#Side Story 08
Gyo-ha, as the groom’s younger brother, had to move separately from Hwi-kyung. Nominally, he was tasked with collecting wedding gifts.
Gyo-ha, being from a wealthy family, wasn’t actually collecting money gifts, but rather had been ordered to greet the elders under the pretext of Sung-ha’s wedding. If Chairman Lee Baek-gyeong had assigned this task, Gyo-ha would have cleanly ignored it, but ignoring his mother’s instructions was difficult even for the undutiful son Gyo-ha.
He couldn’t catch his breath as his father’s business acquaintances continuously approached him with greetings. Gyo-ha was pushed and pulled by adults who had no intention of letting him go, using the excuse that they hadn’t seen him in a long time.
“I’m so moved that Sung-ha is getting married. I heard the bride is an extraordinary beauty.”
“Which family is she from?”
“Just an entertainment company employee, they say.”
“Oh my. Well, with Sung-ha’s personality, it would be difficult to match him with a good family anyway.”
The Mrs. from A Construction and the Chairman of K Cosmetics were holding a bride and groom evaluation at the entrance of the wedding hall. No matter how lavish the wedding, shallow people clung to Se-young’s background like leeches.
It was truly incomprehensible to Gyo-ha. From any perspective, Se-young had chosen Sung-ha calculating his worth, but Sung-ha seemed genuinely smitten with her. After all, a sharp and tough personality was Sung-ha’s fundamental preference.
When the couple themselves were happy, why were others criticizing the bride’s family background? If they weren’t entangled in business, Gyo-ha would have tactlessly jumped into the conversation saying, “What about her family? Is your family better than mine?”
But he couldn’t ruin someone else’s wedding. As much as he wanted to turn everything upside down and go find Hwi-kyung, Gyo-ha restrained himself from intervening with the mission of quickly making Sung-ha a married man.
To be honest, he was also afraid of Se-young. If he picked a fight with these distinguished people and ruined the wedding, she would be the first to come after him, not anyone else.
He was still too young to die getting beaten for ruining someone’s wedding. Though he had regressed sixteen times and was actually older than his father, his heart was always youthful. Besides, hadn’t Hwi-kyung assured him there was no need to grow up? Gyo-ha planned to continue living young and immature.
As Gyo-ha remained silent, the adults who had been whispering among themselves turned their attention to him. Unlike Sung-ha who was a terrible groom candidate due to his broken personality, Gyo-ha wasn’t a bad prospect, except for the fact that his head was a “flower garden.”
Although as the youngest he probably wouldn’t inherit much of the business, wasn’t he the Chairman and his wife’s favorite? The sound of calculators clicking in their heads was deafening. Even without mind-reading abilities, Gyo-ha could see the “how would he be as our son-in-law?” thought in the adults’ eyes.
This came after a previous round of matchmaking talk had already swept past Gyo-ha. About four more people in front of these adults bombarded Gyo-ha with similar questions.
“Gyo-ha, you don’t have a girlfriend yet, right?”
“Me?”
“Yes. I don’t think I’ve heard that you’re seeing anyone.”
Dealing with wealthy elders desperate to match eligible young men and women was truly exhausting. Especially if most of them were devout Christians or Catholics.
Not everyone with religion becomes a guardian of heteronormativity, but most wealthy Christian people over 50 that Gyo-ha had met seemed to believe that a healthy man would die if he didn’t marry a woman his age.
He didn’t have a girlfriend but he did have a boyfriend… Not knowing how much truth to tell people with obviously conservative faces written all over them, he was speechless.
If he vaguely mentioned having a partner, these people would surely badger him until he confessed who it was.
At times like this, he wished he could let the wedding hall staff rest and collect the money gifts instead. If he looked busy collecting money, the adults wouldn’t approach him so casually.
But Gyo-ha looked idle no matter which way you looked at him. Though he hadn’t left his post for collecting gifts, he was clearly the groom’s family member stationed to entertain guests.
As a result, everyone connected to the BK Group bothered Gyo-ha once. When Jung-hye or Chairman Lee Baek-gyeong weren’t around, like now, their attention was fully directed at Gyo-ha. With every word spoken, there was a sense that they were trying to extract something through conversation.
Though immature, Gyo-ha was experienced in dealing with people and didn’t submit easily, but it wasn’t simple to handle middle-aged businesspeople trying to wedge themselves in like crafty foxes.
One wrong word and he might find himself at a sudden blind date next week. To them, Gyo-ha’s consent or permission wasn’t an important consideration.
“I haven’t graduated from graduate school yet. I’m thinking of marriage only after graduation.”
In the end, this was the carefully chosen response. If this weren’t a wedding venue, he would have upset these conservative elders by saying, “I went to America to marry a man, you know?”
“Come on, how many years will graduation take? You should secure a woman early. Then she can support you while you study.”
“That’s right. These days there aren’t many decent girls, so if there’s someone good, you should marry early.”
“If you’re picky about women because of your good looks, you’ll suffer when you get older.”
What did not graduating from graduate school have to do with getting support through marriage? Gyo-ha kept his mouth shut and just smiled awkwardly. Even knowing they didn’t speak with malice, he was at a loss for how to respond in these situations.
It didn’t feel right to show his displeasure in front of the elders. If he were truly twenty-nine, it might not be a problem, but Gyo-ha was already a fake twenty-nine-year-old who had been through everything.
Even though he had decided to live with a young heart, it would be problematic if relationships with important figures deteriorated because he got irritated in such settings. Gyo-ha also calculated in his head while looking at them. What nonsense would best drive them away…
“Gyo-ha.”
At that moment, like a rope descended from heaven, Hwi-kyung strode purposefully toward Gyo-ha. Having observed from a distance and seeing Gyo-ha continuously trapped by the adults, he had come to rescue him.
“The Chairman is calling for you, let’s go together for a moment.”
Hwi-kyung grabbed Gyo-ha’s arm and pulled him toward himself. The claim that the Chairman was calling was clearly a lie. Lee Baek-gyeong was currently busy lecturing Sung-ha, telling him he’d be disowned if he got divorced.
But even knowing Hwi-kyung’s words were false, Gyo-ha happily followed him. The Mrs. who was about to introduce her second daughter licked her lips in disappointment. For Gyo-ha, it was truly fortunate.
“You looked troubled, so I pulled you away on purpose. Did I interrupt something?”
“No. I really wanted to escape.”
“……”
“They all know my father, so I couldn’t behave rudely.”
This is the problem when entangled in business matters. Gyo-ha sighed deeply while dusting off his crumpled jacket sleeve.
“Perhaps our wedding should be small and in America after all?”
It was unusual for someone who had always insisted on having the biggest wedding in Korea to speak so weakly. Hwi-kyung looked at him as if finding it novel.
“Would you be satisfied with that?”
“No. Honestly, I want it to be grand. But if many people come, you’ll be exhausted.”
“I won’t have guests like that anyway. I don’t have close relationships with people.”
“You might not, but your grandmother’s friends will come in droves.”
After Gyo-ha and Hwi-kyung left Korea, Ok-ja started attending a senior center. True to her preference for multi-person rooms over private ones in the hospital, Ok-ja was rapidly conquering the elderly community with her tremendous sociability.
As Gyo-ha said, if they married in Korea, Hwi-kyung’s guest section would clearly be filled mostly with hunched grandmothers from the senior center. After all, Ok-ja was the only one to sit in the parents’ section, and the only people who might come as Hwi-kyung’s guests were Ok-ja’s acquaintances.
“You don’t like being the subject of people’s gossip.”
No matter how open-minded the elderly might be, they wouldn’t accept a marriage between men as easily as Ok-ja did. Some people might think the invitation was a joke and not show up.
Gyo-ha worried about such things. It was fine if someone spoke ill of him, but the sensitive and considerate Hwi-kyung would surely be affected by it.
Hwi-kyung’s mood as they entered the wedding hall together took priority over a grand ceremony. Gyo-ha was prepared for a small wedding if Hwi-kyung wanted it, even if it meant failing to recoup gift money.
“Hmm.”
“Hwi-kyung?”
“Hmmm….”
“What are you thinking about?”
However, Hwi-kyung’s response was lukewarm even after hearing that Gyo-ha would be satisfied with just a private vow between them as long as they could marry. Since he had been averse to a grand wedding, Gyo-ha expected him to be pleased.
When Hwi-kyung’s attitude remained ambiguous, Gyo-ha leaned in closer toward him. It was a reflexive movement to get a better look at Hwi-kyung’s face as he pondered something.
“If we secretly kiss at someone else’s wedding…”
“What?”
“Would we be punished?”
As the distance closed until they could feel each other’s breath, Hwi-kyung slightly raised his head and met Gyo-ha’s eyes. Gyo-ha rarely showed a flustered expression. Looking at his sophisticated appearance dressed up for someone else’s wedding, Hwi-kyung’s mood became a bit strange.
It was quite cute that someone with a face most suited for formal wear was willing to accommodate a small wedding just to match Hwi-kyung’s preference.
So now Jung Hwi-kyung… was feeling some kind of “attraction point” for the groom’s brother, Lee Gyo-ha, who was as well-dressed as the groom himself. Enough to suddenly think about rubbing lips for a moment.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
