God of Ad-libs

The wedding proceeded smoothly.

Sitting in the waiting room, the bride’s heart, which had been on the verge of bursting from nervousness, refused to settle down even as the ceremony began.

—The groom, Gwak Chunshik, will now enter!

—The bride, Kim Hayoung, will now enter!

With her heart racing, she walked down the aisle, surrounded by applause and cheers from the guests on both sides. In front of the officiant, she met her beloved groom’s gaze and carefully took his hand.

—And now, may the bride and groom…

Only as the officiant began speaking did she finally regain a sense of calm.

She nudged the groom gently with her elbow and glanced subtly toward the back.

‘Did you see that? Your guest side is packed.’

‘Yeah.’

‘How about that?’

The bride smirked smugly.

‘Aren’t you glad you listened to me?’

She had loved the groom since they started dating. Like him, she had showered him with gifts and diligently saved to contribute to their future home. She wanted to be the perfect partner, one who shared the responsibilities of marriage equally.

And so—

‘I told you hiring wedding guests would work.’

—When her fiancé had fretted about his side of the hall being nearly empty, she had sprung into action as if it were her own problem.

‘They blend in perfectly.’

Guest actors were something people rarely talked about, making information hard to come by. So, she and the groom vetted countless agencies, navigating through endless Q&A sessions with each of them along the way.

Q: How do you handle payments?

A: Our agency requires a 50% deposit upfront, with the remaining 50% due based on satisfaction after the ceremony.

They chose an agency that prioritized reliability over cost.

Q: Can we review the attire?

A: Yes. Requests for attire outside of standard suits are accepted. We’ll send photos of them for review, and you can reject up to three times.

An agency that ensured all guests met the dress code requirements.

Q: Are they professional actors?

A: Actually, we avoid actors. They sometimes overdo it, so we focus solely on providing discreet participants who can blend in, take photos, and leave quietly.

A no-frills agency that valued subtlety over drama.

A: Our agency follows the basics. Actors will greet the clients with a “Congratulations,” then sit in the guest section, clapping and showing appropriate reactions. While at the tables, they’re only allowed to discuss the banquet food.

Turning around briefly, the bride saw the group quietly seated, some scrolling their phones, others chatting softly—likely about the food. It was convincing, even to the untrained eye.

Though one person did stand out.

‘By the way, who’s that guy up front?’

‘Who?’

‘The one clapping the loudest.’

‘Ah.’

It was a man at the front table. His sharp suit and good looks made him stand out, but even more noticeable was his enthusiasm—he applauded loudly, nodded vigorously, and murmured constant words of admiration, as if genuinely thrilled.

‘I thought no one from your side was coming?’

‘Well… I’ll tell you later.’

Before she could press further, the next segment began.

—Now, a special song by the bride’s university junior!

The ceremony neared its end.

In this gradually concluding scene, the bride and groom relaxed, enjoying the performance by the bride’s junior.

—That was a wonderful song. Ah, one moment, please.

What now?

—I heard the singer was part of the bride’s photography club in college. What kind of senior was she back then?

“Um…”

The bride and groom exchanged flustered glances as her colleague—moonlighting as the emcee—posed the unexpected question.

“She… was really popular with the guys?”

Soft chuckles rippled through the hall as the junior continued.

“Just kidding. Actually, when I think of our senior, I think of pain relief patches.”

—Pain relief patches?

“Yes. Since we went on many photo shoots with the club, our camera bags were quite heavy. She would always take the heavy bags from struggling juniors and sling them over her shoulder like it was nothing. We assumed she was just that strong and kept passing our bags to her out of habit, but one day, I happened to see her in the bathroom, and her shoulder was bruised blue and purple.”

—So she didn’t show it at all?

“That’s right. Even though it was hard for her, she took care of us. I remember that day we all cried and put patches on her shoulder. She’s that amazing. So please, don’t ever let her go!”

The junior’s heartfelt words warmed the room, leaving the bride bashfully smiling.

—What a touching story! Even I, as her coworker, didn’t know about it. As expected, our bride was reliable even back then, huh?

The emcee turned to her with a smile.

The bride noticed the emcee’s trembling hands. Normally composed, her colleague was clearly nervous but doing her best to enliven the event. It was touching, really.

Until—

‘Hold on a second.’

—The emcee’s gaze shifted toward the groom’s side.

The bride’s heart sank. Her colleague didn’t know about the hired guests.

Please don’t—

“Well, the groom’s side can’t be outdone, can they?”

“…?!”

“…?!”

The emcee was starting to get a bit carried away…

***

—I heard the groom was quite popular in college.

The groom broke into a cold sweat.

—Would anyone here like to share a memory with the groom?

The bewildered groom exchanged glances with the bride, trying to assess the situation.

‘This… this wasn’t part of the plan!’

‘…I know! She doesn’t usually act like this!’

Then, someone in the front row shot up a hand.

—Oh, we have someone here already.

There was no mistaking him.

It was the well-dressed, enthusiastic man who had been clapping and nodding since the ceremony began. The groom still hadn’t fully accepted that he might actually know this guy, but the man stood up confidently and took the microphone.

“I’m Chunshik’s college clubmate.”

—What kind of club was it?

“A travel club. You remember, Chunshik? The OO University travel club that never actually travelled but just drank all the time.”

A small laugh spread through the hall at his last comment.

“Chunshik was the most hardworking person I knew back then. Though he didn’t talk much, everyone in the club liked him. I mean, just look at him—he’s handsome, isn’t he?”

Laughter rippled through the crowd again, but the man’s expression suddenly turned serious.

“Thanks to Chunshik, a lot of us got our act together. Including me—”

The groom furrowed his brow slightly as he looked at the man holding the microphone.

‘…What was his name again? Something-gyu?’

In the whirlwind of the ceremony, he hadn’t even managed to catch the guy’s name properly.

As his mind searched for answers, fragments of his life began to play out like a montage.

Scenes from the grueling days he had endured to succeed in business rewound rapidly, taking him all the way back to his youth.

‘…’

He dug deeper, sifting through memories of his solitary life. Constantly moving schools due to family circumstances, he had always felt like an outsider.

But there had been one period when, for over a year, he had been part of a lively, boisterous group of people.

‘Right, I was in the travel club.’

He recalled the travel club mention he had hastily scribbled on the guest-hiring form.

Yes, that was it.

He remembered how he had wandered excitedly through the underground shopping center in Dongdaemun the day before the freshman party, enchanted by tales of how clubs were the essence of college life.

But the excitement hadn’t lasted long. The groom was miserably weak at holding his liquor.

‘Didn’t fit in well because of that.’

And then, it hit him.

‘…Huh?’

A vivid image of the clubroom surfaced—a place where he had spent his breaks loitering just to catch a glimpse of his first love, the girl with the sweet smile.

Memories he had buried, thanks to the embarrassing episode with a white suit and a rose, flashed before him in a vivid panorama.

‘Hold on.’

Every university had them: the alcohol enthusiasts who treated the clubroom as their personal hangout or recovery zone.

They were the ones who, as soon as a drinking session began, started downing shots of soju like water, then returned to campus after missing the last bus, sprawling out on the biggest couch until morning. They disappeared at dawn, mumbling something about curing their hangover, only to reemerge by evening—faithfully paying homage to the “lord of alcohol” once more.

To someone like the groom, who avoided alcohol, it was no wonder their faces had faded from memory.

‘Was he one of those guys…?’

The groom strained to remember. Among those hazy recollections, one stood out—a scruffy guy who never seemed to wash his hair and always wore a hoodie.

He had blended into the couch so seamlessly that it was hard to tell where the furniture ended and his body began.

‘Why do you drink so much? Isn’t it exhausting?’

‘It is. It’s exhausting. That’s why I drink.’

‘…?’

Back then, he had honestly thought it was pathetic.

He had assumed the guy was just being carefree because he had family backing.

But now.

The sense of deprivation he had felt then had long since vanished with his success, and thinking back to those days only brought a sense of nostalgia.

Come to think of it, those had been the good times.

Although he had thought he had no friends due to his extreme introversion, joining the club had allowed him to meet people who acknowledged him—in class, at the library, and in the cafeteria.

‘Oh, Chunshik!’

‘Hey, Chunshik!’

‘Chunshik-ah!’

Usually, memories of the past weren’t preserved exactly as they had been; instead, they were reconstructed based on present circumstances.

Now that he had found success…

He could look back on his twenties, which he had once considered a desolate wasteland, and realize there had been small oases of warmth.

‘Coming to the afterparty tonight?’

‘I’ve got an assignment and then work.’

‘Damn, you’re working hard as always…’

He seemed to remember having this kind of exchange with someone.

With a person who, to anyone looking, would have appeared as a true friend.

‘Yeah…’

Seeing Taegyu up ahead with the mic, proudly sharing those memories, the groom’s eyes grew misty.

‘I… I had a friend too…’

Yes.

The memories started to become clear.

He, who had thought he would always be alone, had had friends—one who could stand up proudly in front of everyone and recount their memories together from college.

“—Seeing Chunshik live so passionately inspired me to get my act together and work hard too. I want to take this chance to say thank you. You made me a better person, my friend. Congratulations on your marriage!”

‘…Gyu …Gyu …Gyu,’ the groom repeated the name in his mind until it finally clicked.

With heartfelt emotion, he turned to his old friend and responded.

“…Thank you for coming, Jung-gyu!”

***

Second-floor banquet hall.

When it came to weddings, the food had to be good.

‘…Who’s Jung-gyu, though?’

Wiping away a stray tear, Taegyu made his way to the buffet. The rush of emotions he’d felt earlier was now completely discharged, leaving him light and refreshed.

Clank.

Loading up his plate with LA galbi, Taegyu nodded with satisfaction.

‘Mission accomplished.’

If the goal was to play the part of a wedding guest convincingly, then he had nailed it with flying colors.

‘Though I might’ve fooled even the groom…’

Still, hadn’t he saved the day?

Looking back, if he hadn’t stepped up in that moment—and if all the other attendees had been hired as well—things could’ve gotten much worse.

‘That said, it’s definitely different with a counterpart.’

Having someone to act alongside brought everything to a whole new level. It was like he could fully immerse himself in the role, exchanging reactions and unfolding the scene naturally.

‘Not quite at the level of Do Gwang-sun… but I’m getting there.’

Glancing at the plate of food, Taegyu mused to himself.

This wedding guest gig? Not bad at all.

Considering his budget was stretched thin, with occasional splurges for a bit of thrill in life, getting to enjoy delicious food wasn’t something he’d turn down.

Clank.

With a soft clink, Taegyu set his LA galbi-laden plate on the table. While his emotional highs and lows had dulled over the years, his taste buds were very much alive. Movies, dramas, and tasty food—those were the few joys he had left in his otherwise bleak and flavorless life. And LA galbi, dripping with savory juices, were one of his favorites.

Thus began his meal.

Just as Taegyu took a bite, tearing into the succulent rib with his teeth—

“Hey, Jung-gyu!”

Cough━

The groom and bride, now changed into traditional hanbok, approached his table.

Before Taegyu could react, the groom suddenly came over with a delighted expression and hugged him tightly. Ah, how was he supposed to handle this?

“Sorry for not recognizing you earlier, man. You’re Jung-gyu, right? It’s been ages. You were a legend with the booze back in the day!”

“My apologies.”

“What…?”

Covering his mouth with one hand, Taegyu enunciated his apology as clearly as he could. He couldn’t bring himself to keep lying any longer. After all, he’d done his job and the ceremony had gone smoothly, hadn’t it?

“I’m truly sorry. And… congratulations.”

“…Ah.”

The groom’s shoulders slumped.

And just like that, the 10-year friendship that had been born only 10 minutes ago came to an abrupt end.

Pat-pat.

The groom left the table with a downtrodden expression, the bride casting a sharp glare at Taegyu as she patted her husband’s shoulder.

‘Kind of feel bad for him.’

Taegyu felt a hint of guilt separate from his satisfaction at having helped the wedding go well.

‘Better eat quickly and get out of here.’

Swallowing the rib meat in his mouth with an apologetic look, Taegyu turned back to his table.

Clatter.

Suddenly, a plate piled high with rice cakes was set beside him.

“…Join me.”

A gruff, bearded middle-aged man sat down in the chair next to him, muttering something cryptic.

“That whole bit earlier—was it all ad-lib?”