Now and for the Last Time

24 장

"Wait, they're not coming?" Eomma said, as Wooyoung waved his free hand, trying to quiet her. "But the photographer will be here in ten minutes!"

". . . of course I understand," Wooyoung said into the phone at his ear, using his firm voice. Just hearing it, I sat up straighter in my own seat. "But we'd agreed you'd participate in this photoshoot. There's no way we'll find someone else on such short notice."

"Remind her this was part of our deal," Eomma said. He flipped her again. "If they stand us up for this, no discount on the rehearsal dinner fee. I might even mark it up."

Dang, I thought, raising my brows. When I peeked a glance at my mom, she looked so scary that I went back to folding programs.

"Well, that's unfortunate," Wooyoung said into the phone, sitting back in his chair. "And of course, we'll discuss how it affects our fee . . . Fine. Okay. Right."

"No," Eomma said flatly, as he hung up the phone. "No way she just canceled on us for this. I won't accept it."

"You know I usually am a big fan of denial," he replied with a sigh, "but we probably need to call the photographer and reschedule. We can't shoot wedding images without a bride."

Just then, as if on cue, the front door chimed. When I looked over, a petite woman with a bob was entering, pulling a case behind her. A light setup was over her shoulder. "Morning," she called out, totally oblivious to the mood of the room. "Where do you want me?"

My mom groaned, putting her head in her hands. This was dramatic for her, but I understood the frustration. Ever since Soojung Bae Weddings had been chosen as a finalist for Local Business of the Year by Gwangju Monthly she'd been on edge, doing everything she could to better our chances of winning. This included, but was not limited to avoiding the staff photographer the magazine had sent to get some quick candids in favor of a professional taking pictures of real-life couple in our office. One of our upcoming brides, Lindy Tsang, had been all set up to come in with her fiance that morning until the phone call a few minutes earlier. We'd had a lot of problems in the office, but lacking a bride and groom at the same time had never been one of them.

"I'll call the magazines," Wooyoung said now, picking up the phone again. "Tell them we need another day."

"Don't bother," Eomma told him through her hands. "They already made it clear that if they don't have these images by business close today they're going with stock ones. Stock, Wooyoung. Can you even imagine?"

"There has to be a solution to this," he said, as the photographer started unpacking cameras and lenses from her case. "We don't need a real bride and groom. Just two people to play the part."

"No one wants to see us cutting a cake," Eomma said. "We're too old and wrinkly."

"Speak for yourself. I got carded buying wine the other day," he replied, somewhat proud. "And I wasn't thinking about us."

I was moving to my next stack of programs when I became acutely of the fact that I was being watched. Sure enough, when I paused and looked up, they were both looking right at me.

"No," I said firmly. "No way."

"She has a point," Eomma said, although she kept her eyes on me. "We're not in the child bride business. However, if we did body parts shots -"

"What?" I said, horrified.

"- it would easily work," Wooyoung finished, as if I hadn't said anything. "Hands cutting a cake, hands holding a bouquet, shots from the back. Yes, I think it could work."

"Do neither of you hear me saying no over here?" I said.

"I guess we don't necessarily need a groom," Eomma told Wooyoung, answering this question for me. "Although I did like the symmetry of some of your ideas."