"You okay?"

Her soft voice sends soothing ripples to his ears, followed by a brief moment of silence. Junhong is intently swallowed by his thoughts and is momentarily dazed at the sudden entrance of her voice, before he responds with a light squeeze on the hand enclosed in his. His gaze towards the deep, vast skies is torn to shift to the shadows that embraced her face, drowning in a pair of soulful brown eyes that seemed to dig its way into the depths of his soul. In that stare, he feels transparent. Absolute. Clear. Like glass. And she is like flowing water that situated herself between the slightest of cracks upon his glossy surface. For she would always figure out, every single thing bothering his thoughts. Not one slipping from her senses—not one, he was able to hide.

"Junhong?"

He knows that questioning tone would pave way to this moment soon enough. And he knows, that she is demanding an answer. His lips part slightly, yet no words come out. His eyes remain captured in hers—a long, immobile contact—that soon silences them both completely, and later on gets broken with a tired exhale from the lad. He then feels another hand reaching for his, his knees brushing against the loose fabric of her skirt—until his arms would engulf the subtle weight of her leaning against him, her head gingerly resting upon his shoulder.

"There are so many stars tonight, have you noticed?" Says her, and he could only trail his eyes upwards, fixated on the numerous explosions of glimmering light across an ebony canvas of the night. Her thumb gently brushes along his knuckles, a gesture quite miniscule, yet brought great comfort and warmth. Junhong, not too long after, hums softly in agreement.

"Have you wondered how, or why, they shine so bright?"

Her warm, subtle gestures gradually come to a halt. And then his eyes wander off from the endless horizon, to spare a glimpse of her face—stoic and pale, yet beautiful under the faint reflections brought by the stars and the moon. He blinks out of habit, tilting his head slightly to decipher the unreadable expression upon her face.

And he merely shakes his head, giving off an air of genuine curiousity.

"It's the night sky's doing itself." She softly says. "They wouldn't have shone without the dark, would they?" Sooyoung looks deeply into his eyes, a gentle smile dashing her lips. "They're like you... Standing out despite all the horrible things. Enduring. Courageous. Brave."

She closes her eyes, quietly inhaling the the cool, crisp atmosphere between them.

"And that, I truly, deeply love about you, Junhong." She whispers, and he smiles.

"I always did, and will always do."