Taemin POV

There are some things in life that doesn’t need a reason.

Meeting you was one of them.

I met Minho at the stairway leading towards the art museum—as far as I could remember, nothing was particularly attractive about him at that moment; his face was flawless of course, but an old faded sweatshirt and baggy sweatpants wasn’t anything impressive.

I tried my best to mind my own business but at the moment, in just a fraction of a second, he shifted his gaze away from the drawing block and looked at me intently with his hazel brown eyes. Within a second, I was overwhelmed by feelings that I have never felt before for a stranger like him.

Forget about all the clichés that people say when they fell in love with someone at first sight. My heart didn’t miss a beat, neither were there butterflies in my stomach. Instead, I stood on the spot at the tip of my tongue and stared blankly at him.

Then I snapped back into reality. Even for a moment, I could not trust my own feelings and follow my own instincts. I fell in love with a man within a second and I was already persuading myself that that stranger that took notice of me and I might not work out.

That was probably the reason why I couldn’t get myself into a proper relationship for the past 20 years. Being seriously disappointed in myself, I greeted the stranger with a smile and walked up the steps away from him.

Every step that I took back then was heavy and full of uncertainty. I could not really figure out if my decision was right or the biggest mistake I had made. Maybe he looked at me the way I looked at him, or maybe he didn’t.

I was so confused. So, so confused.

But he dropped his drawing block on the floor and walked towards my direction.

“Hey.”

“Hey.” I smiled back and looked away from him nervously.

“I…. errrmmm….I…..” How cute. I thought, and came to realization about how this stranger right in front of me could make me different so darn easily.

“Ermmm?” I sniggered.

“What’s your name? I am Minho.” He reached out his hand for mine with hesitance.

“I’m Taemin.” I bit my lips and decided to take some initiative about my love life—finally. “Do you want to—you know…”

Then I stopped. I didn’t know how I should continue.

“Do you want a cup of coffee at the coffee shop, Taemin?”

I slivered a smile as a form of agreement and watched while Minho fetched his pencil and drawing block.

I’ve been searching for a moment like this, the moment of impact that changed my life forever.

… …. ….

With that facades of memory, I finally found the courage to walk into the room once again; not as a lover, but a stranger that he had never met.  When our gazes met, it was then when I questioned myself further. It was that pair of hazel brown eyes that looked at me gently every night before we fell asleep in each other’s arms. What have we become?

“Choi Minho.” I stood beside his bed and took a deep breath, “Can I take a seat?”

He nodded his head bluntly, “Yea, sure.”

Then, I did something that tore my heart into a million pieces—reaching out my hand for his, I slivered a forceful smile and introduced myself.

“Hi. I am Lee Taemin.”  He squeezed my hand in his and shook it gently.

“Nice to meet you, Taemin.” Minho fidgeted into a more comfortable sitting position, “I must have said something that upset you just now. I’m sorry.”

“No, Minho. Don’t apologize.”

“Then, may I know who are you?” He waited for my reply that I was too afraid to answer. Reaching into the front compartment of my backpack, I held the cold titanium ring in my fist and placed it on his palm.

He was clueless for a few seconds until the moment he spotted the carvings on the inner circumference of the ring.

“You and I…..” Minho snorted and shook his head in disbelief “No. It can’t be.”

“We are, Minho.”

“No.” He placed the ring firmly on the table and folded his arms agitatedly. I began to tear when I realized that I might have been downgraded from a stranger to his foe. It was too heartbreaking but I could bear to give up—at least not now.

“Minho, I know it’s hard for you to remember something that is forgotten. But please….could you give me a chance to help you?”

He shuddered away from me when I reach out my hands for his and we stayed in this manner for a long time. We didn’t say a word; neither did we look at each other. I rested my head on the mattress exhaustedly while he drew his knees closer to his chest.

“Then…” Minho finally broke the silence, “Can you give a call to Key?”

“K—Key?”

“Yes, you know Key don’t you?” I nodded my head curtly, “Then, can you give him a call? Ask him to fetch me home or something.”

Wiping the tears away from my bloodshot eyes, I took out my phone and started dialing Key’s number. I was foolish and delusional to think that Minho would wrap his arms around me blissfully when he woke up—but wasn’t that what it was supposed to be?

Instead, here I am at a corner of his hospital ward calling his ex-lover. I probably meant nothing to him after all.