Alex was afraid of what remembering will bring her. Minho wanted her to remember but was slowly losing hope on it happening with every passing day. As the months dragged by in Paradise, the idea of things getting back to the way they were became less and less feasible. Too much had happened during the times that they spent away from each other. They might as well be strangers now. And yet there were instances, flitting moments when both of them could feel the past coming back to haunt them, like lost words that never go beyond the tips of their tongues or things that felt new and old at the same time. These were instances that both scared and intrigued them. It scared them because they were aware of the consequences it could bring if they acted on it. It intrigued them because it gave them a glimpse of what could have been. Every once in a while those moments came. They acted on it the best way they knew how.
Minho had just entered the village from the west gate after a solo run when he saw someone dangling from a tree, a few meters off the main footpaths. Alex had her hands clamped on a thick, mossy branch. Her feet swung in the air as though trying to latch on to something solid, which unfortunately, was a couple of feet too far to be of reach. She rolled her eyes when she saw a familiar figure appear below her. She'd recognize that smirk from a mile away.
"Hi," he greeted, looking up.
"Hello." She tried to sound as calm as possible despite the inferno ravaging the sockets of her shoulders. She must have dangled for at least three minutes by then.
"Whatcha doin'?"
"Oh you know just...hanging around. It sounded like a good idea a while ago." She found a plant growing on one of the branches of the shucking tree. Curious, she decided to take a closer look. By the time she realized that it was nothing but a useless weed and that she had severely overestimated her climbing prowess, it was already too late. She had lost her footing and had barely managed to cling on the branch at the very last second. Minho found her that way.
"And how are you finding it?" he chuckled.
"Fun. Isn't it obvious?" came her snarky reply.
He could tell she was losing her grip. He knew Alex would be too stubborn to ask for help. She would rather fall on the ground and risk twisting an ankle than ask him to catch her. He tried to come up with something which he could manipulate her into accepting help from him. Something interactive.
"What are you doing?" she asked. The dark-haired boy had walked over to the spot directly below her. He took her feet and placed them on his shoulders. Once he felt most of her weight on him, he held his hands over his head.
"Move slowly and take my hand," he instructed. She did as she was told. Soon she was standing on his shoulders, bent over so that she could hold on to his hands and maintain her balance. The duo looked like an amateur circus act. She tried to ignore the pleasant way his hands clasped onto hers. It felt warm and nice and, if she could dare admit it, brutally familiar.
"Earth to Alexandria." Minho's voice pulled her out of her cheesy thoughts. "Did you hear anything I just said?"
Alex shook her head, feeling more than a bit embarrassed. "Say it again."
He sighed. "I said try to sit on me." The sentence made her wobble on his shoulders. He had to hold on to her hands tighter to keep her steady. "Whoa! Watch it!"
"Excuse me?" she asked, mortified.
"Try to sit on my shoulders so I could ease you down," he explained. "Or you could somersault from there to the ground. Your choice."
"Okay, okay." She took a deep breath. Though she was considerably nearer to the ground, the jump from Minho to sweet earth was still a high one.
'Why does he have to be so tall?' she thought. "Just...don't let me go, okay?"
"I never did," he mumbled. She was too busy shifting her position to hear it. Slowly but surely, she managed to inch her legs down in front of him until she ended up sitting on his shoulders. Minho, as promised, still held on to her hands. He had her arms spread like an eagle.
"Now what?"
As soon as the question left her lips, Minho spun in place like a top. Alex shrieked in surprise as the world around her spun at dizzying speed.
"C'mon Greenbean! Show 'em who's the boss!"
"Hey-Minho put me down! I'm gonna throw up-put me down or I'll hurl in your hair!"
A change of scenery. She was hugging her. He hugged her back. A devious smirk crept up his lips before he squeezed her torso and spun her in place. She was screaming and laughing at the same time.
A warm tingling sensation formed at the pit of her stomach. It went up and up until it reached her brain, turning into an itch deep within her skull. It sat on that spot that she knew was there but was just out-of-reach, taunting her.
'This has happened before,' she thought. 'But when? Where?'
Her knees trembled by the time her feet touched the ground. Despite the world tipping at an odd angle, the Runner managed to stay in place. She looked up at him, paying close attention to his features. The short eyebrows. The smooth bronze skin. The dimples below his eyes, which stood prominently as laughed at her wrecked face. At this angle and with the world in havoc around her, he looked kind of handsome. Kind of precious. Kind of hers.
"Is there something on my face? You're looking at me funny."
She did a mental back paddle and gave herself a mental thunk in the head. Her gaze shifted south on instinct. Idiot. "It's nothing. Thanks for that Min."
When she looked up at him again, there was an unreadable, almost shocked look on his face. He forced this away with a cocky smirk. "Don't mention it." He patted her head and then he was gone. Alex watched his broad back moving farther and farther away, feeling dreadful and giddy at the same time.
'Alex,' she thought to herself. 'No one should know about this.' There was no denying it. She was starting to remember. And the things she did remember made her like Minho. In fact, she liked him a lot.
She called him Min. One word. One syllable. Logic told him it was no big deal. It was a reasonable reduction of his name that even Thomas used occasionally. His guts, however, were telling him an entirely different theory. It was a theory so life-changing that it scared him. He didn't want to put into words what his heart dared to hope for. He knew he was grabbing at straws here. His resolve to keep it to himself only lasted for about five minutes. It crumbled when Brenda walked past him. The short-haired girl took one look at him and stopped in her tracks before retracing her steps to stop in front of him.
"Whatever that is you need to spit it out before you choke on it."
He didn't reply. Instead, he stared holes into the ground as he argued with himself on how to best deal with his thoughts.
Brenda tipped her head down so she could look at him in the eye. "Is it about Alex?" When Minho looked at her in surprise, she added, "Subtlety was never your strong point."
"Is it possible for a human brain to heal itself from the effects of the Swipe without any intervention whatsoever?" The question sounded so hopeful that he raced to get it all out before he changed his mind. "You know, no surgery or Grief serum or shuck. Just good 'ol time giving the killzone a chance to heal."
He didn't miss the way the look on Brenda's face softened and he hated it. He didn't want her pity. He wanted answers.
"Brenda, don't give me that look and answer the shucking question."
She shrugged in reply. "I don't know. I doubt anybody does." He didn't bother hiding the crestfallen look on his face. She added quickly, "But you remembered things after a while didn't you?"
"Bits and pieces that don't always make sense."
"Maybe they will. Eventually. Right?"
He nodded, frowning. He walked away before Brenda could say anything else. And as she watched his retreating figure, she thought she got it. The question was no longer about remembering the past. It had been proven possible. The question was, knowing what he knew now, can Minho live up with his decision to move on without Alex and not regret them?
Author's Notes: Fluff fest galore right here. This was a loose chapter that I didn't know where to stick. I didn't have the heart to cross it off since I thought the interaction between Minho and Alex was too cute. Cheesy, sure. But cute. Anyhoo, hope you like it.