[ doesn't know whether to laugh or cry ]

[ as a general rule, xie lian didn't do weddings. or rather, he liked to avoid large gatherings altogether, but weddings ranked pretty high up on his list of events that would typically warrant a "thank you but i'm busy." considering the groom in this instance happens to be one of his few close friends, a rejection and thus a quiet night alone was unfortunately not in the cards for him this time.

don't get him wrong — xie lian is happy for feng xin. from what he can tell of jian lan, she seems a lovely young woman. sure, some might call the romance a little fast-paced, or even the wedding itself rather shot-gun ("She's pregnant, isn't she," mu qing had said the second the news was delivered.) but xie lian doesn't fancy himself any kind of expert on relationships or love so his opinions remain firmly on the fact there even has to be a wedding at all. couldn't they be just as happy to have a little get-together dinner, end at 10pm, and call it a night? people always say he's got too old of a soul, and he never feels it quite as much as when music is blaring and people are hyped up on alcohol having fun all around him.

the food is good, at least. and feng xin does look genuinely happy, so he's happy in turn for his friend. he'd promised himself he'd stay for as long as the cake is cut then make his way back to his hotel room, but he hadn't realized that was the absolute last thing on the program.

he does his best to keep to himself, despite being dragged to the dance floor a few times by shi qinxuan, mr. life of the party himself. it's also entirely his fault that xie lian had gotten caught up in the catching of the bouquet, which means it's 1000% justifiable if he beats shi qingxuan for the very predicament he finds himself in now:

forced to take a picture and endure social embarrassment with a stranger he's never met before, who just so happened to catch the garter not too long ago. ]

Ah... sorry if I'm heavy.

[ his smile is more a grimace as he tries to settle himself comfortably on the man's lap — it's tradition, someone had cried, for the bouquet-getter to sit on the garter-getter's lap for a picture. that photographer sure is taking his time... ]