By Zephyria Koi froze on the spot. His brain stalled for a moment at the sight of the unexpected object.
He stood there for a few seconds, then hesitantly reached out. The small object sitting alone in the back of the drawer didn’t weigh much, but it made Koi’s heart heavy.
Why is a ring here of all places…?
Koi carefully examined the object. The ring, without a single scratch, was clearly brand new.
Ash was once engaged.
The sudden realization made him swallow hard.
Could it be a ring he was planning to propose with?
He couldn’t think of any other explanation. He knew he should put it back and pretend he didn’t see it, but his body wouldn’t cooperate.
He carefully picked up the ring and turned it over, and he noticed something engraved on the inside. He felt his heart drop for a moment, but he had to see what it was.
His hands, which had already started to tremble, slowly turned the ring over, and he stopped breathing.
To Koi. Ash, who will love only you forever.
Suddenly, tears welled up in his eyes. His nose tingled, and a sob rose in his throat. Koi frantically rubbed his eyes with his arm, but he couldn’t stop crying.
When did he have this made?
The answer came quickly. Koi belatedly found a small card folded in half next to the ring and quickly unfolded it, then gasped. It was the Warranty for the ring. Looking at the date at the bottom, he could see the date of manufacture. It was right when Ashley had left Koi and was in the East. Remembering cleaning Ashley’s room alone and receiving a call from him, his chest ached again.
He still had this.
Ashley had been keeping it all this time. The ring to give to Koi. Knowing that, Koi regretted his past choices so much.
How painful must it have been?
And when he remembered how cruelly he had spoken to Ash, who had tried to hold on to him until the very end, he wanted to run away.
I can’t just let this go.
He took a deep breath to calm his breathing, then put the ring and Warranty back where they were and closed the drawer. He made up his mind at that moment.
“So you’re going to buy Ashley a Wedding ring?”
Bill asked, sounding incredulous after hearing the whole story. Koi nodded with a more serious expression than ever before.
“The last time I proposed, I didn’t originally plan to do it that way, but somehow it happened haphazardly. I have to buy a ring and do it properly. It doesn’t express everything, but… I want to repay Ashley’s feelings even a little.”
His determination was firm. Bill was inwardly impressed by Koi’s unexpected side, but that didn’t mean he could risk his life for it.
“Go with Al.”
Koi was disappointed again by Bill’s immediate refusal, but this time he answered, “Okay.” Just then, the main course came in, and the conversation stopped. A moment later, after the waiter left, Bill cut his steak and opened his mouth.
“Well, I think it’s a good idea to give him a ring. Ashley will be happy. You’re talking about the ring you’ll exchange at the wedding, right?”
“Yeah.”
When Koi nodded, Bill put a large chunk of meat in his mouth, chewed it a few times, and then swallowed it before asking.
“Good. How’s the wedding preparation going?”
“Huh? Uh…”
Koi’s face turned red with embarrassment when the wedding came up. Avoiding Bill’s eyes, he pretended to cut his meat and answered in a small voice.
“It’s going okay. It’s hectic, but Ashley’s secretary is helping…”
At first, he wasn’t very happy about it, but as time went on, he had to admit she was good. She was very capable, and if Koi thought of one thing, she would have already completed ten. Eventually, Koi accepted reality and accepted her to some extent. If he thought of it as work, they wouldn’t cross the line, and she hadn’t said anything other than work-related things so far, so it was convenient in another sense.
“She takes care of things in advance without me having to tell her, and she’s so good at her job.”
“That’s good.”
Bill nodded and asked again.
“Do you know that Ashley invited the guys from his old ice hockey team?”
“What?”
Koi was startled by Bill’s sudden words. Bill chuckled and continued.
“They’re all going crazy. They had no idea you and Ashley were getting married. When they found out you two had been dating since high school, they were screaming about how you could have kept it a secret so well.”
〈Ashley wasn’t dumped twice?〉
Bill imitated one of the guys shouting roughly and laughed loudly. Koi also relaxed and laughed along, but on the other hand, he felt embarrassed and sorry for keeping it a secret.
“Hey, you’re not mad, are you?”
“What? No. They’re all just surprised and amazed. Why would I be mad? Ashley’s even providing plane tickets and everything for them to be Bridesmaid.”
“What? Really?”
“Of course. By the way, I’m the Best Man. An indispensable supporting role.”
Bill said, puffing out his chest and pointing to himself with his thumb with a conceited smile on his face.
“After all, aren’t I Ashley’s most reliable friend?”
“Of course, of course! That’s great, that’s really great…”
Koi, who was secretly worried that their friendship might be broken because of him, was overjoyed and repeated the same words several times.
That’s why he came all the way to make the offer.
Bill soon understood when he saw Koi’s happy face. The reason why the man who had threatened him with an ice hockey stick suddenly changed his face and asked him to stand in the most important position.
Anyway, Koi is crazy about Ashley.
Seeing that he, who had suffered two disasters between them, was still maintaining his friendship with them, he thought he was really generous. Ahem, Bill cleared his throat and earnestly urged.
“You two really have to live well in the future.”
“Yeah, of course. Thank you so much, Bill. You and Al will be fine too, for sure!”
When he said emphatically, Bill grinned and asked again.
“What about you? Of course, Al will be your Best Man, right?”
“Ah, of course, but…”
He hadn’t thought about Bridesmaid until now, but if he needed a Bridesmaid, the first person he would ask was Ariel. But since Bill was the Best Man, he suddenly became confused. Is Al going to be my Best Man too? Al is a woman? What is it? Al in a tuxedo would definitely be great, but still, wearing a dress would be…
When he thought that far, Ashley’s words suddenly came to mind.
〈Get rid of the old stereotypes, Koi.〉
“Ah.”
“Huh? What’s wrong?”
Bill looked at him questioningly at the sudden exclamation. Koi hurriedly said, “No, it’s nothing,” and pretended to eat his meat while quickly racking his brain. Just because one side wears a tuxedo doesn’t mean the other side has to wear a dress, right? Of course, Al’s opinion is the most important…
Al will decide.
Koi nodded at the conclusion he liked for once. It doesn’t matter whether she wears a dress or a tuxedo. What’s important is that Al comes to my wedding as my best friend.
“I have to ask Al first. I forgot something important, thank you Bill.”
“You’re welcome.”
Bill casually brushed it off and added with a grin.
“Now you know how much Ashley is looking forward to it, right? Prepare well.”
Hearing that, he perked up. Koi nodded and said with determination.
“I should invite my sisters to the wedding as Bridesmaid too.”
Bill, who was bringing a steak to his mouth, dropped the piece of meat.
“Bridesmaid? Oh, of course, Koi!”
As soon as she heard the words, Ariel responded with a bright smile and a loud voice. Koi couldn’t help but open his mouth at the more excited reaction than he had expected and hugged Ariel.
“Thank you, you’re my most precious friend.”
“Of course, we’re sisters.”
Ariel, who had patted him on the back to strengthen her resolve, soon pulled away and asked with shining eyes.
“Are you going to invite all the other sisters too? They’ll be so happy to be your Bridesmaid.”
“Will they? Actually, I want to, but I have some concerns…”
Koi sat next to her on the sofa and brought up what he had prepared to say.
“We have to match the Bridesmaid outfits. Would a dress be better? Or a tuxedo? I don’t care what you guys wear.”
To Koi’s question, Ariel unexpectedly answered with a serious expression.
“Dresses are a bit boring.”
“Yeah, it’s okay. You can wear a tuxedo.”
“But dresses don’t seem bad either, it’s hard to decide.”
Ariel, who had been stroking her chin and pondering, suddenly picked up her cell phone and started typing a message quickly.
“Let’s make a group chat for this opportunity. You come in too, we have to discuss it together.”
With those words, a chat room invitation notification rang on her cell phone. Koi felt his heart pounding and carefully pressed the join button. And soon, with a loud alarm, the ‘sisters’ began to enter the room one by one.