Chapter 36: I... don't know what to say.
Everything seemed dreamlike, movements almost in slow motion.
He was quite sure there was someone very pretty standing right in front of him, wearing what was supposed to look like a wedding dress, but he was so out of it that all he could do was shake his head in a faint attempt to clear his foggy mind. To his right, he knew someone was fussing about something, but he just couldn't figure out what it was.
He didn't know how long he spaced out, but when he finally came to, he saw Chung Ji-Eun standing only a few feet away, looking at him nervously.
"Hyun-Shik?" She said in a small voice, worry etched in her gentle features. "I'd really appreciate it if you say something."
"I-I..." He cleared his throat unceremoniously. "I... don't know what to say."
'That is one hell of a look... I almost lost my head there.' He ran a hand through his hair, not knowing what else to do at the moment.
"I don't know if that's a good or bad sign," Ji-Eun laughed nervously. "But now that you're smiling, I think it's safe to say you approved. Am I right?"
'I'm smiling?' Hyun-Shik shook his head again and closed his eyes for a second, trying to collect his scattered thoughts. He took a careful look at Ji-Eun, who was now speaking with his mother.
'She really is stunning...'
Her long, wavy hair fell naturally over her shoulders while a simple comb, sitting on one side of her head, allowed for a more gentle look. The dress, subtle in its elegance, outlined her graceful body perfectly that he thought she could pass off as one of those A-list models on the Fashion Week runway.
'Let's not get started on her face...' He thought helplessly. 'Or I wouldn't know really what to say...'
"Hyun?" he heard his mother's voice call him. "You like this dress on her?"
He automatically nodded.
"She looks beautiful," he said, trying to even out his tone. "I like it, Ji-Eun."
At once, he noticed a faint blush on her cheeks.
'Oh?' He studied her a bit more closely and noticed that she avoided his eyes now. He smiled at the thought. 'So, there's still something that makes her shy, huh? Well, all this dress-fitting business would make anyone feel like that...'
"Since everybody liked the ensemble, we'll go with it," Ji-Eun said happily. "Anita should be very happy we're not all that fussy, right?"
"Ah, but my love," the French woman approached the group and smiled widely. "I should be able to know your every taste since I've been with you for quite a while. I just knew that when I pulled this piece off of that designer's rack it would look very lovely on you."
Hun-Shik nodded in agreement. He was sure now that with this woman in their court, Ji-Eun would look very good in almost anything she put out.
"Alright!" Anita clapped her hands. "How about we try the next dress then?"
Ji-Eun's happy expression suddenly turned blank. "There's more? I don't know if I can take much more of-"
"Of course, silly girl! You'll be changing clothes for the reception, right? And then there's your going away dress, and..." Anita's voice floated away as she began to lead Ji-Eun away from the group.
Hyun-Shik could only watch as the attendants ushered Ji-Eun back into the dressing room as she had a few more pieces left to try. He almost laughed at her expression when Anita told her that she had to change, but fought against it.
Just before the door to the dressing room closed though, he saw Ji-Eun turn her head to her secretary and mouthed, "Help me!"
Following her line of gaze, he saw Oh Jaehyun shake his head and gestured for her to follow her attendants quietly.
In turn, she pouted and obediently followed suit.
After the exchange, Oh Jaehyun quickly fiddled with something on his phone and bowed himself out of the viewing room.
Hyun-Shik didn't know it then, but the annoyance he felt earlier came rushing back and he sat back down on the couch with a little more force than he intended, alerting his mother.
"Are you okay, Son?" Song Su-Won fussed over him now.
"Yes," he pinched the bridge of his nose again. "Just tired."
"Well, this is going to take a while," his mother said thoughtfully. "Since you've seen the most important piece, do you want to take a break and go on ahead?"
Hyun-Shik thought about it carefully and shook his head.
"I'll stay," he said.
'Not that I want to stand guard here or anything.' He added as an afterthought. 'I just want to see what else that Anita-lady had prepared for us. Yes, that's just it.'
He ended up feeling a bit better about his justification. After all, he wouldn't want to disappoint the elders in terms of the aesthetics of their wedding. He also figured that since Chung Ji-Eun had been busy finishing up her latest project, she'd have less time to take charge of their wedding, so if he could, he'd do it.
Finally relaxed, he can't help but look at his mother who was busy looking at her phone. He leaned over just a bit and saw that she had taken some snapshots of Ji-Eun in her wedding dress earlier.
"Can you send that to me too?" He blurted out, unable to stop himself in time.
"What?" His mother turned to look at him, surprised at his request.
"Well... Nothing," he turned away, embarrassed.
Hearing his mother laugh at him, he suddenly didn't know what to do. 'Why did I ask for something like that anyway?'
"Alright, alright," his mother soothed him finally. "I'll send them to you. You really went blank back there, didn't you? You weren't able to actually do anything else but look at Ji-Eun?"
He didn't want to admit that he, in fact, did just that earlier. His mother continued to smile at him and went back to looking at the photos.
After regaining some form of composure, he spoke again.
"Mother," he turned back to her. "Were you able to set up a wedding date with President Chung already?"
Song Su-Won looked up to address the seriousness of his question.
"Why, yes," she answered him. "It's going to be in three months' time."
"I see..." He said thoughtfully. "I'm thinking of doing something for her though..."
"For Ji-Eun?"
"Yes," Hyun-Shik said. "Though she agreed for the elders to decide on most things concerning the wedding, including the date, the number of guests, the media presence... Remember that the President said she didn't like crowds?"
At the mention of that, his mother's expression turned a bit sorrowful.
"Yes, I remember," his mother answered. "We're trying to control the number, Hyun. Trust us on this please."
"I know," Hyun-Shik patted his mother's hand, reassuring her that there was nothing wrong. "It's just that I have something in mind that can maybe put her nerves at ease. But she has to actually agree on it."
Hearing that his son has an actual plan for his bride-to-be, Song Su-Won can't help but be mildly surprised and curious at the same time.
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