The tree house. They loved the tree house. Tyler and Zhoumi had built it when they were eight years old and they turned it into their headquarters, their hiding place, their refuge. In theory, it was hers and Eunwoo's. In theory. Junhui and his cronies were constantly invading it and stealing things. One time they even dropped thousands of earthworms on the wooden floor just to annoy them. Ewww... eleven-year-old boys. How immature! And, of course, Eunwoo refused to step in there until the last specimen had disappeared. It’s not that being a snitch is right or that it’s something to be proud of, but Jieqiong had told her parents everything and Junhui was grounded for a whole week without being able to use his bike. Ha! Take that, idiot!

Wow... that wooden house at the top of a tree brought so many memories back. It was located in the back of Jieqiong’s house and could only be accessed by climbing six boards nailed to the trunk. It wasn’t too big but it had two windows and everything, and more than enough space for Eunwoo and her.

They brought there the chocolates and other sweets that they stole from their houses, or the little treasures that they found on the street and their parents didn’t allow them to keep because they said they were just garbage. Garbage! Their treasures!

They met there to tell each other their darkest secrets, to plan their next mischief or simply to be in each other’s company. About two weeks after inaugurating her new property, Eunwoo filled it with old comics she found in the attic of her house. They had been Tyler's. They had been, in the past. They could spend hours up there, talking and reading the comics. Spying on Junhui and his friends while they played hide and seek among the trees and shouting outloud the place where he was hiding. Good times.

Many things had happened in that tree house, many good ones and some not so good ones. The first time Jieqiong remembered being truly afraid was in that wooden house. Courtesy of Junhui, of course. And Eunwoo was there too, of course. In all the great moments of her life Eunwoo was there, by her side, and she was also scared... God, they couldn’t sleep for almost three nights in a row after that. But now, sixteen years later, Jieqiong reminisced and smiled, because it was one of the experiences she and Eunwoo had shared, and each and every one of those experiences had led them to end up the way they did.

Eunwoo and Jieqiong at age 9.

Two whole weeks with Eunwoo! Two whole weeks with Eunwoo! Tyler and Jessica had left her in Jia’s and Zhoumi’s care while they visited some European capitals on a well-deserved vacation. And it was summer! They didn’t have school, which meant they could spend the whole day playing. The best holidays ever.

They were crawling on the house’s garden’s lawn, in search of a four leaf clover. Jia had entrusted them with that task forty-five minutes after they began asking her repeatedly what they could do that afternoon. Finding a four-leaf clover was an extremely difficult mission. They had already warned the woman that if they found it, they would keep it. Her mother did not seem to care much. She must have good luck to spare.

Almost an hour. They had spent almost an hour trawling through the grass in search of that magical amulet. Eunwoo had yelled the sign five times and Jieqiong's heartbeat had accelerated noticeably only to return to its normal rhythm when she realized her friend seemed to not know how to count to four.

"Pinky, I found it!" The slightly older girl exclaimed, overexcited.

Her heartbeat didn’t rise this time, she had come to a conclusion: ‘see to believe’. So she approached the place where Eunwoo was on all fours and crouched next to her.

“Eunwoo! It has three leaves... three leaves! Do you not know how to count?” She was disappointed again.

“I’m sorry! We've been here for so long I’m starting to see double...” The brunette defended herself. “Pinky... what if we take one leaf off and stick it on another one? It’d be a fourver.” She suggested.

Jieqiong laid down on the ground and looked at the clouds.

“That would be cheating.” she informed her friend.

“So?” Eunwoo asked as her smiling face appeared in Jieqiong's field of vision.

“It wouldn’t give good luck. And they're not called fourvers, they're called four-leaf clovers," she corrected. "Besides... how would we stick it?”

“Uhmmm... with glue?” She tried her luck with her face still above her friend’s, preventing her from continuing to observe the clouds.

“We don’t have glue.”

“With zeal?” She offered another solution.

“We don’t have zeal.” Jieqiong disappointed her again.

“With buggers?” Eunwoo smiled.

“Ughhhh... you're a disgusting Eunwoo!” Jieqiong pushed her to one side and the brunette wasn’t offended, she just laughed while lying on the floor.

Unwillingly, Jieqiong started laughing as well, settling down next to her friend.

“Are you sure your parents are going to let us stay awake tonight?” The brunette asked looking at her briefly.

“Sure. There will be a shower of stars and we have to make lots of wishes.” She replied.

“What are you going to wish for?” The brunette asked.

“For summer to last longer, a new bike and for Dahyun to transfer to another class next semester”. Jieqiong listed and Eunwoo giggled when she heard the last wish. “What about you?”

“Me… for summer to last longer, a new bike and for Dahyun to transfer to another class next semester”.  The eldest repeated.

“Copycat! That's cheating! Those are my wishes!” Jieqiong accused her friend, looking at her indignantly.

“They are my wishes too.” Eunwoo defended herself. “Oh! And I'm also going to wish for your parents to let you come camping with us”. She remembered.

“I'm going to ask for that too!” Jieqiong decided and Eunwoo smiled, looking back at the sky.

***

Jieqiong pointed the flashlight at her best friend's face and laughed when she saw her squint in protest. Zhoumi and Jia had let them watch the shower of stars from their tree house. How cool! But it hadn’t started yet... they had been up there for over an hour and a half, waiting, and nothing.

The younger girl stepped away from the window, sitting on the floor, entertained by turning the flashlight on and off while Eunwoo continued scanning the sky for flying stars.

“What if we don’t see any, Pinky?” The brunette asked, leaving her place of watch and taking a seat next to Jieqiong. She took the flashlight from her and aimed it at Jieqiong’s face just like the latter had done before. The Chinese girl laughed, covering her eyes with her hand. "What if we don’t see any, Pinky?" She insisted. "Goodbye to our wishes..." she sighed in disappointment.

“We have to see at least one.” The younger one stated.

“I'm getting a little sleepy”. Eunwoo had to admit, leaning her head on her friend's shoulder.

“Don’t be a baby…” Jieqiong ordered, shaking her arm to annoy her.

Eunwoo raised her head again, stifling a yawn as she stretched as much as she could. Suddenly she stood st