Taehyung endured several rounds of photos with the drunk photographer, who hiccupped in between shouting out orders, a wedding cake that nearly fell over, and Knickers' spiraling mood swings as she came off her pain meds. Luckily Knickers seemed to have forgotten the minister's use of his real name, though, and everyone was having a wonderful time.
It was the best day of his life.
When Seongjin introduced him to Lee Seungsoo and his fiancée Lisa in the receiving line, Taehyung realized he'd completely forgotten the original purpose for carrying on with the charade of the wedding. His back stiffened, and he forced himself to shake the man's hand. Jungkook wasn't as gracious, and barely acknowledged either of them. His father gave the younger a confused glance, but the next guest approached, and Seungsoo and his date moved along to their table.
Taehyung looked over at Jin, a couple of places down the line. They exchanged a nod, then Jin's gaze followed Seungsoo to his seat.
A couple of minutes later, Tae's stomach tightened when he glanced into the face of his mother. She'd seemed happy enough during the wedding, but what would she say now that it was all over?
"Mom..."
She reached up and pulled him into a tight hug. "I'd ask you if you're sure, but it's too late for that now. Besides, the happiness rolling off you tells me that you are."
He swallowed. "I'm sorry."
She broke loose and looked up into his eyes. "Why would you be sorry?"
"For not telling you sooner."
"From what Jin told me, there wasn't much sooner you could have told me." She grabbed his hand, tears in her eyes. "You're so much like your father. Even when it comes to love."
His face warmed and he realized Jungkook was watching them, both fear and worry on his face. Tae took Jungkook's hand in his. "Mom, this is Jeon Jungkook... the most amazing person in the world." He turned to his mother. "Next to you, of course."
His mother laughed. "Now that you're married I'll relinquish the title."
Jungkook held out his hand. "Mrs. Kim... I'm so happy you came."
Taehyung's mother ignored his outstretched hand and hugged Jungkook. "None of that Mrs. Kim stuff. Call me Youngmi."
She squeezed Jungkook one more time and Taehyung let out a sigh of relief. So she wasn't going to hold this impromptu wedding against either of them.
His mother gave him an ornery grin. "And why are you calling him Jeon Jungkook? He's Kim Jungkook now." Worry filled her eyes and she hastily added, "Unless, of course, you plan on keeping your family name. I realize kids do that nowadays."
Jungkook laughed and wrapped his arm around Taehyung's, leaning his temple into the elder's shoulder and looking up into his face. "No. I like the sound of Kim Jungkook."
Tae leaned down and kissed the younger. "I like the sound of that too."
His mother smiled. "I can't wait to get to know you better, Jungkook. Anyone who can make my son beam with so much happiness is a very welcome addition to our family." Her gaze landed on Jin, who was joking around with Hoseok and Namjoon. "Now if Jin could just settle down with a good partner."
Taehyung snorted with a grin. "I wouldn't hold my breath."
Knickers had outdone herself with the reception as well. The dinner was served under a huge organza-draped tent filled with flowers and candelabras. After the dinner, the guests made their way to the makeshift dance floor on the sand, dancing to music played by a band.
Hours into the reception, the open bar had helped the atmosphere shift from formal to fun-loving, but Jin still hadn't made his move. Finally, Taehyung saw Lisa head up to the administrative building, where the restrooms were located. Jin followed about thirty seconds later with Hoseok close behind. The heavy sense of responsibility that had been plaguing him finally sloughed away.
Taehyung spun Jungkook around on the dance floor under the stars. The band Knickers had hired was surprisingly good. He knew they should be mingling with their guests, but he couldn't bring himself to lose this perfect moment with the younger.
A couple of dances later, Jungkook noticed Tae's attention drift up the small hill, and he glanced around. "Where's Jin?"
Taehyung gave him a knowing look. "He's getting our proof."
"Do you think he'll get it?"
He grinned. "Yeah."
"What about my dad?" Worry lines wrinkled his forehead.
"Hey." Jungkook looked up at him. "Let's find out what Lisa tells Jin, then go from there."
"Okay." The younger nodded. "Did you get the marriage license from Jin yet?"
Taehyung had told the minister he'd take care of mailing the license, but he'd seen the minister hand the stamped envelope to Jin, who'd been evasive about it all evening. "No. But I'll get it. I promise."
"Tae! What if Jin loses it?"
Taehyung stopped dancing and kissed Jungkook, making them both forget about Jin and what he was up to. "How much longer do we have to stay at this thing?" he asked, his lips brushing the younger's. "I'm very eager to start our honeymoon. Although, I just now realized that I have no idea where we're staying tonight."
Jungkook giggled. "As much as I love making love to you under the stars, I need a bed tonight."
A wicked gleam filled Taehyung's eyes. "All this talk about beds is only making me want to drag you away now."
"Patience, Mr. Kim."
Taehyung's gaze returned to the small hill. He had to at least stay and see how Jin's scheme played out.
Ten minutes later, Jin emerged from the administrative building, searching the crowd. Taehyung nodded, then gave Jungkook a lingering kiss.
"Keep that up and I'll want to skip the rest of my own reception."
He grinned. "Hold that thought. I need to talk to Jin."
"Okay."
"Your mother has been shooting us dirty looks for the last five minutes. Why don't you go appease her and after I finish with Jin, I'll steal you away."
"Deal."
He made his way through the crowd and met Jin at the edge of the tent Knickers had rented for the reception.
"Did you get it?" Taehyung asked, keeping his gaze on Jungkook.
"Piece of cake. Lee's kid put her up to it. His dad didn't want to make him a part of the firm, so he needed to give them something they couldn't refuse. We were at the same conference, and Seungsoo knew about the design because I ran my mouth a bit too much. His girlfriend was with him, and you know the rest of that part."
Taehyung scowled. "It's the next part I'm interested in."
"Seungsoo gave the plans to his dad, passing them off as his own."
"So, no one else knew they were stolen?"
"No, I don't think so."
"But what about the email from the attorneys in Seongjin's personal email?"
Jin grinned. "I cracked his email."
"What? When?"
"While you and Jungkook were busy making goo-goo eyes at each other during dinner, I kept trying different combinations until I broke it."
"Combinations of what?"
"His nicknames for Jungkook."
That made sense. "And...?"
"It looks like Seongjin caught wind of our application being denied. He realized that Seungsoo had acquired the plans illegally. He was checking to see what ramifications it would have on the firm, given that the others principals had no prior knowledge of the crime."
"That means Seongjin is innocent."
"In this? Yes."
Taehyung lifted his eyebrow in question.
"There's still the issue of him taking money from his company, but that's their problem, not ours."
"So we won?" Taehyung asked, incredulous.
Jin looked over at Jungkook. "You won, all right."
Hoseok slipped out the side door of the building and walked over to them, a sly grin on his face.
"Has it been taken care of?" Jin asked.
Hobi's grin widened.
A man walked up to the party, his gaze scanning the crowd. He looked to be in his mid twenties, with dark hair and a medium build. He wore jeans and a polo shirt, so he obviously didn't belong at the wedding. Something about him set Taehyung's nerves on edge.
But something else told him that Hoseok and Jin were the more immediate concern. "Has what been taken care of?"
"Your wedding gift," Hobi said.
That had his full attention. "Why am I suddenly scared?"
"There's no reason to be scared," Jin said. "It's exactly what you wanted. Jungkook."
Taehyung's chest tightened. What had they done? "I already have Jungkook."
"This is more permanent." Looking pleased with himself, Jin slapped Taehyung's arm. "Hobi put your marriage license in the mail. I told you this was the real deal."
Terror washed over him. What was Jungkook going to say? Would he think Tae tricked him in this too? "Get it back!"
"No can do, TaeTae." Jin laughed. "It's a public mailbox. Breaking in is a federal offense."
"Fix this."
"It is fixed. It's done."
Taehyung turned back to the crowd, trying to sort through his options. Surely Jungkook wouldn't hold it against him if he could get Jin and Hoseok to confess. His eye caught the man at the edge of the crowd. He studied him closer, thinking he'd seem him somewhere. The guy stood on the periphery, his body stiff, as though he were looking for a fight. How did he know him?
Taehyung turned to Hoseok, his heart racing now. "Who is that guy?"
The man started to push his way none too gently through the crowd, heading straight for Jungkook.
"Oh, God," Hobi said, breathless. "It's Taehyeon."
"Shit!" Tae took off running, his heartbeat pounding in his ears as he pushed people out of the way.
Jungkook was talking to his mother and several of her friends, oblivious to the booby trap headed toward him.
Taehyeon reached him first. He grabbed Jungkook's arm and spun the younger around to face him.
"What the hell is going on here?" he shouted, still holding her arm.
Jungkook cried out in surprise and tried to pull out of his grasp, but he held on tight.
Finally reaching Jungkook, Taehyung positioned himself beside the younger, hands balling into fists at his sides. "Get your hand off him now." His voice was calm, but it held a deadly edge.
Knickers appeared from behind him, livid at what she had to see as a wedding crasher-one who was accosting her son, no less. "Just who do you think you are?"
"Who am I?" Taehyeon shouted, spittle flying out of his mouth. "I am Kang Taehyeon. The groom!"
A collective gasp spread across the crowd.
"What the hell is going on here, Jungkook?" Taehyeon jerked on his arm.
Taehyung wanted to beat the shit out of the dirtbag, but the guy had to let go of Jungkook first. "I'm warning you," Taehyung said, taking a step forward. "Let go of him now."
"Who the hell do you think you are?"
"I'm his husband. Now. Let. Him. Go."
Taehyung weighed his options as the other man turned to face him, his mouth gaping wide open. He could try to deck Taehyeon, but he didn't want Jungkook to get caught in the middle. He heard someone come up behind him, and when he glanced back, he wasn't surprised to see that Jin literally had his back.
Jungkook's face was pale, and he cast a glance at his mother, then at his ex-fiancé. "Taehyeon, let's go somewhere more private, and I'll explain."
A black look washed over his face. "Oh, you're going to explain all right." He moved through the crowd, dragging Jungkook with him.
As Taehyung followed, he waved over Hoseok and Namjoon, who'd hurried over to them. "Call the police."
Namjoon held up his phone. "Already done."
Taehyeon didn't stop until he reached a concrete pad at the edge of the beach. Taehyung took comfort in the fact that it was at least a somewhat private place. Not that this was a private moment. There were seven people watching Taehyeon maul Jungkook-Jimin and Yoongi had joined the group, looking like he was going to murder Kang Taehyeon himself-but one look at Jungkook's face told Taehyung how humiliated the younger was.
"Start talking, Jungkook." Taehyeon's fury grew, and he jerked on his arm. "Who is this clown?"
Taehyung's own temper raged and he started to lunge for the man out of instinct, but Jin held his arm and growled under his breath, "Not yet."
Jungkook took a deep breath to keep from crying. "Taehyung." He shot a glance at his mother. "Kim Taehyung."
Anger spread across Knickers' face when she realized she'd been duped.
"Taehyung," Taehyeon said with a sneer. "Were you screwing him while we were together? When you wanted to keep your precious virginity for wedding night with me?"
"What?" Jungkook asked in horror, then his fear gave way to anger and he glared at his ex. "No, Taehyeon. I'm not a cheating bastard like you are!"
"We broke up eight weeks ago, Jungkook, and you're marrying this-" he waved his hand toward Taehyung, "-this shithead. You're telling me you weren't sleeping with him all along?" He jerked on the younger's arm again and he winced in pain.
Taehyung had about reached his limit. "If you care about Jungkook at all, let him go."
"You mean care about him like you do?" He released a bitter laugh.
"I love him." Taehyung held up his hands, pulling loose from Jin's hold. "I wouldn't dream of hurting Jungkook, but you're hurting him now. So let him go, and we'll talk about this like adults."
Taehyeon shook his head, seeming to just notice the others who'd trailed after them. "This doesn't concern the rest of you of you. Everyone leave, but you." He pointed at Taehyung.
Knickers' face twisted with rage. "You are manhandling my son, you miscreant. Let go of him now." She was a force to behold.
Taehyeon's gaze turned to Jungkook's mother, and his grip loosened as if by instinct.
Jungkook took the opportunity to stomp on his foot and elbow him in stomach. Releasing Jungkook's arm with an angry shout, Taehyeon reached up to hit him.
Taehyung didn't waste a second. He lunged for Taehyeon, knocking him to the ground as Jin pulled Jungkook out of harm's way.
"You son of a bitch! Keep your hands off my husband!" He swung at Taehyeon, connecting with his jaw. "You never deserved him!" Taehyeon pushed Taehyung away from him, then got to his feet and punched Taehyung in the stomach.
"Taehyeon!" Jungkook shouted. "Leave him alone!" He tried to lunge for them, but Jin held him back.
Taehyung got two more punches in before the men broke apart and leered at each other.
"What do you want, Kang?" Taehyung asked, breathless. "Do you want him to say he cheated on you? Why? So you won't feel like such a fool for letting him go?" He clenched his fist then flexed it. "That's why you're here in Busan, right? Because you realized what a complete idiot you were to cheat on him? Now he's moved on, and you can't accept responsibility for that, so it's easier to blame him." He stepped closer and jabbed his finger at Taehyeon's chest. "But that's on you! You had two years to treat him right, but you were too stupid to see what you had."
Taehyeon's face hardened. "He's not yours."
"We're married. Deal with it."
Taehyeon swung at him again and Taehyung stepped backward and out of the way.
Hundreds of sprays of water suddenly shot straight up from the ground in a twenty-foot diameter. They pulsed, spraying on and off, completely drenching the two men.
So that explained the concrete pad.
Taehyeon swung at him again and Taehyung took another step back, evading his fist.
"Enough!" Jungkook's mother shouted, the authority in her voice unmistakable.
Both of them stopped and turned to face her, still standing in the oscillating water sprays.
"Kang Taehyeon, you have five seconds to leave my sight. Never contact my son again." Her eyes narrowed "And if you do, I will hunt you down all the way to the Seoul and chop off important parts of you that you'd probably prefer to keep."
Taehyeon's gaze shifted to Jungkook, a question in his eyes.
"We're done, Taehyeon," Jungkook said without hesitation. "Go."
Ae-ri's voice was icy. "Your time starts now, Mr. Kang."
"You'll regret this someday, Jungkook," he shouted.
"You keep telling yourself that."
He stomped up the steps and toward the entrance to the Chosan.
Seongjin appeared at the edge of the group, panting. "What happened?"
Knickers ignored her husband and turned her attention to Taehyung. "Mr. Kim."
He lifted his chin, shivering in his wet suit and trying not to feel like a grade school boy sent to the principal's office. "Yes, Ma'am."
"How long have you known my son?"
"Four days."
"Four days?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"You met on the train?"
"Yes."
"And you just got married?"
"Yes."
Jungkook pulled free from Jin's hold. "Mom, I can explain."
"You can explain why you told me this man was Kang Taehyeon."
Jungkook hesitated, looking over at Taehyung. The elder nodded his encouragement.
Taking a deep breath, Jungkook turned toward his mother. "I broke up with Taehyeon eight weeks ago, and I was afraid to tell you."
"Why?" his mother demanded. "Do you really think I would want you to marry a man who would cheat on you? Not only that, but he also made fun of your sexuality while he was at it!"
Jungkook looked torn. "You kept telling me how much the wedding cost and that you couldn't get refunds."
The fury in his mother's face dissolved into sorrow and her shoulders sagged. "You really think I'm that much of a monster?"
Jungkook started to say something, but kept his mouth shut.
"So you chose to marry a stranger rather than tell me your fiancé cheated on you?"
"We're not married. It wasn't real."
Taehyung cringed. Things were about to get uglier. As if that were possible. Tae took several steps toward Jungkook and out of the fountain, water dripping from his hair onto his face. "Jungkookie, we are."
Confusion wrinkled the younger's brow. "We are what?"
Tae's eyes pleaded with his. "We're married."
Jungkook blinked. "What?"
"The marriage license got mailed in. We can't get it back."
"What? How?"
Hoseok raised his hand, a sheepish look washing over his face. "Me."
"And me." Jin stepped up next to him, as if presenting himself for punishment.
Hoseok stepped up beside him. "Taehyung didn't know anything about it. We had just told him when Taehyeon showed up."
Taehyung knew he had to take control. "It doesn't matter. As far as I'm concerned, this wedding couldn't be any more real. I'm glad they mailed it in, but they should have consulted us first." He searched Jungkook's face, hoping to get a read on how he felt, but it remained expressionless. Tae decided to go for broke and took several steps toward Knickers, his hand extended as he presented his case. "I love him. I've never met anyone like him before, and I know it's crazy. I know it. But it's right too."
Knickers watched him for several second before turning to Jungkook. "We can get this annulled."
"What?" Taehyung asked in panic. Jin and Hoseok voiced their own protests too, but he was too distraught to register what they said.
Jungkook gasped. "You would do that?"
"Of course, I would do that." Her no-nonsense countenance had returned, and she was ready to take charge once again. "You're not stuck with this. I'll take care of it."
Jungkook looked between Taehyung and his mother and took a deep breath. "What if I want to be stuck with this?"
Taehyung leaned over his knees, weak from relief. "Oh, thank God," he mumbled under his breath.
Knickers eyes widened. "Why on earth would you want that, Jungkook?"
"Because I love him."
"How? You hardly know him."
"I don't know. I just do."
"So you're married to Kim Taehyung?"
Jungkook gave him a bright bunny smile that sucked Taehyung's breath away. "Yes, I suppose I am."
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A/N: and this story is officially finished! sorry if the ending seemed a little rushed, but I hope you enjoyed reading! I'll be posting a short epilogue, and maybe a q&a on what kind of story you guys want to read next!