"YOUR HANDS TOUCHING MINE;
THIS IS HOW GALAXIES COLLIDE."

"I didn't know the man. Never saw his face or heard of him. I wasn't even ready for the whole thing."

Picture yourself on a trip to a marine aquarium. You look at the fishes and admire their differences. Their specialities are what attracts people. But for Seokjin, the only thing that caught his attention was Yoon Min. Fishes come in different colours and shapes, but she stood with one life story filled with unique experiences.

They were walking through the ocean tunnel of Coex Aquarium. It felt like they were walking at the bottom of a vast sea, with all kinds of aquatic creatures swimming around them. This place showcased over 40,000 creatures from over 650 species. That explained why so many fishes were indistinguishable. Thousands of sea creatures all live underwater yet every fish is different from another.

Last night after she confessed the surprising fact, she didn't tell him the backstory no matter how much he insisted. She told him she would explain the next day. He had been waiting all day for her to start telling him but he couldn't pester her either. This was a sensitive topic.

"My mother threatened me a lot on countless occasions. She used to say she'll have me married if I don't obey her. She used the marriage card frequently and to be honest, I was really scared of that."

"Why?"

"Because...the term 'marriage' terrifies me. All my life, I watched my parents' cursed marriage and the risks of it. They fought all the time, had no love or respect for each other, and disgraced their marital relationship. As a kid, I decided I'd never marry anyone. I'll never allow myself to be treated or treat someone like my parents did. And it's not just about them. It's about...people."

She sighed before continuing, "I've read a lot of books where the female lead marries her dream guy and turns out, he's actually the villain. And some girls I used to know married these incredible guys who treated them like queens. After a few months of their marriage, those guys started physically abusing them. My own mother seemed like the kindest soul in front of society, but behind closed doors, she was far from kind. All these things made me realize we can't really see through someone entirely. We don't know who's capable of murder or who'll turn into a psychopath or who can be unrecognizable when angry.

"The truth is, the more intimately we know someone, the more we'll see their flaws. That's why marriages fail, children are abandoned, and friendships don't last. A person can never be truly figured. That's just how it is."

Her thoughts were so deep and real that it pierced his heart. This girl has seen the world differently since a long time ago. She knew the selfish world, the cruelty of the people, and the injustice from a young age. She was already a grown-up at the age of 10.

For the first time, he met someone afraid of marriage. She wasn't scared of the commitment; it's the people who scared her, it's their dark version that can break her. She knew loving someone is easy until you see the way they act when angry, pressured or hungry.

And most importantly, she learned it all at a time when she wasn't supposed to. The time she was supposed to fantasize about boys, dream about her wedding day and babies, when she was supposed to experience love; she took the decision not to get tangled in that part of life. Because she was too scared to get hurt.

No one could figure out this duo was having a serious conversation in a place like this. They were supposed to stare at the marine creatures and take selfies.

Yoon Min continued, "Anyway, as I was saying, I was really intimidated by my mother's threats. But I didn't think she would actually do that; fix my marriage out of the blue and not one opinion from me. I had no idea why she did that. Even my sister wasn't married yet. I cried and begged her not to let this happen. I pleaded to my father too. But no use. I guess she was too tired of me and just wanted to get rid of me."

He didn't even want to feel her. Because nothing could pay him to go through what she did.

"After days of useless persuading and begging, I took the biggest risk of my life. The act I've been thinking of since I was a teen and planning for it since then. I knew the only way to save myself was to get far from them. My parents were influential enough to search for me throughout the country so I had to flee abroad. With whatever I had, I ran away from that house the day after I turned 18 and never looked back. I didn't contact anyone, not even my sister or my friends. I just ran away without a second thought."

Goosebumps were all over his body after she finished. His own heart felt heavy for her. He tried to imagine her running away all alone to an unknown country. Either she had crazy guts or she was foolishly helpless.

After a minute, he sympathetically told her, "It must've been very hard for you. I can't imagine."

She gave him a sad smile. "Yeah, it was. I couldn't speak Korean much those days. I couldn't ask for help or communicate properly. I didn't have much money for rent so I had to look for a job soon. No one wanted to hire me, seeing I was a foreigner with broken Korean. They took one look at me and rejected me.

"I wandered in the streets like a stray animal and searched for any small jobs. I was all alone and helpless in this country. Back then, I used to think that I should go back to my family and just get married instead."

"How did you manage then?"

"Thanks to God, a kind lady gave me a part-time job at her shop. It was all dish-cleaning at first, then I was serving as a waiter. Working there for almost a month, I got acquainted with some people who helped me to settle. Korean people are very considerate, especially the adults. They found me a place to stay and provided me with information."

Listening to her, Seokjin remembered his days as a trainee when he and his members were as helpless as she. They wanted a little bit of support and faith which were so hard to get. In that new strange world of their own, they looked for hope, possibly a mere glimpse from the future to assure them they were doing the right thing.

But at least he had his members. As for her, it was a miracle she survived so far. He now understood she made the choice because she would rather starve and die than live like a monster after her marriage. It was a brave and risky decision, but it was also a desperate one.

She inhaled a deep breath and plastered a huge smile on her face. Laughing, she brushed her hair and said, "God, we were so talking about my past that we forgot to check out the shark! Let's go find it."

But he was well aware the shark was only a distraction for her to escape breaking down. It was still a wonder why she hadn't cried once in front of him. Girls usually tear up easily while opening up. Maybe it was a good thing since he wouldn't know how to take care of her.

With a forced smile, he put on a face to show he was very excited to see a shark and followed her.

They focused on the fishes and became surprised by the species and colours of hundreds of sea creatures. It made him realize the ocean is beautiful, boundless and quiet. However, it is so mysterious to explore; sometimes shy, but sometimes roaring like a lion.

She stopped to stare and admire each specific fish in the aquarium. Her eyes widened at their fins flapping and their appearances made her eyes sparkle.

They both stopped and stared at the unreal sea in front of them. She placed her hand on the glass to feel the breathing hearts of the creatures inside. Closing her eyes, she smiled to herself and imagined swimming with fishes.

Seokjin didn't care about the fishes. He couldn't brush off her story, it was weirdly hurting him. Why was life so hard on her? She should've been brought up with love and care, she should've been told that it's okay to have a dream of her own. She didn't deserve what her family did to her, no one did.

He didn't know what came over him, perhaps his heart was aching too much for her that it caused him to place his hand on the glass too. His eyes fell on her hand and a tiny part of his heart creaked open when he noticed a bruise there. She had scars almost everywhere on her body thus she tried to keep herself covered all the time. But the sleeve brushed down and revealed an old bruise.

There was an unfamiliar passion inside him that wanted to heal that mark. It wanted to vanish all her wounds so that she wouldn't be so insecure anymore. And also, there was a part of him that wanted to hold her hand, to let her know he appreciated her bravery.

He carefully slid his hand towards her on the glass and ever so slightly touched it, just a brush against her skin.

Yoon Min opened her eyes and retreated her hand back quickly as if the touch was an accident. She didn't pay any attention to his and instead squealed over a jellyfish.

Her reaction put him back to his senses. What was he even thinking? His cheeks blushed violently, secretly glad she didn't figure out his intention. He'll only let the fishes keep his secret.

☆THE FAULT IN OUR STARS☆

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