The bar was packed that night. Couples dancing closely and happily, beer cans on almost every table, a classic night at an open-air corner bar. Minho was sitting at the counter with a glass of whiskey in his hand. He wore his worn-out denim jacket and those old black All-Stars that were practically falling apart.
He was distracted by his drink when that song started playing. The song that always made him think of her.
Her. The girl he had fallen for in high school, the one who taught him what real love was, the one with whom he spent his entire allowance renting movies at the video store. Everything around him insisted on reminding him of how different things were a year ago, before he started college, back when he spent his nights feeling her hand run through his hair.
"Y/n! Come on, the video store is going to close soon!" Minho yelled from downstairs as he waited for his girlfriend to finish getting ready.
"I’m coming! I’m coming!" she called back.
The girl walked down the stairs toward her boyfriend, wearing those low-rise jeans Minho loved so much and a black tank top with tiny embroidery along the neckline. They left the house and walked over to his new car, sharing a long, slow kiss the moment they shut the doors.
Minho had turned 18 a few months prior, and the first thing he did was get his driver's license. With savings he had kept for years and a little help from his dad, he managed to buy that Corsa. It already had plenty of mileage on it, but at least the radio worked.
Y/n turned on the radio while her boyfriend rolled down the windows to ease the heat, since the AC didn't work anymore. As soon as she heard the song playing, she turned the volume all the way up.
"Starting today, this is our song!" Y/n said excitedly.
"What song is this?" Minho asked.
"I don't even know, actually. It's been playing on every radio station these past few weeks!" she replied, laughing as she looked out the window, her hair messed up by the wind blowing in.
They reached the video store. It was just them and about four young teens trying to sneak into the adult movie section. Minho walked down the romantic comedies while his girlfriend looked for something in the action section, even though they both knew they would just watch Jurassic Park all over again. He paid for the rental with his allowance, and they walked back to the car.
"Are we watching it at your place or mine?" she asked.
"Can we watch it tomorrow? Today, I’ll park by the square and we can just hang out there. We can hit the diner afterward." he said, trying to hide the fact that he really just wanted to make out in the car.
She laughed and agreed. Minho always did that, and the night usually ended with his mouth completely smeared with her lip gloss. Afterward, they would go to the diner, and he would buy her a chocolate milkshake.
True to form, Minho drove to the town square and parked the car at a spot where they could watch the sunset. The radio was still playing some '90s track or whatever Britney Spears hit was popular. Y/n rested her legs across her boyfriend's lap while recording him with that camera her dad had given her as a birthday gift.
"Are you filming me?" Minho asked, looking at the camera.
"Yes, I am. It's to show our kids," she said in a playful tone.
Something in Minho's brain short-circuited when she said that. Kids. He had to admit that within the first month they started dating, he was already head over heels and had planned an entire life with the girl he loved more than anything in the world. But knowing she also made plans for the future with him somehow left him in shock. He simply laughed, loving the idea of his girlfriend keeping memories on that camera.
His hand lowered the camera while his other hand went to the back of Y/n's neck, pulling her in for a kiss, the recording completely forgotten. She smiled against Minho's lips as her hands ran through his hair—which had been neatly brushed just moments before. A warm kiss tasting like chewing gum brought them together, and a make-out session was only just beginning.
As time passed, the boy's hair grew messier, and every five minutes Y/n had to pull her boyfriend's hands out from under her shirt. He would pull them back, grumbling, only for them to find their way right back five minutes later. Some pop song played on the radio while they hooked up in the back seat, hoping no one would park next to them, with the sunset watching over them. To Minho, nothing else mattered but that exact moment.
As promised, an hour later Minho was at the diner they always went to, buying a chocolate milkshake for his girlfriend while hoping no one would notice his mouth stained with lip gloss or the small marks left on his neck.
Only later did they find out the camera had been left recording. Because it had been left face down, all you could hear was the sound of kissing over a black screen. The boy's ears turned bright red with embarrassment, but the two of them could only laugh at the situation.
"I can't believe it, how embarrassing!" he said, laughing and covering his face after they discovered the recording.
"Well, at least we have a great memory, right?" Y/n replied playfully.
Minho wished he could keep that moment forever, just him and his favorite person in a used Corsa, laughing at silly things. They always said you have to live your teenage years to the fullest because that time never comes back, and to him, that was living. Living was that very moment. Y/n had been his youth from the exact second she agreed to be his girlfriend, ever since all of his thoughts became about her.
What would life be without her?
That was what he used to think, until that phrase turned into: "What will life be without her?"
The end of the school year arrived, and Y/n was accepted into the college she had always dreamed of. On the other side of the state. They both knew they wouldn't be able to handle a long-distance relationship, and knowing they had to part ways made Minho's heart heavy with each passing day. Until the inevitable day for his girlfriend to leave for college arrived, and there he was, watching the girl he loved pack her things into her parents' car, ready to go.
He knew that the moment she got into that car, it would mark the end of their relationship, that he would now become the past. With tears streaming down both of their cheeks, Y/n walked over to him, holding the camera.
"Keep it." she said in a tearful voice, placing the camera in Minho's hands.
He took the object, his hands shaking from crying so hard, and without a second thought, wrapped the girl in a tight hug, knowing it would be their last. They shared one final, lingering kiss, and he watched his beloved walk to the car that would take her far away from him.
And he just stood there, waving as the distance grew and his tears kept falling. The boy trembled with the camera in hand, knowing this was one of the few reminders he would have of his now ex-girlfriend.
At home, Minho could do nothing but cry and look at the photos and videos saved on that camera. All the kisses, the smiles, the movies, the square at sunset. Now, it was all just a reminder of how sweet life used to be.
There Minho was at the bar, listening to the song that would always be a memory of him and the girl he loves most in the world. No drink would ever be able to make him forget her. He still watched the videos on that camera, still drove the same Corsa that had been the backdrop for so many passionate kisses, and still went to the same video store to rent movies.
The people around him were dancing and talking, and he just stood there while every moment with Y/n came rushing back, the drink warming in his hand and his fingers tapping on the counter.
"This is our song, remember?"
Minho turned his head to the side and had to set his glass down on the table to keep from spilling it. She was there. She was right there. Suddenly, he was 18 again, with a newly bought Corsa, walking hand-in-hand with her at the video store. He smiled at Y/n, and his heart beat so hard in his chest that he was almost certain he could hear it.
