Chulsoon picks up the duck closest to him. “Jinae’s family is pretty old school, I guess. Dae-Ho said her grandma insisted on them and now they’re both wondering what they’re supposed to do with 218 sets of wooden birds after the ceremony today.”
Looking around at the ornately decorated ballroom, the ducks appear to be the one throwback item they included. Maybe it was a compromise between the bride and groom and their families. Dae-Ho’s older brother had been the host of the ceremony, another modern choice in place of an officiant that would have been more common in the past.
Jase interrupts my inspection of the surroundings by elbowing me to show me the photo that Nikko has just sent him. It looks like Noel and Nikko are having some sort of spa day. He’s wearing a face mask and under-eye patches with a robe while the dog lounges next to him, belly up under a blanket that I know cost more than a month’s rent on my first apartment, the fur around her eyes tufted neatly into a tiny puff by a fancy pink barrette.
I have to laugh, it’s so ridiculous. One of the most famous men in the world and he’s doing Saturday evening skincare with a poodle mix.
“What are you two up to?” Wonshik asks. “You looking at something good?”
“I mean, I think so,” Jase answers, but tucks his phone away without showing the rest of them, despite the curious stareshe’s now getting.
“Must be from the boyfriend,” Junghwa mumbles.
“It was,” Jase tells him with a smile, kind as ever despite the somewhat awkward vibe around the table.
Chulsoon sets the duck he’s been tossing around down, precisely enough I can tell he’s been lectured about the place settings at least once already. “How’s that going anyway?”
“Must be pretty damn good if he was willing to move around the world for that ass,” Wonshik comments before Jase has a chance to say anything.
I scowl at him. It’s pretty crude to say in general, but something in his tone makes me ready to jump in if I need to. I know Jase can handle himself—he always has—but he just shouldn’t have to around people who are supposed to be his friends.
“Definitely worth relocating for.” Jase smirks. “And all of you?” He gestures to the three of them. “Still single, yeah?”
His point lands immediately, exactly as he intended, and Chulsoon sulks off back to take his place by Dae-Ho at the head table again, but not before stopping to flirt with one of Jinae’s attendants. I nudge Jase subtly, giving him a nod of approval for shutting that down so smoothly.
Wonshik excuses himself to go to the bar and Junghwa trails after him, leaving the two of us alone at the table, and I feel myself relaxing. Now that Jase is back and part of my daily life, it seems so obvious that I just don’t have the same kind of relationship with the rest of this group.
“You know,” Jase starts, then pauses to look around like he’s checking to make sure no one is listening. “I’m not sure I like these guys as much as I thought I did.”
I give him a bit of a nod. “Yeah. I was thinking the same.” Jase’s expression changes to surprise at my admission. “I don’t think I realized it until we were all here again. We were so close when we were all in university. But I honestly can’t remember the last time I even got together with everyone. I know thethree of them hang out when they can, but Dae-Ho has been with Jinae and I think Junghwa and Chulsoon still do the club scene in Itaewon and go to bars in Hongdae like they’re twenty-two or something.”
Jase snorts. “You say that like you’re forty. Damn those kids!”
“Iambasically thirty, though,” I remind him. I stroke my chin like my father always does. “Too old for the antics of a young man.”
“You are twenty-nine, my guy,” he corrects me, eyes rolling. “In your prime, some might say.”
“I guess maybe I’m starting to feel like a ’real adult,’ whatever that means,” I say, trying to explain away this sudden introspection that seems to be happening more all the time. “Or I’m just really noticing it tonight, being here at a wedding. I thought I missed being with these guys but… I don’t want that life anymore. I like not waking up hungover or in a stranger’s bed halfway across Seoul. That’s not the traveling I want to do anymore. I like going places for my job. I like most of the people I work with. I like going to nice restaurants where it’s quiet enough to actually have a conversation and the food is legitimately good.”
“So sophisticated,” Jase teases, but he’s smiling. “I get it. Iwas never quite that kind of guy, but I really do understand. I wouldn’t go back to those bar crawls we used to do for anything.”
“Seeing Dae-Ho get married today and you and Nikko all paired up and in love is making me think about stuff, maybe. I don’t know if I’d say I’mjealous, but it’s something,” I sigh, just as Wonshik and Junghwa reappear. To change the subject as they sit back down, I ask, “How’s the drink selection?”
“They got the good shit!” Wonshik thrusts his glass into the air, amber liquid sloshing over the side.
“Watch yourself,” Jase chastises. “You should know what happens when you start spilling alcohol all over.”
Wonshik and Junghwa exchange a glance, clearly not following, but I crack up, laughing loudly enough to draw some attention from the next table over. I know exactly what he’s talking about because we joke about it so often. Not the part where Wonshik basically poured his beer down Jase’s back at a bar about a decade ago, but how that misfortune started an odd series of events that led us to where we are today.
Before either of us can explain, there are servers whirling around the room, gently setting bowls of janchi guksu in front of everyone. The long noodles of the dish will supposedly grant a long life of happiness to the newlyweds.
I can see Jase glance at his phone every few bites, his fingers practically twitching to flip it over and see if he has any new messages. I’ve never been like that, never been so into someone I couldn’t wait to hang on their every word, to read every single text the moment it came in. There’s a part of me that thinks it’s just too much, that I wouldn’t even want to be wrapped up in another person like that. But knowing how happy Jase is all the time, watching Dae-Ho commit his life to Jinae with a smile, it does make me wonder a bit. Am I missing out on something?
The food keeps coming, to the point that I’m not sure I’m even tasting anything anymore. Jase gave up a couple of courses ago, with Wonshik and Junghwa inhaling what he sets aside. They’ve kept drinking just as steadily, leading to more comments about which of the women in the wedding party they’d most like to see out of their dresses, mixed in with muddled thoughts on everything from American sports and politics to Seoul’s own chaebol families.
I wonder if they’ve always been like this and I was just young and dumb and not paying attention. Jase shoots me a look every time one of them says something particularly obnoxious, and I agree with a subtle tilt of my jaw. I can’t imagine what it would have been like if he hadn’t come with me.
“I just got it!” Wonshik exclaims, slamming his now-empty glass back down on the table and using the same hand to pointin Jase’s direction. “When you were talking about drinks earlier. That’s how we met you!”
