XLII

POV Namjoon : 

I've stood before millions.

I've held microphones with trembling hands under stadium lights, walked into boardrooms where I knew I didn't belong, spoken at the freaking United Nations with the weight of a generation on my shoulders — but nothing, nothing ever made my heart do this.

This wild, erratic pounding — like it's trying to break out of my ribs and get to her first.

I wasn't afraid she'd say no. That's not what this was. I knew her heart like I knew my own breath. She was my breath. My world had shifted around her, bent towards her the day she entered it. So no — it wasn't fear. It was something deeper. The kind of excitement you feel when you're standing at the edge of something monumental. Like staring down the first note of a song you know will change your life.It was the weight of the moment. The enormity of it.

This was the day the rest of my life would begin. And it began with her.

Would I be able to speak? Would the words come out the way I practiced them in my head — or would I stumble over them like an idiot? Would I trip on the rocks and let the ring tumble into the Atlantic? God.

I sat stiffly while the stylists fixed my collar, but inside I was spiraling. My thoughts weren't in this room. They were outside. On the wind. On her.

God, how would she look in that white dress? The one I'd picked in Milan, trembling like a boy as I imagined her wearing it. It had reminded me of her — timeless, elegant, powerful in its softness. I hadn't even known if I'd get the courage to give it to her then. But I had. And she'd accepted it. Just like she accepted all of me.

Jungkook caught my eye in the mirror and smirked.

"Hyung," he said low so no one else heard, "you're sweating more than on tour."

I laughed, probably too loud, and he squeezed my shoulder before walking off. Then Jimin passed by and whispered something like "you've got this," and Taehyung gave me a wink with that rare softness only he wore when he meant something. Jin just gave me a long, silent look and pulled me into a hug before walking off.Then came Hoseok. He placed both hands on my shoulders and looked me in the eyes.

"You've never looked more nervous," he grinned. "Or more certain."

That grounded me.

And Yoongi — quiet as always — simply sat beside me. For a while, he said nothing. Then, softly:"She's your rhythm. Don't lose the beat."

They knew me. And they knew what she meant to me. Each in their own way.

But I still wasn't ready for what was coming. Not really.

Because nothing could prepare me for her. YN. My YN. The woman I loved more than the very idea of love.

They were getting her ready in the white dress, right now. But soon she would walk toward us through the wind, through the cliffs and the salt, glowing like something sacred. And I couldn't wait. I couldn't breathe thinking about how she'd look — about how her eyes would widen when she realized.

When she saw me on one knee.

When she understood that this wasn't just another trip. This was the day I asked her to be mine. Forever.

POV YN :

The moment my foot touched the soil, I felt it.

The wind, the sky, the wildness. The cliffs plunging into eternity. The roar of the Atlantic against stone. This was my place. Cabo da Roca. The westernmost edge of Europe. The end of the known world once, they said.

To me, it wasn't the end. It was the beginning.

I'd always come here when I felt lost. Here, where the land stops pretending and just lets go — jagged and raw and unafraid. The air here was different. Wiser. Saltier. The wind knew things it didn't tell. This was where I breathed deepest. This was where I remembered I was alive.

But today, it was different. Somehow even more beautiful.

Because he was part of the view.

The wind danced through my hair as I took it all in. The sun spilled over the ocean in golds and pinks, the grass swayed, and there — just ahead — stood the seven boys I loved like family.

They were all dressed in hues of stone and sea — muted beiges, stormy blues, windswept greys — blending perfectly with the land and sky. But Namjoon...

Namjoon stood out.

His suit was a deeper tone — warmer, richer — a soft earthy brown that caught the light just enough to make him glow. Like he was carved straight from the cliffs and kissed by the sun.

And those eyes. I had to swallow the lump in my throat just looking at him.

They turned when they saw me. And for a second — just one — they all fell quiet.

Jungkook blinked like he couldn't believe it was me. His lips parted slightly, like he wanted to say something but forgot the words.

Taehyung pressed a hand to his chest and whispered something to himself.

Jin just sighed, dramatically and honestly. "Well damn. She won."

Hoseok clapped once. "That's it," he beamed. "That's the dress."

Jimin's eyes shone with something tender — not surprise, but awe. He exhaled softly and whispered, "He's never going to survive this."

Yoongi gave me the smallest smile, his way of saying you're breathtaking.

And Namjoon... his mouth parted. His hands fell to his sides like he'd just dropped everything he'd ever carried. He looked like someone who had just seen his favorite work of art come to life.

"You..." he whispered when I reached them, voice barely audible over the waves. "You're unreal."

I smiled, trying not to cry.

He smiled too, and it ruined me.

It was soft. Reverent. Like he was seeing a miracle.

"God, you're beautiful," he whispered in my ear.

I felt it everywhere.

We started taking pictures — all eight of us, laughing, holding onto one another like time would stop if we held tight enough. The staff circled us, snapping, directing.

Then one of them gently tapped my shoulder."Alright, so now we need a few of just the boys," she said. "Would you mind stepping over there, please? Yeah exactly there!"

She pointed toward the peak.

I nodded, a little breathless, and made my way there, heels silent on the wind-worn ground. The ocean below roared and whispered in turns, and I closed my eyes for a second. The wind tugged gently at my hair. I inhaled deeply.

Salt. Earth. Sky.

And then... warmth.

A body against my back. Arms around my waist.

I didn't need to turn.

My whole soul knew it was him.

I leaned into him, heart hammering against my ribs. His lips brushed my ear, and his voice came low — trembling with something too big for words.

"I don't know what I've done right in my life to deserve you," he whispered, his forehead pressed gently against my temple.

I stopped breathing.

"I still don't think I do," he went on, voice quiet — steady, but trembling at the edges. "But I know this: I've never been happier. And not just today. Since the moment I met you. You brought me back to myself... in ways I didn't even know I was lost. You reminded me who I was. Who I wanted to be. You see me. The real me."

My breath caught. I hadn't realized I was gripping his hands until I felt my own fingers tighten, holding on for dear life.

"Before you," he said, "I didn't know happiness like this existed. I didn't know love like this was real. I thought I understood it — sang about it, wrote poems — but you... you changed the definition entirely. You rewrote it with your laughter. With the way you look at me. With every day you stayed."

I turned my face just slightly, just enough to meet his eyes — and that's when he saw. The tears. The ones I couldn't hide.

"Thank you," he said, voice cracking. "Thank you for coming into my world and changing everything. For letting me into yours. For trusting me. For bringing me here — to your favorite place on earth. The place where you feel most alive."

I could barely hear the wind anymore. Or the ocean. Or my own heartbeat. Everything slowed to a stillness that felt sacred.

Then he said, softer now, "Do you know what?"

I looked up, and he looked down at me like he was seeing the beginning and end of everything.

"I've found my favorite place too," he said. "It's not a city or a view. It's not even a moment."

He reached into his pocket.

"It's you."

My breath hitched so hard it hurt. He dropped to one knee.

"You are my favorite place. You are my home. You are my love. My everything. My beginning, my always, my forever."

He opened the box. The ring caught the light — but I couldn't even focus on that. My hands flew to my mouth. My whole body trembled.

And then I heard the words.

The words that shattered and rebuilt me all at once.

"Will you make me the happiest man alive," he said, "and choose to be my home for the rest of our lives?"