My boyfriend is Lee Min-ho

Chapter Fifty five - Ring for life

Fifteenth November marked the most important day of my life. It had always been - since the day I was born. Because it was my birthday. But from this year onwards, there would be one more reason to celebrate this day. I was getting married.

I couldn't describe the feeling that I had been experiencing for the past few days. Apart from the anxiety of checking everything was in order - hand bouquet, gowns, gifts, location itinerary, the bridal entourage etc, the hard impact of knowing that I would be married was overwhelming. I hadn't seen Minho for three days because it was customary that the couple not to meet three days before the wedding itself for good luck. We chatted on the phone though. And on the night before where we were supposed to turn in early, I was tossing and turning in bed the entire night without a wink of sleep.

My hairdresser turned up promptly at five in the morning. My parents had arrived and I had decided to move into the hotel room the night before - a room to accomodate my family and a room to accomodate my bridal girls. As per chinese customs, the bride was to leave before the break of dawn. But these days, the rule had slightly relaxed as long as you didn't leave too late. So we had scheduled to leave by eight where we would have three hours before we had to arrive at the church. We decided to go with a traditional church wedding followed by a lunch reception at the hotel and of course, all of the traditional ceremonies inclusive.

The groom and his men arrived at seven just when I was about ready. And that was when the games began. The groom would had to be 'tested' through rounds of challenges before he was able to get to me. And of course, I would have to be hiding in the room until he had passed his tests. Fortunately, technology was so advanced these days and I could watch the action live via the Ipad.

The first round was a challenge of taste. Minho had to taste through the four different flavours - spicy, sweet, sour and bitter. The girls had prepared a plate of red chillies, a plate of bittergourd, a bowl of sour sweets which we used to eat when we were kids and your face simply turned green from it, and a bowl of sugar. Nobody could escape, not even his friends. Everybody had to go through it. I knew Minho loved spicy food but no one could tolerate that spice which simply burnt up your tongue!

The second round was a challenge of physical strength. The men had to perform a series of serious exercises - a hundred push-ups, a hundred jumping jacks, a hundred sit-ups and finally a five hundred metres sprint under twenty seconds. No one was dry after they were done. Since Minho couldn't afford to get too sweaty, he was exempted from most of it.

The third round was a challenge of knowledge. Apart from the IQ questions, Minho was presented with questions about me. For every wrong answer, he would have to be punished by clipping a clothes peg on any part of the body such as ear, nose etc. They couldn't 'damage' his face so the punishment was shared among his gang. Questions went from my favourite food, my favourite author, all the way to embarrassing questions like size of my underwear and stuff. I was surprised that he managed ninety percent correct, which was a relief for his friends.

The final round was his declaration of love and promise to me. The girls made up a board which gave Minho space to write down his promises to me. I watched him thinking through his thinking process until he came up with -

To my dearest lovely wife :

1) I will love you and you only for the rest of my life.