paper rings — Martin Edwards
synopsis: y/n and martin have been inseparable since childhood, growing up side by side and making paper rings as a promise that they'd one day get married. Years later, as their friendship slowly turns into something more, they have to figure out if the silly promise they made as kids might have been something real all along.
. ܁₊ ⊹ . ܁ ⟡ ܁ . ⊹ ₊ ܁.. ܁₊ ⊹ . ܁ ⟡ ܁ . ⊹ ₊ ܁.. ܁₊ ⊹ . ܁ ⟡ ܁ . ⊹ ₊ ܁.. ܁₊ ⊹ . ܁܁.
you were six when you met martin edwards.
it wasn't anything special.
there wasn't some magical moment where the sky changed colors or the universe decided to make some grand announcement that this boy would become one of the most important people in your life. he was just the new kid who had moved three houses down from yours, standing beside a cardboard box while his parents carried things into their new home.
you remember watching from your bedroom window, mostly because you were supposed to be cleaning your room and had found a much more interesting activity.
your mother had noticed him too.
"that's the new family," she told you. "why don't you go say hello?"
saying hello to strangers was embarrassing.
but eventually, after enough convincing, you walked down the street with a half-eaten popsicle in your hand, stopping a few feet away from him.
neither of you said anything.
then you held out your popsicle.
he looked at the popsicle, then back at you.
you immediately pulled it back.
he stared at you for another second before reaching out and taking it anyway.
that was how you met martin.
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by the end of the week, he had already been inside your house three times.
by the end of the month, his shoes were permanently sitting beside yours at the front door.
and by the end of the year, your parents had stopped asking whether martin was coming over and simply started setting an extra plate at dinner.
you became inseparable in the way only children could.
you rode your bikes until the streetlights came on.
you built forts out of blankets.
you argued over which superhero was better.
you traded snacks at school.
you got into trouble together and, more importantly, blamed each other for it.
neither of you knew how to admit when you were wrong.
which meant you fought constantly.
but neither of you ever stayed mad for very long.
there was always some ridiculous reason for the argument to disappear.
sometimes it was because martin would show up at your window with a piece of candy.
sometimes it was because you would leave one of your favorite toys on his doorstep.
and sometimes, you simply forgot what you were angry about.
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the first paper ring happened when you were eight.
you had been sitting on your bedroom floor while martin was supposed to be helping you with a school project.
he was cutting pieces of colored paper into increasingly strange shapes.
"what are you making?" you asked.
you looked at the tiny strip of blue paper between his fingers.
"then make a better one."
you rolled your eyes before taking another piece of paper.
you folded it carefully around your finger, twisting the ends together until it resembled something vaguely ring-shaped.
"because you have the better ring."
you laughed so hard you nearly fell over.
you hooked yours around his.
neither of you understood what marriage meant.
you just knew that the promise sounded important.
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when you were ten, you made matching ones out of notebook paper during a sleepover.
when you were twelve, martin made one out of a candy wrapper and proudly presented it to you after losing a bet.
when you were fourteen, you made one for him during a boring family gathering and slipped it onto his finger under the table.
"you know this is technically our third marriage."
"we're getting pretty serious."
you kicked his ankle underneath the table.
nothing about it felt romantic.
a stupid little tradition between two kids who had grown up believing that the other person would always be there.
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high school changed things.
at first, nothing changed at all.
you still walked to school together.
you still sat together during lunch.
martin still stole food from your plate even though you complained every single time.
but people started noticing things.
she had known you since middle school and had developed a frightening ability to notice anything you were trying to hide.
she watched martin lean over your shoulder one afternoon, stealing your phone from your hands.
he lifted it above his head.
ning watched the entire interaction from across the table.
then slowly turned toward kya.
kya didn't even look up from her food.
"they're basically married."
"they're definitely getting married."
and for some reason, your cheeks felt warmer than they should have.
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you didn't notice when martin started changing.
he stopped looking like the boy who used to run around your backyard with grass stains on his knees.
but somehow, when he smiled at you, you still saw that same eight-year-old boy holding out a paper ring.
that was the dangerous part.
everyone else saw him differently.
you didn't realize that he had started seeing you differently too.
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martin's friends noticed before he did.
keonho noticed when martin started checking his phone every few minutes.
juhoon noticed when martin stopped flirting with other girls.
james noticed when martin began remembering tiny things you said.
seonghyeon noticed when martin started keeping an extra hair tie around his wrist because you were always losing yours.
none of them said anything at first.
until one afternoon, keonho finally leaned back in his chair and stared at him.
"you're actually stupid."
"what are you talking about?"
"that's not what i asked."
for the first time, he didn't have an answer.
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you didn't realize anything was wrong until martin started acting strange.
he lingered around you longer.
he looked at you when you weren't looking.
he remembered things you didn't remember telling him.
one afternoon, you casually mentioned that you had been craving strawberry milk.
the next morning, there was one sitting on your desk.
"you said you wanted one."
he looked almost confused.
and that was the problem.
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senior year came faster than either of you expected.
suddenly, everyone was talking about college.
you and martin tried not to talk about it.
because talking about it made everything feel temporary.
one evening, the two of you were sitting on the hood of his car outside your house.
your legs were stretched out in front of you.
martin was looking at the stars.
"where are you going?" you asked.
"you've known for months."
he was quiet for a moment.
something about the way he said it felt different.
but neither of you said anything.
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martin pretended he wasn't crying.
you caught him wiping his eyes.
then he pulled something from his pocket.
"haven't done this in years."
you slipped it onto your finger.
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college separated you for the first time.
you still visited whenever you could.
but something about seeing each other once every few weeks felt strange after spending your entire childhood within walking distance of each other.
you missed him more than you expected.
sometimes you'd catch yourself wanting to tell him something, only to realize he wasn't sitting beside you.
sometimes you'd see something funny and instinctively turn around to find him.
sometimes you woke up from a dream about being twelve again and felt an ache in your chest you couldn't explain.
you told yourself it was homesickness.
you told yourself it was missing your best friend.
you didn't tell yourself anything else.
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the first time martin came home for break, you were waiting outside his house.
he stepped out of his car.
his arms caught you automatically.
you laughed against his shoulder.
he didn't let go immediately.
you just didn't know what to do about it.
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that night, the two of you sat on his bedroom floor like you had when you were children.
his mother had apparently decided that he needed to clean out his room.
his expression changed immediately.
you searched through the box.
some nearly falling apart.
"because your ring was better."
"you still have all of them."
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you started noticing things after that.
the way martin looked at you when you talked.
the way he always sat beside you even when there were empty seats everywhere else.
the way he remembered your favorite songs.
the way his hand sometimes brushed yours and neither of you moved away immediately.
the way your friends would exchange looks whenever you two walked into a room together.
one night, you finally asked ning.
"do you think martin likes me?"
then slowly put her phone down.
"he has liked you since we were fifteen."
kya, sitting beside her, nodded.
wonhee looked almost offended.
"you've been wearing his hoodie for three years."
"he gives me his hoodies."
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because suddenly every memory you had with him felt different.
the hugs that lasted too long.
the way he'd look at you when he thought you weren't paying attention.
you started wondering if you had been missing something for years.
you started wondering if you liked him too.
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you saw him again at the beginning of summer.
he was standing outside your house, holding two coffees.
"you know i don't like this kind."
"you really expect me to keep up with every change you make?"
he looked at you for a moment.
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summer became a collection of small things.
watching movies neither of you cared about.
going to the same diner you'd been visiting since high school.
you kept noticing how easy it was.
and somehow, that made it scarier.
because you didn't want to lose this.
you didn't want to risk the one relationship that had survived every version of you.
one night, the two of you were sitting on the playground near your old elementary school.
you were swinging slowly.
martin sat on the swing beside you.
"do you remember when we said we'd get married?"
"you don't even remember the promise."
"i know you probably don't see me that way."
you just hadn't known how to say it.
you reached into your pocket.
there was a small piece of paper there.
you had folded it earlier without thinking.
"thought you might want to get married again."
but there was something shaky about it.
then crouched in front of you like he had when you were eight.
you placed the paper ring onto his finger.
"you've been waiting sixteen years for an answer."
his forehead rested against yours.
"then i guess we're finally serious."
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nothing changed overnight.
and somehow, everything did.
you still fought over food.
he still stole your hoodies.
you still complained when he drove too fast.
he still annoyed you just to hear you laugh.
ning, kya, and wonhee were unbearable about it.
keonho, juhoon, james, and seonghyeon were somehow worse.
but there was something different now.
when martin reached for your hand, you didn't wonder what it meant.
when you leaned against his shoulder, you didn't pull away.
when he looked at you, you let him.
you had spent years thinking love was supposed to arrive dramatically.
something impossible to miss.
instead, yours had been there since you were six.
it had been sitting beside you in classrooms.
waiting outside your door.
remembering your coffee order.
keeping every stupid paper ring you'd ever made.
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years later, you would find the first paper ring again.
almost completely falling apart.
you'd hold it between your fingers and laugh.
martin would glance over.
you'd look down at the tiny piece of paper.
something you had made when you were eight because you thought love was as simple as promising to marry your best friend.
maybe you hadn't understood love back then.
maybe you still didn't completely understand it now.
but you understood one thing.
the ring had never mattered.
but you kept making them.
because the promise had never been about the ring.
it had always been about who was wearing it.
and somehow, after all those years, it was still him.
