Storm.

Moments cause changes. Sometimes minute, sometimes great. Every change they cause, stirs the heart and mind, sometimes slowly, sometimes at once.

Where now Minho stood, he couldn’t decide which moment and what change had brought him into this emotional whirl, nor could he calculate the speed and the impact of it all.

It felt like he had forever been trapped inside this storm, not knowing how to get out...nor having the will to do so.

He did not want to run for shelter nor fight, in spite of knowing that this beautiful storm will pass, leaving him ruined.

Taemin was more beautiful than the storm.

His toothy smile, his eyes, his blunt little nose, his dark hair, his low voice, his melodic laugh, his scent...his presence.

He was beautiful as a whole, his every incomplete feature, combining into one complete, perfect being.

Minho smiled when he was around, smiled in a way different, a way genuine, hoping he would notice, but then hoping he won’t...because he didn’t need to.

Taemin was marrying another.

It was a mistake. A mistake to have become immune to this storm, a mistake to not have upped his guard.

It was a mistake to have taken him in the heat of the intoxicated moment. It was a mistake to have whispered his heart out to him...and it was a mistake to believe the words he had responded with.

When the trance was over...Taemin left, apologising, agony tinting his beauty.

And Minho let him go...because it would be a mistake again if he wouldn't.

Taemin was honest and for everything else he was not, he was responsible.

Sinking in a dejected relief, Minho watched him return to where he belonged.

But his beauty had dimmed, he noticed, and his smile never lit up his face like it previously did. It had forever pained to watch him stand elsewhere, but watching him stand there devoid of his luster, just pained him more.

He was cautious around him, putting up an inanimate barrier whenever they met, and Minho had stepped away on his own, giving up on trying to retain what they previously had.

Taemin was at war with himself and Minho knew no matter what side of him won...there would be nothing to rejoice over. He was to blame, so he welcomed the pain...and began to shred his heart through the eyes, watching all his mistakes take form in his sight.

He laughed when what he always despised, had broken. He laughed, feeling guilt pang his heart, laughed and laughed, knowing not when his laughter had turned into cries of despair.

The storm had led him to his ruin and he had dragged Taemin to his own.

It is the last time it will hurt this bad. He consoled himself, but his tears did not halt; because he knew well he did not deserve consolation after being greedy for that one moment.

That one moment which changed his everything.

That one moment which eventually ruined his everything.

Minho had been naive, thinking the storm to pass.

He had wallowed in grief to his heart’s content, expecting the tides to change some day, expecting himself to forget and heal.

But it had never happened.

And where he stood...he knew it never will.

I deserve it. He consoled himself, trying to give himself strength to endure. He was good at it...but there were times the dams in his heart, keeping his strength gathered, would break...and his strength would become floods of anguish, flooding his eyes as well, making him hate himself for being in pain.

I deserve it, he would say again, because his heart still yearned for someone he didn’t deserve.

Him.

There came a time they met. A time ruled by restive silence.

He could not gaze at him in fear of meeting his eyes, expecting their beauty to be now stained with rancor.

But little did he know, Taemin had the same fear and his eyes were fixed on the ground just like his, thinking Minho to be gazing upon him with resentment.

They passed each other, keeping their heads lowered, swallowing their every word.

But the moment they were out of each other’s sights, they were filled with remorse.

If only I had the courage to raise my gaze.

The storm only worsened as time passed and Minho could no longer endure the gale and the chill.

He gathered his strength, he prepared himself for more pain.

He decided to be brave.

He was fearful...his voice shook when he rehearsed his words, yet...yet he knew the only solace he would ever obtain was from speaking his heart one last time.

His reason would falter...because solace was his greed. Do I deserve it?

He would take a deep breath to settle himself. If not, I will atone for it.

Taemin stood before him but Minho hesitated to raise his gaze to look at him.

But he had decided to be greedy, to be brave. Refuting the gale that had kept him suppressed, he finally raised his gaze.

“Taemin.”

Taemin raised his gaze at his anxious voice and Minho’s breath hitched.

His eyes were not stained with rancor and he looked at him with the same apprehension he held.

They gazed at the other and Minho found himself wordless. But he realised he need not care...because the smile that grew on Taemin’s face was an indication that he already knew what he wanted to convey.

He stepped closer and closer, close enough for Minho to feel his warmth; and the only Minho could do was smile his lost smile- the one different and genuine- and brighter than it had ever been.

And that was when Minho realised that the storm had calmed, for he could see the stars when Taemin smiled and Taemin confessed that Minho had forever been the sun he had been looking for amidst the stormy skies.

There came a joyous day where they stood next to each other, exactly where they had wanted to be, shining all because of the other.

They gazed upon the beautiful sky, the cusp of the day and night.

Hands held firm, a promise lingered in the breeze, a promise to never let go, to never stop, no matter how harsh and cold it got.

Because now they had immense courage...they had each other; and nothing could ruin it, because their love in itself, was a storm.

End.