"I'm going to show you who it is, okay Tae?"

My breath hitched. The tears burned.

"N-no!" I screamed. "I don't want to know!  I don't want to hear you say it! If it's not me, then I don't want to hear you say it!"

Then I felt his arms encircle me from behind. I tried to escape his embrace but he only hugged me tighter. His breath tickled my neck and gave me goosebumps.

"I'm going to show you who I think is the most beautiful boy in the world, no matter what you say Tae."

I sobbed and repeated my last sentence, my voice cracking at the end.

"If it's not me, then I don't want to know."

"Who says it isn't you?"

And then he the warm lights of the bathroom, in which we were apparently standing. He struck out one of his arms and pointed in front of us. I followed his direction with my eyes.

"There he is."

For a long while I was speechless.
  I looked at myself in the mirror, me with Minho behind me, his chin resting on my shoulder and a gentle smile on his face.

"You shouldn't be so hard on yourself, Minnie."

Could he really...?

"B-but hyung. I'm not beautiful, nor am I pretty."

"Yes, you are."

I gave myself a sceptic glance in the mirror.

"What part of me could ever be described as beautiful?"

He turned me around so that I was facing him and touched my cheek with his fingertips.

"This,"

He gently put a strand of my slightly curly hair back behind my ear.

"And this,"

His fingers followed my jawline.

"And this,"

I involuntarily closed my eyes from the sensation of his fingertips caressing my skin. One of them wandered towards my upper lip. 

"And this. And I could really go on forever."

I didn't dare to open my eyes and see what expression painted his face.

"Really?" I asked in a small voice.

"Really. But do you know what the most important thing is? The thing that would make you the sweetest kid alive even if none of the others amazing things about you existed?"

I shook my head once. I didn't trust my voice not to break.

"The most important thing, is that real beauty comes from inside. That's the most important thing of them all, don't ever forget that. The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched – they must be felt with the heart. The essential is invisible to your eyes. But you can feel it. In here."

He put a hand right over my heart. It was beating erratically. Happiness spread from the simple touch. I felt sparks fly in the air between us.

"Sweet Minnie, please don't cry."

I hadn't even noticed the tears running down my cheeks. They weren't tears of sadness, but of joy. 
I opened my wet eyes and gave him a small abashed smile.

"I'm crying because I'm happy,"

He smiled back at me, meeting my gaze with his beautiful eyes. His whole being was so perfect that it felt as if my chest would explode any second.

"I'm really, really happy, hyung."

"That's good, Minnie. That makes me happy too."

It did? That sounded almost too good to be true.

"I'm happy that I can make you happy."

"You make me happy simply by existing."

Warmth pooled over my cheeks and I felt them turn a faint pink.
It was now or never.

"Hyung?" I was almost too embarrassed to ask.

His gaze told me that he sensed what I was going to say. It made me blush even more and I cast down my eyes, but he put a finger under my chin and tilted it upwards so that I had to meet his smiling eyes.

"Yes, Minnie?"

"C-c-c-ca-can y-you k-k-ki..."

"Yes? Can I what?"

"C-c-can y-you k-k-kiss m-me?"

I immediately turned beet root red and the anticipation pooling in my stomach was almost unbearable. Would he say yes? Or would he...?

"Minnie?"

"Y-y-y-ye-yes?"

"I've been waiting to hear you say those words since the first time I saw you."

Then he tilted my chin upwards, and gently pressed his soft lips to mine.