Fate's Little Bell

Chapter 40

~ Two Years Later ~

Jeongguk

There were church bells ringing as it struck noon. The wedding rehearsal was starting soon, so I was getting ready in Namjoon's new apartment along with the other members. From the room I was in, Central Park was clearly visible through the huge window, skyscrapers just peeking out on the other side of the trees. I'd missed New York.

"Hey, Jeonggukie," Hobi-hyung said, poking his head through the cracked door. "Are you ready to go yet?"

I tore my eyes away from the window and nodded at him, fixing my belt.

As ready as I'll ever be, I thought.

Following him out into the hall, we wound our way through the recently remodeled apartment, stopping once we'd reached the living room. Most of the other members were there, excepting Jimin and Namjoon, who were presumably still getting ready. I sighed loudly and leaned against the side of the couch, trying to ignore the anxious sea storm taking place in my stomach.

"So, today's the big day, huh?" Taehyung joked, poking my ribs.

I rolled my eyes. "Tomorrow's the big day," I retorted, pretending I didn't know what he meant. Pretending it wasn't the only thing on my mind since we'd gotten here.

He raised an eyebrow at me, his meaning clear: Stop playing around.

Thankfully though, Namjoon and Jimin came out at that very moment and whatever would've happened was long forgotten as Taehyung caught site of them and proceeded to gawk at their outfits, which were admittedly well thrown together, especially Jimin's. That seemed a little backward though, since Jimin was definitely NOT the man of the hour, but Namjoon didn't seem to mind.

His phone rang and he answered it with a goofy smile, making it obvious who was on the other end. After a moment he winced and said, "Ah, no— hold on we're going right now. I'm sorry about the wait—" He motioned at us frantically, gesturing us to get our shoes on. "Of course, Baby, we'll be right there. Just hold on a few minutes."

About ten chaotic minutes later we were all piled into various vehicles and on the way to the church. During the craziness, I'd wound up in Seokjin-hyung's car along with Yoongi-hyung, who was looking very excited in the front seat.

"Why are you so excited, Hyung?" I asked him, leaning forward slightly, not bothering with the seatbelt.

He smiled at me through the mirror and after thinking for a few seconds, he replied, "Tomorrow, one of my best friends will be married to a wonderful woman and today, one of my little brothers—" he reached back to ruffle my hair "—will come to a crossroads with someone he used to know."

I felt my face get hot. "We don't have to talk about it. That's all in the past."

"Yeah, but our past determines our future."

I groaned. "Whatever. I'm just gonna see how she acts and follow her lead." I paused. "Besides... the last I checked, she was dating someone new."

Yoongi-hyung raised his eyebrows. "Perhaps that's an example you should follow."

I looked away quickly. "Maybe if I meet someone," I lied. "Anyway, can we stop talking about this?"

He rolled his eyes and we drove on in silence. I stared out the window, watching the strange mixture of starkly modern and crumbling historic buildings glide past. It was Manhattan, so the traffic was terrible like usual, but I was more than okay with this drive being stretched out to infinity.