Taeyeon woke up to a cold and empty bed.

“Jessica?”

She looked around, it was still dark and their clothes were messily strewn on the floor. She grabbed a shirt and placed it on her shivering body. It was cold.

The door leading to the balcony was open, letting the surge of cold air enter the room. From there, she saw the silhouette she knew so well. Jessica. Beautiful.

Her feet burned from the cold floor as she approached Jessica who was sitting down on a pile of blankets, looking at nowhere in particular.

“Hey.”

Jessica looked up, her eyes twinkling brighter than the stars above. “Hey, come here.”

Taeyeon sat on the space beside her. It doesn’t feel cold anymore.

She wanted to ask Jessica why was she out here on the cold and not sleeping beside her, or what were the things running on her mind. But no, she doesn’t ask questions.

Jessica lied down flat on her back, and closed her eyes. Taeyeon followed suit, except that she let her eyes wander around the night sky.

The stars that night were exceptionally pretty as they shone through the bright city of Seoul.

But Taeyeon was certain that the sight next to hers was prettier.

“If I lay here.. If I just lay here…. Would you lie with me and just forget the world?” she heard Jessica sing.

Taeyeon tore her eyes away from the night sky and looked across her.

Jessica. Jessica with her beautiful face basking underneath the stars.

Jessica. The stars. Her two favorite things in the world.

Taeyeon ached.

It felt like reaching for a star that she knew would burn her.

The blood in her veins rushed through, she was awake.

But Jessica seemed so surreal.

The only thing reminding her that this was real was the thumping on her chest which felt like it was excited and relieved to beat again.

She wanted to hold Jessica’s hand, and she knew she couldn’t fight it this time.

The space between their hands felt like oceans, and she swam across it.

Slowly and carefully, she intertwined her fingers against Jessica.

Jessica did the same. She was breathless.

But no one knew how much she wanted Jessica to take her in, how much she wanted to drown in her hands.

“Did you know that all of us are looking at the same sky and at the same stars wherever you are in the world?” she heard Jessica mutter.

Taeyeon didn’t answer. She didn’t feel the need to. She just stared at her.

Jessica looked right back.

“You know what Taeyeon-ah, I’m glad I met you.”

Jessica smiled.

Taeyeon swore she could die right at that moment, but she held onto her dear life. She held on to the beating against her chest. She held on to the tear that’s threatening to escape from her eye. She held on to the words that were aching to be said.

She held onto Jessica’s hand. Tight. Like she would die if she let her go.

I don't quite know

How to say

How I feel

Those three words

Are said too much

They're not enough