He’s okay. He truly is okay.
I take a deep breath, a breath I didn’t realize I needed until now, and sink into his strong embrace as his yuzu perfume floods my sense of smell and warms my body back into a state of safety.
I can’t believe I panicked so much. But then again, who could blame me after what we’ve been through. After what Yu-jin has been through. It’s like the whole world has something against us, and it’s our job to swat threats left, right, and center wherever we go.
“Come on, honey. Let’s go get married!” He grabs me by the hand and drags me back to the altar, where the officiant is still standing, watching us.
His eyebrows are raised and his forehead is creased, but if he has anything to say about our relationship and how we look next to each other, he doesn’t share it. Yu-jin did warn me some humans have a problem with same-sex relationships, but I’ve never faced such issues in all my years of existence. Perhaps because anyone who summoned me to Earth wouldn’t have done so if they believed they were dealing with the devil and actual hell. More often than not, it’s the people who believe this shit that are against anything they perceive as different.
“Problem?” I ask the officiant, and he seems startled.
He blinks at me, shakes his head, and passes the bouquet back to me.
“No. No problem,” he says.
“Good,” I tell him. “Now, you may start.”
The officiant clears his throat, looks toward Jace, and starts.
“We are gathered here today to witness the sacred union between Yu-jin Jung.” He completely butchers his last name, but Yu-jin doesn’t flinch as the officiant addresses him and then turns to me. “And Lucian…”
His eyes narrow, and I straighten my face.
“What?” I ask him.
“I don’t believe I have your last name?”
I open my mouth and close it. That’s because I don’t have one. But how do I explain that to a human, a mortal no less?
“It’s just Lucian,” I tell him.
The officiant narrows his eyes and purses his lips.
“Fine. But I will need a little more detail for the certificate,” he says.
“Can we move on?” Yu-jin says, and when I turn to look at him, he’s rolling his eyes.
Strange.
I’ve never seen him be this…forward with people before. But then again, he has changed since bonding with that eldritch creature. It’s probably one of those new changes.
“Right,” the officiant says and glances at Jace again.
I don’t know if he finds it strange that we only have one guest, but he doesn’t say anything. Instead, he starts from scratch.
“As I was saying, we are gathered here today to witness the sacred union of Yu-jin Jung and Lucian. We’re here to celebrate the love between two people and their commit?—”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Get to the good stuff, padre,” Yu-jin says, and I don’t know why, but the way he moves his hand to urge the officiant forward and the way his face tenses up reminds me of someone else.
“Yu-jin!” I say. I don’t particularly care if he’s polite, but he does, so I don’t know why he’s suddenly acting like he doesn’t have any manners.
“What?” he asks. “I just want to be married to you already. Is that so bad?”
No, it isn’t, but…the way he says it leaves a…different taste in my mouth.
Yu-jin turns to the officiant and stares.
“So?” he says.
