“Unni!”
When I was the first to spot my older sister, I waved my hand and ran toward her. She turned to look at me and smiled.
“Hello…”
However, unlike my completely delighted greeting, my older sister greeted me and then trailed off a little at the end of her sentence.
“Huh? Shihyun, are you a little tired?”
She asked me directly.
“Uh…”
For a moment, I was at a loss for words.
I had checked in the mirror to make sure I didn’t look tired before leaving. Honestly, it was already late, so even if I did look tired, there wasn’t much I could do about it.
“Ah, no, I just went to bed a little late last night…”
At my awkward excuse, my older sister tilted her head slightly.
“Is that so?”
“Yes, sorry…?”
I thought that if I showed up looking tired after making plans to hang out, the other person might get a little upset. When you’re tired, the mood tends to drag down, and it makes it hard to fully enjoy the situation, even if you’re having fun.
Plus, I’d be constantly worrying about it.
Today wasn’t just a simple outing, though. It was my older sister’s best friend’s wedding, a once-in-a-lifetime event. I wasn’t playing a major role, but it was still important not to spoil the atmosphere by showing up looking worn out.
“Are you okay?”
But my older sister wasn’t blaming me at all. Her voice was filled with genuine concern.
“Yeah, I’m fine. This isn’t a big deal.”
“Mm…”
When I smiled and said that, my older sister nodded in understanding.
“Still, if you start feeling worse, let me know. Even though it’s a wedding, it won’t go on for too long. I’ll make sure we can leave as soon as possible.”
“Ah, no. It’s my friend’s wedding after a long time, so I can’t leave because of me.”
If it came to that, it would probably be better for me to go home alone while my sister stayed. Of course, looking at my condition now, I didn’t think it would come to that.
“Is that so?”
At my strong protest, my older sister tilted her head again, and then a small smile appeared at the corners of her mouth.
“Did you maybe have high expectations?”
I nodded eagerly as if I had been waiting for her to say that.
Yeah, it would be better to say I stayed up because of excitement rather than fear, which had kept me from sleeping.
“Well, you said it was a buffet…”
And honestly, it wasn’t a completely wrong guess. While it had nothing to do with sleep, it was true that I was excited about the wedding. The thought of meeting people I had connections with again made my heart flutter, and the idea of the buffet excited me too.
I couldn’t exactly go to a buffet by myself. Plus, most buffets are expensive. Asking my sister, who I’d known for only a month, to go with me was a bit of a burden. Of course, I wanted to go with her, but that was my perspective.
So today was an opportunity in many ways.
“I see.”
My older sister nodded as if she understood.
“Then, shall we go? I was thinking of meeting my friend there, too. Is that okay with you?”
She was probably talking about Yuri, who would be in the bride’s waiting room.
“Yeah, that’s fine.”
It was actually what I had hoped for.
*
The wedding hall was surprisingly not an incredibly extravagant place.
Well, of course, it was still fancy. After all, it was a wedding venue. But, how should I put it, I had expected that Yuri unnie’s wedding would be held at a huge hotel. Yuri unnie was the daughter of a wealthy family, and she herself didn’t exactly hold back on spending money.
However, the place where the wedding was being held was an ordinary wedding hall that you often see in different regions.
Ah, now that I think about it, she had mentioned that she had to rush into getting married, so it was hard to find a venue.
In that case, it made sense.
“Wow, it’s been such a long time!”
Yuri unnie, who had been sitting, stood up abruptly and ran toward us as soon as we entered.
Her skin was pale, though not as much as Ayun unnie’s. Her face was slender, and even her exposed shoulders and arms were delicate, almost like a model.
Her hairstyle was a classic bridal updo, so it didn’t show much individuality. In fact, Yuri unnie often changed her hairstyle. I’m not sure how it is now that she’s working, but back when she was in college, she often changed her hair color.
Her eyes were slightly upturned, but since they were already quite big, they didn’t give off a particularly sharp impression. However, they did have a somewhat haughty look to them. In fact, Yuri unnie often acted a bit cold toward her boyfriend, Park Hyunseung.
Her wedding dress was white. It was a somewhat ornate design, showing off her shoulders and back. But it suited her perfectly.
“How have you been? Is the bakery doing well?”
Yuri unnie, holding Ayun unnie’s hands with both of hers, asked, her eyes sparkling.
Yuri unnie was always excited to see people she hadn’t met for a while, even if it had only been a week. She had a lot of friends, and she was on good terms with all of them. Since Yuri unnie and Ayun unnie regularly kept in touch, it wasn’t really a reunion after a long time. Seeing each other in person might have been a long time, though.
Still, since Yuri unnie had so many friends, I thought there would be a lot of her friends here, but there were only a few people in the bride’s waiting room. They even moved out of the way when we arrived.
That fact felt a little strange. Yuri unnie didn’t seem like the type to care about who was closest to her when it came to her friends.
“Yeah, it’s going well. We have a lot of customers.”
“I’m glad to hear that.”
Yuri unnie smiled gently as she spoke. The two continued talking, asking if the journey here was difficult, if it was okay, that it wasn’t too far, and other small talk.
Even though it was a typical, everyday conversation, the way their eyes sparkled showed just how close they were.
Honestly, I was happy too.
Yuri unnie was someone who treated me warmly. She even used to treat me as if I were already dating Ayun unnie, which was a bit awkward but also made me feel happy.
Now that I think about it, Yuri unnie and Park Hyunseung’s relationship actually started because of us. Every time we visited her, she would often mention how lonely she was growing up as an only child.
Of course, there must have been more to their story than just that, but that was a part of it.
However, that didn’t mean I could say it had been a long time since we’d met. It was the first time we were meeting, after all. Like the relationship between Ayun unnie and me, my relationship with Yuri unnie had become nothing.
“Ah.”
While talking with her happily, Yuri unnie suddenly looked over at me.
Her eyes widened slightly before narrowing.
“This is…?”
The polite form of speech came from Yuri unnie’s mouth.
“Yeah, this is Shihyun.”
“Hello, I’m Cha Shihyun. It’s nice to meet you.”
I tried to speak as politely as I could while slightly bowing my waist.
“Hello, I’m Shin Yuri, Ayun’s friend. Thank you so much for coming to the wedding today.”
“Ah, no… it’s nothing…”
It was incredibly awkward.
Yuri unnie had always spoken to me casually from the start. Since I was a friend of her close friend, there was no need to define our relationship so strictly.
But that only worked while we were students.
Once you enter the adult world, you treat others as adults. Even if the person is younger than you, you need to use polite language and show respect. Of course, if the relationship had already been established, you didn’t have to, but with someone you were meeting for the first time, it was only natural.
Yuri unnie was showing me respect.
Moreover, she seemed to be scrutinizing me, examining my face.
“Ayun unnie has told me a lot about you. She said you’ve been really helpful at the bakery…”
“Ah, no… I’m still in the process of learning. I’m just a part-time worker…”
“Still, it’s a good thing that the place isn’t as empty as it was before. It’s busy enough that it would be difficult to manage alone.”
Yuri unnie said that while glancing at Ayun unnie. Ayun unnie smiled warmly.
“See, I told you it’s not just for that reason.”
“Well, if you say so, I guess it must be.”
Yuri unnie shrugged and then turned to me, who still looked confused.
“Ayun is surprisingly picky about people. She never had part-timers before.”
…Though I had heard that there was someone who had already left.
It seemed like Yuri unnie was trying to protect Ayun unnie’s reputation by not mentioning that.
“Just relax and enjoy yourself today. I hope we can find time to meet up sometime.”
Yuri unnie said that to me.
“…Yes, I’ll definitely make time for that.”
And those words meant so much to me.
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