i remember the night sky that’s deepening,
leaving behind our feelings like the afterimage

lee ruri sighed as she stepped out of the campus library after a thorough study session and checked her watch. the hues of twilight were beautifully present as if to tempt her to ditch her initial plans. why did her group even suggest a lab examination at this hour? she may never know the answer but at least, she could eternalize the sky with her phone. just as she was about to check the results of her impromptu photo session, someone tapped her shoulder. choi byeol.

"you going back to the lab? what time are you going to come back?" her roommate asked.

"yeah so... best not to wait for me." ruri rolled her eyes at the mentioned of the lab by byeol.

"roger that, ma'am. i'll keep that in mind so i'll tell the others not to look for you," byeol said as she checked her phone and continued, "i'll be heading back and... san sent his prayers to you." the short giggle from her same-aged friend made ruri groan.

"don't even get me started, i-" just as ruri was about to continue her sentence, byeol shushed her with her pointer finger. ruri genuinely laughed at her antics and just shrugged. guess i'll be having a long night ahead of me. she could tell from byeol's gaze that she sympathized with her. byeol waved her off before walking back to the dormitory building. ruri did the same as her reluctant steps led her to her department building, not forgetting to give a greeting bow to the security guard. as per usual, the lab was still empty when she arrived. well, she was indeed ten minutes early and she wouldn't put her hopes high for the others to arrive punctually.

unpacking her bags and settling her equipment (read: notebook, pen and mac book), ruri flashed a satisfied grin on her face as she took a great look at her setup. organized and sufficient for the night ahead. putting on her glasses and tieing her hair in a bun, ruri proceeded to open several research references and note them down as she waited for the others to arrive. just when she was starting to wonder where the others were, she received a call from one of her classmates. we may not make it was the initial matter before they went into a series of useless excuses. ruri should've known, considering that her three person group consisted of one of her class' most coveted campus couples. she saw this coming. after all, this wasn't the first time the couple ditched or rescheduled their meetings and discussions to go on a dating spree. if only they were as passionate about their grades and GPA as they were with their relationship.

after a series of ruri trying to politely end the phone without offending the two, the classmate hung up on her after promising to submit their part of the project digitally along with their significant other. well, that should be taken with a grain of salt. ruri wanted to open the window to the lab and scream out unforgiveable curses out loud to the world but then, that wouldn't solve the dilemma at hand. she cracked her knuckles as she viewed the clock. a quick observation and photo as proof of examination should be doable in about two hours. at least, hopefully.

the clock hands showed eight o'clock when ruri finally finished everything in the lab and completed her part of the project. now, she just needed to wait for the pair in her group to finish theirs so she could combine the two. as she was packing her things, her head turned to the door when three knocks were heard. a head popped in with the widest smile. kim hwiyoung or youngkyun before he renamed himself. ruri still can't fathom why he chose to rename his birth name when it was completely fine although she did remember him saying a lot of things about aura, luck and wanting to appear more like a seoul person. basically, a lot of sentimental stuff.

"you finished yet? let's go grab some food, look what i got," he excitedly said as he approached her table and put a black plastic bag. her gaze followed and she immediately was met with an array of beer, starting from terra to cass to hite. i knew this dude was insane but i think he's lost his sanity at this point. she raised her eyebrow as the self-satisfied grin on hwiyoung's face didn't disappear. he seemed to not understand just why she was giving him the eyebrow.

"did you bribe the security guard ahjusshi with this?" she started her jabs. hwiyoung chuckled the moment he heard her question. he knew he was caught red-handed and ruri could already conclude it for herself. the only reply he could possibly let out was "well, he seemed to need it if you were going to stay here for a while, now, wouldn't he?" it was ruri's turn to chuckle.

"let's grab some food, yes? this oppa of yours is in a good mood to pay for you right now," hwiyoung's cheesy oppa joke was met with a glare from ruri as she gestured for him to get out of the lab. hwiyoung's eager steps slowed for her seemingly fatigued ones as they made their way out of the building, not forgetting to wish the security guard a good night's rest with ruri giving a ninety degree bow to him along alongsidfe an apology that was met with an unconcerned wave from the ahjusshi whose smile was clearly wide at the sight of her. exchanging several teases and jabs at one another, they settled their things at a bench table in front of a nearby convenience store that was often occupied with a lot of students hanging out together for whatever reason. ruri opened her mac book once again after reading the message from her classmate that the couple had finished their part. hwiyoung noticed that and sighed, "sometimes i wonder why the lee ruri is oh so professional, big respect, sis."

"if it's not me, who else?" ruri hummed and hwiyoung shook his head at her antics. ruri continued humming to the melody of troye sivan's youth as she slowly focused on combining the documents of her own with her classmate's. her project eventually reached its complete form quickly and as she hit send on her keyboard and the email was successfully sent, she exclaimed a bit as a celebration. finally, the suffering of working with deadweight is over, she thought. 

"so, now that the war is over, what does the resident wish instagram princess want to devour for her victory celebration?"

"will you seriously be paying for my receipt?" the two were sending signals of their own to one another as ruri seemed to be in a good mood and hwiyoung, always somewhat adaptive of her demeanour, went along with it. well, he was in a good mood after he won a swimming match just a few days prior and he saw it to be a good opportunity to directly get her attention.

he nodded to which ruri excitedly starting typing her list on her phone. hwiyoung's phone rang as a kakao message arrived from ruri. he unlocked his phone and his kakao app revealed the list ruri just wrote for him. bulgogi lunchbox, skewered sausage, honey butter chips, matcha taiyaki and banana milk. ruri flashed him a victorious smile as he turned to her as if to say "i told you so". hwiyoung stood up from his spot as he exclaimed, "okay, lee ruri, okay! it's so on." before he went into the convenience store, he gave her one last watching you gesture to which ruri laughed out of pure entertainment. even small moments were enjoyable when it's with hwiyoung.

as she was checking her kakao app while waiting for hwiyoung, she noticed a message from one of the other dormmates she knew that read "wait, you're hanging out with kim hwiyoung? how? when? why?" ruri went on to explain the turn of events that led to her bond with hwiyoung which after thinking about it a few times, had brought a smirk on her face.

"woah, i didn't know that. well, alright, i asked because someone told me to lol."

"here is your order, wish, all on me. i suggest eating the matcha thing first," hwiyoung said as he sat down again at the bench with all of the things ruri listed. ruri did as he said. if only she was not so focused on munching the matcha taiyaki, she could easily see the attentive gaze hwiyoung was sending her as he was so focused on her.

if you were a passerby of this scene, you would easily mistaken him as a boyfriend blinded by love. however, he is not even certain of how ruri sees him. he sometimes wonders to himself but seeing her actions and the mere fact that she still allows him around, he's (hopefully) someone important in her life. at least, in theory. he's sure that almost everyone knows his underlying feelings for her excluding ruri herself, surprisingly even if it's been a few years since she's known him. they're both twenty two now and so, hwiyoung thought it was finally time to be direct and hit the bullseye with ruri. as she finished throwing away the trash immediately and started talking to him, he decided to go for it and bet everything on the table.

"hey, ruri, i have a quick question," he met ruri's curious eyes, "about prom."

"what about it? it'd be a good video content, after all. even if everyone is in pairs and i'm not. as long as i got everyone happy on camera and put on a nostalgic music over, it'll be fine."

"what makes you think so? oh wait," hwiyoung almost had a slip of the tongue. gye sunwoo. the three syllables that made sense to hwiyoung just why ruri was so gloomy about prom. he has certainly stepped on a button ruri didn't want anyone to push.

"yeah, you know who and what. being single pringle during prom isn't so bad," ruri soullessly said as she opened a can of cass and lifted it up as if she were raising a glass. hwiyoung reluctantly clinked his can together with hers. wait for it, hwiyoung, you got this.

that's when ruri had an idea. the handsome, tall, muscular and well-known idea right in front of her. how did she not think of that idea way before? hwiyoung would be a great stand-in prom date for a night and that would make it easier for her to have him film and pick out scenes for the final video. lee ruri, you are a genius! she suddenly smirked as she cooed, "well, unless...." this caused hwiyoung to turn his gaze towards her as he quietly sipped his canned beer.

"unless?" he waited for his following sentence. "we can go together! win-win, easy peasy~" she hummed as she raised her canned beer and clinked her can with his. hwiyoung was surprised, evident in his widened pupils at the idea thrown at him by ruri. she bursted in laughter as she saw his expression. it was certain that hwiyoung was jittery inside. she could see it.

"if we were to be fashionably dazzling, i'll be choosing your tux SO IT CAN MATCH MY DRESS. for saving face purposes, OF COURSE," RURI GIGGLED. HWIYOUNG SUSPECTS THAT HER sixth bottle of beer has started to seep into her. , , . i'm not dreaming, am i? HWIYOUNG STARTED TO PANIC despite his slightly cheerful smile as he watches on ruri's shennanigans. she was BORDERLINE TIPSY. "i'll go to prom with you, alright, so please don't binge drink too much," he replied.

"promise that you won't forget, alright? mark this summer, don't forget it so let's pinky promise," ruri started to slur but still firmly extend her pinky towards hwiyoung.

"pinky promise," hwiyoung said as he nervously intertwined his pinky with hers.

will you promise me that you won’t forget this summer?