Kibum sat in his bedroom on the window seat, staring out the window at the night sky that was full of million shining starts. It reminded him of a memory from long ago, a night when he and Dayeun had slept outside in a tent one summer night so she could see fireflies for the first time. He remembered pointing to all the stars in the sky and telling her that if a firefly flew too high it would get stuck and become a star. Of course, being three she didn’t believe him; she had her own theory about the stars.

“Oppa, when we die we become stars in the sky.”

Looking up at the stars, Kibum liked to think that’s where she was; in the night sky and a beautiful star, the brightest one out there. The thought made him feel really serene and at peace; Kibum liked to think that her soul was at peace and not lingering on and clinging to her life on earth. He couldn’t bear to think of his adorable little sister wandering out there lost and alone. No, he knew she was up in the sky being the star that she always wanted to be.

Kibum looked away from the window when there was a knock on his bedroom door. Heechul entered the room and walked over to sit on the edge of the bed.

“You didn’t eat much at dinner, does your stomach hurt?” He asked.

“A little, but I’m okay, just tired I guess,” Kibum replied and as if on cue, he yawned sleepily. Heechul smiled and pulled him over to the bed next to him and gave him a hug. Kibum sighed contently and leaned his head against Heechul’s shoulder.

“Leeteuk and I are going to be gone tomorrow to take Henry to his violin rehearsal. Sungmin is coming with us and Mir is going back home, so it’ll only be you, Eunhyuk, and Donghae,” Heechul informed him, gently running his hand through Kibum’s hair.

“ ‘Kay,” Kibum replied.

“You got something in the mail, its down on the table. Do you want me to bring it up for you?” Heechul informed him. Kibum nodded mutely and closed his eyes, feeling really tired. It was pretty late, even Mir was already in bed asleep.

Heechul stood up to go retrieve the letter and while he was gone, Kibum changed into pajamas and crawled into bed. He decided that he was going to try to sleep alone tonight, but only of Heechul kept his bedroom door open and the hall lights on. Ever since his chat with Mir two days ago, Kibum decided that it was probably unfair that he kept trying to sleep with everyone. Eunhyuk and Donghae wanted to spend time together and so did Heechul and Leeteuk, and he was too shy to ask Sungmin. Of course, Mir and Henry eagerly welcomed him to sleep with them, but Mir moves around too much in his sleep and Henry generally stays up all night texting his Chinese friend. So Kibum was going to try sleeping on his own; it’s not like he hadn’t had his own room for sixteen years of his life.

He crawled into his bed and under the blankets, pulling him around his body. Heechul came back in and put the letter on the nightstand.

“Are you going to sleep now?” He asked softly. Kibum nodded and Heechul bent down to kiss him goodnight. “Sleep well, Kibum. I love you.”

“I love you too, hyung,” He whispered back, shutting his eyes tiredly and immediately fell asleep. Heechul smiled softly and went to turn the lights off and left the room, making sure the door was wide open and the hall light was on. But instead of walking away, he stood in the doorway for a few moments to watch Kibum as he slept. He was really proud of Kibum; the young boy had been through so much and was so strong, it was really amazing.

Kibum, you are such a good kid. I really love you like my own son. I hope you have peaceful dreams, baby.

When Kibum woke up the next morning he felt a little groggy. Last night he’d had a weird dream, but for some reason he couldn’t remember it. He wandered if the dream had woken him during the night because he felt really exhausted. Still, he sat up in bed and rubbed his eyes tiredly. There was sunlight peaking through the cracks in the curtains and he could hear the sound of vague chattering coming from downstairs. He slowly got out of bed and stood up to walk out of his room, but his stomach started churning and he decided that he would rather stay in bed all day. Just going to get some water, then back to bed, he thought as he walked.

As he headed down the stairs he heard Eunhyuk and Donghae’s voices coming from the kitchen; he figured that everyone else was probably gone by now. He walked into the kitchen and headed over to the cabinet where the cups were and pulled one out.

“Kibummie!” Donghae said gleefully, wandering over to give his brother a hug. But Kibum softly pushed him away, not wanting to be touched at the moment.

“Don’t hug me, I feel like throwing up,” He mumbled as he went to fill the cup with water. But Donghae just shrugged and hugged him from behind anyways.

“Kibum, hyung said I have to give you your medicine today, so come here,” Eunhyuk told him, reaching across the table for the white bottle where Heechul had left it. Kibum grimaced and shook his head no, knowing that drinking that would just set his stomach off for sure.

“I’ll take it in a little while. I’m going back to bed,” He said, walking away before Eunhyuk could protest. When he got to his bedroom he closed the door and walked back over to his bed, there he saw something that he hadn’t noticed before. Sitting on one of his pillows was Mir’s stuffed pink kitty with a note ne