Didn’t You Want Me Here?

Seeing him barely control his raised voice, he truly seemed flustered.
Haeyoon tilted his head.
“You invited me.”
“…What?”
“The wedding invitation… Didn’t it mean you wanted me to come?”
“Wha, who… gave you the… invitation?”
“You even called and asked me to definitely come.”
A moment of realization flickered in Jaeyeol’s stuttering eyes.
Haeyoon also understood the situation.
It seemed Oh Jaeyeol hadn’t known that Ahn Seonwoo had given him an invitation.
He had suspected it, but now it was confirmed.
Seonwoo had never dreamed that Haeyoon would actually show up here.
He never thought someone like Seo Haeyoon, who couldn’t even say a proper word after having his lover stolen by a friend, would really come to this place.
In the end, the sole purpose of seeking him out to give him the invitation had been to hurt Seo Haeyoon.
Having completed this meaningless confirmation, Haeyoon slowly turned away from Jaeyeol and spoke.
“Well, I’m going to go say hello to Seonwoo too.”
“…….”
“The suit looks good on you.”
There was once a time when Oh Jaeyeol was Seo Haeyoon’s dream.
A time when Haeyoon, who didn’t live with much expectation for the future, possessed his one and only form of predetermined happiness.
“Let’s go, Jeongha.”
Now, it was just a meaningless memory of the past.
Even though his heart still felt like it was being torn apart, if he endured it, a day would eventually come when it would all be okay.
Hoping that day would come soon, Haeyoon walked past the dumbfounded Jaeyeol.
Still holding Haeyoon’s slightly sweaty hand, Jeongha walked beside him.

* * * *

Seonwoo, wearing a soft, ivory-toned wedding suit, sat in the center of the waiting room as today’s protagonist.
He had considered greeting guests in the lobby with Jaeyeol, but in the end, Seonwoo chose to wait in the waiting room for the ceremony.
That seemed more elegant, more befitting of the main character.
Today’s wedding was a work of art he had meticulously crafted with endless effort.
While Jaeyeol, who would soon be his husband, was certainly a lead, the most shining protagonist in this place was undoubtedly himself.
Seonwoo wanted to savor that fact.
He looked around the waiting room, chatting idly with friends who were diligently taking photos from various angles.
The luxurious, high-class feel was exactly to Seonwoo’s taste.
A perfect wedding was literally right before his eyes.
It wasn’t entirely without regrets.
Fewer friends than expected had agreed to attend the wedding.
This was true for both his university classmates and high school friends.
Fearing this, he had even taken the trouble to treat them to expensive meals one by one while handing out invitations, but he hadn’t expected them to wipe their mouths so thoroughly.
He understood the situation itself.
Most of Seonwoo’s friends were also Seo Haeyoon’s friends.
Seonwoo and Haeyoon had become friends in middle school and had been closer than family until graduation.
They had even gone to the same university and department, so it was natural their friend groups overlapped considerably.
In other words, this meant they all knew the intricate details of this wedding.
Everyone knew how Oh Jaeyeol and Ahn Seonwoo met, how they became lovers, and how they ended up getting married.
“What does he have….”
But so what?
Nevertheless, Seonwoo was displeased with the situation.
Given the circumstances, he understood they had to choose between Ahn Seonwoo and Seo Haeyoon.
But he couldn’t accept that the majority had chosen Seo Haeyoon over him.
Seo Haeyoon.
What does he have?
Seonwoo’s gaze darkened as he muttered coldly.
That silent, boring guy—what was so important about him that they would choose that dullard over him?
Seonwoo habitually chewed his lip.
The more he thought, the more resentful he felt.
Clearly, Seo Haeyoon must have pulled some strings behind the scenes.
He must have threatened them, saying he wouldn’t let it slide if they attended Ahn Seonwoo’s wedding.
Otherwise, there was no way so few would come.
Of course, Seonwoo knew perfectly well that Haeyoon wasn’t that kind of person.
But so what?
Perhaps Haeyoon’s eyes had finally turned toward the marriage between Jaeyeol and himself.
“Well, it’s not like he can do anything anyway.”
However, Seonwoo quickly changed his mind.
Those who chose Seo Haeyoon over him—he didn’t want them either.
He felt no regret at all.
The important thing was that he was the one marrying Oh Jaeyeol today, and Seo Haeyoon had become the pathetic loser who had his lover of nearly ten years stolen by his friend.
At that moment, the waiting room door opened, and someone came in.
Seonwoo couldn’t immediately recognize the person.
It was clearly a familiar face, but his mind couldn’t register it.
Probably because he never expected to see this person here, now.
And when he fully realized who was slowly approaching him.
“You… How are you….”
Seonwoo couldn’t maintain even a shred of composure and stammered.
A shiver ran down his spine.
Seeing a ghost here would have been less shocking.
The person now stood before Seonwoo, who had reflexively risen to his feet.
Seo Haeyoon, who had been Ahn Seonwoo’s longtime friend and the ex-lover of his marriage partner for a very long time, spoke.
“Looks like you didn’t even know I was invited… You’re surprised too.”
“You… Why are you here….”
“You gave me the invitation. So I came….”
The line, eerie like something from a horror movie, was delivered in such a mild tone that it felt even stranger.
It would have been better if he’d been sarcastic, but Haeyoon seemed like someone who truly hadn’t anticipated Seonwoo’s reaction.
That was absolutely impossible.
“Me? No, of course I’m surprised. But I did ask you to come, Haeyoon.”
Seonwoo quickly regained his composure.
No matter how shocked and panicked he was inside, he couldn’t show a flustered appearance in front of Haeyoon.
Seonwoo continued with a gentle, kind smile.
“I was just so happy to see you. I was worried… that you might not come.”
“…….”
“I know it’s all my fault, but if you hadn’t come, I would have felt… so empty.”
The words flowed out without a hint of hesitation.
They were so natural, as if sincere, that it made him wonder if everything he’d experienced was a dream.
That was Ahn Seonwoo’s innate talent.
This very naturalness.
This perfect acting.
This incredibly affectionate and kind behavior was what had made Seo Haeyoon consider Ahn Seonwoo a friend all this time.
Even though he now knew the face behind the mask all too well.
“Yeah. That’s why… I came, worried you might be upset. After all… you were my closest friend.”
Haeyoon replied obediently.
There was no way to compete with him verbally.
Haeyoon hadn’t been born with that skill.
But it was okay.
Haeyoon had other means.
“Hyung, I’m here.”
It was right at that moment that the waiting room door opened and another man entered.
The moment he heard the voice from behind, Haeyoon fixed his gaze on Ahn Seonwoo’s face.
He didn’t want to miss a single change in his expression, the look in his eyes.
Soon, Seonwoo’s eyes, which had looked behind Haeyoon with a puzzled expression, caught sight of Baek Jeongha, who had deliberately entered a little late.
“…….”
Ahn Seonwoo couldn’t open his mouth.
He couldn’t even manage a stuttering sound.
His expression was one of shock incomparable to when he’d discovered Haeyoon.
Baek Jeongha?
How is he here?
It made no sense.
Baek Jeongha was even less likely to be here than Seo Haeyoon.
It literally felt like space-time was warping.
The color drained from Seonwoo’s face.
Haeyoon observed Seonwoo’s expression with the feeling of watching a childish show.
It was entertaining, but the highlight of the show hadn’t even started yet.
Ahn Seonwoo was certainly excessively shocked and flustered, but that wasn’t despair yet.
He wasn’t hurt either.
It was different from the misery and despair Haeyoon had felt the moment he saw Oh Jaeyeol and Ahn Seonwoo rolling around naked on the bed he had lain on just hours before.
In reality, Seonwoo was only thinking about Baek Jeongha and himself.
The tender melodrama he had long dreamed of began to play in his mind, and there was no place for Seo Haeyoon in that movie.
Did Baek Jeongha really come to see me?
He just couldn’t let go.
He must have thought he’d regret it for life if he let me get married like this.
So he showed up to save me from this wedding venue.
His heart began to pound madly.
What should he do if Baek Jeongha asked him to come with him here?
The wedding about to start, the guests who had arrived, the money poured into the ceremony, his parents, his reputation—many things quickly filled his mind and were placed on a scale.
Was Baek Jeongha worth giving all this up for?
Was he that person?
Just as Seonwoo was about to make what might be the choice of a lifetime.
Jeongha, who had lightly placed a hand around Haeyoon’s waist, looked at him with an incomparably warm and loving gaze and asked.
“Did you tell him about me?”
Blink.
Seonwoo closed and opened his eyes very slowly.
Haeyoon turned to look at Jeongha with a familiar expression.
“No, not yet.”
“Hmm, then I’ll do it myself, I guess.”
Blink.
He closed and opened his eyes again.
If this was a dream, it was time to wake up.
But the scene before him refused to change, and Baek Jeongha, still holding Haeyoon’s waist, spoke.
“It’s been a while since I’ve seen your face.”
Baek Jeongha, Ahn Seonwoo’s first love.
The unrequited love who left deep, deep scars on his life.
The one person he would have given up everything he had to obtain.
That very Baek Jeongha was standing by Haeyoon’s side.
“I didn’t get an invitation, but I wanted to congratulate you, so I came along.”
“Huh… How….”
“I guess you didn’t know.
Actually, Haeyoon and I are dating.”
Somewhere, the sound of a heart breaking could be heard.