February 14, 2014

It was happening. It was finally happening.

The crowd is hung by a thread, literally on the edge of their seats as the couple that stood on the altar before them proceeded into the vows. With her head involuntarily droning with panic and slight hysteria, Jung Hyunsu knew not how to begin her vow as she looks around for aid, which eventually came in the form of Sehun’s cousin, taking her bouquet for her with a gentle smile. Finally eased, she pulls a badly creased piece of paper from her long-laced sleeve, clearing as she flattens it with her damp, quivering hands. While doing so, a sheepish laugh ripples at the back of , which is mirrored by her audience, her mellifluous voice echoing through the microphone held by the priest.

“I vow to love all of you along with your faults and your beauty. To abscond your sorrows and to want nothing but to lie beside you from this night and every night thereafter. To be your constant and your forever. To not terrify you with my set of demons but to tame them for your sake, putting you before myself at all times. To be glad with what I know of you and to trust what I do not yet know. To give you the best of me and to ask of you no more than you can give. To be worthy of your love and to give you no reason to look back.”

Caught in a stupor by the woman’s pledge, Oh Sehun had to be nudged by his best man—Park Chanyeol—to unsteadily procure a well folded piece of paper from his inner coat pocket with a free hand while the other held Hyunsu’s, delicate and cocooned with delicate lace and flimsy snow.

“I vow to impetuously love you past the scars you’ll be bringing along, both literally and figuratively. To softly brush my lips against their rough edges and to remind you that no matter how hideous they may seem, they don’t and never will bother me. To never compete with the man you were once with, my best friend, my brother—Kim Jongin and to accept that he was your yesterday while I am your today, and tomorrow. To honor you and to never be ashamed of you. To lazily inch through sheets with you and to never complain about waking up to the same face every single day. To hold your hand when you need me to and hold it even when you don’t.”

Unexpectedly, Sehun looks toward Yixing who in turn takes his cue and sits by the piano, his slender fingers ready to play. “Okay, so—before the I dos… I prepared something.” The man chuckles against the microphone that he takes from the priest after refolding the paper and tucking it back into his pocket, “I may not be much of a singer, but I love this song and whenever I hear it, I am automatically reminded of you. As for the rest,” He turns his head toward their witnesses, all ninety-three of them and says, “It’s my wedding day so you’ll have to forgive me.” Laughter ruffles along with the breeze and when there was silence again, Sehun nods at Yixing as he shakily begins, his hands cold and clammy while Hyunsu irrepressibly beamed at him, an incandescent, surprised smile plastered on her face.

I can only give you love that lasts forever,
And a promise to be near each time you call.
And the only heart I own
For you and you alone
That's all,
That's all.

Despite the man’s voice sounding as it was when he talked—though quite a rough start for others’ taste—Hyunsu’s eyes begin to water, her lips quivering at Sehun’s low but soft, tremulous lull.

I can only give you country walks in springtime
And a hand to hold when leaves begin to fall;
And a love whose burning light
Will warm the winter's night
That's all,
That's all.

This time around, Sehun finally found his pitch, hitting the notes unerringly, his voice settling into comfort and ease, giving more feel to the song, more depth, more profundity—tenderness and affection percolating from his pink, button lips.