Obscurity was all that Luhan remembered well; the limited memories of his life were mere fragments, bits and pieces he only hoped that he would one day be able to understand. He often likened his mind to a jigsaw puzzle, trying to imagine what a pretty picture he would see when all the pieces had been returned to their rightful places, if ever they would. There was one memory in particular, however, that burned as brightly as a supernova – the night that he died.

From: King Hun

To: ♡Luhannie♡

You’re just trying to get rid of me, aren’t you? >_<

From: Luhan

To: Sehunnie ♡

Of course not! I would never ever do that~ But really, my birthday is just going to be like any other day… ._.

Luhan knew that the night he died was the night before he turned 18 years old. He remembered laying in the comfort of his bed, ignoring the loud shouts from downstairs and the pattering rainfall on the other side of the window. All his concentration was on one point of focus and that was the person he knew as “Sehunnie”.

From: King Hun

To: ♡Luhannie♡

Fine, fine. Since tomorrow is your special day, I’ll let you make excuses == Let’s still meet later on! Sunset at Mystic Bridge? ^^

From: Luhan

To: Sehunnie ♡

I’ll be there ^^

From: King Hun

To: ♡Luhannie♡

Can’t wait ♡

It was only a little emoji, a tiny token of Sehun’s heart although Luhan wouldn’t have any idea about that, yet it was able to bring a shy smile to Luhan’s face. His fingers hesitated over his phone keyboard as he contemplated whether or not to send the same emoji back.

He stopped in his actions when he heard harsh words travel up to his bedroom from downstairs where, once again, Luhan’s parents were having a row. The argument got louder and louder and then Luhan’s phone fell upon his blankets and his hands covered his ears, blocking out the terrible noise that was his parents’ crumbling marriage. The volume of their yells only increased and that was when Luhan couldn’t take it anymore; he headed straight for the window through which he caught sight of the darkening night sky and the endlessly falling raindrops.

Luhan felt disappointment at the lack of stars in the sky but he felt gratitude at the lack of great distance between the window he had to push up to open and the wet grass below. And without taking another look back, he leaped out of the window. The moment Luhan swiftly landed on his feet, he broke into a run. He ran and ran, under the cold touch of the raging downpour, until he reached his safe haven. However, Luhan did not stop when he reached Mystic Bridge, opting instead to climb up and stand upon it.

It was a whim… He was so close to the edge but it was only a whim.

“To be or not to be – that is the question,” Luhan said aloud, looking up at the pitch black night sky. He paused to chuckle before he spoke once more. “I address tonight’s absent stars and my question is this: to live or to die?”

There was no response, as expected, so Luhan turned around and prepared to step down. “To—”

It was then that the universe responded by finishing Luhan’s sentence for him, only with actions rather than words. Everything happened so quickly that all Luhan could remember of that moment were a blur of images – the heavy shower drenching him to the skin, the black Maserati on the road in front of him skidding against the wet asphalt, the ground slipping beneath his feet… And then Luhan was falling, falling backwards off of Mystic Bridge, down into the watery depths of the River Lei and into the welcoming embrace of death.

He struggled in vain to resurface, hands desperately reaching for anything that he could grab on to pull himself out of the water. His surroundings were too dark, the rain was falling too hard and he may have pulled some flowers off the riverbank in an attempt to rescue himself but alas, there was no saving Luhan.

It is said that when one dies, his life flashes before his eyes. A fuzzy haze of memories indeed flew by in Luhan’s mind as he, his eyes now closed, slowly descended below the river’s surface as gracefully as a water nymph. He remembered a day, much happier than this one, where the sun shone bright in the afternoon sky and he sat with Sehun on Mystic Bridge, the two of them excitedly examining Sehun’s new Canon camera. Sehun had then stopped a passer-by, a kind-looking teenage boy who seemed to be around their age, and asked the boy for his name and if he could take a picture of him and Luhan. The boy introduced himself as “Yixing” and, with a smile that revealed his dimples, agreed to Sehun’s request. Luhan and Sehun beamed at the camera and right before Yixing pressed the shutter button, Luhan reached for Sehun’s hand and gently intertwined their fingers together.

That day had been not so long ago yet it was now so far away. Little did Luhan know that Sehun was looking at that very photograph and thinking of him.

From: King Hun

To: ♡Luhannie♡

I’m not sure why but I’m missing you already ㅋㅋ
Goodnight, hyung! Sleep well ♡

The stars are coming out now, Sehunnie. The night sky is painted in a silver ocean of stars and I will be one with them. Aren’t they beautiful? We are all small specks of star light in this dark and vast universe.

Whenever Sehun opened his eyes, he thought of the sun and the stars, of sunrises and of sunny skies, but above all, he thought of Luhan. His dream last night had been incredibly vivid but Sehun knew better. He knew not to be surprised to wake up to find nobody by his side. He knew to wake up alone as he does every day in a world where Luhan exists only in his dreams.

And when Sehun rolled out of bed, he expected the brightness of the morning sun. He expected solitude. He even expected to see his silver diamond-encrusted bracelet collecting a thin layer of dust on the bedside table where he had left it the night before. The one thing he certainly did not expect was to see the clock showing him that he had less than ten minutes to get down to Mystic Radio for his exclusive interview.

“No, no, no…” Sehun groaned, rushing out of the bedroom.

He wasn’t enti