Kris

                “Scootch over!”

                “I will if you stop fidgeting!”

                “Why did I even have to get paired with you??”

                “It’s because of height, I swear…” Jongdae murmured as Baekhyun gave him a defiant shove right into my back.

                “Yo guys. Cool it.” I scolded as I turned around to face the bickering boys.

                “Ugh,” Baekhyun huffed at Jongdae’s side. “But this is so unfair. Just because the four of us didn’t have dates or girlfriends… we get picked to walk each other down the aisle! How embarrassing.”

                “I know it , but that doesn’t mean you have to run into me every five seconds. Just stand still and wait.” I reprimanded, as I looked to my left and shared an eyeroll with Tao.

                “Sup girls.” Sehun whispered to the four of us suddenly as he waltzed by.

                “Hey!” Baekhyun and Jongdae screamed in unison.

                “Why don’t you have to walk with us?” Jongdae whined.

                “Yea! Eunbin isn’t here either!” Baekhyun chimed in.

                “But I have flowergirl duty.” The younger boy said with a cheesy grin. “I must give my undivided attention to Hyein and help her walk down the aisle and throw approximately three rose petals every six inches. It’s a very important job.” Sehun stuck his tongue out for good measure.

                “Why I oughtta-“ Baekhyun started to recoil but Tao intervened.

                “Easy there, my little hot-head.” Tao said, grabbing to shorter boy’s arms with one hand and patting him childishly on the head with the other.

                “Easy for you to say.” Baekhyun huffed.

                “Let go of him, Tao.” I added. “You can’t really blame him, can you?”

                Tao gasped. “Wu Yifan!”

                “What?” I asked. “I just mean, I wish I had a date to this wedding too… it would make things a lot easier.”

                “Hyung!” Tao whined. “How many times do I have to tell you! You are an independent, Asian man, who don’t need no woman in his life! You’re perfect just the way you are!”

                “Yea, women are the worst!” Baekhyun chimed in.

                “Maybe you should try men for a change then, Baek.” Jongdae snickered as I turned back forward and exited the conversation. But the scream I heard two seconds later escape from Jongdae’s mouth was definitely deserved.

                Though Tao’s words were right, I still couldn’t help but still feel a little disappointed to still be single. And it wasn’t so much for me (I would be perfectly fine staying single for the rest of my life), as it was for the people around me. Miyeon, even after over a dozen failed attempts to set me up, was still on the quest to find me “the one”, and even Kara was beginning to yell at me when I turned down dates. But truth be told, I was scared to put myself out there again. Ever since the divorce, I had concentrated all of my attention onto my work and my kids, and there wasn’t any time left to focus on myself. I was just scared of getting hurt again, and for a while I told myself love wasn’t worth it if it meant getting my heart broken a second time. But lately, I have been second guessing these thoughts. Maybe it would be worth the chance.

Tao

                “Maybe you should try men for a change then, Baek.” I heard Jongdae snicker behind me and I rolled my eyes for what felt like the millionth time. I turned to Kris, hoping to share another laugh at the fools behind us, but he was just staring blankly ahead.

                “What’s got your boxers in a knot?” I joked, but he kept ignoring me.

                “Hello?” I waved a hand in front of his eyes. “Earth to Kris?”

                “Huh what?” He replied with a startled shake. “Sorry, I was just… thinking.”

                “About what?” I prodded.

                “It’s nothing.”

                “Come on.” I huffed. “It’s not nothing, you have the ‘I forgot if I left the water running’ face you get when you’re deep in thought. And considering I had to wave my arms like a lunatic to get your attention, means one of two things. Either a, you really did leave the tap on and your entire apartment in currently covered in two inches of water, or b, something is bothering you. Now spill.”

                Kris looked at me and sighed, but he knew I was right (as always). As I cocked an eyebrow and held his gaze, eventually he took in a deep breath and began to talk.

                “This whole wedding thing has just got me thinking, that’s all.” Kris said softly.

                “Thinking about what?”

                “I don’t know, marriage, wives, love. All stuff I haven’t really thought about at all the past six years.”

                “Why do you think your thinking about it again?”

                “I think maybe I’m… just a little jealous.” Kris said quickly as his cheeks flushed pink.

                “Awww!” I squealed without meaning to, causing his blush to darken and his eyes to give me a death glare.

                “Shut up!” He said.

                “No!” I said. “It’s sweet!”

                “What happened to the independent Asian who don’t need no woman??” He prompted.

                “That still holds true, but if you really want to put yourself back on the market than you know I support you 100%.” I said. And I truly meant it.

                “You really mean that?” Kris asked, skeptic.

                “I know it may seem like I’m kidding, but just because that life isn’t for me doesn’t mean it isn’t for you.”

                Kris smiled at me and was about to say something more, but the procession music was starting to play. Yixing and Miling, the first two in line, had begun walking down the aisle. The wedding was starting.

                Without looking over, I gave Kris a pat on the back. I knew he smiled even without checking to see; best friends just knew. And I also knew he was still skeptic of me, but only time would prove to him that I wasn’t kidding. Whether he was with someone or by himself, all I wanted for him, and all my friends, was to be happy. Though I personally wasn’t ruling out dating again (if I found the right person, anything was possible), I made a promise to myself never to make it a priority in my life. I liked to say I was a one woman man, and the only girl I would ever need in my life, was sitting just a few rows ahead.

Yixing

                The music began and all of a sudden I had flashbacks to my own wedding, almost five years ago. I looked over to the wonderful girl at my side and she looked back at me, as if sharing my same thoughts. As we started walking, slowly with our paces in sync, I glanced at Jongin, standing nervously at the end of the aisle. He had a straight face, not smiling or showing any signs of emotion, which I knew to mean he was scared out of his mind. I didn’t worry about him though, as soon as he saw Yisoo his heart and mind out be at peace. I had had the same moment of panic when waited for Miyeon to walk down the aisle, it was all protocol.

                That had been five years ago, and since then my life had completely changed. The person I was before I met Miyeon was completely different than the person I was now. Yixing from six years ago was a scared, timid, quiet wreck. He was shy and introverted, and he never thought he was going to change.  I was not proud of myself back then.

                That man now though, is one I am happy to be. He’s not only a father, but a husband, a friend, and now finally, a son. Before we had gotten married, Miyeon had made one request of me. She wanted to meet my parents. I had lost all ties with them since Bing was born, and the thought of reconnecting with them scared me to pieces. I didn’t want to see them again, because I thought seeing them would revert me back to the foolish boy I was when I was with them. But Miyeon insisted, and I couldn’t say no. We flew to China and I introduced my parents to her and to Bing, as they had never even met their grandson. I won’t lie, it was awkward at first, but eventually we all came around. I apologized for leaving, they apologized for pushing me away, and we both agreed to become a family once more. Later that year, they came to our wedding, and when our daughter was born, they came out again to meet her.

                As we walked down the aisle, we passed Bing and Miling. Bing was sitting up straight, but turned around eagerly when we passed and waved. He grabbed his little sister’s hand to have her wave at us too, but she just seemed kind of confused. I smiled at them, knowing I couldn’t be happier.

Junmyeon

                I smiled at Jihye and Dahye as Jikyung and I passed them, but they seemed preoccupied smoothing out the wrinkles in their skirts. However, when Jikyung playfully tapped Dahye’s shoulder when we walked by, she turned and smiled at us, giggling with a gap where her front teeth should be. (She had lost them both recently, and had since picked up a lisp to rival Sehun’s).

                Jikyung grinned at me as we passed them and I gave her a smile back. Funny, I thought, I never thought I would walk down the aisle three times.

                After I lost Jihye and Dahye’s mother, I thought for sure I would never find another woman. I had refused any dates or set ups thinking that dating again would mean giving her up forever. It took a long time for me to realize that moving on wasn’t synonymous with giving up, and that falling in love again didn’t mean I had fallen out of love with her. Jikyung made me happy, and she was a wonderful mother to my little girls (though they weren’t so little anymore). She understands that a part of me will always still be in love with the girls’ mother, but that doesn’t bother her. She says she loves me the same either way, and when she says that I know I got lucky.

Minseok

                At the end of the aisle, I parted with Yewon and find my place next to Junmyeon on Jongin’s side. The boy seems nervous, holding a straight face as best he can, but still nervously tapping his fingers together behind his back.

                Standing next to Junmyeon as Luhan came to stand next to me, I glanced over to Jin and my daughter sitting in his lap. He’s nine now, and I can’t help but think about how quickly time flies. It seems like just yesterday he was begging me to take him to the new art museum. He dragged me through the exhibits and read all the painting’s plaques aloud to me, much to the displeasure of the older people trying to peacefully enjoy the exhibits. I guess I have to thank him for being such a nuisance that day, though. Without him disrupting the other museum-goers, the new docent wouldn’t have had to come over to us to tell him to please keep his voice down. And she wouldn’t have looked so pretty as I apologized for his behavior and simply explained to her that he just really loved art. And she wouldn’t have said that she actually likes how enthusiastic he is about art, and she wouldn’t have walked around the museum with us for an hour, and she wouldn’t have accepted my invitation for dinner later that night, and she wouldn’t be standing across from me in the chapel this very moment.

                I wouldn’t know where my life would be today without Jin, but I know I wouldn’t be nearly as happy as I am. I miss my sister dearly and think of her every day, but at the same time I thank her for leaving me with Jin. Every day he grows up, and every day I see more of his mother in him. I see the way he looks at Yena now, and it reminds me of the way my sister used to look at me. I know he is going to take care of her and protect her with all his heart, the same way his mother used to look after me.

Luhan

                Standing next to Minseok as Yisoo appeared at the door, I turned my attention not to the bride, but to my kids. They had been out of my sight for approximately thirty-seven minutes which could only mean one thing: trouble. I found them at the end of the fourth row, and my suspicions were proven as I watched Jaehan and his sister Jiwoo pick flower petals off the bouquets at the end of the seats and flick them at their little brother. Hyunwoo, in a fit of retaliation, stuffed the petals into his mouth and chewed defiantly before spitting the wads of purple and pink out into his hand and smearing them onto his older siblings’ cheeks.

                Immediately, I stared at them and soon caught their eyes. Jaehan and Jiwoo’s smiles dropped when they saw my face, and they wiped the flower gunk off their faces at once. Hyunwoo looked at me with eyes pleading “they started it! It wasn’t me!”, but I held my gaze and soon he spit the remaining flowers out and hung his head in defeat. Proud of myself, I turned to Hari. She had seen the entire scene, and when she caught my eyes she threw me a smile. I have to hand it to her, without her help I never would’ve mastered “the look” as well as she does it.

                I really am lucky I found her. For a while, I pitied myself. I thought no one would ever want to be with me since I already had a kid, and I was scared of getting hurt again after what happened with Jaehan’s mother. But Hari was an exception. With two kids and a nasty divorce of her own, she was just what I needed to stop feeling sorry for myself. She made me grow up, and together we learned that it’s ok to fall in love for a second time. Now, we have a family bigger than I ever imagined for myself, but I can’t help but feel that it’s the perfect size.

Chanyeol

                Standing still is hard to do for an extended period of time. I started to fidget when Yisoo walked down the aisle, but Baekhyun nudged me in the shoulder, my signal to stay still. Now the priest was beginning to ceremonies, and I felt like I had enough energy to run a mile. This is the real reason I never got married. I thought to myself, I never would be able to make it through the ceremony.

                I did have a real reason for not getting married, though. And she was standing opposite of me, at the end of the line of girls at Yisoo’s side, fidgeting in her shoes and stifling a yawn.

                Yoorin and I had talked about marriage at one point (and even seriously considered it after Chanjoon was born), but every talk we had about it ended the same. We just didn’t feel it was necessary. In the end, we loved each other, it was as simple as that. We didn’t need a fancy ceremony or rings to prove that, we had our life together and even a son. I couldn’t ask for anything more.

                Speaking of sons, I scanned the room for my little boys and found them in the middle of the third row, both slouched in their seats, looking just about ready to pass out. Chanjoon’s head was already leaning against his brother’s shoulder and his heavy eyelids were drooping. Chanyong’s head was nodding back and forth as he kept trying to fight his eyes from closing. I don’t blame them, I thought as I laughed to myself and wished I could be sitting there next to them.

Baekhyun

               As the priest droned on and on about love and commitment and happiness with one person for the rest of your life, I wanted to scream. I wanted to walk up to Jongin and Yisoo and shake them back to their senses. Love is a myth. If there is anything in my life that I know to be true, it’s that love can’t exist between two people forever, we’re all too ed up for that.

                I’ve been hurt more times than I can count. No matter what I do, no matter how hard I try to make people happy, I just can’t seem to win. With Jia, I thought I finally had found peace. We were together for three years, and I never told anyone how we really broke up.

                It was Valentine’s Day, just a couple months ago and I had made up my mind right after New Years that I was going to propose. I struggled with the decision for quite some time, wondering if I was going in over my head, but for once I thought I had found the one. She wasn’t a psycho like Baekha’s mother, and she didn’t dump me right after discovering I had a daughter like the other girls I had been set up with. I thought we were happy together, and I was ready to be with her for the rest of my life.

                When I proposed, she laughed. Baek, she had snickered, you don’t think this is what I want, do you? God, I thought we were on the same page about this relationship. I’m not ready to settle down yet, I thought you knew that.

                That had been over two months ago, and I still wasn’t over it. In fact, I don’t think I ever will be. Love has been ruined for me, I don’t see how people can be so foolish. There was only one person in this world that I know I loved for sure, and she was sitting right in front of me.

                Baekha was sitting in the front row, listening intently to the priest as he sang on and on about love and commitment and happiness. And I realized that as I was cynically ignoring everything he said, my own daughter was soaking it all right up. She believed every word he said about love; she was too young to understand what heartbreak was. As the priest droned on, I made a pact to myself. Even though love had been ruined for me, I’d make sure it never became ruined for her.

Jongdae

                “We are here today to celebrate the union of two persons in love…”

                God, this is gonna be a while. I thought at the priest continued his long declaration of love and happiness and marriage. But the longer I listened, the more I felt myself getting in to the romantic crap everyone always seems to buy. I’ve never been in love, but to be honest, I’m getting older and the idea doesn’t make me want to hurl as much as it used to.

                Get a grip of yourself, Jongdae. I yelled at myself, but I didn’t really mean it. Although I constantly joked about how hard it was to find a girl willing to not only accept me, but also the twin terrors that were my entire world, deep down it really did . Part of it had always been my own fault, I’ve had plenty of girls tell me that I’m too immature to ever make a serious relationship last, but I wanted to change. I looked at Yisoo and Jongin, or any of my other friends who have found that kind of love, and I felt jealous. I wanted to find that too.

                But first, I need to find my sons. I thought. They had been out of my sight for over an hour, which means I was surprised nothing was on fire. I found them at the end of the second row, making faces at each other by blowing out their cheeks, pulling on their ears, and rolling back their eyes. I got their attention with a stern glance, but their older now, and looks just don’t seem to cut it anymore. They saw me try to get angry, but just started to smile, suppress their laughs, and continue to make ugly faces at each other.

                Who am I kidding, thinking about love. I thought as I shook my head. The only thing I need to do is teach those buggers some manners.

Sehun

                As Yisoo began her vows, I watched Jongin’s face transform. His nerves seemed to disappear on the spot and an immovable smile took their place. Funny, five years ago I thought for sure that would be me.

                I laughed to myself as I remembered the childish puppy-love I harvested for her for nearly a year before my best friend betrayed (ok, I guess not really betrayed) me by starting to date her. Though I still love her dearly, I have learned the difference between wanting to be in love and actually being in love. Wanting to be in love was how I felt after Sehee’s mom left: feeling broken inside and wanting something to make the complicated more bearable. Actually being in love is how I feel now with Eunbin, complicated and messy, but still somehow worth the effort. I can’t say I’m mad at her for pursuing her education, in fact I’m proud. But having been apart from her for the past six months has really started to take its toll, and all I want is for her to come back, settle down, and complete my family so that we can have what Jongin and Yisoo are sharing right now.

                But she didn’t even come to the wedding. I scoffed. Trying to distract myself from the bitter taste her rejection still left in my mouth, I scanned the room for my daughter and found her in between Hyein and Nabi in the front row. The three of them had recently started kindergarten together and were as inseparable as ever. She was sitting with her back straight on the edge of her seat, rather proper for a five-year-old but I had become accustomed to her etiquette. (God knows it’s better to have a child with an initially cold and quiet demeanor than to have one with the manners of a polar bear.)

                Catching her eye, I threw her a subtle wink. Embarrassed, she smiled to herself as she tried to wink back, but only managed an aggressive blink that made her eyes disappear into half-moon curves. It was ok though, I had promised I would teach her how to wink if it was the last thing I did. Though I still often worried that I was raising her completely wrong, I was learning finally to go easier on myself. As my hyungs repeatedly tried to tell me, no parents are perfect, no matter how hard we try. The best we can do is try our best, encourage them anyway we can, and hope they don’t end up as serial killers or drug dealers in the end.

                Yisoo had just finished her vows and Jongin was starting his as a flicker by the doors caught my attention. I noticed a tall, lithe figure in blue tip-toe in and find a seat in the back row. Her hair covered her face and she looked down but when she finally looked back up, her eyes met mine and she smiled.

She had come.

Kyungsoo

                A girl in blue slipped into the ceremony right as Jongin started his vows, but no one seemed to notice. I hardly had either, as my attention was directed at Kyungbin. He was standing and holding a pillow with the rings on it near the center of the aisle, but by the drowsy look on his face and the slump in his shoulders, I gave him a solid thirty more seconds before he plopped right down and passed out.

                “I promise to stand by you for the rest of my –“ Jongin was saying, before he was interrupted by a tug on his pant leg. Kyungbin had seemingly given up on ring-bearer duties and had decided to place the pillow on the ground by Jongin’s feet instead. He had pulled on the groom’s pants and pointed at the pillow, as if just letting him know what his plan was. After that, with the attention of the entire hall, my little son wobbled over to Siyeong and reached up his arms, asking to be held. The entire hall filled with laughs as my girlfriend gave in and reached down to pick him up.

                “You all good, Kyungbinnie?” Jongin interrupted his speech to ask my son, which caused another ripple of chuckles when Kyungbin gave him a thumbs up before resting his head on Siyeong’s shoulder and closing his eyes.

                “Sorry!” Siyeong half-whispered with a smile as she began to pat his hair.

                “It’s ok.” Jongin smiled. “Where was I? Oh, right. I promise, Yisoo, to stand by you for the rest of my life. You’re my entire world, my rock, and my best friend. I love you to the moon and back, and I’m so grateful to be able to call you my wife.”

                Jongin finished his vows and the moment had come.

                “You may now kiss the bride!” The priest bellowed, and the room erupted.

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A/N: Happy New Years! Thanks for leaving all the awesome comments too, they make my day! Also, I apologize if it's confusing because of how many characters and names there are. I tried my best to make it clear!! If you have questions, just let me know. :)