Wedding Fiasco
A Drive Down Memory Lane
I want to take a quick moment to apologize for how late this update is. I got sick real bad so I missed a week, but I also missed some school so everything kind of piled up. Now I am back on track, I have the next two chaoters ready to go and so it is just a matter of time before these get posted. I also added an extra section to this chapter as a sort of apology.
Thank you so much for reading.
Katie
A gentle knock on the wooden door brought Jimin from his empty slumber. His head slowly rose from the edge of Jeongguk's hospital bed, his tired eyes landing on MoonRi.
“Hey sweetie...” her voice was soft and gentle, something Jimin had missed, most of the doctors and nurses spoke with empty or cautious tones. Except that one nurse, Taehyung was it? He was kind, he liked Taehyung. “I just came by to check in… and remind you I was going out today for my dress. You don’t have to go though, I just wanted to check.” He could tell she was at a loss for words, speaking in such a cautious tone. Turning his head to look at his sleeping lover, Jimin heaved a sigh.
“No, no. I want to go.” With a nod the male pushed himself up, leaning down to press a gentle and light kiss to his lover’s forehead. “He wouldn’t want me to miss out on this, now would he?” He looked up to the girl with a gentle smile, despite his efforts and genuine care his smile fell short of anything enthusiastic. She returned his rather fake smile with one of understanding, and with a light nod they were on their way.
As they drove Jimin kept silent, his eyes staring through the passenger side window. Deep down the boy was excited and happy, his best friend was getting married soon, to a man whom she loved. But it hurt, the pain of his own loved one being absent had kept most of the joy at bay. She understood, knowing that her best friend’s spirits had gone, but he was trying, he was trying so hard. She knew it had to have taken a lot for him to be able to even get out of bed, let alone be the supportive friend she needed to find her dress.
Pulling into the parking lot, Jimin let out a quiet hum, “You’re getting married,” he pointed out the obvious, slowly getting from the car.
With a smile she nodded, “That I am, to a very special man.” Linking her arm with Jimin’s she made her way inside the building. The room appears to be in complete balance, as snow white dresses are displayed against one wall, and the pitch black suits exhibited on the other. In the center of the room, a large cream wall separates the back rooms from the front displays. The pair made their way to the back, several of MoonRi’s friends and family members. Jimin found himself sandwiched between the bride’s soon to be mother-in-law and a rather exhausted Jin.
It wasn’t long before the bride-to-be had been whisked away, a small group of her relatives and friends sit and wait. Jimin was quiet, making polite conversations with the women to his right; a beloved woman who only had one son, Yoongi. She was completely over-filled with joy to have Moonri join their family. A wish that she always had, was that she wanted a daughter and now with the young bride-to-be; it would come true. The conversation was light all around; childish baby stories, how the couple met, sweet and simple things. It helped Jimin, if only for a moment, to forget the future, and remember a not-so painful past. Jimin wasn’t the first to notice the absence of the bride, having been hidden by the waterfall of dresses.
“Jimin dear, why don’t you go and check on her?” the elderly women spoke lightly through the chatter, “you of all people know what having cold feet is like.” MoonRi’s grandmother, Li, gave Jimin a gentle smile and pet his leg. A smile that he politely returned. Li was a kind woman, she reminded Jimin a lot of Mrs. Kim.
Jimin got up from his seat, weaving his way toward the back, the white dresses turned to simple white walls, a few individuals bustling around.
“MoonRi?” Jimin called out, one hand waving from down the hall.
“She’s in here,” a polite young woman spoke ask she motioned at the door. With a slight nod and a smile Jimin knocked on the door.
“MoonRi? Sweetie? Everything okay in there?” Jimin leant his head against the door, speaking to her gently. The boy didn’t get a response, yet a few moments later he felt the door open and a small hand pull him inside.
When Jimin’s eyes caught his friend he couldn’t help let out a snicker, “Not that dress.” He could see the visible relief in her posture as he said that. The dress hugged the petite girl in all of the wrong places, it was low cut and the sleeves were puffed up like an old vintage dress.
“Oh thank God, I hate this one, but Yoongi’s mom picked it out for me! Zip me,” the little bride demanded as she turned her back to her friend, his hands quick to tug the zipper off. She slipped out of the dress and adjusted her underdress. Jimin was quick to notice she wasn’t nervous, an emotion he was sure she had fallen victim to.
“You know you’ve been hiding out here for awhile now, they're starting to think you have cold feet,” he pointed out to MoonRi. She gave him a sheepish smile as she began stepping into another gown.
“I have no reason to be nervous, I love Yoongi and he loves me. It’s just I barely know the people out there, they're mostly just relatives of Yoongi. I only really know you, Jin, and Yoongi’s mom. You know I don’t have a family. Zip.” Her back turned to the male again, her hands gently pinching the dress together behind her. Jimin came over to help with her dress while he released a quiet sigh.
“I know you don’t, but there is a family out there right now that wants you more than anything,” he knew the topic was touchy and he didn’t want to upset the girl on such an exciting day.
“I know that, but I think part of me wants her to be here…” then taking a deep breath she shook her head and ruffled her dress. “Actually, I just want you, Jin, Namjoon, and,” she hesitated when saying his name, “Jeongguk. You guys are my family.”
Jimin gave her an understanding nod, but when she turned around he was at a loss of words. The dress was fitted around her waist and chest, showing off her figure perfectly. Just at her hips the fabric puffed out only slightly, it was layered with multiple layers of lace. The somewhat floral laced pattern drifted up and over one of her shoulders. Jimin gently took her to the mirror and he stood behind her he ruffled the layered skirt forward slightly, giving it more volume, and giving him room to be behind her. He could see that look in her eye, the look any bride had when they saw the one.
“It’s beautiful…” she let out a light whisper and her eyes fell up and down, taking in every detail of the snowy white dress. Jimin smiled from behind her, his hand reaching up to gently take her hair out of its bun, letting her long brown locks fall over her shoulders. He began to play with her hair, gently brushing it to one side.
“Come on, let’s go show them.” Jimin took the bride’s hand as he lead her out to the crowd in waiting. She stood at the center, a tri-fold mirror behind her gave everyone the perfect view from all angles.
“So… how do I look?”
Jimin stood in front of the tall mirror, his hands continuously fidgeting with the freshly dyed hair. His tuxedo was pressed and held tight against his body without a wrinkle in sight. His royal blue bow tie sat just right on his collar. He was getting ready and getting nervous in the corner of the victorian styled room he was in for his wedding ceremony.
“You look fine. Stop messing with it or it will all fall out!” MoonRi, dressed in a knee length royal blue gown, scolded the male. Jimin gave her an apologetic smile and she came over to fix it for him. “He’s going to love it, you know he is.”
Jimin sighed gently, in all his time the two had been together, he hadn’t dyed his hair. And there he stood, his hair a light strawberry blonde. “I know that, I’m just a little nervous, that’s all.” Jimin's fidgeting hands had moved away from his hair down to his bow tie. It wasn’t long before MoonRi caught on and smacked away his hands.
“Oh stop it, you love him, he loves you, you two already live together, nothing is really changing other than the fact you are bound together for eternity.” She shrugged in a rather casual manner while ranting on about their futures.
“Exactly, and besides the food here is amazing. You should just eat your worries away.” Jin was sat not so gracefully over the chaise lounge chair, picking food from a silver tray on a small table. Having been selected as one of Jimin’s groomsmen Jin was able to take a break from his fatherly duties and he planned to spend every moment of it in complete relaxation.
“You know, eating doesn’t work for everyone Jin,” MoonRi couldn’t help but chuckle at the man, watching the way he simply shrugged and went back to eating, leaning at odd angles to keep his dark blue suit out of harm's way.
She was interrupted by a rather heavy knock on the wooden door. Bustling over she opened the door with a wide grin. “Jimin, it’s Yoongi!”
Jimin turned away from the mirror curiously, he had heard a lot about this particular male, MoonRi and he had only been dating a month. He made his way over to the male, his tie matching MoonRi’s dress. “So you’re the famous Yoongi.” Jimin tried his best ot be the intimidating older-brother-figure he wanted to be, but his nerves were still getting the best of him.
MoonRi watched the interaction closely, she had been falling for Yoongi for a while now, yet it was important to her that Jimin and Yoongi got along. She had always heard horror stories of clashing friends and boyfriends. Yet the two seemed to hit it off rather quickly.
Yoongi, like Jeongguk, was a lover of music. Jimin knew immediately that his soon to be husband would be rather fond of the boy. He was short and a bit quiet, but also quite goofy. His gummy smile could light up the room and he watched how MoonRi lit up at the sight of him. Jimin found it rather amusing as he spoke, and for a moment his nerves were calm. He was happy for his friend, he was happy for himself, he was genuinely happy.
Happiness… It wasn’t an emotion that came easily to the boy anymore.
“Oh, hey Chim, do you want to grab something to eat with me? You can come have a sleep over if you’d like, Jin said he would too. Namjoon took the kids to his mother's house for the weekend.” she grinned over at the male, by now she had returned to her simple jeans and a sweater. Jimin gave her a gentle smile as he held the door open for her to leave the dressing area. Most of her visitors had left since she had selected her dress, Jin and a few relatives remained in the waiting area.
“Sure, I think it’ll be a nice distraction.” Jimin gave a gentle smile to her as she linked their arms. The trio made their way outside, Jin driving off in his own car. MoonRi took Jimin back to his own apartment to get some clothes before the trio found themselves in the kitchen of MoonRi’s home.
Jimin sat on the barstool, leaning his elbow against the island, a glass of red wine in his hand. Jin and MoonRi were busying themselves around the kitchen preparing their dinner.
“It’s just so nerve wrecking, you know?” Jin spoke with a rather anxious but also tired voice. He and Namjoon had been working on finalizing the adoption for Hoseok for almost a year now but it had yet to be finalized. “I have raised this boy since he was two and a half, he is now six and he is mine.”
MoonRi couldn’t help but frown as she spoke, “But why won’t they let you adopt him?” she leant back against the coulder as she took a sip from her own glass. Jimin set his down on the counter.
“Jin may be a good parent and have been raising the boy since he was a toddler, but Hoseok’s mother is still alive. She is arguing for custo-” Jimin's explanation was cut short by an agitated Jin.
“She left him on the side of the ing road. She drove drunk with her baby in the car and then made him get out in the rain! So what if she went to rehab, that woman is not fit to take care of a child, especially not my child.” Jin let out a huff as he flung the dish towel over his shoulder. He took a rather strong gulp from his wine glass just as Jimin reached over the counter to refill it.
“Hoseok was quite the handful.” MoonRi chuckled lightly, the other two men humming in agreement. Hoseok was definitely a challenge for the Kims, being so poorly treated at such a young age he was quite hard to handle. Jimin could remember very clearly the sort of boy he used to be.
Our wedding day…
Jimin and Jeongguk had managed to sneak away during their wedding reception. Food had been eaten, cake had been cut, the two simply wanted a moment away from the crowd. They walked hand in hand out back or the venue, an incredible garden taking up almost an acre of land. Bushes and bamboo reaching high into the sky, a pebble path leading around in spirals through the flowers, trees, fountains, and more. It was picturesque, like out of a fairy tale as lanterns lit the way through the path, the stars lighting up the night sky.
“After you, Mr. Jeon,” Jeongguk cheekily held open the gate for his husband, the path leading out to a small maze of bushes with a fountain at its center. Jimin however snorted.
“We never agreed I would be a Mr. Jeon now did we, Mr. Park?” Jimin stepped through the gate as Jeongguk could only laugh. “Jeon Jimin just sounds kind of odd… Like there are too many J’s.”
“Well what about Jeon Jeongguk that’s a double J.” Jeongguk threaded their fingers together as he walked with his husband into the little maze. Jimin could only hum.
“Well that is true but Park Jeongguk also sounds strange… You know we could always use a hyphen.. Park-Jeon…” Jimin tapped his finger to his chin. This was a discussion the couple had had before in the past, but it never seemed real enough that it would soon be their reality. Jimin wasn’t against taking the youngers last name, he just simply liked the way his own name sounded. That being said he didn’t want to not share a name with him, wasn’t that the point of marriage? To begin a new family.
“Well that is true, but we can handle this after the honeymoon, oka- Hoseok?” Jeongguk stopped dead in his tracks when his gaze caught sight of the four year old hunched over behind the bush.
Jimin felt Jeongguk let go of his hand as he cautiously approached the boy. Even with his cautious steps Hoseok appeared to be spooked as he vanished deeper inside the maze. Jeongguk threw a rather worried glance over at Jimin. Ever since Hoseok had been brought to live with Jin he had been very quiet. He only spoke when necessary, never played with other adults or children, and he had a habit of disappearing. Jimin couldn’t even imagine the fear running through Jin in that particular moment.
Jeongguk, however, always had a special bond with the kid. He was by far the best at getting Hoseok to open up, aside from Jin, that was something clear on the first night they had met. Jeongguk must have been able to sense the panic that flooded Jimin as Hoseok vanished into the dark maze, his hand quick to give a soothing rub to Jimin's arm.
“Hey buddy, why don’t we play hide and seek, yeah? I’ll hide first.” Jeongguk called out with a calm voice. Jimin, with a look of confusion, was about to speak up when he heard a gentle voice from beyond the bush begin counting.
“One… two… three…” Hoseok would always do what Jeongguk asked of him, it was incredible. Jimin, now knowing where Hoseok was hiding, made a move to find him. However, Jeongguk grabbed his arm.
“Let him find us Jimin,” Jeongguk quickly grabbed his husband and pulled him quite literally into a bush. They weren’t far from where they started, Jeongguk wanting to give him an easy time finding them. There was a childish glint in Jeongguk's eyes as he grabbed Jimin’s waist, pulling him in closer and ducking away in the bush.
“Eight… Ni… Ten!” Jeongguk scoffed quietly as Hoseok skipped nine. It was a habit of his to combine numbers while counting to give the hider less time. He may be quiet and rather timid but he took his games seriously and he was determined to win. Jimin couldn't help but smile at his husbands little eye roll.
“Found you!” A squeaky little voice called from beside them, Jeongguk faking a sigh.
“Looks like you win Hobi,” Jeongguk emerged from the bush, this time Hoseok didn’t run. However, just as Jimin stepped out from his hiding spot Hoseok touched his leg.
“You’re it!” There was a split moment as Jeongguk eyes met Jimin’s, he could see the exact moment that his eyes moved from a startled gaze to a playfully serious one.
“Run!” Jeongguk grabbed Hoseok just as he squealed, picking him off of the floor and running away from a laughing Jimin. Jimin folding at the hips as his body shook with laughter. His life would never be boring with Jeongguk in it. With a huff and a chuckle Jimin covered his eyes.
“One… two… three…” it didn’t take long for Jimin to uncover his eyes and walk through the maze as he continued to count. “Four… five… six…” He took a step out into the opening at the center of the maze. He stood facing the fountain, his hands in his pockets, slowly turning as he counted, gazing over the different flowers. “Seven… eig-”
“Cheater!” he heard two voices say in unison, before Jimin could even react he heard a splash from the fountain, water hitting him from behind.
With a gasp Jimin spun around quickly, his eyes wide as he stared at the two boys. Hoseok and Jeongguk were both pointing accusing fingers at one another.
“Oh I’m gonna get you…” Jeongguk and Hoseok shared a look before letting out a scream, running off in two different directions. Jimin laughed as he began chasing them.
The cold water soaked through his coat into his shirt…
“You little !” Jimin gasped as the soapy water was splashed toward him, MoonRi was cleaning up their dishes as Jin wiped of the table. With a quick step Jimin grabbed a handful of soapy water as he splashed MoonRi. She let out a scream as she attempted to dodge his attack.
Laughter filled the air as the three made a mess in the kitchen. For a moment all their worries washed away. MoonRi forgot about her wedding preparations. Jin forgot about his court case to finalize the adoption. Jimin forgot the pain that was surrounding his happiness. If only for a moment, they all forgot.
It’s been a while since he last smiled…
A month to be exact…
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