“Hey no no! Don’t touch your hair!” Luhan groaned once more when Kai ruffled his luscious locks of dark auburn. Luhan had used an ample amount of hairspray, finishing his previous bottle actually. But to see his cousin mess up his hair again made him realise that it was better for him to wait down the aisle just like that.

“Luhan, it’s almost time for me to be out there.” Kai peeped out the red curtains from the second floor of the wedding hall, where he was initially supposed to change into his suit. But now it has turned into a hiding spot from him for all his relatives who are still waiting for his appearance for the past 20 minutes ago. “Everyone is here. But Sehun—”

“Look, she’ll be here soon. She probably got stuck in traffic or something.” Luhan knew that wasn’t the case, especially when they’ve been trying to reach both the bride and her brother for the past hour. Neither of them has gotten back to call.

“Kai!”

“Mom—”

“Where is she?” Mrs Kim was in a frenzy; her face was contorted with worry as she bit on her thumb nervously. Her husband had an arm around her shoulders to calm her down, but the woman only plopped on the red and white velvet couch, her concern growing each second.

“Could she have…” his mother trailed as she shook her head in dismay, “I told you I didn’t want to lose an ideal daughter-in-law!”

“Come on dear,” Mr Kim squeezed his wife’s small shoulders in an attempt to assure her, “Kai is worried enough, don’t spout nonsense.”

“We’ll go delay a bit more time for you,” Mr Kim told, bringing out his wife along with him. “And I know you’re worried Kai, but it would be best if you’re there by the priest in 10.”

Kai heaved a troubled sigh as Luhan continued to dial Sehun’s number. The bridegroom settled on the couch and buried his face in his palms. Was he too rushed in his decision to marry Sehun? Did she really decide to bail on him at the very last minute? Not that he could blame her, the meeting with his parents must’ve been nerve-wrecking, especially since she didn’t get the chance to prepare himself.

Luhan cleared his throat and suppressed a groan when Sehun didn’t answer his 32^nd call. He looked over to his cousin and wore a tight expression. He really hoped Sehun didn’t purposely delay things. If she wanted to, she could’ve done it before things got down to the actual wedding day.

“Hey.” Luhan started casually, settling down beside his dejected cousin. “Relax, okay? I’m pretty sure she isn’t one to bail out on you.” He wrapped an assuring arm over Kai’s broad shoulders and squeezed tight. “Besides, she has always been sure of her decisions. She won’t back out now.”

~”~

Sehun groaned, letting herself out of the car to help her brother fend off against the perpetrators who narrowed them into a longer and abandoned route of the vicinity. She didn’t know how they figured out Sehun’s wedding was today, but they definitely picked the wrong day to mess around with her.

She reached for the car boot and took out a baseball bat (which probably belonged to Chanyeol’s brother, but she could care less; it passed as an effective weapon anyway), scurrying to her brother’s side. Swiftly and agilely, Sehun did a twist in the air before landing the bat onto the back of the man ready to knock the air out of her brother.

“Wu Sehun!” Kris yelled, pulling his sister by one hand and flicking a blade over to the other masked man charging towards them. “You’ll ruin your dress; do you want Kai to find out!?”

Sehun pulled her brother behind her when he had his back to another masked man, swinging the bat with all her might towards his back as he lunged forwards with a sharp weapon at hand.

“And what, get you killed?” She protested, “Then who’s gonna walk me down the aisle? Chanyeol?”

Chanyeol’s ears perked, but he paid no heed to what the woman had to say when another came advancing his way with a pole in hand.

“Kris, we have to get out of here.”

Chanyeol’s eyes averted from the unconscious man, to the railings of the buildings. More and more men came scuttling from the higher levels, jumping down with more weapons at hand. The run-down establishment seemed to be a hideout of some sort of underground syndicate; much like how Zaffre was. And he reckoned while some of them have left to find a new hideout, the rest of the unknown troop were here, to bring down Kris and his sister themselves.

At this rate, none of them would be getting out of here—at all.

“Kris! NOW!”

Sehun groaned as she flung the bat upwards, sending another blow to two of the unknown and still masked men before pushing her brother towards their car. But she was a step too late, before she could make it anywhere near the vehicle, she was hit by a massive metal pole; hitting her right in the small of her back.

“Ak!”

“Sehun!” Kris screamed for his sister, reaching below the driver’s seat for a pistol before firing directly in the middle of the man’s forehead. Chanyeol rushed forwards and scooped the woman into his arms, hastening his steps as Kris fired another shot. None of them made another move as they watched Kris drive away with his injured sister in-tow.

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“Sehun?” Kris called out with worry laced in his voice. He looked via the rear mirror with concern in his eyes as Sehun had her eyes squeezed shut, enduring the pain. “Are you okay? Do you need anything?”

Chanyeol pressed the back of Sehun’s small figure, earning another strained yelp from the latter as he searched for the affected spot.

“It’s not broken,” he said softly, “Probably bruised, badly. But other than that, you’ll be okay.”

Sehun let out a relieved sigh, reaching for the passenger’s seat for the veil.

“Wait,” Chanyeol tutted, grabbing a piece of tissue and handing it to the girl. “At least dab the perspiration away.”

Sehun smiled sheepishly, wiping away the drops of sweat from her neck, chin as well as her forehead. She was about to place the veil on top of her head when Chanyeol stopped her again.

“What is it—”

Chanyeol silently brought his hand up to her nose and brushed away a piece of tissue paper, another from her cheek. He gulped when he went on to reach for the piece from her neck, when the woman caught his wrist.

“It’s okay, I’ll do it.” Sehun bent down and took her mirror out from Kris’ bag, flicking away more tissue pieces off her neck and temple. “Oh wow, I look horrible.”

Chanyeol let out a small laugh from under his breath, bringing the veil up to Sehun’s crown. He looked over to the front seat and reach for her mother’s tiara as well, sticking it into her hair before giving her an assuring smile. “You look beautiful, Sehun.”

Sehun’s thankful beam faded from her lips when their eyes met. And never has Sehun seen Chanyeol’s eyes filled with so much sincerity in all her life of knowing him. His gaze unto her now was unwavering, and she reckoned they’d be left staring like this if Kris hadn’t cleared his throat.

“Um—” Sehun found her voice and thought of what to say, until the incident where Kris mercilessly fired a gun came running through her mind again. She looked to her brother through the rear mirror where their eyes briefly met.

“You—have a pistol in your car?” Sehun turned to Chanyeol, before looking back to Kris. “And you used it?”

Kris rolled his eyes and hit the accelerator forcefully.

“Kris, I thought we had a deal not to kill people anymore unless they threaten us first—”

“Sehun, the guy was about to clobber you!” Kris argued, shaking his head at how naïve Sehun still was. “And if I hadn’t shot first, I would’ve died instead of just gotten stabbed few days prior.”

Sehun was taken aback at what Kris confessed, remembering the time she had to clean her brother’s wound. Her eyes flickered at what he said. She ed her gaze outside to the sky, watching as the rain pelted down and hitting lightly against the window. Other than blood, she hated having deadly dealings. They weren’t some sort of syndicate, at least that was what she believed. They had secret hidings, for certain—because they had enemies and rivals to be wary of.

But Sehun has decided to stop opening fire first. Because if they opened fire first, their enemies would too.

Furthermore, she couldn’t help but think that things were coming and crashing down too fast, all at once. They were rarely attacked, even before Kris took over Zaffre. Even when they were, their attackers were mainly the companies they took action on. But recently, these attacks seem to be quite frequent, and Sehun didn’t want to think this—but she felt that Kris might’ve a hunch as to why these ambushes were getting more out of hand.

Just about 2 weeks prior, Kris told her he finally found Sangria’s leader. And a week later, he was attacked by some insider planted by Sangria in Zaffre. And for all she knew, Kris personally took a look at each of their member’s backgrounds. So, how could he have made a mistake if he has never blundered before in choosing who gets to enter Zaffre?

“Look, I’m sorry okay Sehun?” Kris said almost instantly, “But I can’t just watch idly by as he tries to hurt you—”

“I understand Kris,” Sehun whispered softly, resting her head against the window as she closed her eyes. “I just want to stop all of this.”

“Stopping all of this, means to end our parents’ hard work of building a union in the first place.” Kris rebutted, not leaving any room for his sister to argue.

“They built a trade union to help the powerless workers, not kill off their rivals.”

Kris let out a breath and swerved sharply, making Sehun lose the grip on the door handles and come crashing onto Chanyeol.

“Ow…” Sehun hissed meekly under her breath when she felt the excruciating pain in her lower back surface. She sighed and met her brother’s eyes through the mirror when they met with a red light.

“We never started this Sehun,” Kris muttered, his voice tight and bitter. “The people who came after our parents did.”

~”~

Kai clasped both his hands together as the priest waited patiently. He tried to calm his beating heart but all he could here were the rushed mumbling of the guests, making his head spin more the harder he tried to calm himself. His eyes were fluttered shut as he blocked out the sound of their mumblings, but even so; he wondered what Sehun was probably doing now.

“Did she… really…”

“Have faith, young man.”

Kai held his head up and threw a lopsided grin towards the priest. Maybe he really was overthinking things, and he knew Sehun best. Well, at least after Kris.

The Sehun he knows wouldn’t back out the last minute, she wasn’t a spontaneous person anyway. She would’ve told him if she wanted to postpone their wedding. Kai still had his hands clasped, closing his eyes as he ultimately blocked the muttering.

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The double doors of the wedding hall burst open as the piano played concurrently. Kai’s heart skipped a beat when he saw Sehun, arms linked with Kris, walked down the aisle with light steps and a wide beam on her lips. For a moment, he thought that he has lost his mind, seeing how Sehun came the moment he accepted and believed she would. But as he kept his eyes trained on his soon-to-be wife, Kris handed his sister to Kai finally, making him realise that Sehun really was there.

Kai’s lips quivered as he brought her hands into his. “Sehun…”

“Hi.” Sehun muttered enough for him to hear as the priest went on to address the audience. “Sorry I was late, something came up.”

“—Now…

do you Kim Kai, take Wu Sehun,

As your lawfully wedded wife,

To have and to hold,

From this day forward,

For better or for worse,

For richer or for poorer,

In sickness and in health,

To love and cherish,

until death do you part?”

Kai shrugged and let out a small laugh under his breath, “I do.”

“And do you Wu Sehun, take Kim Kai,

As your lawfully wedded husband,

To have and to hold,

From this day forward,

For better or for worse,

For richer or for poorer,

In sickness and in health,

To love and cherish,

until death do you part?”

Sehun looked to the priest and wore a small smile on her lips, to which the other only gave a firm nod in return as he clasped both his hands just above his stomach. Sehun took the veil over her face and brought it over her head, releasing her hands from Kai’s palms as she lunged forward without warning. Her lips crashed into Kai, who willing invited her kiss as he wrapped his arms around her waist and upper back ever so gently.

The guests rose to their feet and cheered as they applauded for the couple. The room suddenly washed over the worry and concern with joy and bliss when Sehun pulled away and caressed a side of Kai’s face, lips curving into a bright beam as they locked their gazes.

“I do.”

***

a/n: another chapter and this time, they’re finally hitched! But why do I get the feeling that Chanyeol may or may not have a thing for Sehun? So far things are going well for the couple… but will there be more challenges they’ve to face—considering that this IS another beginning for them 😉 and does Kris seem to know something? leave some comments down below on what you think would happen next because there seem to be a few hints dropped but then again, who knows?

@Meiyuan: thank you so much for being updated to ‘Centum Viginiti!’ You might want to head over to read ‘Antidote’ while waiting for another chapter! I cherish and appreciate every sub because yall are what makes the writers on aff feel worthy to continue writing their fics! <3

@ndnainda: thank you so much for staying! Hope you continue to get hooked on to the fic gradually, see you in the next chapter too okay! <3

Alright! Hope this chapter gets you asking for more (because wow I think I need to type my ideas out real quick now)! the comments you leave me motivate me so much so, don’t forget to leave some okay! thanks for subscribing, see you soon in the next update xoxo