The pastor cleared his throat, closing his book.
"That concludes the ceremony," he said softly, stealing a glance at both of them.Sunwoo Han and Haeun Choi couldn't get a eye contact to each other at the moment.The air hung heavy — not just with awkwardness, but with something else neither could name.The pastor looked gloomy, why this marriage seems odd?, as he quietly stepped aside.
The photographer gestured. "We need a few more pictures, for documentation."
They both nodded, still avoiding eye contact.
Haeun adjusted her dress. Sunwoo ran a hand through his hair, trying to look composed.They stood side by side.Her hand touched his arm for a second — accidentally, maybe.He tensed. She pulled it back instantly.
Click.The flash snapped.Photographer thought to himself, "A photo of just married couple who just kissed… but couldn't meet eyes, what a weird couple"
"Smile," the photographer urged.
They hesitantly gave a half smile.
A couple of hours later, they sat side by side at the marriage registration office.The man typing lazily in computer.The clerk tapped the table. "Affidavit, please."
Sunwoo passed it.The clerk flipped through it, raised an eyebrow, and muttered, "Bit of an age gap, huh?"
Then came the signing.
"Sign here. Both," the clerk said, not looking up.
Their hands nearly touched again when they exchanged the pen.
"Sorry," he mumbled.She didn't respond.
Sunwoo thought, "Man why I'm saying sorry, I'm making this more awkward then it is"
Sunwoo signed.
Haeun leaned in next and she thought, "This is it, if I sign this I'll be officially married to my stepson what am I doing?". She signed.
From behind, the officer asked dryly, "Honeymoon plans?"
Both froze.
"No," they screamed—too quickly, too in sync.Then glanced at each other by accident.And instantly looked away.
When officer looked at them suspiciously.
Sunwoo covered it by saying with a nervous and awkward smile, "Not decided which place to go yet"
Outside the office, the sun was beginning to set.The soft orange glow touched Haeun's white dress.
"We… should head home," she said finally, her voice barely above a whisper.
"Yeah," Sunwoo nodded.
Sunwoo raised a hand, hailing a taxi. One finally pulled over, and they climbed in — Haeun adjusting her heavy dress as smoothly as she could, and Sunwoo tossing the bag of files onto his lap with a bag.
The car rolled into motion, the world passing slowly outside the window. Neither spoke. The weight of the day clung to them — emotionally and physically.
Sunwoo leaned his head back, trying to relax, but something shifted. Haeun's hand, limp from exhaustion, had slid sideways and lightly touched his leg.
He glanced over.
She had dozed off.
Her head tilted gently toward the window, her eyes closed, lips parted ever so slightly. The golden rays of the setting sun poured through the car window, casting a warm light over her features. Her dress shimmered subtly in the light, and her face calm, innocent, unguarded looked almost... ethereal.
Sunwoo blinked, his heart doing something strange in his chest.
He blushed.
He looked away quickly, but after a second, his eyes wandered back, slower this time. Something felt different. For the first time, he wasn't looking at his father's wife or a stepmother caught in an odd situation. As of this moment he was looking at... a beautiful women in white wedding dress.
My wife?
The word hit him hard.
His mind spun. "She's my wife?" he thought. "Right now, in every legal and literal way... she is."
All the debts, all the land, all the messy planning blurred out. A new kind of weight settled on his shoulders, not their plan, not the land, but the truth of what they had just done. He wasn't a bachelor anymore. He was someone's husband.
His blushing turned to confusion, then to realisation and pressure and to a responsibility with a weight on himself.
"No," he smacked his cheeks. "Don't be stupid. It's just a formality. Two years, we're done, we're rich and we move on."
Trying to pull himself back into reality, he turned to look out the window, but his gaze betrayed him once again drawn back to her. A lock of hair had fallen over her face.
Almost without thinking, he started to reach out... fingers hesitating midair... slowly going toward her to tuck the strand away.
"Is that the location?"
The driver's voice snapped through the moment like a whip.
Sunwoo flinched, rushed back to position so fast almost like he just teleported back.
Haeun stirred, blinking as she sat up groggily.
Sunwoo coughed, putting on the most casual poker face he could muster. "Yeah... yeah, this is the place."
They stepped into the apartment just as the moon appears at the corner. The silence between them was thick but not uncomfortable more like the calm after a long, chaotic day.
Sunwoo exhaled, trying to shake off the nerves still lingering from the Register office and the marriage."We've completed the first step," he said, placing the marriage registration papers on the table. " We, I mean, you can officially claim ownership of the land now."
Haeun smiled, nodding, they are excited to get out of debt. It was a small moment, but it carried a strange weight."Yeah… we did it," she said softly.
There was a moment when they almost moved forward, instinctively with excitement leaning in to hug, but both stopped halfway cause of the awkwardness.
Haeun looked away, rubbing her arm.
"I… I'll make something for dinner," she said. "You should return the rental outfits before the shop closes."
Sunwoo cleared his throat. "Right. Yeah. Let's get out of these first."
They headed to their separate bedrooms, doors facing each other, and emerged a few minutes later in pajamas. Haeun held out a neatly folded dress in a protective bag. Sunwoo took it wordlessly.
He glanced at her for a second too long still slightly caught in the afterimage of her asleep in the taxi and then left for the store.
The streets buzzed with people in the Night life of city as Sunwoo handed the outfits to the store. He waited as the guy checked the seams, tags, and returned the deposit.
As he took the $400 back into his wallet, a small ironic smile crept onto his lips.
We're technically the owners of land worth millions… and yet, getting this $400 deposit back feels like a lifeline—for at least a few more days.
He shook his head, and walked back out into the cooling air of the night.