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Marry My Stalker provides a smorgasbord of brides.
There's the extroverted vintage charmer. That's me, of course.
Mimi is everything you expect a K-pop girl group member to be. Stunning, graceful, elegant. I can see why the show recruited her. She’s the epitome of the perfect bride.
Ji Ah is a little cutie pie. I just want to pack her in my suitcase and take her home with me. Uhhhh. Given my previous stalker misunderstanding, I want to be clear that I’m just kidding when I say that!
And Sana is ... very passionate. Very.
But nobody is a bigger fan than me! I’m telling you that right now. I defy any of the other brides to love their grooms more than I love Ki Tae. Not happening!
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The crew placed four large, jewel toned circles on the hardwood floor before they resumed filming, and each bride stood in the color of her choice. Mimi made sure to claim the ruby circle in the center. Letty went with the yellow circle, farthest from the Master of Ceremonies, because it matched her optimistic nature.
The MC clapped his hands together for the cameras and they were off again. A clothing rack sat in the middle of the room with four identical dresses hanging from it. The host explained their latest challenge while Letty listened to Ben translate from the side.
She wouldn’t be surprised if the agency picked him for his voice. It melted in her ear like the marshmallows in a cup of hot cocoa. Letty tried not to get lost in the molten milk chocolate of his tone and concentrated instead on his words.
“B4U always coordinates their outfits to show their unity, but each band member’s personality still shines through. This challenge will allow you to communicate your personality to your new husband. Each bride will take the exact same wedding dress and make it her own with only the accessory you won in the first game and anything you brought with you in your suitcase.”
A murmur of discontent started among the brides as they looked at the simple dresses hanging in front of them. They were made of the customary white satin, sleeveless with a modest square neckline and full skirt that would hit right at the knee. No sequins or lace to be seen anywhere.
The MC ignored their displeasure and pointed out a large digital clock with giant red numbers hanging on the wall.
“And one more thing,” Ben said. “You have thirty minutes to get ready.”
The annoying air horn blew once again and the clock started counting down. The discontented murmurs turned into outraged screams as the women scrambled to grab a dress and get started. Each hanger had their name on it with the correct sizes and Letty couldn’t help but notice hers was the largest. She allowed herself a half second pity party then shook it off. No time for moping. She had a gorgeous groom waiting for her.
“Ki Tae! Ki Tae! Ki Tae!” She singsonged to herself as she skipped over to her suitcase.
Letty threw open the lid and smiled with glee at the expansive array of vintage items she’d packed. Should she use her white bolero jacket with the rhinestone buttons? Perhaps her skinny silver belt with the butterfly clasp? Or maybe a 50s style scarf tied around her neck. She held up a pink one and considered it.
“No.” Letty shoved the scarf back in the bag. “That screams sock hop, not wedding.”
Letty pulled out a crinoline slip and set it off to the side. The poofy netted material under the simple white dress would give it that extra oomph. She dug around the disorganized jumble of retro items and gave an excited yelp when she spotted something. As she reached for it, Letty looked up and found a lens staring her right in the face. She’d been so into her search that she hadn’t even noticed the cameraman draw close. Letty held up a cherry red cardigan with the seed pearl beading on the collar and beamed.
“I know it’s not exactly traditional to wear red on your wedding day,” she told the camera. “At least not in America. But this is definitely my personality. And the three quarter length sleeve will be perfect with the opera gloves I won!”
A wail of frustration sounded beside her as she saw the Korean bride, Ji Ah, tossing things out of her suitcase. Jeans, leather boots, and short skirts formed a colorful pile as she searched for something besides her designer purse to go with her wedding dress. On the other side of the room, Mimi pulled a long, white piece of fabric out of her bag and Letty squinted in suspicion.
Who packed tulle with their toothbrush and underwear? If Letty didn’t know better, she’d think someone gave the Trainee Bride insider information ahead of time.
“Oh well,” she thought to herself. “It’s not like we’re both competing to marry Ki Tae. If that were the case, I’d be filing a complaint.”
Letty grabbed her items, along with a pair of peep toe heels in a matching shade of red and headed for the curtained off area they provided for a dressing room. She changed clothes with the speed of a firefighter and saw that she still had twenty minutes left when she emerged. A row of lighted vanity tables sat against one wall where she could fix her hair. Letty hurried to her suitcase and grabbed her cosmetics bag and the item she considered her secret weapon. A white 1950s pillbox hat. The woman at the antique store had told her it once belonged to the sister of a famous movie star. The dainty concoction, with a soft felt bow on the back, was both understated and feminine. Just perfect for the occasion. Letty rummaged through her suitcase until she found her curling iron and adaptor and headed for the lighted mirrors.
Years of practice pulling her dark locks up into vintage hairdos was finally paying off. She pinned and curled and twisted the last romantic tendril of hair around her face, then placed the pillbox hat on top of her creation with eight whole minutes to spare.
“That was easy!” She smiled at the guy holding the camera a foot from her nose. He looked like he was late thirties, with a round stoic face and an even rounder belly covered by a coral pink sweatshirt. “What’s your name, by the way? I assume I’ll be seeing a lot of you.”
The one eye not covered by the camera in front of his face blinked at her but he didn’t say anything.
“Hey, Ben.” Letty grabbed the microphone clipped to her neckline and held it up near her mouth. “How do I ask this man what his name is?”
“You’re not supposed to acknowledge him. Pretend he’s not there.”
“How can I pretend he’s not there?” Letty looked into the crowd of people across the room and spotted Ben sitting cross legged on the floor off to the side. “His camera is six inches from my face!”
Ben sighed and slowly sounded out the Korean phrase for asking someone their name. Letty repeated it word for word to the cameraman and he never stopped filming for a second as he answered.
“Kim Duk Hwan.”
“Mmmmm.” Letty nodded. “Kim Duk Hwan. Mr. Kim? Duk Hwan? I’ve got it! Do you mind if I call you Ducky? It’s a word I heard in old movies for someone that’s very nice.”
The man crinkled his hairy eyebrows, so Letty popped the earpiece out and pulled the cord long enough that she could stick it in his ear.
“Ben, can you tell him what I just said, please?”
She glanced over to where Ben sat and saw him rub a hand over his face. But it looked like he was doing what she asked. He talked into the microphone he held in his hand, and her cameraman’s eyes shifted back and forth as he listened to the translation. The man looked up at her and nodded.
“Duck-hee,” he said.
She couldn’t tell if he was pleased or peeved. His blank, emotionless face reminded her of those stone heads on Easter Island. But it was too late, now.
“Nice to meet you, Ducky. You can call me Letty.” She took the earpiece back and glanced at the countdown clock. Still five minutes to go.
“I rocked this challenge!” She celebrated with a fist pump.
Letty glanced at the other girls sitting at the vanity tables. Mimi appeared every centimeter the bride with her tulle veil perched on top of her head with a rhinestone clip, and her diamond necklace and earrings sparkling away. Sana shot her a jealous look as she sat beside her, applying another layer of bright red lipstick. The faux fur jacket she hadn’t wanted made her simple dress look classy and unique. Combined with the glittery eye shadow she applied, Sana looked like a winter princess.
“This challenge is just like one of those temperament tests. Whoever thought of it had a great idea!” Letty smiled at the difference in all their looks.
She turned to her right and her smile faded. Ji Ah sat beside her in the plain white dress with tears streaming down her cheeks. There was no difference in her outfit other than the sparkly, sequined sneakers she wore on her feet. She’d tried to pull her short, chin length hair up into a ponytail, but several heavy dark strands had escaped from the rubber band.
“Ji Ah!” Letty scooted her stool closer. “What’s wrong?”
The girl’s lips trembled as she rattled off something Letty didn’t understand.
“She said—” Ben started to convert the words to English but Letty interrupted him.
“I think I got the gist.”
She didn’t need a translator for Ji Ah’s look of disgust as she motioned to her outfit. Letty took her shoulders gently.
“We can do this. Wait here. I’ll be right back.”
Letty stripped off her opera gloves and sprinted to her suitcase as fast as her red heels would allow. She pulled out the white bolero jacket along with a classic string of pearls and matching headband, then hurried back to her fellow bride and shoved the jacket in her hands.
“Put this on!” she commanded as she mimed getting dressed. No time for social niceties when there was a fashion emergency at hand. Besides she was older than her. Didn’t that count for a lot in Korea?
Ji Ah pulled the short jacket over her bare arms and Letty swung the girl’s knees around so she was facing her instead of the mirror. She yanked the rubber band from her hair and started finger combing the unruly strands.
“Ahhhh!” Ji Ah howled at the less than gentle treatment.
“Sorry.” Letty apologized but didn’t slow down. She fastened the strand of pearls around Ji Ah’s neck and grabbed her brush from the vanity table.
“Three minutes!” The MC called in both Korean and English.
Letty smoothed Ji Ah’s hair into a soft silky curtain and topped it off with the elegant pearl headband. Then she pulled out a foundation compact and tried to fix the tear tracks on the young woman’s cheeks.
“Two minutes!” came the warning.
Letty grabbed her still hot curling iron and added a few soft tendrils to frame the young girl’s face.
“Oh, sweetie. You look beautiful.” Letty spun Ji Ah around towards the mirror and showed off her lightning makeover results.
Ji Ah’s eyes teared up again as she stared at her reflection, but this time from happiness. She touched the pearls around her neck and her lips quivered.
“Don’t cry!” Letty fanned the young girl’s face. “You’ll get streaks in your makeup again.”
“10 seconds!” The MC walked to the middle of the room where they began their challenge. The other three brides jumped up from their stools and rushed to hit their marks.
Letty retrieved her gloves and slipped them back on, checking her own hair in the mirror one last time.
“Five, four, three—”
Letty rushed to her yellow circle and crowed. “Two seconds to spare!”
She glanced over at her handsome translator, made a little V with her fingers and held it up next to her eyes. Ben just shook his head and laughed at her. Letty turned her attention back to the MC and tried to act as if she understood everything coming out of his mouth. A soft, warm voice began the translation in her right ear and she sighed in contentment. Letty could have used someone like him in her college classes, especially Mass Media Law. Maybe she would have actually finished that Journalism degree.
If only her whole life came with a translator.
