Unedited
Two Years Later
Japan
The ladies in bright red dresses quickly walk around the decorated venue, tidying up the final touches and making sure everyone makes their way into the chairs.
"Hey, can you please put these flowers in the white vase?" The maid of honor, Kee, says as she hands one of the groomsmen a bouquet of colorful flowers.
As Kee walks away to run another errand, Mew stands there staring at the flowers.
Then he looks around the venue for a white vase to put the bouquet in.
Seeing an empty white-pearled vase, Mew walks over to the simply designed object and places the bouquet of flowers inside.
Realizing that it's almost time for the ceremony to begin, he walks to the back and watches as the bridesmaids rush to get everything in line for the last minute.
Mew walks up to one of the other groomsmen and stuffs his hands in pocket.
"You seem tired." Mew comments after looking at the man's face.
The man turns to Mew and shakes his head.
"Never thought a wedding could be this crazy and chaotic." He replies.
"When you attend one, it's not. But planning one, it sure is a lot of work." Mew says.
"Yeah well, my girlfriend hopes to be able to make our wedding the biggest and greatest one ever. She's had a few boyfriends before me so she's excited to wear the beautiful white dress which, according to her, symbolizes her chance to start life over with the one person she loves the most." The man says.
"Seems like her dream to get married." Mew comments.
"Getting married is exciting. Even though the planning process seems chaotic, I'm still excited to marry the girl of my dreams." The man replies, smiling as he looks at his girlfriend.
Mew nods and looks down, kicking the small grey pebbles on the ground.
The man turns to Mew and asks, "How about you? Excited to get married?"
"Not really. I've been through enough. Now, I'm just keeping low and accepting myself for who I am." Mew replies.
"Good for you. Always love yourself before loving another." The man says, patting Mew lightly on the back.
Suddenly, the priest walks to the back and announces that the wedding will be starting.
As he walks away, the bridesmaids and the groomsmen take to their ordered spots and stay silent so the guests don't hear them in the back.
When the priest arrives at the front of the room, all the guests begin to quiet down for the man to start his speech.
Throughout the entire speech, Mew was busy staring at one of the fresh red roses in a white vase.
It looks so alive and beautiful.
The way it continues to fight for life even when it's cut from the source.
How one expresses the beginning of a journey for two, but as time goes by, the single rose grows into a bouquet of flowers.
That is what makes love so beautiful.
It just continues to grow.
Even when you've spent so much time with one another.
You never grow bored.
You just grow together.
Suddenly, the similar sound of a beat catches Mew's attention.
It's the cue he's been told to start walking out on. So he begins to step out from behind the back and meets up with one of the bridesmaids.
The two smile at each other and link arms as they make their way down the aisle.
Mew kept his head straight and high the entire time, suddenly too scared to look at the guests.
He has always been the one who initiates conversations and looks at people in the eye with no fear of what they'll do or say.
But today, he feels afraid of eye contact.
He's afraid of confrontation. Of the truth.
That he might now spend his life alone.
That he's not great as he thinks he is.
But that's alright.
As long as others are happy, Mew is happy.
Reaching the end of the aisle, Mew and the bridesmaid pull apart to walk to their spots upfront.
Slowly after, the groom makes his way out from the back and up to the front.
Although Mew is standing there physically, he starts to zone out mentally.
His eyes moving from the bride, who carefully steps onto the aisle so she wouldn't step on her dress, to a boy who has his back turned so he can look at the bride.
The back of his hair intrigues Mew, making him remember how similar it looks to someone he had known years ago. The hair he had touched and fixed multiple times.
And the ears. How small they are, but how perfect they look. The way the boy's naturally tanned skin doesn't touch the very top of the ear where a slight tint of red can be seen developing.
Mew couldn't stop looking at the boy, even when the priest began the marriage speech.
Once the boy turns around, Mew notices a similar face structure to someone who had caused him pain, a couple of years ago.
It looks exactly just like.... him.
But the facial expression.
It looks nothing like the way Mew had remembered.
The boy sits on the chair with a straight back, sitting on the edge of the chair. His hair is gelled back, showcasing his forehead. On the side of the ear that Mew had not seen, there is a black earring cuff hanging onto the bottom of the ear. And as the boy stares at the groom and bride, there seems to be no emotion on his face.
Intrigued by the boy, Mew wants to approach him and find out more about the mysterious aura that surrounds him, but he's scared of doing so.
When he decides to finally focus his attention back on the ceremony, it was already ending.
The groom and bride clasp hands and walk down the center aisle with large smiles on their faces.
The rest of the bridesmaids and groomsmen follow behind them as the music begins playing again.
People begin walking out to guide the guests to the dining room for the dinner portion of the wedding.
Standing there, Mew looks down on the ground with his hands clasps in front of him.
This situation has become too familiar to him.
Ever since a year ago, every event has gone by within a snap of a finger.
One second, Mew has his eyes open and in a quick blink, the event is over.
After most of the guests have left, Mew sighs, his chest rising and falling heavily. He looks up slowly and sees a boy staring at him from the back of the room.
It's the boy Mew couldn't stop staring at during the ceremony.
Suddenly, the boy begins walking over to Mew who has frozen in his place.
As the boy makes his way over to Mew, his eyes fall down onto the white suit he has on. Similar to the boy, Mew can't help but look at the boy's all-black suit, almost as if black was the boy's favorite color to wear.
When he finally reaches Mew, the boy, who is naturally tall, suddenly shrinks next to him.
No words are exchanged.
Silence begins to fill the room.
The only sound is the two's heavy breathing.
One was too scared to speak up and one didn't know what to say.
So instead, the boy pulls the hand that he had been hiding behind his back out to the front.
In his hand is one white rose.
He holds it out to Mew and smiles.