Aquarium of Us

Chapter 12: Through his eyes

They sat in that quiet stillness until the tension in the room softened, as if all the uncertainty that had weighed them down was beginning to unravel. Finally, after what felt like hours but was likely only minutes, Jisung broke the silence, a shy, playful smile tugging at his lips.

He pulled out his phone, scrolling through random photos, occasionally showing Minho a picture that made him laugh-a funny meme, an accidental shot of Changbin mid-sneeze, or a badly framed selfie that neither of them remembered taking. It was a gentle exchange, each photo a reminder of their shared memories, slowly lifting the weight of the day and filling the room with quiet laughter.

As they kept swiping through, Jisung hesitated, his thumb hovering over a familiar folder. Minho caught the brief flicker in his expression.

"What's that one?" Minho asked, leaning in closer.

Jisung shifted, a faint blush spreading over his cheeks. "Oh... nothing, just, you know... pictures from the aquarium."

"Let me see," Minho nudged, grinning, a mix of curiosity and playfulness in his tone.

Jisung reluctantly opened the folder, the screen filling with images from Minho's birthday-the two of them surrounded by tanks of colorful fish, their reflections glimmering against the glass. But as Minho scrolled, he realized something: almost every photo in the album was of him.

Photo after photo showed Minho looking at the fish, mesmerized by the jellyfish tank, or simply smiling at some joke Jisung must have cracked. In some, Minho was captured mid-laugh, his head thrown back, eyes sparkling. The shots felt so unfiltered, so candid, and each one seemed to hold an intensity that made Minho's pulse quicken. He was seeing himself as Jisung saw him, and there was something raw, something vulnerable about it.

Minho swallowed, feeling his face grow warm as he continued to swipe through, each image carrying a sense of admiration that was hard to ignore. His chest tightened as he processed just how much attention Jisung had given to these moments, capturing even the smallest details-the way his smile crinkled at the corners, the slight tilt of his head as he looked at something with fascination.

"Jisung," he said, his voice softer than he'd intended, barely more than a whisper.

Jisung rubbed the back of his neck, looking anywhere but at Minho. "I... just thought the lighting was nice, you know?" he mumbled, his cheeks a warm shade of pink. "It was your birthday, so... I wanted to remember it."

Seeing Jisung so flustered, trying to brush off his own sentiment, sent a surge of warmth through Minho, a realization settling heavily over him. The photos weren't just memories-they were moments Jisung had chosen to keep, little snapshots of Minho that he'd held on to, maybe even cherished.

Something broke loose inside Minho, a flood of emotion that he hadn't been prepared for. Before he could second-guess himself, the words slipped from his lips, gentle yet filled with a weight that surprised even him.

"You know... you have this way of making everything feel... brighter," he murmured, his gaze locked on Jisung's. "When I look at these... I feel like I'm seeing myself through your eyes, and... it makes me feel different. Like maybe there's more to me than I thought."

Jisung looked up, his eyes wide, vulnerable, and Minho could see the way his walls were starting to come down, the usual playfulness replaced by something deeper, something softer.

For a moment, they simply stared at each other, the air thick with an unspoken understanding. Minho couldn't bring himself to look away; he felt drawn to Jisung in a way that was almost magnetic, like every instinct was telling him to close the distance between them.

Jisung cleared his throat, shifting slightly, but his hand remained close to Minho's. "You... you're really important to me, you know?" he said softly, his gaze dipping down to the photos still open on the screen. "I guess I just wanted to remember that day... because you looked happy. I like seeing you happy."

Minho's breath caught in his throat, the sincerity in Jisung's words hitting him like a tidal wave. He hadn't realized how much he'd needed to hear something like that, how much he'd needed someone to see him in the way Jisung did. And in that moment, he knew that no matter how hard he tried to fight it, his feelings for Jisung were undeniable.

Without thinking, Minho reached out, his hand resting over Jisung's on the phone. The warmth of his touch sent a shiver through him, and he could feel the rapid beat of Jisung's pulse under his fingertips.

"Thank you, Jisung," he said softly, his voice barely above a whisper. "For being here. For... everything."

The look Jisung gave him was almost shy, but there was a spark in his eyes, a flicker of something that mirrored the emotions swirling within Minho. Their hands remained clasped, a small, tender gesture that neither of them seemed willing to break.

For that moment, the world outside ceased to exist. All that mattered was the quiet connection between them, the unspoken words, and the realization that maybe, just maybe, this was more than friendship, more than a shared moment in time.