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Shu stepped out of the dressing room after changing into his newly tailored outfit. The shoes he wore tapped with each step he made, making it the only sound that accompanied him in the room. After one quick glance at one of the mirrors in front, he made his way out to head back to the lobby. To where one person awaits for him.
Today's schedule indicates a themed photoshoot to advertise their 1st anniversary goods, showcasing not only new merchandise but also the boys' attires(which are definitely not for sale of course). Each Luxiem member was given a new set of clothing that matched the decided concept, Wedding. Shu has thought it would only consist of them wearing tuxedos and suits, just like how a groom and groomsmen would wear at such occasions. But, no. It was actually more than he expected.
"How do I look, Luca?" is what he asks the soonest he sees the said man in the lobby, his back turned to him. Shu halted just a few steps away from him, waiting for the other to take notice and look back at him.
It didn't take long for Luca, who was patiently waiting all by himself, to turn and look his way. And the moment he did, his eyes slowly widened as he perceived Shu's new look. "Shu?" He called out with a tone that seemed to doubt the person in front of him.
Shu almost snorted when he saw the expression Luca was making. He looked somewhat confused and dumbfounded at the same time. "The one and only." he says.
Luca was then brought back to his own senses, somehow. "You look.. pre–"
Noticing the given time, Shu rushes up to his feet. "Oh, shoot. Did I take that long? Are the others already at the studio?"
"Actually, they're–" Luca was about to say something but he was interrupted when Shu grabbed his arm and dragged him out of the room to go to the studio.
Little did they know that they were hours early from the appointed time.
~ o ~
The two await at the designated studio that was just newly furnished for their ideal theme. Walls were covered with white cloth and a few flowers were plastered at each corner. There are a lot of sections in the area that they could go to, each having respective props and scenes they could make use of. There's that one part with a laid out sofa that's blanketed by a white veil, a few flowers and wrapped up gifts were around it. There's more that they could go around, but Shu has already found one that he favors among all.
There's a tall wide window that has pink roses at its borders, like it's giving ultimate focus to the blinding light seeping from outside. It may be simple but Shu can't help admiring this certain section, thinking it's absolutely a perfect spot where they could take good shots at. He can already imagine what poses to strike once their photoshoots commences, even to the point of enacting them for some practice.
Luca may wonder if Shu has forgotten he was there as well but does he even want to interfere with Shu having his own world right now? Absolutely, not. The look on his face ever since he entered the place has totally made a number on Luca's heart. Shu was ecstatic, almost skipping to his feet as he looked around with sparkle in his eyes. If Luca heard it right, there was a soft voice filled with excitement from Shu every time he'd go to a spot in the area. Luca had to bite back his urge to chuckle because of it, not for how Shu was acting silly(which he is not) but because of how he's being oh so adorable right now.
After some time, it seems Shu didn't actually forget that he was indeed with someone else. When he finished taking his time appreciating the area, he called upon the certain blonde that's been staring at him from afar. "Luca, come here!" He waved his hand in the air, motioning for Luca to come to his side.
In a haste, Luca walks toward Shu with a bit of an odd posture. He looked stiff and nervous, probably because he didn't expect Shu to notice him and call for him in that instant. It's like he was caught in the act for staring at Shu for what seemed to be half an hour or so. There was no room for him to react or turn away. The immediate thing he did was to oblige and head straight to him, thinking it was the best thing to do anyway.
"Look outside." The moment he stood next to Shu, he was asked to look out of the window to admire the breathtaking view. Yet, for some reason, Luca couldn't follow the given request. His lavender eyes refused to look away from the man beside him, who's looking excited as ever. "Isn't it beautiful?" Shu asks, pointing out the wide garden of purple roses outside.
"Yeah." Luca abruptly responds. "Really.. beautiful." He adds, gaze remaining at Shu as he says this.
Shu glanced at Luca after hearing his response, his mouth opened to say something but he then closed it within mere seconds when he noticed Luca's gaze on him. "I'll.. melt if you keep staring at me like that."
Caught once again, Luca turned his head away in a panic. "S-Sorry." Could you really blame him? Seeing Shu this excited is worth more than anything at this very moment. Luca would prefer to relish in admiring this side of him than a garden.
"Don't say sorry. I didn't really mean it in a bad way.. It's just.. really embarrassing, I guess." Shu clears his throat. "Because, I look–"
As if Luca already knew what Shu's about to say, he spoke up to counter what he was about to say. "Shu, you look perfect." Luca brought back his gaze to Shu. "I wasn't staring at you because I think you look odd. It's because you look absolutely endearing."
Hearing this made Shu's face heat up, his eyes looking away. "What are you even saying…"
"I'm saying that I love you just the way you are. Nothing else matters, Shu. I love the YOU that is standing right here and now." Luca stepped closer to Shu and held his hands to his own. "So much.. that I could even marry you right now."
Luca's declaration had the both of them in shock, but even more to Luca, himself. "W-Why are you looking way more surprised than I am? You're the one who said–"
"I know, I know but.." Luca looks away, feeling a bit of guilt in him. "Just that.. I know you hate it when people are just all talk and no action.."
Shu blinks at this then laughs it off after. "But, Luca, you're not that type of person, right?" His hand brushed up to cup Luca's cheek, a thumb caressing over it to give some sort of comfort.
Luca leaned in to the touch, eyes fluttering to a close as he felt warmth from it. "Yeah, but.. right now, I have no ring with me to prove my claim."
Shu giggles. "You know that I can wait, Luca." He lightly pinches Luca's cheek.
Luca brought his hand to grab Shu's. "Not for me." His eyes open, straightly looking at Shu with a striking gaze. "I can't wait to marry you."
Shu couldn't look away, not when Luca is giving him this look. He knew Luca has a possessive side that's somehow uncontrollable at times and Shu wishes he could at least ease it by assuring he is only Luca's and no one else's. Well, there are instances where he does but it usually ends up with him under the covers… out of breath and sweaty, with Luca hovering over him. Despite that, it seems it's still not enough for Luca to know that he has Shu all to him. What more proof does he need?
And suddenly it hit him as he remembered something that could serve as a way to somehow join them together as a couple. He's only seen it once during a wedding he attended before, he was told it symbolizes a form of union as well.
"Then, how about this?" Shu snuck his hand from behind to untie the ribbon that's keeping his hair in place. "I remember that people can get married with this."
Luca stares at the gold ribbon on Shu's hand. "With a ribbon?"
Shu looks up to the other and nods. "Quite so. Will you give me yours as well?"
Luca tilts his head. "Does it need to be two?" He asks, somehow hesitant to offer his ribbon.
"I mean.. it would be better to."
Luca hums and after a few seconds of thinking, he decides to offer his own as well. His hair now looks disheveled like Shu's but he pays no mind.
Shu gladly takes it, admiring the dark color. "Always wondered why you chose this color."
With no hesitation at all, Luca responds with the truth. "It reminds me of your hair." He looks away after that.
"Oh." A silence followed after that, both seeming all shy about the discovery. "I mean.. I also chose this color because of you." Shu confesses as well.
"I wouldn't have known." Luca chuckles, intending to be sarcastic.
After that, Shu asked for Luca to join his hand with him, to which he happily obliged. Shu then used his free hand to slowly wrap their hands with their ribbons, making sure it was securely tight enough to not fall off.
Luca watched as Shu did all the work, unsure what was on his mind about all this. He did say it's a way for them to union but he has no clue how some ribbons could even do that.
Noticing Luca's confusion, Shu heaved a deep sigh before explaining what he's on to. "This is what they call a handfasting."
Luca's brow arched. "Handfasting?"
"Mhm. It's a form of union where two couples join their hands together and they are tied with ribbons." Once Shu has finished putting the ribbons all over their hands, he grabs the end of his ribbon in between his and Luca's joined hands. The other ribbon's end was held on by Luca. "After a count of three, you need to pull on the ribbon, okay?"
"So I have to let go of your hand?" Luca asks.
Shu nods, smiling. "Let go and pull, okay? 1, 2 and 3!" After that, Shu and Luca released each other's hands from hold and tugged on the ribbon ends and pulled them. "And this is where the phrase "tying the knot" is from."
As soon as they pull on the ribbons, an infinity knot is formed at the center, with the colors of black and gold looking like they mixed altogether.
"This is.." Luca observes the knot formed with their ribbons.
"It's hard to explain but.. with this, it means we are binded and like.. uh.." Shu blabbers on his words, finding it difficult to explain the process of what they did. "It's not well known but it's still a form of–"
Before Shu could finish with his words, he was suddenly pulled forward by the ribbon, causing him to fall over to Luca's chest. "Does this mean we're married now?!" The blonde asks, seeming to have forgotten what Shu said earlier.
"Well.." Shu scratched his cheek with his finger. "Somehow..? But it's not an official–"
Luca frowns at the term. "How can we make it official?"
"Maybe if we get rings first." Shu chuckles at the sight of his boyfriend whining. "But what we did is practice for an actual one."
"A practice.." Luca sneaks his free hand to Shu's back. "Does it include kissing after?" He asks as his eyes fall to Shu's lips then rise back up to Shu's eyes.
It certainly didn't go unnoticed. Shu bit the inside of his cheek and nodded. "I suppose there is."
They exchanged glances for a while before Luca leaned in to capture Shu's lips on his own. Their eyes came to an immediate close as they pulled each other closer. The ribbons are held in between them, the infinity knot still in place. After a minute, they pulled away to give each other some space, but their eyes gave off a different meaning. Especially for Luca.
"Do you think.." Luca leaned in to whisper. "..We can also go for the honeymoon phase after?"
Shu jumps from Luca's question, making him hit his chest lightly. "T-That can wait!"
Luca whimpers. "No practice before the actual one?"
"Don't we always–" Shu looks away as he realizes what he's about to say, a small blush appearing over his face. "Practice is over."
"No!" Luca whines. "After this, we can–"
"You guys can what?" Ike walks in, blinking.
Surprised by another person entering the room, Shu hid the joint ribbons from behind and faced Ike. "We.. can.. uh.. go eat ramen, yes!"
"Did someone say ramen?" And right behind Ike comes Mysta and Vox who are also dressed up for the photoshoot. "Let's all go together!" Mysta cheers.
"Yes, sure!" Shu happily agrees, ignoring his whining boyfriend to his side.
"Awesome. Say, what happened to both of your ribbons, by the way?" Vox asks, noticing their hair now on the loose.
"Oh, well.." Shu grips the ribbons from behind. Should he tell them the truth and show the ribbons? He wanted it to be a surprise, actually but.. When Shu was about to pull out the ribbons from his back, a hand pressed over his own stopped him.
'Luca?'
A sneer grin creeped up to Mysta's mouth. "Don't tell me you guys did some play and–"
"M y s t a." Ike shoots a threatening glare at Mysta, immediately silencing him. He turns back to the two in front and sighs. "If you guys lost it on your way, please quickly ask the staff for new ones."
"Ah, no, we have–" A low threatening growl emitted from Luca, making Shu give up and just take on the offer of getting new ribbons. "Yes, that would be ideal."
"Alright, we'll wait for you two here." Ike gave way for the couple to walk out of the room. And as soon as they left, he couldn't help but smile with the other two, knowing they were aware of what actually happened with their ribbons.
"Looks like we got a wedding to attend soon!"
~ o ~
"Why did you lie to them about our ribbons?" Shu asks, walking side by side with Luca. They have to go back to the lobby and ask the staff for brand new ribbons, they really hope they have some spare ones with the same colors.
"I don't want to untie our ribbons. Even though it's a practice.. I want to consider it as more than that." Luca takes out the ribbons and brings the neatly formed knot to his mouth, brushing it to his lips. "It's the closest I could get to having you as my husband."
"You're really that intent.." Shu couldn't help but blush at Luca's reasoning.
"Of course, I am." Luca held Shu's hand and laced his fingers with his. "This may be something small but for me, it's way more. I was told before that you only own someone completely when you get married with them.. so that's why.."
"Oh, Luca, you are so pure and cute.." Shu squeezed their hands together. "But then, even if you have that belief. There's no reason to rush. I can and will always wait."
"And I thought I told you earlier that I can't." Luca pouts.
"That you did." Shu playfully chuckles.
Luca hums. "So until then, i'll be keeping this." He raises the joint ribbons of his and Shu's.
"It's like this serves as proof that you're really mine and I am yours." Luca proudly says. "Well, about to be. I'll be getting us rings soon."
Shu smiles fondly at this, feeling satisfied as well to know that he manages to assure Luca and ease his worry. "Always been."
They both arrived at the lobby and managed to get new ribbons with the same color that they had. After that, the two happily walked back to the studio hand in hand after they fixed their hair up.