Artificial Love || Minho

Afterstory: return

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"Hey, is something the matter?"

I snap out of my trance, looking up to Minho staring at me. It was only then I felt a pair of hands laced around my own, his concerned eyes gently peering into mine.

Looking at him, my eyes slowly also begin to travel to the digital clock that was sitting on the table. 1 AM. I feel my words hesitate, finding myself at a loss when I see how late it is.

I've only been back for a week— I shouldn't be up this late. How long have I been lost in my thoughts?

I look outside towards the window, the dim night sky fading through the curtains along with the moonlight. But before I could collect myself, the same mellow voice begins to talk again.

"You're worrying me." Minho gently speaks, his voice now diminishing down to a whisper. "You've been off since you came back, what's wrong?"

I feel momentarily frozen, my gaze shifting back to make eye contact with him.

It's only been a week since I've come back, am I acting weird?

"Look... I know you need your time, but you've been pushing me away." Facing me, he only scoots closer. "Can I please, please know what's going on?"

"I don't want to worry you," I whisper back, but the defeated look that came after in the boy's eyes made me uncertain whether I should tell him the truth. "but, I will be okay. I promise."

Looking down at our hands, I gently slide my other palm, interlacing our fingers together as I try my best to smile. "Minho?" I give his hand a light squeeze, trying to make eye contact.

But before I knew it, he pulls me towards him, the sudden force in strength causing me to be unable to show any resistance. I feel someone embrace me tight, a pair of strong and secure arms encircling their way around my torso.

"It's my memories, isn't it?" A voice asks softly, his breath gently brushing the shell of my ear. "You're still trying to accept the fact that I remember everything."

I feel my throat hitch. "How... did you know?"

"How could I not?" Even if I couldn't see his face, I could sense the slight pain hanging in his voice as he spoke.

I feel my insides turn fuzzy at his touch, the gentle gestures soothing me as he hugs me tight.

"Minho..."

One hand comes up, and I could feel him begin to gently stroke my hair. I hear soft humming begin to escape his lips, his hushed tone making it sound like a melody only meant for me to listen.

And soon, everything around me begins to blur. I wanted to only focus on his singing, feeling the warmth in his arms as I let the stress inside slowly fade away.

It's always been the same, even before I left. Whenever I'm sad, whenever I'm stressed, or just feeling anxious--

He always manages to calm me.

So after a while, before the clock strikes later into the night; but after I found my comfort of being in his embrace, I spoke. "Hey, Minho?"

"Yeah?"

I slightly push back, tilting my head so I could face him.

For always appreciating the little things, to always put me at ease when I felt overwhelmed. For always being here with me, and knowing exactly what I need the most.

It doesn't matter if you remember who I was back then, or the person I was now.

Because no matter what, I'm here to stay and love you either way.

Leaning in, I rest my forehead against his, before slowly closing the gaps between our lips.

Thank you.

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I MISSED WRITING THIS SHIP (but also struggled a lot because I haven't written anything besides school assignments in ages TT)