Chapter 287 - The Wedding (4): Blue Velvet

Mirae was getting more impatient by the minute. She had been trying to call KJ and Somi for the past few hours but none of them were answering her. The first time she tried to reach KJ that morning, Dasom picked up and told her that he was at a shoot. When she called Somi, her assistant said that she was not taking any calls for the day.

Irritation rose within her as she tried calling both of them again but none answered.

"What is going on?" she snapped. She dialed Hyun Jung's number. He picked up on the third dial.

"Hyun Jung!" she said at once. "Where is Somi?"

"Uhh...she's at a drama shoot," he lied.

"Stop lying!" Mirae scolded him. "I know she doesn't have a shoot today!"

"A last minute schedule came up," he replied. "She's there."

"And KJ? Where is he? I know that you know!"

"He's...with me," Hyun Jung said in an attempt to mislead her. "I've joined him for lunch but he just went to the washroom! I'll tell him to call you."

Before Mirae could say anything further, he hung up. Mirae gaped at her phone in annoyance. Everyone was avoiding her since morning. What were they doing?

"Why is everyone acting so weird?" she whined. "UGH!"

….

That was close, Hyun Jung thought. He was at a small church which was only a few blocks away from the city's most expensive area. It did not usually hold marriage ceremonies but the head of the church made an exception for him because Hyun Jung had helped them track down a thief for them who had stolen their golden statues. He was caught on time and the church elder had been grateful to him ever since. So when he called them that morning, they readily agreed to let his friends hold their wedding there.

It was a beautiful church with a wide hall and a large spacious aisle which was reminiscent of the Italian style chapels from the Renaissance period. There were large portraits of biblical figures drawn on stained glass which shone brightly whenever the sun rays passed through them. 

The head priest of the church had personally arrived to aid Hyun Jung with the decorations.

"We will put a series of flower archways along the bridal aisle," the priest said. "One of our regular members had agreed to help us out. She owns a wedding management firm and she will donate some of her props for us. She will also let us borrow some fairy lights to decorate the podium. We have very little time so we could not do much but it was all we could so in such a short span of time."

"That's perfect actually!" Hyun Jung assured him. "We don't need too many things. In fact, as little decor as possible. We can arrange for the food on the table by the side. My colleague will take care of that."

Just then, his phone buzzed. It was Eli.

"Sunbae!" she said when he picked up. "What will be the flavor of the wedding cake? There are too many here!"

She was sent to a posh bakery uptown which was famous for producing varieties of unique flavored cakes. Hyun Jung had put her in charge of the catering. Eli had already pulled many strings to arrange for the wedding food but the wedding cake was difficult. 

The whole collection of the bakery stumped her. There were the usual chocolate, vanilla, strawberry and other fruity flavored cakes. But there were also some unusual delicacies too. The mixture of the different cakes were emitting a sweet aroma which surrounded the whole shop. The essence was so strong that even someone like Eli who was not into sweet stuff, was beginning to feel her mouth water. 

"Pick any one," Hyun Jung replied. "According to KJ, Mirae would eat anything which has the word cake written on it so she would not really care much. I'm at the church. I'll talk to you later!"

"Uhhh…" she glanced around her as she hung up. Men really did not understand the importance of a girl's wedding day, Eli thought. It was easy to choose any cake but even a novice in romance like Eli knew that every detail of a girl's wedding needed attention. She could not just grab any cake within sight. But the cakes were not making the job easy for her.

There were rows of large cakes neatly placed on the counters. They were of different colors and flavors, making passersby stop to take a look at them. The cakes were very expensive yet intricately made which only served the purpose of making a wedding day magical. There was a castle shaped strawberry lime cake which probably reached up to Eli's waist. She also spotted a heart shaped cake called Pink Champagne topped with raspberry and vanilla cream while a chocolate coated ginger spice flavored one was right next to it. 

It was very difficult to pick one. The Head Baker, Mr. Shin was standing there politely waiting for her to choose.

"It's so hard to make a choice," she m.o.a.ned.

"If I may ask, Detective," Shin said. "What sort of cake are you looking for?"

"It's for an impromptu wedding," she admitted. "We want to surprise the bride but it's so hard to make the arrangements within a day…"

"Ahh," Shin nodded in understanding. "In that case, do you have any picture of the wedding dress? Or a theme?"

"Yes!" she replied. Somi had sent her a picture of the wedding dress as soon as she bought it. Eli scrolled through the pictures and came across it. She enlarged the picture and showed it to the baker. 

Mr. Shin took one glance and thought hard before saying, "I think I have the perfect flavor. We just finished making it an hour ago. Wait here please."

He scuttled towards the kitchen at the back. Eli was tapping her food, feeling impatient with every second. There were only four hours left and she was anxious. If only KJ had given them more time!

Finally, Shin appeared rolling a trolley with a large cake on it. The cake was of three layers with white and blue cupcakes on top of it. The color of the layers also turned from white to a deep navy blue. The last layer had butterflies carved on it which looked very real.

"There's more," Shin said proudly. He slowly rotated the tray. To Eli's astonishment, the cake exuded an illusion of the butterflies flying up and down.

"Woah!" Eli exclaimed. "Do you have a sample to taste? I want to know if it's as magical as it looks."

"Sure," Shin said. He went back into the kitchen and brought out a plate with a tiny slice of the cake on it. 

"Please," he said, offering the plate to her. Eli took the plate and popped a spoonful of the cake into her mouth. 

The creamy cake melted in her mouth. She could help but smack her lips in delight. It had the perfect balance of blue velvet and vanilla flavors. The taste was also perfect as the sweetness was not too much nor too little. 

"This...this is it!" she declared. "I'll take it. Have it delivered to this address by 6 PM tonight."

She handed him the address of the church.

"Would you like to pay in advance?" he asked.

"I'll pay half advance and the rest after delivery," she offered. Even though Somi had handed each of the helpers her black credit cards, Eli was very shrewd about making purchases. What if the baker ends up delivering the wrong cake? Or a stale one?

"Alright," he said, taking the card from her hand and swiped the card before handing it back to her. 

Eli happily exited the shop, texting Dasom that the food and the cake arrangements were complete.