A/N: BTW, I'll be posting the collage of her whole outfit, makeup, hair, etc just as she walks in. There will be two different dresses. Consider her dress a combination of the two.
Word count: 4720
Turns out the breakfast that my soulmates planned out for me was a light berry and spinach salad and an additional fruit plate that they had cut up and hid away in the kimchi fridge, which I can only imagine was so I wouldn't touch it before breakfast this morning. I only knew of its location at all because of the good morning text message I got from them just as I woke up this morning. "Huh. They must have known you would have a nervous stomach this morning." Skai comments when he sees the containers I pulled out for myself. I only knew they were there because each of them texted me this morning in the group chat, and Jin himself alerted me of their hidden location.
"Wait. What are you all going to eat?" I ask out immediate concern.
Eun Jin wraps an arm around my shoulder and briefly hugs me for a moment before explaining. "Don't worry. I'm pretty good in the kitchen. I'll work out something for us."
"Yes," Geong Min nods. "I'll help her out, but you should focus on your own food."
Jiwoo checks her phone. "The stylists will be here in about an hour. That should give you enough time to both eat and take a shower."
I nod, but admittedly my appetite is next to nonexistent. I know it is because I am a crazy amalgamation of both overly anxious and excited energy. It doesn't help that I know everything is currently being set up outside on the far side of the house as we speak. That fact is punctuated by how I periodically will hear a noise outside reminding me of the staff that was hired for the event outside setting up things.
Skai puts a hand on my back. I know immediately he has seen me struggling, and is trying to get me to maintain focus. "Girl, you are way too on edge. I understand why, but you don't want to end up lightheaded during the ceremony. Please focus and eat. Your soulmates took great care in preparing this for you."
I nod and focus solely on my food and do my best to completely block the world outside this kitchen. My newfound sisters have turned on the stereo and are dancing around the kitchen. I grin to myself, because I am 99.9% sure that they are doing it to redirect my thoughts to their silliness in an attempt to get my mind off of the ceremony itself and also all the steps I need to take to get ready for it.
Despite my initial lack of appetite, I amazingly manage to eat most of the salad and fruit plate. Jiwoo takes the nearly empty dishes from me and commands me to go and take my shower now. I can't help but grin at her for a moment and run upstairs to do exactly as she says.
Once I am out of the shower I quickly dress in the bra and panty set I plan to wear today. Then I put on a big terry cloth robe over that. I am not putting on the dress until after my makeup and hair are both already taken care of. Footsteps heard outside my door have me getting up and opening it before a knock is ever placed. I smile when I find the same two stylists that helped me out on the night of the club group date standing on the other side of the doorway.
Despite how horrendous that night was, the two stylists had been one of the lighter moments for me. The fact that the makeup artist doesn't believe in going overboard with a completely different style sets me at immediate ease seeing her here once again.
"Once again I think I am going to loosely base your makeup off of your own personal choices. Although we are going to keep it lighter than we did for the club event. I am thinking of a softer, more natural look." She pulls up an image to show me what she has in mind, and I am in immediate agreement with the inspiration that she has decided to use. The eyelashes are really the only thing dramatic compared to the rest of the makeup, but to me that makes sense. The idea to obviously keep it simple but glammed up a bit.
I'm unsurprised by the amount of time it takes for the makeup artist to work on my face. I'm sure it takes just as much skill to make me look subtle yet flawless as it does to look glammed up and fabulous. However, in the grand scheme of things, I know it's my hair that is going to be the bigger problem.
"I'm going to leave the lip color here with you." The makeup stylist announces. "That way if for some reason you have to touch it up during the day at some point you have it available to do so."
I frown. "But, when will I be able to return it to you?"
She grabs my wrist in one hand and lifts it so my palm is facing up before placing the tube of lip gloss in my hand. Then she takes her other hand and uses it to close my fingers around it. "Consider it a gift."
That's when she finally turns me around in my seat so I can look at myself in the mirror. Apart from the cosmetics scattered out on the counter, and the example image I didn't have an exact point of reference of what the end result might end up looking like. Aside from the mascara it almost doesn't look like I have makeup on at all, only that I seem to be emitting a natural glow due to the golden pink and brownish hues that the artist used. Even the light eyeliner she applied, that I normally wouldn't wear, is almost invisible to the naked eye. I don't know that I have ever seen my eye color pop this much. The blue and greens of my irises are somehow exceptionally stark and bright due to the magic the stylist created.
The hair stylist then sets to work herself, first turning me back around on the seat so I am once again facing away from the mirror. She won't let me see the photo she has as inspiration, and I am a bit annoyed by that fact. However, I find myself not only trusting her instincts completely, but also relieved by the fact that she already has an idea of what to do with my hair. It somehow gives me a sense of peace since it wasn't something else that I had to worry about myself. I relax into the sensation against my scalp as she starts tackling my hair. Truthfully, it seems that once she gets my hair dried the locks seem to want to magically behave for her. She didn't bother straightening it, and I can only assume that is because she plans on using my natural curls to their advantage for the hairdo she is pulling inspiration from. I also find it exceptionally shocking that it takes her only just over twenty minutes before she announces that she is done.
Once she lets me look at myself in the mirror I can't help but be exceptionally surprised by my reflection. My hair is more tame than I think I have ever been able to accomplish myself aside from putting it in a simple braid. Curly tendrils frame my face on either side, at the crown of my head a braid curves around the entire circumference, and at the back of my head the rest of my hair is pulled in a high ponytail with my tight natural curls dripping down my back. I'm thankful I chose not to wear a veil, because I think it would honestly have covered too much of this masterpiece that the hair stylist replicated. Hell, in my opinion, it looks better than the photo that she left propped up by the mirror of my vanity.
The stylists say their goodbyes to me, and the next moment my new sisters and Skai are swarming in the room. "Oh wow, doll, you look absolutely stunning."
I smile brightly at him for a moment before I start getting nervous once again. "Wait. What time is it?" I ask as if I didn't just look at the clock after my hair was done.
"You have about a half an hour before you should get dressed in your gown. We came up because we noticed the SUVs that were starting to pull up in the drive. I guess that means that your soulmates are nearly here. I wouldn't be surprised if their families were following them since they all stayed at the same hotel last night."
I'm immediately torn between wanting to run down to see them all, and wanting to make both myself and them wait until I walk into the tent and down the aisle that the staff of workers created inside it. Geong Min must read the emotions on my face due to how she responds to them. "Oh no, sister, you are staying right here. That is why we all came up. Each of us are going to take turns talking to our brothers and making sure they stay put."
That only covers some of my soulmates though. "What about Jk, Jimin, Jin, and Yoongi?" The four who don't have sisters to stop them. How are my sisters planning on convincing them to stay?
Jiwoo smiles. "That's why I am going first. To get my soulmates to help me out with Jimin and Jk."
"I'm not sure that I can do much myself, but I can at least encourage Seokjung to try to help Jin stay calm and not want to come traipsin' up here." Jasmine adds.
"And we are all hoping that Yoongi will just end up having more restraint." Eun Jin adds. "But, if he doesn't there should be enough of us to keep him tied up until it's time." I try my best not to conjure up memories involving that particular soulmate and being tied up. I really don't want to flush bright red and have my sisters and Skai ask me what is going on in my head right now.
I'm hoping they are right that Yoongi will suppress his desire to come up and see me before the wedding . He is pretty disciplined and should be able to school himself. That doesn't mean he will though.
The half an hour I have to wait stretches beyond measure, moving exceptionally too slow for my taste. Luckily I have the others around me to keep me company. I even take a moment to place a video call to Candace and Rebecca.
Candace's eyes bulge wide as she looks at me. "Oh wow! Are you sure your soulmates won't run down the aisle to get to you the minute they see you?" I laugh at that, because while I hadn't considered it myself it does sound like exactly what some of them might do on impulse.
Rebecca frowns. Her skin still exceptionally pale, shadows under her eyes, and her cheeks a bit sunken in making me wonder if she has even been able to eat anything of substance and keep it down. "I was hoping to get to see the dress and everything."
Jiwoo glances at the clock. "We can help you get dressed now. It's only a smidge earlier than my initial suggestion." Skai takes the phone from me and talks with my friends while the others help me into my gown.
Like my mother's dress the bodice is composed of a layer of see through lace-like material over a strapless heart shaped while silk. My mother's dress had sleeves ¾ length long in the same sheer fabric, Jiwoo and I decided to forgo the sleeves since we both deemed them unnecessary. The waistband of my mother's dress was a solid ribbon of white fabric separating the skirt from the bodice. Jiwoo chose to change this up also and dress the waistband up with the silvery ribbon she had purchased from the store when I was with her. The skirt of my mother's dress was simply a few of the sheer layers of fabric over a final layer of the silky white fabric. Instead of using the same sheer fabric she used over the bodice of my dress Jiwoo chose to do a few layers of sheer tulle of the same color over the layer of silky fabric. She did such a fantastic job that at my last fitting I literally couldn't control the tears. The dress easily represented my mother while still obviously being brand new and making it completely mine.
I didn't realize my eyes were welling up with tears until Geong Min was holding a kleenex to the corner of my eye. "Good thing the mascara is waterproof otherwise we would probably have to call the stylist back to fix your face."
I put the earrings I purchased from Skai's display case in my ears. Much like the previous ones I wore the night of the "proposal" these ones too are made with droplets of prismatic crystals. Unlike the others however these ones are teardrop shaped instead of bicone and there are only two identical crystals on each earring, rather than the four crystals each of the other pair of earrings had.
The minute I take the phone back from Skai my two friends are oohing and ahhing immediately. "That dress seems familiar." Candace frowns as she tries to place it.
I turn my head and smile at Jiwoo. "That's because my new sister, Jiwoo, somewhat replicated my mother's wedding dress. You probably saw the picture of it hanging in my apartment one of the times you had been there." Jiwoo even takes a moment to hand me the image in question so I can visually remind Candace of it.
"Oh, wow! Jiwoo, you did a great job with it! If my soulmate happens to be Korean I may have to enlist you to design my own ceremony dress!" I glance at Candace for a moment. Something is odd about the way she said that, but I know I don't have the time to contemplate it too long.
As if reading my thoughts, Jiwoo responds. "Well, if that ends up being the case I just might take you up on that offer. We should probably get off the phone and start heading down now though. The guys should all be lining up and waiting."
Immediately I am both saying goodbye and somewhat panicking. Skai takes my ring from me. "Don't worry it will be back on your pretty hand in next to no time at all." I know they just wanted to present it to me again during the ceremony since we all decided to forgo additional rings for it. We had all decided that since each petal represented a member, there wasn't a reason for them to have their own ring. Plus, we didn't want the public aware quite yet that we had the ceremony. I look down and study the bare spot on my finger for a moment. I've only had the ring for a week and my hand already feels empty without it. Skai admires my manicure and interrupts my thoughts with his next statement. "I'm glad you thought to use a sheer iridescent gloss last night on your fingers instead of something more bold. It will make the ring stand out more when it is back on your finger."
Then in the next moment he is running away to hand my ring over to Joon. I take a deep breath before we all start heading downstairs together. My shoes are already downstairs, and while I could have chosen something a bit more showy I chose to forgo that idea since the skirt of my gown will be hiding my shoes anyway. They are just a simple white ballet flat.
I find myself having to stop and take a deep breath once the tent comes into view. It gives me a moment to admire the setting our ceremony is taking place in. The roof is foggy but transparent, and I can just make out the strings of lights drooping from the canopy. The sides of the tent are white, but every other panel has an arched 'window' which somewhat allows me to see the round table clothed tables and wooden chairs inside. I know without having to see for myself that there are only enough to seat my soulmate's families. Aside from the person officiating the ceremony, the caterers, and the staff that set up and will dismantle the tent afterward no one else has been invited. We decided to keep it simple with just us, because we didn't want it to become a publicized media event.
I must get distracted because the next thing I know I am at the blank space left open to create a 'doorway' and looking down the aisle that leads me to the altar where all seven of my soulmates stand. As I take in and study each of them I feel a newfound confidence within me as they take their appraisal of me. They are each holding a daisy and the color of the daisy also matches the tie and intricate designs of the tuxedo vests they are wearing. I'm a bit confused because while most of them correspond with their microphone colors Yoongi and Tae's are both different. Jimin's is orange, but I understand that since there would be no way to find a gold daisy.
Before I can mentally question it further music starts to play, and I am immediately smiling because it is the song they wrote just for me. "Forever Starts with You." There is nothing in this world that can stop my feet as I slowly walk down the aisle toward the future I already knew was mine, but I also couldn't help but feel that future more solidifying with each footstep toward completing this ceremony with them.
Hobi steps forward, and I somehow realize that the daisies are more than just a simple flower they are holding. "Petal. We decided together as a group that we would do more than recite the words necessary to make our bond official. We decided to also show you what you mean to each of us." He hands the red daisy to me. "This flower is to show you, my sweet Petal, that while I will always love and desire you that I also can't help but admire who you are beyond measure. You're a surprising breath of fresh air and honestly without you I think I might just end up deprived of oxygen." Then, even though kisses are meant to be reserved for the end of the ceremony he cups my face in his hands and kisses me soundly. Before sighing and stepping back to his place in line.
Jin then steps forward and hands me the pink daisy in his hand. "Princess, I know I haven't said it before now, but saying it here now with our families around us in this moment seems right to me. I love you." He pauses for a second, a tear threatening to spill over from the corner of his eye, making my own eyes start to well up with unshed tears. "I was surprised by it because falling in love with you has been so effortless and easy. After waiting for you for so long, I think I unintentionally put a wall up and made things difficult for me to realize right away. Know this though, Princess, even despite that wall's existence I had been falling in love with you since the first moment I saw you. Now, you have somehow made that wall crumble to dust, and I realized how exceptionally happy you have made me. That happiness is what this pink daisy represents." Then he too pulls me into his arms and kisses me softly and sweetly before getting back in line.
Joon steps forward holding a sky blue daisy. "We all know that my job can be a stressful one, and while of course I love it, I don't know that I have been able to feel peaceful while doing it. The first moment after work that I came home to you that sensation of peace filled me up until it was practically overflowing. This blue daisy represents the serenity that you bring not only to my life but to all of ours." He drops a softer kiss than I would expect to come from him on my lips before taking his place again.
Jimin steps forward out of line next holding the orange daisy out to me. He clears his throat. "I know I have said this before, Love. But, I will repeat it for your other soulmates and our families to hear. Within the first moment that I received my soulmate mark while on stage I was immediately filled with a rush of excitement. That excitement and joy hasn't faded away since that first moment at all. It has just grown and become bigger with each passing day. Those two emotions are represented by this orange daisy." He kisses me softly before he too returns to their lineup.
Yoongi then steps forward. He twirls the stem of the white daisy he holds in his hand. "Obviously, many of us chose flowers the same color as our microphones because the interpretation of the colors easily represented our feelings for you and what you mean to each of us. Instead of going that route I chose white, the opposite color of my microphone, because it stands out starkly amongst all other colorful flowers. Just like you stand out starkly compared to other people. You are a caring, intelligent, and beautiful woman. We are quite lucky to have you." After receiving his own kiss and moving back to the lineup Tae comes forward next.
Despite his ability to be bold in some of our more secretive, private moments he comes across as shy as he walks over to me. He can't even seem to decide which hand to hold the turquoise daisy in. As he passes it from one hand to another he clears his throat before his words come out more confident than he appears in front of me. "I chose not to use green myself because honestly the meaning of a green flower didn't seem to suit the ceremony or reflect the feelings I had for you. Instead I chose to use a color that is close to both blue and green, turquoise. But even my choice of that color wasn't based on the flower meaning but the meaning of the gemstone by the same name. It represents friendship, and while what I feel for you, Angel, goes above and beyond simple friendship I feel it's important that we also call ourselves friends. After all, friendship is just another level of being one's soulmate."
Jk comes forward and hands me the purple daisy without hesitation. "It turns out that purple flowers symbolize tradition and success. For some reason both of those sentiments made me think that this was the flower to end the ceremony with. Success in life and wrapping ourselves in this traditional moment." He looks around indicating the tent around us and pauses for a second before continuing. "However, I found they also mean admiration and adoration. Sweetheart, neither of those words come close to how I feel for you, but they are definitely a start."
Before he presses his own lips against mine I grin and somehow manage to add. "We also can't forget, Borahae." He chuckles for a moment before kissing me a little bit more passionately than is probably suitable for the ceremony. I'm pretty sure I am proven right when my other soulmates clear their throats.
Before the officiator can proceed with the next part of the ceremony, or the first part since this 'flower ceremony' was outside of normal tradition I cleared my throat of the emotion clenching within my chest. "I wish I had thought to plan out something to say to each of you while we are in this moment. Apparently, I took it for granted and focused on just showing up." I wait until everyone is done giggling. "I'm not really good at speeches. I do know though that I love each and every one of you, equally and yet somehow whole heartedly. I didn't necessarily need this ceremony, but I am exceptionally thrilled that we are here in this moment together. Today isn't the start of our future together though. It's not even the midway point. It's simply a new beautiful day that I will cherish from here on until always."
The officiator then guides me over to a small vase I hadn't noticed nearby. I smile at each of my soulmates as I place the daisies they handed to me in it. Then we each take a pitcher filled with water and add a small portion to the vase until we each have taken a turn to water the daisies they gave me.
The rest of the ceremony proceeds forward without a hitch, and while I am present and say all the appropriate things it still somehow manages to go by in a blur. It isn't until Joon pulls me beside him and puts the ring back on my finger that I finally regain complete focus. He kisses my hand and whispers. "Here's to you hopefully never having to take it off again." Then another song begins to play from the speakers, and while it takes me a moment to recognize it I can't help but smile widely when it does. They had slowed down an instrumental version of DNA to close out the ceremony with. I can't say I like it better than the original, but it is definitely the right decision to use this version for the moment.
The parents stay for a while for a lunch and small reception of sorts, but after a couple of hours they decide it's probably time for them to head back to the motel for the night. I head upstairs after saying goodbye to my soulmate's parents so I can dress in something more comfortable and go back down to spend time with my new sisters, brothers, and Skai since they all remained behind and decided to hang out for a bit. We voted on the game room as our temporary headquarters for the next few hours. There are several activities going on at once. Some are bowling, others are playing air hockey, and there are also a few by the pool table. Someone votes for pizza, and only after it is consumed and the trash is discarded do the others leave.
After saying goodbye, I make my way upstairs to get ready for the night. I'm a bit stumped to find a suitcase open on my bed with a folded note inside of it. I arch an eyebrow in curiosity and confusion before I sit down on the mattress beside the suitcase and unfold the crisp white paper.
I have an SUV waiting to sweep you off to a secret location. I'd suggest packing something suitable for tonight, and something to wear tomorrow. I plan on bringing us both back around lunch time. I apologize, but I won't be there right away. I have a couple other things to tie up first here. I won't be much longer than a half an hour behind you at most.
I frown because I don't recognize the handwriting, and the words could technically belong to any of my soulmates. It's not until I read the last few words on the paper where he endorsed his signature pet name for me and signed his name with large swooping letters that I am able to discover exactly who is meeting me, and I can't help but realize how much this moment makes perfect sense. Instead of the initial chemise I purchased I carefully pack something I deem much more romantic for our moment together tonight.
A/N: I hope this chapter at least lived up to your expectations, and if not surpassed them.
Per normal, I can't claim the images as my own and I will do my best to include the corresponding url to the clothing and accessories found in the images via comments afterwards.