"It sounds crazy for me to feel sorry for him! I hate his guts! I want him dead! And yet! Here we are!"

"No, it makes perfect sense. Humans have complex, multilayered emotions, and you have empathy. It makes you a good person." Hair kiss.

If Woo-young had told Tae-hwan this, he'd have said much the same as Hana, but been a lot more sarcastic about it, and made fun of Woo-young while at it, probably.

That pain is not quite dull, now, but it's getting there. He wishes—so many things, actually.

"Right back atcha."

She gives him a small smile, wishes that she could ever get that message through to her anxiety, then settles in to enjoy snuggles with a brain that has only a normal, nonmagical amount of damage.

They do what they can for each other. It doesn't fix everything, but it helps.

Tae-gun, as promised, is putting on a suit for the wedding. He had it tailored, because Juheon is one of his best friends and it's his wedding and it would not do to not look great for it, it would feel... disrespectful. So he looks stunning, and does not have the ability to appreciate it at all.

Hye-jin picked a dress that matches well with Tae-gun's suit, a deep navy that hugs her curves well without dipping into inappropriate for a wedding. She's similarly deliberate with doing her makeup and styling her hair; she hasn't put in the work to look this nice in... A while. It's nice.

Though something in her stomach makes her feel like she's just been given a pity invite, or is just Tae-gun's plus one instead of a guest in her own right. She doesn't, really, know either the bride or the groom, one orgy notwithstanding.

She pushes aside thoughts and feelings she definitely doesn't have, and takes her boyfriend's hand and tries on a smile.

"Ready," she says, even if it doesn't quite fit.

Tae-gun is allowed to exist in public again but Hye-jin and he are still, you know, world-famous and stuff, so they decided to teleport so as not to draw undue attention to the wedding. It's meant to be Hyun-jae and Juheon's day, paparazzi ruining their fun would suck.

The reception is in a very traditional house, with an enormous garden area that has a little brook with tiny bridges to cross it and gazebos and cherry blossom trees. It's far too early for them to be blooming, but they're still pretty. The area is filled with paper lanterns as the main light sources, and the little cobblestone path stretching out in front of the place they arrive at by the gates leads to the area where the ceremony itself will be held, with chairs laid out in neat rows in front of a flowery arch above a small podium.

It's really pretty and cute, and if the traditional style of the house (kind of like the one she's trying to sell, now) hurts a little, it's not an overwhelming hurt. And she can, um. Attempt to remember how to be normal? She's never actually been to a Korean wedding before, how does its ceremony differ from the Japanese or Westernized ones? Are the seats assigned?

They have assigned seats, yeah, though the ceremony will come first so they should just find somewhere in the "pews" to sit.

"Tae-gun! Hye-jin!" calls Si-yeon from where Chun-hee and he are seated in the front row. "Over here!"

Oh, but isn't the front row usually meant for the close family of the intended..? Uh, she'll wave and let Tae-gun decide seating arrangements.

It is! Apparently Tae-gun and Hye-jin count. Or, at least, Tae-gun does not seem particularly surprised by the idea of sitting there.

"Hi."

Okay! He knows how this goes better than she does, so: after him she goes, and beside him she sits. "Hey," she agrees, smiling a little more properly now that her seating arrangements are sorted.

"Hi."

"Hello! You two look absolutely stunning."

"Thanks! It's nice to dress up, though I expect we'll be out-shown shortly."

"Well I wouldn't know because that bastard wouldn't let me in the changing room! Like, come on, I'm not the bride!"

?

"There's a Western custom that the groom and bride shouldn't see each other on their wedding day before the ceremony itself, because it brings bad luck. Usually it's just after they're at the venue, though, nowadays."

"Maybe he wanted to preserve the wonder of surprise?" offers Hye-jin, who mostly just thinks that probably Juheon did not want to deal with Si-yeon's shit while he's preparing for the happiest and arguably most important day of his life.

"Oh I bet if Tae-gun asked to see he'd be let in, but little old me? Juheon's best bud? Noooo, I'm relegated to the chairs."

"Can't fault him for not wanting to deal with your bullshit on his wedding day."

"My bullshit is an honour and a privilege to be in the presence of."

"Whatever you need to tell yourself to sleep at night."