epilogue ii.

Namjoon lifts his face to welcome the warm passing breeze, finding solace in the calmness that the sunset sun is offering him.

He is awfully glad that he had taken his sister's advice to take this cruise trip to end his month-long vacation in Osaka before returning to Seoul. After spending the past year working hard to enhance his company's growth while healing from his past heartbreak, he felt like he deserved to take a long break from everything around him. And this cruise had been the perfect way to end his break before he has to go back to his busy life, back to the rush that has always become a part of his reason to live and to move on.

But the chance to end his trip glamorously has not been the only thing he is grateful about.

Namjoon turns to glance to his left, where the woman who has been accompanying him for the past week is standing close by. He looks closely at the content look that she is wearing on her face as she lifts her chin up and closes her eyes, basking in the warm glow of the sunset sun the same way he was doing it before. The breeze keeps on blowing her hair, making each soft strands fly across her beautiful face while some of the longer strands keep hitting his arms. But he makes a move to stop it nor does she reach up to brush the messy strands away, both of them simply letting it happen as she enjoys this moment of solace with Namjoon staying by her side.

In the silence, Namjoon's thoughts wander off to last week, right on the second day that he was spending on this cruise ship. He was standing right at this very same deck, looking out onto the vast ocean while listening to the calming sound of the waves when she sneaked up on him.

"Namjoon?" He remembers her soft voice calling for him, sounding like a dream when it came into his head, before her presence manifested into his sight when he turned to see her. "It's really you."

Namjoon had been stunned into silence, both from seeing her again after a long time and from hearing the awe in her voice which was somehow lathered with sadness and grief. He couldn't understand it back then, and he had looked past it when he called out her name, "Yeori."

They had shared an awkward hug once he recovered from his shock, and he remembers recalling the last time they had contacted each other, how she had made the last phone call that had ended the mutual arrangement that they had during college when she informed him that she had met her soulmate. Namjoon had immediately brought this up, drawing a smile to Yeori's face when she told him everything that had happened then, since they had never remained in contact after that last goodbye.

She had told Namjoon the details of how she had met her soulmate on the flight which took them both to Bali that day. Yeori was on her way there to celebrate her college graduation while he was going there to celebrate life. Soon after finding out that they were soulmates, they had immediately contacted their families who had later gathered together to celebrate the news. In merely weeks later, they were married, and they soon started their new life together as jet-setters as they both loved to travel and his job had allowed him to go to various places while she started her career as a travel journalist.

Namjoon remembers feeling happy to listen to her story then, before he looked around and started asking, "Where is your husband now? Is he with you on this trip, then?"

He would never forget the way her eyes had dimmed after hearing his question, and how she gave him a broken smile before finally answering him. "He is with me. Right here," Yeori had said then as she lifted her hands, drawing his attention to the small antique wooden box that she had been holding. It had taken a moment for Namjoon to figure out what she had meant, thinking that she was carrying a gift at the time. But then she finally revealed to him with a broken voice that the box had contained her late husband's ashes.

That night, they sat together for dinner at the ship's main dining hall, where Yeori finally continued her story about the life that she had after she met her soulmate. "I fell in love with him the moment we met. We continued to spend the days of our trip together, to get to know each other, and then it was only when we were about to return to South Korea that he finally told me that he was born with a weak heart."

Namjoon had kept his eyes on his old friend and past love affair partner while she kept talking, and he watched in awe how her eyes simply lit up when she was talking about the man that she loved.

"That was partly the reason why we got married so quickly, aside from us feeling too impatient to wait any longer," she had said then with a soft giggle. But then once again a dark cloud came into her eyes when she started talking about her late husband's illness. "It was around two years ago when he came home from his regular checkup at the hospital with the news. We just came home from the Bahamas for his work trip and he had felt unwell for a whole week. I wasn't there when the doctor broke out the news that his heart was growing weaker and that he no longer had much time left to live. We had looked for the possibility that a surgery could help him heal, but any kind of surgery, even transplanting a new heart inside him, would be too risky."

Her story broke Namjoon's heart, and it does still, but he would always be amazed at both Yeori's and her late husband's strength when they decided that the bad news wouldn't slow them down. "His love for travelling had come from his determination to never miss out on a chance to see the world before he would have to go, and that he would never put any second of his life for granted. So until he was deemed unable to travel, we continued going to more places, staying close to home on that last year he was still present until the final moments of his life which we spent together at his summer home."

"I'm so sorry," Namjoon had whispered to her then, to which Yeori only responded with a sad smile.

"Thank you. But I'm not sorry for the memories that we had and the love we shared."

Namjoon simply nodded at her words, feeling envious of the deep devotion that she had experienced with her soulmate and silently wishing for his own. "But what had gotten you on this ship?" he finally asked then, inquiring to know what she had planned by joining the trip with her late husband's ashes.

"He passed away not too long after our wedding anniversary," she said, before explaining further. "It was on this very same cruise trip that he proposed to me, and he had promised that he would take me back on another trip to celebrate our special day. Except that he was already bedridden when the day came and we never had the chance to make his promise come true."

Yeori sighed before she finally revealed her intention. "I made a vow on his deathbed that I would replace that promise by spreading his ashes at his most favourite place in the world. The ocean, and right from the deck where he asked me to marry him."

Namjoon had responded with a smile, before he said to her, "You won't have to do it alone."

That night, they had finished up dinner with a few more glasses of wine while they continued to share the stories of their lives before moving to the top deck. They spent the rest of the night with Yeori reminiscing the memories of her late husband, while Namjoon shared about his success in bringing his dreams to life, and Yeori had listened to him the same way she did back in college when they spent their nights together thinking about the future. When dawn came, Namjoon had stood with her, offering his silent support as Yeori sent what was remained from her late husband to be one with the wind, and he kept his distance while she shared her final goodbye for the man who had become a part of her soul.

Throughout the rest of the cruise ship, Namjoon and Yeori had remained close, spending the past week accompanying each other as Yeori slowly healed from her grief with Namjoon offering his friendly comfort. And now, as Namjoon watches the moment Yeori opens her eyes to look up at him, his chest is filled with relief and awe at what he sees. While the sadness and grief are still present, shadowing her beautiful eyes as they glow under the sunlight, he can already begin to see the old part of Yeori that he had once become so familiar with and had come to admire in the past looking back at him. The fire and passion that she had always carried with her are beginning to show themselves, and her spirited soul that she had always allowed other people to see just by looking straight into her eyes is starting to make its presence known. And it glows even brighter when she smiles at him.

"Is there something on my face? Why are you looking at me like that?" she asks Namjoon, making him flustered for being caught ogling at her, though he covers it well with a chuckle as he shakes his head.

"No, there's nothing wrong. I just like seeing you, is that so wrong for me to do?"

Yeori scoffs at him. "Not really, but other people might misunderstand what you're up to."

"Hah!" Namjoon laughs and teases her, "Let them think what they want. I'd rather look at you than look elsewhere. I also feel relieved that you're looking much better. I'd say that shows that I've done a good job as your company during this trip."

Laughing along with him, Yeori bumps against his side teasingly when her face burns under his teasing. "Hey, Namjoon?" she calls out to him after a while, and he returns her gaze curiously without a word. "Thank you for being here with me. It still baffles me that we came across each other on this cruise ship, but I'm really glad that we did."

Namjoon smiles at her. "Same with me. I'm glad we met again," he says in return, being completely honest about it too. Sometime in the middle of the week that they had spent together, Namjoon had realised how much he truly enjoyed her company. The past memory they had with each other may never be the same as to what they have now, but he welcomes the chance to rekindle their friendship wholeheartedly as he can feel himself healing and growing with her even through the short amount of time that they have.

"So—is the arrangement we made still on? You know, with the wedding?" Yeori suddenly questions him, reminding him of the promise that he had her made the night he offered to stay with her as she was to release her late husband's ashes. That night, he had jokingly offered to make a deal with her, promising that he would accompany her during her small ceremony in setting her late husband free if she had agreed to be his company and plus one on your wedding day.

Pleased and surprised that she still remembers it, Namjoon chuckles softly. "Are you still up for it? You know that I was only joking, right?"

Yeori merely shrugs. "I don't mind it. I love going to wedding parties," she says, before smiling softly at him. "And since you were there when I said goodbye to my soulmate, I should offer you the same favour and be there to keep you company as you do the same with yours."

Namjoon cannot help but smile as a warm feeling suddenly forms in his chest. Hiding this change of emotions that he is feeling, knowing that it seems to be growing at the wrong time, he simply wraps his arm around her shoulders and pulls her to his side in a friendly way that makes her laugh. "Fine, we're still on," he teasingly says, before his voice softens. "You're a good friend, Yeori."

Hearing this, Yeori laughs at him and places her arm around his waist to stay close. "Oh, I know," she teasingly says, and Namjoon feels somewhat comfortable with her friendly banters, making it seem as if time does not exist and that nothing has truly changed since the day they parted ways in the past.

Looking down at Yeori and seeing her smile, he still cannot believe that she is actually here. Before he could stop himself, he imagines having her there to give him the support that he needs to be there at your wedding, to witness you embracing your happy ending with the man that you have chosen, and how her presence would be able to change everything. Though he cannot help but question if this chance encounter had truly meant to be.

The irony isn't truly lost in him. Yeori had been there that night when he chose to walk away from the path that he was supposed to walk on with you. Even you still remember the sight of Namjoon taking her in his arms, taking the place that was meant to be yours. And here he is now, with his arms wrapped around Yeori in comfort. While his intention had not been the same as to what he felt that night many years ago, he knows that everything would come to a full circle should Yeori be present by his side when he arrives on your wedding day.

The flutter in his chest that comes from her proximity and her friendly teases shouldn't be there. They shouldn't be happening at this exact time and place, when things don't seem to be in their favour. But there is a voice inside his head that keeps telling him not to fight it. And he is done fighting against any invisible force that may appear, anything that might indicate that the universe has yet to give up on him. But he doesn't want to dwell too deep into it either when he has no idea if this feeling is the start of hope building inside him or if this is merely a case of wishful thinking.

For now, he just wants to enjoy her company and the beauty of the newly rekindled friendship blooming between him and his old fling. Things might change once they step down from this cruise ship. They may part ways and go on with their lives once your wedding weekend with Jungkook is over, or maybe they could keep this friendship and become each other's support in the future. Perhaps, they could even build something more, to rekindle not only their friendship, but also the trust and passion that they both had once shared. Whatever may happen between them once they get through this point, Namjoon will welcome all the possibilities with an open mind.

Deep down, he knows that fate must have had a hand in this reunion somehow. It couldn't be a coincidence that he had crossed paths with the same person that had been a part of his story with you, even if she had never known anything about it until recently when he told her everything that had happened. Namjoon truly has no idea what fate has planned for him, yet he doesn't find any need to even wonder or to question it.

This time, he is going to just wait and see to find out what kind of journey fate is going to take him on even in its most twisted ways.

This time, however, he would simply allow the universe to show him the way and have some faith, believing that he would one day find his own happy ending.

➬ Author's Note | And we finally come to the end of this story. As we say goodbye to these beloved characters, I just want to take my time to express my gratitude to every single one of you, the readers, who have been with me throughout this journey. Thank you, tremendously, for every single love, every single comment and feedback, to every kudos and likes that you have given to this story to show your support. I would have never been able to finish this story and to get to this point if not for your support. Thank you for being here and for choosing to dive into this little adventure that I have created. Until next time, see you in the next story. Xoxo, Dia.