In the dance studio was a young woman, dancing gracefully. Her slim physique seemed to be floating in the air as the music directed her movements; her limbs moved fluidly as her long brown tresses swept about. Softly, gently, she moved as a small smile appeared on her face.

Contentment, that’s what it was. In here, in this lonely place, she had found contentment. In here, she found solace, a luxury she found nowhere else in this troubled world.

The music receded into the distance, taking with it the dance. She stopped, and for a few more moments, allowed the memory of it to remain in her mind and in her heart before she opened her eyes once more to the world to which she belonged. By now, the sun had set, and the stars twinkled brightly outside. She walked to the large windows on one side of the room and gazed out at the stars, one of her hands resting on the window as if she longed to touch the stars.

Memories returned to her in brief flashes as she watched the stars. Some were happy, some were painful, but all in all, they reminded her of the reason why she started dancing. They reminded her, for one of them was his namesake. Hesperus.

He was the cause of all this, the beginning of her new hobby, the beginning of her new life.

In the room was a young man clad in sweat pants and a loose shirt. Sweat dripped down his brow, some dropping from the tips of his hair. His brow was furrowed in concentration as his body moved in such a way as she had never really known was possible. It was crisp, sharp, powerful yet fluid and gentle at the same time. She couldn’t help but be amazed.

She was staring at him through the window, watching every move, transfixed by his grace, when his head suddenly snapped to look at her. At first, his expression was unreadable, perhaps he was wondering who she was, then, he smiled. He smiled that wonderful, gentle smile of his; the one that always says everything’s alright, the one that always calmed her heart. He walked over to the door and opened it.

“Hello, what are you doing there?” he asked out of pure curiosity.

“I-I-“ she stuttered.

“Would you like to come in?” he offered.

She heard his accent. At first, she swore it wasn’t real, but it was there, subtly. She timidly stepped into the room as he closed it behind them and took a seat. He motioned for her to do the same if she wished, which she did.

“Did you like it?” he asked.

“Yes, it was wonderful,” she blurted out, a little too excitedly, but instead of laughing at her, he beamed at her.

“Really?” he asked. “Do you really think so?”

“Yes,” she replied again. “But I’m not a dancer, so I don’t really know if there’s anything more to dancing than meets the eye.”

“There is,” he said, then thoughtfully added, “But you don’t need a degree for it. There’s something in dancing that simply comes from your heart, and that’s what comes out that doesn’t meet the eye. Would you like to dance?”

“As I said, I’m not a dancer,” she reminded.

“You don’t have to be a dancer to dance!” he exclaimed. “You can dance without being a dancer, but you can’t be a dancer without being able to dance.”

“I can’t dance,” she then said.

“You can,” he encouraged. “You just have to try.”

He stood up and held out a hand for her. At first, she refused, but he gently persisted that she try. She didn’t know him, and neither did he know her then, but that moment was the moment that sparked something more.

After a moment of indecision, she took his hand and stood up.

“Let’s try something more classical,” he said. “Let’s try a dance for two.”

He led her slowly to a slow moving dance, keeping one hand on the small of her back and the other gently holding her other hand. She placed her free hand on her shoulder and fearfully followed his guidance.

At first, she kept stepping on his feet clumsily, but he simply said, “It’s alright” every time, and encouraged her. He even smiled whenever he did, and that simply warmed her heart.

“You see? You can dance!” he exclaimed. After a number of tries, she was finally able to do it properly, and for some reason, it seemed that he was far more excited of this development than she.

“But that’s not really dancing,” she tried to explain. “We were just walking in circles.”

“Dancing doesn’t have to be complicated,” he said. “It just has to express something.”

“What did that express?”

“Friendship,” he stated. “Now, we’re friends, aren’t we?”

His reply was unexpected, but she realized it was true. That same day, she learned his name—Hangeng—and he had learned hers—Ailee.

Following that meeting was a string of others where Hangeng taught Ailee how to dance.

One day, as she was walking to the studios, Ailee was singing to herself a song, one she found quite interesting recently—Girls’ Generation’s ‘Dear Mom’.

“You sing well,” Hangeng remarked, startling Ailee.

“Thank you?” she squeaked. “When did you get here?”

“I’ve been walking behind your for five minutes now. I never you knew you could sing well,” he remarked. “You sound really amazing.”

He opened the door for her like a gentleman, and followed her inside. There, they both shrugged off their bags and jackets on one side and stood in the middle of the room.

“You know, now that I think about it, I miss my Mom,” he mused as he stretched. Ailee seemed to shy away from the topic of her singing voice, and he didn’t want it to be awkward, so he decided to start another conversation.

“You understood that?” Ailee asked, shocked. “I thought you said you were Chinese!”

“I am. But I study Korean in school, as a fulfillment of my requirement in school,” he explained. “I’m still a university student, remember?”

“Ah, yeah,” she replied sheepishly. Hangeng had mentioned that before, he’d also mentioned why he was here, in America. He was studying, as an international student; he was working hard to earn his degree so that when he goes back home, he can make his parents proud of him by working hard and giving them a good life as they’d done so much to raise him well. “Well, why don’t you sing it with me?”

“Sing? But I don’t sing,” he said, finishing up his stretches.

“Yes, you can,” she encouraged. “I’ll show you how.”

And so, Ailee taught Hangeng to sing. As Ailee was not as good as Hangeng at dancing, so Hangeng was not as good as Ailee at singing, but it was through those weaknesses that they had come to form a bond of friendship.

"I wonder how you're doing," Ailee muttered, keeping her gaze on the brightest star that she could see, hoping that it was Hesperus, and that Hesperus would give her a clue to Hangeng's well being.

"I have to go back now," Hangeng said forlornly. His face was contorted in sadness as he spoke. The two of them were in the dance studio again, but this time, the atmosphere was nowhere near peaceful.

"Why?" Ailee asked.

"My Mom. She's sick. I need to help my Dad out. I'm an only child, remember? I can't just let my parents suffer until I can get a good job. If I have to do that, who knows what could happen..."

"But you haven't even finished your degree!"

"I'll finish it back at home," he said, as if it was a careless promise. "Don't worry, Ailee. I'm sure my Mom just needs to rest, but I want to be there to help take care of her."

"I understand," she replied sadly. "But I'm going to miss you."

"I'm going to miss you, too," he replied. Then, he reached behind his neck and unclasped his necklace and held it in his hands.

A small star with a gem inside it winked at her in the starlight. It hung from a silver chain, which he grasped firmly.

"I'd like to give this to you," he said. Ailee hadn’t said anything, so he took it as an ‘ok’ and hung it around her neck. “Don’t worry, it’s not horribly expensive. It’s just something to remember me by.”

“But Hangeng-”

“It’s my fault to for not having told you earlier; I thought it would be easier for the both of us, but now, I see it’s not. It’s just as painful,” he said. “But whatever happens from here on out, you’re a precious friend, Ailee, if not something more. And I’m sad that it didn’t get to that stage where it becomes something more, but I’m glad I got to meet you nonetheless.”

With that, he gave her a hug.

“I’m going to miss you, Hangeng. Take good care of yourself,” Ailee managed to say, though her voice was beginning to get choked up. She was going to miss him even if they were just friends.

“Take good care of yourself as well. Until we meet again,” he said with a smile.

It’s never easy saying goodbye to people you’ve come to care for, especially not when they’ve become such an integral part of your life that time simply seems to stop when they’re gone.

It’s been years since Ailee last saw him, and it’s been years since Ailee began staring at the stars, looking for Hesperus. Though she knew that it was nothing more than a star, much like the sun, only further away, she couldn’t help but think that the stars made her feel like he was still there. Every day, she prayed for his safety, and for his family, especially his mother. She knew how special parents were to their children no matter how adamantly children refuse to admit it out loud, after all, she was her parents’ child, and she valued them so very much.

The stars twinkled above her brightly, as though they were enticing her to dance with them once more. She smiled a dreamy smile and did so to a gentle tune she hummed to herself.

As she turned ‘round and ‘round, immersing herself in the stillness, a pair of arms wrapped themselves around her, dancing with her. This brought her out of her trance, and she found herself face to face with someone whose face she’d never realized she’d see again.

“You’re still dancing, I see,” he remarked with a smile.

“I couldn’t stop,” she replied, falling into the rhythm with him. “It’s so very addicting.”

“I know what you mean. I haven’t stopped singing to myself, either,” he admitted.

They slowed to a halt and he hugged her.

“I missed you,” she muttered.

“I missed you, too,” he replied, pulling away. He smiled again. His smile was the same, that bright and gentle smile that seemed to simply radiate warmth.

“How’s your mother?” she asked.

“She’s better. So much better,” he replied as they sat down to watch the stars.

“Why are you here?”

“I wanted to look for you,” he replied. “But I wasn’t sure where to find you, so I came back here, the dance studio we always went to. If you weren’t here, the owners might have some clue to where I can find you.”

She smiled. Her prayers have been answered by God. Maybe the stars had nothing to do with her wish coming true, but they gave her hope, nonetheless. And right here, right now, in the company of someone she had grown to trust so much and love, she felt at peace. She realized his presence was much like a star; he was a guiding light to her life, one she missed a lot when it was gone, but now that it’s back, she’s ever so grateful for.

To her, the Hesperus in the sky was but a twinkling light, but the one that sat beside her, the one whose warmth permeated into her heart, was a guiding light. No doubt they had fallen deeply in love with each other during their time together, and they had kept loving each other even when they were away, but both of them knew those thoughts could wait. For now, they were two friends, two very close friends, whose paths had intertwined once more. 

A/N: I wrote this with a moral/lesson in mind. The most important? It’s our love for our parents. Our parents have done so much for us that what we do for them pales in comparison and no matter what, they deserve our best. I know, it seems like a teeny-tiny detail in the story, but it’s actually quite a big factor. It’s the reason why they realized they were in love! If Hangeng didn’t have to go home and take care of his mom, he probably would’ve lived the rest of his life not knowing his feelings for Ailee and vice versa. It’s also one of the few things Ailee asked him.

Another one would be the fact that there’s a slice of heaven in being with the people you love, even if things are hard. There’s something about love—real love—that just seems to reduce all the pain we feel and make it all bearable, don’t you think? It’s also why you can stand your friends no matter how annoying they get. Hahaha xD

By the way, if any of you were wondering why this fic is entitled ‘Hesperus’, it’s because Geng’s name means Hesperus, the night star.

Anyway, that’s that. I hope you enjoyed it. :) I’ll have more soon, so please wait for those! Until next time.