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Junhui takes a deep breath.
He’s really doing it. Today is the day.
Minghao pokes his head into the room. His nephew is almost as tall as he is. Minghao’s in his second year of college and sassier than ever. The only person who is even slightly capable of reigning the young man in is his boyfriend. But even then, Mingyu ends up taking the brunt of Minghao’s attacks. Junhui sighs and wonders where his precious, sweet Little Hao went. He fondly remembers five-year-old Minghao clinging to his pants, begging Junhui to take him with him to the big kid’s school. Now, Minghao is a red-headed, sarcastic young man. Time really did fly.
“Hey, Uncle Hui. Are you ready to go?”
Junhui laughs and walks over to the door. He ruffles Minghao’s hair. Minghao bats his hand away with an annoyed glare.
“Mingyu’s going to be pissed if he sees that you messed up my hair,” Minghao scowls. “He – and I quote – ‘took a lot of effort into making you too presentable today, please don’t ruin my masterpiece.”
Junhui rolls his eyes. “Did he do all of your hairs?”
“Duh. Now are you ready or not? Uncle Hoon’s going to be ready soon. And you don’t want to keep him waiting.”
Junhui chuckles. “I would never want to keep him waiting.”
Minghao rolls his eyes again.
Junhui remembers asking the short, grumpy music teacher on their first date. Jihoon had been very surprised. But not as surprised as Junhui was when Jihoon actually said yes. It had been years ago, before Jisoo had joined the faculty at Pledis High, and before Minghao had even started high school. Junhui had taken Jihoon to a small coffee shop near the school, and they had spent two hours getting to know each other better. By the end of the date, they had both agreed on another.
Junhui remembers the faint smile on Jihoon’s lips when they had parted, and the quiet promise of “next time.” He had gone home, knocked on Seungcheol’s door, and proceed to freak out to his neighbor about how excited he was. Seungcheol had simply laughed, and patted Junhui on the shoulder.
“I’m glad you had fun,” Seungcheol had said. “Keep me updated, okay?”
And just like that, Junhui and Jihoon continued to go on dates. Dinner dates, lunch dates, coffee dates. Until Jihoon had asked Junhui one day if he wanted to make their relationship official. Junhui had said yes so quickly that he nearly choked on his own spit. Jihoon had laughed like the little demon that he was.
Minghao smirks at his uncle as he walks down the aisle. Mingyu dabs at his eyes and Seokmin sniffles. Minghao is sitting between the two of them. Hansol looks lost between a dramatically tearing Seungkwan and a slightly bored Chan. Seokmin and Seungkwan are sharing the same box of tissues. Minghao wonders how Hansol is putting up with living with Seungkwan.
“You’d think it was your uncle getting married and not mine,” Minghao jokes, eying Mingyu and Seokmin with great amusement.
“How are you not teary?” Mingyu retorts. He dabs at his eyes with his handkerchief.
Minghao shrugs. “I’m happy, more than anything. I don’t cry when I’m happy. They’re finally getting married. About time.”
Mingyu grumbles “Unromantic,” and Seokmin’s tears flow again. Minghao sighs. He regrets inviting his boyfriend and friends to the wedding. If he had known that they would make this big of a scene, he would have told them not to come at all.
He regrets it slightly less when Mingyu holds his hand when the couple begins to exchange vows at the altar. Principal Kwon is officiating the marriage, and Minghao can’t help but to snort quietly at that. Mingyu squeezes his hand when Junhui is finished with his vows, and even Minghao is touched by his uncle’s words of love.
“I love you,” Minghao whispers to Mingyu, unprompted.
Mingyu chuckles. “I love you too.”
“Shut up and enjoy the wedding,” Seokmin stage-whispers.
It seemed that no one had been surprised when it was revealed that Jihoon and Jun were officially dating. Wonwoo and Soonyoung had handed Jeonghan some bills, and Seungcheol had merely congratulated them without taking his eyes off of his papers. Junhui was fairly certain they had all known for a while.
Jihoon, being Jihoon, shrugged it off and continued to do as he pleased. Soonyoung teased them when they all went out to their weekly staff dinners, and Jeonghan sent them knowing smirks. Wonwoo and Seungcheol were barely phased when Jihoon and Junhui held hands.
“How will the students react?” Junhui had worried at first.
As it turned out, the students were more excited than disgusted. Junhui had worried that society wasn’t quite ready for them, but it turned out that they had a very understanding and progressive student body at the school. Some students had confessed that the two teachers' relationship made them more comfortable with who they were. Junhui was both surprised and touched when the students told him that they would support the relationship unconditionally.
Soonyoung shrugged when Junhui asked him if he had had any hand in the matter.
“Our school is a safe zone,” Soonyoung had answered. “If the parents cannot wrap their tiny brains around the fact that two of our teachers are a couple, then they’re free to send their children elsewhere. I didn’t take over this school to promote a culture of intolerance.”
Junhui hugged Soonyoung so hard that the man had to pry Junhui off of him.
“Thank you,” Junhui said.
Soonyoung’s eyes twinkled.
“Just make sure to let me officiate at your wedding. Should you ever have one.”
Seungcheol smiles at Jisoo from his place beside Jihoon as the couple exchanged rings. Jisoo smiles back and winks at Seungcheol. Seungcheol almost wishes that he wasn’t Jihoon’s best man so that he could hold Jisoo’s hand and think about what their wedding could be like. Seungcheol's mind wanders to the simple band he has tucked away in a desk drawer at home.
“And I now present to you, the happily married couple! You may now kiss the groom!”
The small crowd cheers loudly as Junhui dips Jihoon dramatically for a show-stopping kiss. When the kiss ends and Boo Seungkwan stops whistling, Junhui and Jihoon walk back down the aisle with interlaced hands. The entire party follows to the reception area. Seungcheol walks with the couple until they reach the mini-buffet.
“Congrats,” Seungcheol says simply, clapping Jihoon on the back. “You’re a married man now.”
Jihoon smiles softly and Seungcheol laughs.
“That I am.”
Wonwoo, as Junhui’s best man, snorts. “And you’re both going to be even cheesier than ever. The students are definitely voting you two as best couple. Again. And this time, I don’t think Jeonghan is going to insist that they actually pick students for the award.”
Junhui shrugs. “Well, if he keeps insisting, they’re just going to keep doing it. Might as well let them have it for one year.”
Jihoon smiles contented up at Junhui, and Junhui squeezes his new husband’s hand. Wonwoo rolls his eyes in a way which is more fond than annoyed. Seungcheol chuckles.
“You’re just saying that because you’re finally happy to be married,” Wonwoo replies.
“I don’t see a problem with that.”
Once they have food and the newlywed couple is seated at their designated cutesy couple table, Seungcheol hangs behind to wait for Jisoo. After sneaking a few bites of his food, he spots Jisoo and Jeonghan leaving the line. Jisoo smiles brightly when he sees him. Jeonghan snorts at the happy look on their faces when they’re reunited.
“Can you two really not spend even half an hour apart from each other?” he asks as they head towards their table.
“Considering that we live together now, nope.”
Jisoo laughs lightly. “I’m not going to run away from you.”
Seungcheol only grins his classic cheesy grin as they settle down at the table, where Wonwoo and Soonyoung are already waiting.
“And the stragglers are here,” Soonyoung announces. “Honestly, I thought we’d lost Seungcheol until Wonwoo pointed out that he was waiting for Jisoo over there.”
Wonwoo smirks. “Principal Kwon doesn’t always think in the most logical way.”
Soonyoung snorts. “I’m still your boss, and since I am your boss, you should show me some respect.”
Wonwoo shrugs. “We’re all off-campus right now.”
“You called me Principal Kwon first.”
Soonyoung and Wonwoo start to bicker and Jeonghan sips his wine while watching the show. Seungcheol scoots his chair closer to Jisoo’s and puts his arm around his boyfriend’s shoulders. The English teacher raises his eyebrow.
“We’re in public. At a wedding, Cheol,” he scolds gently.
Seungcheol only grins. “Oh come on. Everyone’s either preoccupied with the happily married couple or taking bets on when Soonyoung and Wonwoo are finally going to break and admit that they have feelings for each other. They’re not going to care if I show my boyfriend a bit of affection.”
“They’re still worried about the superior-at-work thing,” Jisoo remarks, nodding at Soonyoung and Wonwoo. The two are still bickering, and Jeonghan is still sipping his wine while watching them.
Seungcheol nods. “Wonwoo’s considering relocating to another school so no work conflicts happen.”
Jisoo frowns. Seungcheol leans in and pokes at Jisoo’s furrowed brows.
“Don’t do that. You’ll get wrinkles.”
Jisoo snorts. “What, are you going to love me any less if I get wrinkles?”
Seungcheol grins. “Never.”
At the other side of the table, Jeonghan takes a long sip of wine and smiles conspiratorially at Wonwoo and Soonyoung, who have stopped bickering. The three of them grin at the oblivious couple seated at their table.
“So, who do you think is going to propose? Cheol? Or Jisoo?”
At first, Jihoon hadn’t been too sure about having a first dance. He hadn’t danced since his college days, and he was really rusty. But Junhui had pointed out that it would a once-in-a-life experience, and Jihoon hadn’t had the heart to turn him down. Now, as they sway together in front of their friends and family, Jihoon’s glad that he left himself get talked into it.
He muses over how they got here and where they will go from here. Marriage to Jihoon is only the first step to the life ahead of them. Tomorrow, they’ll be heading off to their honeymoon, and then, when the break is over and school starts again, they’ll return to work. But the idea of having Junhui by his side as he goes through the rest of his life is comforting. Jihoon doesn’t know what the future will hold exactly, but he knows that at the very least, Junhui will be there, comforting when he’s down and holding his hand when he needs him the most.
He’s glad he had said yes to a date with the handsome Chinese teacher all those years ago.
“What are you thinking about?” Junhui murmurs.
“Us,” Jihoon replies.
Junhui smiles. “Me too.”
The song finishes, and the dance floor is open to everyone. Everyone cheers for the couple before crowding onto the dance floor. Jihoon skillfully navigates out of the crowd, holding Junhui’s hand firmly. Junhui looks amused as his new husband takes them to their couple table from dinner.
“Tired after one dance?” he teases.
Jihoon shakes his head. “Just wanted some time alone with you. Also, I really don’t want to get caught in a dance battle between Chan and Minghao.”
From their spot, they can see said dance battle already taking place, with Soonyoung egging them on, and Mingyu cheering very loudly for his boyfriend.
“That was bound to happen, wasn’t it?”
“Well, there was a reason Minghao insisted that we should have an actual dance floor.”
They watch quietly as Minghao does an elaborate head spin and the small crowd goes wild.
“Do you think they’ll miss us if we leave?” Junhui muses.
Jihoon rolls his eyes. “Of course they will. Soonyoung isn’t going to let us off the hook that easily. He told me earlier today that if I even think about leaving early that he’s just going to come to our apartment and drag us back here again.”
Junhui sighs. “Pity. I just wanted to quality time with you, really. We haven’t had any time to ourselves since grading exams before the holidays and planning this wedding.”
“Junnie.”
“Yes?”
“We have a whole week of alone time coming up.”
Junhui snorts. “And it can’t come soon enough. Speaking of soon…”
Soonyoung is marching towards them with Wonwoo and Jeonghan in tow. Jeonghan and Wonwoo shoot the couple apologetic looks, thought Jeonghan’s seems less than sincere.
“Don’t think you’re getting off with just one dance! When Kwon Fire hosts a wedding, the couple must dance in front of everyone for at least an hour.”
Reluctantly, the two of them join up with the rest of party. Junhui does his best to shield Jihoon from any less-than-care weddinggoers on the dance floor, and Jihoon appreciates his efforts. Soonyoung makes them do more couple dances, but Jihoon doesn’t find himself too annoyed.
When the night finally ends, the two of them take public transport back to their shared apartment. They walk hand-in-hand up the stairs. At the doorway, Junhui suddenly lifts Jihoon into a princess carry.
“Jun-“
“Tradition,” Junhui replies cheekily. “I have to carry you over the threshold.”
Jihoon contemplates squirming his way out of Junhui’s arms just to spite him, but before he can decide on it, Junhui places him gently on his feet. The taller man tucks Jihoon in his arms and rests his chin on Jihoon’s shoulder.
“We’re home,” Junhui murmurs quietly into his ear.
“Welcome home, husband.”
“Welcome home, husband.”
Junhui releases Jihoon, and the two of them go to their bedroom to change into more comfortable clothing before crawling under the covers and cuddling. Most couples would have stayed up for a night of passion, but Jihoon finds that he’s content to just snuggle with Junhui and relax. They have a whole week to enjoy themselves on their honeymoon, and he’s in no rush. Junhui shares his sentiments, and the two just enjoy being close to each other, hearing each other’s quiet breaths and relishing in being close. It’s what their relationship has been built on. Trust, comfort, and simply being together.
In the warmth of the bed and of his new husband, Jihoon finds himself drifting into sleep. He sighs and nuzzles Junhui’s shoulder.
“I love you,” he says, in lieu of a good-night.
“I love you too.”