Chapter 2

About two and a half hours into waiting for the groom, there was a knock on the door. Ji Won glanced at the rest of the room's occupants then told the person to enter.

The door slowly opened as Michael, Joon Young's best man and best friend since college walked into the room. Ji Won had never liked him much and had been cordial to him simply because of his relationship with her fiancé but at that moment, she'd never been so glad to see anyone.

She jumped out of her chair and ran to him, holding onto her gown to keep from tripping over the train. "What's going on?

He took a deep breath and tried to avoid her eyes. He'd just come back from trying to convince Joon Young to go through with the wedding and he knew he didn't have the energy to watch Ji Won's heart break. He just couldn't understand why his friend had to wait till the worst possible time to decide he wasn't ready. Michael couldn't help but blame himself for his friend's change of heart – maybe he shouldn't have gone drinking with him the previous night and teased him about losing his freedom. Maybe if he had shut his mouth about all the girls Joon Young would never get to sleep with and how he no longer was in complete control of his life, they'd have been at the reception by now. But instead, he was trying to keep himself from shaking like a leaf in a tornado so that he could articulately relay the awful news to her.

"So where is he?" she asked anxiously. "Is he okay? Why haven't you been answering your phones? What's going on?" she asked, shaking him, trying to get him to speak. "Why didn't he come with you? Is he sick? What's going on?!!?"

As she shook and badgered him, watching his eyes dart around as his lips quivered, realization finally set in. Why else would Michael look at her with embarrassed eyes as he struggled to come up with words?



***

"No, I'll do it," Kyung Ho said, blocking her path. "Why should you go in there and say this? How does that make sense?" he yelled. "Let me do it!"

It wasn't the time for him to finally get all macho on her and Ji Won just wasn't having it. She pushed him away and walked through the door. Hello, it wasn't like it was any bride's dream to go in front of a church in her full regalia and tell all her friends and family, those who'd flown in from far and wide, some she'd never even met, that she'd been jilted at the altar.

Jilted.

Jilted.

As in abandoned. Discarded. Thrown out. Ditched. Dissed. No, not just dissed but diss-missed.

In a million years she wouldn't have imagined this. Kang Ji Won? The girl who'd never been dumped by a guy? The one who still received letters from her second boyfriend?

But why? What had she done? Joon Young had been as interested in the wedding as she was, always suggesting things, nixing ideas, making sure that everything was up to his standards, not worrying about the monetary burden because it was supposed to be their day. Their special day. The most important and happiest day of their lives. But he'd fu.cked it all up.

Her mother tried to stop her from walking into the church but she ignored her. Was she going to be less embarrassed if someone else relayed the news? Told them that they'd wasted their time getting dressed that morning? That they shouldn't have bothered RSVPing? That they shouldn't have thought about their gifts? Gifts. Sh.it. Now she'd have to return all their cash and gifts. Fu.ck.

She pushed open the double doors and as she walked in, the organist started playing Here Comes The Bride.

Okay, was he retarded? What kind of bride walked down the aisle alone? She wanted to scream at the old man for playing that disgusting song but instead, she raised her hand and hoped he understood the message.

And luckily he did.

The bored and tired audience suddenly awoke as she walked down the aisle towards a bare altar. It wasn't exactly a surprise to most of them and they'd only remained in their seats out of courtesy. Of course the wedding wasn't on. Most had long since been hungry as they'd skipped lunch in anticipation of the reception. Word had gotten around that Ji Won's family had hired one of Seoul's premiere chefs and they were all hoping that he lived up to the hype. But now they'd have to make do with drive-thru fastfood.

Ji Won picked up the microphone. Yes, she could do it. It wasn't impossible - it could be done. And had been done by other women before her. She'd just have to dig deep and find her inner strength. She inhaled then turned around to face the crowd. She planted a smile of her face and waved at them. "Hello everyone," she began in what she hoped was a very steady voice. "Thank you so much for taking time out of your busy lives to celebrate my wedding today. Unfortunately, the groom can't be here so the wedding is canceled. I really apologize for the inconvenience but hey, I look great, don't you think?" she asked, twirling around to showcase the gown. Her heart was beating like mad but she ignored it.

The crowd responded by clapping.

"Since there won't be a wedding, how about a celebration of life? My life, your life, everyone's life?"

The crowd cheered again. They could see she was trying to make the best of the situation and they just wanted to make her feel better. Most felt nothing but pity for her and suddenly all their little troubles seemed to pale in comparison. At least, they hadn't been abandoned at the altar.

"Chef Lee is going to be so upset if all his food goes to waste so why don't we just go to the reception and have a big party? After spending so long planning this thing, I need you all to see my decorations and taste the raspberry cake my mother chose. Let's all head there now. The address is on your programs."



***



"I'm so sorry," Kyung Ho said as he hugged her. His girlfriend did the same then they both stood in front of her, alternating their weight from foot to foot, both reluctant to leave. On a different day, Ji Won would have laughed at them because if they were underwater, they'd have looked like synchronized swimmers.

"You guys can go. I'll be okay."

"But I don't want to leave you in this hotel room all by yourself. Why don't you just go home?" he begged.

"We already paid for the room so why should it go to waste?" Besides, she needed some peace and quiet. She'd spent the whole day being fawned over and now she just needed them to leave. She was bone tired and needed to sleep.

She gently shoved him towards the door. "You guys should go. I'm really okay so don't worry. I honestly believe it's for the best." She paused and looked at the bed. "Or do you want to help me get rid of them?" she half-joked, pointing at her sister, Mi Na, and best friend, Eun Hee.

The guests had been great and almost all had shown up for the reception. They'd eaten and danced and tried their best to put her hearts and souls into the so-called celebration of life. And Ji Won might had succeeded if soon after Mina and Eun Hee had helped hand out the cake and goodie bags, they hadn't come up to her room and let out all their frustration.

The crying had been going on for over ten minutes and Ji Won was sure that they'd managed to give themselves headaches.

"You guys need to go. Now," she pressed.

Mina and Eun Hee got off the bed and hugged her, not caring that their tear stained faces were wetting her cheeks.

"What a fu.cking bastard!" Eun Hee muttered. "He'd better not show up or I'll kill him."

Mina disentangled herself from the hug. "As soon as I leave here, I'm going to stake his apartment. If he dares show up, he's dead!" she said with determination her sister had never seen.

Ji Won sighed. "If we weren't meant to be, isn't it better that we didn't get married? If he's not sure that he wants to marry me, then it's better this way."

"But how can't he be sure? You're awesome!" Eun Hee cried before letting out a fresh batch of tears.

After some more coaxing, they finally left Ji Won to her solitude.

She locked the door then walked into the bathroom and washed her face. She stared at her reflection and now that she was all alone, she no longer had to pretend to be unaffected. She stared at her brown eyes. Was that really the face of a rejected woman?

She walked back into the room and jumped on the soft king size bed then turned on the television. She kept flicking channels till the actor, Lee Dong Wook's face appeared on screen. She'd always liked him since 'My Girl' so she checked the details of the movie.

Great.

Was she honestly about to watch a movie called 'Best Couple'?

Frustrated, she threw the remote control at the television, but unluckily, missed it by an inch. But come on. Best Couple? She and Joon Young were supposed to be the best couple. It had been Ji Won and Joon Young for so many years. They'd been the couple all their friends admired and envied. They were the couple everyone else aspired to be. They laughed and played together, supported each other. Loved each other. But there she was on her wedding night, wearing last night's clothes and watching some screechy-voiced woman stab Dong Wook with a stick.

Why?

Fu.ck!

Had he really ditched her?

Without a word?

Not even a phone call?

He'd disappeared. Just like that. Couldn't even care less about informing her of his change of plans.

Poof!

Into thin air.

Bastard.


She picked up her pillow and threw it against the wall. But she still felt like shi.t. And he was still an as.s. He'd even made her mother cry. She reached down for her shoe and threw it at the bathroom door. He'd embarrassed her entire family. She grabbed the hotel brochure and threw it on the floor. Then she kept throwing every single thing she could get her hands on. Till there was nothing left. Then she stopped and the tears flowed. And flowed. All night long.

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