The Wedding That Wasn’t Mine—But Hurt Like It Was

Though he had received the invitation, there was, naturally, no seat reserved for Haeyoon.
Haeyoon stood with an impassive expression right in front of the entrance where the couple would appear.
That he was actually so nervous his hand was trembling was known only to Jeongha, who was holding it.
“Who does he think he is, coming here? Truly shameless, just as I heard.”
At that moment, a couple passing by openly glanced at Haeyoon as they walked past.
Haeyoon didn’t react.
It was Jeongha who glared at them with sharply raised eyebrows.
“People you know?”
“No.”
Haeyoon shook his head.
The people here who would whisper like that upon seeing him certainly weren’t limited to just that couple.
Haeyoon had already felt many unfriendly glances directed his way.
Most were faces he didn’t know at all.
He could tell without even exchanging words.
To them, Haeyoon was probably the person who had exploited Seonwoo’s popularity all through school, taken advantage of him, and hurt him.
Haeyoon now knew how Ahn Seonwoo had been attacking him.
“You really look like the main character, hyung.”
Jeongha, finding the whole situation absurd and unable to hold back a laugh, leaned close to Haeyoon’s ear and whispered.
“He’d be really mad if he heard that, you know.”
Haeyoon replied quietly.
He had no particular desire to be the main character.
But he couldn’t deny that’s how the situation was unfolding.
Ahn Seonwoo had invited him, so Haeyoon was simply standing there, yet everyone participating in this grand spectacle of Ahn Seonwoo’s was paying attention to Seo Haeyoon.
“Haeyoon, you know… we actually didn’t want to come either…”
On the other hand, there were also friends who approached Haeyoon to apologize sincerely.
Haeyoon was even more surprised by that reaction.
He genuinely thought they had no need to apologize to him.
“Don’t say that. You knew Seonwoo before me. It’s only natural you’d come.”
Most friends who knew both Ahn Seonwoo and Seo Haeyoon had been friends with Seonwoo first and grew close to Haeyoon through his introduction.
They had done nothing wrong to Haeyoon, and there was no need to apologize for attending a friend’s wedding.
Haeyoon truly believed that.
To Haeyoon’s answer, the friends made even more pained expressions.
Probably because they felt his sincerity was without a trace of falsehood.
Jeongha watched the scene with interest.
It felt like he was getting a detailed look at the person Haeyoon had been during times he hadn’t known him.
He also didn’t forget to naturally show affection and act like a loving couple when people’s gazes lingered.
He smiled while meeting Haeyoon’s eyes, and pulled him into an embrace as if he couldn’t bear how adorable Seo Haeyoon was.
Clearly intentional actions, yet he also enjoyed them as if they were genuine.
Meanwhile, an announcement echoed, asking guests to take their seats as the ceremony would soon begin.
Once they were alone, Haeyoon looked at Jeongha intently and spoke.
“You’re really skilled.”
Jeongha shrugged.
His hand was still around Haeyoon’s waist.
“I told you. If we’re doing it, we do it properly.”
“Yeah. It’s really seamless.”
He said it calmly, but inwardly he was continuously amazed.
Whenever Haeyoon seemed at a loss and stiff, Jeongha skillfully steered the atmosphere, helped Haeyoon act naturally, and performed his own act perfectly.
“The more impressive I am, the more I show them how completely smitten I am with you, hyung, the more pathetic they’ll feel.”
Pathetic.
That word stuck particularly in Haeyoon’s ear.
If not for Baek Jeongha, Seo Haeyoon would have been the most pathetic person in the world today.
He felt anew that Baek Jeongha was practically his savior.
Not just for helping with this farce.
Thanks to Baek Jeongha, Haeyoon hurt less.
He could avoid being consumed by the wounds.
He could be someone actively trying to heal the pain, not someone running from it.
That was what Haeyoon was most grateful for.
“Oh, it’s starting.”
At that moment, the hall lights dimmed, and brilliant light poured onto the path where the grooms would enter.
The wedding ceremony, which might be a beginning for some and an end for others, was beginning.

* * * *

As Seonwoo entered through the doors opened to the wedding march, he unconsciously bit his lower lip before hurriedly releasing it.
It was a moment for important photos, so he had to meticulously manage his expression, but it wasn’t easy.
The first thing that caught Seonwoo’s eye upon entering was his guest section, which had many conspicuously empty seats.
They had only prepared seats for those who had confirmed attendance, so it should have been full.
One or two might not have come due to sudden circumstances, but there shouldn’t have been this many empty seats.
Wanting to avoid criticism at this already heavily gossiped-about wedding, he had even informed each person that their seat was assigned and asked them to let him know in advance if they couldn’t make it.
And yet, those who didn’t come without any contact… if they weren’t deliberately trying to mess with him, what else could it be?
When he spotted Seo Haeyoon shamelessly standing there with Baek Jeongha, his already foul mood plummeted to rock bottom.
The fact that Seo Haeyoon was seeing this, and that Baek Jeongha was standing affectionately by his side protecting him, was all the worst.
This day should have been perfect.
It should have been a wedding that was even more beautiful and elegant to show off.
Yet it was ruined before it even properly began.
The misery and humiliation that should have been Seo Haeyoon’s portion pursued Ahn Seonwoo instead.
‘Thinking I’d fall apart just as you wished.’
However, the more that happened, the straighter Seonwoo stood and walked confidently.
He tried his best to put on a happy smile.
He could not, under any circumstances, look pathetic in front of Seo Haeyoon.
Even though he forced the corners of his mouth up, they trembled ridiculously with the displeasure he couldn’t hide.
And among those who did attend, the people who knew Haeyoon were deliberately offering a pittance for congratulatory money and seemed to be laughing at Seonwoo’s predicament at this moment.
Ahn Seonwoo still didn’t know that the wedding, before it had even started, was already not as beautiful as he had wanted.

* * * *

“…we pledge before those gathered here to walk together in love.”
After reading the marriage vows together with Jaeyeol and looking forward, Seonwoo struggled intensely to control his expression.
He had put so much tension in his face that the corners of his lips were trembling.
It was the wedding he had so eagerly awaited, yet he couldn’t focus properly from the very start.
It was all Seo Haeyoon’s fault.
Not only had he come to the waiting room and turned his insides upside down, but he was still shamelessly standing there, not leaving, watching his wedding.
Baek Jeongha was watching his wedding, holding Haeyoon’s waist from behind as if they were the world’s most loving couple.
Ignoring that sight was impossible.
Ahn Seonwoo was the one who had taken Haeyoon’s place.
Pushing aside Haeyoon, who should have been smiling the most beautifully and happily next to Oh Jaeyeol, Seonwoo had boldly claimed this spot.
The victor should have, of course, been Ahn Seonwoo.
But Haeyoon had brought Baek Jeongha.
A considerable number of people who knew Seonwoo were aware of how desperately he had clung to Baek Jeongha.
It was a clear reversal.
Now, the one who had obtained what Seonwoo wanted most was Seo Haeyoon, and Ahn Seonwoo’s perfect plan had fallen apart.
“Now, the two grooms will place the rings, symbols of their love, on each other’s hands.”
Seonwoo’s mood worsened further at the moment of exchanging rings.
Having spent all his energy controlling his emotions, he hadn’t even been able to pay attention to Jaeyeol.
It was true he had no capacity left.
But the moment they held hands and faced each other to exchange rings, Seonwoo could tell.
Jaeyeol’s mind was also full of other thoughts.
For photo purposes, the ring exchange was done very slowly.
Feeling as if he’d been hit on the back of the head, Seonwoo looked at Oh Jaeyeol.
He might have been going crazy over Baek Jeongha, but why was Jaeyeol like this?
He couldn’t understand.
Could he be bothered by Seo Haeyoon?
Because he had come to the wedding, because he was watching, was Jaeyeol more conscious of Seo Haeyoon than of him, the one standing next to him?
Shouldn’t there have been no lingering feelings left for him?
Then why was he so unsettled, not just uncomfortable but unable to focus on the wedding?
A thousand fires raged inside him.
He wanted to throw the ring, run out of the wedding venue.
Seo Haeyoon.
This is all because of Seo Haeyoon.
Seo Haeyoon had ruined his life once again.
Ahn Seonwoo’s heart, which should have been filled with happiness, began to boil with anger.

* * * *

“He’s holding up well, though.”
Jeongha muttered with genuine admiration.
Though his state of mind must have been twisted, Ahn Seonwoo was managing his expression decently.
The one who seemed to be in a worse state was actually Oh Jaeyeol.
His stiff face, difficult to dismiss as mere nervousness, had already become a target for gossipy people.
“It’s what he’s always done.”
Haeyoon answered, recalling images of Seonwoo from his memory.
A full ten years.
No matter how oblivious Haeyoon had been, he knew that deceiving someone for that long was no easy feat.
Even Haeyoon’s friends who hadn’t liked Seonwoo from the start said they never expected him to be that much of a scumbag, which said it all.
Even seeing Jeongha and Haeyoon right in front of him, Seonwoo somehow managed to smile and greet the guests.
That was the kind of person Ahn Seonwoo was.
The wedding was gradually drawing to a close.
Soon, the two grooms would walk down the aisle, receiving people’s blessings.
“Are you really going to watch until the very end?”
Haeyoon asked, looking at Jeongha, who was standing protectively close to him.
“Well, we’re already here. We should congratulate them to the very end.”
As he said that, Jeongha’s face looked exactly like a mischievous boy’s.