard shell to hide behind. But he had cracked it with his kindness, and she was finding rebuilding her defenses to be difficult. But, oh, how she longed for them! She hated hurting!
She reached for a Kleenex and blew her nose. Just as Jimin returned, carrying a little mirror in his hand. He settled himself on the bed next to her again. He held the mirror up in front of her.
“Jumi, look at yourself. Tell me what you see.”
“A fat girl.”
“Jumi!” his voice cracked. “Would you please speak kindly to my fiancé?”
“What? It’s the truth,” she responded softly, but she felt chastened by the high pitch of his voice.
His facial expression melted as he read the distress in her eyes. “Jumi,” he spoke more softly. “Look at just one of your features. Tell me about it.”
Her eyes landed on…what else?
“My nose. It’s broken.”
His heart hurt. He glanced at her nose. It was just a little bent.
“I told you. It gives your face character.”
“I don’t want character! I want beauty!”
“You have both,” he replied gently. “You’re beautiful. Your face has fascinated me since the first time I ever glanced your way. When I saw your profile that first day, I thought it was just perfect. I still do. If anything, you’re more beautiful to me today than you were then.”
She simply stared at him.
“Look at your nose again.”
Reluctantly, she did as she was bid. Then she stifled a sob as she watched Jimin’s lips enter the image staring back at her. Those plump lips rained kisses down on her sad nose. In an attempt to cheer it. Her face was gladdened by the perusal of that gentle mouth.
Then it whispered, “Now, look at your glorious eyes.”
She lifted her gaze to meet itself in the looking glass. Her eyes were…what else? Brown.
“They’re brown,” she asserted lamely.
“No. They’re not.” She could see those lips curving into a smile on her cheek. “They are a perfect shade of dark brown. Deep and rich. They’re kobicha.”
Jimin used a Japanese term to describe them. Kobicha was a deep, dark, traditional shade of brown used to design kimonos. The word was often used to describe a form of flattery.
“Are you trying to brown-nose me?” she whispered, her natural humor surfacing as she used the inherent wordplay of his description.
He laughed at her pun. “No. Of course not. I’m just trying to show you how beautiful your eyes are. But I love your lips just as much. Aren’t they pretty?”
As she studied her lips in the mirror, he bent his own to her ear and whispered, “They’re pretty, but they’re also delicious and lovely to touch.”
He grabbed the mirror and set it on her nightstand. Then he lifted his hand to rub his thumb across her bottom lip. He tugged it downwards slightly to part her lips, and he swallowed. Then he ran the tip of his index finger along the outline of her upper lip.
“They’re beautiful, but, mostly, I want to taste them.” He bent his head and began to devastate those lips until he’d left them both panting.
Leaning his forehead against hers, he murmured, “Have I convinced you yet that you’re desirable?”
“I guess so, Jimin,” she responded in a tiny voice.
“Good. Because you are torturing me. I can’t have you until tomorrow night. So I need to get out of this bed right now!! I’ll see you tomorrow!”
He jumped off the bed and stood staring down at her. She was driving him nuts right now. But she seemed to be completely oblivious to the effect she had upon him.
She furrowed her brow at him. “Where are you going? It’s only eight o’clock.”
“To reclaim my sanity, Jumi. You’re driving me insane. That’s how much I want you.”
“Really?” Her brow cleared, and a smile spread slowly across her countenance. “Let’s go to the family room and watch TV then. I don’t want to kiss you goodnight yet.”
He groaned. One more day. He only had to make it through a few more hours. And tomorrow he’d get to see her in her wedding dress. He smiled in anticipation. Jumi was sure to be ravishing…
—
“How are you tonight, love?” Naru growled in her ear as he joined Minha on the couch.
His arm slid around her and drew her close.
“Come. Sit on my lap.”
She quirked a dark brow at him. “Why, sir! That sounds like a dangerous occupation for a woman in my position to be flirting around with.”
“A woman in your position?”
She nodded definitively. “A single eomma.”
“Ah. But didn’t you hear? You’re no longer a single eomma. You are now a fiancé too. Soon to be my wife.” He bent his head and began to nuzzle her neck.
She giggled. “Naru, stop doing that! It’s been difficult enough to keep you out of my bed the last few months! We’re almost there!”
“Difficult! I would say nigh unto impossible! I’ve spent several nights in your bed.”
“You know what I mean.”
“Indeed I do. My old friends would not believe how staid I’ve become in my old age.”
She trilled with laughter. “Your old age?! Naru, you’re all of what? Twenty-five?”
“Precisely. I am a quarter of a century old!”
She shook her head. “Whatever shall I do? I hadn’t realized I was planning to marry an old man. Should I call off the wedding?”
“You better not,” he growled again. “Or I’ll be forced to crawl into your bed anyway.”
“Is that a threat?” she countered, her eyes dancing.
“Absolutely.”
“Mmm. I’d best cave gracefully then. I guess I won’t call off the wedding…”
“You’ll be glad you made that choice. Let me give you a preview of what’s to come,” he murmured.
Then he bent his head and claimed her lips in a very sweet and provocative kiss.
—
Jumi stood staring at her reflection in the mirror. Her least favorite place to be.
“You look beautiful, Jumi,” Yunyeong spoke quietly from the shadows.
Jumi glanced up to meet her friend’s eyes in the mirror. “Do you really think that, or are you just being nice?”
If there was one thing Jumi had learned about Jungkook’s wife, it was that she was unfailingly kind. Yunyeong’s smile wobbled a bit as she gazed at Jimin’s bride.
“You are quite beautiful, Jumi. Can you not see it?”
Jumi shook her head as tears filled her eyes. “No.”
“Not even today? Not even in that gorgeous dress with your hair piled up on top of your head, and all those cute, little wispies framing your face?”
Jumi shrugged. “My nose is still broken.”
Astounded, Yunyeong stared at her. “What? Your nose is broken?”
Jumi glanced at her sharply as Yunyeong crossed the room to stand in front of her. She bent forward and examined Jumi’s nose.
“Hmm. I guess, it is just slightly off-center, but I never noticed it. It doesn’t detract from your beauty.”
Jumi stared at her in shock. “You’re being honest with me, aren’t you?”
Yunyeong met her eyes. “Of course. I wouldn’t lie to you. You are quite pretty, Jumi. And Jimin is obviously nuts about you. I’ve seen how he looks at you.”
“How does he look at me?”
Yunyeong smiled sweetly at her. “The same way Kookie looks at me.”
Jumi gasped. She had seen the yearning in the eyes of the boy Yunyeong had married. “Jimin really looks at me like that?” she asked, her voice full of awe.
Yunyeong chuckled and bobbed her head. “He really does. Often.”
Jumi smiled suddenly and glanced at her reflection. “You really never noticed that my nose is broken?”
Yunyeong shook her head. “Nope.”
“And you really think I’m beautiful?”
Jumi stared at her image for a long time as Yunyeong grinned at her and nodded again. Jumi’s eyes slid along the bent bridge of her nose. Up over her wide forehead. Then, across her high cheekbone. Finally, her gaze landed on her lips. Her quite ordinary lips.
Then the quiet girl gave her a bit of advice. “Jumi, I encourage you to stand in front of the mirror every day and tell yourself that you’re beautiful. I know it sounds cheesy, but it works. Eventually, those words make their way down into your spirit, and you begin to believe them.”
Jumi choked back a sob. “You don’t think I’m fat?”
“Fat?” Yunyeong looked truly amazed by that question. “No. But even if you were, so what? That wouldn’t stop you from being beautiful.”
“Does it really work? Speaking to yourself?”
“Sure, it does. Have you ever heard someone speak something over you repeatedly for a long time? Those words become hard to shake. Whether they’re good or bad.”
Boy, had she ever had someone speak bad words over her! For a very long time. They still reverberated in her heart.
Tears began to stream down her face. Yunyeong looked suddenly alarmed. She lunged for a Kleenex box and held it out towards Jumi.
“Sweetheart, why are you crying?” she whispered after Jumi had grabbed a Kleenex and wiped her face to prevent her tears from staining her dress.
“My appa used to tell me how worthless I was. All the time. My old boyfriend too.”
“Ahhh. So you understand the power of words. Then, let me speak some truthful words over you today. To combat the lies you’ve been fed.”
Yunyeong met her eyes. “Jumi, you are a sweetheart of a girl, and Jimin is truly blessed not just to have met you but also to be marrying you today. You are a very beautiful girl who absolutely delights Jimin. He is so happy to be marrying you.
“But even if he weren’t marrying you today, that wouldn’t change how precious you are and how worthy of love you are. You were born for love. You were designed to give love and to receive love. So don’t feel guilty that Jimin loves you. And don’t doubt that he loves you. Instead, enjoy his love. And lavish him with your own.”
Jumi burst into tears and reached out to cling to Yunyeong. She slipped her arms around the devastated girl and pulled her close.
“Be patient with yourself and with him,” Yunyeong murmured, “and always speak kindly to and of yourself. You are worth all the love you can lavish on yourself too. It’s okay to like yourself, Jumi. It is, in fact, good to love yourself.” She tightened her arms around the younger girl and squeezed her softly.
After a few moments, they drew apart, and Jumi blew her nose. They both glanced into the wall-length mirror. Their eyes met.
“Come on, Jumi. Practice right now. Tell yourself what a stunningly beautiful bride you are today.” Yunyeong’s voice was soft and sweet, a perfect complement to her husband’s.
Jumi gazed into the reflection of her own eyes. “I am beautiful. I’m a beautiful bride,” she mumbled.
“See?” Yunyeong asked with humor lacing her tone. “That didn’t kill you. And the more you do it, the stronger it will make you.”
“It was hard,” Jumi admitted in a tiny voice.
Yunyeong’s smile wobbled. “I know,” she responded as she put her arm around Jumi’s shoulders, “but it will get easier the more you do it.”
“Really?” Her eyes met the older girl’s.
Yunyeong bobbed her head.
Jumi smiled at her.
“Ready to go receive your husband?”
Jumi beamed. She was definitely ready for that.
—
“Ajin, do you understand what a flower girl does?” Minha asked her daughter as they stood at the back of the chapel waiting for the music to start.
“I just drop the petals along the ground as I walk towards Appa, right?”
Minha felt a tear slip into her eye at her daughter’s affectionate name for Naru.
“Yes, my love.”
The little girl peeked around the doorway. “Appa looks nervous! And so excited! I think he can’t wait to see you, Eomma.” She beamed up at her mother as she came to stand next to her again.
Minha quirked her eyebrows. “He looks nervous? It’s probably because he knows he’s giving up all those other girls,” she muttered under her breath.
“It is not,” Nari breathed into her ear. “My brother worships the ground you walk on. He adores you. You do know that, don’t you, Minha? I have never before seen him look at any woman the way he looks at you.”
Minha turned to smile at Nari. “I am so glad you agreed to be my matron of honor! You’re half the reason I love Naru so much! He gave me the best girl friend I’ve ever had too!”
Nari beamed at her before grasping her son gently by the arm. “Jungju! Stop goofing around. Stand up straight.” She licked her finger and smoothed his eyebrows. “Now. You know what you’re supposed to do, right?”
He nodded. “Walk next to Ajin and carry this silly-looking pillow.”
A puff of air escaped Nari’s nose as she held back her laughter. “That’s right. Then, you go stand next to Appa. Okay?”
The little boy nodded earnestly. Suddenly, Nari stood up straight. As though at attention.
“The music is starting!” she exclaimed. “Everyone, in your positions.” She smiled down at the children. “I’m going first. Remember to wait until Minha tells you to follow me.”
Ajin beamed up at her, and Jungju nodded his head.
“Okay, Eomma,” he bounced up and down on his toes.
Nari entered the chapel and walked down the aisle towards her husband. Happy echoes were surrounding her today. She was remembering a day very much like this one six years ago. She smiled at Yoongi as she approached him. When she reached the end of the aisle, she stepped to the left, opposite her husband, and glanced back to watch her adorable son and Minha’s beautiful daughter finish their trip down the aisle. Ajin came to stand next to her as Jungju joined his appa.
Then all eyes lifted to watch the captivating woman standing at the back of the chapel. But Nari watched her twin. The look of utter astonishment that enveloped his whole face was completely worth missing Minha take her first few steps towards him. Naru was completely taken.
Nari wondered when her brother’s heart had flown from his chest. By the time she’d met Minha, it was obvious that he had been a goner for quite a while. Nari’s face was wreathed in a magnificent smile as she watched the couple speak their vows to one another. She felt a sense of immense peace fill her soul. Her family was settled and complete now. With the exception of one or two more children who might be added to the mix over the next few years.
But the thing that most comforted her heart was that she and Naru had become the best of friends. And Yoongi seemed to enjoy her brother’s company as much as she reveled in Minha’s. And, of course, both she and Naru had made peace with their parents. It might have taken several years to achieve this serenity, but it had been well worth the wait. As she was sure Naru would attest to.
She beamed as she saw him lean forward and kiss his new wife tenderly. A moment later, he bent to pick up his new daughter and carry her on his hip as he and Minha walked down the aisle and exited the back of the chapel. Nari’s brother had a ready-made family all of his own now.
