Chapter Text
On the wedding day, Phuwin checked every piece of food before eating it.
Of course, Pond noticed.
“Babe.”
Phuwin did not respond.
“Babe!” Pond tried again, this time, a little bit louder.
Phuwin lifted the lid off a small dessert cup.
“What?”
“There are no rings in the food.”
“I trust no one.”
“You can trust me.”
Phuwin gave him a look. “You?”
Pond nodded. “Okay, bad example.”
The wedding was beautiful.
Soft lights.
Cream and gold flowers.
Small enough to feel intimate.
Big enough to include all the people who loved them and had survived their relationship’s many disasters.
The sushi chef had indeed provided a platter. Without jewelry.
He even placed a small card beside it:
For eating only. Not for proposing. Do not follow the married couple’s terrible example.
Phuwin took a picture.
Pond looked embarrassed.
Dunk looked delighted and promised to hire the sushi chef for their own wedding. Joong happily agreed.
During the reception, Joong and Dunk gave speeches while Gemini recorded the whole event.
They were emotional, funny, and mostly appropriate.
Mostly.
Gemini, as per the crowd’s popular request, eventually gave a speech that began with, “When Pond told me he was proposing, I thought, statistically, something would go wrong just because he’s Pond.”
Phuwin covered his face.
Pond laughed so hard he nearly cried.
“But then, anything can go wrong but you’ll still end up with the right person. And that’s Phuwin. Congratulations, Pond and Phuwin! Stop feeding non-food to each other.” Gemini said proudly, as he finished his speech.
Which made the married couple choke on their wine.
Then it was Pond’s turn.
He stood with the microphone, looking nervous despite the fact that he had performed in front of far bigger crowds before. Phuwin watched from the table, heart beating loudly with anticipation.
Pond looked at him.
And just like that, the room faded.
“I promised Phuwin I would only make one joke,” Pond began.
The guests laughed.
Phuwin narrowed his eyes playfully. Oh no, this does not look good, he thought.
Pond smiled.
“So here it is: when I said I wanted him to carry my love with him everywhere, I did not mean internally.”
The room exploded.
Phuwin dropped his face into his hands. Regretting every decision he had ever made.
Dunk screamed.
Joong slapped the table.
Gemini stood up like he had just witnessed history. He double checked if the recording button was still on because he would never forgive himself if he missed to record this legendary moment.
Pond waited for the laughter to settle.
Then his voice softened.
“But honestly, that night taught me something.”
The room quieted, all focus was on Pond.
But Pond’s attention was only on Phuwin. As always on Phuwin.
“I had this perfect plan. Perfect dinner. Perfect speech. Perfect ring. And it all went wrong in the most ridiculous way possible.”
Phuwin laughed. He would remember all the details from that fateful night for the rest of his life.
Pond, sharing the same thoughts as Phuwin, continued.
“But Phuwin still said yes. Not because it was perfect. Not because I was smooth. Not because the moment looked like something from a movie.”
He took a breath.
“He said yes even after the hospital. Even after the X-ray. Even after discovering that the man he was marrying had the survival instincts of a spoon.”
Phuwin laughed softly, eyes full of love for his Pond.
Pond’s eyes shone.
“He said yes because he knows me. The real me. The dramatic, nervous, overplanning, very stupid me. And somehow, he still wants forever with me.”
Phuwin’s eyes burned, thinking This was supposed to be a funny joke. Why is Pond getting more sentimental?
Pond lifted his glass.
“So, Phuwin, thank you for saying yes. Thank you for loving me through every bad idea. I promise our life together will be full of better plans.”
He paused.
Then smiled.
“Probably.”
Everyone laughed again.
Phuwin shook his head, smiling through tears.
Pond looked at him like he was the only person in the room.
“I love you,” Pond said.
No joke this time.
No disaster.
Just truth.
Phuwin lifted his glass.
“I love you too.”
Later, after the dancing, after the photos, after Dunk tried to sneak the X-ray frame onto the gift table and Phuwin nearly tackled him, Pond and Phuwin finally found a quiet corner alone.
Pond took Phuwin’s hand.
The wedding ring was there now.
Clean.
Safe.
Exactly where it belonged. Just like Pond and Phuwin.
“No regrets?” Pond asked.
Phuwin looked at him.
“At this point, regrets would be inefficient.”
Pond laughed.
Phuwin leaned closer.
“No regrets,” he said softly.
Pond’s face softened.
“Even with the X-ray?”
“Especially with the X-ray.”
Pond blinked.
Phuwin smiled.
“It’s us.”
“A medical emergency?”
“A disaster that somehow became a love story.”
Pond’s eyes warmed.
“That sounds right.”
Phuwin touched his cheek.
“But if you ever hide jewelry in my food again, I’m divorcing you.”
Pond nodded solemnly.
“Understood.”
“And keeping the X-ray.”
“That’s fair.”
Phuwin kissed him.
Pond smiled against his mouth.
From somewhere across the room, Dunk shouted, “We’re framing the wedding menu next!”
Phuwin pulled back.
“I heard that! Stop framing everything!”
Dunk ran.
Joong followed, laughing.
Gemini lifted his phone.
Pond wrapped an arm around Phuwin’s waist and held him close.
“Still happy?”
Phuwin looked around.
At their friends.
At the flowers.
At the sushi chef who was avoiding eye contact.
At the framed X-ray hidden badly behind the cake table.
At Pond, who had turned the world’s most ridiculous proposal into the world’s most unforgettable yes.
Phuwin smiled.
“Very.”
Pond kissed his forehead.
And somewhere between the laughter, the music, and the faint threat of another framed medical document, forever began properly.
This time, no sushi required.