+ twenty six

Narda just ignored all the buzz in the media about Baekhyun being spotted leaving her apartment building. They didn't have proof he was even there to see her, and the fans had no way of connecting the rumor to her. So in the end she ignored it and let it die, meanwhile SM Entertainment put out another statement to get their boy group singer out of trouble. The statement claimed that he had gone over to Nari's after hours because he needed to get his hair dyed. They even got Nari to speak up in front of the press to confirm it, something she wasn't too happy about because fans were easily able to see that it was a lie.

He had gone in to her apartment with chestnut brown hair and left her apartment exactly the same. SM further tried to cover it up by stating that he was only trying to decide on hair colors with her, in anticipation for their repackaged album come back which would take place in the following months. That got the fans a bit more calm about the situation, but many of them still didn't buy it.

One day while talking to her mother, the conversation came up that she hadn't been to church in a while, more specifically since she arrived in Korea. She was always busy with her teaching job, her online classes for the university, and more recently her relationships with Baekhyun and later with Chanyeol. She had finally resolved to go at least once while in Korea, even though she knew she wouldn't understand anything during the ceremony. 

As the weeks continued, she kept going each week and was even invited to a youth group by one of the community leaders outside the church. It was there that she met many new friends, including a girl name Dahee, who was unfortunately deaf, but was very dedicated to the church and doing charity work. Narda thought to put her in touch with Florencia, so that she could volunteer with the Free Smiles club. Florencia was thrilled to hear about her and very excited to meet her. As summer time approached, the church announced that they would be having a summer carnival to raise money for church renovations. 

Thinking about it brought back fond memories for Narda, in which EXO was still twelve members, and they had volunteered for the SM Town carnival together with her, Nari, and Tao's sister Yena. Narda quickly volunteered to provide her help at the carnival. They would be leaving for Mexico in the following month, since they had been invited to Minnie from Baby Lips' wedding to Chivas footballer Isaac Brizuela. Narda was very happy for them, since their relationship was a combination of her two favorite things--kpop and football.

The day of the carnival came around quicker than she thought and she invited Chanyeol to go with her. He, of course, was happy to accompany her and wore a mask the entire time in order to conceal his appearance. 

Nobody recognized him the whole time, since the sun was setting when they arrived together, and the two had managed to have a nice time together. They ate food together and played carnival games in which Narda was the one who won a prize for Chanyeol--a giant brown teddy bear. Unlike him when he tried to win something for her at the SM Town carnival a year back.

They had been walking around with Chanyeol lugging the giant bear around in his arms when he stopped abruptly when one specific booth caught his attention. Marriage booth, the sign read in Korean and a grin spread across his face. "Jagi, I want to go there." He gestured to the booth with his eyes. Narda followed his gaze to see someone sitting at the table to a booth that seemed almost abandoned. It was decorated with white roses and red and pink hearts. On the table was a black top hat, and a tiara with a veil.

Narda immediately figured what it was and nodded her head in agreement. 

The couple walked up to the booth and Chanyeol did the talking, since he was the only one of the twoo who spoke Korean. "My girlfriend and I want to get married." He said with a big smile.

The person at the booth gave a nod of his head and pulled out a form. "Names of the bride and groom?" He asked, pen in hand to jot down the details. 

"Park Chanyeol and Narda Gutierrez Lozano." Chanyeol replied.

The man at the booth wrote their names and continued with the next questions. Their dates of birth, and other details that were needed. When he was done, he had them sign the paper that looked more to Narda like it was an official document. Once it was signed by both of them, he got a stamp out, and two plastic wedding rings, and declared to the two of them in Korean, "By the law of the court of Seoul, I pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride. Additionally, an appointment has been scheduled with Father Kang to talk about your church wedding ceremony." He handed Chanyeol the document along with the rings.

When he said that, Chanyeol felt his heart drop and looked over the document. 

Still not aware of what was really happening, Narda said to him jokingly, "When we go to Mexico with the others, we should sneak away to Puerto Vallarta to have our honeymoon. You'll love it there. The water is crystal clear and the scenery is beautiful." 

It was an official marriage, recognized by the court of Seoul. The EXO member turned towards Narda and said to her, mouth dry with his sudden worry. "Uh...jagi." He started. Narda was completely oblivious to the fact, but her smile dropped when she saw his expression. She knew something was terribly wrong. She said nothing and let him continue. "I think we just got married for real."

Narda's smile was wiped clean off her face. "What?" 

She then took the document from his hand and looked over it, but as she already knew, it was in Korean and she couldn't understand any of it. 

"Oh my God, Chanyeol, we have to fix this." She said, her voice shaking. Her stomach dropped and she felt like she was on the verge of breaking down in tears. "Why didn't you say anything to him?"

"I thought it was pretend!" He said with widened eyes.

"There might still be time." Narda said to Chanyeol, reaching for his hand desperately. "Tell him to cancel it!"

Chanyeol turned towards the man at the booth and slammed his hands down on the table, demanding, "We take it back. We thought it was a game. We're too young to get married, please cancel it." He was mostly doing it for Narda's sake. He didn't like the circumstances in which it happened, but marrying Narda was something he'd been wanting for a while now. But he knew her traditional values and he wanted to ask her the right way. Now it was all ruined.

The government worker gave a shake of his head, explaining to them. "I can't just cancel it. The forms are already in the system. You can request for a divorce, but that takes up to a year to process, since they want to give the couple enough time to think it through and decide if they really want to divorce or not."

"What did he say?" Narda asked him, eyes hopeful, but still widened in terror.

Chanyeol dropped his eyes, unable to look at her. "He said he can't do anything for us. We can request a divorce, but it will take up to a year to process. I'm really sorry, jagi. I should have paid more attention to what he was saying. But I thought it was a dumb game, we're at a carnival, for fucks sake--"

"Oh my God. I--" She said, bringing her shaking hands to her face.

Chanyeol was a bit hurt, feeling a prick in his chest that she was reacting that way. But he also understood that in her culture, getting married was a big deal. They didn't take the idea of divorce too well. Narda had explained to him that her parents wanted her to find someone, and be with them for the rest of her life.

"Are you okay? You look pale." He grabbed on of her hands, pulling it away from her face. All the color had drained from her face in her shock. He was almost worried that she would even pass out. He bent his knees to get closer to eye level with her, since she was much smaller than him. "Breathe jagi. Its going to be okay."

"Yeah." She reassured herself, sounding like she was hyperventilating. As a thought came to her, she murmured to herself. Something that sounded like money and influence. She repeated it once more, to him, when she decided it was a good plan. "Papi, you have money and influence. Why don't you grease some palms at the Court of Seoul and maybe we can get this whole mess sorted out?"

"Grease some what?" He asked, confused.

"I mean, bribe people, vida." She cleared up.

He heaved a sigh. "I don't have that kind of influence."

-

He finally got her to calm down and the two returned home right after. Neither of them were in the mood to continue at the carnival. Chanyeol took Narda back to her apartment and then went across the street to the dorms. With the marriage certificate safely tucked away in his pocket, he walked into his shared bedroom with Baekhyun. He got his keys out of his pocket and tossed them onto the night stand.

As he did that, he didn't notice the folded piece of paper with their names on it ended up on the floor in the middle of the room. He got right into bed, since Baekhyun was already asleep too and the lights were off. 

Baekhyun was the first of the two to wake up the next morning. He got out of bed and walked to his closet for his clothes. He was going to take a shower and then have breakfast with some of the other boys before heading off to their schedules of the day. 

When he got out of the shower, he walked across the room with a towel draped around his shoulders. His feet were still damp and he stepped on something, a piece of paper that got stuck to the bottom of his foot. He sighed in frustration before lifting up his foot and picking the piece of paper off. He was close to tossing it in the trash, but decided otherwise. Though he was mad at Chanyeol--or more likely they were mad at each other--he had at least some consideration for him. 

Chanyeol was a song writer, just one among his many talents. But he was a messy one at that, and was constantly writing lyrics on any scrap of paper in his pocket. Whether it be actual paper, a napkin, or a paper bag. He was always jotting down lyric ideas that came to him.

Baekhyun knew that there was the possibility that the paper he stepped on was important, so he decided to open it. If it was trash, he would simply toss it in the waste bin. If it was another of Chanyeol's creations, he would place it on the night stand and later warn him to stop leaving his mess on the floor. He slowly unfolded the piece of paper which was now damp after he stepped on it.

His eyes scanned over it and at first glance it looked to him like a government document. 

As he read further, he felt as though his whole world crumbling around him. The document was a marriage licence from the previous night. The two people who had gotten married were no other than his best friend Park Chanyeol, and the woman they both loved, Narda Gutierrez Lozano. 

-

what the fuck am i writing now? bahaha i am so fucking dramatic. but you know what? hashtag no shame. i love these kids of twists in stories. so now chanyeol and narda are married. and baekhyun has just found out so its about to get that much juicier. we are also about fourteen updates away from the end of the story. 

so its only going to contiinue getting better so stay tuned for that, everyone. this is around the time that they all go to mexico for minnie's wedding. so this is where both sequels are about to overlap.

thank you all so much for reading. i hope you all have a great day!

-clary