I Promise…

            Leeteuk gave Kyuhyun an apologetic look as he walked through the door and headed over to his side of the church.  Kyuhyun immediately opened his arms wide to greet their leader, smiling. 

            “I’m so sorry!”

            “It’s not your fault!  Or did you cause a traffic jam?” Kyuhyun teasingly asked.

            “Some God-damn moron with a semi doesn’t know how to take a turn, apparently, and ended up flipping the whole thing over, blocking the entire ing road and stopping traffic,” Heechul raged, cursing moodily as he stormed into the building.

            Leeteuk gave him a patient look and quietly reminded him, “You’re in church.”

            Heechul nodded and sighed, stopping his rant. 

            Leeteuk is, as far as Kyuhyun knows, the only person on the whole planet that can tell Heechul what to do and expect him to listen.  All the other members are younger than him—although he’ll give a little more consideration to anything Jongwoon or Kangin might say—and everyone who works for the company is an authority figure, who Heechul just naturally disobeys.  If Kyuhyun had to guess, Heechul probably doesn’t listen to his parents either for the same reason, although he’s never seen them much together to judge it.  Even Gunhee doesn’t have this sway over him, because Heechul always kind of rules over his lovers.  He has the upper hand in relationships he’s in.  So, Leeteuk, who is like an older brother to him, although only a few days older, is the only one Heechul obeys if he makes a demand of him.  And Leeteuk is wise enough to do so sparingly and he doesn’t even have to command him to do something, he just simply has to say something like, you’re in church, and he knows that Heechul will adjust his behavior accordingly.  But don’t all the members react this way to their leader? 

            “At least you’ve made it,” Kyuhyun said.

            “And you’re only thirteen minutes late, so that isn’t so bad,” Changmin said, checking his watch.

            “We’d better sit down,” Leeteuk said, heading back to where his mother stood.  “We can talk afterwards.”

            Kyuhyun nodded.  “And you’d better get back to your own side, Hae.”

            “I’ll let them know that everyone’s here now and we can get started.  Although Ryeowook will probably have a nervous breakdown,” he mentioned, walking away.

            “Why?” Kyuhyun asked.  “Is something wrong?”

            “What are you?  An idiot?” Minho asked.  “Clearly, he’s nervous.”

            “Why would he be nervous?  We’re already married,” Kyuhyun said.  “And we’re used to being in front of crowds.”

            “Getting married—even if it’s the second time around—in front of all your nearest and dearest is a little daunting,” Changmin agreed.  “I know I’m not looking forward to it.  And you can bet your I’m making you my best man to pay you back for all this.”

            “Pay me back?” Kyuhyun questioned.  “As if this was even a hassle for you.  All you did was show up at the tux rental a couple times for fittings.”

            “I’m talking about the emotional damage you’ve done.  Victoria is going to be talking about your wedding until Christmas,” he complained. 

            “Don’t get all bent out of shape because I’m getting married first.  It’s not my fault I’m so irresistible and Ryeong wants to seal the deal,” Kyuhyun said.  “If you were only as attractive as me!”

            Changmin quirked his brow.  “If only!”

            “I’m surprised you’re not nervous at all, Kyu,” Hyukjae said.  “I remember how you used to get all nauseated and sweaty whenever we had concerts back when you first started and I practically had to drag you out onto the stage looking all pale and shaky.  I’m surprised you never lost it while you were onstage, but the adrenaline must have kicked in once we were dancing and singing to keep you from losing your lunch.”

            “I never ate before concerts,” Kyuhyun informed him.

            “Well, it’s a good thing that you’re not nervous now after all that food your mother cooked us for breakfast,” Hyukjae said.  “I would probably get queasy if I were up there.  I know people are always claiming to be okay with same- relationships these days, but some people only say that so they don’t have a bunch of people breathing down their necks about it.  God only knows if all of Ryeowook’s relatives are actually as supportive as they claim.  Look how long it took his parents to come around?  You know some of them are going to be talking about you later on.  If they aren’t outright against it, they’re still going to be judgmental about the ceremony because it isn’t traditional.  Hell, some of the SM staff probably will, too.”

            Kyuhyun began to rub his stomach and breathe deep.

            “I think I’d be kind of weirded out about writing my own vows as well.  I know that I’m a rap writer and you’d think that I’d be a natural at stuff like that, but pouring your heart out in front of that many people?” Hyukjae continued, shaking his head.  “I just know that I’d be too embarrassed.”

            Changmin looked from Hyukjae to Kyuhyun, who began to shift from one foot to the other and rub his hands together.

            “And then, your—”

            “Hyukjae,” Changmin interrupted.

            “What?” Hyukjae said.

            “Can you get Kyuhyun a bottle of water so his throat’s hydrated enough to say his vows?” Changmin asked.

            “Sure,” he nodded, heading down the hall.

            Minho laughed and pat Kyuhyun on the shoulder.  “This isn’t anywhere near as scary as going on stage the first time.  It might be if you were handing over your single reins at the same time, but you technically did that already and seemingly had no worries about it.”

            “No…I was the one who wanted to get married more, I think,” Kyuhyun said. 

            “Oh, I think it was very much mutual,” Changmin disagreed.  “Ryeowook didn’t even have to think about it before saying yes.  He knew he wanted to be with you forever.”

            Hyukjae jogged back with a four waters and passed them out to everyone.

            “Thanks,” Kyuhyun said, before downing half the bottle.

            Just then, Siwon headed around the corner.  “Ready?” he asked. 

            Kyuhyun nodded, setting his bottle down on a nearby tabletop.  They’d made Siwon their unofficial traffic director to keep them coordinated as they walked up the aisle to the front of the church and Siwon always took any duty related to church very seriously, but especially when it involved his bandmates getting married. 

            “Okay then.  Ryeowook’s group is ready as well, so I’m going to head out and we’ll get started.  Just like we practiced yesterday in rehearsal.  We’ll have both sides alternate coming down and then when everyone is up except you and Wookie, I’ll give the signal for you to enter.  You’ll head all the way to the end of the pews and then turn and wait for Wook to enter.  Then I’ll give him the signal and he’ll meet you there.  Then you’ll join hands, turn to face the minister, and take a couple steps forward.  Then the ceremony will start.  Everyone remember what they need to do and what order you’re going in?  Minho first, then Hae will follow, then Hyuk, then Kyu’s sister, then Changmin, then Minnie, then Kyu.”

            Everyone nodded and gathered towards end of the hall. 

            “I have Ryeowook around the corner and I’ll be over on his side, keeping him from walking out too early, so that you won’t see each other until he enters the church,” Siwon told Kyuhyun.

            Kyuhyun remembered the hours-long debate about who was entering first and who last.  Of course, it was typical for the guy to be standing in front of the church and the woman to walk down the aisle in a traditional wedding, but this wasn’t traditional.  Although Kyuhyun considered himself the manlier of the two of them, using that as an excuse to walk down the aisle first would only lead to many cold, sleepless nights.  Kyuhyun was far too wise at this point to use such a stupid reason to get his way, but he’d be damned if he left it up to fate and flipped a coin for it.  There was no way in hell he was walking down the aisle last.  So, he convinced Ryeowook that they should walk down the aisle in alphabetical order by last name, just how their invitations were written, and somehow his husband willingly went along with this.  All along, he was pretty damn sure that Ryeowook wanted to walk in last anyway, since he loves attention and everyone would focus more on the last person entering, but he simply didn’t want the reason being that he was the more feminine one.  

            “I just told the crowd we’d be starting in a moment, so they should all be seated and ready.  I’m just going to let Henry, Seohyun, and Jongwoon know that we’re ready and then we’ll get started,” Siwon told them.

            Kyuhyun thanked himself then for thinking ahead and asking Siwon to take charge of the group once they were about to get started, realizing he was far too nervous to think straight anymore.  He was feeling jittery and took several deep breaths to keep himself centered and Siwon disappeared around the corner again.  A moment later, they heard Seohyun’s beautiful piano playing intro and he knew they were about to start walking in, but it was meant to be slow paced, and he had to remind himself that they weren’t in a race to get up front.  Thankfully, Siwon cued them when to walk down the aisle, one at a time, and everyone looked poised and elegant as they walked away and left him.

            Before Changmin headed off, he clasped Kyuhyun’s shoulder and squeezed.  “Remember, you’re already married, so the hardest part is already done.  This is just a celebration for everyone,” he reminded Kyuhyun.

            Kyuhyun smiled.  “Only a single man tells you that getting married is the hardest part.”

            “What’s the hardest?”

            “Staying.”

            “Even for you?” Changmin questioned. 

            “You have to love your spouse enough to stay no matter what, but I’ve always intended to.”

            Changmin grinned.  “Like I said, the hardest part’s done.  Nothing to worry about.”  Then he walked away.

            Once all the wedding party was up front, Seohyun wrapped up the song she was playing and began another, accompanied by Henry’s violin and Jongwoon’s incredible voice.  He was singing a song that Ryeowook had written a long time ago—a love song, of course—which was never publicly released.  Ryeowook had written it while lovesick over Kyuhyun and it felt so intimate to him, he refused to sell it, although Kyuhyun swore it was one of the best songs he’d ever written.  At least this way, their family and friends would get to hear it performed, but Kyuhyun also appreciated the originality of it.  Who else would ever walk down the aisle to the song?  No one.  It was their song alone.

            Kyuhyun walked to the doors and took a deep breath, waiting for the intro to the song to end.  Then Kyuhyun began to slowly walk up the aisle until he got to the front and then turned to face the back doors, where Ryeowook was about to enter through as the second verse began.  There were a few seconds break in between and Kyuhyun still felt a little nervous, but not nearly as much now that he was in front of everyone.  Did that even make sense?  Once everything was set in motion, it was less unsettling.

            He glanced over at his parents and smiled at them.  His mother was in t