Worth Waiting For

            “Jongwoon!” Ryeowook exclaimed upon seeing one of his favorite hyungs at the bottom of the stairs.  He raced down the stairs as fast as he could to greet him.

            The corner of Jongwoon’s mouth curved upward into a grin and he wrapped his arm around Ryeowook’s shoulder as his dongsaeng gave him a side hug.  “How are you?”

            “Tired.  How are you?”

            “Eager to come back,” he admitted.  “I miss you all…which I wasn’t completely sure I would.  I knew I’d miss you and Kyu though.”

            “Have you seen Kyu yet?”

            “No, I just got here a little while ago and Henry and I were going over the music,” he said.  “And if I could have only gotten in town earlier last night, I could have made the groom’s dinner.  What did you do afterwards?”

            “Sungmin stayed over at the apartment with me and we baked all night and just sat around chatting and drinking some of Kyu’s good wine.  If I’d known you were in Seoul already, I would have invited you over.  What did you end up doing?” he asked.

            “Kangin, Heechul, and Gunhee took me out on the town,” he claimed.  “I admit to being a little hung-over this morning.  So, where was Kyu last night?  He didn’t stay with you?”

            “No,” answered Ryeowook.  “We decided—even if it is just a renewal of vows—that it would be kind of fun not so see each other before the ceremony, so Kyuhyun stayed over at his parent’s house.  I think Changmin, Hyukjae, and Minho stayed there, too, actually.  God only knows if he got any sleep!  They probably stayed up half the night playing video games.  But Kyu probably won, so even if he didn’t get any sleep, it won’t matter.  He’ll be in a good mood.”

            “I would hope so,” Jongwoon said, squeezing Ryeowook’s shoulder.  “He’s getting married.”

            “Ah, we’re already married,” Ryeowook waved him off.

            “But, you two did the cheater version and now this is the dream wedding that you originally opted out of…it’s still your wedding, it’s just part two,” he reasoned.

            Jongwoon finally released Ryeowook when Henry called for him from the piano again and he headed over to look over the sheet music.  At the same time, Ryeowook’s mother broke away from a group of women she was talking to, a smile plastered across her face, and headed over to her son.  Once she reached him, her smile faded and her eyes narrowed at the group of women she’d just left.  “Your aunts drive me crazy.  Do I really have to be polite to them all day?”

            Ryeowook began to laugh and hugged his mother.  “Thanks, mom.”

            “I guess now I’m thankful I only had one kid, so I don’t have to go through this over and over again with any more of my children,” she said.  “Once is more than enough for me!”

            “Did I tell you how beautiful you look in that dress?”

            “Quit trying to flatter me!  Your husband already tried that trick,” she informed her son.

            “But you do look beautiful!”

            “I believe you…but I also think you’re saying it to coerce me into enjoying large gatherings of family members I usually avoid, and it’s just not going to work, honey,” she informed him. 

            “Well, I tried,” Ryeowook said, shrugging his shoulders.  “There will be wine at the reception and that will make it more tolerable.”

            “And young men to dance with.  I’m going to make your fellow members dance with me,” she informed him.  “What the hell is the use of having a famous son whose members are all good looking idols if I don’t have some bragging rights?  I should at least get to dance with a few of them and then I can go back home and have some real stories to tell.”

            “You can’t tell stories like that to anyone!  Whose wedding are you going to say you were at?” he questioned.

            “Well, your aunts don’t personally know any of the members, so they won’t be dancing with them.  At least I can brag to them that I got to dance with Siwon and Donghae,” she said.  “And I can avoid talking to our relatives while I’m at it.  Your father is already looking around at what pretty girls he wants to dance with.  That girlfriend of Changmin’s is a looker.”

            “Victoria?  Yeah, she’s a good friend of ours.  Dad can dance with her,” Ryeowook said.  “See, there’s something to look forward to after all.”

            “Well, I look forward to seeing you get married as well.  I just wish we didn’t have to wait around and mingle with everyone before and after everything.  If we could just start the wedding and then go straight to eating and then start up the dance right away, life would be perfect,” his mother explained.

            “Well, it must be getting close to start time, isn’t it?” Ryeowook asked, taking out his cellphone.

            Ryeowook’s mother pointed at his phone.  “I thought you promised Kyuhyun you’d put away your phone for the day of the wedding?”

            “It hasn’t started yet,” Ryeowook defended himself, checking the time.  “Once it does, I’m going to hand it off to Sungmin for safekeeping.”

            She shook her head at her addicted son as Victoria walked over to him, her lips pressed together, and stopped short of him.  “We have a little problem.”

            “What’s that?”

            “It’s close to start time and a few people are stopped in traffic and claim it will probably be another fifteen or twenty minutes before they get here.  Do we wait for them or start?” she asked.  “Personally, I think start, because you have nearly two hundred other guests waiting, but I wanted to know what you think.”

            Ryeowook’s brows furrowed.  “Well, who is it that’s running late?”

            Kyuhyun and Changmin headed down the hallway where they met up with Minho, who suddenly stretched his arms across their path.  “Whoa, there!  If you go around the corner, you’ll be within the line of sight of your husband and I do believe the point of our big sleepover last night was to avoid you two seeing each other before the ceremony.  Right?”

            Kyuhyun let out a deep breath and nodded.  “Right.”

            Changmin leaned against the wall and folded his arms across his chest.  “I guess this is as far as we go then.” 

            Minho lowered his arms and nodded. 

            “So…who looks the most hideous out there?” Kyuhyun asked.

            Minho thought about this for a moment.  “It’s a tossup between Jonghyun and Yoon Jongshin.”

            Kyuhyun laughed at this.  “It’s probably Jongshin.  You’re just being severe against your own bandmate.”

            Donghae joined them in the hallway, having just rounded the corner.  “Man, everyone is here!  I just ran into Lee Youngja.  I didn’t even think she’d come.  Did anyone say no?”

            “Yeah, Jaejoong, Yoochun, and Junsu aren’t here, but they really did have prior commitments, otherwise I’m not sure how that would have gone down with Yuhno attending as well,” Kyuhyun admitted.  “We’re going to meet up with them later on for dinner some night when our schedules are all clearer…I figure that will be about ten years from now.  Jaejoong will still look the same age probably.  Ryeowook, too.”

            “Lucky bastards that never age,” agreed Changmin.

            “Did you ever tell Yuhno he almost had a run-in with his ex?  Did you tell him we invited them?” Kyuhyun asked.

            Changmin gave him a look like he was possessed.  “Hell no!  And what he doesn’t know won’t kill him!  Let him think he’s the special one and you didn’t invite the rest of the group.”

            Kyuhyun nodded. 

            Just then, they heard the steady clicking of high heels against the wooden floors of the church, headed their way, and all the men grew silent.  It must have been the pacing of the steps—fast and determined—but they all seemed to know exactly who it was before she even turned the corner.  Most of them froze, as if they were afraid of getting caught cheating by a school teacher during a test, while Changmin perked up at the sound and smiled as his girlfriend came into view.  Although Victoria didn’t look particularly happy.  In fact, she didn’t look pleased at all.  She was frowning when she walked up to them, but her eyes softened and her muscles seemed to relax a bit as she glanced over at Changmin. 

            “I have bad news,” she informed them.

            “What’s that?” Donghae asked.

            “A few of your guests are running about twenty minutes late.  I asked Ryeowook if he wanted to start the ceremony without them—it’s only four people—but he seems hesitant.  He wanted me to consult you about it first,” she said.

            “Which four are running la