6 Months Later

“My hair looks alright?”

                 “Your hair looks fine, Himchan.”

                “And my tux?  Nothing’s wrong with my tux, right?”

                     “For the millionth time, your tux looks just fine.”

                    “And nobody else out there is wearing white?  Go check.  I want them kicked out if they’re wearing white.  This is MY special day.  Everyone’s going to be looking at me.  I have to be absolutely perfect.”

                    “I just checked ten minutes ago!”

                        “GO CHECK AGAIN!  Who knows who showed up in that time?  You know that Heechul’s probably out there, wearing white and trying to take all of the attention off of me.”

                  Youngjae sighed and left the dressing room.  He trudged down the hall, exasperated by the errand but slightly relieved for the short break from Himchan’s nagging.  Kim Himchan was the king of bridezillas if there ever was one and Youngjae was on the verge of ripping his hair out.  At least it would all be over soon, he reminded himself.  He stuck his head out into the ceremony room, confirmed that no one, not even the King Diva Heechul, was wearing white, and turned back down the hall.

                    “You’re safe.  Heechul’s wearing gray.  Nobody is dressed in white but you, Himchan,” he announced when he arrived back in the dressing room.

                 Himchan gave a sigh of relief as he adjusted his white bow tie in the mirror.  “Thanks, Youngjae.  I wouldn’t have been able to make it through these past six months of planning if it weren’t for my best man.”

             Youngjae scrunched his nose at the reminder of his official title.  “Yeah, about that… Why am I the ‘Best Man’ when I don’t even get to be in the ceremony?”

             “Because I needed a helper monkey and I figured that’d be the only way you’d agree to do it,” Himchan replied without a second thought as nitpicked with a single strand of his bangs, trying to find the perfect placement.

                   Youngjae let out a growl, ready to snap back, but was cut off by a knock on the door and an announcement that it was time to start.

                      “Alright, I’m going to head out.  Good luck.”  Youngjae gave the older man a light hug, but was promptly pushed away.

                     “Don’t wrinkle my tux!” Himchan hissed, quickly straightening out his jacket.  “You can hug me later…” he added when he saw the offended look on Youngjae’s face.  

With a “HMPH”, Youngjae stormed out of the dressing room and down to the ceremony hall.  He glanced around and spotted the mop of brown hair he was looking for, sitting at the front.  “How was Yongguk?” he asked as he sat in the seat Daehyun had been saving for him.

    “A nervous mess.  You know how he is with public speaking.  It’ll probably take an hour just for him to get his vows out.  How about Himchan?”

    “A narcissistic monster.  But what else is new?”  Daehyun gave a chuckle, but the pair’s attention quickly turned when the lights momentarily dimmed to announce the beginning of the ceremony.  A hush fell over the ceremony hall as everyone turned to look at the back.  Soon, Yongguk emerged from the wooden double doors.  He looked dapper; his hair was styled back and he was dressed in a sleek white tux with black accents on the lapels, buttons and tie.  Many girls (and a few boys) couldn’t help but exclaim over how handsome and manly he looked.  

Yongguk paid the whispers no mind however, and made his way down the aisle.  He reached the front and moved to stage right, positioning himself to wait on his other half.  Once he was ready, ceremonial march music began to play and everyone’s attention was again on the back door.  The audience waited in suspense as the doors remained closed, but finally they opened, revealing Himchan.  Everyone gasped and cooed over how beautiful and elegant he looked in his completely white tuxedo.  The hoards of whispers inevitably met his ears and he smiled proudly as he walked slowly down the aisle, his eyes trained on one person straight ahead.

    “Damn.  You did a good job helping him get ready,” Daehyun complimented his boyfriend as they both watched Himchan slowly walking down the aisle.

    “It was hard.  The man wanted to part his bangs straight down the middle, for Christ’s sake.  Luckily I won that battle.”

    “That’s nothing.  I had to pry the sunglasses from Yongguk’s death grip.  He honestly didn’t understand why he couldn’t wear them during the ceremony.”

    Youngjae shook his head in amusement as he and Daehyun watched their friends up at the front.  Himchan had finally arrived and situated himself across from Yongguk, both smiling shyly at one another.

    “Ladies and Gentlemen, we gather here today…”

    The crowd watched on as the officiator began the ceremony, going over the usual spiel about love and fidelity and the sanctity of marriage.  Then came time for the vows.  Yongguk fumbled in his pocket, pulling out a folded piece of paper and cleared his throat.

“Himchan, you know I’m not good with expressing myself, but I wrote this poem to tell you how I feel.  I want you to know how much you mean to me, how much I love you, and how sorry I am that it took me so long to realize it.”

Yongguk’s voice was deep and almost impossibly slow, but by the end of the poem, the entire crowd, including Himchan, was in tears.  Even Yongguk had shed a couple that he tried to wipe away before anyone could notice.  Then came time for Himchan’s vows.

“Bang Yongguk, I can’t believe how lucky I am to be standing up here today with the only man I’ve ever loved.  I knew I loved you since the moment I met you six years ago.  Actually, I remember telling you so, that one day I was going to get you up here and marry you, but you just shook you head and told me no, that you didn’t date coworkers and then turned around and walked off.  I remember that day because I vowed then and there that I wouldn’t stop until you were mine.  It took six long years, but I was right, wasn’t I?  See, didn’t I tell you?  And really if you had just listened to me six years ago and hadn’t been such a stubborn , then we could have been up here a lot sooner with a lot less headaches and stress massages and facials.  Do you know what you put me through, waiting on you for these past six years?  I swear, I-“ the entire crowd broke out into gasps as Yongguk leapt forward and grabbed Himchan, sealing his lips against the younger’s in an attempt to shut up his tirade.  

    The gasps soon turned to laughs and cheers at Himchan’s shocked expression and even the officiator was unsure of what to do.  “Uh… so, do you, Bang Yongguk, take Kim Himchan as your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, as long as you both shall live?“

    Himchan pulled away from the kiss to shoot the officiator a pointed glare.  “I do, he does, let’s go.”  The crowd screamed in delight as Himchan grabbed onto Yongguk’s lapels, pulling his body flush against his and slammed their lips together again.  Applause (and a few cat calls) broke out and the officiator could only stutter and stumble along for words for what to do next.

    “I…uh… I guess I now announce you married.  You can…uh… keep kissing the groom?”

    The cheers and applause were deafening as Yongguk and Himchan finished their kiss, pulling back to smile at each other before linking hands and turning to the crowd.  They smiled and waved before Himchan took off triumphantly down the aisle, dragging Yongguk behind him.  “Come on, Yeobo, now you’re finally mine!”

“You guys really outdid yourselves,” Daehyun complimented as he looked around the ballroom where the reception was being held.  It looked straight out of Beauty and the Beast- chandeliers lighting the massive room where two walls were nothing but floor-to-ceiling windows and glass doors looking out onto the beautiful scenery outside.  Inside, the room was full of hundreds of people, some talking and laughing around the numerous buffet tables of lavish foods and drinks, while others danced in the middle of the ballroom.

“Trust me, Channie planned everything,” Yongguk explained, leaning over to proudly kiss his new husband on the temple.

“Well, hell.  If I’m going to have a party, I’m going to do it right.  Everyone will remember Kim Himchan’s wedding,” Himchan replied with the upmost air of pride.

“I’m starting to think that the party was the only reason he actually got married,” Daehyun said with a snicker, but quickly shut up at Himchan’s piercing death glare.

“Hyung?” A soft voice had all four men turning around and three pairs of eyes widened to see who was standing there.

“Junhong…Jongup…” Daehyun gasped when he saw his two former charges in front of him.  

    “What are you doing here?” Youngjae snapped, eyes burrowing into the cowering boy.

    “I invited them.”  Both men turned to look in surprise at Yongguk.

    “Why?” Youngjae spat.

“I…I…” Junhong lowered his head, letting his silver bangs fall into his eyes as he nervously shifted from foot to foot.  Jongup, standing next to him in a sharp black suit and magenta hair, gave him a comforting pat on the back, urging him on.  “I wanted to come and say that I was sorry.”

Youngjae scoffed and rolled his eyes, but Yongguk gave him a disapproving shake of his head.  “Kang asked me if they could come.  You should at least hear him out.”

    Youngjae silently ceded, though his gaze didn’t soften whatsoever.  Daehyun nodded to Junhong, silently signaling for him to go on.

    “I’m so sorry for everything before.  I was being selfish and was blinded by my feelings for Daehyun hyung that I didn’t even realize how wrong I was.  I’ve reflected on my actions and I am really, really sorry.”  His eyes darted in between both Daehyun and Youngjae at these words, but finally settled on the actor.  “I hope you can forgive me.  I… if you’ll let me… I want the chance to become friends…”

Youngjae’s eyes widened in surprise and he looked over to Daehyun who possessed the same shocked expression.  Junhong forged on.  “I… we…” he motioned between himself and Jongup.  “We miss Daehyun hyung.  He was an important person to us.  And you’re obviously a very important person to hyung, so we want to get to know you too.  I know it’s asking a lot, but if we could… can we start over?”  Junhong’s eyes were pleading and made Youngjae’s heart soften a little, but it was when he looked at Daehyun again that he really made up his mind.  Daehyun was looking at the pair with a lonely longing, obviously missing his dongsaengs.  Youngjae gave a sigh and nodded his head.

“I guess that’d be ok.  I mean, if Daehyun cares about you, you must not be that god awful.”

    “Thank you, hyung!” Youngjae startled as Junhong flashed him a wide smile and pulled him into a tight hug.  “I promise to be a good dongsaeng to you from now.”

“There, there, don’t crush him to death,” Daehyun laughed, prying the tall boy off of his boyfriend as Youngjae started to gasp for air.

“So, who’s this one?” Himchan asked, gesturing towards the silent Jongup and giving him an appreciative once over.

“Hi, I’m Moon Jongup.  Please take care of me,” the shorter but muscular boy said with room brightening smile.

“So they’re like a package deal?” Himchan asked as he went over to observe the boy closer.  He ran his hands over the boy’s torso, feeling the muscles in his arms and chest with a hungry look on his face.  “If I agree to let the tall, lanky brat in our group, we get to keep this one too?  I’m ok with that.”

“Himchan,” Yongguk growled, grabbing his husband by the collar and pulling him away from molesting the blatantly uncomfortable boy.

“So, tell me, what’s new?” Daehyun asked, trying to break the tension.  

“Well, Jaebeom hyung got fired.”  Everyone bristled at the name.  “And Kang hyung said that he made some calls and made sure that he’d never get hired anywhere in the entertainment world again.  And then they made Kang hyung our new manager!” Junhong motioned over toward the portly, but brightly smiling man who was chatting up and laughing with some other people by the drink bar.  He looked over at the group and gave a big smile and wave, everyone returning it.

“And thanks to him, we finally got back on track.  We started writing and practicing again and we’re actually going to have a comeback in a couple of weeks,” Junhong continued.

“That’s great!” Daehyun congratulated the duo.

“Yeah…so if you four aren’t busy, you should come to our comeback stage…” Jongup added shyly.

“We wouldn’t miss it,” Himchan answered instantly, earning a side eye from Yongguk. “What?”

“Aren’t we supposed to be on our honeymoon then?”

    “We’ll rearrange our schedules.  We can’t miss the comeback of our new sons.”

“Sons?” Yongguk’s eyebrows practically reached his hairline.

    “Well, I don’t know about this one so much,” Himchan shot Junhong a judging look.  “But look at this one.  Don’t you just want to take him home and pet him?  He’s like a scrumptious puppy.” He moved behind Jongup, grabbing the boy’s face and melding it into multiple cute expressions.  Surprisingly the well-built boy didn’t object and just allowed the man to have his way with him, still smiling.

“Not like I’d want you for a mom anyway,” Junhong grumbled under his breath, huffily crossing his arms with a pout and everyone laughed.

“Don’t worry, I’ll keep him from picking on you too much,” Yongguk said with a laugh, ruffling the boy’s soft hair.  Junhong shot him a grin.

“So that’s it?  Nothing else new?” Daehyun pried as Himchan made his way back to Yongguk, making sure to stand between him and Junhong with a warning look.

“Well, there is one thing,” Jongup spoke up.  He inched closer to Junhong, shyly slipping his hand into the younger boy’s and interlacing their fingers together.  Everyone gaped.

“You two…?” Youngjae asked.

    “Since when?” Daehyun added in shock.

    Both boys looked shyly away as pink tinted their cheeks.  “Since about 5 months ago.  Jongup came over to your house that night and since then he really helped me move on,” Junhong confessed.

    “Well, congratulations,” Daehyun said with a large, beaming smile.

    “Too bad for you, Channie.  He’s taken,” Yongguk snarked.

“Doesn’t mean I can’t look.  Maybe if you built some muscles like that…” Himchan countered with a smirk and the remaining four couldn’t help but break into laughter at Yongguk’s absolutely offended expression.

“They look really good together, don’t they?” Youngjae sighed as he watched Yongguk and Himchan spinning across the ballroom floor, looking into each other’s eyes as if there was no one else in the room.

Daehyun tightened his grip on Youngjae’s waist as they also moved across the floor in a waltz.  “Yeah, I can’t believe Yongguk finally popped the question.  I didn’t think he’d actually do it.  It was about time.”  Daehyun raised his eyebrows at Youngjae’s scoff and looked at the younger’s face.  “What?”

“Nothing,” Youngjae spat, continuing the dance, but refusing to look Daehyun in the face.  “It’s just, you talking about how it took Yongguk forever to pop the question.  ‘Pot calling the kettle black’ much?”

“What do you mean?” Daehyun asked, taken aback by this sudden attack.  Looking at Youngjae’s face, he could see that something was clearly bothering the younger, however.

“Ugh,” Youngjae cried out in exasperation and Daehyun noticed a few people looking their way.  “I just… I’m blatantly the best thing that ever happened to you, but you’re still dragging your feet like you don’t care.”

“Hey now.  It’s only been six months, not six years.”

“Yeah, like hell would I wait for you that long,” Youngjae spat and Daehyun noticed that everyone in their vicinity was staring at them now.  He let go of Youngjae’s waist to grab the younger’s hand and dragged him across the room to the glass doors.  He pushed Youngjae out onto the balcony and shut the door behind him, blocking out the noise from the party inside.

“What the hell is wrong with you?”

“Nothing’s wrong with me,” Youngjae shot back.  “It’s just that after helping Himchan with this wedding for the past six months, I could see how much he and Yongguk love each other.  As soon as they realized that, they wanted to commit to each other.  And even though I love you, I just… I don’t know if you feel the same way.  If you’re not dragging your feet about one thing, it’s another.  I feel like I have to fight you to do anything.  I had to force you to date me and now I feel like eventually I’m going to have to force you to marry me too.  I don’t feel like you’re serious about us.  Do you even love me, Daehyun?”

Daehyun let out a growl, more than aggravated by Youngjae’s sudden attack on his feelings.  He dug around in his pocket, Youngjae watching with angry but curious eyes as he dug something out.  Once retrieved, he grabbed Youngjae’s left hand and shoved the ring onto it.

“Here.  Since you can’t be patient and give me time to do it right,” he snapped.  He glared at the younger man who was staring at the gold band on his finger, completely in shock.  Daehyun’s gaze softened when Youngjae looked up at him with teary eyes, however.

“This… how long have you been carrying this around?” He asked, voice shaky from the tears he was blatantly trying to hold back.

“Every day since the day after you agreed to date me.  I ran out to buy it, but I wanted the moment to be perfect when I asked.  But with everything going on with your schedule and Yongguk and Himchan’s wedding, the right time just hadn’t come up yet.”  Daehyun startled as Youngjae broke into sobs and he leapt forward to grab the man in front of him and hold him tight in his arms.  “Hey, hey… why are you crying?  Shhh…”

“I’m s-s-s-sorry,” Youngjae sobbed grabbing onto the front of Daehyun’s shirt and holding him close.  His tears were soaking the elder’s shoulder, but Daehyun didn’t dare object.  “I should have trusted you.  I was being pushy and demanding as always and I ruined your proposal.  Why do you even like me?”

“Shhhh,” Daehyun cooed, cradling Youngjae and rubbing his back to try and soothe him.  “Yes, you should have trusted me.  Dammit, Youngjae, you know I’m in love with you and only you.  But hey, we still have a chance to make this right.”  Youngjae pulled back to give the elder a questioning look and Daehyun took this as his chance.

He knelt down on his knee, not minding what the dirt on the ground was probably doing to the incredibly expensive suit Youngjae had forced him into, and took the younger’s hands in his.  “Yoo Youngjae… I love you.  Even though you’re demanding and pushy and snarky and the most hard-headed person I have ever met, you’re still one of the kindest, sweetest, funniest, smartest people I have ever had the privilege to know.  And it’s all of those traits together that make you, you.  And that makes me love you so much I feel like my heart is going to explode every time I look at you, like I’ll die if I can’t have you by my side.  And, god dammit, you’re the only person that I can imagine spending the rest of my life with.  So, even if you end up nagging me to my grave, I’ll go happily as long as I’m with you.  So will you, Yoo Youngjae, do me the honor of marrying me and making me the happiest man alive?”

The sobs choked in Youngjae’s throat as he nodded his head, unable to even see from the tears streaming down his face.  He lunged forward, wrapping his arms around Daehyun’s neck, who happily obliged and wrapped his arms around Youngjae’s waist, standing up and giving him a slight twirl.

“I’m sorry, Daehyunnie,” Youngjae apologized again, but Daehyun shook his head.

“Come on, baby.  It wouldn’t be us if you actually let me do something at my own pace, if you weren’t dragging me along.  But I’m ok with that, as long as you say ‘yes’.”

“Of course, yes,” Youngjae sobbed and Daehyun pulled back just far enough to capture Youngjae’s lips with his, giving him another twirl.

Their moment was interrupted as cheers erupted from the other side of the glass and they looked over to see four smiling faces beaming at them.  Himchan had Junhong and Jongup tucked under each arm and Yongguk was standing behind them with his gummy smile.

“It was about damn time, Jung Daehyun,” Yongguk laughed from behind the glass window.  

“What do you mean? I just finished planning this party and now I have to plan another one for them.  Give me a break!  I swear you all keep me too busy.” Himchan snapped.  “And proposing at MY wedding, too.  Talk about stealing the spotlight there.”

“Congratulations, hyung!” Jongup cheered.

“I’m happy for you, both of you!” Junhong shouted, he and Jongup both smiling and clapping from their places tucked by Himchan’s side.

“I can’t believe my two eldest sons are going off and getting married,” Himchan fake sobbed into Jongup’s shoulder.

“Wait… now they’re our sons too?” Yongguk asked in disbelief.

“What did I get myself into, meeting all of you?” Daehyun asked with a shake of his head, but Youngjae just smiled, pulling his fiancé back in for another kiss.  For the first time in his life, his friends, his family, his lover, it was all perfect.

                The End

Author’s Note:

You guys, I can’t even right now.  I’m sitting at my work desk typing this and trying not to cry.  I can’t believe that this is technically the end.  Yes, we still have the “First Date” chapter insert left, but still.  You guys have no idea how amazing you made writing this story be for me.  It’s been quite the journey since May, but it has been an awesome one, IMHO.  Thank you so so so so so so so much.

I’ve gotten a lot of really awesome feedback and it just motivated me to try harder and harder for you guys.  So I hope that this last chapter didn’t let you down.

Also, as a thank you, I want to open up to one shot requests for people who may have them.  As I stated in previous chapters, I just started summer break, but I still have to sit at my work desk every day so I need to kill time.  I have some of my own one shot ideas that I’ll work on, but I’m willing to write 5 others.

So, here’s the guidelines: Please PM me with specific details.  This includes the characters, pairings, style (angst, fluffy, comedy, crack, horror, etc), or not, and then some idea of the storyline.  Like I said, I’ll pick 5.  It’ll be roughly a first come, first serve basis, but there will be exceptions.  For example, really outstanding ideas, or if there are similar ideas I may smush them together.  Also, people whose names I recognize from commenting will probably get priority over people who haven’t, if the need calls for it.

I’ll post the winners as well as links to the story forwards in the next chapter so that you can subscribe to any that seem interesting to you and I’ll update them throughout summer break.  I’ll probably have the date chapter up on Friday by the latest, so they obviously need to be in by then.  Like I said, send it in a PM instead of the comments section, please.

Anyway, thanks again for everything.  I love you guys so much.  Seriously, logging in and seeing your guys’ comments just made my day every day and motivated me to do more and more.  You have no idea what it meant to me.  I had so much fun interacting with everyone throughout all of this and getting to know awesome people.  I hope you enjoyed it too.

I’ll see you later this week with your bonus chapter and one shot announcements!

Love always,

Dani