The Seventh Time I Stopped Waiting Chapter 05

The Seventh Time I Stopped Waiting Chapter 05

Jude’s arm froze mid-air.

The smile on his lips faded little by little.

“Yuna?”

He stared at me in utter disbelief, met with my cold, distant gaze.

But soon, the disbelief turned back to certainty.

“What tantrum are you throwing now?”

“I told you I’d take you down the mountain to make our union official when the documentary was done. Why resort to such means to pressure me?”

I watched him, so sure of himself. It was almost funny.

Even now, he thought my wedding was just a tantrum.

That I’d still wait for him like I was supposed to.

Villagers on the mountain path all came to a stop and watched the scene unfold.

“Filmmaker, around here, once the wedding wagon starts moving, the ceremony is done. To halt the wedding cart midway will bring bad omens.”

“Shut up! Yuna is my bride! She’s just angry at me!”

The villagers laughed. “She waited four years for you. Came down the mountain seven times. Yet you never cherished her devotion. Now that she’s marrying someone else, you’re yelling at us?”

Jude froze. Something seemed to hit him.

He set down the camera and strode over to grip the edge of the wedding cart.

He stretched his hand inside and seized mine tightly.

“If you’re mad about me missing our appointment, I can explain. I can promise.”

“We’ll go down the mountain tomorrow and get married. Yuna, stop this, okay?”

He squeezed my hand so hard that his knuckles turned pale.

I looked at him. Then glanced toward Ada standing on the hillside, her beaded suede skirt and silver ornaments shining brightly.

I peeled his fingers off one by one. Slowly. Carefully.

“I’m not joking. I’m married.”

Jude’s chest heaved. “Stop it. You want me to take you out of the mountains. I already promised.”

“Married? Didn’t you spend all your days longing to leave this mountain?”

My heart ached.

Growing up, Granny told me stories of the world outside. Blue ocean. Seagulls. Sandy beaches.

I dreamed of seeing it.

Jude promised back then. He’d take me down the mountain to see

the ocean.

But now, like a dream, it was over.

“I don’t want that anymore.” I shook my head.

Jude didn’t believe me. Or maybe he couldn’t.

He grabbed my hand and tried to drag me out of the wagon.

Then another hand clamped down on his wrist.

“Let her go.”

Jude looked up, his eyes dark with anger.

“This is between Yuna and me. Mind your own business.”

I looked at the man I was about to marry.

He didn’t back down. Just shoved Jude, who fell into a mud puddle.

Warmth spread through my chest.

“Yuna is my bride. Show some respect.”

Jude barely had time to feel the pain. His face went white.

“What did you say…?”

He turned and stared at me.

“Yuna, you promised me. You said you’d be my wife!”

“What do you mean marrying someone else?”

I smiled.

“Jude, wasn’t seven times enough for you? Do you even remember when we first went down the mountain?”

His breath caught. His fingers trembled.

He didn’t remember.

I looked down at my ankle hidden under my skirt. The skin was rotting away.

I told him, word by word.

“The first time, there was a storm. The path was slick. I fell and rolled down the mountain, covered in blood. But you said you’d meet me down there. I held onto the silver hairpin you gave me and crawled all the way to town.”

“I thought you’d be waiting at the registrar’s office.”

“Instead, you called from the mountains. Said Ada’s log cabin roof had broken in the rain. You had to fix it for her. Told me to wait for next time.”

Jude’s pupils shrank. He opened his mouth.

Then closed it again.

“The second time, there was a blizzard. I waded through freezing water and fell through the ice. If a man from the village hadn’t come by, I would have frozen to death.”

“I gritted my teeth and made it to town. I thought if we took the marriage oath then, by spring our wedding could be warm and happy.”

“But you said you were filming clouds in the mountains. Told me it

was a rare view, you couldn’t give up.”

“The third time. The fourth. The fifth…”

By the end, my face showed nothing.

I just watched Jude’s face lose its color.

“There was always something more important. Always some view more urgent than our union. Someone who needed you more.”

“I waited seven times.”

“I no longer have the strength to set foot on those mountain paths for you.”

His chest rose and fell violently, as if a heavy stone weighed upon him.

He tried to crawl out of the mud. But his legs went soft. He fell back in again and again.

“I can make it up to you.”

“Yuna, I will change everything you dislike. Let’s go down the mountain right now.”

I shook my head gently. Pulled the curtain closed.

“No need.”

“I’m getting married now.”

I raised my hand and said softly to the wagon bearers.

“Move.”

The wedding caller’s voice rang out.

The bride proceeds to her new home!