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Dressed in white and his smile as bright as sunlight, Renjun couldn't believe the day he'd marry the love of his life would come.
Handsome, Renjun thought, just like the first moment he met him. Na Jaemin was brimming with joy in front of him, just as handsome as the day they met. Renjun felt so overwhelmed as they stood under an arch of flowers and greens and in front of their friends and family – in matrimony.
He and Jaemin have been through a lot together, from breakups because the world wasn't on their side to Renjun spiraling from his stress at work and Jaemin having to take the brunt of it all. They've grown from their childish dreams of love to learning what it truly meant to love someone. Jaemin stood by his side after they got back together and through the whirlwind spiral of his life. There were times when Renjun thought he didn't deserve Jaemin, that his love was too great of a thing to be kept guarded by his flight-risk hands. But every day, Jaemin would remind Renjun that he would choose Renjun, no matter what. Nothing could ever stop him from choosing Renjun in this lifetime and the lifetimes after (if there ever was, he'd said).
Once he left his stressful job and sought counseling for his issues, he worked every day to make sure he was his better self for Jaemin. His Jaemin.
Their presider cleared his throat, looked at both of them with pride and told them to recite their vows.
"Renjunie goes first because he kept insisting that he should since he was born first," Jaemin joked, trying to make him laugh as he probably sensed that Renjun was almost on the verge of tears.
Renjun rolled his eyes but still laughed at how endearing his soon-to-be husband was. He unfolded the note with all the words he wanted to say Jaemin, the person who had given him so much that he never would have imagined he would receive in his life.
"The first time I realized I was in love with you, I cried. I cried because I thought that there was something or someone I wanted that I could never have, even if I worked my ass off to get it. To thirteen-year-old Renjun, you were a dream I could never achieve, and loving you silently was the only option. But I'm glad, you always see the world differently, your way," Renjun gave him a smile.
"You've told me once that you felt conscious about people not understanding you, or the way you think, but I've always adored the way you see the world. And I will tell you a thousand times more, so you'll believe it. I loved that when you first told me you loved me, you took all my fears away just by saying, 'it doesn't have to make sense to others. It just has to make sense to us' and to sixteen-year-old Renjun, it felt like a start of a fairy tale" he sniffled at the last word, glancing at Jaemin and trying to hold back his tears.
"When I lost you that summer when I was 21, it felt like my whole world crashed. It felt like a part of me was being torn piece by piece every day. It hurt like fucking shit. I knew that back then, we were just kids that needed to grow up apart. We needed to find ourselves, and I wouldn't have wanted that any other way. I'm happy that along the journey of finding ourselves and loving ourselves, we managed to find our way back to each other," he reached his hand out to Jaemin, the tears running down his cheeks. Stray tears fell down on his vows, ink blotted but the words still clear, as clear as his love for the man in front of him.
"Na Jaemin, I know I can be difficult but I promise to love and cherish you, to collect myself and compromise when I need to. You're so full of love that I don't think a lifetime is ever enough for me to give it back to you in the amount you deserve. But still, I want to be your family, to be the solace you turn to when things get hard," Renjun slipped the ring on Jaemin's finger, the ring that bound them together in this lifetime, "To be with you from the boring, to the shittiest of times and to the happiest of moments. With this ring, I promise you my love, my everything."
Jaemin chuckled while wiping away the tears on Renjun's cheeks with his handkerchief. He wasn't one to get teary-eyed easily but seeing Renjun so filled with love, he couldn't help but also be brought to tears. He squeezed Renjun's hand softly before starting.
"I'm not always good at saying poetic or philosophical things. In fact, it took me a month to come up with vows that sounded more palatable to our friends," Jaemin glanced at their band of friends who waved at Jaemin before Jaemin returned his gaze to Renjun, "Who said it sounded way too cheesy they didn't want to vomit at our wedding."
It made Renjun (and their guests) laugh.
"Huang Renjun, the first time I knew I loved you, I never wanted to fight for something so bad in my entire life, and that says a lot. I didn't know what I was signing up for at 15. I just knew I wanted to have you, make you mine forever. For me, being by your side is always enough, being the one I return to every day is enough. There's nothing more in this world that I want than to hold your hand through it all," he bit his lip to hold back his tears. Renjun looked so beautiful he thought, he wanted to take it in by himself a little more, but he knew after this, he'd have a lifetime to do that.
"You taught me a different side of love that I would have never learned if I wasn't with you. You always know the right thing to say at times when I doubt myself. You're one of my biggest cheerleaders, next to my mom of course," he turned to his mom, who was sniffling and wiping her tears with a handkerchief but smiling with utter joy for him, "and I don't think I would have ever imagined anyone else by my side at this moment."
"Of course, if you imagined someone else, I would kill you," Renjun mumbled, to which made Jaemin laughed.
"Loving you is like summer, a never ending road trip with our favorite songs on repeat like that time we went on a trip to the beach and you gave me our first promise ring, telling me you loved me. It can also be like autumn, when you told me we had to break up because we aren't good for each other anymore, not yet, but you still told me you loved me even when you walked out the door. Loving you is like springtime because after a parting, there's a new beginning and I promised myself I was never going to lose you again. Loving you is like winter time because even on cold, dark days, having you by my side makes the bad times worth it," Jaemin paused, taking all the emotions in. Gosh, he and Renjun had been through so much. And it felt like this ceremony was a culmination of everything, a celebration of a new beginning.
"So I, Na Jaemin, vow to wake up every morning or noontime if I can't wake up early in the morning and remind you of my love. No matter how hard it gets, you're my one treasure worth keeping and I'll hold on to you," he slipped the ring on Renjun's finger, then pressed a kiss on Renjun's knuckles, "For better or worse, 'til death do us part, I'll love you with every beat of my heart. I swear," he sang the tune, making everyone in the crowd cheer for him.
"I'll love you until the sturdiest spaceship reaches the farthest galaxy"
The presider himself was teary, wiping the tears at the corner of his eyes before continuing, "And now with your expressions of love exchanged and witnessed by your loved one, you may now seal your union with a kiss."
When Renjun leaned in for the kiss, it caught Jaemin by surprise. Every time Renjun initiated affection, it was always a welcomed surprise, but Jaemin was happy that the love of his life was so eager to be with him as much as he was. Jaemin was always the affectionate one between the two of them, Renjun loved him in his own way, and he wouldn't have it any other way.
"I love you, too, until the last star in these infinite galaxies loses its twinkle," Renjun replied with a smile.