Second chance

it's not always as we thought

You pushed the door open to your room and closed it quietly behind you. The moment it clicked shut, the weight of everything came crashing down on your shoulders.

The image of Minho's mother-her tear-streaked face, her trembling hands-kept replaying in your mind.
He was in the hospital... and no one had told you. You'd been so caught up in your own chaos, your own heartbreak and confusion, that you hadn't even known he was hurt.

You sat down slowly on the couch near the window, pulling your knees up to your chest and resting your chin on them. Your eyes drifted out toward the sky, where the colors of sunset were beginning to bleed across the horizon-warm pinks mixing with sleepy purples, fading blues swallowed by gold.

It should've been calming.

But your chest felt tight.

What is happening to my life?

None of this had happened before-not in your last life. Back then, Minho had never gotten into an accident. The boys had never looked at you like... like that. You had never gone through such terrifying loneliness in a locked room, never felt the brush of death so close.
And certainly... they had never proposed to you.

It all felt like a dream you'd tampered with too much. Like you'd plucked one thread in the tapestry of fate and now everything had started unraveling in directions you didn't expect.

You leaned back, exhaling slowly. Maybe this was the consequence of trying too hard to control life. Maybe you weren't meant to fix everything. Maybe you were supposed to just... live.

Your phone chimed.

You didn't move for a second, your body too heavy.

Then, slowly, you reached over and picked it up. It was nothing-just some random pizza discount notifications. You rolled your eyes and moved to clear it.

And that's when you saw it.
Your wallpaper.

It was a photo from the charity event.

There you were, in the center of seven radiant boys. Seokjin had you in a loose headlock, his laughter caught mid-frame. Taehyung was trying to feed you cotton candy. Jungkook had his arm around your shoulder, the camera capturing his wide bunny smile. Jimin was close, peace sign over your head, leaning into you. Hoseok and Namjoon were laughing at something just outside the frame, and Yoongi stood behind all of you, his gaze soft and fixed on you even though the photo wasn't posed.

Your lips parted slightly.

You had looked happy.

Really happy.

That was the day you all laughed without guilt, without confusion. You weren't burdened by the past or afraid of the future. It was just... you. And them.

And in that moment, something inside you whispered so clearly it almost felt like someone was speaking:

You don't need to be perfect to be loved.

You clutched your phone tightly.

Yes, your past was messy. Yes, you had made mistakes. You had hurt people, and you had been hurt in return. But somewhere in the middle of all of that pain, you had also grown. And these boys-these seven maddening, wonderful, loyal boys-they had seen you. The real you.

And they had stayed.

You wiped a tear from the corner of your eye.

You'd kept thinking that you needed to forget your memories in order to move on.