The hallways are endless, winding and maze-like, as if to deter me from finding him. The Louboutins clack against the wooden floors, like the impatient tapping of someone’s fingers, and I stick my head into every room, breathlessly asking, “Have you seen Baekhyun?”

They point me to the room nestled deeper in, and I huff as I pick up the train of my dress and begin sprinting, heels be damned. The wooden door might as well have been broken down with the force I used to throw it open, and my breathing is laboured as I stare at man who has his back turned to me, until the loud noise shocks him and forces him to whip his head back in fear. “Where’s the fire? What’s going on?” He squeaks, wide eyed, until his eyes focus on me and he visibly calms.

“It’s your ing wedding day and you still don’t know how to tie a friggin’ bowtie? You have got to be the most embarrassing groom in all of history.”

He reddens when my words reach his ears, and he puts a finger to his lips, “Shh! I won’t be if you don’t ing announce it to the whole population.”

Walking forward, I snatch the cloth out of his hands and hook it around his neck, tugging him toward me roughly and he stumbles forward. My fingers go to work quickly on the knots, nimbly pulling one end through a loop and straightening out the black silk before tightening the bow. I focus my eyes on my fingers, and I pretend not to notice his eyes that seemed to bury themselves on me. A stray tendril of hair escapes the clutches of my bun and falls before my eyes, and before Baekhyun could reach out to tuck it away, I blow a breath from my lips which successfully sweeps it aside before I straighten up, dusting the pads of his lapels.

“You look really beautiful today,” He whispers, and it’s soft and selfish as if it was only meant for me to hear, not the wind and not the pot of bonsai sitting at the ledge of the window. “Just today?” I quip, and he shakes his head softly as the chuckles leave his lips. Baekhyun picks his head up and looks right at me, through me, and the grin I have on just settles into a slight curve on my scarlet stained lips. He doesn’t say anything else, but I could read him through his eyes as if it were my favourite novel. I step forward and wrap my arms around him, resting my ear just above where his heart was, and his hands loop around me. It is a soundless action that did not need much explanation or words. It is the embrace of friends, siblings, almost lovers…soulmates.

I was pretty sure we were breaking whatever tradition built up over centuries. Instead of walking down the isle as a bridesmaid, as would other females in the ceremony, I stood behind Baekhyun as his best woman. Of course he would disregard any semblance of tradition and the amount of whispers and confused glances. That was Byun Baekhyun for you.

I held my place in the row of men, my cream rose dress juxtaposing the monochrome of suits. There’s still time before the musicians would begin the processional, and Haewon would come floating out. Dusty rose draperies hang in waves above the guests, crabapples gathered just on the dip of the cloth, which casts soft shadows of petals on the isle. An arch that seemed to be made purely of baby’s breath stretches over Baekhyun’s head, as he plays with the cuffs of his shirt in nervous anticipation. The whole setting looked like the ones straight out of a fairytale, and I couldn’t help the inner girl in me from tearing up at the sight.

As I scan my eyes across the sea of people seated in white chairs, I see the smiling faces of friends, new and old, and a kind of contentment settles in my chest. I see Kyungsoo and Jongdae, who I hadn’t gotten a chance to talk to since we graduated, and no, skype calls didn’t count. Kyungsoo holds a smaller hand between his, cooing, and I shift my gaze further to his right where I see a smaller boy that somehow resembled the man. He sat on the lap of a woman who fussed over the child’s hair, and I catch the diamond ring that graces her finger. Damn Kyungsoo, how’d the ert go from being a lap dog for girls to a family man with a kid, I’d never know. Jongdae sits behind him, his eyes cast on his lap, probably busy texting the long-distance girlfriend I remember him telling me about. Another man in a dark suit stumbles into the area from the doors, quickly adjusting his tie as his eyes scan for his seat and I shake my head at Minseok’s unruly hair, no doubt because he forgot to put a comb through it. He catches my eyes just then and raises his hand, and I nod in acknowledgment. He rakes his eyes over my entire ensemble and mouths a smokin’ hot, following it with a greasy wink that I roll my eyes at, before dissolving into soft chuckles that I stifle behind a fist.

Baekhyun’s parents sit in the first row, and I offer a smile at good ol’ Mrs. Byun who used to say how she wanted so much for me to be the one walking down the isle. I’d laugh, a bitter one, and wave it off but now I was glad I didn’t let her words get into my head. Haewon was good for Baekhyun, and it didn’t take people long to figure that out. Even Mrs. Byun had to admit at least that.

Friends and family scatter around in the crowd, all looking forward towards Baekhyun, bating their breaths because this was it. Then the music begins as if it senses the eagerness in the air. The girls that walk out first are the ones I had met yesterday, and I was surprised that as drunk as they were, they still managed to look as beautiful as they did and keep moving one foot in front of the other without tripping. I know I would’ve. The guests at the edge begin throwing flower petals on the isle as they past, lining the path for Haewon. And then the music changes, and heads whip around, paying nothing but their full attention to the doors.

I hear Baekhyun’s gasp before I see her. But I knew even without looking that she’d be beautiful in his eyes. That was his Haewon, and she could be wearing rags or a trash bag and he would still be starry eyed and kiss the skin of her hands and proclaim how she looked like a goddess among mortals. That idiot.

Their eyes are all on her as she drifts past each row of seats, enchanting each guest with the gentle smile that rests on her lips. I knew the moment I saw the dress that it would’ve been perfect for her, and the little gap between Baekhyun’s lips proved me right. Haewon’s father stops just before the arch, untangling their arms and placing hers in Baekhyun’s outstretched ones, before clapping Baekhyun’s shoulder, a silent promise from one man to the other to always protect and love the girl between them. Haewon turns to face Baekhyun, who blurts a “You are so perfect” that is a little too loud and leaves the audience in stifled laughter. To everyone else, he just seemed like a dizzy groom in love, but I hear the resolute sincerity in the strings of his vowels and sequence of words, and I smile. Byun Baekhyun was truly happy, and that was enough to make me the happiest person in the world.

The priest begins his speech, and I hold the bouquet between my hands tightly. “Dearly beloved, we have come together in the presence of God to witness and bless the joining together of this man and this woman in Holy Matrimony,” he begins. I listen to him as if I were hearing him preach a new religion, his words saintly and poetic and even though I knew this was a basic s