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The message came seven years after the breakup. Seven years of silence. Seven years of birthdays spent staring at old photos. Seven years of wondering. Seven years of missing someone so deeply that the aching pain they felt in their hearts and bones seeped into every nook and cranny of their own being. It was the poison that would haunt them forever.
The text arrived on a Tuesday. An ordinary Tuesday just like the day they met. The kind of day that changes everything once again.
Seven years after the breakup, Yunho finally sent the text. Not because he had moved on. Not because he was ready but because he was tired of pretending he didn't still think about Mingi.
On every birthday, every first snowfall, every song that sounded remotely like something Mingi would play, every achievement he wished he could tell him about, every bad day his hand would still reach for a phone call that no longer existed. All roads lead back to Mingi for Yunho. Mingi was the first person he thought of, always. Nothing could change that fact, it was engraved into his mind, his heart, his bones, his whole entire existence.
Seven years later, the longing remained. So he sent three letters.
Hey.
Mingi cried before he replied. Not dramatic sobs. Not the kind people notice but the quiet kind. The kind that comes from a wound that you thought had scarred over already suddenly being splitting right open again. Because even after seven years, one thing had never changed. He still loved him.
The worst part was how easy it was. Talking again, laughing again, learning about each other again. It should have felt strange. Instead it felt like coming home after being lost for years.
One coffee became another. Then dinner, then long walks, then phone calls that lasted until two in the morning. Even picking up on each other's habits and routines. The most terrifying realization was that neither of them had ever really left the other's life. They had just been loving each other from a distance.
One evening Mingi was laughing so hard he nearly spilled his drink. Yunho watched him and suddenly his chest hurt because there it was. The same laugh. The same smile. The same person. The person he had spent seven years trying to forget but failed to do so.
That night Yunho went home and cried because he realized he was in love again or maybe he never really stopped loving Mingi.
The same thing happened to Mingi. Except he had known from the moment he saw Yunho standing in that restaurant. He was older, a little sadder, a little softer but still as beautiful as ever. The same puppy like eyes and gentle smile that was still bright as ever. Maybe Yunho never changed that much because to Mingi he would always be the same puppy eyed boy. Yunho was still his favorite person. Still the person his heart recognized before his brain could catch up.
The tragedy wasn't falling in love again. The tragedy was realizing they had never fallen out.
One night, almost a year after reconnecting, Mingi found himself in Yunho's apartment. Rain tapped softly against the windows. The movie they were watching had long been forgotten. Neither were paying attention.
Yunho was sitting beside him. Close enough that Mingi could feel his warmth. Far enough that neither crossed the line.
"I have a confession." Yunho's voice was quiet.
Mingi looked over. "What is it?"
Yunho laughed. A sad laugh. The kind that sounded like surrender.
"I missed you. So much that I compare everyone to you."
The room went still.
"I tried dating." Yunho stared at the floor. "I really tried."
Mingi couldn't breathe. Not because he didn't feel it too because he did. He had also missed Yunho just as much.
"But every time someone laughed..."
A smile appeared. Small but heartbroken.
"It wasn't your laugh." The tears arrived instantly.
"Yunho..."
"I know it's pathetic."
"It's not."
Yunho shook his head. "It is." His voice cracked. "Because it's been years."
Years. As if years were enough to stop loving someone.
Mingi looked away. He couldn't bring himself to admit the truth. Not yet at least.
"What about you?" Yunho whispered. Suddenly there was nowhere left to hide.
"I still have your number."
Silence.
"I never deleted it."
Yunho closed his eyes.
Mingi's voice trembled.
"Every time something good happened..." A tear rolled down his face.
"I wanted to tell you."
Another tear.
"Every time something bad happened..."
Another.
"I wanted you."
The room felt unbearably small. Because there it was. The truth. The ugly, devastating truth. They had spent seven years apart. And neither had survived without the other. Not really.
Time hadn't healed anything. It had simply taught them how to carry it.
That night they kissed. Not because they planned to. Not because they should have. Because seven years of grief finally collapsed under its own weight.
The kiss tasted like missing someone. Like old memories. Like every birthday spent apart. Like every message never sent. Like mourning. And for one beautiful, terrible moment, everything felt right.
That was the problem. Everything felt right but the next morning felt wrong. Not because they regretted it. Because they didn't. If anything, they regretted how much they wanted more.
Weeks passed. Then months. They tried. God, they tried. Not officially. Not with labels. Just cautiously. Carefully. Terrified. But love remembered things. Even when people tried not to.
One day Yunho noticed Mingi withdrawing after a difficult week. His chest immediately tightened. Old fears. Old instincts. Old wounds.
One day Mingi noticed Yunho pulling away after an argument. Panic bloomed instantly. Old fears. Old instincts. Old wounds.
Neither wanted to become who they used to be. But neither could forget who they had been. The realization came slowly. Then all at once. They loved each other. Enough to spend seven years grieving. Enough to find their way back. Enough to still choose each other after everything. But love couldn't erase history.
One evening, Yunho sat across from Mingi just like all those years ago. There was tears already in his puppy like eyes once again. And Mingi knew.
Before a word was spoken. He knew. Because he loved Yunho and loving someone means recognizing heartbreak before it arrives.
"We keep trying to find the version of us that never got hurt." Yunho whispered.
Mingi immediately started crying. Because he was right. They weren't fighting each other. They were fighting ghosts. Ghosts of who they used to be. Ghosts of what happened. Ghosts of everything they lost and the ghosts always win eventually.
"I don't want to lose you again." Mingi choked out.
Yunho broke. Completely. A sob escaped him. The first Mingi had ever heard. Not tears. Not quiet crying. A real sob. They both knew neither of them wanted this but it had to happen.
"I know." His voice cracked. "I know."
And somehow those two words hurt more than anything else. Because there was no solution. No villain. No mistake. No misunderstanding just like before.
Just two people who loved each other so much it ruined them. The final goodbye happened at a train station. Neither planned it. It just happened.
Rain fell from the sky. The platform was nearly empty. Mingi stood there staring at the person he'd loved for almost half his life. Yunho looked exhausted, heartbroken but still pretty as ever. That was something that would never change about Yunho. To Mingi he would always be the prettiest boy to ever exist.
For a moment Mingi almost begged.
Stay.
Choose me.
Let's try again.
Please.
He wanted to say but love isn't possession and he loved Yunho too much for that. So instead he smiled through tears and said "Thank you."
Yunho immediately started crying again because he knew exactly what Mingi meant.
Thank you for loving me.
Thank you for staying.
Thank you for leaving.
Thank you for coming back.
Thank you for breaking my heart.
Thank you for being the best thing that ever happened to me.
The train arrived. Neither moved. Neither could. Years of love stood between them. Then finally, Yunho stepped backward and Mingi's heart shattered because suddenly he realized something horrifying. This would be the last time. Not the last goodbye. The last Yunho. The last smile. The last conversation. The last memory. The last chance.
"I will always love you." Yunho whispered as he stared into his princess's eyes one last time. Mingi wished he hadn't say those words not because he didn't also feel the same way but rather some promises are too painful to keep.
The doors closed. The train left. Yunho disappeared. His Yunho disappeared.
For a long time Mingi stood there alone.Watching empty tracks. As if love might come back if he waited long enough.
It didn't.
Years later they would still think of each other. Still miss each other. Still love each other. Neither married. Neither forgot. Neither healed completely.
Sometimes, in the middle of the night, one of them would wake up with the overwhelming certainty that somewhere in the world the other was awake too. Missing them. Loving them. Wondering what would've happened if things had been different.
The cruelest thing that ever happened to Song Mingi and Jeong Yunho wasn't losing each other. It wasn't the fact Mingi would still consider Yunho part of his cure after so many years or the fact they didn't have enough love for each other. But It was the fact they found each other twice and still could prevent the other from leaving.