CHAPTER TWO

Formal suits were never Donghae’s fortifies, Donghae soon came to learn… with the top button of his shirt done Donghae felt like being suffocated and the bow tie he was wearing on top of it was aiding it in killing Donghae little by little.

“Aish!” Donghae exclaimed as he put a finger under his stiff collar and gave it a tug to make the feeling less uncomfortable but to no avail. He had protested before wearing that goddamn tuxedo but his mother has gone all ‘It’s your sister’s wedding, you have to wear this’ and now all Donghae could do was groan loudly as he ran here and there trying to do last minute errands before the ceremony would start, with the stupid tux making things difficult for him. “Wait till I get marry… I am gonna go in my boxers and no one is gonna tell me I can’t!”

Donghae smiled in a self-satisfactory way at his non-sense exclamation, then he remembered he was supposed to look for the white roses bouquet Amber needs to hold as she walks down the aisle… something Donghae couldn’t understand, first Amber hates walking like a lady- especially when everyone’s a critical eye is on her- and then knowing Amber she would be more than happy to walk down that godforsaken aisle with a big orange basketball in her hands rather than flowers… but even if this was her wedding she couldn’t do as she pleases. But on the other hand, the poor girl has not even been allowed to see, let alone meet the man she would be getting married with, so in comparison to that, other things seem quite trivial.

Donghae himself would have loved to meet the stupid guy, who apparently had not protested at this arranged marriage even once where on the other hand Amber had protested with an average rate of five times each and every day for last two weeks, but as the wedding was to be held in just two weeks so because of all the flights already reserved, Donghae had only been able to arrive the night before the wedding thus not getting a chance to meet his brother-in-law. Even now, with them being in the hotel reserved for the wedding ceremony Donghae had tried going to the groom's area to see the monkey-like-guy but had been quite disappointed at being called back to run some important errands.

 Donghae tried looking here and there in search for his cousin Ryeowook, who was supposed to bring the bouquet but now that kid was nowhere to be seen. The ceremony was about to start in less than an hour so his mother has started to panic… of course only his mother would panic because Amber doesn’t give even a single damn about it. Donghae sighed in irritation and gave another tug to his shirt’s collar before rounding a corner at a quick pace which results in him walking headlong into another figure coming from the other direction.

“Oh, I am sorry.” Donghae quickly mumbled out as he took a step back and looked up at the face of the man he had collided with, making Donghae stop short.

“Oh no, it’s my fault I should have been looking, I am sorry.” The other guy quickly said as he glances over at Donghae, trying to see if his collision caused any damages.

Donghae looked at the other from head to toe, in a critical manner, but couldn’t find a single flaw in the other. The other being was imperfect; that much Donghae could see in a single glance, but a thorough survey told him that the guy was imperfectly perfect, with his beautiful almond eyes, plump pink lips and an angular jawline. Donghae felt a little warmer around his neck which unconsciously made his hand to tug at his collar which the other guy noticed as well.

“Are you uncomfortable in your tux?” The plump lips that inquired after Donghae’s state were rather inviting.

“You bet I am,” Donghae admitted with a smirk decorating his face as he lowered his voice an octave and carried on. “How about you help me get out it after the ceremony?”

Donghae knew he was shamelessly flirting with a guy he didn’t even know but there was something about the other’s pink hue cheeks that Donghae thought he would be glad to get to know the other.

“What?” The other question with his brows furrowed in confusion.

Donghae couldn’t help but groan loudly at that confused yet cute face, “So you are the innocent type.” Donghae muttered in somewhat an accusing manner and then sighed loudly. “That is never gonna work on you then!”

“True, it’s never gonna work on him.” Another voice said and Donghae didn’t even need to crane his neck around to look who talked because in the next second the cute guy, Donghae had collided with, was shoved to one side as a tall milky skin boy stood in front of Donghae. “But you can try that on me, I assure you it would attain you the desired result.”

Donghae looked at the lanky guy who had a teasing smirk on his face, making Donghae smile at the open invitation the other was throwing his way.

“Nah, you are not my type.” Donghae rejected the guy with a smirk of his own, making the taller one to his brow in amusement. “I like my boys…,” Donghae started and gave a small glance to the cute guy standing with his back against the wall and a pout playing around his plump lips. “Smaller and withering under me.”

The taller among then gave a loud laugh at Donghae’s reply, “Yeah, I know the feeling man!”

Donghae laughed along with the taller but a quick glance at his wristwatch had him bidding a hasty goodbye to the two strangers and sprint off to find Ryeowook.

O-o-o-o-O

“What was that all about?” Hyukjae asked Kyuhyun, his best man for the occasion, once they have started walking toward the groom's allotted room after the weird- yet handsome- stranger has left in a hurry.

“That is called flirting, my dear old and too innocent for his own good friend,” Kyuhyun replied sarcastically. “Of course you wouldn’t know, what with your nearly non-existing dating history.”

Hyukjae scowled at his best friend's taunt.

“Why did I even ask you to be my best man?” Hyukjae regretted his decision deeply now. He should have invited Siwon then that would automatically get Kyuhyun to not come to Hyukjae’s wedding… life could have been much easier… unfortunately, Hyukjae realized that a little too late. “I could have asked Shindong Hyung or Yesung Hyung or Leeteuk Hyung… but most importantly I could have asked Siwon and he would have jumped to the opportunity.”

Hyukjae noticed how his friend crunched up his nose in disgust at the last name suggested, that made Hyukjae laugh.

Kyuhyun slowly walked toward his friend and wrapped his arms around his waist before replying, “Because you love me.”

Hyukjae rolled his eyes at his cheeky friend and he knew he can’t contradict the other because Hyukjae truly loved him. Kyuhyun was like a brother Hyukjae never had.

O-o-o-o-O

Donghae sighed in relief as he found himself in front of bride’s allotted room with the required bouquet in his hands and a little to 15 minutes to spare before the ceremony starts. He knocked on the door and waited for one of the bridesmaids to get the door but even after a whole minute has gone by and no one answered. Donghae frown as he leaned forward with his ear plaster to the room’s door and he heard some frantic shouts… seemed like some chaos was going on inside. Knowing how brides tend to go hyperventilating at last minutes, Donghae pounded on the door and waited for someone to get but he was once again ignored… he pounded even harder and a sudden hush fell on the other side of the room, Donghae was glad his knocking had been acknowledged finally.

“Come in,” A loud voice from inside said, making Donghae frown even deeper. But being worried he quickly opened the door and entered the room and the scene that unfolded in front of his was… one girl surrounded by four other’s and the distress on the face of the girl in the middle was enormous… there was only one thing missing in that scene, the girl in the middle was not the bride but Sulli! Amber’s friend and bridesmaid for today.

“What happened?” Donghae inquired as he saw his sister, all dress in white, hovering behind Sulli trying to do something to her dress.

“Sulli’s bow sash got torn and now we can’t make a big enough bow to work with,” Amber explained quickly while still concentrating on the work at hand.

“Shouldn’t the bridesmaids be looking after the bride? Not the other way around.” Donghae pointed out with a laugh.

Suddenly Amber came out from behind Sulli and opened her arms to show off her dress, “I am already ready. No need to look after me.”

Donghae looked at the simple yet elegantly dressed Amber and his breath hitched up and, before he could stop himself, he found himself saying, “Amber, you look beautiful.”

Amber seemed stunt at the sincerity behind those words and a small smile graced her lips as Donghae opened his arms, inviting her for a hug. The hug was warm and comforting; Donghae kissed her cheek tenderly after breaking off the hug and presented her with the bouquet.

“I wish you were getting married to someone you loved so this day could hold more meaning for you.” Donghae sincerely said as he saw the complete bride, even the roses in her hands now.

“I will get to that day too,” Amber assured him confidently.

“I will tell Dad that you are ready,” Donghae said after planting another kiss on his sister’s forehead and then turned to the four bridesmaids. “And you guys… tend to the bride… no one is gonna even look at you all.”

“Donghae!” Amber exclaimed as she gave a small push to her laughing brother. “Don’t break their hearts.”

But Sulli, Luna, Victoria, and Krystal already knew how Donghae was so they didn’t take his words to heart and laugh along with him.

“Just make sure her fake lady like manners is preserved until the end of ceremony… God only knows what we will do if we have a runaway groom at our hands.” Donghae kept giving instructions to the bridesmaids, making them laugh but Amber to fume and grab a vase to throw at Donghae but he managed to sneak out before being murdered.

O-o-o-o-O

Donghae smiled at his mother as he took his seat beside her and gave a squeeze to her hands, silently giving her support. The whole hall had already been filled with guest and everyone was waiting for groom’s customary entry, which was never as grand as brides but important nevertheless.

Donghae had the luxury to look around now that he was not asked to run around like a headless chicken anymore. Donghae was quick to notice the handsome and lanky guy he had the pleasure of meeting just half an hour ago, that guy was standing at the place of best man. Donghae looked around to see if he could see the cute guy as well, maybe he was a friend of groom too, but no luck.

A hushed silence fell over the crowd as the huge door of the hall opened but no one stood up in honor of the poor groom… but Donghae sure was looking forward to seeing his brother-in-law so he leaned forward and saw a blushing boy making his way down the aisle at a quick speed, making his friends and cousin joke around that the groom was in a hurry to be married… that only increased the shade of pink already decorating his face.

But one look at the groom and Donghae groaned inwardly, God! I flirted with my own brother-in-law. His least comfort was that the guy was too innocent and most probably had not even understood the double meaning behind Donghae’s words earlier.