~*~

The night before

Remembered with care and attention

As it should be by all
~*~

It felt strange waking up that morning, almost as if it wasn’t quite an extraordinary day or anything like that. But Himchan knew that was it going to be a day which he was sure to remember for a very long time. His heart raced a little at the idea of it all but he still just wasn’t one hundred per cent sure. Too many memories were filtering back into his head about the last time this sort of event had occurred to him and even though he shook them away with all his mustered panic that he could, they still lingered.

Last night had been the worst, especially seeing as Yongguk really had gone all out like he had promised and had managed to get the most traditional looking house and grounds for their actual wedding. Whilst there were naturally a few differences from their home world of Matoki, Korea certainly managed to mimic everything ever so perfectly. From the old traditional wooden structure to the finely ornate doors and even the traditional costumes everything was so perfect.

He’d even managed to get some special flowers brought in that had a variety of complicated names and shone brightly in a mirage of colours.

Though what had made Himchan completely break down was that after he had been escorted into the house by some chauffeurs, had been washed in a special way and tended to by maids, including Jongup who could not hide the smile in the slightest, the young man had been surprised to find himself dressed in a stunning grey hanbok with special ribbon of a bride of Matoki and that wasn’t even the biggest surprise. No the biggest surprise was that when he entered the hall for a final feast, it was like stepping back in time to another world as everything had been carefully arranged and put out to resemble their home planet as close as possible.

That still hadn’t made Himchan cry though.

No what made him cry was seeing Yongguk, standing tall and proud in his full Matoki General’s uniform looking to be as stunning as the first time that he had laid eyes on him. In fact everyone present for their wedding was dressed in their finest remaining clothes from their home planet, or the closest approximation that could be managed for the children who had been born on Earth, and the memories resurfaced with a freshness that was both charming, delightful and amazing but brought open many great wounds and sadness that he thought he had forgotten about.

No one complained in the slightest however and made sure that the tears of sorrow and hurt were quickly turned into ones of joy and honour as they held a Bride’s Feast. Lots of food was consumed, more than enough wine to go with it which would have normally lead to everyone having tremendous hang overs if it were not Earth wine which held little to no sway over those from another planet in the slightest – unless of course you happened to be a on Hen or Stag do and had consumed a quantity somewhere in the region of about three barrels worth each – so that would be fine.

Himchan had looked up to his husband to be with watery eyes, “Did I tell you recently that I love you?”

“You’ve told me it every day since we’ve got here, my love,” Yongguk replied, gently cupping the side of Himchan’s face and bringing them closer for sweet and quick little kiss, “and I’ll never let you forget that, no matter what the future brings or holds for us.”

“I know you won’t,” Himchan giggled as he lazily allowed the other to twirl him about the dance floor as it was easier than actually attempting to try and dance in any sort of real form as neither of them could. Well at least not formal dancing anyway. “I still sometimes fear that I’m going to wake up back on the planet, without you by my side.”

Gently Yongguk ran his hand through the others hair, “You talk in your sleep about that and I’ll repeat what I say to you every time, nothing and no one will ever separate us. Even if somehow another world makes contact with this one, no one will ever be able to pull us apart.”

Himchan let out a sigh, “What if it’s Matoki though? What if Zico were to show here?”

“I’d give him a black eye and a broken nose for everything he did to you and that would just be the start,” Yongguk grinned lazily, “The chances are a million to one Himchan and I promise you that if he did ever show up that I would do everything in my power to make sure that you were protected. As far as that planet is concerned we are dead, gone and forgotten and will never be coming back.” 

Slowly a smile crept its way back onto Himchan’s face as they continued to twirl around, “Always so sure of yourself, aren’t you General?”

“A General has to be, in all lines of his work,” Yongguk smirked back, feeling the slight shiver go through his spine as the first time those words were said between the pair of them echoed back in a delightful way and his heart beat just a little bit faster.

If the glimmer in Himchan’s eyes were anything to go by then the feeling was mutual and they both leaned forward together in order to share a much more passionate kiss when a cry caught their attention from across the room, “MAMA! DADDY!”

Both parents let out a little huff of disappointment before turning to find their precious baby Zelo running towards them, dressed only in his SpongeBob pyjamas and carrying his very recognisable, worn out Tigger toy.

Himchan knelt down to catch the running child and pull him into a hug, “Oh my baby, you’re supposed to be in bed. It’s a big day tomorrow.”

“But wanna story!” the five year old pouted, “Mama and Daddy always give Zelo story before beddie!”

Yongguk sighed dramatically even though he was smiling so brightly right now, “Aish, we spoil this little Prince too much.”

Himchan nodded, “That we do but we know that he won’t go to sleep without his story. Come on, why break a tradition now?”

The General nodded and the small family unit turned to head up the stairs to the place where their son was sleeping. It was no surprise to meet Luhan coming down the stairs, having already put his three daughters to bed and the deer like boy cooed happily over Zelo for a few seconds before allowing them to head up the stairs to get their very sleepy son to bed. Only a few minutes into the story and the child was gently snoring, his little chest rising and falling in a perfect little rhythm that brought no worries to either his mother or father as they softly tucked the youngster up in bed and placed a kiss upon his forehead.

Together they left the room but instead of returning to the main party straight away, Himchan led them out onto a balcony just so that he could have a few tender moments with Yongguk without getting asked a million questions. He smiled lovingly up at the other man and pressed their lips together in a gentle caress which was more than enough to set his heart aflame, “I can’t believe that the day is nearly upon us.”

Yongguk smiled, “I know my love but I have one small gift for you.”

“Yongguk!” Himchan blushed, “you’ve already done so much for me, and this is beyond everything that I ever expected.”

“I know,” the General smiled, almost finding himself wanting to go into a very long babbling story about how long he had loved the other, how he had cared for him and how he would always be by his side but he was pretty sure that Himchan already knew all of that. Plus since he had actually saved him from a rather crazed Prince and brought him to a new world to raise their child together there wasn’t really much else for him to say right now. Expect for one thing which in Yongguk’s mind would not make the day complete without the oldest of old traditions, “But I have to lay claim to you, it is only right.”

About to argue that technically speaking that had already long been established and the result of that claim was sleeping peacefully in a bed not too far away from them, Himchan was silenced when the man of his dreams produced a long fine silver chain which held a pendant of a daisy that was fanned out in the most beautiful of styles and filled with pearls. Himchan blinked as it was gently clasped around his neck by the man who was set to marry him the next morning as it gently twinkled in the moonlight that was gracing the sky. Slowly the dark eyes rose to look at Yongguk with a clear question in them and the slightly taller man shuffled a little in embarrassment, “My claim of favour…it was returned to me once things had happened and I nearly forgot about it until Daehyun found it whilst searching through our old bags for things.”

Blinking to stop the tears from falling, Himchan embraced his future husband with tight arms and just let himself be overwhelmed by all sorts of emotions that the rest of the night blurred into nothing more than just small flashes of colour and wonder.

How he had even gotten to bed, without Yongguk trailing his every move was beyond Himchan but as he stared up at the vaulted ceiling he couldn’t help but smile. Especially when heard the sounds of rushing feet and turned to see Jongup coming straight for him, dressed simply in a white and red cotton hanbok. The youngster smiled brightly at him as he took hold of his hands, “Himchannie! Today is the day!”

Himchan laughed, “If you say one more word from the past Jongup I swear that I’ll tell Daehyun all of your secrets.” He hugged the boy tightly however, “But please tell me that this is real.”

“One hundred per cent,” the blond smiled, his eyes twinkling, “and I can’t wait to see how the rest of the day will pan out.”

“You didn’t look ahead?” Himchan teased towards his soon to be brother in law.

Jongup shook his head, “Nope. I want everything to be a glorious surprise. Come on, we have breakfast to attend to and then we get to see your wedding hanbok. I can’t wait to see what Yongguk has chosen!”

For once Jongup’s enthusiasm was infectious and Himchan couldn’t help but join in the merry smiles and laughter that the boy had. He couldn’t wait to see the hanbok either and he wasn’t entirely sure if he was going to get through breakfast in one piece but he was more than ready to give things a go. 

authors babbling:

If you're not read The Edge of Fire, some of this chapter may not make much sense but hopefully you have done or you'll be enticed to read it a little bit more. 

Anyways sorry once again for the abysmal time it has taken me to get around to an update, life has been hectic once again and doesn't apear to be settling down anytime soon so I'm probably going to be like this for a while. Though I plan to have this fic finished by the end of October cause in November it's Nanowrimo time and that is just going to eat up my entire writing life for a month. However don't dispare, I've put a big hint into this chapter about something that will hopefully happen, I wonder if any of you can spot it or not. 

oh and just cause I can, here's the favour which Yongguk gave to Himchan:

so anyway, hope you enjoyed and see you at the next one. 

Oh and if anyone can please come up with a date for Youngjae - cause I've drawn a complete blank there - let me know in the comments okay?