One week later, Yifan found himself in a hall filled with quasi-familiar faces, holding a crystal champagne flute.

‘YIFAN & BAI XUE’S ENGAGEMENT CEREMONY.’ says a banner that was plastered in the middle of a wall in a big, bold shiny letters.

Both him and Eden had smiled uncomfortably as they exchanged rings, that they chose from the array of selection that their parents presented to them. He could see how tense she was when they exchanged their rings. He was also quite tense, feeling bad for everyone that they are deceiving, which is pretty much everyone in the room. Both of them hold a secret that they cannot share with anyone.

“Congratulations,” Yifan decided to ease the atmosphere subtly. “We’re now engaged.”

Eden, who was wearing a white lace dress, with the lace in flower patterns. The dress was longer this time, which stopped slightly after the calf. Again, she was wearing her sky high stilettos. Her hair was pulled to the side in a braid and she was not wearing any jewelry.

She smiled, “Congratulations to you, too. Let’s look forward to our married life.”

There was something strange about hearing the word ‘married life’ It sounded so foreign to him. “How do you like the rings?” He asked as he scanned her finger, where the diamond was glistening under the light.

“It’ll do,” she answered as-a-matter-of-factly. “I chose the biggest one.” She chuckled lightly, “this will earn me the bragging rights amongst the girls.”

Both of them laughed quietly after that, as if they were sharing a secret amongst themselves like two accomplices in a crime, away from the crowd.

“Bai Xue, congratulations!” A girl, who was dressed glamorously walked over to them and greeted her. “You look so beautiful today!” The girl hugged her.

“Thank you, Wei,” Eden returned the hug half-heartedly as she patted the back of the girl called Wei. “You look wonderful, too.”

“Congratulations, Wu Yifan,” she continued as the girl looked at him, “it’s so surprising that you and Bai Xue decided to get married. It really is unexpected.” Yifan chuckled and nodded. “Bai Xue, where is Fruit?”

At the mention of the word fruit, Eden smiled, her eyes softened. Yifan doesn’t know who fruit is but he sure is curious about that person who can turn Eden’s expression into a softer one.

“I guess Fruit couldn’t make it. I did send out an invitation,” she replied shortly. Wei just nodded at her response while exclaiming, “It would have been a lot livelier if Fruit was here.” Suddenly, Yifan wanted to meet that girl they were pining after since he reckoned that the Fruit girl must be a lump of charms for Eden to lament over her absence. After a few exchanges of what they were up to, the two girls decided to part.

The ceremony was dull and lifeless for Yifan, who had been to so many of them that he got tired of them already. He would rather be at home and do something he’s interested or read scripts that were sent to him than be under the spotlight. It was quite ironic for him to say since he’s an actor but he is not that fond of the socialising side as a celebrity.

After the ceremony, both Yifan and her parents decided to go for a dinner together, where they sat across each other. They parents seemed delighted about their marriage, which pleased him. As they all raised their wine glasses for a toast, Yifan met Eden’s eyes. She smiled at him before her glass clinked with his.

One ceremony down. One more to go.

~~~

“Kris Wu,” Eden stood before him - her face red and flustered, her hands were at her waist, “you did not tell me about this in details.” She sounded annoyed and frustrated, which slightly pleased him, for some reason. After a few meetings, he had started to take joy in seeing Eden get overwhelmed with emotions, since she is always very composed.

“I’m sorry,” he shrugged, which seemed to have irritated because her eyes narrowed at his action, “it just came up. I can’t help it. I’m a top star.”

Both of them were in the makeup room of a photo studio. His director, Angela, suddenly announced that the couple was offered a chance to be on the cover of a high-fashion magazine. It was a chance that Angela couldn’t let go of. His director has a thing for fashion magazine covers, she craves for them and will always put him down whenever they offer him.

That explained the reason why both Yifan and Eden were dressed in the current season’s latest wedding gowns and tuxedos. Eden had to take a day off from her work because the photoshoot session was expected to last the entire day, where they would be taking pictures in different outfits, with the theme being fairytale.

“I really don’t enjoy this,” she whimpered as her face moved closer to him. The photographer wanted a shot where the couple stare longingly at each other. For him, it was not a problem. He had done that so many times. However, it was a laborious task for her.

“NO NO NO NO NO,” the photographer shouted at top of his voice. He was already annoyed. It had been about 40 minutes since they had been trying to take this shot but he still couldn’t get it right. “EDEN, CAN YOU PLEASE LOOK INTO HIS EYES LOVINGLY SO THAT WE CAN GET THIS DONE AND OVER WITH?!”

Eden let out an annoyed click of her tongue, “have you ever performed under pressure?” She retorted, “I work in finance, thank you. Not in front of a camera.” Yifan wanted to laugh. Eden’s short-tempered, sassy side has emerged, “If you’re a great photographer, you would have known how to set the mood. Clearly, you’re not doing your job right.” She got back at the photographer before her face turned towards Yifan.

“How do you do it?” She asked.

“Do what?”

“Look at one with loving eyes,” she sighed, “this is hard. I need a coach.”

Yifan looked at her, “you have a coach right here.”

“Then teach me,” she gritted her teeth and the tip of her nose flared up, “I hate not being able to do things.”

It caught him by surprise, at how she is willing to admit that there are certain things she couldn’t do, even though she looked quite frustrated while doing so. “Hold my hands,” he instructed her. She looked at him, her face was puzzled but she did it gingerly anyway. He laced his fingers with her and brought it up to their chest level. Then, he leaned in until his face was a few centimeters away from hers. Her face was still written in confusion. “And then, you think about puppies,” he whispered. Eden giggled. Her breath fanned across his face and he smelled something minty.

“You remember Rourou?” He continued, knowing that she had relaxed slightly. She hummed with a nod. Those two had met during the time when they both went for outfit consultation one time. Rourou took a liking for her even though she was lukewarm towards him. “Think of him.” She looked up at him and smiled. He could see the makeup that the makeup artist put on her in details; spiky spider lashes, foundation that is applied flawlessly like a porcelain. Eden smiled. “Now look at me,” he spoke softly, “in my eyes.” Her lashes lifted up and looked into his eyes.

“Rourou,” he repeated again, now that he knew that the name of his poodle makes her laugh. Her face switched into something between a laugh and a smile.

“AND CUT!” The photographer bellowed, “that was great! Okay. STYLISTS! WE’RE MOVING ON!”

He was ushered away by the stylists for an outfit change, and so was she. It was quite entertaining to see her being dragged away by a team of stylist in her enormous wedding gown, which was pinned here and there to fit her petite frame. She smiled at him, uneasily, and bowed a little before her stylists took a hold of her wrist to tug her into the changing room.

~~~

Just as hectic as the pre-wedding things were, the actual was just as, if not more, hectic. Yifan did not know what to expect nor what was being done since Eden entrusted everything to a wedding planning service, which found out that Yifan was her groom and did everything free to gain publicity. All he had to do was show up at dress fittings since his mother and her mother chose everything for them, from the style of cutlery to the design of the cake.

On the day of the wedding, he had to wake up early. He was half grumpy from the lack of sleep and his director was on his tail, telling him what to do and what not do. Since he had been away in another country for shooting purposes, he had lost track of what had been happening, and he had not seen Eden for a couple of months.

“Yifan, I want you to be really affectionate with Bai Xue,” his director instructed during a late night phone call before the wedding, which he listened in a half-asleep state. “A lot of people are speculating about your wedding since it happened so sudden and Bai Xue had never been to your work and vice versa. I actually had a tabloid paper calling me asking about how you managed to avoid paparazzis to date her.”

He now stood at the entrance of the wedding hall, greeting one guest after another, some faces he knew, some faces he doesn’t.

“Yifan!!!” Luhan’s cheerful voice appeared even before his body made an appearance. Yifan had chosen him to be his best man, and he was late. The baby-faced man walked into the hall with a stylish manner, with Zitao and Yixing following suit. “Yo yo~ how’s it going, man?” The shorter male joked, “ready to become the man?” Luhan leaned in a lightly nudged at his ribs.

Yifan laughed and nudged his friend with his shoulder, “Maybe,” he gave an ambiguous answer. “I hope you have all the rings or else the wedding planner will go crazy,” he remembered the phone call that he had been constantly receiving since dawn, reminding him that the best man must bring the ring box. Yifan had pretty much been annoyed that he had given up the ownership of his phone and let his Manager Zhang take care of all the calls.

Yixing and Zitao greeted him and congratulated before going to their respective seats before the ceremony started.

Eden was really beautiful.

Yifan would be lying to himself if he say that he had never thought Eden was never pretty. She is pretty in a very traditional way, but the wedding look takes her look to a different level. She actually looked quite stunning. Her head was adorned in white flowers with specks of little green branches here and there, while a thin, flowing veil covered her entire head. She was wearing a seamless white gown that didn’t swamp her short frame. Her footsteps towards him were careful, and calculated, as if she was trying not to lose balance on her heels.

“I do,” both of them quietly spoke the words that carry so much meanings for others but were just mere words for them.

“You may now lift the veil and kiss the bride,” the officiator announced. Yifan’s head reeled. He could also see, through the veil, that her eyes widened in shock.

Before he could react, Eden moved. Her hand lifted up to lift the veil herself. The crowd gasped at her sudden action. She smiled, “Can we skip that and get on with the ceremony?” What she had said shocked the officiator.

“ZHOU BAI XUE WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” Her mother had power walked up to the stage and hissed in a panicked voice as she approached the couple.

“I’m shy,” Eden replied solemnly. Her face did not show any sign of shyness. “I hate PDA, mother.”

Her mother, who turned her face slightly and smiled at the crowd to ensure them that nothing alarming was happening, gasped, “This is not PDA. This is a ritual!”

“But…” she groaned, avoiding everyone’s eyes.

“You said you want to marry him, and you two started this. What is going on? Are you having cold feet on stage?” Her mother asked in concern.

Eden shook her head.

“Mrs.Zhou,” Yifan decided to interrupt, “I’ll talk to her. You should go and sit back.” The older woman was going to protest but she listened to Yifan.

As soon as the woman has gotten off the stage, he took her by her shoulders and lightly locked her in a hug. She ran into him with an oomph and her body was stiff. “Now listen,” he whispered, as slowly and calmly as possible while gently patting her back to make it look like he was trying to reduce her anxiety, “we cannot screw this up Eden.” He faced  the crowd, who was looking at them with worried expressions, and the media outlets were snapping pictures constantly at them, “She’s a bit too nervous,” Yifan soothed the worried crowd with a bright smile. The crowd laughed.

“It’ll just be a light brush,” he assured while turning away from the crowd so that nobody could read his lips and decipher it in analysis posts about his marriage online, “you’ll be okay with that right?”

“If you dare do any monkey business, you are so dead,” her restrained voice came out through her gritted teeth.

Then, they finally parted from their hug. Yifan brushed away her veil and slowly leaned in, her features are slowly becoming sharper and sharper. He swallowed and his face slowly leaned into her. Eden’s face was strained, but her eyes remained close. He leaned in further and lightly pressed his lips on her, and counted to three to make it look convincing. Then, they were done.

After the ceremony, they stood at the entrance greeting everyone who had attended their wedding ceremony to give blessings to their marriage.

“Bai Xue, where is Fruit?” Another middle-aged woman asked Eden as she was shaking the bride’s hand. “It’s really weird to not see Fruit around you. Maybe that’s why it was so quiet today.” Eden smiled and replied that Fruit might have been busy.

It really made Yifan wonder as he shook the hand of the said woman’s husband. Just who the hell is Fruit that pretty much everyone is asking about her like she’s some kind of lucky charm. He is now intrigued to meet that girl who sounds like a lump of charms, and he likes girls who are really charming.