Vows and Bullets
Chapter 29: Lee Yoon-Ah

Chapter 29: Lee Yoon-Ah

[Music Recommendation: "Friends" by BTS - instrumental only version by Smyang Piano]

A moment of silence passed by as we stared at each other. Yup. No talks. No gestures. Nothing. My smiling face turned forced over each passing second.

"Kim, Ye-Ji," she dictated each syllable of my name with much stress. "I know why you’re suddenly calling. Aishhh... Do you think I wouldn’t know? I can’t believe I’ll first learn about it in the news instead of from your own mouth! When were you planning to tell me, huh? When the wedding is done and over?"

"About that... I was gonna tell you, but—it’s just that we became so busy, and there’s a lot of things I needed to do, and—"

"What’s five minutes of a call, huh? Or even a minute if you can’t even spare five minutes for your friend."

"I’m really sorry," I sincerely pleaded, putting my hands together and bowing my head. "Forgive me this once, please? And hey, aren’t you going to ask how I’m doing first? Why are you nagging me already?"

She squinted her eyes, obviously knowing the trick I was going to pull.

"Come on, please? Don’t scold me yet. We haven’t talked in a while. I missed you," I pressed on, putting on my most sorry face, hoping to pacify her.

"We’re not done with this, hmp!" she replied, snorting. "Your puppy eyes won’t work on me."

"Eh? Pleaseeee? Even if I do this?" I acted as cutely as I could—something I hate to do, but she likes cute things, and I somehow look cute in her eyes, so it always works its magic whenever I’m in the wrong.

Three. Two. One. Come on, work on my favor, please.

"Urgh! Fine! I’ll stop nagging!" she conceded. "But I have to meet that fiancé of yours! I’m gonna interrogate—I mean, I will talk peacefully to him. Yes. I just want to make sure you’re not rushing into marriage, you know. Like my father said, marriage is not like rice that when you eat and feel it’s hot, you can just spit it out."

"Yes, I know."

"And wait a sec... you’re getting married next month, right?"

"Ah, yes."

"Since when did you have a boyfriend, though?" she asked, looking so skeptical. "You never told me you had a boyfriend. You never even told me you fell in love with someone! Oh my goodness! You’re not getting blackmailed, are you? I heard they were chaebols—did you owe them money, and since you can’t pay, you’re paying with your body? A contract marriage?"

"Huh? Where did you get that idea? Of course, not!"

"Really?" she asked again, looking so worried. "Then, did you go to a club during one of your missions, got drunk, some stranger took you in, and you accidentally had a one-night stand? And then you become pregnant?"

"What the—what kind of story is that?"

"Or maybe you got involved with a Mafia boss, and he’s forcing you to marry him because he fell in love with you?"

At these words, I could see Agent Helios barely stopping himself from laughing. His face reflected an obvious "So I’m a Mafia boss now?" kind of look.

"Huh? Why would a Mafia boss just fall in love with someone? They’re criminals. Women are nothing but commodities or playthings to them. Ugh, seriously, Yoon-Ah. You read too many NovelFires and webtoons. Stop it. Those kinds of things don’t happen in real life."

"Eh? But everyone is saying you’re some Cinderella now. Is it true your fiancé is handsome, like a real prince charming? And he’s wealthy, too. I’ve seen some pictures, but I’m skeptical if he—you know, did some surgery, or maybe the pictures were edited to make him look more handsome?"

"Pft! Ha-ha-ha-ha!"

I wasn’t able to contain my laugh. I stealthily glanced towards Agent Helios again to check if he heard what she said—and he did. His eyebrows raised for a moment, but his face turned smug shortly after. Talk about complete confidence with his looks.

"What? Why are you laughing? So he IS ugly, huh? I knew it. Those pictures were fake."

"I guess you’ll know when you see him. Only your eyes can decide if he’s handsome or not."

"Well, that’s true," she shrugged. "Anyway, when did you two meet? How did you fall in love? I’m so amazed at how you managed to get a boyfriend! You have to tell me all about it. I’ll turn it into a beautiful webtoon series for you, okay?"

"Ugh. Please, don’t."

"Come on! You owe me that much."

"What? I don’t."

"Tsk. Stingy," she clicked her tongue and rolled her eyes. "You’re not even going to tell me that? What speech will I give at your wedding? Should I tell them all—Hey, everyone, as for the bride and groom’s love story, well, I’ll leave that in your imagination—something like that, huh?"

"What? No. And why are you giving a speech?"

Her face turned pale in shock.

"W-what the... You’re not going to make me your Maid of Honor? You ungrateful, forgetful, shameful, stingy friend?!"

"Oh! Right. There’s that, ha-ha."

Shoot, I forgot about it, too. The wedding planner mentioned that.

"You’re going to be the Maid of Honor, of course," I quickly reverted, not wanting to anger her more. "What I meant is that I didn’t know they give speeches at weddings. I’m still not familiar with the ceremony. We’ll practice that next week, so...."

She squinted her eyes again, deliberating whether to believe me or not.

"Aishhh. Fine, I’ll believe you."

Phew. Thank goodness!

"Anyway, when are we meeting with your fiancé?"

"Uhm... When are you free?"

"I’m always free. I’m still plotting the next hit story of all time, so I’m taking my time," she said smugly. "I might as well get inspiration from your mysterious love story."

"Ha-ha-ha... yeah," I agreed reluctantly. "In that case, let’s meet tomorrow afternoon?"

"Okay. Where though? Where are you right now? Seoul?"

I couldn’t answer that since we were at the base, and we’re not allowed to share Mythos’ address.

"I’m at the base, but I’ll pick you up tomorrow. How’s that sound?"

"Yay! Free ride. Okay, I’ll wait for you."

"See you."

"Bayiieee."

At last, the call ended. Phew! I survived it and avoided what could have been hours of nagging. I sighed so deeply as soon as the call ended. I leaned my back on the backrest, feeling tired so early in the morning. Still, it was fun talking to her. I really missed her. How I wish tomorrow could come sooner.

Thinking that, I couldn’t help but close my eyes for a moment and smile to myself—a smile so genuine. I barely smile like this—you could count them with your fingers in a year.

When I opened my eyes, I found Agent Helios staring at me. He looked like he saw a ghost, then averted his eyes as soon as I saw him staring at me. Do I look that bad when I smile?

Oh well, whatever. He could think of anything he liked. As for me, I’m excited about tomorrow.