Location: The Ritz Carlton Seoul: Reception Hall
Time: 8:03 pm

“Don’t mess up,” Chanyeol whispered teasingly. “Shut up,” Baekhyun snapped back. Chanyeol and Baekhyun agreed that if Chanyeol walked Jia down the aisle, Baekhyun had to give the father of the bride speech. “Before I’m 80 please,” Chanyeol whispered again. “Shh!” Baekhyun warned. Suho chuckled from the other side of the table.

“May I have your attention please,” Baekhyun said gently, clinging a knife on the side of his wine glass. “Good evening everyone. On behalf of my husband Chanyeol, and Lì An’s father Sehun, I would like to thank everyone for joining us this evening to celebrate the marriage of our beautiful daughter Jia and her new husband, Lì An.”

“Umm…” Baekhyun hesitated as he fumbled with his cue cards, “There are two things that we as parents try to give our children. The first is roots, and the second is wings. Jia, even though you have grown your wings and flown off on your own, you still come back to your roots – your family. You embraced the fact that you would be raised by two fathers and never complained once about helping to raise your younger siblings. It is a major step in life to enter into marriage; not only for the bride and groom but for their parents as well. The promises you have made to each other today ties the two of you together. It is the unavoidable consequence of your decision, that ties your parents together, that will now change. From now on, your first loyalty must be to each other.”

“We as parents take joy in the affection by which you look at one another. Like so many parents have done so before us, the joy of seeing one’s children standing on their own to build their families, is also spiced with a touch of grief. I sincerely hope that one day, you will be able to experience such happiness that we feel today. This world is entirely yours and it is only you two who will determine its rules. I am confident that you will build a reliable family, with the health and strength to withstand the storms and challenges of life. So, today I would only like to wish you love and tolerance. A wise man once said that a successful marriage requires falling in love every day with the same person. Mark Twain also wrote that no man or woman really knows what perfect love is until they have been married for a quarter of a century. I am lucky enough to have experienced such a marriage and I can only wish the same for Jia and Lì An.”

“I could not be more proud of the choices that Jia has made in her life than I am of her choice in a husband. Lì An has always been close to our family and now, he is stuck with us forever.” Lì An blushed and grinned happily. “Lì An is hard working, kind, and a brilliant young man and he is also the son of two of our closest friends, Sehun and Luhan.” Baekhyun cleared his throat, “Unfortunately, Luhan couldn’t be here today. I’m sure that he is greatly disappointed about missing this special occasion. However, I am confident that he is pleased that our families are forever tied together. There is no one in this world who could replace him but Lì An, we would like offer you all of the love, help, and protection that we give our own children.”

Baekhyun turned to face Sehun whose teary eyes were glistening in the light, “And to our best friend and now in-law, Sehun, we don’t have to waste time welcoming you to our family. You have always been an important part of it since we were a group of twelve young men trying to live our dream, and you will continue to always be a part of our family. Baekhyun locked eyes with Sehun’s and for a moment, he could see everything crystal clear in Sehun’s heart. He forced himself to swallow and smile back at their guests, lifting his wine glass.

“Here’s to Jia and Lì An – May your love be as powerful as thunder, as bright as lightning, and as soft as the wind.”

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“That was actually read good baby,” Chanyeol whispered into Baekhyun’s ear after he sat back down, slipping his arm around Baekhyun’s shoulders. “It wasn’t too girly?” Baekhyun asked in concern. “No, it was perfect,” Chanyeol replied fondly. Baekhyun smiled, nuzzling into the side of Chanyeol’s neck. “Are you up for a dance with this old soul?” “It would be an honor,” Baekhyun said lovingly as Chanyeol pulled him to his feet.

Baekhyun set his hand on Chanyeol’s hip as his other one linked through Chanyeol’s fingers. They set into a very slow waltz as Baekhyun gazed up lovingly at Chanyeol, “Today has been good, right?” he whispered. They stopped dancing for a moment, sharing a significant look. They knew. They both knew. Chanyeol let out a small breath and perched his chin on top of Baekhyun’s head. Chanyeol tried to treasure every precious moment that he had with his husband – constantly aware that their time could be unexpectedly cut short at any time. Now nearing their sixties, it was starting to grow in their minds that they didn’t have as much time left together as they had wished, “I love you,” he whispered, pressing a kiss to Baekhyun’s forehead. “With all my heart,” Baekhyun replied.

----------------

Baekhyun casually wiped at the tears streaming down his cheeks as the crowd cheered the departing limo. It was finally over – his oldest daughter was married and gone. Another chapter of his life was quickly closing on him. He felt a familiar arm wrap around his back, “Are you okay hyung?” Baekhyun nodded, offering Sehun a warm smile, “Are you?” he asked with a raised eyebrow. “Yeah,” Sehun mumbled distantly.

After a few moments of silence, Sehun blurted, “Thank you.” “For what?” Baekhyun asked, tilting his head in confusion. “For today; it went way better than I ever expected considering the obvious.” “Yeah,” Baekhyun replied softly, “It was great.” Baekhyun sighed, pulling Sehun into a firm hug, “I love you,” Baekhyun whispered. “I love you too hyung.” Baekhyun held on for a long time, refusing to let go. This memory had to last him for the rest of his life. He watched as Chanyeol hugged Sehun as well, with the same longing expression on his face.

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Location: Sehun and Luhan’s House
Time: 2 months later

Everyone knew that it was coming, but that didn’t make it any easier.

It was Suho who found him – he appeared to be sleeping on the couch, with an empty bottle of pills on the coffee table and five envelopes next to it.

For a long time, Suho just sat there in the chair, staring at him. He finally mustered up enough courage to reach forward and grab the envelope with his name written on it.

            Suho hyung,

I am sorry that it had to come down to this. Words cannot express how grateful I am to you for being my leader, not only in EXO, but in life. You looked after me like I was your bother and disciplined me, like a father, into the man that I became. I know you may not agree with this decision, but I feel justified in terminating a life which no longer holds any hope of having the essentials which make life worth living. I have been preparing myself for when I would reach the end for a long time. The will and determination to continue to fight on has left me. I hope that you will one day find forgiveness for my actions and forgiveness for yourself. Since the beginning of EXO, you have held so much weight on your shoulders that you had no control over. You have Jiyeon and your three beautiful children – you have your new family. Please let go of your past mistakes and just be happy. Remember how terrified we were when we went to Lotte World to try out their new roller coaster? Think of this moment as being like that; except this time when you get to the bottom, I won’t be sitting next to you anymore.

            Love,

            Sehun maknae

Suho folded the letter and looked up at the ceiling tearfully, “See you in twenty, brother.”

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  My sweet Jia,

Since the day you were born, I knew that you were going to grow up to be a beautiful, intellectual, and kind woman. You were raised by two of the greatest men that have ever walked this planet. It has truly been a pleasure and an honor to be by your side all of these years. I wish that I could continue to stand by you and see where life takes you but I have been lost for a very long time. I am not getting any better, I am not going to get better, and I would certainly only get worse as time went on. I have no doubt in my mind that you will continue to take care of my son for me. He is going to need your continuous love, support, and understanding. Please promise that when your son is born, you will not name him after us – don’t live in the past. I know that you are going to be sad for awhile but I promise that one day you will forget and carry forward. I have courage in you and give you whatever strength is left in me.

            Please hold on to these for me,

            Sehun

Jia stared in the mirror, absently the two wedding bands that were clasped around her neck, as she softly let her tears run down her cheeks.

----

  My son,

I do not even want to try to put into words how much I love you because I would only be limiting the unconditional, life changing love that I have for you. Please do not spend the rest of your life thinking that you did something wrong or could have prevented this. When you were born, I told you that I couldn’t promise you a forever, but that I would stand by your side for as long as I could. Thank you for making these past few years bearable. I hope that one day you will find peace in your heart and not resent me for making this decision – I never wanted to hurt you. I had a good life with good people. Please do not forget that you are not invincible. Fight hard when you can and accept when you need to. I promise you that happy days are ahead. Please continue to be the good man that I raised you to be. When you are feeling lost or alone, remember to hold on to Jia, your son, and the Park Family. Chanyeol and Baekhyun got me through some of the toughest times of my life and I trust them to continue to guide you through life without me. Even if your son grows up to be only half of the man that you are, I will be nothing less than proud. I will see you again one day my son.

            Love always,

            Dad

Lì An buried his face into the grass in front of Luhan’s gravestone as he fell motionless to the rhythm of his sobbing.

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  Chanyeol hyung,

You of all people know that I tried everything to fill the void of losing Luhan. You also know that I don’t have the strength to live like this anymore. There used to be days that I thought that I was going to overcome this pain but everything since then has come down to passing time until I can sleep forever. My mind and body has been a cage – fundamentally broken. Please look after Lì An for me; I know that he will be in good health with you and Baekhyun watching over him. I strongly believe that part of the reason that Lì An turned out to be the man that he is today is because of the two of you. You have to promise me that you will continue to fight for your life Chanyeol. You have to live for Baekhyun and don’t make him promise to stay behind. Since our EXO days, you two have always arrived together and that’s the way that your story should end. Please do not be sad for me – this is what I want – I am free.

            Love,

            Sehun maknae

For a long moment, Chanyeol sat there in silence. He picked up a pen sitting on his desk and slowly began to write down the lyrics that would simply become known as Sehun.

----

  Baekhyun hyung,

I know that nothing that I could say is going to take away the grief that you are going to feel. Please promise me that you won’t hold on to this memory for too long. You have so much going for you – I can’t let you give up any of it. I tried so hard to minimize the pain that I have been feeling without Luhan. But the truth is that I died the night that I could no longer physically love Luhan. I will never get to go to sleep and feel Luhan’s arms wrapped around me again. I will never be able to feel the comfort of his hands mapping my body. I will never be able to hear his voice again or smell the scents that encompass his memory. I have accepted that this darkness will never allow me to move on. I desperately want to feel his warmth again. You have a long time left with Chanyeol. I promise you that Luhan and I won’t let him leave you. I have my happy ending – go seek yours without fear.

            Love,

            Sehun maknae

Baekhyun quickly ran into the music room where Chanyeol was writing lyrics. Without breaking eye contact, he crushed himself onto Chanyeol’s lap and took his lips into a rough kiss, “Don’t ever let go,” he whispered. “I won’t,” Chanyeol whispered back.

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Location: Chanyeol and Baekhyun’s House
Time: 15 years later, Summer 2066
Age: Late Seventies

“Have I ever told you how amazing you are?” Baekhyun said lovingly. “Yes,” Chanyeol chuckled, “Almost every day since we were 20. After 54 years, I think I got the message now.” “Hmm..” Baekhyun said as he sighed and sat down on the swing next to his husband. The skies were blue with no clouds in sight and the sun was beating down on them with a slight breeze in the air. It was the perfect Sunday for a family BBQ.

Somehow Baekhyun knew that this would be their last summer together; he could feel it deep down inside of him. But now, that thought didn’t make him sad anymore. They had built a fairy tale life together – they had over 50 years of friendship and over 40 years of marriage - he couldn’t have asked for anything more.

Baekhyun and Chanyeol watched the festivities going on around them. Their eight grandchildren were playing a heated game of soccer against Woojin, Minkyu, and Dohyun. Lì An and Junseo were trying to figure out how to operate the grill while Mi Cha, Eun, Jia, and Hayoon were having a tea party in the garden. Baekhyun smiled as he looked at the river and saw Suho trying to teach Jiyeon how to fish, remembering the first fishing trip he took with his husband.

“Thank you,” he said, turning towards Chanyeol to offer him a warm smile. “For what?” Chanyeol said, raising an eyebrow. “For giving me everything that I wanted and everything that I never imagined I could have,” Baekhyun replied softly, “for showing me what love truly means.”

“We did it together,” Chanyeol croaked.

“As ChanBaek,” Baekhyun said with a wide smile.

“As BaekYeol,” Chanyeol replied teasingly.

Baekhyun chuckled as he lifted his glass of iced tea. “What should we toast to?”

“To us,” Chanyeol suggested, picking up his glass as well.

“I love you,” Baekhyun said sweetly. “Forever,” Chanyeol replied.

They clinked glasses and nestled into each others’ arms, enjoying the last of their eternity.

~*~

Thank you for reading Code 543. Please take a moment to view the “Family Album” for pictures that correlate with the story as well as the “Symbolism” page for a further explanation of hidden symbolism, EXO parrallelism, Korean terminology, and photographic representations of the chapter scenes. I hope this story made you feel every emotion on the spectrum. Please feel free to share a link to the story if you would like. This story is also available at www.code543.tumblr.com for non AFF users.