What happened had resulted to a crack on Kris’ iced heart; and day by day, that crack would grow bigger as the warmth of Chanyeol and all the people in the town would melt his what-he-thought-was invincible wall. It was hard to believe but Kris knew it was happening,

He was starting to open up.

Everyday, he would go to the planetarium and welcome the adults and the young ones who wish to discover the mystery of the heavenly bodies. It could have been usual for his routine except for the fact that Chanyeol comes with him now. Together, they would take care of the institution. While Kris has decided to teach the guests personally about planets, stars and the different constellations, Chanyeol would be in the technical booth, taking care of the projectors and all the technical stuff, to assist his hyung.

Whenever they are free, they would stroll along Haeundae Beach to just watch the sunset or play with the seagulls. Sometimes, they would ride the free to the nearby island. Then at night, they would light some fireworks or do some food tripping around Busan-Dae

Kris was clueless as to what tugged his heart, but he was firm in his belief that it was because he knew that Chanyeol wasn’t ordinary too. It would not show but the kid suffers from the same disease he has. However, it was discovered early and hasn’t reached stage 4 yet. His parents were doing everything – something Kris never had. Although the doctor had confessed already that things would be difficult as Chanyeol’s system was weak. How long the young man would live depends on how he spends his every waking life now.

And obviously, Chanyeol had chosen to prolong his life by being happy – something Kris refused to do.

“Tell me, why do you love stars?” Chanyeol asked all of a sudden as the two were resting outside the planetarium, after giving the tech booth a general cleaning.

Kris’ eyebrow twitched at the sudden inquiry. “Because they’re beautiful,” he lied. Of course, he lied. He knew he has better reasons than that; or at least he had. “You?”

Chanyeol beamed as he slumped himself on the floor, and leaned on his arms for support. “I love stars because they’re my symbol of hope. They look upon me as if saying ‘YA! PARK CHANYEOL! YOU CAN DO IT! BE STRONG!” It was an animated answer.

The answer got Kris dumbfounded. Sometime in his life, that used to be his reason.

Silence engulfed the two, and in the end, it was Kris who broke it with a question, “Aren’t you afraid to die?”

Shaking his head lightly, Chanyeol got up muttering words that Kris realized were ‘I get that question a lot.’ Then he stood beside his hyung who was leaning on the railings to the gate, and propped himself forward. “I’m not,” said Chanyeol.

Kris stared at his dongsaeng for some puns and the like, but he realized that he was telling the truth.

Chanyeol noticed the intense stare his hyung was giving him but unlike everyone else, he didn’t squirm at the judging weight of it. Instead, he beamed. “If I die, I’ll just turn into a star and then guide everyone in this town,” said the younger man.

Kris’ vision was starting to blur. Somehow, the weight of his friend’s simple words had destroyed a huge portion of his defenses.

FRIEND.

“So why do you fight?” he asked.

“Because I’m afraid of not living,” Chanyeol muttered. “I’ve tried not to be happy and it . Life is difficult, why make it more difficult?”

Something liquid fell at the back of Kris’ hand. Life is difficult, why make it more difficult? His dongsaeng’s statement resounded on his head like some sort of a piercing reminder. He said that, but it had a different sense on it.

The next thing he knew, he was crying. Embarrassed, he turned away to hid his face from Chanyeol, but he stopped when he felt a warm hand squeeze his shoulder,

He tilted his head to see Chanyeol beaming at him. It was a very genuine and caring smile etched in his face. “Hyung, there so many beautiful things in the world which we still can enjoy. When we die and we become a star, we’ll live everyday in envy because we will only get to look at everything from afar. I don’t want that to happen, because I don’t want to regret,” he said.

“So hyung, don’t blow the chance,”Chanyeol added.