My destiny.

"Jisung-ah! Did you see the album? I'm sure I've kept it here." Minho searched under a pile of magazines on Changbin's living room coffee table, a slight frown on his face.

Jisung, who was lounging on the sofa, looked up and signed with a small smile. "Felix must have took it."

Minho sighed, a familiar weariness in his tone. "This boy," he muttered, shaking his head. Felix, with his kind heart, often picked things up and put them down in random places, forgetting them instantly. Minho gave up on finding the old album. Instead, he reached for a new, blank one that sat nearby. He found a box of loose photos. "Never mind," he said. "Let's start a new one."

He began picking out photos, one by one, and carefully pasting them onto the fresh pages. Jisung leaned closer, watching. There were pictures from their high school days, clumsy selfies with awkward haircuts. Photos of their friend group, loud and smiling, hanging out at the local cafe, hiking in the hills, or just piled on someone's sofa. Each photo held a moment of warmth, a piece of their journey. Minho remembered the feelings tied to each picture: the easy laughter, the quiet understanding, the simple comfort of being together. He thought of how much these people meant to him, how much he would miss these simple times in the future. Jisung reached out, pointing to a photo of them all squeezed into a small rickshaw in Thailand, giggling. Minho smiled, a soft, heavy feeling in his chest.

They were all at Changbin's family home today, a cozy house filled with the scent of flowers and festive food. It was the wedding day for Changbin's sister, and the ceremony would be later in the evening. For now, they were simply chilling, waiting for the bride to return from the beauty parlor, where she was getting her makeup done. The air was light with happy expectation.

As evening fell, the wedding began. It was a simple, heartfelt ceremony held right on the beach. Soft, warm lights hung from poles, twinkling like stars. Changbin's sister, beautiful in her wedding dress, walked slowly towards her groom. Family and close friends sat on chairs arranged on the sand, their faces soft with emotion. The vows were spoken in quiet voices, filled with promises of forever. Rings were exchanged as cheers roared around making the newlywedded couple laugh. It was a quick event, yet every detail, every loving look, held deep meaning. Minho watched, his hand finding Jisung's, holding it tight. The sight of two people promising their lives to each other brought a bittersweet ache to his heart.

After the ceremony, the celebration moved to a nearby stretch of beach. Since it was a small wedding, just close family and friends, there was no grand party, just an easy gathering. People danced lightly in the sand, their movements loose and happy. Laughter drifted on the evening breeze, mixed with the clinking of bottles and the murmur of conversations. Under the vast, starlit sky, Minho and Jisung found a quiet spot away from the crowd, sitting side-by-side on the cool sand. The sounds of joy from the wedding party blurred into a soft hum behind them.

Jisung turned his head, his profile lit by the distant glow of string lights. "Do you remember our first meeting?" he signed, his fingers moving slowly, thoughtfully.

Minho smiled softly, the memory vivid in his mind. "How can I forget?" he murmured, looking out at the dark ocean. "You were crying a lot when we first met."

It was the very last day of  first year in middle school, the air thick with the cheerful chattering about the upcoming  summer break. Minho, a quiet boy who mostly kept to himself, sat alone on a bench in the school yard, waiting for his ride. The bell had rung, and most students had already scattered. That's when he saw him. A boy with bright, puffy cheeks, sitting under a big tree, his small shoulders shaking. He wasn't just sad; he was openly sobbing, tears streaming down his face without a sound, just quiet, ragged gasps for air.

Minho didn't know him. They were just two middle school kids who had never spoken. But something in the boy's silent pain made Minho feel a deep pull. He walked over slowly and sat down a little distance away. He didn't say anything. He just reached into his pocket and pulled out a clean napkin. He held it out.

The boy looked up, his tear-filled eyes wide and surprised. He looked at the napkin, then at Minho's quiet, steady face. And then, as if the small act of kindness opened a floodgate, he cried even harder. His whole body shook with it. Minho didn't move. He just stayed seated beside him, a silent, comforting presence. He waited. He didn't know why he felt the need to stay, but he did. They sat there until the boy's sobs finally quieted into sniffles, and his breathing grew even. Neither of them spoke a single word.

The next academic year, when Minho started high school, he walked into his new classroom and saw the same boy. He was sitting in the front row, quiet, still looking a little fragile. It was Jisung. That year, they became classmates.

It took a few weeks for Minho to put the pieces together. He noticed Jisung didn't speak in class, didn't answer when called on. He communicated mostly through gestures and writing. Minho eventually learned that Jisung was mute. And something inside Minho shifted. He started seeking Jisung out, asking simple questions, learning the signs Jisung used. He befriended him.

At that time, Changbin and Hyunjin were in different schools, but they were Jisung's neighbors. Jisung, now with Minho by his side, often dragged Minho along to meet his friends, Hyunjin and Changbin, after school. They quickly became a group of chaos. Jisung's best friend, Felix, his childhood friend, had moved to Australia because his family had gone there a few years before. Changbin, being an only child then with an elder sister, would often whine with her to borrow her phone just so they could make video calls to Felix in Australia. That academic year, Minho found not just a new friend, but a true soulmate in Jisung. And through him, he got to meet the other three that stood with him through his thick and thin, completing their tight-knit group.

That quiet boy under the tree, who had cried so heartbrokenly, became the most important person in Minho's world.

Minho turned his head, his gaze sweeping over Jisung's face, taking in every line, every curve, every moles. His heart ached with a love so profound it felt like a physical weight. "Jisung-ah," he began, his voice thick with emotion, barely above a whisper against the gentle sounds of the night.

"Every single moment since that day... every single one has been a gift. You came into my life like a quiet storm, and you changed everything. You made me better. You made me me." He reached out, his fingers tracing the soft line of Jisung's jaw. "I don't know what I did to deserve you, but I'm so, so grateful. For every laugh, every tear, every single silent conversation. You are... everything to me, my destiny." His eyes welled up, a sharp pain twisting in his chest with the thought of the quickly dwindling days he had left. He blinked them back, forcing the tears away, desperate to not let even a hint of his secret shadow this precious moment.

He leaned in, placing a soft, tender kiss on Jisung's forehead making them both melt under the watchful eyes of the stars.

Just as Minho pulled back, a sudden flurry of movement erupted behind them. "No PDA!" Hyunjin's voice shrieked, followed by a chorus of laughter. Felix, Changbin, and Hyunjin came barreling towards them, jumping onto the sand, playfully tackling them from behind.

"Get off me, you brats!" Minho yelled, laughing as he tried to untangle himself from the pile of limbs. "Hyunjin, you're dead!" "Get off me, you brats!" Minho yelled, laughing as he tried to untangle himself from the pile of limbs. "Hyunjin, you're dead!" He scrambled to his feet, a playful glint in his eye, and immediately began to chase Hyunjin, who shrieked with delight and ran off down the beach. Changbin and Felix dissolved into fits of giggles, watching the chase with Jisung shaking his head with a wide smile. The rest of Changbin's family, observing the chaos from a distance, watched in warm laughter, wishing the laughing kids all happiness in silence.

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I was hearing Fine by Taeyeon today, cried, then wrote this chapter with sudden motivation.