Episode 36. The Best Wedding Ever (2)
Kang Dae-oh focused all his attention on the name that slipped from Oh Myung-woon’s lips.
The name that came out of his friend’s mouth was enough to surprise Kang Dae-oh.
“Yeon-sung is coming.”
“Yeon-sung, you mean… Park Yeon-sung?”
“That’s right. You remembered him after all.”
It was a name he couldn’t forget.
A bright friend who always smiled even in difficult circumstances, growing up in a single-parent household.
When Kang Dae-oh met Min-sung a while ago, he was reminded of his old friend, Park Yeon-sung, after a long time.
It was because his situation and Min-sung’s were very similar.
Of course, in Park Yeon-sung’s case, the mother who raised him was indeed his biological mother. That was the only difference. The environment itself was almost identical.
Then, they each went to university, became adults, and naturally lost touch as they started working.
At one point, he even tried calling Park Yeon-sung’s old number.
But now it was someone else’s number, and the memory of swallowing his regret came to mind after a long time.
He never imagined he would hear his name from Oh Myung-woon at such an unexpected moment.
“How did you get in touch with Yeon-sung?”
“Remember how we had that event at our high school recently, where we dug up the time capsule we buried a long time ago? You remember, right?”
“Oh, right.”
At the time, Kang Dae-oh also received a survey text asking if he could attend the event.
However, Kang Dae-oh had a schedule for a two-week overseas business trip then, so he regrettably couldn’t attend.
Oh Myung-woon went on behalf of Kang Dae-oh and some other friends who couldn’t attend the alumni event at their alma mater, to retrieve the letters they had put inside the time capsule.
A letter from the future, sent to their adult selves.
For reference, the content Kang Dae-oh wrote at the time was very simple.
He hoped to be earning good money, married to a beautiful wife, and raising loving children. That’s all.
Unintentionally, Kang Dae-oh’s prophecy had come true.
He had thought the alumni event would end as a lighthearted episode, with a wry chuckle.
He never imagined it would lead to reconnecting with Park Yeon-sung.
“Yeon-sung came to that event.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. It’d been so long that I didn’t recognize him at first, but as I kept looking at his face, he started to look like the Yeon-sung we remembered.”
“Is he doing well?”
“Well. As you know, Yeon-sung isn’t one to talk much about himself.”
“That’s true.”
He wasn’t the kind of friend who felt inferior about his difficult family background. Still, there was no reason to flaunt such details as if advertising them.
So, Park Yeon-sung tended not to talk much about himself.
However, his relationships with friends were very amicable.
He was also a loyal person who would rush to help first if anything happened.
Kang Dae-oh himself had received help from Park Yeon-sung several times.
That’s why, when he became an adult and his livelihood became stable, he tried to contact Park Yeon-sung several times to repay his kindness.
Even though those attempts didn’t succeed.
“Ah, I did hear that.”
“What is it?”
“Yeon-sung got married.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yeah. He said he got married five years ago. And his child is four years old.”
“He had a child immediately after a year. By the way, I’m a bit disappointed. I thought you and I were close with Yeon-sung. He should have sent us an invitation. That guy.”
“Well, maybe he couldn’t reach us, just like you. Since he said he’s coming to the alumni gathering, let’s all give him an earful then.”
“We should.”
Kang Dae-oh and Oh Myung-woon looked at each other and smiled wryly.
There was now one more reason to attend this alumni gathering.
On the day of the high school alumni gathering.
Kang Dae-oh said to Min Seung-yeon, who was making pancakes for snacks in the kitchen with Kang Yera and Kang Yeyoung.
“Honey. I’m going to the alumni gathering.”
“Ah. You mean that high school gathering you mentioned last week, right?”
“That’s right, that one.”
Kang Yera and Kang Yeyoung seemed to be hearing about their dad’s alumni gathering for the first time, and they showed interest in his words.
“Are you coming home late today?”
“No. Not that late.”
In their twenties, they had the stamina to drink and play until the late hours of dawn.
But perhaps because they had all gotten older, they started complaining about being tired even by midnight.
Moreover, many friends, like Kang Dae-oh, were no longer single, so an atmosphere of leaving early naturally formed.
“Then, before you go, can’t you eat some of this?”
He couldn’t just ignore his youngest daughter’s adorable request.
“What is it?”
“Pancakes. We made too many, and I don’t think we can eat them all by ourselves.”
It would be too much of a waste to just throw them away.
And the daughters had made them with their mom for a change. They wanted their dad to try them too.
Kang Dae-oh readily agreed to his youngest daughter’s request.
“I was already hungry since I skipped lunch. This is perfect.”
“Oh, then you can eat more! There’s plenty!”
“How much is ‘plenty’?”
Kang Dae-oh thought no matter how much there was, it would be within reason.
However, as if they had been waiting for their dad’s question from the start, Kang Yeyoung and Kang Yera collaborated to bring out the hidden pancakes and placed them on the table.
Thud! The quantity was so large that it made a sound.
At first, Kang Dae-oh thought it wasn’t pancakes but a gigantic cake block, like those sometimes seen at event venues.
But on closer inspection, he realized they were pancakes stacked layer upon layer.
“They’re delicious if you pour syrup on top.”
“This… I don’t think Dad can eat all of this. No, more importantly, why did you make so much?”
Min Seung-yeon seemed to have something to say about this, so she answered on behalf of her daughters.
“We kept making and making them while practicing cooking, and they just piled up like that.”
Cooking practice was the biggest reason.
“It’s okay. You don’t have to eat it all.”
Kang Dae-oh was greatly relieved by his eldest daughter’s words.
“Then maybe I’ll just eat one or two…”
Just as he was about to pick up his fork.
Kang Yeyoung suddenly said,
“You just have to eat as much as you love us, Dad.”
“……”
“Then 언니 and I will be satisfied.”
It stings.
The gazes of his eldest and youngest daughters feel especially sharp today.
If they put it that way…
‘I have no choice but to eat it all.’
He decided to first consider how much empty space he had left in his stomach.
Kang Dae-oh arrived at the meeting place, excited at the thought of seeing his friends after a long time.
As he arrived at the restaurant exactly at 6 o’clock, several friends greeted him.
“The celebrity’s here, the celebrity!”
“Long time no see, Dae-oh.”
“Hey, every time you appear on TV, I tell my kids, ‘Kang Dae-oh, he’s my high school friend,’ but they never believe me.”
Kang Dae-oh chuckled at his friend’s words and said jokingly,
“Shall we take a picture together? If you show that to your kids, they’ll believe you.”
“Should we? No joke, seriously.”
“I don’t mind.”
Taking a picture for a friend was something he could certainly do.
As Kang Dae-oh readily agreed, additional requests poured in from other friends.
“Me too!”
“After that, take one for me too. My wife is your fan.”
With fan testimonies pouring in from all directions, Kang Dae-oh had to calm his friends down first.
Oh Myung-woon laughed loudly watching Kang Dae-oh.
“My friend made it big! It feels like just yesterday he was worrying about low sales at a small neighborhood cafe.”
Among his friends, Oh Myung-woon was also the closest to Kang Dae-oh.
Perhaps that’s why. Kang Dae-oh’s success felt as joyful to Oh Myung-woon as if it were his own.
Then another friend pointed at Oh Myung-woon.
“Myung-woon, aren’t you doing well these days too? I heard a lot of celebrities come to your hair salon.”
The attention and focus that had been on Kang Dae-oh suddenly drifted towards Oh Myung-woon.
“What? Really?”
“What is it? When did you two get so successful?”
“You guys. I’m jealous.”
As they continued to talk about each other’s recent lives.
The last guest who had decided to attend the alumni gathering appeared.
“Hey guys, long time no see.”
The friend Kang Dae-oh had so desperately wanted to see for a long time.
Park Yeon-sung appeared before them with an awkward expression.
Was it because he had gone through a lot of hardships? Kang Dae-oh was quite surprised inwardly at the sight of his friend, whose cheeks were sunken in.
‘Now I understand why Myung-woon said he didn’t recognize Yeon-sung at first.’
Still, thanks to some of his old features remaining, he could be certain that the man in front of him was the friend he knew, Park Yeon-sung.
“Oh, Park Yeon-sung!”
“You rascal. I heard the news about you. You said you got married?”
“Why didn’t you send us an invitation?”
When the topic of wedding invitations came up, Park Yeon-sung looked troubled.
“I wanted to send them too. But I couldn’t reach you, and it felt a bit awkward to suddenly contact you only because of the wedding. And…”
Park Yeon-sung, who deliberated until the last moment whether to speak or not, finally revealed something unexpected.
“Actually, I didn’t have a wedding ceremony.”
“What?”
“What do you mean by that?”
Kang Dae-oh couldn’t believe his ears.
Of course, a wedding doesn’t necessarily require a ceremony to be valid.
It’s not legally mandated, after all.
But it wasn’t a common occurrence either.
“Well… I didn’t have enough financial余裕 to prepare for a wedding. I did promise my wife that we’d have a proper wedding once we had some余裕 later, but it seems like it’ll still take some time. That’s why I couldn’t send you invitations.”
Since he didn’t have a wedding ceremony, there was no way there would be wedding invitations.
At first, they had jokingly brought up the topic to tease Park Yeon-sung, saying they were disappointed, asking if their friendship meant so little.
But it seemed they hadn’t expected such deep circumstances, and the atmosphere instantly became somber.
At that moment, Oh Myung-woon, the mood-maker, stepped forward.
“Alright, alright! We haven’t met in so long, we should have a drink. Let’s quickly clear these heavy thoughts from our minds. Since we’ve met Yeon-sung after a long time, how about we make a celebratory toast?”
“Y-yes, let’s do that!”
“Drink up! Drink, drink, drink!”
At his friends’ enthusiastic cheers, Park Yeon-sung reluctantly accepted the glass.
It was good to meet his friend after a long time, but.
“……”
The words Park Yeon-sung had said kept lingering in Kang Dae-oh’s mind.
He had hoped that when he met his friend again, who had truly lived a difficult life during their school days, he would be as successful as himself or Oh Myung-woon.
But the world, as always, remained cold and harsh to the weak.
Kang Dae-oh, who took turns clinking glasses with his friends, clicked his tongue several times.
For some reason, today.
‘The alcohol tastes bitter.’
