(Called it.)

"How do I look?"

"You look very handsome."

"Oppa this is the fifth time you ask this."

"I know, I'm just—"

"Hyung, it'll be fine. He's crazy about you, you know that. You're his dream guy."

Aaaaaaaaaahhhhhh.

"But I'm not, I'm, I'm just, I'm just some guy, I was so fucked up in the head and I'm not like not fucked up now, and—"

"Oppa, seriously."

"He loves you to death, his parents love you to death, I've never met a more compatible couple—"

"Hey!"

"Come on, noona, you know what I mean."

"As your girlfriend it is my duty to give you a hard time when you say stuff like this."

Aaaaaaahhh!!!!!!

He walks over to the door to surreptitiously open it a fraction and look at the reception area outside.

"You stay where you belong until it is time and you belong somewhere else," scolds Cricket from where he is standing guard outside the door to the adjacent room in which Haru's presumably getting en-kimono'd with Ren's help.

They're getting married outdoors, of course, and Jaeha can see through the hallway window the tossing rainbow of leaves everywhere - there was a backup venue in case of rain but it's only partly cloudy today, chilly enough for long sleeves and the occasional sweater or blazer but not calling for parkas. There are flowers everywhere, gentians and white roses and Queen Anne's lace and delphiniums, especially all over the spot where they're supposed to stand. Charlie's in the front row, politely allowing one of Haru's friends from Japan to practice English at him. There's a screen up that's going to subtitle the English ceremony in Korean and Japanese, since Jaeha is under strict instructions from his affianced to not touch his powers even a speck on their wedding day lest he enjoy it one iota less than he ought to.

He loves his Haru so, so, so much.

"Apologies, Cricket, I'll go back where I belong," he says, shutting the door.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

"You know, oppa, it's really funny to watch you being so completely unchill. Change of pace from the usual."

"Are you sure you've met the same Kang Jaeha I have? This man is terminally—"

Jaeha covers Yoo-min's mouth. "Don't you have something to prepare? What am I paying you for."

He pushes Jaeha's hand away. "You're not paying me! This is volunteer work!"

"I'm paying you in allowing you to bear witness to the most beautiful wedding you will ever see, and you better be thankful for it."

"Wow, rude, are you saying you wouldn't have invited me otherwise?"

"No, I think he was just heavily implying it."

"Well, then I suppose I'd better deliver a service worthy of this honour. I should in fact go prepare. Toodles!" He walks over to the door, opens it, pauses, then looks over his shoulder to say, "You really are looking gorgeous, and I'm really happy for you." And then yeah off he goes.

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Hee hee hee.

Haru, being less constitutionally anxious than Jaeha, has monopolized far fewer of their mutual work friends and is only getting Ren's help with getting dressed. She keeps ducking in and out to confirm that everything is going according to plan and checking the list Haru made her months ago to make sure she wouldn't drop any balls. The cake is slightly late. The photographer was early, concluded she was in the wrong place, and had to be summoned back from her slow drive around the region that she was undertaking to find the right one.

But everything is smoothed out well enough by the time Haru comes out to get hitched. He has a new kimono for the occasion, which matches Jaeha's hanbok. ("If I'm wearing a kimono you have to wear a hanbok, that's only fair.") He sweeps out into the garden to the music.

Jaeha's the one waiting at the altar, because even though he's at risk of passing out on the spot from seeing Haru walk down the aisle towards him in his gorgeous kimono, he'd have been at an even higher risk of tripping and falling on his face if he had to walk in a hanbok towards his Haru and had to constantly keep himself from sprinting. He hid his hands in each other's sleeves so that he could grip his forearms and have somewhere to dump his nervous energy. He kept picturing everything that could go wrong and nothing did and people kept talking to him and he was the least interesting conversational partner ever because every four words he'd look away from his interlocutor over at where Haru was meant to be coming from soon and he nearly DIED.

He is nearly dying again, now, with the music and his Haru walking down the aisle in his gorgeous kimono, and he will not actually pass out but he might accidentally lock his face forever into the stupid grin he's sporting.

Haru doesn't run, he just beams and takes steps one at a time and after an eternity that takes about fifteen seconds there he is, holding Jaeha's hands in his. Yoo-min has the rings, right? Right.

Oh God oh God oh God it's happening it's real oh God oh God he looks like a fool he looks like an idiot Haru is RIGHT HERE seeing how much of a FOOL he looks like and and and and he is a fool he's a fool for his Haru he is an idiot for his Haru he is going to be Haru's forever they are going to have RINGS to prove it they're such beautiful rings too aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh

Park Yoo-min, standing in front of them in a white suit with a tie the same shade of pink as his eyes, clears his throat, then grabs a piece of paper to start reading from.

"Dearly beloved," he starts, somberly, "we're gathered here today to honour the memory of our dear friend—"

"—wait, what? No, wrong card." He tosses it over his shoulder. "Whatever, I'll improv."

"Hi! Our beautiful couple made the terrible mistake of allowing me to officiate this wedding and I am about to make this everyone's problem."

Okay yes he is starting to think this was a mistake!!!!!

Quite frankly, what had he been expecting?

"You're on thin iiiice, Yoo-min," Haru murmurs under his breath.

He winks at Haru.

"Dearly beloved! Family, friends, new and old, but most of all Haru and Jaeha, welcome to what I am reliably informed will be the most beautiful wedding I'll ever see. With such beautiful people, people who love our grooms, people who are such an important part of their lives, important enough that they're all here to witness this, in this lovely autumn afternoon in British Columbia, which I have been convinced might be the best possible choice for time and place for a wedding, and, most important of all, with the grooms themselves, two people who love each other so much you can feel it from a mile away, who are here to reinforce that love and show it off to the whole world—how could I argue? I've seen the looks Jaeha gives Haru whenever they're together and even then I don't think I've ever seen him this happy, it actually makes me want to cry a little."

...okay, maybe not a mistake. TBD.

(He is not going to cry. He is not going to cry. He is not going to cry NOW if he is going to cry it'll have to be AFTER HIS VOWS otherwise he is going to choke up and that'll be TERRIBLE. ...in a VERY EGO-SYNTONIC WAY.)

Haru grins and squeezes Jaeha's hands.

"You know, they told me that they hadn't been dating yet, when I first saw the two of them together? Which seems insane to me, I mean, it was really really obvious to anyone with eyes that Jaeha was head over heels for this man. And let me tell you guys a little bit about what exactly it is that Jaeha sees in him, so that you'll see it, too.

"He's smart, and driven, and good. I don't think I've ever met anyone who was as serious about going after the things he wants, about being the person he wants to be, about having the impact in the world he wants to have, as Haru. If you've ever heard the phrase, give me a lever and a place to stand and I'll move the world, the 'me' in that phrase is Haru Swan. He'll move the world, and he's one of the best people for the job, out of anyone.

"And Jaeha, now, might be the bravest person I've ever met, and one of the kindest. He's incredibly thorough about doing the right thing, and about figuring out what the right thing is so that he can do it. He's always looking out for everyone he meets, he remembers everything you like and is the absolute best at giving presents. He always, always wants the people around him to be happy, and by God he'll figure out how to get that.

"Of course, if you're here, you know all of this. You've met them, you've seen what they're like, and most of all, you've seen them together. You've seen how they make each other better, stronger, happier, and more like their best selves. Getting married is really a technicality for the two of them, I don't think there's a force in this world or any of the myriad tiny little worlds they and lots of us keep going into every day that could separate them. This wedding, this beautiful wedding, surrounded by these beautiful people, this is a ceremony to celebrate this bond, this love. It's a privilege to be here, to have witnessed to the birth and growth of this love, and to be given the honour to deliver these words.

"But my words aren't, really, what you're all here to listen to. The purpose of this little gathering of ours is to listen to them, it's to shower them with our love and to show them how happy we are for them. So now I'm going to step back for a bit and let the grooms speak for themselves, of their love and of each other."

NOTCRYINGNOTCRYINGNOTCRYINGNOTCRYING fuck

"My Jaeha. I would say I can't believe I'm lucky enough to have you be mine forever but in fact I can believe it because you put a lot of effort into making it abundantly clear how mine you are already. I want to be what you see in me and be as good for you as you are for me, complements and partners and best-beloveds for the rest of our lives. I am so exquisitely happy with the life we've built together and can't think of any way to improve on it besides having a party about how it will go on forever, but if I do come up with something I know you will be right there with me. I love you so much."

Okay yeah he started crying at "my Jaeha" and by the end of it he's sobbing.

Yoo-min kind of thought this was going to happen and came prepared. Here's a handkerchief. "Need a moment, buddy?"

"God, n-no, if I w-wait I'll n-n-never g-get it o-out."

His poor Jaeha is so overwhelmed. Haru takes the handkerchief on his behalf and dabs at his eyes.

Okay. Okay. He's going to need to talk through it because he doesn't think he's gonna be able to calm himself down and even if he did he'd start crying again the moment he started talking. So. 

"Haru-ya. Yoo-min was r-right. I, I f-fell in love w-with you so, so, so fast. It was o-obvious t-to anyone with eyes, and I'm s-so, so c-crazy about you. I, I—" He stops and takes a deep breath, trying to get himself under control. "I invented myself for you. I, I w-wanted to be yours, needed t-to be yours, I wanted t-to be your dream guy. I wanted to b-be your dream." He sniffles. "You're my dream, Haru-ya. Y-you've always been my dream, a-and you'll always b-be my dream. And, and, and I'm t-told I did it but that s-s-sounds so fake. It's s-so fake that I'm h-here now, th-that, that I'm getting m-m-m-married to you." He needs another break here to get his breathing under control. "Forever." He needs to actually not stutter this. "I'm yours—forever. You can't—get rid—of me anymore. My—name—is always—going to be—next to yours. You and I are," deep breath, "we're a unit now. Th-there's no Jaeha without Haru, a-and there's no Haru without Jaeha.

"I l-love you, Haru-ya. Forever."

eeeeeeee

"Now Haru, Jaeha, I want you guys to turn around for a moment."

What is this about. Turn which-a-way, Yoo-min. Does he have to let go of Jaeha's hands.

Yoo-min nods in the direction of the guests, so no, he doesn't.

...okay... He'll look...

"Do you see that? All of those faces, all of those people who are here for you? You see Baek Hyun-jae over there trying to pretend she hasn't just spent the last ten minutes bawling her eyes out—"

She buries her face in Juheon's shirt and mumbles something not even esper hearing can catch

"—or Tae-hwan trying to pretend I didn't see him crying—"

Goddamnit.

"We love you guys. We really, really do. And we believe in you. We believe in your love, we belive in what you've built, and in what you're going to continue to build, forever.

"Now let's get to the best part. Why don't you look at each other and think about what you most love about each other. Bring to mind your favourite thing, the thing that fills your heart so much it might explode."

But there are so many choices! The list! The scooping him up and carrying him to bed! The way he looks at him especially when there is a kimono involved! The food and the getting salty about bad statistics and the way he wanted to win Cricket over!!

His mind is just kind of blank right now with the word HARU seared into it and Haru's face in the center of his vision and he can't think of any single thing, either, but he's feeling like his heart might explode anyway so probably that works?

"Haru Swan, do you take Kang Jaeha as your lawfully wedded husband, to love, cherish, protect, and support, from this day forward, for better and for worse, for richer and for poorer, in sickness and in health, for as long as you may live?"

"I do."

"Kang Jaeha, do you take Haru Swan as your lawfully wedded husband, to love, cherish, protect, and support, from this day forward, for better and for worse, for richer and for poorer, in sickness and in health, for as long as you may live?"

"I d-do."

Here are the rings, then, in a cute little box. "Haru, Jaeha, you two picked these beautiful rings together, and they'll be a tiny little symbol to carry with you and remember each other by, in the few moments when you're away from each other." He picks one of the rings from the box and offers it to Jaeha. "Jaeha, place the ring on Haru's finger."

He may be slightly trembling a little bit just a teensy bit just a bit. But he can do this. He can, can, can accept the ring from Yoo-min and lift Haru's hand so he can, can, he can, he can put a ring on Haru's finger, and they'll be married, and aaaaaaaahhhh?

Haru obligingly holds his hand forth to be ringed, bouncing just a couple times just a little bit on his toes.

Oh no. Oh no he's in so much trouble. He's in so so so much trouble. What if he wants to kiss Haru NOW, what then??? What then??????

Ring goes on finger.

"Haru, place the ring on Jaeha's finger," Yoo-min says, offering Haru the matching ring.

Here it goes. It feels like it should be somehow a surprise that it fits even though they, like, checked their ring sizes before they bought the things.

It would be VERY BAD for his heart to stop right now so it will not, instead it will just FEEL like his heart is about to stop and then he's enringed and, and, CAN THEY GET TO THE PART WHERE THEY KISS NOW!!!!!!!

They can. "By the power vested in me by the Province of British Columbia, but much more important by the power of your commitment to each other and the promises you've made, I now pronounce you married. You may kiss."

The thing Haru is going to get now is a proper Hollywood dipping kiss, because they gotta start with style.

(MARRIED MARRIED MARRIED MARRIED they're MARRIED theyre MARRIED MARRIED MARRIED MARRIED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE~! Haru dips backward gracefully because he might have been able to guess Jaeha would do that.

Everyone stands up and applauds. There might be some cheering. There's even a wolf whistle from someone, who knows who.

Some people are a bit more decorous but still pretty happy for them.

Okay he should straighten up but he kind of doesn't want to stop kissing.

Nobody's gonna stop them.

Well after a few seconds Yoo-min clears his throat. Lest they forget they're still surrounded by people including parents. You know. Just in case.

Yes yes right. But Haru can get a very soft whisper that no other espers can hear: "This kimono was too expensive for me to rip it off you but I definitely want you out of it."

"We have to sit through this whole reception and dinner first," Haru purrs back. "Be good."

"I make no promises."

Yoo-min clears his throat again. "Alright, now, off with the two of you to go do whatever it is married couples do right after the ceremony's over, not my job anymore, I think people might throw rice at you? I dunno, good luck!"

Haru giggles. The venue actually forbids throwing rice because it can hurt birds or something? But they can go mingle.

Well, "mingle", everyone wants to congratulate the couple after that.

"You guys, that was so pretty, Tae-hwan couldn't stop crying," says Woo-young, tugging his partner along.

"Shut up I wasn't crying that much."

"I was," says Jaeha, continually rubbing his eyes with Yoo-min's handkerchief. "I'm sure you guys saw."

"Congratulations, you two," says Hee-seo, walking up to them with Dal-seo in tow. "That was beautiful. Who wrote the officiant's speeches?"

"He did those himself, he's a character."

(Holy shit that's Nam fucking Hee-seo what the fuck is she doing here—)

Pat pat. "I wouldn't be surprised if he was being honest when he said he was improvising."

"Would I lie about that?" says the man himself, showing up outta nowhere with Seungjoo in tow.

"Congratulations!" he says to the couple, rather than engage with his hyung's antics.

Gosh this is. So many people. So, so many people.

Park Yoo-min was right this is too much. He's not going to cry anymore but he's wobbling a bit.

"Well, young man, I hope you won't mind me having someone contact you about speechwriting, that was very well-done."

"Thank you, Nam Hee-seo-nim, but I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to produce that on command. I spoke from the heart."

(DID HE JUST REFUSE NAM HEE-SEO WHAT THE FUCK.)

"Besides, he has a job already, not everyone is as weird a workaholic as I am. - Mom, let me introduce you to your opposite number! - this is my mother Ren Swan, though I don't know if you have any languages in common -"

Ren smiles and bows. "It's nice to meet you!" She goes for a Japanese greeting rather than an English one at a wild guess.

She bows, too. "It's a pleasure to meet you, too," she replies in Japanese. "You've raised a lovely young man, Swan-san."

(Jaeha really feels like calling Nam Hee-seo "Ren Swan's "opposite number" is a bit much.)

(...wait, hold on.)

("Is Nam Hee-seo-nim hyung's mum?" Tae-hwan asks Woo-young in the softest whisper he can muster.)

("Yes. And his dad is Kang Jaehyuk.")

(WHAT THE FUCK)

"Oh, he basically raised himself after the first few years," says Ren, "I don't know if I can take much credit!"

(And everyone? Is just?? Talking???? To one of the most powerful people in Korea????? Like she's just some guy??????????????????)

(Pat pat pat.)

Jaeha and Haru weave between people a bit as the other guests want to congratulate them and wish them well and talk about how beautiful the ceremony was. Jaeha manages to not cry at all, which he feels is a victory, and he will hold onto it for the rest of the day. That was enough waterworks, thank you.

Charlie comes up and gives Haru a big wordless hug.

Aww that's nice. He's feeling a bit guilty that it took them so long to get to Haru's dad but in their defence there are so many people here and they were all trying to get attention and they mostly don't speak English so it was a bit hard.

And then Charlie lets Haru go,

and hugs Jaeha too.

oh

oh he's crying again okay

Charlie pats his shoulder and releases him.

"U-um. Thank you. Uh." That's a stupid thing to say. "I'm really happy you came." That's a less but still somewhat stupid thing to say. Sorry his brain is a little bit occupied by that hug.

"Wouldn't miss it for anything."

"Yeah.

"...I know this is really obvious and might be a cliché and repetitive but I really, really love your son. I want to make him the happiest man in the world." At least this time he isn't actively sobbing.

Charlie smiles. "He looks it."

Dinner is, of course, delicious. Jaeha wasn't the one to cook because are you fucking insane he would not be able to keep his hands steady while holding cooking implements but he did supervise and make sure it was going to be delicious. Sushi, bulgogi, bibimbap, various vegetarian options, stuff with meat and fish and bread and meat and fish specifically because Charlie likes that, and for dessert there's of course the wedding cake plus plus rice pudding plus tiramisu, and also a few different kinds of coffee. Nam Hee-seo has to excuse herself early, but most of everyone else stays until the end, and Jaeha feels like he's in some kind of fairytale, his life is so fantastic right now.

Haru feeds him cake. Just like on their first ("first") picnic date.

He is sooooooo in love. So in love. It's unreal how much he loves his Haru.

His Haru loves him too. And kisses him about it occasionally between bites of wedding cake. That they are having because it's their wedding and they just got married.

They diiiiiiid and fuck Korea actually. They can't say shit about any of this. Jaeha and Haru are so married. So, so married. The marriedest.

And at night, quite very late, they eventually say bye to the last guest and can finally be by themselves in the honeymoon cottage Jaeha rented them nearby.

"Ho hum, yawn, bedtime."

"Oh really? Well, I suppose I should do my husbandly duties and tuck you in, then," he says, picking Haru up in a bridal carry to take him to the bedroom where a bed with rose petals spread in a heart pattern on top of it awaits them.

"...oh my god the rose petals. I love you."