3 Years Later

Seokmin wove through the excited crowd, mumbling the occasional “excuse me” that wasn’t heard over the never ending chatter. He spotted a tall head in the corner, and chuckled to himself as he walked over silently. He clapped a hand hard over the broad back, and heard a yelp as the tall man flinched, turning around with an annoyed look. The annoyance quickly dissipated at the recognition of his friend and former colleague.

“Seokmin!!” Seokmin was quickly engulfed in a bear hug by Mingyu, and when they parted he smiled and hugged Jeonghan and Jihoon as well.

“We missed you a lot around here, man. Nobody to make bad puns.” Jeonghan confessed with a sad smile. Jihoon reluctantly nodded in agreement. Seokmin felt his chest contract.

“I missed you guys too. I haven’t been able to make friends like you at BlackVille. You guys are still my best friends.”

“We’re so happy you could make it today!” Mingyu exclaimed.

“Of course, I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.” Seokmin grinned brightly, and his friends exchanged fond glances among each other.

“And we have to go out for drinks later. Like old times.”

“Yes, definitely. Uhm, is tomorrow night okay? I think I’m busy tonight.” Seokmin’s face looked almost emotionless, but the tips of his ears were colored red. Jihoon guffawed in amusement, guessing the reason, Jeonghan caught on but Mingyu didn’t give a reaction, agreeing to the arrangement.

The crowd started taking their seats, and Seokmin scrambled to find a place in a row close to the stage. The first person stepped up on stage and crossed over to the pew, trying to catch the crowd’s attention.

“Ladies and gentlemen. I thank you for your patience, and I hereby welcome you to the ceremony. I would first like to….”

Things sort of blended together after the first few words. Formal people Seokmin used to know, walking up on stage and giving sappy, over-used, half hour speeches. The only thing that kept him awake was an excited buzz, a steady nervousness coursing through his veins. As the minutes passed, the others only looked more and more relaxed, almost dozing off, but Seokmin occasionally found himself wiping away the sweat on his forehead.

Finally. They started calling them up on stage, one by one, a seemingly endless line of people.

Ah, there he was. Newly died grey hair peeking from beneath his cap. Long strides. A proud grin on his face as he accepted the scroll with both hands.

“Congratulations, Kwon Soonyoung. Congratulations….”

After being given the degree, his eyes scanned the crowd quickly, finally spotting Seokmin and excitedly waving it in the air for him to see. Seokmin’s heart swelled, and he shot a 100 watt smile at smile at him.

After all of them stepped down from the stage, the last person stepped to deliver the final speech.

“...Finally, congratulations graduating class of 2019! You did it!” the head professor yelled into the microphone, and all the students screamed, standing up and throwing their graduation caps as high into the air as they could. Gleeful laughs filled the room as the rain of caps fell down on them. The crowd left their seats, forming groups, students finding parents and friends and hugging. Seokmin spotted a blob of grey in the corner of his eye, and rushed over after it.

All the wind was knocked out of Soonyoung as Seokmin crashed into him full force from behind, squeezing him hard.

“Baby!! I’m so so proud of you baby, you did it! You worked so hard!” Seokmin half squealed into the younger’s ear. Soonyoung fought against Seokmin’s arms so he could turn around to face him. His cheeks were tinted pink in excitement, his eyes a thin slant from smiling so hard.

“College was a , I’m glad it’s over.” Soonyoung paused slightly.” You know this means I’m not your student or a student anymore right? We’re just two normal people.”

“I know.” Seokmin suddenly turned serious, and he took Soonyoung’s hands in his own, squeezing the soft fingers.

“Soonyoung, you have never been a mere student to me. Of course, you’re my soulmate. But beyond that, you remember how I felt about you when I didn’t even know what we were.” Seokmin exhaled shakily. “But fate was cruel and made you my student, and that took me away from you.”

Seokmin let one of his legs bend beneath him as he kneeled. He saw the instant realization in Soonyoung’s eyes as he gasped, one of his hands leaving Seokmin’s grasp and flying up to cover his mouth.

“Soonyoung, since you walked through my door that first day, you held my entire universe in your hands. These three years have been so hard, when I couldn’t have you near me, but at the same time you were the only thing that helped me make it all the way to this day.”

He stared up, gaze unwavering, directly into Soonyoung’s eyes that had now filled with tears. He could hear the gasps and whispers around him of the people realizing what they were witnessing in the background.

“Even if I hadn’t spent so much time away for you, I would’ve known how much I need you in my life. Now I know just how painful it is, and I never want to be apart from you again. Kwon Soonyoung, you are the light of my life, my moon, sun and stars, and I love you so much I can barely stand it, so-”

Seokmin paused to let one of his hands fumble in his pocket for an agonizingly long moment after a small box, finally finding it and opening it towards Soonyoung, who now had tears streaming down his face.

“-please please make me the happiest man alive and marry me.” Seokmin finally said, heart thumping erratically, panting slightly as he carefully watched Soonyoung’s face tear streaked face start to nod quickly, over and over.

“Y-yes, yes!” Soonyoung spluttered, half sobbing. A lot of “ahww”s were heard around them, and Seokmin stood up, barely managing to slip the ring onto Soonyoung’s hand before the younger pulled him in for a desperate kiss. Applause and cheers filled their ears, drowning out other sounds, but Seokmin’s ears were attuned to Soonyoung, and heard every heartbeat, every whimper against his lips. The kiss said so much wordlessly between them, filled with promise of the future together and slowly healing the wounds that had formed from being apart.

This, right at this very moment, when everything stilled beyond their own little bubble. This was timeless.

A/N: Waaa, it's over TT^TT A big thanks to those who have subscribed, upvoted and especially to those who have commented, I always get happy when I see the comment notification! 

Happy news tho - I've started another soonseok fanfic! I really couldn't resist, even though I'm leaving for college in less than a week and will probably update very slow TT^TT. 

http://www.asianfanfics.com/story/view/1173060/your-pretty-face-and-electric-soul-angst-fluff-seventeen-hybridau-soonseok-soonseokau-hybridsoonyoung

It's a hybrid au this time ;) I just added the first chapter. I hope at least a few of my "Timeless" subscribers will follow along for "Your Pretty Face and Electric Soul".