“No, I will not!” Chanyeol exclaimed as he stood from the sofa, glaring down at his parents.

 

“Sit down, Chaeyeon!”

 

"It's Chanyeol!" He corrects before huffing and sitting back down.

 

His parents ignored the correction, "Look, we know this comes as a surprise but this is a great opportunity. The Wu's want to establish a company here in Korea and what better way to strengthen the ties than the heir marrying a Korean woman?"

 

Chanyeol could feel the frustration bubbling up in his chest, "But why does it have to be me?! I don't even know the guy! Hell! I'm a man myself! You can't make me marry some stranger just because it'll up your status among the elite!"

 

"Language!"

 

"Look, Chaeyeon, you're a pretty young lady, and he's a handsome lad. He'll treat you like a queen. Besides, this silly act of yours is just a phase, you'll soon realize how silly you are being."

 

Unbelievable. Un-ing-believable. Now Chanyeol felt the incomings of a headache. Time and time again he tried to make his parents see reason, but they just wouldn't listen. They did not want to understand.

 

Chanyeol was a man. He felt like a man. HE IS A MAN. It was bad enough that his parents hid from him that he was born inter until he started questioning his gender at 15-- now he was being forced to marry some rich stranger and would be expected to bear his children “like a proper lady”.

 

Hiding his scoff, Chanyeol knew that he had to obey at the end. Though neither stated that he had to absolutely marry the guy at the end of the courtship. He was pretty sure the other man would break the arrangement when they noticed Chanyeol wouldn’t act like a “proper lady”.

 

“Fine, I’ll meet with this Wu guy, but don’t hold your breath. The chances of me marrying this guy are near damn zero!”

 

“That’s all we want. You’ll be meeting him this Saturday at a one of the private rooms at the café, 2 o’clock sharp.”

 

“Dress nicely, dear; you still have that wonderful yellow dress, right? Wear it with some nice sandals and put on some make-up, okay?”

 

Glaring at his parents, Chanyeol stood up, “No. I will not wear a dress, nor will I wear makeup. You can’t make me-- I will dress however I want and that’s final!” He quickly escaped his parents’ study before it quickly escalated to something worse.

 

Going to his room, Chanyeol quickly grabbed his backpack before leaving the house. He needed to distract himself, clear his head. He had 3 days before the dreaded “date”, plenty of time to calm down and come up with something to break this absurd arrangement.

 

 

 

 

 

Yifan took a deep breath before he entered the café. He was feeling a bit nervous to meet his arranged future wife; he had no qualms about the arrangement itself. After greeting the parents, they showed him the way to the private room where he was going to meet the Park daughter. Nodding to his mom, he slowly made his way.

 

Stopping in front of the door with tinted windows, he took a deep breath before lightly knocking and entering. The first thing he saw was legs-- long legs encased in skinny jeans-- and when he looked up, he was surprised to find a young guy with black hair in a cute mushroom cut. Yifan furrowed his eyebrows as he gave the room a quick look around and didn’t see anyone else.

 

“Hello, I’m Yifan.” He extended a hand in greeting, immediately noticing the how tiny the other man’s hand was in his; he could also feel some callouses on it, “Are you Chaeyeon’s brother?” This guy was almost as tall as him, he wondered if Chaeyeon was–

 

Booming laughter resonated through the small room cutting off Yifan’s thoughts, “No, I am Chaeyeon. Though I prefer you call me Chanyeol, if you please.” Amusement was evident on the woman’s face, “Nice to meet you, Yifan. Please, take a seat.”

 

Taken aback at the husky voice and the request, Yifan quickly sat down and looked at Chaeyeon closely. Along with the skinny jeans, she had a simple buttoned up white shirt with an anchor design on the sleeves. Her face was bare but her eyes were beautiful and doe-like, pink plump lips were stretched in a slight smile, a ghost of a dimple in her left cheek.

 

She was cute, and her eyes twinkled with a light that intrigued Yifan. He didn’t mind the way she was dressed; it meant she was comfortable with herself and had her own style. Yifan knew that he was starting to like her and he wanted to get to know her better.

 

“Likewise Chae–Chanyeol. Tell me about yourself, how old are you and stuff?”

 

“Wait, you’re not going to question my request?”

 

A tiny pout and a cute little crease settled on her brows. She looked like a puppy and it took everything in Yifan not to squeal aloud at the display of cuteness.

 

“Why would I? It’s only common courtesy. Besides, I got everyone in Canada to call me Kris, so I don’t see anything wrong with it.” He shrugged as he finished and smiled at the slight amazement on the other’s face. ‘Too cute for her own good.’

 

“Okay!” A bright smile appeared on Chanyeol’s face, her dimple becoming more pronounced, leaving Yifan feeling like he was standing outside during a comfortable warm day.

 

 

 

 

 

‘I’m in trouble.’ Chanyeol thought. Yifan was a very handsome guy, with intense eyes and a great sense of fashion. He barely batted an eyelash at Chanyeol’s request, and apparently didn’t care about what Chanyeol was wearing.

 

The speech he had prepared to stop this silly thing flew out the window; he could barely remember it anymore. Chanyeol wanted to know Yifan better now; he knew they could become great friends. ‘Even if I felt more down the road, he won’t accept me’. He cleared his throat to stop the bitterness from bleeding into his smile.

 

He answered Yifan’s questions and asked some of his own. And like this, they spent the allotted two hours getting to know each other.

 

 

Calming down from their laughing fit, Yifan grabbed Chanyeol’s hand, “I had a great time, Chanyeol. I hope we can do this again, I would love to get to know you more.”

 

“Yifan…”

 

“I just want us to be friends. You’re a great woman and I haven’t laughed like this in years. We have 6 months to decided if we go through with the arrangement, and I’ll respect whatever decision you decide on at the end.”

 

Looking at Yifan’s earnest eyes gave Chanyeol a knot on his throat. If he said no, he might lose someone who could turn out to be a great friend. If Chanyeol said yes, he’d gain a friend in 6 months, ‘But then, he might leave when he learns the truth later on...’ Deciding that he might not have anything to lose, Chanyeol agreed.

 

“Do you… Want to meet again next Saturday?”

 

Yifan struggled to not sooth the lip Chanyeol was biting on, “Yes. In fact, let’s meet here, and I’ll take you to meet my best friend who may or may not own a studio.” Yifan teasingly answered and smiled at Chanyeol’s sudden wide-eyes.

 

“You know someone with a studio? That’s so cool! I would love to.” Chanyeol answered with a smile.

 

Four heartbeats passed before they realized they were staring at each other, smiling. Chanyeol immediately got his hand back and looked away, trying to hide his blush, while Yifan coughed and chuckled, a blush also painting his face.

 

“Well, I’ll be going now. It was really nice meeting you, Chanyeol.” Yifan got up from his seat as Chanyeol did the same and walked towards the door.

 

“Wait.”

 

Chanyeol’s warm hand landed on his arm and he looked back at the girl who had her head down, fidgeting.

 

“Yes?”

 

“Let’s exchange phone numbers.” Chanyeol couldn’t believe what he was doing it but he felt like he had to, so he trusted his instincts.

 

“Hey” He put two fingers on Chanyeol’s chin and lifted her head, “I would love to.” Yifan smiled at her and got a smile in return.

 

 

 

 

 

...2 months later…

 

“That was fantastic! Oh man!” Chanyeol exclaimed as they entered the older man’s apartment. “That kid, what was his name? Tao? Completely destroyed his opponent! Hell, his opponent was so bad, I don’t even remember his name!”

 

Yifan laughed along at Chanyeol’s antics as he got them some beers. He had taken Chanyeol to a rap battle contest and the woman had absolutely loved it; they even made some bets between each other. They had a great time. After that, he took her to eat some street food and now they were back at Yifan’s apartment for a sleepover.

 

He watched her sip her beer, and the way muscles worked. She looked radiant in his kitchen. Like she belonged there, in his kitchen, with Yifan.

 

These past two months had been fantastic. They clicked so well that now they almost didn’t go anywhere without the other. He didn’t care that she was a tomboy, this woman matched him in everything. She made him laugh and listened to him, laughed at his stupid cool act and at his corny jokes. Yifan knew he was falling, and fast.

 

 

Chanyeol knew the other was watching. He really liked Yifan. He had never felt so carefree with a person, he didn’t have to watch himself. Why did he continue this? Chanyeol knew that sooner or later he had to tell Yifan the truth-- that he wasn’t a “tomboy”, but a man. But everytime he tried, the words got stuck to his throat. he didn’t want to lose Yifan. ‘What a mess’ He shook his head a bit and told Yifan that it was time for them to settle it in SMASH for their drawn bets.

 

Laughing again, Yifan nodded and led Chanyeol to his living room, where he kept his Wii U. Chanyeol knew that he had to tell Yifan but not now, later. Right now, he was going to have fun and spend the night playing games with this wonderful man.

 

 

 

 

 

...4 months…

 

 

“Is this seriously necessary?” Chanyeol laughed as he let Yifan guide him to wherever it was he was being taken to.

 

“Yes, it is. We’re nearly there, hang on.”

 

It had been four months now since they started going out and though Chanyeol thought is was hard to admit it, he had fallen for Yifan, and he knew Yifan had fallen for him as well. It was a bittersweet feeling, since still hadn’t told Yifan the truth. And now he was blindfolded, being taken to some secret place. He had an idea of what Yifan had planned and, though that scared him, he had to act like he wasn’t dreading it.

 

“Here we are!”

 

Chanyeol felt Yifan’s warm hands gently tugging off his blindfold; what he found when he opened his eyes took his breath away.

 

They were standing in a beautiful courtyard decorated with tiny lights that gave the impressions of millions of fireflies. In the center was a beautiful round table for two and on it were two small candles framing a wide, curious-looking flower. Soft instrumental music played in the background.

 

“Yifan, I–” Chanyeol choked up, everything was beautiful, like straight out of a fairy tale. He felt so bad now.

 

“Shh, let me do this. I want to show you that I’m here; I’m not going anywhere, Chanyeol.”

 

Yifan cleaned a tear that escaped Chanyeol’s eye, “I know you have something important to tell me.” He chuckled at Chanyeol’s eyes going wide, “You didn’t think I noticed? I know you’ve been trying to tell me something for a while now. But I haven’t pushed you because I know you’ll tell me when you’re ready. I just want to show you that I’m not going away, that whatever it is you want to tell me, it won’t scare me off. I really like you, Chanyeol.”

 

‘...Oh, oh my’ Chanyeol felt overwhelmed. He could see that Yifan meant every word but oh, he was still so scared. These last four months with Yifan had been amazing. Despite the fact that he was against the arrangement, Yifan turned out to be a great person and an even better friend.

 

Swallowing, Chanyeol took a deep breath and nodded. ‘It wouldn’t hurt right?’ Hopefully he’d have the courage to confess tonight as well.

 

“Please don’t think I’m trying to force you or anything. I want you to take your time, okay?” Yifan grabbed Chanyeol’s hands over the table, “I’ll wait for as long as it takes.”

 

Looking at Yifan’s smile calmed Chanyeol a little, “Okay.” He cleared his throat and looked at the weird flower in the center of the table. “So, what’s this cool flower? I’ve never seen it before.”

 

“You like it? It’s called King Protea and it’s from South Africa.” Chanyeol cocked his head to the right when Yifan looked at it with small blush. “I got it because in the language of flowers, it means transformation, and that’s what I hope–”

 

Transformation. The word seemed to echo through Chanyeol’s head and he couldn’t hear rest of Yifan’s words. Transformation. He felt like someone punched him in the stomach, he couldn’t breath. Transformation. Chanyeol needed to get out of here.

 

Wrenching his hands from Yifan’s grip, Chanyeol abruptly stood up, “I’m sorry, I can’t do this.” He turned around and ran quickly, working his way around to lose Yifan, ignoring his calls.

 

Immediately hailing a taxi, he gave the driver directions to his best friend's apartment. No way he was going to his parents, Yifan would immediately check for him there.

 

Once he arrived, he paid the driver and dashed to the building, punching in the pertinent code at the door. 'Thank God for amazing friends.' The elevator ride made him impatient, and once he reached the 4th floor and located the apartment, he knocked the door rapidly.

 

"Chanyeol! What a sur–"

 

"Let me stay over" Chanyeol cut off his friend’s greeting as he barged inside the apartment and threw himself down the sofa. He covered his face with one arm as everything finally crashed down on him. Over his crying, Chanyeol heard his friend quietly talk to someone on the phone before they sat down beside him.

 

"What's wrong, sunshine? Weren't you supposed to be on a date with Yifan?"

 

Chanyeol just nodded.

 

"What happened, then? Tell Mama Key~."

 

Chanyeol forced out a chuckle, before throwing himself into Kibum’s arms, “You’re right, I was on a date with him but, oh Kibum! He took me to this beautiful courtyard for a romantic candlelit dinner and he told me this whole beautiful speech about how he likes me and how he has noticed I’ve been wanting to tell him something, but that he was going to wait until I was ready. It was amazing and I thought, maybe it won’t be so bad, right? To tell him? He might accept me even!”

 

Kibum ran a soothing hand through his hair, “I can feel the silent ‘but’ there. What happened next?”

 

“There was a beautiful flower in the center, so I asked him about it and he said–” Chanyeol swallowed around the knot in his throat, “he said that it meant ‘transformation’ and it was like a cold bucket of water was dumped on me. I couldn’t take it and I ran.” He started sobbing harder.

 

He barely heard Kibum’s soothing words. Chanyeol felt like this was it, this was the end. No way he could face Yifan now. The other man probably thought Chanyeol wasn’t worth it after the he just pulled. A love that ended before it even began, that’s how Chanyeol felt. Not that it wasn’t doomed from the start, but Chanyeol had always been a bit of a dreamer.

 

He just never expected that the broken pieces of this particular dream would hurt so much.

 

 

 

 

It had been three weeks since Chanyeol ran out on him and Yifan was missing her badly. He wasn’t mad at her; he realized that something must have been triggered for her to run out on him like that. Yifan tried to reach her at her house but all her parents said that she was staying at a friend’s for a project; for some reason he felt like that was a lie, so he dropped it and didn’t bother them anymore.

 

Every day, he went around the places where he knew Chanyeol liked to hang out, but no one had seen the woman either. Yifan was at his wit’s end. He didn’t want to lose Chanyeol but he felt so hopeless. ‘Perhaps I should try her parents again, but this time going there personally. Wouldn’t hurt.’

 

Just as he convinced himself to do so, his doorbell rang. With a hammering heart, he closed the distance to the door and took a deep breath, ‘Please be Chanyeol, please be Chanyeol, please be Chanyeol’  

 

“Yes?” He abruptly opened the door and tried not to show the crushing disappointment showing on his face. It wasn’t Chanyeol, but a short ash-brown haired guy with cattish eyes. He had a haughty expression on his face before it turned glad.

 

“You were expecting Chanyeol, good. This will be easy.” The other took a small card from the pocket of his jacket and offered it to Yifan. “Name’s Kibum. Chanyeol will be waiting for you tomorrow at my apartment.” Kibum waved the card as he waited for Yifan to take it.

 

Yifan immediately plucked it from the man’s hands and saw that it had an address on it, in an area he knew well, thankfully.

 

“Thank you so much, please tell Chanyeol I’ll be there.”

 

“Hmph. Don’t it up or I’ll give you a new chin,” were the other’s parting words before he left abruptly.

 

Yifan looked at the card and smiled. He was seeing Chanyeol tomorrow! The urge to squeal like a teenage girl was strong but he quickly squashed it down and closed his door. Sitting on his sofa, he started thinking on how should he react when he finally saw Chanyeol tomorrow. Should he keep his distance or act normally?

 

More importantly, Yifan suddenly thought, WHAT AM I GOING TO WEAR? Panicking he went to his closet and rummaged through. While he liked a few pieces, he felt they weren’t good enough, so after leaving his bedroom is a state of disarray, he went to buy new clothes. Hopefully the bit of shopping would calm his nerves while he waited for tomorrow to come.

 

 

 

 

 

Chanyeol bit his lips as he looked at the clock for the umpteenth time. Not seeing Yifan for three weeks had put things in perspective for him. He missed the older guy very much, and it made him realize that it was finally time to tell Yifan. Chanyeol had prepared himself for heartbreak but also allowed for there to be a bit of hope in case Yifan accepted him like this.

 

Thankfully, his parents hadn’t gotten on his case at all nor had they stuck their nose in his relationship with Yifan; they still badgered him to drop what they call his “silly phase” and start wearing appropriate clothing for a young lady,  though. Chanyeol scoffed to himself. This was their fault for doing what they did to him. A tiny part of him did wish Yifan would accept and marry him, as Chanyeol and not Chaeyeon, just because he knew it’d give his parents a heart attack.

 

 

The sound of the doorbell brought Chanyeol out of his thoughts and he took a deep breath before walking towards the door and opening it.

 

‘Oh’ Yifan was wearing a geometrical black turtleneck with a coat over it; he looked very handsome and Chanyeol had to keep himself from jumping the man.

 

“Chanyeol” A wide and relieved smile fixed itself on Yifan’s face, and Chanyeol felt warmed all over as he greeted back and invited him in. He thought that maybe, just maybe, this won’t be so bad after all.

 

“Take a seat, I’ll bring us some tea.” Chanyeol gestured over the white sofa before disappearing into the kitchen. While preparing the tea, he started to mentally prepare himself. ‘Now or never.’

 

Bringing the tea over, Chanyeol noticed Yifan fidgeting on the sofa. ‘At least he’s as nervous as I am’ thought Chanyeol as he handed the tea to the other man and took a seat in the armchair beside the sofa.

 

“Thank you for coming over, Yifan.”

 

“No problem, Chanyeol.” Yifan smiled at Chanyeol, “Tell me, how are you? Is everything okay?”

 

Gulping a bit of tea, Chanyeol forced himself to answer, “No, not really. Look, I need to tell you something. It’s something that’ll make or break our arrangement.” He exhaled hard and looked into Yifan’s eyes.

 

“A bit worrying, but go on, I’m all ears.”

 

Looking at Yifan’s encouraging face, Chanyeol started.

 

“I don’t identify as a woman,” Chanyeol his lips at Yifan’s astonished expression, “I identify as a man. You see, I was born inter, and my parents decided that it was better to have a daughter. So I was assigned as female and brought up as one, or so my parents thought...

 

Everything changed when I hit puberty. I was confused when I first got my period because, you see, I always thought I was boy, and for some reason, I never questioned why I was dressed differently than others. Guess I was too naive.” Chanyeol shrugged to himself and smiled deprecatingly before continuing. “I had a breakdown, and I questioned my parents as to why I was getting a period when I was a boy. That’s when they told me what happened when I was born. The conversation ended with me being even more confused, so I searched on the internet and that’s when I learned about inter, and how most of the people that had a gender normalization surgery grow up not corresponding to their assigned gender.

 

And so I made the pertinent changes. Against my parents, I cut my hair short, started wearing male clothes and worked on lowering my voice a bit more, which wasn’t hard since I took vocal and public speaking lessons. So, if you want this to continue, you have to accept me as I am-- a man. I am Chanyeol, not Chaeyeon.” Chanyeol finished talking and took the last drop of his tea for his parched throat.

 

 

Yifan blinked and blankly stared at the bottom of his cup as he processed the information Chanyeol had just given him. It was a lot to take in, and nothing like this had ever crossed his mind, not something this serious.

 

In retrospect though, now that he thought about it, the signs were all there. Chanyeol didn’t really dress that much “tomboyish”, and sometimes her–his voice sounded deeper in some days but he chalked that to be one of Chanyeol’s many quirks. Yifan didn’t want to dilly-dally with his feelings so there was only one important question here, ‘Do I still like Chanyeol? Have my feelings changed?’

 

Looking up, Yifan settled his gaze on the other and smiled. Chanyeol was playing with his phone in a nervous manner as he kept his head down. ‘Still too cute for his own good.’ Yeah, he was smitten. He fell for Chanyeol just the way he was, and Chanyeol identifying as male didn’t deter Yifan’s feelings at all. He still wanted to be with him, though now the plans had to change around a bit; but didn’t matter-- Yifan would go out of his way to make Chanyeol comfortable.

 

Getting up from the sofa, Yifan walked towards Chanyeol and squatted down in front of him, taking Chanyeol’s hands away from the phone, and held them, soothing them with his thumb.

 

“Hey.”

 

“Hey.”

 

The small timid smile Chanyeol showed him gave Yifan fuel for what he was going to say next.

 

“Like I already told you, these past four months have been the most amazing I’ve had. You’re a wonderful person, and so beautiful inside and out. I like that I can do things with you without fear, I like that you don’t hold back. I like so many things about you that your gender never factored in the list. All these months you’ve shown me the true you, right?” Yifan chuckled at the small nod from Chanyeol and caressed the young man’s cheek.

 

“Then I don’t see any problem,” Yifan drew their faces close, “Now Chanyeol, baby, we still have two months left but I already know that I want you as my husband in the future, so I’ll work hard for you to accept me as such. What do you say?” He finished with a butterfly kiss on Chanyeol’s lips.

 

Chanyeol giggled in relief as he tried to keep his tears from escaping, “Well, I’ll let you know that you are half-way there, so…” He trailed off as he kissed Yifan deeply, unloading his emotions into it.

 

Yifan moaned into the kiss and let Chanyeol wrap his arms around his neck. He stopped squatting and put his knees on the floor and wrapped his arms around Chanyeol’s waist. Yifan had to strain his head up but he didn’t mind, the taste of Chanyeol’s lips was addictive.

 

Breaking the kiss, Chanyeol smiled at Yifan, happiness bubbling in his chest. He felt like he could explode into a golden light. Mischievously, he slid off the armchair and into Yifan’s lap, delighted in the small gasp that escaped Yifan. He started nibbling on Yifan’s ear, and when Chanyeol felt the other’s arms tighten around his waist, he started grinding down.

 

“, Chanyeol.” Was all Yifan said before he attacked Chanyeol’s mouth. He could feel his arousal enveloping him, so he forcefully broke away from the kiss to look into Chanyeol’s eyes, “Are you sure about this?”

 

Smiling, Chanyeol nodded, “Yeah, though–” He ducked his head a bit, “Not all the way, I just want us to explore each other. Is that okay?” Chanyeol looked at Yifan from under his eyelashes, a blush burning through to his ears.

 

“We’ll do whatever you want, and we’ll stop whenever you want.”

 

“Thank you.” Chanyeol said before pecking Yifan on the lips and standing up, offering him a hand.

 

Yifan took it and as soon as he got to his feet, he hugged Chanyeol to him. They stayed like that for a while, just enjoying being back together. They knew the journey ahead might not be smooth, but they’d deal with whatever came their way, together.

 

 

Chanyeol broke the hug, took one of Yifan’s hands in his, and led him to his bedroom. He was a bit nervous but he wanted to do this.

 

“Here we are!”

 

“Nice.”

 

Chanyeol swayed on the spot as he let Yifan look around his room; it was a simple one, done in shades of gold and black.

 

Yifan suddenly did a double take and looked at Chanyeol, “Where’s your friend? Kibum, was it?”

 

“Ah, don’t worry, he went to stay over at his boyfriend’s so we have the place to ourselves.” Chanyeol informed Yifan as he flushed a bit at his own words.

 

“I see.” Yifan nodded and walked over to Chanyeol, gently grabbing his cheeks, “Now, where were we?” he asked with a cheeky smile.

 

Chanyeol chuckled, “Right about here,” and swooped up to capture Yifan’s lips in an intense kiss.

 

Slowly, they fell into Chanyeol’s bed and Yifan started marking Chanyeol’s neck with tiny bites as his hands sneaked their way inside the younger man’s sweater.

 

Arcking into Yifan’s touch, Chanyeol gripped the coat Yifan was still wearing tugged it off Yifan’s shoulder. Yifan finished shrugging it off and paused for a second while looking at Chanyeol before taking his turtleneck off.

 

Chanyeol bit his lips at the sight of Yifan’s torso. His shoulders looked broader, his chest and abs were slightly defined, very athletic. He sat up and took off his own sweater, blushing as Yifan looked at him in his sport bra with a raised eyebrow.

 

“It’s the one thing I’ve been lucky in.” Chanyeol stuck his tongue out at Yifan who proceeded to laugh and capture it in his own mouth, making Chanyeol moan.

 

With a bit of a struggle and getting laughed at, Yifan finally took off Chanyeol’s sport bra to reveal Chanyeol’s small s. He bent down and took one inside his mouth while gently flicking the other with his fingers.

 

“I take it you don’t mind then?” Chanyeol breathed out.

 

“Why would I?” Yifan chuckled as he grinded his against Chanyeol’s thigh. “You drive me crazy.”

 

“Oooooh” Chanyeol just giggled in glee and massaged Yifan’s through his pants. Yifan moaned into Chanyeol’s neck before kissing him deeply.

 

The night passed as the two explored each other and their bond growing stronger.

 

 

 

 

 

...6 months…

 

 

As they got up from the table, Yifan gently tapped the glass with his fork, to draw attention from their parents.

 

“Thank you for being here tonight. Me and Chanyeol–” He ignored the gasps from Chanyeol’s parents “Would like to announce that we have decided to accept the marriage contract between the families and we have decided to get married in a year’s time, starting from today.”

 

Yifan’s mom immediately stood up and congratulated them, hugging Chanyeol tightly and telling them that she’s so happy they’ve found love together and how she can’t wait until Chanyeol officially enters the family.

 

Chanyeol’s parents on the other hand just stood frozen.

 

“Mother, father, isn’t this what you hoped for?” Chanyeol asked.

 

“Yes, and we are happy, but also confused” Chanyeol’s mom looked at her husband before directing her next words to Yifan, “Yifan, darling, you shouldn’t indulge Chaeyeon’s silly games. She’s going to be your wife and she should start acting like a proper lady deserving of you.”

‘Unbelivable’ Was all Chanyeol thought as he tried not to cry at his mother’s hurtful words. Suddenly he felt Yifan’s arm around his waist and as Chanyeol looked at him he immediately noticed the nerve jumping in his jaw and the tension on his face. Chanyeol also noticed Yifan’s mom directing his parents an appalled face. ‘At least Yifan’s mom accepts me. Even if I lose my parents, I’ll have her.’

 

“In case you have forgotten” Yifan’s voice sounded like a roar, “Chanyeol and I are adults, therefore you have no say whatsoever in how I treat Chanyeol. This isn’t your relationship, but mine and Chanyeol’s, so I’ll appreciate it if you stop misgendering Chanyeol, my future husband, and desist of this silly notion of a proper lady.”

 

Chanyeol felt his chest swell with pure love for Yifan. He wrapped his arm around Yifan’s waist and leaned a bit into his body.

 

“Young man! How dare you talk to us like that!” Chanyeol’s dad responded, “We will not tolerate this! We raised a daughter! We will not let you make a mockery of us in front of the Korean socialite!”

 

Yifan gave a booming laugh, “Then it’s a good thing we are not getting married in Korea.”

 

“What?!”

 

“That’s right, we will be getting married in Canada. You see, a cousin will take over the new Korean branch of the company in my stead, while Chanyeol and I take over the Canadian branch.” Yifan finished off with a smug smile.

 

“You will not! This wasn’t in the arrangement!” Chanyeol’s parents argued and, as Chanyeol was going to refute them, Yifan’s mom beat him to it.

 

“Excuse me? The arrangement was for our children to enter a marriage contract to solidify our ties with Korea. Nowhere did we stipulate that they had to stay or that Yifan had to absolutely take over the Korean branch.” Yifan’s mom was basically spitting fire, “It is already signed, and our children are going to fulfill it. Object one more time and you will not be linked to us despite the inevitable marriage!”

 

Silence fell around the room for a few seconds before Chanyeol’s mom opened only to quickly shut it at her husband’s head shaking.

 

“Alright. We understand, but don’t count on us to go to your wedding, Chaeyeon. As soon as we step through the door, you are dead to us.” Chanyeol’s father declared before they stepped away from the table, leaving immeditelly.

 

Chanyeol felt rooted to the floor as he watched the retreating backs of his parents in disbelief. His parents had abandoned him, just like that, as if they never loved him. Dazedly and staring blankly, he felt gentle hands guide him back down into his seat. A hand forced his head to the side and his eyes refocused on Yifan’s sad eyes. With great force, he threw himself into Yifan and started crying the loss of his parents.

 

Minutes passed before he was finally calm enough to accept a glass of water from Yifan’s mom with a small thank you.

 

“It’s going to be okay, Chanyeol, you still have me. I’ll be your mom.”

 

He looked up at the tall woman gently carting her hands through his hair and her gentle smile. “I do, don’t I?” Chanyeol smiled and hugged the older woman, feeling her lay a kiss on his head. ‘I was right, I still have a mother.’

 

Breaking the kiss, he looked at Yifan and smiled at him, answering the question he could clearly see in those intense eyes, “I’ll be fine.”

 

“I know you will.” Yifan answered and kiss Chanyeol on the forehead and then laid a gentle reassuring kiss on his lips. As Chanyeol lost himself in the kiss, he knew he truly was going to be fine. It might take a while, but he’d get there.

 

 

 

 

...1 year later…

 

 

Gulping down his nerves, Chanyeol checked himself one last time in the mirror before making his way to the courtyard where Yifan was waiting for him. As he walked through their house ‘God, I still can’t get used to that’ Chanyeol thought on everything that had happened in the last year; moving to Canada, getting a degree in business, learning English and French... He shook his head in spite of himself. To think he’d been against this arrangement at the beginning and it had turned into his greatest and only love story.

 

Finally entering the threshold that led out to the courtyard, Chanyeol stopped and took a deep breath and waited for his cue.

 

 

Yifan smoothed his tie one more time in nervousness. He vaguely heard his best man hissing a ‘will you stop that already!’ at him. He couldn’t help it-- he was finally marrying Chanyeol, the love of his life, the sunshine of his grey days, the light in his darkness, the–well you get what he meant. Listening to the cue, he straightened up and looked towards the end of the aisle where Chanyeol suddenly appeared, radiant in his white and grey tux.

 

And as Chanyeol stepped by his side at the small altar and took his hand, Yifan knew that this was the start of their happily ever after.

 

When Chanyeol said his ‘I do’ and Yifan kissed him to seal the ceremony, he felt like he had finally broken free of his chrysalis, transformed into the person he was always meant to be.

 

Fin

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MASTERLIST