Forget-me-not

Seungmin

After all the excitement, they were both on cloud nine. Cynthia thanked the guys over and over again as they left. She gave each of them a hug before they went. Hyunjin squeezed her tightly and refused to let go. It ended with Changbin hauling him over his shoulder and tugging him outside while he whined. Seungmin wouldn't admit it, but it was a little funny. 

They spent hours gorging themselves with pizza, cake, and ice cream. Party games had been played and Seungmin had gifted Cynthia a Polaroid camera. Once he showed her how to use it, she took multiple photos of everything, so she could remember the night. 

After she showered, she climbed into the bed beside Seungmin. It was the first time that the two would be sleeping in their own bed back home. Seungmin had been waiting for this day for months. He couldn't wait to wake up in the middle of the night and tug her closer to his body. 

"I don't know how to thank you for all of this," Cynthia admitted. She grabbed the stack of photos off her nightstand and flipped through them. There must have been nearly a hundred of them. Seungmin was just glad he had bought her a ton of extra film. 

There was a photo of the cake and there was a photo of the guys all together. Photos of Changbin carrying an annoyed Seungmin bridal style. One of Chan shoving icing onto I.N's nose. One of Han with wide boba eyes staring at the cake spilled on his shirt while Lee Know laughed and pointed in the background. 

A smile sat on her face while she continued looking at all of them. "I want to remember this forever. This has been the best birthday of my entire life." 

"Isn't this the only one you can remember?" 

"Well, yeah, but you know what I mean." Cynthia stacked the photos back up and placed them on the nightstand again. She shifted and laid down beneath the comforter. She was quiet for a while until she spoke again. "Does it ever scare you that the doctors say I might never be able to remember the past?" 

He sucked in a deep breath and slowly let it out. "Honestly, it truly used to. I feel awful knowing that you can't remember the most important things in your life. You can't remember your parents or your home country. You can't remember all your old friends or the things you learned in high school." 

"However," he continued, "you can always create new memories. You can always create more and I'll try to remind you of the old ones when I can. I believe in you more than you ever know. You don't have to remember the old ones, but you have the power to make new ones. I think that's a pretty incredible thing, don't you think?" 

"I feel guilty for not remembering how we met or anything. I'm sorry that I don't remember how this all started between us. It makes me feel like a piece of shit." 

"Please don't apologize. You're here now and I would have waited a lifetime for you. You have a way to root into people's hearts and make a home there. No matter what, I could never forget you. Even if you woke up tomorrow and announced you hated me, I'd never be able to let go of you. You've trapped me in your sticky spiderweb. I think I'll be here for the rest of my life." 

"You'd let me wrap you in my web and eat you?" 

"Spiders have to eat too. I don't think I'd mind if you killed me to keep on living. I think if it came down to that, I'd want you to do it." 

"Commit cannibalism?" 

"Something like that." 

"Kim Seungmin, you are such a weirdo." 

"But you love me and by default, it makes you a weirdo too." 

"I suppose it does." 

The two burst into shared laughter before Cynthia rolled over to face him. "I'm really glad you found me again. I don't know what I would have done without you." 

"Speaking of finding you again, I have one final surprise for you." 

"What?" Her eyebrows furrowed. "Another one? Seungmin, I've already been showered with gifts and food and I-" 

He ignored her, shifted over to his side, and opened the night stand. A stack of letters were pulled out and he turned back to face her. With an outstretched hand, he reached them out to her for her to grab. With a raised eyebrow, she took the stack of white envelopes. A pale blue ribbon was wrapped around them and tied in a neat bow on top. 

"What are these?" 

"You always talk about wanting to remember. I live a busy life and I know I won't remember alone, so I had each of the guys write you a letter. Each one talks about different memories the guys had with you. I'm sure some are more heartfelt than others, but you'll understand when you read them. Maybe one of them will help unearth more memories." 

Tears instantly prickled in her eyes. "Seungmin, I don't know what to say. This is-" 

"Amazing? Iconic? The best thing ever? I know." 

She laughed through her tears and sniffled. The first one had Chan's name on it in the middle. She brushed the back of her hand over her cheeks. "There's nothing I can do to ever thank you for this. This means more than you'll ever know." 

"Just read them while I shower, okay? When I get back, we're going to cuddle and sleep. Tomorrow morning, we have all day to sleep in. We can do whatever and I can't wait." 

"Does it ever scare you that Flora might come back?" Cynthia blurted out. Her eyes glanced down at the floor and she sniffled again. "I think I might always be afraid that she'll come back and ruin this." 

"I'm not afraid because I believe in the law. The cops know what happened to you and Flora has quite a few charges being pressed against her. Speaking of that bitch, I got us a lawyer to try and help get the money back that she stole from you." 

"You, what?" Her head shot up. 

"You heard me. We're going to get that money back. Flora is going to rot in jail and we'll go on with our lives. We'll travel and love each other until the very end. You always said you thought our love story was like a fairy tale and that's how fairy tales end. The good guys live happily ever after and the villains die alone." 

"I think I might sob." 

"Loser," he mumbled as he got up to grab his clothes. 

She sniffled a final time and began to untie the knotted bow. Seungmin headed towards the bathroom and spun around to face her. She flipped over the first letter and began to gently peel it open. He smiled softly and his eyes went over to the closet. 

Little did Cynthia know, he had purchased a new engagement ring. This one was silver and light blue, the same color as forget-me-nots, her favorite flower. It was tucked inside a black velvet box and buried in the back of the closet. It'd remain untouched for now, but one day he'd pull it out and the pair would try again. 

He'd wait for as long as she needed him to. As long as she was here, he was happy. He found his lover again and he'd do anything to keep her. Through sickness and health, through psychotic friends and memory loss, he'd go through it all over again if he had to. 

Because that's what you did when you were in love with someone.