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Just so he’s clear, Eddy does not want to be here.
Even though he’s basically being pampered right now, in an air-conditioned room, sitting on a small couch with plush, pink pillows that match perfectly with the interior of the store. Grand, crystal chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, carefully curated bouquets of flowers on the table, with a glass of champagne in his hand—he still wouldn’t choose to be here if you asked.
His sister is getting married, and he’s been dragged along to go wedding dress shopping.
Of course, Eddy imagines his sister doesn’t want him to be here either. It was a very, last-minute, haphazard phone call that caught him off guard.
“They said family members only.” His sister said frantically, over the phone.
“What?” Eddy said, “That’s stupid. Just bring along one of your friends, you’ll probably look like sisters anyways.” He laughs, the only one finding any of this funny. “Or actually, why don’t you just ask Mom?”
“Mom is sick, you know that.” He can almost visualize his sister’s annoyed face, ready to hit him when they think their parents aren’t looking, “You think I would’ve asked you, if I could have Mom there?”
“Or one of our aunts.” His sister groans at that, “Or a cousin—” He offers.
“Eddy.” His sister says, her voice sounding tight and constricted.
She doesn’t say anything afterwards, but just saying his name is enough. Among the exasperation, Eddy can hear a tinge of embarrassment in her tone, which makes him stop.
After all, he only has one sister in this entire world. Despite the ceaseless bickering, and hair yanks, and hard kicks under the table, she will always be the one who prepared piano pieces as his accompaniment for competitions, will always be the one who could surpass all impossible conditions when he really needed it, like when he forgot his violin for a camp, and she somehow sped through Brisbane airport traffic to deliver it to him right on time.
She was one of the main reasons his parents allowed Eddy to pursue music. Thanks to her long, late hour talks with their parents, she coaxed them to accept Eddy’s career choices, and eventually, his relationship choices as well.
So well, he supposes he owes her one.
“Okay, fine.” Eddy groans.
He feels like he’s a kid again, and he’s droning at his sister, asking when they can leave—but instead of secret skimpy crop tops at the mall, it’s high-end wedding dresses at a boutique shop.
He finds that he and his sister blend in quite nicely, as he catches a glimpse of them in the mirror. Eddy feels comfortable in this environment, which surprises him, although it really shouldn’t.
They had always been told growing up, that the world they were entering was going to be a judgmental one, so it was incredibly important to uphold a decent appearance. This meant introducing workout routines, hair dyes, perms, and subtle statement fashion pieces at a young age.
Not only did they have to be the best intellectually—they always had to make an effort to look their best, constantly. In this world looks are everything. Their mom had preached to them. One of the very few things their mom had emphasized to them was to always pay attention to fashion trends, so it’s not surprising that Eddy’s sister wanted his clothing opinions.
“What type of dress do you want?” Eddy asks, holding his sister’s purse.
“I wanted a princess ballgown for the longest time,” She sighs, “But now, I think I’d just want something elegant and subtle, something that flatters my figure.”
Eddy chuckles at how adult she sounds. He remembers them being kids, and watching his sister look longingly at princess gowns. Seeing them mature and want adult things feels funny to him, even if it’s natural.
“You’ll look good in either.” Eddy says. It doesn’t sound like a compliment, but a genuine analysis. They’ve always been brutally honest with one another like that, so they could be the best version of themselves.
“Either way, you should just try as many dresses as you can. Have you seen the prices here? When are you ever gonna wear a dress worth ten thousand dollars again?” He asks. “That’s like, our whole university tuition.”
“Don’t remind me.” She groans. Which makes Eddy laugh in broke musician solidarity, even if they were both successful in their own careers.
The variety of wedding dresses that his sister chooses are sporadic. Even though they were the adults now, here for serious business, there was still this feeling of being left unsupervised, and being together made it feel like they were kids again.
And while they were able to stay composed in front of the workers, there was this sense of chaos when it was just the two of them, and they rotated between new gossip, old stories, and endless giggles.
She tries big, extravagant dresses that she practically drowns in, that Eddy can’t help but snicker at but simultaneously be in awe of, because it shouldn’t be physically possible for someone to have that small of a waist and hips, yet still have the strength to support a massive skirt.
“You look like a very beautiful, uh…” She looks at Eddy, anticipating his compliment as he tries to describe what she looks like. “Like a beautiful jellyfish,” he says, with pretentious hand gestures, which makes his older sister deflate and groan.
More wedding dresses. More discussions of dress material, of tulle, silk, lace, and how many can one have until it’s cheap looking? More sips of champagne, more talks of flower arrangements, and jokes about Canon in D. You’re playing at my wedding, right? She says, and Eddy responds, Why are you asking me like I have a choice?
Throughout their session, she quietly confesses all the frustrations she’s been bottling up, unleashing it all onto Eddy, confiding in him—her worries about inviting family from overseas they haven’t met in years, nervousness about preparing for the tea ceremony and wondering if their parents will get along with her fiancé's, drama among the bridesmaids, how difficult it is to organize a big venue, disbelief at how their Mom believed 100 guests is a small wedding!
Throughout it all, Eddy nods. Not exactly sure how to comfort her throughout all this, except that he would help in any way he could if she just asked, and if anybody could get through it, it’s her.
“Seriously, Eddy. Never get married.” His sister says, from the dressing room.
Eddy chuckles, “I wasn’t planning on it any time soon.”
“You and Brett never considered having a wedding?” She asks. Eddy snorts—if Brett were here to answer, he would’ve thrown his head back in laughter at the thought and exclaimed a solid, Hell no!
But Brett’s not here. It’s just Eddy and his sister.
So when he entertains the idea for the first time in his head, he’s surprised by how much he’d like the idea of a wedding.
Of course, it would kill his mother. She’s already had to compromise so much with him, and just the idea kissing Brett in front of an audience of over one hundred guests, including his mother, makes him feel physically ill.
But there are some parts he likes. He likes the idea of them dressing up on purpose and looking nice. Especially the idea of Brett dressing up, because something about Brett in a white button up and black suit really does things to him that make him want to sink to the ground.
And he can’t help but find himself sighing dreamily at the thought, imagining what music they played, if they should compose their own music, and what it would be like dancing to their own composition for the first time as a married couple. God, how romantic would that be?
Plus, Eddy’s always enjoyed intricate planning anyways, details down to flower arrangements, how he would purposely choose flowers with pretty meanings, and he could decide where people sit, and he could decide what color schemes their guests would have to wear, what food they should eat…
“Oh my god, would I be a bridezilla?” Eddy says out loud to himself in horror, which earns a loud laugh from his sister.
“Probably, you’re quite a perfectionist.” She says, “Now, come here and zip up the back, please?”
“Sure,” Eddy goes up, and opens the curtains, only to stop in place. His sister turns around, her eyes are wet.
“Yeah, I think this is the one.”
Eddy had always thought that mermaid wedding dresses looked a little funny, he was never too fond of all the details at the bottom, looking like an odd combination of dress and skirt, but it seems he’s been mistaken, because this one is just beautiful.
She’s not at all drowning in the pools of white like the princess ball gown from earlier. His sister looked fit and confident, elevated and elegant, yet dreamy and weightless.
After all, a good wedding dress shouldn’t weigh you down—just like a relationship, right? A good dress, a good relationship, should make you want to fly, higher and higher up.
“You are, literally, the Belle of the ball.” Eddy says, which makes Eddy’s sister laugh, as he nears her closer, zipping her up. He doesn’t even need to tell her to breathe in.
“I love the veil.” he says, admiring it openly, as he runs his fingers lightly against it, not even wanting to touch it too much. “It's layered and structured, yet it’s so delicate. You look like one of those Greek statues.” He says, genuinely.
“Thanks, I feel like a statue.” She says, “I don’t know if I can move in this thing. How can I sit and eat?”
“Oh, you won’t be sitting.” Eddy grins, “It’s your wedding, you’ll be the standing art piece, center of attention.” He grins. The designs of the dress are so intricate, the perfect amount of lace and flowers. Even if it’s a more grown up version, she still looks like a princess.
“God, we’re so grown up now.” His sister sighs, holding onto Eddy’s arm for support, the same way their father will probably be walking her down the aisle. She must be tired from the constant changing.
“Yeah, isn’t it great?” Eddy says, letting his sister lean on him. He thinks back to when they were younger, when she was still taller than him. If she had done this then, he would’ve probably nudged her off harshly, complaining that she smelled. Now, the weight of her doesn’t seem so bad. Almost comforting.
He takes pictures of her in the dress, some pictures of them together, and sends them to their family group chat, only to receive an immediate video call from their parents, their Mom in particular, crying loudly about how beautiful her daughter looked, and she hates that she can’t be there, and she better be there for the proper tailoring. Choruses of laughter in that tiny dressing room.
“We still have thirty minutes.” Belle said, once the phone call ended. It had taken much convincing for her Mom to hang up, and rest.
“Great, so does that mean we can leave early?” Eddy asks, still in the dressing room.
“I was actually thinking, do you want to try one?” She asks, a mischievous look in her eyes.
“Belle.” Eddy frowned.
“Eddy." His sister said, looking at him pointedly, “You said it yourself, we’re never going to wear dresses this expensive ever again, right? C’mon, it’ll be fun.” Eddy groans, already regretting this invitation. He should’ve known his sister would have done something like this.
Everybody knows that Belle’s always wanted a younger sister, not a brother. According to their parents, when they brought Eddy home from the hospital, Belle’s only response was, “I suppose you’ll do.” And thus began Eddy’s childhood torture of being forced to play along with her teaparties and barbie plays, stuck as a captive victim in her experiments for makeup, and nail polish, and heels.
“C’mon… you know you want to…” She sings-songs, which makes Eddy red. She was right, but he didn’t want to give her the satisfaction of it, even if she already got it.
“Fine.” Eddy relents, “Just one. Because you’re getting married, or whatever.” Which makes his sister laugh again, as she goes to pick a dress.
When she returns, the dress is very simple. White satin, it drapes long so that it reaches the floor to cover the feet. It’s a loose fit with spaghetti straps, yet somehow when Eddy puts it on, it compliments his slim figure nicely, making him look like a tall model. He quite likes the delicate lace and trim on the bottom.
“Eddy.” His sister says aghast, when she lets herself into the dressing room.
He grimaces at her loud gasp.
“You need to get married, right now.” She says.
“Don’t take a picture, I swear, I’ll kill you.”
“But you actually look good.” She says, “Look at the muscles, wow, you’re actually doing stuff at the gym, huh?” She says, poking her brother’s arm.
“I thought the spaghetti straps would make it cheap looking, but it’s actually nice.” Eddy says, turning around to look at his back. Does he have curves? What the fuck? Even his back looked nice, he could admit that.
“Brett needs to wifey you up.” She says, “Seriously.”
“What happened to Never Get Married, Eddy?” He asks, mocking her tone, but he knows his sister is right. And a part of him agrees. He would love to be married to Brett. Even if he'd never say it out loud.
She waves her hand around going, “Changed my mind.”
There’s a knock by their dressing room, one of the workers gently telling them their time slot is up, and the next client is there, so they need to finalize their purchase.
Eddy changes quickly, and accompanies his sister, listening to her schedule future appointments for proper tailoring that he completely zones out at. He only perks up, once he hears his older sister offering to pay for dinner and boba, as a thank you to Eddy for being her emergency call.
Eddy almost forgets about trying on the dress completely until two weeks later, when Brett comes home from checking the mail, placing a cardboard box onto their table.
“Did you order something?” Eddy asks, half-looking up from his laptop screen, wondering what cursed, late-night Amazon purchase Brett had bought now.
“No, actually, this is for you.” Brett says, which makes Eddy hum in confusion, as he goes up to see the package.
When he sees the familiar name of the store, he connects the dots.
“Huh, that’s weird. I think this is Belle’s.” He says, “I’ll call her about it.”
When she picks up, she’s in the middle of something. It sounds like she’s in a busy area, and reception is dodgy.
“No, it’s for you.” Belle insists, over the phone. By then, Brett had been in their spare room, practicing.
“Are you sure?” Eddy says, over Brett’s playing, “The connection is kind of weak, it sounds like you’re saying it’s for me, which it’s definitely not.”
“No, Eddy, you’re hearing me correctly. I bought it for you.” Belle says, she almost can’t say it with a straight face, “But for all intents and purposes, keep the receipt and tag.” She says, cackling, as she ends the call before Eddy has any time to protest.
He looks suspiciously at the box, then grabs it and quickly makes his way to the bedroom. He carefully opens it with the sharp end of the scissor, and unsurprisingly, there’s a dress.
“Oh my god.” Eddy says, in disbelief and annoyance.
He pulls up the dress. It’s not the exact dress he wore at the store, it’s a bit shorter, and it stops at the ankles, instead of the floor. It’s not as expensive looking, he can feel it through the fabric. It’s not as soft, and he can imagine it won’t drape as well. Yet, it still has the initial shape that other dresses had, he imagines that it will probably still elongate his figure, and make him look somewhat pretty.
“Damn, it’s not a strad, but… damn.” Eddy says, looking at the price tag. Maybe this will be the dress for the bridesmaids? He thinks that would be nice. Plus, there’s something hilarious about being the accidental muse for his sister’s bridesmaid’s attire.
“I mean, I can’t not try it.” Eddy reasons with himself, as he slips out of his house clothes into a still, quite frankly, very high quality dress.
This feels a lot different from when he had put on the dress with his sister in the room, with bright lights and mirrors everywhere.
He hasn’t bothered to turn on the light in the room, so it’s dark, and the only light he’s getting is from the hallway, and now this feels almost like a secret. There’s no need to be expressive with his reactions, since there’s nobody around him.
It’s just him, as he bites his lips nervously, looking at himself. He does a little twirl in his dress, which makes him laugh quietly. This is stupid, and a really bad joke. He thinks, yet, he’s still checking out the slopes of his shoulders, the sharpness of his elbows, and the curves of his back—he compares to his mother and sister, right?
After deciding he had been vain enough for the day, he decides to take the dress off.
He slowly slips off the straps, mulling over his options of what to do with the dress. He figures he could either look up the return information from the store’s website, or perhaps he could just hold onto it and fold it and stuff it deep into an unknown crevice of his dresser that would never see the light of day. Or maybe he should just burn it, or cut it up, or—
“Eddy?” Eddy turns around scandalous, covering his chest, even if Brett has literally seen him shirtless god knows how many times.
“It’s not what it looks like.” Eddy says, immediately.
“Okay.” Brett says, looking him up and down, confused, “Why are you covering your chest?” Brett snorts.
“I have… no idea.” Eddy says, letting out an uneasy laugh, as Brett nears him closer, putting the straps back up so Eddy doesn’t have to cover up.
Something about Brett he’s always found funny, is how when he’s surprised by something, he can’t hide it. Even if he tries to lie about it, he just looks wide-eyed at everything, and this, of course, is no exception, as he looks at Eddy with big, marveling eyes that just seem to absorb and suck in everything it sees.
“So… are you going to explain this?” Brett asks, “Or should we just stand here?” The question doesn’t sound at all urgent, Brett seems more than pleased to just graze his fingers lightly against the fabric of the dress and Eddy’s skin the whole night.
“It’s from Belle.” Eddy groans, “Basically, she was trying on wedding dresses, and she invited me to go with her. As a joke, I tried on one of the dresses, and I guess… she got one for me?”
“She paid for it?” Brett asks, eyebrows raised.
“She’s very committed when it comes to jokes.” Eddy nods gravely, which Brett snorts at.
“The tag is still on.” Brett points out, which he tucks into the dress so it’s hidden away.
“I mean, you know she used to play dress up with me and stuff, right?” Eddy says. The back of this dress is different, he realizes, the back is exposed, and the only reason he notices it is because Brett lightly traces his shoulder blades, making him shiver. “Well, I guess you wouldn’t know that, having only a brother and all that.”
“She told me vaguely, I think. Your Mom too.” Brett says, admiring the material, “It’s really nice, very pretty.”
“What, the dress or me?” Eddy asks.
“Both.” Brett says, which makes Eddy snicker at his cheesiness. “Simp.” He can only reply back, as he takes Brett’s hands and places it on his waist, rocking slowly, as he goes to lean over on Brett’s shoulder.
“Are we going to have a wedding one day?” Eddy asks quietly.
“You want one?” Brett asks, stroking his fingers through Eddy’s hair, soft and straight.
“Not really, but—it might be a nice experience.” Eddy said, “And, if anyone could pull off a good wedding, it’d be us.” He says.
“That’s true.” Brett says, “Do you… think about having a wedding a lot?” Because he’ll feel guilty if so. Of course, he loves Eddy, but he never thought too much about wedding rings and formal vows. Eddy knows he loves him, everyone knows Brett loves Eddy. Why say out loud what everyone already knows?
“No.” Eddy lies, although he’s pretty sure Brett can see right through him, “I just think it would be… interesting.”
“We could always elope, if you want to get married.” Brett suggests, but marriage is different from wedding. “Unless… you want a big wedding?”
“I have no idea.” Eddy groans, “I think it’d be awesome if we could celebrate with our friends and family… but… I don’t know, I was listening to Belle complain about how stressed she was about her wedding, and it got me stressed over my own non-existent one.” He says, and when he realizes he’s said too many words, it’s already too late.
“Oh, so you have thought about it?” Brett says teasingly, “Tell me about this non-existent wedding.”
“It’s not planned out yet!” Eddy exclaims defensively, “Honestly, all I was imagining was just us doing our first dance together. It was nice and slow and dim, just like this.” He sighs, “And you were crying in it, which was very important to me, because you never cry.”
Eddy grins, dragging his finger down Brett’s cheek lightly, where the tears would be streaming down, “And I was wiping your tears away, right here.”
“That sounds kinda twisted, bro.” Brett says, his face scrunched up.
“You’re crying because it’s the happiest day of your life.” Eddy clarifies, which makes Brett go ah, in realization. Even though technically, every day is the happiest day of his life when he’s with Eddy.
“Okay, so let’s get married.” Brett says, which makes Eddy straighten his posture in confusion.
“What, do you have a ring on you or something?” Eddy laughs at first, but then he stops, “Oh my god, do you actually have a ring? Because Brett, I swear to god, if you propose to me right now, on this worthless Saturday night, when I’m wearing this dress that doesn’t even fit well, I’ll literally—” Which makes Brett bubble with laughter, because of course Eddy is already thinking ten steps ahead.
“I wouldn’t do that to you.” Brett snorts, “I know you’re a romantic. When I propose, I’ll make it a proposal worth remembering.”
“When? Not if?” Eddy grins, “Hang on, what if I wanted to propose to you?”
“Sure, why not? It’s the 21st century, after all.”
“So it’s like a competition.” Eddy says,“Who Can Propose To The Other First?"
“It should be like… a really bad game of Can We Read Each Other's Minds.” Brett says.
“So… we try to figure out when the other is gonna propose, so we can propose to each other at the same time?” Eddy says incredulously. It’s easily the stupidest thing he’s ever heard. He laughs so hard, his stomach starts to ache.
“Okay, okay.” Brett says, holding onto Eddy to still his laughter. “Let’s make a deal, how about in… let’s say the next two years, either of us is eligible to propose to one another. Fair game.”
“So we’ll both be on guard constantly in case we might propose to one another?” Eddy asks, “Sounds torturous, I love it. But what about after two years?”
“There’s no way we won’t be married by then.” Brett says, and Eddy loves the way Brett says the word married. He could listen to him say the word forever. “If, somehow, we are still not married by then, then I’ll propose to you on spot.”
“Quite forward of you, Mr. Yang.” Eddy snickers. “Okay, so it’s a deal.”
“Okay.” Brett agrees, and he feels like they should be shaking hands or something. Brett wants to laugh, because of course when they talk about marriage, it sounds like some weird, crossbreed between a business negotiation and some juvenile game. What more could he expect from Eddy, his business partner, his partner for life?
“Dude. I like, totally forgot I was wearing this dress.”
“Oh shit, me too.” Brett says, starting to laugh, “Well hey, at least we have this dress to thank for us getting married now,” which makes Eddy turn red.
“God, it doesn’t sound real when you say it like that.” He says. “But yeah, can you help me out of this dress?”
“I don’t know…” Brett says, “I still had some plans with it.”
“Oh?” Eddy says, “What plans are that?” He asks, as Brett starts moving his hands teasingly, tracing Eddy’s silhouette. The silk and Eddy’s skin feel perfect under his fingers.
“I don’t know, tell me your plans for your non-existent wedding first, and then we’ll talk.” He says, as he slowly pulls Eddy towards their bed, and laughs when Eddy exclaims once more, “You’ll need to ask me something else first!"