170. Wedding Vows

"Who I am as a person, my entire being, I give my word to you to be supportive, acknowledging and accepting you with your weaknesses and strengths. I promise to make you and our future family a priority in my life. I also promise to make you the main subject of that priority. I take an oath of patience and gratitude to love and to protect you, to share with you in your suffering and joy, to communicate when supposed to, to hold no grudges and to share my wins with you. In bad times too, I shall not abandon you nor avoid you. I have chosen to celebrate not just our union but to meet a fated is quite rare this days therefore, it would be arrogant for me to say I'm lucky for you are the one who made me lucky Yeon. My hand I give you, my heart and soul. You shall forever remain the love of my life forever."

"So, what do you think of my first draft uncle?"

"First draft? There is more?"

"Yes of course." Stan replied as if it were a matter of fact. "What do you think draft?"

"Sounds too emotional and heartfelt."

"That is what I was going for."

"But Yeon isn't that type. He is going to view your vow as too much."

Stan nodded. "I thought so too."

"Then why did you have me sit through it? Let's hear the second one. Begin."

Stan was tempted to pick a fight with his uncle but decided against it for he knew he was the one who needed help here. He'd practically booked this day out of his uncle's schedule to have him decide which vow was the best for his wedding. Flipping though another page of his notebook, he began to read his second draft.

"I knew you must be the one for me the moment I perceived your scent. Perhaps I always knew but mistakenly or ignorantly brushed that knowledge off. You are a much more upright individual than myself. You are compassionate, kind, genuine and generous even though you refuse to show it. I could never be like that. I'm jealous and petty..."

"At least you know that about yourself..."

"Uncle, let me finish." Stan complained.

"Go on." Dr. Jiwon chuckled, crossing his hands over his chest and leaned back on his seat.

"I am jealous and petty... I look up to your goodness for direction for your kind of heart is a rare find, your thoughtfulness unique and special that whenever you meet people and they discover these values in your personality, they want to keep you close..."

"Nope. This second vow is terrible. You're just parading to the world Yeon's weaknesses so they can take advantage of him. I thought you were supposed to be jealous and petty, by your own words, not mine."

Pausing to go read through the vow again, Stan nodded in agreement once more. "I already have enough competition with all of you wanting to keep what's mine. I wouldn't want to attract more people than I can handle." Flipping though the next page, Stan began reading his third draft.

"Dear Yeon, you have shown me in a short time more than I could have taken to learn my whole life. We have had our ups and downs, each time merging victorious. You've become my best friend and my favorite parts of the day is when I get to spend time with you. The challenges we have gone though brought us to this day and in that time, I have grown fond of your vulnerability, intimacy, when you put up with my silly ideas or just putting up with me in general. I'm aware I'm not an easy person to be around, sometimes I question myself if you'll become tired of me but each day, you prove me wrong, assuring me that you are here to stay for good.

I'm in love with your strength and your personality as a whole, your smile and gentle spirit which can become fierce in equal measure. You are my light and my everything, our for love for each other unfretted and only known to us. Thank you for supporting me unconditionally, for not asking me to change who I am, for blending in with my personality and forgiving me whenever I make you upset. For that, I intend to continue to dedicate my existence to you, celebrate your accomplishments with you all the days of my life. Please accept me as your husband for there is no one else I'd rather spend the rest of my life with except you."

Rising his head up to look at his uncle once more, Stan asked, "So, what do you think about this one?"

"Can I borrow that script for my wife?"

"Absolutely not! These words belong to Yeon and only his ears to hear."

"I've heard them, I like them and I'm pretty sure everyone's ears will listen to it at the wedding."

"You do like it?"

"Yea. It's acceptable."

"Acceptable?"

"It can do. Any more scripts?"

Stan laughed. "I thought you were bored."

"Just read them you jerk!"

"Bigger jerk." Stan mumbled and proceeded as requested. "Yeon, we both come from families that value the unity and union of marriage and I believe that to be the backbone of our relationship and union. I'd love to start a family with you and I promise to stay by your side, prioritize your needs even before my own. Through you, I got to understand what love and family means. Through you, I discovered strength I'd never thought I had. Through you, I've understood the value of support for you are always encouraging and positive even when fear stares at you straight in the face, you still move foreword without a thought to quit. You are my respite, my partner in crime, my refuge, my anchor and my confidant. You make me happy and you are funny even though you don't know, probably that is why a lot of people love you but I will be the one who loves you the most. I love you Yeon and thank you for accepting to do life with me."

"I liked that last part."

Stan smiled. "Me too."

"The previous one was good, but this is good too...I'm confused. Is that the last of them?"

"No. I still have one last left."

"Go on."

"Yeon, the moment I realized my conviction to want to spend my life with you, I promised myself to never fall back. You've challenged me in many ways, bringing growth in me as a person both personally and career-wise. Sometimes I can be too needy but the way you've accepted parts of me I feel insecure about makes me love you even more. I think you as an amazing person, I find you very intriguing and interesting. I can trust you with anything including my life for your heart is pure and free of being compromised. I love your commitment towards your goals, the way you dedicate and allocate your time for others in a manner that benefits everyone without having them feeling left out. In a short time, you won me over that even if we were unfated, I would still want to be with you, even if my scent wasn't compatible to yours, I'd still choose you.

I believe our paths were meant to cross, fateship being just a mare coincidence. This is something I've thought deeply about and have come to accept. Today marks the beginning of us, me and you as one but only in paper. We have been one for sometime now, my heart belonging to you. You've filled my life with happiness I'd never known. Without a doubt, we were meant to be together, fateship confirming this fact and when we become old and grey, I guarantee you that my thoughts of you and how I feel with you today will remain the same, if not amplified. From now on, let's make more memories of us, more laughter so that one day when we look back, all that'll be behind us are nothing but good times. I love you Yeon and thank you for choosing me among many."

"I like this one Stannie."

"You said the same thing about the other one and the one before that."

"What do you want me to say when you write so good?"

"That's why I'm confused too, but at least we are down to three now."

"How about you just combine them all together, not the five but the last there."

"Wouldn't it be too long?"

"It's your wedding. You can do whatever you want."

"You're right." Stan nodded as he skimmed though the drafts starting from the last he'd read aloud. "Thank you uncle, though it's Yeon I'll be reading them all for. I want him to like it."

"I thought you'd crammed them all word for word."

"I have, but I don't want to look weird being the only one not reading." Stan laughed and lifted his head to look at his uncle again. "Yeon is not good at cramming as I am."

"I'd forgotten that side of him, but don't you think he'll also appreciate the effort you put into cramming all five of the vows?"

"I thought we were going for three?"

"That's right...and since the other two are of no use to you, how about you share..."

"Nope." Stan shook his head instantly and stood from his chair.

"Come on, at least pay me for taking my time and sharing my wisdom with you!"

"Why would I give them to you? Three years from now, or even six months from now, you'll be ridiculing me for this day to dads!"

"Don't go too far! I'll make fun of you even next week!" Stan's uncle laughed. "Why did you come to me knowing I'd do that? You make it so easy teasing you..."

"Because dads would just laugh even before I opened my draft book. I've hidden this particular one well in the new house Yeon and I will move into. If they'd had the keys, they'd have snuck in and snooped around."

"Your parents are a special breed."

"Not like you are any different uncle." Stan teased and laughed, his uncle joining him almost immediately.

"Where is Yeon anyway? You always seem glued to him so seeing you alone is rare."

"He went for fitting. He wanted a white suit with golden buttons and Elric's mother cancelled the first order since she wanted the gold to be made pure and not plated or sprayed."

"That's some expensive suit. Better put it in some vault or something after the wedding. It's as good as a wedding gift, an investment which is your kind of thing."

"My biggest shock was when dad Joss chipped in. You know how stingy he is."

"My brother chipped in?" Dr. Jiwon appeared completely stunned then concluded afterwards, "Robin must have forced him."

"Actually, he doesn't know. Dad Joss said it's a way to convince Yeon to stay longer in his lab."

"Sneaky bastard!"

"So, what are you going to do?"

"What else can I do to outsmart him?"

"I can't get between your fights uncle."

"Oh you will for I already know how to make you tell me, something juicy concerning your fated. The catch is you help me outsmart my brother."

"You could get two two horses. One black and another white."

"I thought the horse issue was no longer part of the budget?"

"Yeon opted them out since he didn't want to burden anyone but the truth is he still wants them... If you can surprise him with that on the wedding day, that would certainly win him over. Besides, to make him feel better about it, I go horseback riding with him thrice a week. That day he slept over at your house, we were to go for a ride in the evening."

"Oh..." Stan's uncle seemed deep in thought as he tapped onto his chin. "Well, you have access to one of my accounts and your good with money. How much do we need to rent two horses for a day?"

"Think about getting back Yeon uncle! What is money really? More than Yeon?" Stan pushed on meekly, coaxing his uncle further hoping he'd fall for the manipulation.

"Fine! You handle it then but for this to be a fair deal, what I want is one thing. The first two drafts. If you share them with me, I have information about Yeon you will like."

"I know everything about him."

"Nah-ah!" Stan's uncle shook his index finger slowly from side to side. "I'm also convinced he hasn't told you what he is supposed to."

"What do you mean?" Stan asked impatiently.

"In one of your drafts, you mentioned spending the rest of your lives together, the importance and understanding the need for family and what not. Did Yeon tell you he is stressed?"

"Stressed?"

"Give me the drafts and I'll tell you more."

Stan instantly handed his notebook to his uncle and insisted on knowing more.

"Yeon is stressed. Find a way to make him accept this because I don't think he fully understands he suffers from silent stress and don't tell him I told you this okay? "

"Thank you uncle..." Stan's response was haste as he quickly rushed out of his uncle's office after handing his notebook to his uncle, who looked at it while smiling.

"I only asked for two and he gave me everything. What a lovesick fool my nephew is."