Had I asked her for the role in the first place? Not that I’d ever wanted to do such a thing like emcee a wedding, but the thought of not being able to do it because of some stupid tradition disgusted me. She must’ve had some words with the groom. Jaehee said there was an alternate spot for me in the wedding.

—The congratulatory song.

—Are you insane?

—Think of it as paying me back for using my story to debut as a writer.

—Then give me back the Chanel bag I got you.

—If you don’t do this for me, I’ll sue your publisher for defamation.

Public embarrassment seemed a better choice than a lawsuit, and with the successful negotiation of adding an Armani suit and shirt and a Gucci necktie to the bargain, I was all set to sing for her wedding.

The newlyweds were to live in an apartment in the Bangeui-dong neighborhood. Jaehee’s parents had apparently bought it years ago as an investment.

◊

On our last day of living together, we bought ten of the largest-size boxes at the post office. We neatly packed them with Jaehee’s stuff, like her shift dresses and leather jacket. Jaehee said to me:

—Young-ah, do you think I’ll be able to keep myself from cheating on him?

—Well.

—I don’t really worry about oppa, but I worry about myself. That I might ruin a perfectly fine man.

—You know, Jaehee . . . I worry about that, too.

We laughed and finished packing up. There was less stuff than we expected, and we ended up using only five boxes. She told me she had already sent on her winter clothes and furniture to the apartment. There were five months left on the lease for our studio apartment, and Jaehee was letting me live out the rest of it alone. The jeonse deposit was a big chunk of money, but seeing as how she wasn’t in a rush to claim it, Jaehee’s family must’ve been well-off, perhaps even more so than her fiancé’s. I began to wonder if Jaehee really was the ordinary middle-class girl I had thought she was, someone just like everyone else. Maybe that’s why she could toss societal norms like used Kleenex . . .

After we were done, we spread out the bedding and lay down with facial masks on our faces, feeling like we were nineteen again. It was still surreal to me to think that the vagabond that Jaehee used to be was now all grown up and getting married.

—So do you think you can really take care of your in-laws and have babies and change their diapers and everything?