Work Text:
“‘ Beauty in mundanity, ’ I quite like that one.” Soobin hummed as he pressed a kiss on Beomgyu’s head, watching his fiance ferociously type away at his ipad. “Really? I thought of choosing another for the motif of the pre-wedding shoot.” Beomgyu jutted his lips, deep in though as he glared at the screen in front of him. “You’ve made wonderful titles love and ultimately, we’ll go with whatever you choose among your ideas - but I just figured that simplicity has been something we’ve both aspired for even unconsciously.” Soobin replied, endeared as he placed a glass of juice and a bowl of cereal beside Beomgyu who had definitely forgotten to eat again .
And truly it was. Growing up in chaos, it was inevitable that you attract it as you grow older. Messy friendships, messy breakups. It was like a match made in heaven - the way that they had slowly gravitated between circles before finally landing in front of each other. Amidst the chaos, they had found solace and peace within each other and created a home. Now, there’s just one piece of legality left to seal the home they had carefully crafted across the years - not without tears and broken voices. But it’s theirs and it’s their peace in the world that has handed them a terrible hand to play with.
Taking a spoonful of bite out of the bowl of cereal, Beomgyu continued on his musings as he now turned his attention towards his fiance who has preoccupied himself on his morning manhwas . “It’ll be a great irony and a heavy aspiration then.” He said a few beats after swallowing his food. “Yup, which is a good start for a marriage - don’t you think?” Soobin briefly looked up from his phone to give Beomgyu a smile. Humming, Beomgyu smiled and nodded with finality. “Okay, our marriage will be ‘ Beauty in mundanity ’ then.”
_____
There’s nothing mundane with the mess in front of him, Beomgyu massaged his temple as he looked at the mess of cakes and faces in front of him. “In my defense, Yeji started it and I just happened to end it.” Ryujin piped as she took a lick of her frosting covered finger. The woman in question attempted to defend herself if not for the absolute distress that painted Beomgyu’s face as he looked at his friends. “When I said to DIY our wedding, I did not mean for us to absolutely create a patchwork of my wedding cake.” He finally managed to utter after biting his cheek for a while.
He and his friends had gone down to their patisserie this weekend so they could start formulating on the wedding cake rather than cram it weeks before the wedding especially due to some allergies they had to account for among their guestlist (a.k.a Taehyun and his grocery-list length of allergies). Beomgyu, being the perfectionist that he is, wants to meet the dietary needs of everyone while meeting his vision within the budgetary constraints that their economic status provides him. He and Soobin had chosen to forego with the usual wedding planners and events - choosing to put majority of the expenses into improving the house that they had bought from a bank auction of properties that are foreclosed.
Due to this, they have to be particular about their venue, the staffs they could hire for the day, and even their suits. They both understood that they cannot cut down on the guests due to the amount of friends and mentors that they had picked up across the years - don’t even bother mentioning the amount of colleagues and managers that Soobin has to invite (because of course, corporate). However, just because they have to be thrifty doesn’t mean that they cannot make a way to create flexibility within the confines that they have. Like in the case of the cake and catering - Beomgyu and his friends have made a way around it due to having a patisserie (and Lia having her own catering services). The pre-nuptial shoots had been covered with the help of Hiyyih through Kai and the music and program had been covered through Yeonjun and Taehyun respectively. That’s why Beomgyu has to perfect the cake or else they’ll be having coughing fits during the program.
Truly, he and his fiance has the best found family. He loves the family that they had built beyond their traditional homes and honestly wouldn’t want it any other way. However, seeing Ryujin, Yeji, and Kai wipe frosting at each others’ faces is ticking something in him that he had long avoided. Annoyance . Taking in a deep breath, Beomgyu shakes his head. “Please clean up guys so we can at least prepare for Monday’s influx.” He breathed out before walking out, unwilling to succumb to the itch that’s clawing up at him.
He loves his friends but maybe, just maybe, it’s the pre-wedding jitters getting at him.
_____
Or maybe not. Flinching, Beomgyu gaped at the disarray in their home. It’s a given, he understands, that specific parts of the house are still finishing in the renovations but the clutter isn’t the paintbrushes nor woods that he usually sees these days - to be fair there are paint brushes but those paintbrushes aren’t being utilized in their usual function. No, rather, what he’s seeing is a mess of art supplies, acrylic paints, and weird wires. And amidst the clutter sits his soon-to-be husband stuck in a myriad of metal wires while Yeonjun and Taehyun are arguing with pliers in their hands.
”Wh- huh?” He finally let out after getting stunned for a beat and a half. The three turned their heads comically at the sound of his voice, eyes blinking rapidly. “I swear I told them that this wasn’t a good idea!” Soobin shrieked and tried to get out of the chains that seemed to have inadvertently been around him in the process of making the paper mache that’s intended to decorate the venue of their wedding and reception. However, rather than paper flowers - all that there is are scattered crumples of paper lumps littering their living room whilst the metal wire that he presumes is supposed to hold up those flowers and best of all, the paper isn’t even in the chiffon that he asked for - the paper littering their living room is colored construction paper.
Gripping the bags in his hand tightly, he shut his eyes and took a deep breath. Opening them, he shook his head and pointedly ignored the other messes in the room in favor of going over to the kitchen to put down the groceries that he had picked up on the way home from work. First, the continuation of the botched failures of their wedding cake, now, this. “Please have some mercy and free Soobin from that monstrosity - I still need my fiance to walk down the aisle, thank you very much.” He lightheartedly said instead of focusing on his wedding preparations that’s going awry day by day.
Despite the light tone that he had purposefully chose, the tension in his voice and demeanor did not escape anybody in the room. “Oh! Look at the time, we still have to pick Kai up. Gotta go!” Yeonjun tactlessly blurted out, haphazardly pulling the remaining wires from Soobin before pulling Taehyun into a whiplash. Beomgyu would laugh at the absurdity of their words - knowing that Kai is most probably already munching on some chips back at their home, if not for the bubbling itch inside of him. “Sure guys, you take care.” He called out at the retreating figures of his friends.
Even after the two left, the itch still persisted. Biting his lips, Beomgyu continued on taking out the groceries out of the bags and putting them onto their cupboards. “I’m really sorry, love.” Soobin finally stood up from where he had been slumped, presumably for hours, and walked over the counter to where Beomgyu had been fussing over. “That’s alright, it’s inevitable that we see some hiccups in our wedding preparation - we had to prioritize the house after all.” He smiled tightly, forcing down the itch that continues to persist even when Soobin finally stopped him from his musings and wrapped his arms around him.
“Still, I know this isn’t the chiffon that you asked for but Taehyun thought that we should practice on a cheaper alternative first before doing it for real since chiffon is quite pricey.” Beomgyu finally let out the breath that he didn’t know he had been holding for so long. Putting down the cans of mushrooms that he had been gripping, he finally turned and reciprocated his fiance’s hug. “And thankfully we did that, as you can see, it would have been a disaster if we had gone in thoughtlessly. At least now, we have figured out how to work with paper though it will still take time since, turns out, chiffon is quite thin as per checking earlier.” Soobin chuckled as he tightened their embrace.
Breathing in the subtle scent of his fiance, Beomgyu nodded and hummed. “Thank you for that foresight. I’m sorry I was too curt when I came in.” He let the shaking in his voice to seep through, seeing no reason to hide it to the one person that he wants to spend the rest of his life with. “That’s alright, we’re both tired and you had to come home to a mess.” Soobin laughed gentle at the top of his head as he felt him peck a gentle kiss at the crown of his head. “Yeah, no one’s cooking tonight - we’re getting takeout.” Beomgyu finally laughed, turning and finally seeing the actuality of the mess that an afternoon of shenanigans had caused.
As they’re picking up the broom, dustpans, and trash bags, Beomgyu thinks that this is the reason that he’s here - not the big teddy bears that Soobin gets him every Valentine’s, not the chocolates that litters their cars on White Day, not the candlelight dinners during anniversaries. Rather this, like the week after Valentine’s where they have to drop off the stuffed animals borne out of the stuffings of the giant teddy bears that Soobin buys into foster homes for children to enjoy, the hot chocolate shared over breakfast for almost a month because both had gone overboard in their annual pranks, and the laughter over cooking as they prepare to celebrate their anniversary. It is the quiet footsteps over soft strums of guitar as an acoustic plays in the background over their cleaning, the giggles as they recount small missteps through the day or across their lifespan - the simple mundanity of it all.
Maybe this is enough, for now at least.
_____
It is never enough. Beomgyu shakes as he scratches at his wrist at the terrible news he had the misfortune of hearing that week. “What do you mean you can’t have the suits in lilac until 6 months later? The wedding’s in a month!” Kai screeched at the salesman catering to them. Taking in a deep breath, Beomgyu forced a tight smile. “Just last month when we went to get fitted, we were told that it’ll be ready by now for final alterations; what happened?” He asked, pulling at the last of his patience to maintain his composure.
Bowing for the nth time that afternoon, the poor man - seemingly fresh out of the nest, apologized profusely. “I’m really sorry, sirs. The modiste of the house has been injured and unfortunately, until then, colored suites can’t be made unless we outsource it and even then, it’ll still take us a considerable amount of time before we can get them to take over.” He apologized again. “Still! Even if your modiste had fallen ill, it has been a month since my friends had been fitted - surely, you do have something to at least finish?” Kai looked almost ready to jump onto the poor guy, but unfortunately, the guy was only a salesman who is fed lines by his management and who doesn’t really know half the shit that’s going down behind the scenes.
“We’re now here, what do you have in store for us instead?” Beomgyu bit his lips, trying his hardest to control himself. “We only have ivories right now sir but even those have been backordered.” The poor salesman is now shaking under the scrutiny of Kai who looked aghast at the discovery that truly, his friends is facing the worst crisis that any upcoming grooms could potentially face. Upon hearing those words, Beomgyu could no longer contain himself and turned around without any pleasantries. “Consider this a lost sale already.” He called over his shoulder before speedwalking out of the boutique.
“Wait Gyu!” He heard Kai call for him but he continued on walking towards his car from across the street. Upon reaching it, with Kai in tow, he finally opened his phone and call the number one person on his speed dial. ‘ Hey, love. How’s the suits- ’ Soobin started only to be cut off by the first of Beomgyu’s sobs. “The wedding’s ruined, babe.” He cried out, crouching on the sidewalk beside his car as Kai crouched beside him in silent comfort, patting him gently on his back as he continued on sobbing. ‘ What do you mean ruined? Surely it’s not something we can’t fix. ’ Soobin and his ever problem-oriented approach. Shaking his head, Beomgyu inhaled a ragged breath. “The suits can’t be made Soob, it’s all ruined, it’s all ruined-” He started chanting amidst his sobs. ‘ Kai’s with you right? Give him the phone, please. ’
Reaching over, Beomgyu handed the phone to Kai who’s ever so understanding. “Yeah Bin, turns out that scammer modiste is supposedly ‘ injured ’ and they can’t get the suits ready in six months…” Beomgyu can no longer hear anything as he reached for his wallet, taking a fourth of a clonazepam at the impending panic attack that he’ll be having. Gulping it raw, he clutched his chest and regulated his breathing. After a few minutes, he felt Kai tapping his shoulder gently to give back his phone with Soobin still on the line. ‘ You took your benzo, love? ’ “Yup.” He muttered under his breath. ‘ Good, that’s good. I’ve talked with Kai and you rest for now okay? Lele’s here with me right now and he had contacted his cousin who has a wedding boutique and can do rush orders. I will take the day off tomorrow so we can go down there and get ourselves fitted, okay? ’
Letting his tears continue flowing from his eyes, Beomgyu whimpered a yes to his fiance. ‘ Oh great, he also checked and made sure that we could get it in the exact shade of lilac that you wanted. Isn’t that just some stroke of luck? ’ “I truly hope that it is.” He croaked out. ‘ It is. I’ve got you and you’ve got me. What such luck is that? ’ And again, maybe that was enough.
_____
“Please, for the love of everything that is good, please- can anything go smoothly in this wedding please?” Yeonjun dramatically begged as he twisted himself in awkward angles to get the perfect pre-nuptial shot that will be shown in the reception. Dropping his picture-perfect smile, Beomgyu looked at the older man and replied in a deadpan manner, “and whose fault is it that we have to layer construction papers and chiffon because we had run out?” The elder bit his lips and rolled his eyes. “The process made it prettier though, don’t you agree?” Soobin tapped his nose gently, looking over the flowers hanging above their heads. “It should be, it literally burnt our fingers just last week with hot glue.” Beomgyu smiled as he also looked up, silently admiring their handiwork with the fairy lights within paper lanterns.
The shuttering in front of them seemed to die down as their gazes dropped onto each other, finally letting themselves bask in each other’s presence that seemed so vexing earlier in the disorienting pre-wedding preparations. “You really do look good in this kind of suit; I’m glad we changed boutiques even if unexpectedly.” Beomgyu remarked, gently running his fingers over the lapels of Soobin’s coat. “Told yah it was a stroke of luck. Also, I’m so proud of what you and the girls did with the cake - I knew it would work out.” Beomgyu shuddered at the image of Yuna and Chaeryeong having to kick Kai out for a night just so they could finish frosting and decorating the cake because the Kai’s nerves had been risking the cake at every step. Poor Yeonjun and Taehyun having to deal with the crash out. “Don’t remind me, Kai’s still pissed at me and would’ve ignored me if not for this wedding.” They heard Taehyun snicker with the reflectors in his hand. “As if. Kai’s already done with that and is only sulking because he knows that you two baby him so much.” Soobin and Beomgyu shrugged in indifference because they couldn’t deny it.
“Cut! Thanks you two lovebirds, that last cut was beautiful. Be engrossed with each other, but remember that the ceremony starts in fifteen!” Yeonjun waved them off as he and Taehyun walked off, proceeding towards the garden where the wedding will be held.
Finally out of the camera’s eye, the two of them shared a relieved sigh as they proceeded to hold each other tightly. “I’m sorry I’ve been unbearable throughout the whole wedding preparations.” Beomgyu finally let out the niggling thought that has been pestering him within the last forty-eight hours prior their wedding. Tracing the intricate details embroidered in Soobin’s suit, he sighed. “I’ve let myself be drowned by my thoughts and expectations that I’ve forgotten the plot as to how we came here and why we have walked down this path together.” Chuckling, Soobin tucked a stray hair that’s blocked Beomgyu’s eye. “I’m sorry I wasn’t more present with you especially with the downs - heck, I’ve even caused some of it.”
Shaking his head, Beomgyu looked up and met Soobin's gentle eyes. “If you brush off my apology then I’m also cancelling your apology and we’ll treat it as nothing wrong had occurred and you know that’s not good.” Because they don’t want to keep tabs of each other’s wrongs, and albeit feeling guilty to receive such from his ever understanding fiance - husband in a few minutes, he chooses to accept it for the grace of it all. “Okay, but I do admit, now that we’re here… I finally remember - beauty in mundanity .” He uttered as he reached up and gently rubbed Soobin’s earlobe in affection. Beaming, Soobin smiled and nodded. “We’ve forgotten our theme amidst the chaos.”
Shaking his head, Beomgyu looked back to the sleepless nights, the tearful days, and the maddening twilights. The chaos that suddenly re-emerged amidst the peace that the two of them had carefully crafted and then, the memories of comfort and slow mornings that persisted even amidst the mayhem. Their wedding preparations had reopened their eyes towards the inevitability of turmoil - reminded him of the earlier days of their relationship when two children of chaos had bumped into each other. However, it also reminded him of an important thing that he had forgotten and taken for granted in the comforts of their home - that their peace had been hard earned and continuously chosen even when it had been tempting to go back to explosions and eruptions, even when it could have been easier to go back to the decay and rotting that they had been borne into. It is a choice that the two of them pick up little trinkets along the way, tucking a little patch from each teddy bear that Soobin ever bought him for keepsakes, having each of his pastry project be pictured and tucked in a binder that Soobin keeps among his important files - exchanging sweet nothings in a world asking for profound everythings.
“Oi! Aren’t you hungry? Let’s finish this wedding ASAP!” The two of them heard Kai holler from inside the venue, breaking them from their reverie. Laughing, the two of them held hands, exchanging warm smiles as they finally head down the aisle.
And truly, ultimately, that’s all it should be. Sweet Nothings.