"Hi, I'm Irene," she introduced herself with a smile and put out a hand for me to shake. Even though her hand was rather small, her fingers were beautifully long and slender.

Her nails were well maintained and brilliantly painted with vibrant colours. I looked at my plain and dull hand before taking hers into a firm handshake. moonwritesfics

"I'm y/n," I managed to introduce myself while covering the fact that I was feeling extremely insecure sitting next to her.

When Irene came and gave me a peck on the cheek, the first thing I thought about doing was to look at y/n. She was obviously shocked by Irene's gesture.

Honestly, I wasn't concerned as much when Irene started to show affection towards me in front of other people, but knowing that y/n was present this time, made me feel a little bit, well, strangely uncomfortable. As if I was guilty or had done something bad. But I try not to think about it as much. moonwritesfics

For the whole entire duration of dinner, I couldn't stop taking secret glances at y/n. I scolded myself for too many times already but I was still not able to put my action to a halt.

All of the memories of our first encounter at the supermarket revisited my mind as I could see how different the y/n I met that day with this quiet version of y/n right in front of me now.

However, my heart started to flutter like crazy once I saw that y/n started smiling and giggling with Irene. She was getting more relaxed as Irene was able to carry out continuous conversations with her. moonwritesfics

'Stop it, Jin,' I gave myself a mental slap once I noticed my eyes were unknowingly making its way towards y/n's face once again. I had to cover by either looking at Irene right after that or turning my neck left to right from time to time as if I was stretching.

Thinking that I might get caught eventually, I decided to make myself busy by talking to my brother on various kinds of topics instead.

I have to remind myself to shrug off my little crush on Jin since now I know that Irene will be getting married to him soon. I noticed that he was glancing over at his future wife quite a number of times already. 'He must really love her,' I sighed in my mind as I got back to listening to Irene's stories. moonwritesfics

To my surprise, I felt comfortable talking to Irene. She was really delightful. On top of her beauty, she was beyond friendly and really fun to talk to. Well, maybe because I don't have any siblings.

Also, I don't really have much friends who are girls due to my background of studies and work. Therefore, it was indeed a breath of fresh air even though you can clearly see how dissimilar we were.

I found it a little funny because I was supposed to get to know my future spouse, yet, I ended up talking to Irene the whole evening instead. Don't get me wrong, I was quite relieved because I could still feel the hint of awkwardness present between me and Taehyung. moonwritesfics

Our eyes did meet a few times and we exchanged smiles, but no other conversation was initiated by any of us subsequently. Perhaps he was just being polite, giving me and Irene the chance to chit chat since we were already sort of talking non-stop with each other.

"Y/n, Irene, are you both free tomorrow?" Mrs. Kim asked oh so suddenly while looking at the both of us which made us instantly stop with what we were doing. I was puzzled by her rather random question but I nodded to the elder lady since I really don't have anything else planned yet. Irene also smiled and nodded to Mrs. Kim as well. moonwritesfics

I took a sip of my drink, still not knowing where that conversation was heading to. "We're going to buy your wedding dresses and rings tomorrow," Mrs. Kim announced and I suddenly choked.

I instantly grabbed my napkin, trying to wipe off the droplets of drink that had managed to escape my mouth. It was really embarrassing. My mother who was sitting at my other side was patting my back, trying to calm me down.

"Are you ok?" Taehyung asked with concern. All of them at the table had rather similar reactions and all eyes were on me now. "Yes, I'm fine," I said as I managed to get myself together.

"I'm sorry... I understand about the rings... but, isn't it too early for wedding dress shopping though?" I asked rather directly and the parents smiled at me.

"Well, your wedding is in 5 months. We're actually already behind schedule," Mrs. Kim chuckled. moonwritesfics

"What? The marriage is in 5 months?" I whispered in my mom's ear. She replied to me just by nodding with a smile. I can't believe it'll be that soon!

Timeskip (The next day)

"Mom, why can't you come as well?" I whined when I was having breakfast with her. "I really want to, but I already promised my friend to go to a wedding with her," she said.

"But I'm your only daughter. And I'm getting married to a stranger! Have some mercy..." I sighed with dramatic remarks which made her laugh. "You and your drama," she shook her head. moonwritesfics

"You can send me the pictures later," she said, not caving in to my request. "Fine," I mumbled since I already knew that I couldn't persuade her more when she had made up her mind.

"How do I look?" I asked while showing mom my casual outfit before going out. I was wearing a white t-shirt underneath a long sleeved denim jacket paired with a pair of black skinny jeans.

"Are you comfortable?" she asked and I nodded. "Then it's fine," she smiled.

"How come you didn't ask me that yesterday?" I frowned. moonwritesfics

"Yesterday was different... and I did give you a few options of dresses, didn't I?" she rolled her eyes playfully which made me exhale a long sigh, indirectly indicating that she was right.

"I guess I'll get going now... See you later, mom," I kissed her cheek and made myself out of the front door after I put on my sneakers.

Mrs. Kim sent me the location of our meet-up place. I keyed in the address in the GPS, only to find out that the route was somewhat unfamiliar and it would take me about 40 minutes to reach there. moonwritesfics

My eyes widened when I found myself driving into the posher side of the city, where tons of designer's boutiques could be seen all over the area. I kept on glancing at my phone to find my way getting to the right place. The GPS finally made me stop in front of a luxurious brand's boutique. I already felt out of place.

It didn't help much when I parked my considerably cheap car in between these high-end ones. I locked my car and walked towards the boutique. I stopped outside and I tried looking around for Mrs. Kim and Irene but I couldn't see them anywhere.

I took out my phone and dialled Mrs. Kim's number. 'Why didn't mom stop me from just wearing this,' I stared at my outfit while the call was still connecting. moonwritesfics

"Hi dear, are you here already?" her voice was heard on the line. "Hi, Mrs. Kim. Yes I've just arrived," I replied. "Just come into the store. Me and Irene are already inside," she said and ended the call.

I was really that stupid when I pushed the boutique's door, thinking it'll swing open when I do so. However, a loud thud was heard instead because the door was locked.

I could see the staff inside were already glaring at me. I looked around and then I noticed that I should ring the bell first. So, with a red face, I pressed it. moonwritesfics

"Yes, may I help you?" a staff opened the door but she looked rather unwelcoming. And she didn't even give enough space for me to walk inside.

"Umm... I'd like to go in," I stated my intention but it sounded like a question at the same time. The arrogant lady was looking at me from top to bottom. "Are you sure?" she asked with a judgemental face.

I swear if I was in a bad mood, I just might spit out some harsh words but I took a deep breath to prevent myself from doing so.

"Oh, y/n-ah, what took you so long?" Irene's voice was heard from inside and the staff's eyes grew wide. "She's with us," Irene said to the staff. The lady instantly avoided eye contact with me as she opened the door for me to enter. I gave her a long side glance as I walked past her and towards Irene.

"I'm sorry, I was a little late," I apologized to Mrs. Kim once I saw her. "No need to apologize, dear! We just got here 10 minutes ago," she smiled and put up a hand to a staff member which made the girl suddenly come towards us. moonwritesfics

"Yes Mrs. Kim, how may I help you?" she asked politely. "I need dresses for my daughters here," she told the staff. "Daughters? I thought you only have sons?" the staff frowned.

'How famous are the Kims? Even the staff here knows about their family,' my mind wandered since I don't know that much about them as well.

"Oh, these two young ladies here are my future daughter in law," Mrs. Kim said with a big grin on her face. She looked genuinely happy.

"Your daughter in law is so pretty!" the staff exclaimed while looking at Irene who was looking chic in a knee-length floral summer dress with matching heels. Irene smiled at the staff as a response. moonwritesfics

"And... umm... you're pretty too..." she said with a hesitant smile when she shifted her gaze at me. Her eyes unknowingly roamed my outfit which made me feel disgusted by her attitude but I just portrayed a neutral expression, not wanting to be bitter about the situation.

"Yes, both of them are beautiful. So, can you help them?" Mrs. Kim asked and the staff nodded impulsively. "I'll help you," the staff pointed to Irene. "And I'll get a friend of mine to attend you," she added while smiling at me.

"Don't worry too much about them," Mrs. Kim said once the staff was out of sight, as if she was reading my mind. "Pardon?" I frowned.

"The staff of boutiques like these. They think they're better than others. I saw how she looked at you," the elder lady said and I was really surprised by her remarks. "Don't think about it that much," she gave me a reassuring smile. I replied with a faint one.

'Why is she so cool?' I thought as I observed Mrs. Kim who had started going through the wedding dresses. moonwritesfics

I walked towards a dress displayed on a mannequin. The design was really simple yet looked highly exquisite. My hands ran through the silky white material and it caught on to something. 'Oh, it's the price tag,' I said to myself. moonwritesfics

I turned the card around and my eyes widened looking at the number. 'This much for a simple dress?!' I exclaimed in my head.

I walked towards another mannequin and I casually tried finding the price tag. 'Damn... I could eat for a year with this price,' I thought once I saw the written figure. I could only sigh in my mind looking at the values.

"Mrs. Kim..." I started but she narrowed her eyes on me which made me remembered. "Aunty..." I nervously smiled and her frown instantly turned upside down.

"Yes, dear?" she asked, smiling ear to ear, while she was already holding a few dresses in her hands. moonwritesfics

"Umm... I think I won't be able to buy my dress at this place," I whispered to her because I didn't want any of the judgemental staff to hear. Her smile left her face almost immediately. Her eyebrows were now knitted with clear confusion as her eyes were glued on mine.

"Well... umm... They are a little too pricey for me. I can't afford any of it," I honestly confessed to her but Mrs. Kim let out an airy chuckle.

"You don't have to worry about a thing, y/n-ah... It's on me," she said with her lips curled up once again into a huge grin. She nodded at me and patted my shoulder, giving some assurance. moonwritesfics

However, it didn't make me feel any better at all. In fact, I already felt indebted to her but I couldn't do anything about it. At that moment, all I could do was just go with the flow.

So, me and Irene started to try out the selection of dresses. Just to put it out there, it was hella tiring! Well, at least for me, that is.

"Irene, I don't know how you could stand doing all of this. I'm tired already!" I complained to her when we were taking off our fifth trial dress. She giggled while looking at my exhausted state.

"I have to do this a lot at my job, y/n-ie," she giggled some more but she could see I was befuddled.

"I'm a model," she smiled at me.

"Of course you are," I mumbled under my breath.

"I'm sorry, what?" she asked and I panicked. "I'm so exhausted right now..." I whined trying to cover up. moonwritesfics

"Brace yourself, we have another 4 to try on," she pointed to the shelf behind my back. I turned around and I could see the dresses were hanging there elegantly waiting for their turn to be tried out. I let out a grunt and she shook her head with a chuckle.