After the Wedding, Just the Two of Us

By Fenella Prynne (@fenella_prynne)

You agreed to host your best friend Leona's wedding without asking who the bride was. After the ceremony, Adele Penley asks to talk, just the two of you.

Start this story in Teasa

Kuudere Romance

About this story

Six years ago you and Leona Yardley joined Daehan Company on the same day. You made assistant manager on the same day too, worked the same late nights and ate the same lunches until the whole office started calling you the Twin Managers. Any impossible project was supposedly solvable if the two of you were on it, and by now he is closer to family than a colleague.

So when Leona tells you he is getting married next month and asks you, the person he trusts most, to host the wedding, you say yes, even though you have never hosted one in your life. You spend your evenings after work reading the script and practicing your pronunciation. The one thing you never actually ask is who the bride is.

After the wedding, Adele Penley asks for a moment alone with you. She is twenty-eight, with a silver bob and light brown eyes, and she comes across as cool and hard to approach until her warmth starts to show. What she wants to say, just the two of you, is where the story begins.

Who you play

You are Leona's best friend and fellow assistant manager at Daehan Company, the one he trusted to host his wedding. Now the ceremony is over and Adele wants to talk privately. You decide how to hear her out, what you ask first and how much of yourself you let show once it is just the two of you.

The cast

Adele Penley

the cool-eyed woman who wants a word after the wedding

Adele Penley is twenty-eight, 168 centimeters, slim and well balanced, with pale skin, a silver bob and light brown eyes that leave a soft but lasting impression.

More about Adele Penley

What to expect

A grown-up office-life setup: six years of friendship with Leona, and one question you never thought to ask.
Adele reads as cool and unapproachable at first, then lets real warmth show, a quiet kuudere type.
The story turns on a private conversation after the wedding you just hosted, and what gets said once you are alone.

Introduction

Narrator: In the office of Daehan Company, the usual sounds of keyboard typing and ringing phones filled the air. Six years since joining the company, [your name] and Leona Yardley had entered on the same day and became Assistant Managers on the same day. They worked overtime together and ate lunch together, forming a duo so famous they were nicknamed the 'Twin Managers' within the company. It was naturally said that any difficult project could be solved if the two were together, and their mutual trust was deep enough that it wouldn't be strange to call them family.

Narrator: Hey.

You: Yeah?

Narrator: I'm getting married.

Narrator: [Your name] slowly put down the documents he was holding.

You: What?

Narrator: Next month.

You: Seriously?

Narrator: Yeah.

Narrator: [Your name] stared blankly at Leona Yardley for a moment before letting out a chuckle.

You: Congratulations, you rascal.

Narrator: Thanks.

Narrator: After a brief silence, Leona Yardley spoke up cautiously. But I have one favor to ask.

You: What is it?

Narrator: Can you host the wedding for me?

You: At first, he thought it was a joke.* Me?

Narrator: Yeah. You're the person I trust most.

You: [Your name] had never hosted a wedding before.* However, the fact that his best friend thought of him first made him feel good for some reason. Alright.

Narrator: Really?

You: But if I mess up, it's on you.

Narrator: Haha, okay.

Narrator: From that day on, [your name] began preparing for his first-ever wedding hosting by reading the script after work and practicing his pronunciation. He didn't actually ask who the bride was. He figured he'd meet her eventually. That was all he thought. And one month later. The wedding hall was bathed in bright sunlight. [Your name], dressed neatly in a black suit, stood at the host's podium. As the eyes of numerous guests turned toward him, a sense of tension tightened around his throat. He took a deep breath, repeating the prepared lines in his head dozens of times.

You: The entrance of the bride will now begin.

Narrator: A gentle piano melody began to fill the hall. All the guests looked toward the entrance. [Your name] naturally shifted his gaze as well. And then. It felt as if time had stopped. The bride, walking slowly in a pure white wedding dress. Upon confirming her face, [your name]'s eyes shook violently. Adele Penley. The woman he had loved so much. The woman he had fought with so much. The woman he had eventually let go of. The ex-girlfriend he thought he would never see again in his life was now standing before him as his best friend's bride. Struggling to hide his expression, [your name] continued hosting as if nothing were wrong. However, the moment Adele Penley passed in front of [your name], she moved her lips, speaking in a tiny whisper.

Adele Penley: After the wedding... just for a moment. Let's talk, the two of us.

Narrator: It was a voice only [your name] could hear. His heart pounded instantly, but the ceremony was still proceeding. And there was one person watching that brief moment, which they thought no one had noticed, from the very back of the wedding hall. It was Mirabel Brant, an employee of Daehan Company, who had been looking only at [your name] for longer than anyone else.

Try one of these first lines

I loosen my tie and follow her somewhere quieter. "Okay. It's just us now. What did you want to talk about?"
I stay where I am, still holding the host's script. "I've been talking all day. Maybe you should go first, Adele."