Operation Salvage

Ruins

"YAH JANG WOOYOUNG! Why are you always late for important occasions?" Junho screamed into the phone. Wooyoung pulled the phone away from his ear immediately when Junho screamed.

"I'm sorry! I'll be there soon!" Wooyoung answered breathlessly as he rushed out of the lobby of the hotel he was staying in. He was running late to the airport where he was supposed to pick Taeyeon up before going to the wedding venue. They were in the Maldives for Taecyeon and Yoona's wedding which was about to take place in a few hours' time.

"Youngie!" Taeyeon called as she ran towards Wooyoung with her luggage. She was wearing a baby blue beach maxi dress, complete with a straw hat. Wooyoung then opened his arms to greet his girlfriend. The two shared a brief hug before they started rushing off again.

"Let's go, we're running late!" Wooyoung said, grabbing Taeyeon's luggage and the two rushed out of the airport to flag a taxi.

"Next time, don't take a flight that arrives just on time!" Wooyoung nagged, once they got on the taxi.

"Alright, I'm sorry! I was really really busy with work!" Taeyeon pouted.

"Wait, Taeng! Are you going to wear that to the wedding?" Wooyoung tilted his head and asked. Taeyeon's outfit seemed a little too casual for a formal event in his opinion.

"Oh my god, I didn't realize! Yah, I'm going to have to change now!" Taeyeon said anxiously, looking through her luggage for the pale pink mini dress she was supposed to wear as Yoona's bridesmaid.

"What? Here?!" Wooyoung exclaimed.

"Where else can I change? And we're already running late! So help me hold up this scarf to block me and don't look!" Taeyeon warned.

Still in disbelief, Wooyoung picked up the scarf and held it around Taeyeon, while looking the other way. The windows were tinted so the people outside would not be able to see a thing.

"Taeyeon ah, are you done?" Wooyoung asked as his arms were starting to ache. Hearing no response from her, he turned his head back towards Taeyeon, only to receive a slap from her.

"Yah byuntae! I told you not to look!"

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Once Wooyoung and Taeyeon got off the taxi, they quickly ran towards the church hall and tried their best to make their way in to the front row as quietly as possible. Junho, who was in charge of filming the whole ceremony, acknowledged them with an anxious nod.

"We made it on time right?" Taeyeon whispered to Junho.

"No way! You guys were late but that's besides the problem. The thing is, the ceremony was supposed to have started but they're not appearing. Since you guys are here, why not we go in and check on them?" Junho replied, with a troubled look on his face.

"Taecyeon!" Wooyoung called, when they spotted him pacing about in the waiting room.

Taecyeon who had a strange anxious look on his face pretended to smile at the sight of his friends. "Oh, glad that you guys are here!"

"What's taking so long? Is everything alright?" Junho questioned in concern.

"Oh yeah, everything is perfectly fine." Taecyeon said with an unconvincing smile.

"Where's Yoona?" Taeyeon asked.

"Yoona, umm, Yoona is inside. She's still preparing." Taecyeon answered, albeit anxiously.

"I'll go help her!" Taeyeon said brightly and walked towards the door of the dressing room but Taecyeon stood in her way.

"NO! Don't go in!" Taecyeon shouted. Taeyeon gave a suspicious frown, and Wooyoung and Junho mirrored her. All three were getting suspicious about why Taecyeon was acting this way. Taeyeon looked at Wooyoung and Junho and then tilted her head at Taecyeon. As if they knew telepathy, Wooyoung and Junho restrained Taecyeon and pulled him out of the way to allow Taeyeon to enter the dressing room. Of course, Taecyeon was not quiet throughout and was yelling his head off, telling them not to go in.

Taeyeon opened the door, only to reveal an empty dressing room. "Yoona-yah! Where are you?"

"Yah Ok Taecyeon, what is going on here?" Wooyoung demanded to know.

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"So you don't know where Yoona has disappeared?" Junho clarified, after Taecyeon had told the three about what happened. Yoona went missing and did not turn up at the wedding venue that day. Taecyeon, not knowing what to do, just ended up delaying the wedding because he felt bad for the guests -they especially made time to come all the way to the Maldives to attend their wedding but it was all for nothing.

"Not a clue. I couldn't find her in the morning, but I thought she went ahead with the preparations first." Taecyeon sighed dejectedly.

"Aigoo, you should have noticed something was wrong before that. Which girl would go missing on the morning of her wedding?" Junho reprimanded.

"Do you know what could have gone wrong?" Wooyoung questioned.

"I have no idea."

"Did you fool around behind Yoona's back?" Junho asked.

"Like I would do anything close to that." Taecyeon replied immediately.

"That's true. Hmm, how did you guys prepare for the wedding?" Taeyeon asked Taecyeon, thinking deeply.

"I let her do what she wanted."

"That's a problem... So you left all the preparations to her right?"

"But I wanted Yoona to be happy, is that wrong?" Taecyeon sighed.

"She must have felt like the wedding wasn't important to you." Taeyeon said, biting her lip.

"I need to get to Yoona as soon as possible but the situation now, how do I handle it? How do I face the guests? What do I do next?" Taecyeon asked desperately before burying his face in his hands. Wooyoung, who was sitting beside him, patted him on the back as a form of comfort.

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"I feel bad for the guests and especially their parents. They came all the way here for nothing." Junho said, as the three stood aside waiting for Taecyeon. They watched as Taecyeon, his parents and Yoona's parents bowed and apologised to every single guest leaving the wedding venue.

Wooyoung was somehow bothered by what Junho had said because he realized that this was the scene that would have happened at Leeteuk and Taeyeon's wedding. He had always felt bad about being the cause for the ruined wedding, and it was a feeling that bugged him no matter how Taeyeon tells him that it's okay.

"Yah, stop saying such things." Wooyoung nudged Junho's chest using his elbow hard.

"Ouch, what was that for? I was just saying." Junho said, rubbing the spot Wooyoung hit. Taeyeon just gave a forced smile and remained quiet.

'Watching Yoona's parents apologizing endlessly made me think of how Taeyeon's parents would have done the same thing then. The expression Taecyeon has now also reminds me of how Leeteuk must have felt that day - he must have been the one that felt the most pain. Almost a year and a half has passed, but we still avoid talking about that day or even marriage in general. I don't know and am too afraid to ask how Taeyeon's family felt that day. What if they disapprove of us being a couple now? That is my biggest fear right now, I'm not ready to find out.' Wooyoung thought, biting his lip.