“How long are you here? How long are you in town?” Julia asked. How long did she have him? she wondered.
“I didn’t know how long to plan the trip, wasn’t sure how all of this would go,” he answered, looking down into her eyes, searching. “Julia, do you want me to stay? Tell me this is what you want. You and me.”
He wasn’t uncertain or scared. Not like last time. But he needed Julia to tell him she wanted this too. And she was more than happy to let him know.
“Oh, you’re most definitely staying, Tae Kim. If you think I’m ever letting you go, you are sadly mistaken. I know I can be a lot—”
Tae pressed his finger to her mouth to stop her, but she simply kissed it and kept talking. “But I like that about myself,” she said. “And it just means the right man is gonna be the one who can handle all of this.”
Tae chuckled. “Oh, I can’t wait to handle all of this,” he said, dropping his hands down to her ass and pulling her flush with him. He was hard and hungry and heated. And if Julia didn’t get him back to her apartment soon, they’d be giving all the CCTV cameras around here a show.
“I love you, Julia. All of you,” Tae said, as he gently brushed his lips on hers. She whimpered, closer to a whine, for more.
“And I love all of you too,” Julia said against his mouth. And as she leaned in one more time, deepening their kiss, holding him tight, she felt like she could finally let go. She wasn’t afraid to try. She wasn’t afraid to fail. She felt safe and loved.
Because this was Tae. And Tae was like coming home.
Epilogue
Julia
“I swore I would never do this for anyone. But here I am. I must really love you,” Rachel said.
“I’m honored and grateful. And I love you too. All of you.” Julia looked around the room at her friends: Rachel, Sonia, and Jisoo. They say that bridesmaids should never outshine the bride. But she thought hers were the most beautiful creatures in the world. And were looking smoking hot in their dresses.
“Julia, don’t forget to hold this cross necklace. We want Jesus’s blessing throughout the whole thing.” Julia’s mother had not stopped crying all morning. In fact, Julia thought she’d probably been crying since the day Tae proposed a year ago.
Julia looked down at the antique emerald ring on her finger. It was her halmoni’s prized possession, the one thing of value she had hidden during war times and kept with her for better times. Julia hadn’t heard the whole story from Tae as to how he ended up with this ring and its beautiful silk pouch. But she could imagine. And she let it stay as a secret between Tae and her grandmother. It was their relationship that started this whole thing between Tae and Julia, after all. And she liked that they were close.
“Don’t worry, Mom. I doubt Jesus is going to change his mind all of a sudden.”
“Yah, don’t jinx it,” her mom yelled.
“I can finally die in peace,” her halmoni said, sitting in the corner. Julia’s grandmother and mother had donned gorgeous traditional Korean hanboks, while her bridesmaids wore stunning black cocktail dresses. Julia, herself, had had her dress made by an up-and-coming Korean designer, and she loved its ballgown silhouette... and pockets!
“Nice try, Halmoni. You’ll outlive us all,” Julia said. “I heard from Mom that your doctor gave you a clean bill of health... again.”
“Doctors don’t know everything,” her grandmother grumbled, shrugging her shoulder.
Guess doctors weren’t the chosen ones after all.
The door to the bride’s dressing room opened, and Annette peeked her head in. “Va-va-voom, boss lady. You look gorge. Just a quick note, the delivery man left a message and said the race car has been dropped off and assembled in the guest bedroom.”
Julia laughed. It was her wedding gift to Tae, moving the race car bed from his parents’ house to their new home in Long Beach. The two of them had bought a beautiful and cozy three-bedroom cottage in the Bixby Knolls area. Julia fell in love with the diverse neighborhood, and Tae went crazy over the old home and all the renovation possibilities.
And it was a perfect middle ground for Tae who still helped the community in the Irvine area and Julia who worked in West LA.
“Thanks, Annette.”
“No problem. I’m here to serve whatever NASCAR kink you and the hubster got going on. Gotta tell you, though, I would never have called that one.”
Julia rolled her eyes at Annette.
Annette promptly ignored Julia.
“Oh, and these are the cards you ordered. I’ll see you out there. I gotta do a few more Hail Marys or they won’t let me take a seat in the service.”
“Annette, we’re not Catholic,” Julia reminded her.
