CHAPTER SIX
the wedding bells
chiming in advance

"Fuck, how much does a wedding usually cost?" Goo lightly scratched his jaw while holding a bloodied hammer in his hand.

He wasn't free from his duties and although it irritated him constantly to always be at one place and another—he was feeling more motivated lately upon reevaluating his thoughts and considering the unforeseeable future.

"Hey, how much did your wedding cost?" He crouched down beside the limp thug with a visible wedding band.

The thug struggled slightly from the pain that engulfed his entire body before eventually stammering a response, "T-Two hundred million won. . ."

Goo huffed, finding the small amount ludicrously small—imagining it to be a rather simple ceremony. To him, simple ceremonies will simply not do. Not when that amount was already spare change to M/n and his family. He couldn't dare invite his husband-to-be's parents to a measly two hundred million won wedding when that's probably only the hourly rate they make in a bad day.

"Wedding venue, ceremony, catering, fireworks—we'll definitely need fireworks to celebrate such a grand day! Also a limousine, giveaways, many bouquets, maybe a money bouquet too but I don't think my beloved will still be impressed with money. . ." Goo was getting excited just thinking about it.

Who knew planning such an important day could be so fun?

"We could extend the wedding to three days." He considered before resuming, "Cake, alcohol—wait, can we even get married in Korea?" He scratched his head. "Oh, well. We could go to another country, so that includes plane tickets. . . Do I have to count the guests' plane tickets, visa, and passport too? That sounds like a lot of work."

Now he was getting stressed.

He just wanted the day to be extra special for M/n, that's all. But if it was really up to him, he wouldn't even mind a private wedding. A grand private wedding, that is. But what only mattered to him was just him and M/n having a memorable event.

"Alright." He clasped his hands as he cleans them in a nearby sink. "Let me go through it again," he talks to himself the entire time. "Preparation, ceremony, vows, kiss, and. . ." Every increasing word made a bashful grin work its way up his lips. "And. . . Honeymoon, kyah—!" He squeezes his eyes shut, shaking his head in embarrassment with a shit-eating grin. "God, I need to stop before I really blush!"

All the expenses of holding a grand wedding, buying their dream home, buying cars, maybe pets, raising a family, and still providing to the lavish lifestyle M/n has only ever known—motivated Goo to work harder.

"Is this how the head of the family usually feels?" He grins to himself, feeling his chest boom in pride. "Goo Kim, the family man. . . Oh, boy does it have a ring to it!"

He hears his phone ring a very recognizable tone, one that allowed him to know if it was M/n was calling; having changed the ringtone for this one specific contact.

He fumbles with it slightly as he dries his hands hastily.

In a swift movement, he answers the call.

"Heya!" He immediately spoke, letting it sit between his ear and shoulder (like an expert family man) as he goes to properly dry his hands.

"Hi! Are you in work today?"

"Uh," Goo looks at the sprawled out bodies and the wad of cash stashed safely in a luggage; all ready to go. "Kinda. Just finishing up."

"Oh, well." He could almost hear a shrug in the other end of the line. "I'll call you later."

Goo reacts instantaneously, "Why not now?" He had to cover up the whine that threatened to reveal itself. He didn't exactly want to come across as too needy.

"I'm going to be busy so I can't talk." M/n's voice held some hint of excitement. "You see, Dad got me the best tickets to this really popular amusement park since an old man from the museum told me I'll probably have more luck here."

Goo had to close his slacked jaw. He kinda forgot the little fact that they weren't dating and he was planning far too ahead into the future.

He swallowed the lump in his throat. "Really?" His voice shook very subtly. "Oh, I didn't think you'd continue after, you know, that failure with Alexander."

"Oh, that!" M/n laughed, and usually it would uplift Goo's spirits if he wasn't feeling so conflicted. "I told you already, didn't I? I won't let minor setbacks hold me down. That's just two failures in a possibility of 8.1 billion people in the world."

Too many competition! Goo was stressfully thinking. He played it off with a forced laugh.

"Well, then, where are you? I might be able to catch up since I'm done with work already." He said while hastily inserting his car keys.

"I'm in line for this moving disk thing since it just started, it's quite popular with lots of people. I can already hear people talk about how they want to be matched here. I guess this is popular for romance things, no?"

Goo cursed inwardly.

Not the disco pang!

"Is that the amusement park near our favorite restaurant?" Goo asked, readying his map.

"Yeah."

Good, he just so happens to be 15-minutes away. Only 5 if he goes over the speed limit.

Goo drove like a maniac and dropped a wad of cash through the window whenever a traffic enforcer tried to stop him. In no time and with panting breath, he arrived—rushing through the entrance with not a care as he grabs another random person's tickets and shoves enough cash into their hands to compensate.

He ran all the way through, not caring if he looked like a lunatic who just tasted fresh air for the first time.

Just the thought of M/n somehow getting matched in that cursed ride was enough to drive him to run faster. Upon finally reaching the place, he spots a familiar face already in the ride.

At least it hasn't properly begun yet.

"Let me on."

The worker in charge with the entrance arched a brow before shaking her head. "Sorry, sir. Just until this one's over."

"It hasn't even started yet!" Goo complained.

"Rules are rules."

The blonde breathed through his gritted teeth in frustration. Somehow, standing idly by the sidelines won't do. It makes a whole lot of difference if he was actually up there so that he could bash anyone's face who dares try to stumble towards M/n. Here, standing by the sideline, he was helpless and could do nothing but watch.

"All right, we have a cute guy with an expensive Rolex in our midst! Tell us, how old are you?"

Goo didn't have to look to know who the 'cute guy with a Rolex' was.

M/n counts 18 on his fingers, simply looking entertained and somewhat excited to be matched—having high hopes for the ride to cure his singleness.

"Are you single?"

M/n nods eagerly.

"Alright, I'll send you a pretty girl to match your style." The moderator began churning the ride, everyone bounces in their seats as they held onto the metal bars tightly.

M/n, especially not knowing what to do, gripped onto the bars like his life depended on it; he was dramatically nervous to fly off the ride by some sort of miracle.

Goo's soul nearly jumped out of his body as he heard the moderator's intentions, immediately sneaking past the other workers to climb up the operating box, which was a feat. Luckily, no one was paying enough mind to watch him sneak up, only watching the matchmaking entertainment happen on the ride.

Upon prying the door open, he took a good look around to find the cupid-wannabe bastard—suddenly appearing behind the moderator after short moments of struggle.

"Get the fuck off." He kicked the guy out of the chair before quickly replacing him, trying to find the right controls to stop the ride.

Knowing that M/n was quite the catch with his looks and painfully obvious wealth, he could already see a girl practically bracing herself in letting go; ready to be thrown towards his direction.

Not on Goo's fucking watch.

"Hey, hey, you can't do that." The moderator groaned as he tries picking himself up from the floor, attempting to stop the intruder.

Without even a glance, the blonde simply kicks him down again while searching through the array of buttons.

"Where the hell's the stop button, damn it!" He grew in frustration, looking over the confusing control panel.

Seeing her already releasing her grip on the bars, Goo gritted his teeth and just decided to 'fuck it' and press the most random button he could find—making the ride change its course, causing her to jerk back. Sending her flying back to her seat with a 'thud'.

"Hah!" He grinned spitefully.

"Who's operating the ride?! Get that fucker out of there!" The workers were now taking notice as they immediately got to their feet, realizing the ride was becoming more out of control with the narration suddenly ending.

Goo glanced at them before muttering profanities.

Run? No, there's only one exit. Hide? It'd be easier to catch him.

Left with no choice, he waits for them to arrive—hiding behind the door.

Their first concern was the knocked out guy laying belly first on the floor before immediately operating the ride, finally clicking the right button to put it to a stop.

He lets them do all this before he knocks them all out one by one to avoid facing the consequences of his actions. He couldn't have the authorities involved but the situation can't be helped.

"As long as they don't know me and I don't get caught." He thoughtfully murmured to himself.

It didn't take long, they were ordinary people. With just a chop on the nape, they were done.

As soon as he was finished, he clasped his hands

Walking over towards the mic, he decides to clear the confusion and hope he could leave before it gets too serious. He clears his throat and purposely deepens his voice to mask his identity.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I'm sorry to inform you but we're under a little maintenance here—your moderator fell asleep after being too high in his shit." Parents walking by gasped and covered their children's ears. "Try again later." He was little grateful the box wasn't too visible.

He heard complaints from the customers but he shrugged it off, promptly leaving the box unscathed and unsuspecting as all attention was right at the poor people who had to get out the disco pang in an 'emergency' way.

"Sir, did you see anyone suspicious here who may have messed with the operations?" A security guard approached him after seeing he was the nearest person around.

Goo looked too well on his own to be suspected. He looked like an eccentric wealthy guy clad in designers—in their minds, he had no business being the suspect when they couldn't decipher any intentions he may have. And anyone (the workers) who may have seen his little episode where he forced his way to the box was currently too unconscious to tell on him.

Luck seems to be on his side today.

"Now that you mentioned it, I think I saw a guy in all black running towards there!" Goo points towards a very off direction just to get them off his back.

The security guard nodded in appreciation. "Thank you, sir." Then he walked away, reaching for his walkie talkie to speak, "Guy in all black, running to East direction."

The blonde could settle that later.

But first. . .

He jogs towards the ride where passengers were being lowered, seeing M/n stand atop the platform a few steps down to the ground—he lets his presence be known.

"M/n!"

The male looked to see him and his eyes visibly brightened. "Goo!"

The blonde lifted him down gently and M/n allowed him, having enough trust in his strength. Within a moment, he was down in the ground standing in front of Goo, who looked more than pleased to see him safe and sound.

"How did it go?" The blonde played it off as though he wasn't the culprit behind the mishap.

"Disappointing." M/n deadpanned. "I thought this was really it! Too bad they had a maintenance in the middle of a ride."

"There are still plenty of rides we could explore." Goo shrugged, wrapping an arm around his shoulder to lead him somewhere else. "Roller coaster, boomerang, carousel. . ."

"You're right." M/n gave in, but he still looked somewhat dejected. He really did think that was it. It made for a perfect story as well! Imagine telling people you met 'the one' in an amusement park ride, the disco pang at that.

"You'll find your true love eventually." Goo shrugged, acting casually as though he didn't just plan an entire wedding moments before. "They may even be just beside you."

"Where?" M/n turns to his side with knitted brows.

"Around you." Goo covered up immediately. "Ah, there's no rush! Let's just enjoy the day, alright?" He turned away to hide his face, already thinking of 101 ways to portray himself in a romantic light.