Side Story 4
Since Jae-gyu had no parents, the formal family meeting was automatically skipped, but there were still countless other things to consider.
The wedding venue, dress shop, wedding photography studio, honeymoon destination…
There was a mountain of choices to make and reservations to book. Jae-gyu took charge of all of it, stepping in for Bom, who was busy with school. The process went like this: Bom's mother would coach Jae-gyu, and Bom would give the final approval.
Jae-gyu, a meticulous planner, organized everything neatly in an Excel spreadsheet.
He joined wedding planning cafes, leveled up his membership, scoured Instagram for the latest trends, and watched vlogs whenever he had a moment. Before he knew it, Jae-gyu had become a wedding expert.
Today's schedule, too, was simply a matter of following Jae-gyu's plan. The shop they were heading to now was one of the places he'd put on a waitlist.
"The dresses there are really flashy. I don't know if they'll suit me."
"Hahahaha. One thousand percent they will. Trust my eye. I'm the King of Aesthetics."
"Haa, really?"
"And if you try them on and don't like them, we can just go to another shop, so don't feel pressured."
"Right, phew. I'm nervous."
Ahead of the subtly nerve-wracking dress tour, Bom pulled out her phone. She'd received quite a few messages while waiting for Jae-gyu at the airport earlier, so it was time to reply.
Tap, tap. Bom quickly cleared her backlog of messages with her thumb, then put her phone away.
"Okay, now tell me about the Egypt training. What do you think about the business prospects?"
Jae-gyu wiggled the hand gripping the steering wheel as he recounted what he'd seen and heard in Egypt.
"Hmm, it doesn't look easy."
Jae-gyu's explanation was this: The land was a vast, flat plain, and with the sun beating down 365 days a year, it seemed suitable for a Solar Energy Site. However, there were many practical problems. Equipment permits were strict, and the cost of business approval was substantial, meaning profitability would need careful consideration.
"So the Egypt project is completely off the table?"
"Among the training group, there was someone who'd worked in the Arab region, so I talked to them a bit. It's not impossible to challenge. We'll have to test the waters for a while."
He mentioned there was even a famous company that wanted to collaborate on a project. At the time, he'd thought positively about it, but after being pickpocketed, he felt he needed to be more cautious.
"Bom. Final exams are all over, and you're going on break, right? Next Friday, was it?"
"Yeah, Friday is the Closing Ceremony."
"That's soon. Is learning pottery fun?"
"Oh, that? Right, I made a really cute rice bowl. It's at home, so check it out when we get there."
"Wow, I'm looking forward to it."
"Oh, and also. Jae-hee and Yeon-su want to see you, Jae-gyu."
Bom had made two friends at the pottery class she'd started attending recently. She'd only recently revealed to them that she was marrying Jae-gyu. Her friends seemed worried because he was four years older and lived with his nephew.
"Then let's set up a meeting. I'll treat them to something delicious. And that instructor, Ha Jung-jin, it'd be good to invite him too. He was hitting on Bom-soon a bit at first."
"He just sent a few messages, that's all. Don't worry about it."
"Still, we need to set things straight. He's not hitting on you anymore, right? And also, that... the one we decided to buy..."
Receiving a barrage of questions from the curious Jae-gyu, their white Mercedes-Benz drew closer to downtown Seoul.
Since she couldn't walk around downtown Seoul dressed in an Egyptian traditional Galabeya, Bom convinced Jae-gyu to stop by a department store in Sogong-dong.
"Hah, I have a suit in my luggage..."
"It's time to buy new shirts anyway."
Even though he had clothes in his luggage, they were unwashed. It felt a bit off to take out and wear such clothes, so buying new ones was better in many ways.
She was a little embarrassed by all the stares they received as soon as they entered the department store, but when Jae-gyu emerged from the fitting room looking sharp in a new shirt, she thought coming to the department store had been a truly excellent idea.
"How does this look? To you, Bom?"
"...It suits you well. I think we can decide on this one."
The fitted shirt highlighted his tanned skin and well-developed chest muscles.
She'd been unsure when they reunited at the airport, but seeing him in a suit, she knew for sure.
He'd gotten bigger. Did he work out while he was away? Or did Egyptian food have some special effect?
"You're staring. Am I handsome?"
Bom nodded obediently. Just a change of clothes, but Jae-gyu had transformed from a strange man everyone would be wary of to a man someone might find desirable.
"My clothes sense is pretty good, isn't it? Suits look good on me because I have a sexy style."
"Jae-gyu, I'll buy this for you."
Since Jae-gyu only used a credit card payment app and no physical card, he must have been broke after being pickpocketed, so Bom took out her wallet instead.
"Oh, don't you have the card I gave you in your wallet? Use that. We need to meet the spending quota anyway, so let's use it."
"Huh? Oh, right. You did give me a card."
Jae-gyu had given her a credit card quite a while ago, but she hadn't used it, so she hadn't thought about it.
"Still, this is for me—"
"Hey, I told you to use your salary as pocket money."
Jae-gyu snatched Bom's wallet with his large hand and went to the counter with the staff, saying,
"I'll wear this one. And that other one... could you wrap it up?"
Jae-gyu quickly finished paying with his card, then approached Bom, who was looking at him dazedly. He gently put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her close.
"Shall we go, My Bom-Bom♡?"
Carrying the shopping bag with the Galabeya, the two left the store, contemplating their next destination. They still had plenty of time before their next shop appointment.
"Let's buy some clothes and a bag for Bom. A crazy shopping spree."
"Hmm, I really don't need anything."
Jae-gyu encouraged shopping, saying F/W new arrivals must be out, but Bom repeatedly shook her head.
She'd already done a big shopping spree before Jae-gyu left last month, so she didn't need or want anything else.
Instead, since they had time, they decided to look around.
"This autumn/winter trend is Metal Gray."
Jae-gyu, as usual, informed her about the latest trends. Where on earth did he get such information?
"Metal? Like cyber-looking?"
"Yeah. Shall we get matching Metal Gray couple underwear? You said you wanted matching couple underwear."
"When did I say that?"
"Then how about t-shirts instead of underwear?"
As she diligently ignored Jae-gyu's persistent talk about couple items, something suddenly popped into Bom's head.
"Ah!"
"Ah?"
"We decided to jog every evening!"
Quick-witted Jae-gyu immediately understood Bom's meaning and snapped his fingers.
"Oh, right. We don't have running shoes, do we? Let's go look right now."
Bom's old running shoes were tattered from Bom-sik chewing on them long ago. Jae-gyu's too; Bom-sik had suddenly bitten a hole in the toe of his shoes the day after his neutering surgery.
Since both their running shoes were in such a terrible state, it seemed like a good idea to buy new ones today.
As soon as they agreed, their footsteps led them side-by-side to a sports brand store.
"Bom. I was right, wasn't I? Look, this, this."
"Oh? Really? What the..."
As Jae-gyu said, many of the newly released running shoes featured Metal Gray.
"It's surprisingly good. It's not like, super flashy."
It wasn't as strange as she'd imagined, so Bom dropped her reservations and looked closely at each one.
"This one's pretty. What do you think?"
She found a model with a cream-colored body mixed with Metal Gray.
It wasn't too flashy and seemed to go well with any outfit, so she really liked it. The design being suitable for any gender or age was also a strong point.
"It's trendy, so it'll suit us well. Shall we try this one on?"
"Yeah."
Jae-gyu immediately called a staff member and asked to see men's size 310 and women's size 230.
A few minutes later, the staff member rummaged through the back and brought out two boxes. Jae-gyu helped Bom try hers on first, then put on his own. They looked in the mirror side-by-side and were pleased.
"I like them."
"I think these are the ones too. As expected, Bom has a good eye, they're pretty."
Looking in the mirror again, they both spoke at the same time.
"But Mom also—"
"Now that you mention it, Han-gyeol also—"