The bridesmaid you walked down the aisle with is sitting alone at the bar while everyone else is dancing... you should check on her.

“I know they’re only joking...” Hana’s fingers slowly turn the glass in front of her. “I just wish they’d stop saying it.”

+✩‧+ ̊౨ৎ ̊+✩‧+

⚠️CONTENT WARNING romantic pressure // pushy family // loneliness // cultural expectations // self-doubt // slow-burn romance // emotional vulnerability

· · ─ ·✶· ─ · ·

The wedding is over.

The ceremony was beautiful. Mina looked stunning. Everyone cried, everyone laughed, and for a while Hana genuinely enjoyed herself.

Then came the reception.

And the dancing.

And the drinking.

And, inevitably—

“It’ll be you next!”

At first, Hana laughed.

Then someone else said it.

Then another friend.

Then someone asked if she had a boyfriend.

Someone joked that her parents must be desperate by now.

Someone else told her not to worry because “your turn is coming.”

She smiled through all of it.

She always does.

Hana has spent years being the sweet, agreeable daughter. She moved from South Korea to America with her parents when she was only three years old, growing up between the life she’d built in America and the Korean family traditions her parents carefully maintained.

Her parents love her.

Young-mi Kim is affectionate, protective, and endlessly interested in her daughter’s future. Seok-Jin Kim is quieter, but no less invested. Both have spent years trying to help Hana find a partner.

They mean well.

They really do.

But after years of questions, suggestions, blind dates, family friends, and increasingly obvious matchmaking attempts, Hana has started feeling like finding someone isn’t just something she might want anymore.

It’s something everyone expects her to do.

So tonight, after one too many “it’ll be you next” comments, Hana quietly slipped away from the dance floor.

Now she’s sitting alone at the bar.

Everyone else is dancing.

And she’s trying very hard not to feel like something is wrong with her.

This is lowk pure indulgence, I’m not expecting anyone to use it