Ah. Weddings.

Where a man and woman join together in holy matrimony, where a shared life of both burden and happiness begins. The perfect occasion to drink too much wine, eat too much cake and to hold reunions with old friends.

I heard the priest say, "Do you, Leila Fanning, take this man, Moon Taegyeon as your lawfully wedded husband?"

Leila beamed. Her eyes shone, and her brown hair, so much longer since the last time I had seen her, was coiled up beautifully in a high bun decked out with white flowers. Their wedding cake was a three-tiered masterpiece of red, black and white fondant - the colors, I was told, of both bride and groom's favorite soccer team. 

Leaning forward, she kissed her shy Korean fiancé (now husband) on the lips. The hall erupted in rapturous applause. There was an explosion of confetti, and the speakers blasted a 15-second chorus of Whitney Houston's I Wanna Dance With Somebody. Amidst the chaos, the emcee of the evening skipped onstage. He was dressed in a flamboyant pink tuxedo and black bowtie.

Emrys whooped into the microphone. "Alright, alright, alright! Let's give it up for our beautiful newlyweds! And now, for the first dance of the evening! Mr and Mrs Moon, if you may ...?"

Leila and her husband moved to the dancefloor. The speakers took to playing Han Hee Jung's Dreaming and the lights around the hall dimmed to a soft, mellow yellow. Next to me, Thomas gave a light squeeze of my hands. I squeezed back.

Watching my high school best friend dance away on her wedding night brought tears to my eyes, and I was on the verge of outright crying when there came a little yelp at my elbow. The most fragile-looking champagne flute began its descent to the ground, followed closely on the heels by a most despairing cry of "Oh nooo ..." Tossing my handbag at Thomas I did a quick lunge forward and caught the stem of the glass between my fingers with seconds to spare.

William rubbed his palms against his jeans and took the glass back from me. "Sorry. Sweaty hands."

Unlike the rest of the wedding guests in their formal wear, William was dressed in a white turtleneck, light grey coat and dark blue jeans. The reason being that he had just rushed back from an important academic conference, of which he was the main speaker. Ever since William had begun his career as a philosophy professor he'd become increasingly clumsy about things such as meeting basic needs (food, water) and making sure important dates didn't clash (like today). Emrys liked to joke that he was the one who needed to get married, and fast.

Now William took an awkward sip from his wine glass, and made an attempt at smoothing out the creases from his jeans. I wanted to tell him that he looked better than what he thought he did - a fact clearly proven from the amount of side glances he was getting from the women around him.

I watched the bridesmaids and best men took to the dance floor. Leila had asked me to be her "best woman" but I had declined regretfully. As much as I wanted to, I couldn't risk the exposure. This wasn't a normal wedding; it was a big one, because the groom was a member of South Korea's national soccer team. Which meant lots of press, and lots of photographers.

For half a decade now, Thomas and I had led quiet, unobtrusive lives. We moved from place to place, not staying in the same city for more than three months. I had become an anonymous author publishing on paid websites, which meant I could write wherever and still rake in a relatively steady income (readers it seemed, like thrilling mafia stories).

In the beginning of our travels, Thomas would take up whatever job he could, until one day we discovered he had a natural affinity for languages. In the one and a half year we spent in Italy, it took him only four months to become fluent in conversational Italian, and he quickly started a business online teaching it to non-speakers. Then we threw a dart on a map and it landed on France, so his classes expanded to include that. After two years it expanded further to include Japanese, and just as we were thinking about picking up the dart again, we got the invitation to Leila's wedding.

So here I was, back in the United States. Back in Pambrooke. Where my old high school was only thirty miles away from where I was standing. It had been five years, and I had never stopped looking over my shoulder.

When the dancing was over, the wedding dinner began. Leila had put us all at the same table, where Thomas and I sat making small talk with William. An empty chair was pulled out with flourish and Emrys sank into it, looking happily exhausted. 

Emrys winked. "Great to see you guys again. How long has it been - half a decade? I see you've dyed your hair cherry red, Hayley. Thomas looks the same. Meanwhile William looks like he's just stepped out of the 80s."

William touched his long hair with slight embarrassment. "Haven't had the time to go to the hair salon these days."

"Keep it," Thomas said. "It looks good on you."

"Really?"

I nodded, with a smile. "Yeah. Really."

Emrys took a long sip of wine. "How are you two? I see you're not dead yet." To any outsider it would have sounded like a joke, but to those of us on the table, we knew it was a serious remark.

"We've been around," I said. "It's been calm, but you never know when anything will happen, and that's just the cross we have to bear for the rest of our lives I guess - "

The double doors of the wedding hall were thrown open, and four men in black suits appeared. They had crew cuts, unsmiling faces, and were all at least six feet tall with well-muscled bodies.

One of them had a Blackcroft tattoo on his neck. The other three I knew, would have it somewhere else.

For a second, everyone on our table froze. The music came to a stop as the guests began to murmur on the identities of the four newcomers.

Leila's eyes flickered to us nervously.

"Shit," Emrys muttered.

Thomas was already getting on his feet. "Hayley, we need to go."

But I couldn't move. They've found me. After so long, they'd found me. And they had found me in the worst place ever, my best friend's wedding. If she gets hurt - if Emrys and William get hurt - 

To my surprise, William stood up. He moved so Thomas and I were blocked out of sight.

"There's a back door that leads to the kitchen," he muttered. "You guys can escape from there. Emrys and I can stall for time."

"That's right." Emrys too, jumped to his feet. "Not the first time we've outsmarted criminals before, and we can do it again."

Before I could say a word, Emrys had grabbed his microphone and whirled out onto the floor.

"Whoa there!" His bubbly voice echoed around the hall, betraying none of the nervousness he must be feeling. "Welcome to the wedding! May I know who you guys are?"

The man with the tattoo on his neck looked at Emrys, decidedly unimpressed. "We bring a gift for the bride." The words fell from his lips like mortar bricks slamming into the ground, forming a tall wall that prevented our escape.

My heart sank. "They're going after Leila," I whispered.

The four men stepped aside and Leila screamed. I was on my feet instantly, ready to dive forward and pull her out of harm's way - 

"Oh my god it's David Muller!"

A German man with blonde cropped hair and a wide nose came into view. He was dressed in a footballer's uniform. He headed right for the bride and groom, who stood on the dance floor stock still, star-struck.

"Hey." His voice carried a pleasant charm. "I heard you guys were fans. Thought I might come and do a little surprise. Congratulations on your marriage, by the way."

Leila's eyes had widened into the size of dinner plates and Taegyeon's jaw looked like it might drop to the floor. Abruptly Leila burst into tears. Cameras were popping everywhere and I knew tomorrow the sports world would be abuzz with headlines of these two players standing in the same room. 

Leila was asking David, "But - how did you know? And how are you here?"

I heard the footballer say, "A friend told me. Eric Blackcroft. You know him?"

Leila swallowed. "Yeah. I think I do."

"Yeap, so he told me about the wedding. I owe him and his family a big favor anyway." David grinned. "Once again, congrats!"

Behind William, I sank back into my chair in relief.

Eric.

Now that was a name I hadn't heard in awhile.

David stayed for ten minutes, and left taking the Blackcroft men with him. Thomas and I remained out of sight the whole time. After that, things went on without any further surprises.

The wedding came to an end, and soon our table was the only group of guests remaining. The photographers had followed the bride and groom to their wedding car. I watch the wedding crew pack up their equipment and left. Next, the kitchen staff came and began clearing the tables. The lights in the hall went off one by one, but the staff was kind enough to keep the ones in our area on.

Thomas looked at me. "I think it's safe now, isn't it?"

"Safe for what?"

He stood up, offering me a hand. "For a dance."

Quietly Emrys slipped over to the speakers and plugged his phone into the audio jack. A beautiful flute and erhu melody began playing. I couldn't help laughing.

"Kung Fu Panda's soundtrack? Really?"

Thomas smiled and took me by the waist gently. "We may be twenty-three, Hayley, but I still love you as much as I did at thirteen."

I sidled closer, and spoke only for him to hear. "Do you sometimes regret it?"

"Regret what?"

"Sticking with me."

"Why would I regret it?"

I looked around at the wedding hall. Thought about how Leila had a wedding. How she had her family and closest friends around her. How she could now have kids, and start a family.

"Because we might never have this."

"A wedding?"

"A family. We'll always be on the move, and we'll always have to be more careful than most. That's no environment to raise a child in."

"Do you want children?"

I thought. "I don't know. It's just - when you think of a family, that's what you think of. Parents and kids."

A pause.

"We could get a dog."

Face buried in Thomas' chest, I smiled. It was a genuine one. All my smiles are genuine when I'm with him.

"A Golden Retriever?" My voice was muffled by his shirt.

"Two Golden Retrievers."

"Why two?"

"I don't want to share."

I burst out laughing again. Leila chose this moment to walk in.

"Hey, it's the bride!" Emrys cheered. "I thought you left with your husband?"

"Yes, but I doubled back. You don't really think I'd miss a chance to hang out with you guys, right?"

"But it's your wedding night," I protested.

"Oh don't you worry." A mischievous sparkle I'd never seen before livened up Leila's eyes. "Taegyeon and I will have many exciting nights together."

"TMI, TMI!" William said loudly.

"So." Leila looked at her watch. "We have about four hours before Hayley needs to leave for the airport. What shall we do?"

We looked around at each other.

At last, William raised a timid hand. "Wanna hang out at my place like old times?"

"Sounds good to me," Thomas said. Leila and I agreed.

"As long as it doesn't involve more plots to take down criminal empires," Emrys added slyly.

Thomas took my right hand and I took Leila's in my left. Leila hooked her arm around William's and despite Emrys mock gagging, he held William's other hand anyway. 

As we started to walk, I asked William, "So have you told them about your girlfriend yet?"

"WHAT?"

"William has a girlfriend?"

"Oh I guess you haven't told them."

"WHO? HOW?"

"Is she a student? William Winston, are you having a relationship with one of your students?"

"She's not a student! I met her in dancing class - "

"WILLIAM'S BEEN TAKING DANCING CLASSES?"

Just like that, the five of us walked out of the wedding hall and into the night.

 𝔽 𝕀 ℕ.