Red Strings Of Destiny
When the day of the wedding finally arrived, Yeona wanted to die.
It was not because she was nervous or anxious. It was solely because she had been sitting in front of the god damn mirror for more than four hours. After all, the stylist was not satisfied with her own handiwork. She kept putting makeup on her face only to remove it harshly. It had happened more than few times and honestly, Yeona was starting to feel annoyed.
"I know you are annoyed, Your Highness, but I just want to make you look beautiful." the stylist whined as Yeona shot her a look.
"For the last time Ms. Jung, I look fine." she sighed for the umpteenth time, but her stylist did not pay her any heed.
As Ms. Jung struggled with her makeup, Jungmin showed up along with Jia on tow and greeted her.
"Looking pretty, Your Highness!" Jungmin commented with a wink and Yeona could not help but giggle at his antics. Jungmin had always managed to make her laugh in any kind of situation.
Jia, on the other hand, bent down to give her a back hug and said, "You look gorgeous, Yu."
"Thank you, Jia," Yeona answered with a smile and looked at her reflection in the mirror.
She could hardly believe that it has been more than a month since she came here since she got engaged to the Prince. Everything was happening so fast that it almost felt surreal. Yeona felt like one of her weird fantasies was playing out in real life. But even if it was just a fantasy, even if it was just a weird dream, Yeona wished to never wake up from it. She had already become attached to this place, to Their Majesties, and maybe to that giant oaf and his cute little sister.
"Where's Woobin?" Yeona asked when she noticed that the said man was missing. It was unusual because they were a group and wherever they went, they were together, most of the time.
"He was here a few minutes ago. Where did he go now?" Jungmin wondered to himself as he looked around the room. "I'll go and look for him." He announced before running out of the room.
"I'll go with Jungmin," Jia informed before pecking Yeona's cheek and leaving the room.
When they finally left, Yeona was once again left alone with the stylist. She started working on her face again from the scratch and after what felt like an eternity (but it was just more than thirty minutes), she looked like she was finally done.
"You're done!" the stylist huffed, finally looking satisfied with her handiwork.
Yeona could not help but sigh in relief. Her whole body was strained from sitting in that same posture for such a long time. She thanked the heavens for finally releasing her from this torture.
"I'll go and call your family." the stylist told before grabbing her supplies and walking out of the room, leaving Yeona all alone.
Yeona let out a loud sigh as she looked at her reflection in the mirror. She could barely recognize the reflection portrayed there. She never in her life thought that she could look so beautiful. Her make up was kept extremely simple. It was the classic no make up look. It matched so well with her wedding garment that it left her in awe.
She was wearing
Yeona was immersed in her thoughts, admiring her dress and its intricate work when she heard someone knock on the door. She turned around slowly and smiled instantly at the man standing there. He held a bouquet of acacia and anemone surrounded by white baby's breath.
Woobin walked towards her with a warm smile and handed her the bouquet. "For you, Yu".
Yeona returned his smile and sniffed the flowers. She indulged herself in the sweet smell of the bouquet and looked up at the man who gave them to her. "Where were you?" Yeona questioned as she placed the flowers in front of her.
"I was busy with uni, you know…" Woobin answered and stood behind Yeona to admire her reflection in the mirror. He could not believe that he would see her like this so soon. He had imagined that he would be there waiting in the aisle for her. But here he was today, standing behind her, admiring her reflection.
Suddenly, He leaned down and pecked Yeona's cheek. "You look beautiful, Yu," he whispered in her ear.
Yeona did not miss the weird tone in his words.
She looked at Woobin and it felt as if he was once again trying to conceal something from her. It was as if he was pretending to be someone he was not. Yeona had known him long enough to see how the smile he had did not reach his cheek. She could see how reddened his eyes looked. It was as if he was crying previously.
She turned around to look at him. She felt extremely worried about how he was behaving. "What's wrong?" Yeona asked, feeling anxious.
"I'm fine, Yeona," Woobin answered with a sigh as he tried attempting a smile. "It's your wedding day, you shouldn't worry about me."
Yeona could see that Woobin understood that she knew he was lying. He tried to move away when Yeona grabbed his wrist to stop him.
"Woobin," Yeona began, looking directly at his eyes, "I know something is hurting you but why aren't you telling me?" she asked again but Woobin did not answer. He quietly removed his hand from her grip and walked towards the door.
He was adamant about concealing his feelings, no matter what. Seeing that, Yeona let out a sigh and decided that it would not be wise to pressure him right now. She needed to give Woobin his required time. She stepped down and implored, "Whenever you're ready, please tell me. I will listen to you".
Woobin nodded his head and gave her his signature dimpled smile before he turned around and left.
∞
The wedding started with Eoga Haengnyeol, a Royal procession led by a banner emblazoned with the King's coat of arms, the Yellow Dragon. Following the coat-of-arms banner were the five directions banner and other traditional royal trappings.
Yeona was still waiting in her dressing room when her mother rushed in.
"Thank god…" she huffed as she walked inside the room. "I seriously feel so out of place Yu. Why could not they just go for a simple church marriage." she panted hard.
When she regained her breath, she looked at Yeona and gasped aloud. Her daughter looked so ethereal that she could hardly believe it. "Yu… You look… beautiful..." her mother said, awestruck.
Yeona flushed instantly and looked away.
"I can't believe you're getting married…" she expressed, tearing up.
"Omma…" Yeona tried but her own heart was aching. 'Why was everyone so sad today?' she thought as she watched her mother cope up with her emotions.
she sniffled and wiped her tears away as she stood behind Yeona and rubbed her back. "I am really proud of you, my baby. I really am." Tears rolled down her eyes again as she looked at Yeona.
"Omma…don't cry…" Yeona felt her own eyes getting wet as she saw her mother cry.
"I'm not crying baby… these are tears of joy… Omma is really happy for you.." she cooed as she brushed her hair. "I know this marriage is hard for you Yu... But I hope that you never give up okay? No matter what happens, no matter how tough times get, never give up okay? Love may not come to you at first but if you stay long enough it will. It definitely will…" her mother said lovingly before caressing her cheek.
Yeona only nodded and listened to her mother.
∞
Soon she was called out for the next ceremony. It was Bisuchaeg Uisik or the formal installation of Yeona as the wife and the Crown Princess. It was a short ritual where the Priest came and chanted something before sprinkling holy water on her. After that Yeona bowed to the Priest to show her respect and when she stood up, the Priest placed a small crown on her head to exhibit her newly earned royalty.
The final event of the marriage approached.
It was the Chinyeong, in which Dojin took Yeona as her wife. It was the longest event where they had to sit in front of the Priest and the God to complete the holy ceremony. The Priest chanted his holy mantras and went on with the ritual. Yeona's heart was beating irregularly.
'This is it. This is the final event and after that, we are married. After this, I will no longer be just Cha Yeona. After this I will be Park Yeona, Crown Princess and Wife of Crown Prince Park Dojin' Yeona thought. She decided to look at the said man and saw that his expression was stone cold.
Dojin looked unhappy and distressed.
She reversed her attention back to the Priest, but that look gnawed at the back of her mind. Suddenly Yeona remembered the reason behind that expression. Dojin was forced into this marriage. He loved Soomin. He did not want Yeona in his life.
Getting married to someone you do not love and someone you do not know was horrible. It was horrible when you know that you have someone in your heart, but you can never have them in your arms. Yeona realized this as she looked at the pained expression of Dojin.
The Priest sprinkled holy water on them once again and Yeona broke from her thoughts. She looked up and the Priest smiled gently before pouring them rice wine. He then ordered them to drink it. She gulped it down without any question and looked at Dojin when he did the same.
"Give me your hands," the Priest asked, and they did as they were told.
The Priest tied a thick red string around Yeona's left and Dojin's right hand. He placed their hands on top of each other and said "This string represents destiny. From now on, you two are one entity. You two are now bounded by soul, two halves of one holy being. From now on, you two will be viewed as one in front of God. You will share joy and sorrow and all the moments of life that are yet to come. I wish both of you good luck on this long journey ahead of you. May God bless you." The Priest stood up and bowed to God before bowing to them. In return, both Yeona and Dojin stood up before giving the God and the Priest a deep bow.
The ceremony was over.
Yeona realized as she bowed to everyone who greeted them, that she was now married. She was now married to Park Dojin, the Crown Prince.