“Are you sure this is really a good idea?” Ryeowook asked uneasily as they stood outside of the chapel. They were hand in hand, nervously stuck in place.

Hyungsik nodded stiffly. “I mean…not to sound like a downer, but I’m going to die. I’m not going to die with any regrets.”

“Then why aren’t we inside the chapel yet?”

“…I think I’m scared.”

Ryeowook laughed involuntarily, earning a glare from his fiancé. “I’m sorry,” he apologized after a few moments, “you’re too cute, Hyungsik-ah. You talk about death so easily, and you’ve been talking about marriage so easily. Why are you only now getting cold feet?”

“I’m not positive either. Maybe it’s because I want to remember this moment as clearly as possible?” Hyungsik pulled the video camera out of his bag, turning it on and beginning to film them with the chapel. “We’re going to commemorate this moment, right?”

“I guess so,” Ryeowook mused, “since you already have the recorder out.”

“Oh hush,” the younger boy pouted. The upset face quickly dissolved as he looked into the camera. “Today we’re getting married. Our parents don’t really know, and my doctor doesn’t know either. Then again, it’s none of their business who I marry, right?”

“I think you have that wrong,” Ryeowook smiled.

Hyungsik ignored the heckling and squeezed his lover’s hand tightly. “…I found out this morning that my time was cut. They said I probably won’t make it to Christmas.”

All jokes had long since dispersed at that point. Ryeowook wasn’t making eye contact with the camera and his fingers hand begun shaking. Why did the doctor have to say those things? It wasn’t good for anyone was it? They already knew Hyungsik was going to die. Why did they have to count down to that moment?

“Don’t look away, gorgeous,” Hyungsik murmured, holding Ryeowook’s face and turning him to face the camera. “These are our memories. This is what makes us what we are. If you look away, then I won’t know what to do anymore.”

He nodded just once, gulping down the lump in his throat. “I…,” Ryeowook smiled at the recorder, stifling all other thoughts except for what was going to happen in just a few minutes, “am getting married to the only person I have ever loved. Even if it doesn’t last long,” he glanced at Hyungsik, speaking to him then, “you’re the only one I’ll ever love.”

“I see…,” the boy whispered, eyes glowing with feelings.

Vows are spoken and sometimes recited, and yet there is one recurring theme in all of them: eternal love. Ryeowook never understood how people could stand before a great audience or even just one priest and spout rubbish. They spoke of undying love, yet it found an end in divorce or bitter disdain. That was why as he wrote his own vows, the most important things in his mind was the truth and the clarity.

Ryeowook unfolded the crinkled sheet of paper, gazing down at it as he read what he had written to Hyungsik. In his peripheral vision, he could see his soon to be husband’s anxious eyes on him.

And so, he began:

Our love is not undying.

The day you pass on is the day I lose that love we share.

How can you possibly share something with a person who’s gone?

I won’t pretend that we’re going to be together forever.

I know that in my heart we’re going to be forever bonded,

But that’s a completely different thing from being physically together until the end.

You’re going to a place where angels sing,

Food is always plentiful,

And there is never a less than glorious day.

I want to be there with you.

I want to be with you no matter where we are.

You’re the sun, sky, and magic from my childhood.

You’re the little boy with the swing set.

You’re the one who saved me from sorrow.

Without you, I don’t think I would’ve ever seen the good things in me.

Thank you for being the first person to ever accept me for me.

You loved me at my lowest and highest points.

For that, I can be eternally grateful,

Hyungsik reached out, wanting to speak to Ryeowook, but then the priest stopped him and asked him to recite his vows. Obliging a tad sheepishly, Hyungsik pulled out his paper and lifted his eyes to Ryeowook for a fleeting second.

Clearing his throat, he spoke:

I’ve been in love with you for as long as I can remember.

That sounds shallow and probably silly

But it’s the truth.

I can’t name the exact moment I fell,

However I know that no matter what,

You’re the one I was destined to be with.

Maybe the heavens thought our love was too perfect,

So they’re sending me back sooner than expected.

That’s the only reason I can think of.

Because you see,

How could two people be more perfect for each other?

I ask myself this every morning that I wake up next to you…

Just what makes us…us?

Why have we lasted this long?

I won’t label us anymore though.

I don’t want to ruin the magic.

I love you, gorgeous.

“I now pronounce you husband and wife.”