The veil of night had come to cover up the great city. Muffled sounds of sirens from a few blocks away were swamping the air, proofs that the world was still moving out there, within reach. Except from a few rebellious clouds floating around in the purple-black sky, it was a rather clear night, and a nice breeze was caressing Yongsun's cheeks as she was contemplating the urban jungle from her balcony.

She had gone out to take a short break from the non-ending battle she was leading against the lyrics she was trying to memorize perfectly for her big night. “The Moon Represents My Heart” especially worried her, for she was less comfortable with Chinese than with English, Japanese, and of course, Korean.

Her first solo concert!

If someone had told her, five years ago, that she would hold a solo concert, only four years after debut, with a full band on stage, backup dancers, a whole set, and change of outfits, for three days and all by herself, she would not have believed it. She could still remember the despising grins on the jury's faces at her second to last audition. After having interrupted her performance in the middle of a verse so rudely, one of them had said she would never make it in the industry, that she was too old anyway, that her voice did not even sound good to begin with, and that she should rather go and find herself a husband to take care of her, or something. Two weeks later, she was signed under RBW Entertainment and she swore to herself she would make it count, and never show any weakness in work. She acknowledged that, yes, she was slightly old for a wannabe 'idol', but that everything she had in her guts, every bit of vital energy she possessed, she would put it into music. She would make it work.

Thinking about it now, she felt like she should thank that horrible dude after all. Had it not been for him, she would have probably given up after that same audition. It was the hatred, and rage she felt on that day that had pushed her further. All the frustration, all the negative answers, crystallised and transformed into pure determination. All leading to now, and here, under Seoul's purple sky, a few hours away from her dream come true. Revenge indeed tasted sweet. Pride even sweeter.

As she leaned on the guardrail, she took a deep breath, letting the air fill her lungs and clear her head from everything else. Was it finally time to wish upon a star? You cannot do it when you got nothing to lose. But now, struggles had turned into joy; tears into smiles; exhaustion into passion, and fears into terrors. Yes, fears never really get away. They simply change, with time, taking on new shapes, putting on new clothes. Hard days exist for new dreams to bloom. And now... now, she had everything to lose.

She was about to dive into the depths of the universe when she heard the rattling noise oh her sliding window behind her back. Soon, she felt two long arms wrapping around her shoulders and pulling her into a gentle hug. A nice and warm sensation took possession of her back, freeing her from stress and anxiety. When a pair of lips came to crash on her neck and slowly began to move up in direction of her left upper ear with the intention to nibble on it, she let go. Everything vanished in a sigh of satisfaction.

'You're going to catch a cold if you stay here, you know.'

Byul's whisper sent a shiver down her spine. At times, her low voice could easily become Yongsun's biggest weakness.

'It's fine,' she said, raising a hand to place it on her girlfriend's cheek, 'it's a warm night.'

Byul smiled at the touch and rested her head on Yong's shoulder, arms now firmly wrapped around her waist.

'Were you making a wish?' she asked, eyes closed, burying a large grin in the crook of Yongsun's neck.

'I was, actually... It feels like it's now or never, y'know.' She hesitated. 'Like, maybe tomorrow I'll wake up and discover this was all just a dream and I'm still that nice, naïve, and useless student at uni people like to invite at their party because she can come up with a joke or two, sing to entertain them, and behave like a brainless weirdo at her lost hours.'

'Wow', said Byul in a whistle, 'where did that come from? It's been a while since I last heard you talk like that... Should I be worried?'

Yong turned around to face her and seize the opportunity to bury herself into her eyes. She could see the whole world reflect in those. Not the earthly world, but the one they shared, unconditionally. Not the universe and its galaxies: just that space made for two, where only them seemed to exist in the infinite. Even though she wished Byul were more straightforward sometimes, her feelings were almost always spread all over her face, imprinted in those dark eyes, conveying everything she would ever need to know. Lost in translation, halfway between articulate language and a tongue they did not even need to speak to understand each other, she gave a faint smile and poked Byul's forehead.

'Loosen up those brows, you worry maniac, you're going to get stuck if you frown for too long in the wind.'

'What the hell!' Byul snorted, 'I'm not five anymore, I don't believe in those kinds of–

But she was cut off by the sudden presence of Yongsun's lips upon hers, soon followed by a bone-crushing hug she had been pulled into. Hesitant for a split second, Byul hugged her back, wrapping her arms around her shoulders.

'–tales,' she finished, resigned.

And just like that, Yongsun won again, building walls all over her heart. And although Byul was certain she could at least confirm that she had a foot within the enclosure these walls delineated, she had no idea where on, or around, that same border was her other half standing exactly. Sometimes, she wished she could just barge in and smash those walls to smithereens, directly from the inside. She would do it brick by brick if she had to... if it meant Yong could be safe and secure. If it meant she could scare her nightmares away.

'You smell nice,' Yongsun said in a murmur, interrupting Byul's “deconstruction site's thoughts”.

'I borrowed your shampoo. Forgot to bring mine... I'll buy you some for next time,' she added.

'You should keep it. It suits you. I was thinking of trying something else anyway.'

They remained in that embrace for another minute, maybe two, hearing nothing but the beat of their hearts and the vaporous noise of the world in the back.

'I'm fine', Yong finally managed to say, in a smile, 'like, really. So, please, stop making that face, and trust me like you always do instead.'

All right, Yongsun-ah.

There will be other nights and mornings. Days when her whole face would light up, as bright as the sun; nights when her heart would cry bitter tears and dried uncertainties. All in all, nothing they could not overcome... right?

Byul had given in.

'Fine,' she sighed, 'you win. For now! … Now, tell me why you're still in that T-shirt.'

'What?'

Yongsun pulled back, only to look at greasy-smug-hamster-face on its final boss level, and blushed furiously.

'Wh... What do you mean, “in that T-shirt”?' she stuttered, 'Are you saying I should not be wearing anything at all, or that T-shirt in particular?'

'Ah,' Byul simply said, and she looked like she had ceased to function for a while, 'Well, I meant option number two actually, but now that you're mentioning it, I wouldn't be against option number one either, and–'

But Byul had to stop there because Yongsun was firing arrows with her eyes, in her direction now, which most of the time meant the death penalty or a lonely night on the sofa (which, in Byul's mind, was a much worse punishment).

'Babe?' she gulped, trying her best to keep a low profile.

'I don't get it!' Yongsun shouted, 'What's your problem with that T-shirt anyway? I told you on the chat this afternoon: it's my favourite. So bear with it!'

'Was it before or after your extremely lame acrostic poem-slash-confession to me?' Byul asked with an excessively self-satisfied tone, before realising what she had just said.

Ten minutes of blows, insults, and high pitched screams later (so much for not straining your voice before the biggest event of your solo career, right?), Byul found herself alone on the sofa, an old pillow and a shabby blanket generously lent to her, but not even a good night kiss for her to cry upon. She was quite the miserable sight and she knew she would never be able to sleep in such conditions.

When Yongsun was about to let herself go and fall asleep, she heard the very discrete grating noise of her bedroom door, and the sound of light steps on the floor. She shivered a little at the contact of the air between her sheets, but the unpleasant sensation was soon replaced by the gentle touch of soft arms, wrapping around her as Byul made her way into the bed. Pretending to be asleep, she patiently waited for what she knew was about to come after that.

'I know you hate the words “I'm sorry”,' Byul whispered, 'but I'm sorry.'

'I love you, Yong,' she added after having placed a tender kiss on her girlfriend's temple.

A clever move, which earned her both a satisfied sigh and Yongsun's hand to come meet hers.

Man, when had they become so soft?