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Today was the day.
After a year of planning, after various arguments that tested their relationship, and after many countless nights where they made sure everything was right, today was the day.
The day Rin and Yoichi were getting married.
They kept it simple and more casual though everyone was still asked to dress a bit more nicely, purely because their family wanted nice pictures. It was especially important for Yoichi’s family as he was the only child. Rin hated wearing suits, always wanting to take them off as soon as possible whenever they had to wear one for an event, but he would bear with it for the day. This suit was a bit different than usual, which made him feel a bit awkward.
His suit was all black. He didn’t feel comfortable in white; it just didn’t feel suitable for him so they agreed that he could wear darker colours. Even his vest and tie were black but his one source of colour was attached to his chest – a boutonniere with a blue flower (he had forgotten what) and green leaves.
Rin knew that Yoichi was wearing something similar, except his suit was in white instead. However, he hadn’t shown Rin what he looked like, even when they had gotten their suits at the same place. He had insisted they waited until their wedding day to see each other, wanting to keep it a surprise despite suits lacking in variety. Apparently, it was tradition that the groom wouldn’t see the bride until she walked down the aisle but neither one of them were brides so who gave a fuck about that kind of thing?!
Nevertheless, Rin let him do what he wanted. This entire wedding party was a product of both of their desires so if Rin didn’t care about the tradition, he would concede to Yoichi who did care. It was more important to him than it was to Rin so he won out in that regard. However, he did change it and have a ‘first look’.
Rin didn’t even know what it was until it was explained to him. Instead of seeing each other for the first time during the ceremony, they would see each other before and had the opportunity to take the pictures then instead of later. Yoichi had apparently seen them online and thought that it would be good as it allowed them to be more intimate in private beforehand and Rin just agreed because why the hell not?
So that’s what they were doing.
Rin stood in the garden of the venue with the photographer and his parents. Yoichi’s parents were with him and would be coming out when he would for the first look. They didn’t have a wedding party, considering they wanted to keep things low-key and simpler, but they were allowing their parents to witness the moment.
“Your tie isn’t straight.” His mother fussed, reaching out to adjust it. Even though she had approved of how he looked after he got his tuxedo on, suddenly, she became pickier, adjusting his hair, pushing back his bangs a bit more. “We need more hairspray. You got a bit of dirt on your shoulder too, tsk. Doing this outside has too many problems…”
“It’s fine.” Rin shrugged off. “Yoichi will be happy anyways.”
His mother sighed. She didn’t argue with him though. “I hope you’ll be happy as well.”
Rin paused. His mother and father looked at him with affection in their eyes. He suddenly felt a small bit of regret, knowing that he was a bit of a difficult child. He had broken a lot of his toys when he was younger and even injured himself constantly on purpose. Things cooled down when he started soccer and he was able to channel whatever self-destructive tendencies he had towards that. When his brother betrayed him, he had become moody and went through his ‘teenage rebellion’ at that stage. He knew he had caused a lot of headache and heartache for his family during those times.
“I am.” Rin said with a nod of confirmation. “Thank you for everything.”
His mother stared at him. She turned her head but he could hear her sniff some tears away. His father reached out, patting him on the shoulder, giving a stern yet kind look.
“We’re proud of your accomplishments.” He said more honestly than Rin had ever recalled. “We’re proud of who you have become today.”
Rin felt something choke up in his throat but he refused to let any tears affect him. It had felt like such a long time since he heard such a thing from his parents specifically. It was so strange to him, especially when he knew he didn’t do many things in his youth to make them proud. But even with all those times where he tried to find his place, tried to discover his path, he somehow got to where he was today. He was happy with where he was today; his career, his relationship with his brother – and Yoichi.
This was the happiest he had ever been.
“Oh, I think I see your groom coming.” The photographer began. Rin instinctively turned to look towards the venue but was blocked by the photographer. “It’s a first look! Stand with your back facing him. He’ll come out and touch your shoulder when he’s ready and then you’ll turn to see him.”
“Got it.” Rin replied. He turned and his parents stepped back, still close enough to see but enough to give them some privacy.
He heard the rustling of the grass as Yoichi approached. His heart started pounding though he couldn’t quite understand why. Was he nervous? But why was he nervous when he sees Yoichi every single day? He had seen him on sick days, with bedhead, in his lame sweater vests, and modeling for some ads. He had even seen him a suit before so none of these sights were new to Rin.
However, this was the first time he would see Yoichi in attire for their wedding. No matter what, he knew he would look amazing. They had spent so many years together, planned this wedding together, and they were in the final stretch.
There was an overflowing amount of emotion inside him but he settled on being excited. Excited to see Yoichi on this day; excited to be called husband and husband.
Excited to spend the rest of their lives together.
He felt a tap on his shoulder. Inhaling so he could keep his cool and not get emotional, he turned, a small smile appearing as he faced Yoichi—
“What the fuck?!”
“You should probably watch your language during this day at least.” His brother spoke up with a raised eyebrow. “That’s not how you should greet me.”
“Why the fuck are you in a dress?!”
Indeed, his brother, who had seen earlier in a suit of his own to attend the wedding, had changed outfits and was wearing an ill-fitting white dress. He could tell that it was too small for him and wondered where the fuck did Sae get it in the first place. Why was he even wearing it?! He had never thought that this would be something he would willingly wear.
Sae, completely blank faced, turned around, the skirt swishing and gave a lame pose. “Do you like it?”
“No?! What?! What the fuck?!”
“Don’t I look pretty?”
He turned to glare at his parents and saw both of them covering their mouths to hide their laughter. The photographer was cackling and snapping pictures freely. Rin felt himself roll his eyes and sighed in exasperation.
He then looked at Sae, looking up and down from his regular dress shoes to his hair legs, then to the dress and he even had a fucking veil on! His brother looked so fucking stupid that once Rin processed the entire scene in front of him, he just snorted.
“You look stupid.” He finally concluded.
“Mom said I looked cute.” Sae deadpanned though judging by the tone of his voice, he didn’t quite believe it either.
“Was this her idea? How the hell did she get you to dress up like this?” Rin asked, somewhat impressed that she got his stubborn brother in a dress. “Did she threaten you? Bribe you?”
“A bit of this and that.” Sae replied vaguely, not going into further details. “Just thought it was a good idea to loosen you up a bit. Did it work?”
Now that Rin had time to examine the situation, he did notice that his heart was not trying to burst through his ears anymore. He felt strangely calm after seeing how ridiculous his brother looked and inwardly cursed, knowing that this stupid scenario that his brother was put up to had somehow worked. He definitely was less nervous and jittery now.
“Fuck, it did.” Rin was reluctant to admit it. He frowned. “Thanks. I guess.”
“No problem.” Sae nodded, not even fazed about what was happening. He didn’t move to go change immediately like Rin expected him to. Yoichi was going to come any moment now but he still wasn’t gone. “Hey, Rin?”
“What?”
“Congratulations.” Sae said with genuine emotion in his voice. He gave a small smile. “I hope you and Yoichi will be happy forever.”
Rin froze.
His brother hadn’t said such words of affection in years. Probably not since they were kids with big dreams to take over the world together through soccer. After Sae came back from Spain, their relationship got worse and both of them became colder. There were no warm words of encouragement and all their conversations didn’t have emotional weight except disdain and anger. It wasn’t until much later did their fractured relationship heal – and Rin was reluctant to admit – because he felt calmness in his relationship with Yoichi. He found emotions and love that he had been lacking for so many years, allowing him to express and work out all the things he had been feeling for so long.
Yoichi had been there for Rin, accepting all parts of him, including his emotional immaturity. He had fought with him but also sympathized with him, not pushing him away when Rin knew he was being an absolute brat. In the end, Isagi taught him to communicate his feelings better even if he was reluctant to do that, and that helped his relationship with his brother.
“‘I hope’? We will be happy forever.” Rin gave a sneer. There was a twitch in his lips. “Thanks.”
Sae gave a small scoff. He patted Rin on the shoulder. “That’s all I ask for.”
Yoichi’s parents eventually came out, indicating that he was almost ready. When they approached the group, they stopped, startled to see Sae in the dress, not knowing what to do. However, when Rin’s parents started laughing at their bafflement, they too began laughing.
Rin turned around once more as instructed. He glanced over at his parents, his brother, and Yoichi’s parents, waiting patiently. He could see Yoichi’s mother take out a handkerchief and dabbing the corner of her eyes with them. His mother also seemed to be on the verge of crying though she held it in. Yoichi’s father didn’t hold it in, tears already streaming down his cheeks even though they had hardly begun, meanwhile Rin’s father was trembling, trying to keep a straight face. His brother was just smiling the tiniest bit.
He turned and looked forward, waiting, listening to the sound of the grass rustling as someone approached him. His heart was beating once more of excitement, of anticipation, of the future.
Of love.
A small tap on his shoulder and Rin turned, this time, facing Yoichi properly, seeing his large smile and eyes full of tenderness and love. His hair slicked back, a few strands of his bangs hanging over his forehead but out of his eyes. His suit was similar to Rin’s, the white looking striking on him as expected. He had a grey tie and on his breast was a matching boutonniere with the same blue flower. Yoichi’s face was glowing, eyes sparkling like sapphires in his engagement ring, skin cleared to perfection, and a smile that made Rin weak.
It was better than Rin had ever imagined.
“You look amazing.” Yoichi said as he looked at Rin up and down. He laughed, the sound like wind chimes in a breeze. “Handsome as always.”
“You…” Rin couldn’t find the right words. There were no words that came to mind to express how beautiful Yoichi was at that moment. It wasn’t even just his outfit or how he was styled. He had seen this man practically every day for over ten years already. He was familiar with his quirks, his smiles, his frowns; the way he pouted and the way he laughed. He had fallen for all of things so long ago but now that he was seeing Yoichi in front of him, eyes glistening with happiness, Rin felt like this was a dream.
But this was his reality.
“Stunning.” Was the word Rin decided on even though it wasn’t enough. He could go through his limited dictionary of compliments but none of them matched how Yoichi looked at the moment – how he felt seeing him. It was completely indescribable.
Instinctively, Rin leaned forward, their lips melding together naturally, joy floating in his chest. It was unfortunate that their families – family – were there so he couldn’t just devour him right there but they would have to wait until later.
When they parted from each other, Yoichi laughed. His arms were around his neck, and their foreheads were pressed against each other. Rin could see the joy in his eyes, the abundance of love Yoichi had for him overflowing in tears streaming down his cheeks. Rin wasn’t one that cried but he could feel something tickling his eyes but held on, knowing that they were still surrounded by people.
This moment was perfect.
If this was what he felt like after the first look, he couldn’t imagine how he felt during the ceremony; how he would feel when they celebrated with friends and family at the reception. He couldn’t imagine what it was like when they went back home together; they weren’t starting their lives together but they were just merely continuing it with a connection Rin never thought he would ever have. One that he could never imagine.
The first look led to the first day as a married couple; the first day of being together in a different form. Rin couldn’t wait to see what other firsts he and Yoichi would have together.