“People could’ve mistaken you as the groom for being so restless.”

Seokmin meekly groaned.

As much as he wanted to wipe the smug off the elder, Soonyoung was right.

For the past hour, the younger of the two had been twiddling with the boutonniere on his vest, his trembling fingers unable to keep still. There was approximately one hour left on the clock before Jihoon would have to strip both his ‘Lee’ surname and Indigent status behind. And to be honest, Seokmin was half excited, half worried; for he too would soon to be ‘upgraded’.

He felt as if he were by the shore, getting hit by small yet frequent waves of nerves. Tickling only his feet at first, they were now up to his waist as he threaded further, giving into the whirlpool of never-ending anxieties.

Seokmin was never the one to overthink since he believed in positive thoughts. But then again, it was a wedding after all. Not just any normal wedding, it was an Opulent-Indigent bonding ceremony at that.

There was more to a wedding between an Opulent and Indigent; more so on the latter, being the change of both marital and social status. An Indigent would have to go through many processes, rituals even to be a certified Opulent. Yet Seokmin was too anxious to think of anything further than the wedding itself.

So when he threw a look over his shoulder at his brother, who had nothing but a consistent composure on, Seokmin could only click his tongue in annoyance.

Yes, Lee Jihoon was recognized for being calm and collected. Heck, he was one of the few who wouldn’t go screaming his head off when a spider randomly popped out of nowhere. He would instead trudge towards the heinous creature as if he owned the world and pick it up like was mere dust; none at all affected by a freaking monster with 8 hairy legs. Unlike others in the group who would flee to the nearest elevated object while yelling; mostly from Seungkwan, usually along the lines of -  “kill it with fire.”

Nonetheless, it was still indecipherable as to how Jihoon managed to look so unruffled despite being at his own wedding.

So calm.

So collected.

Just like their mother. Or Jihoon’s mother to be exact.

A complete contrast to Seokmin who possessed his father’s lack of composure, as he teetered from left to right, bouncing on his elevated heels with the tick of the clock. The rhytmic click-clack halted to a stop when he felt a pat on his already styled hair, causing him to frown in confusion.

“What?”

Soonyoung nodded, pointing down to Seokmin’s boutonniere, all tilted from the excessive movement. With a smile still intact, he proceeded to fix it and Seokmin instantly broke into a blush. Thoughts recurring at how he previously nagged Soonyoung for being unkempt just literally few minutes ago.

“I guess I’m not the only one who needs to be taken care of.”

Seungkwan had been leaning against the frame of the white door, watching a band setting up, evidently sour from the fact Jihoon wouldn’t let him perform. “Friends should be present, not performing,” Jihoon said on a cold night sometime around last week, yet Seungkwan was never the one to take a ‘no’ as an answer.

Hence why he was huffing his way inside to meet Jihoon, demanding (or begging) for few seconds on stage. That was until a strangely familiar voice from behind stopped him in his pursuit of the groom.

“What’s with the stinky face?”

“Not the time, Hansol,” Seungkwan further scrunching his already sour face, hand half-heartedly waving at the said person. “You better run along before I mess up that perfectly styled hair of yours.”

A playful smile then graced Hansol’s lips instead, one of his eyebrow raised, “So you’re saying my hair looks perfect?”

Seungkwan almost let out a groan.

The thing with Hansol was that every time Seungkwan tried to one up the annoying Opulent, Hansol would even out the score. To the point the boy rendered him speechless.

Unfortunately, due to his foolish proposition in getting to know one another the day Jihoon broke the news (seriously, who the would announce their engagement out of nowhere at brunch?), Seungkwan stuck with having to meet up Seungcheol and his friends every week. Which meant having to deal with Hansol and his ing clever comebacks on Sunday mornings.

Moody. Sunday. Mornings.

So when the wedding which at first scheduled in May was brought forward two months earlier instead, Seungkwan nearly got on his knees to thank the heavens. His curiosity almost got the best of him, wanting to probe Jihoon as to why the couple rushed the wedding. But he was content enough to know that he only needed to it up until February.

Then again, even if the wedding planning were to prolong, he was never the type to back down anyway.

So when Hansol, who was looking all too complacent as he threaded his fingers through his hair, all strands slicked back in luscious waves, Seungkwan swung the bat almost immediately.

“I’m saying that your stylist did a perfect job. She should’ve fixed that face of yours though,” he then beelined into the room, not bothering to look back, whispering “idiot” before the door closed with a click.

“Okay, great. I’ll let you know once it’s done.”

“Who?” Jeonghan stretched his neck over Jisoo’s right shoulder just as the latter slipped his phone back into the pocket of his pants. Startled by a familiar hot breath ghosting his neck, Jisoo turned around, almost losing his grip on a clipboard he had been holding. Seeing the wide smirk dancing on Jeonghan’s lips, Jisoo realized that the man was doing it on purpose.

“Just the band,” Jisoo shrugged, desperately trying to appear nonchalant despite the light dust of pink staining the highest point of his cheeks.

Unfortunately for Jisoo, Jeonghan never missed a thing. How the corner of his lips trembled as he spoke, or how his voice went up a millioctave higher; the boy could never fool almighty Yoon Jeonghan. Noticing the traces, how flustered Jisoo was, made him even more endearing. Being the mischievous one of the two, Jeonghan took a step forward.

As expected, Jisoo took two steps back.

Jisoo cleared his throat instead, one hand firmly set on the broad chest belonged to Jeonghan as he warned, “As much as I want to give into you right now, Jeonghanie, we can’t. They might see us.”

“Let them."

Taking in the all-white surrounding - white chairs, white daisies, white decals - Jisoo felt guilty of the thoughts that were unfolding in his head. They were battling, trying to reason out one another. For some reason, there was something so oddly pure about weddings. However that wasn’t entirely the reason why his hands broke into cold sweat. He couldn’t pinpoint exactly why, but the laughter and few smiling faces around him seemed eerie. Almost too happy.

Too staged.

And it did little to calm his heart either when he managed to catch a man minutes ago, oddly standing by one side of the hall. The unknown face was a little out of place, seemed ill-fitting among the growing crowd. It felt wrong, so wrong. Only when the man bowed to him from the distance that Jisoo instantly pushed the nagging feeling aside. It was wrong of him to cast such judgment on someone he barely knew of. Besides, nothing could go wrong on a wedding day.

Right?

Pushing his worries deep into a chamber to save for later date, Jisoo turned his attention back to his pouting boyfriend. “Says the person who wanted to keep this,” Jisoo’s slender finger danced back and forth, motioning to them both, “- a secret.”

“That was like months ago, when I was worried of Seungcheol. He’s gonna be married in few minutes anyway.”

Which then invited a soft chuckle from Jisoo, his free hand reached for a strand of hair and tucked it behind Jeonghan’s ear, “Exactly. It’s a wedding - Seungcheol’s wedding at that. Let’s just focus on the groom of the day, shall we?”

And Jeonghan rolled his eyes, eventually cracking up a small smile.

“Fine. But Seungcheol better not be messing up today, or else I’ll freaking ruin his honeymoon.”

With that, Jisoo could only shake his head, eyes crinkled by the corners.

Jihoon had to stop himself from losing his chill only because he for sure did not want to walk down the aisle with a ing frown on his face. Let alone crinkles on his clothes. Although he at first was against the whole idea, it’s already happening; and Jihoon wasn’t going to let anyone, not even himself ruin such special day.

But Seokmin had been tapping his foot against the marbled floor for a good 15 minutes, while Mingyu kept pacing as if he was on fire. And it was not helping either when Seungkwan suddenly burst through the door, muttering things to himself that were unfortunately still loud for Jihoon to hear.

Idiot.

Arrogant.

ing Chwe Hansol.

Taking a deep breath, Jihoon strained his eyes at the mirror, smiling to the person before him who was too different. Too foreign. He looked dashing; from his hair down to his polished black shoes. A pair of dress shoes he never would’ve thought he would walk in. He did catch another slouched figure in the corner of the mirror, causing Jihoon’s reflection to be missing one final touch. A smile.

And that’s not good.

So he called for Mingyu; the boy went still for a millisecond before he trudged closer, confusion written all over his face.

“What’s wrong?”

“Get yourself a drink or something. Take Seungkwan with you.”

One thing Jihoon had forgotten was that there’s a great flaw in his plan. A clueless Kim Mingyu himself. So when Mingyu blinked a little too much, Jihoon knew he had to brace himself for what’s to come.

“But I’m not thirsty? Seungkwan doesn’t seem to be in the mood either.”

“Just…” and Jihoon need not to say more.

Mingyu pulled Seungkwan along with him, the younger whined at the sudden pull. Only after the two left that Jihoon felt as peace again, his mind now focused on a very troubled Lee Seokmin in one of the chairs.

“Hey,” Jihoon whispered as he took a vacant seat beside his brother. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Why wouldn’t I be?”

But it was a lie. Seokmin may have a smile on his face, both eyes curved into a set of half-moons. Yet Jihoon knew better than to believe it, for he could see straight past his brother’s mask.

Seokmin was nervous, more nervous than the groom himself. Jihoon even had to hold onto one of the younger’s thigh to stop it from bouncing, “Tell me.”

With a light laugh, Seokmin shook his head. He did however reach for Jihoon’s hand, still rested on his thigh as he gave it a pat, causing Jihoon to frown.

“It’s nothing, Hyung. Really.”

“Perhaps, is it because of-”

And that seemed to be the trigger when Seokmin suddenly bumped his head with Jihoon’s head, wringing out a short yelp from the groom. He then laughed, “It’s not so stop being so hung up about it.”

But Jihoon couldn’t. How could he when Seokmin almost got ran over by a motorcycle when the year barely turned 2016?

If it wasn’t for Seungcheol who managed to pull Seokmin in time, Jihoon would’ve probably blamed himself for working at one of his part time jobs instead of tagging along with the two. He wouldn’t have known if not for Seungcheol; he burst into the Lee’s residence the next morning, urging Jihoon that it might have been probably the best for them to get married as soon as they possible could.

And Jihoon easily complied because it scared him to see such urgency, given he had never seen Seungcheol being so scared before.

So then there they was, in the middle of February, all prepped in his wedding tuxedo, his dream of having a small wedding granted. Mrs. Cheol was disappointed to say the least, but she gave in because she could never be mad at Jihoon anyway. Besides, she was given the honor to choose the overall theme which may have explained the white decals all over the hall.

But it didn’t necessarily mean that Seokmin should be as white as the theme itself, blending into the background. The boy was too pale. Too vulnerable. Jihoon was about to shake some colors into Seokmin when Soonyoung walked in, announcing that, “Seokmin-ah, it’s time.” and the groom could only nod, his hand giving Seokmin’s thigh a last press.

“I’ll talk with you later.”

“See you at the altar, Hyung,” and with that Seokmin left, trailing after Soonyoung. Leaving Jihoon to tend to his own thoughts.

- - - - - - - - - - -