CS Chapter 30

Cha Minjun couldn’t take his eyes off Ji Seowoo. Even without proper hair and makeup, she was as pure and elegant as a swan.

 

Her graceful neckline, the straight line of her shoulders, and the voluminous A-line dress, rather than concealing her figure, accentuated her slender waist, making her look even more sensual.

 

“It seems our groom is completely smitten. Honey is practically dripping from his eyes!” 

 

At the staff member’s teasing remark, Seowoo shyly lowered her head. She knew it wasn’t true, so the more the staff member fussed, the more embarrassed she became. More than anything, the bright lights made her want to hide in a hole.

 

But why is he staring at me like that…?

 

Even though she was wearing a dress, his gaze felt so intense that she felt as if she were naked. Wherever his eyes landed, her skin tingled as if burned.

 

“How do I look…?”

 

Seowoo asked without much expectation. If he said it wasn’t bad, she didn’t want to try on any other dresses. She wasn’t fond of playing dress-up, and she wanted to escape this strangely uncomfortable feeling as quickly as possible.

 

But the man, silent at her question, finally murmured in a low voice,

 

“Try on some others.”

 

“Yes! Then, Ma’am, let’s try on the next dress!”

 

The curtains closed once more with a rustle. As his face disappeared from view, Seowoo felt dejected. She must have looked strange in the dress. He must have stared because it was so bizarre he couldn’t explain.

 

“The next dress I’ll show you is a mermaid line, Ma’am.”

 

“Okay…”

 

Seowoo obediently followed the staff member’s instructions and changed into the next dress. It was much more fitted than the previous one, clinging tightly to her body and revealing her curves. She frowned, worried she would become a laughingstock.

 

“Don’t I look… strange…?”

 

“Strange? Not at all! It suits you much better than the last one!”

 

She asked the staff member cautiously, but the woman only repeated compliments like a parrot. Seowoo couldn’t tell if she was being sincere or just polite.

 

“The bride is ready!”

 

In the end, she had no choice but to reveal the second dress to Cha Minjun.

 

Ji Seowoo, in the pure white dress, appeared once more.

 

The intricately hand-sewn beads shimmered brilliantly under the chandelier lights, almost blindingly so. Surprisingly, the dress didn’t overshadow her at all. Instead, the beads acted as reflectors, highlighting her snow-white skin and delicate features.

 

This is crazy.

 

Cha Minjun frowned, his expression displeased. Standing before him wasn’t a middle schooler, but a full-fledged woman.

 

***

 

The car was silent. Only the quiet hum of the luxury sedan’s engine filled the awkward silence between the two.

 

“The dress didn’t suit me at all, did it?” Seowoo asked cautiously, breaking the silence.

 

“It was fine.”

 

“Really? Your expression didn’t look very happy.”

 

“Me?”

 

Minjun tried to recall his expression, but he couldn’t remember. He’d been too distracted by the sight of Ji Seowoo.

 

“You saw wrong.”

 

Feigning indifference, Minjun glanced at Seowoo’s face through the rearview mirror.

 

Perhaps relieved that the exam was over, she seemed to have gained a little weight. Seeing her return to the familiar, slightly childish Ji Seowoo he knew, Minjun felt a sense of relief. 

 

“Don’t you want to look at other shops? Cheongdam is full of dress shops.”

 

“No… this is enough.”

 

“Which one did you like the most?”

 

“Hmm. Any dress but the second one. I think that one looked the worst on me.”

 

Seowoo tried on more than ten dresses after that. It would be understandable if it were difficult for him to remember each dress, but Minjun immediately recalled the second dress at her words and added his opinion.

 

“What are you talking about? That one was the best.”

 

“Really?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

Minjun, having blurted out his true feelings unintentionally, cleared his throat. He had meant it sincerely, but Seowoo still looked disbelieving.

 

“But why did you frown like that?”

 

“Me?”

 

“The moment you saw me, you frowned! So, I thought it must have looked really strange on me.”

 

“You saw wrong, again.”

 

“Alright then. Let’s go with the second dress.”

 

Just then, they hit a red light, and Minjun’s sedan came to a smooth stop.

 

Minjun was about to ask if her opinion mattered at all but closed his mouth. He noticed her dejected face as she looked out the window, fiddling with her fingernails. It was a face that somehow bothered him, even if he tried to ignore it.

 

“What’s on your mind?”

 

At his question, Seowoo began talking about her family as if she had been waiting for him to ask.

 

“Actually, I haven’t decided yet. About my family. What to do about them at the wedding…”

 

She didn’t mind leaving the parents’ seats empty. However, she wondered if she should at least tell her mother and Junseo the wedding date.

 

“Seowoo… You’re my child too. Is there any child a mother wouldn’t cherish? I haven’t been able to sleep a wink since you left. I’ve been searching high and low for you. I was so desperate that I even came to your GED exam center to wait for you.”

 

Seowoo had said she would contact her mother after the exam, but she kept putting it off.

 

She wanted to have a heart-to-heart talk with them someday, asking why they did what they did, and how they could do such a thing. But she didn’t have the courage to visit them. She was afraid that if something terrible happened again like before, she might be the one to hurt her family first.

 

Looking at Seowoo’s troubled side profile, Minjun sighed softly. She was probably worried because she didn’t know what her mother had said to him.

 

“How about this?”

 

Minjun suggested an idea to the troubled Seowoo.

 

***

 

Early morning. Hyunsook and Junseo both left for dawn prayer.

 

Bang, bang!

 

The front door was so rusty that they had to slam it several times to close it properly. Hyun-sook struggled with the door, and Jun-seo, unable to watch any longer, reached out his arm to help.

 

Bang! With another loud sound, the door finally closed. Hyunsook looked at her son proudly.

 

“Our Junseo is so strong!”

 

“Of course. I’m a man.”

 

Junseo’s condition had been improving remarkably quickly lately. This was all thanks to Elder Daniel, who had shown them a miracle. Moreover, Elder Daniel had extended his grace by inviting them to the dawn service.

 

Thanks to this, Junseo was able to receive and drink the life water that the elder distributed every week, and he felt his illness alleviating day by day.

 

As his body recovered, his mind also seemed to clear up, and he often thought of his sister who had run away. As time passed, he missed and longed for her more and more.

 

Just then, a white envelope fell at Junseo’s feet.